32 PROPORTION OF FOREST LANDS. 



invite it. Over another section the tendency is for brush to t&ke the 

 place of trees destroyed. This Is also the case in considerable sections 

 of the Sierra Nevada on the east face of the range. Again there are 

 c'istricts in which the reproductive power of trees and brush are both 

 v.'eak or are entirely absent. The nearer th<i desert the more this 

 reproductive weakness is noticed. On the east side of the mountains 

 of Southern California the State is desert with an occasional oasis. 

 This desert may be divided into two broad divisions. 



1st. The high plateau of the Mojave. In this desert the rainfall 

 is greater than in the Colorado. Some years there is considerable feed. 

 Toward the west the rainfall is from time to time sufficient for field 

 crops. The extremes of temperature are very considerable. This 

 desert is both very hot at times and very cold at other times. Irri- 

 gation has been commenced in several sections of the Mojave. The 

 streams used come from the forest reserves. Big and Little Rock creek 

 and the Mojave river are the ones used. 



2d. The Colorado desert. This is much lower than the Mo- 

 jave — considerable areas being below sea level — and while hot 

 for eight months it is not so subject to cold. There is great 

 promise for parts of this desert to become productive. These parts are 

 siluvial depos.ts of the Colorado river and to them its waters can be 

 conducted. There are also districts in this desert with artesian water 

 and others subject to development by streams like the Whitewater. 



ALL AVAILABLE FOREST LANDS REQUIRED FOR IRRIGATION. 



Taking the north line of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties con- 

 tinued northeasterly along the summit of the Tehachapi range to the 

 north line of San Bernardino county and thence to the Colorado river as 

 being the natural north line of Southern California we will consider this 

 territory as segregated from the rest of the State. It requires special 

 consideration. About one-ninth of this territory under present condi- 

 tions is susceptible of profitable crop bearing. The large results from 

 this comparatively small area under plow amounting now with a fair 

 rainfall to about 25 million dollars a year indicate the value of our 

 deep lands, sunshine, mild climate and system of irrigation in giving 

 profitable agricultural returns and large product from a smail district. 

 Two-thirds of the area is desert. One-sixth is in forest, including 

 brush from 4 to 15 feet high. We are thus seen to hav^ already far 

 less than the proportion we should have in forest for the temperate 



