IRRIGATION FROM SAN JOAQUIN RIVER. 223 



air, is not often oppressive or injurious to the healtii. In the winter season there 

 is little or no destructive frost, and except in the mountainous districts, no large 

 amount of ice or snow. The summer nights are usualh' clear, and owing to the 

 uninterrupted radiation of heat and the descent of cold air from the Sierras, are cool 

 and comfortable. 



The prevailing winds in the valley are from the north, being in summer time 

 the sea breezes of the coast that follow the river and lowland levels, and which come 

 in a dried and tempered condition to the interior valley- In both summer and winter 

 the valley is occasionally visited by "northers'" or high north winds which blow 

 with considerable velocity. Those of summer carry great volumes of desiccated air 

 over the entire region, abstracting moisture from the soil and vegetation and evapo- 

 rating immense quantities of water from canals and streams. The winter " northers" 

 are usualh' cold, and frequently' are drj-. also. 



The rain is usuallj' brought by a warm southerly wind, and is seldom large in 

 amount. 



PBODTJCTS. 



Originally the great San Joaquin Valley was almost entirely cultivated for 

 enormous crops of wheat, the farmers I'elying upon winter rains for the natural irri- 

 gation of the soil, or on summer fallowing to eke out the scantv rainfall. On the 

 west side of the valley' the precipitation is often deficient, no more than two or three 

 crops of grain in five years being probable without artificial wetting of the soil. 



As irrigation came to be practiced the waters of the San Joaquin and of the 

 other rivers in the great vallej' were carried upon the fertile lands in the valley 

 trough, and heavy and remunei"ative crops of raisin and wine grapes, orchard fruits, 

 alfalfa, and the cereals were produced, as well as good pastures for immense herds 

 of cattle; and it soon became evident that much of the valley land upon which irriga- 

 tion water could easily and cheaply be introduced was too valuable for the produc- 

 tion of ordinary and single crops of wheat or other grain. Consequently such areas 

 were speedily converted into orchards and vineyards or into alfalfa fields from which 

 three to five crops of the rich grass could be harvested each year. 



lERIGATED TRACTS IN THE VALLEY AND POSSIBLE EXTENSIONS. 



The Aliso Canal, highest up on San Joaquin River on its right or easterly bank, 

 and owned by Miller & Lux, a corporation, was constructed and is used for the 

 purpose of irrigating wild grass lands in the river bottom of that locality. It im- 

 proves the pasturage for herds of cattle belonging to the corporation and it irrigates 

 an area of about 3,000 acres. Miller & Lux intend to further extend this irrigation. 



Next below Aliso, on the same bank, is the Chowchilla Canal, belonging to the 

 California Pastoral and Agi'icultural Companj'. It was constructed to irrigate the 

 lands of the great Chowchilla Ranch, containing 107.000 acres. This ranch is mainly 

 utilized for the pastui-age of cattle and the raising of swine, but 3,300 acres of it are 

 cultivated for alfalfa, 600 acres for barley, and 480 acres for gi-ass. Much of the 

 land in the Chowchilla Ranch is unfertile; nevertheless, with a large supply of water 

 a greater area could be irrigated and improved. This supply, however, can hardly 

 be obtained except by using a portion of the flood flow of the river, either by means 



