THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



73 



WHAT IRRIGATION DOES IN THE GREAT 

 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY 



In the Sierra Nevada mountains the sources of 

 the San Joaquin river rise, and they flow out of so 

 many tributaries, and in sujch great abundance, 

 that, from the very base of the range, the water is 

 sufficient for the uses of agriculture. Northward, 

 more tributaries come in from the Sierra Nevada 

 Range, and more irrigation systems flow abundant 

 water all the way this for 250 miles, until the San 

 Joaquin joins the Sacramento. 



Of the counties in the greater valley only Kern, 

 Kings, Tulare, Fresno, Madera, Stanislaus, Merced 



plum, apricot, almond, English walnut, and other 

 orchards of deciduous fruit. There is diversified 

 agriculture here, too. 



At Fresno, county seat of Fresno county, is the 

 center of the world's greatest raisin district. Here 

 five-sixths of the raisins of the United States are 

 gfown. It is a district of fruit packing-houses, of 

 vineyards, of wineries, of orchards, of dairy farms. 

 Surrounding Fresno lies a great area of intensive 

 cultivation, and the homes, set in the midst of flower 

 gardens and foliage, are of surpassing beauty. Out- 



A farm showing the luxuriance of growth in the San Joaquin valley, California. 



and San Joaquin lie in the basin of the San Joaquin 

 Valley. However, without the others, which lie in 

 the mountains, there would be no water for irriga- 

 tion, no streams for electric power, no forests for 

 lumber, no mines, no marble. So the mountain 

 counties are a part of the great whole, which makes 

 the San Joaquin watershed habitable and pro- 

 ductive. 



In Tulare county oranges, lemons, and grape- 

 fruit are grown. Citrus fruits grow on the floor of 

 the basin, also, but not so well, or of such superior 

 quality. However, this soil is great for diversified 

 agriculture. From here on, even into Fresno 

 county, east of the enterprising town of Reedley, 

 are citrus orchards. 



In other parts of Tulare county are peach, pear, 



lying, lie diversified agriculture and livestock 

 ranches. 



San Joaquin county is famous for peat lands in 

 the river delta, and for fertile upland. In this 

 county intensive agriculture is practiced as in no 

 other part of the valley. The peat soil is so rich 

 that skilled gardeners pay fabulous prices for the 

 use of small plots. In other parts of the county are 

 grown deciduous fruits, wheat, corn, oats, barley, 

 rye, rice, alfalfa, and forage. It is a great dairy 

 county as well. Tidewater comes up to Stockton, 

 the county seat, and, daily, the gardeners send their 

 products of celery, potatoes, asparagus, cabbages, 

 tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, etc., to San Francisco, 

 Sacramento, and other markets, by steamboats. 



IMPERIAL VALLEY PROJECT SOLD 



In the presence of several hundred persons, 

 composed, in the greater part, of men who have 

 fought the battle with the desert which has been, 

 waged since the Imperial Valley project first was 

 conceived, Col. W. H. Holabird, receiver of the 



California Development Company, on Feb. 8, at 

 El Centra, California, sold the properties of the 

 cqmpany, which form the irrigation system of the 

 intt^erial Valley, at public auction to the highest 

 bidder, the Southern Pacific Company, whose bid 

 was $3,875,000. 



