San Andreas independent., 1857-09-19

g DrToH1se. term I" Ditching" IN Cali
fornia has a more exalted idea than is gwen 1t,
as defined by Walker, johnson ana webster
The idea ordinarily attaching to this word,
wherever the English language Is spoken, is
snagestiye of drainage. bitches are made to
arain low and marshy lands. Sometimes to
convey water from one part of a farm to another
for purposes of irrigation. The term. however.
would be scarcely applicable to the extensive.
though i'll constructed water courses of the re-
gions of the Nile in the dry season. Still less
applicable is it to the more expensive and better
wrought canals by which Holland has been re-
deemed from the sea-
While ditching does not imply with us the
ordinary idea of drainage, neither does it as
sumo the dignity ola canal Our bitches can
not compare in width in mechanism and in
necessary expenditure with the canals of New
York and Pennsylvania. The locks of these
canals are works of solid masonry, combining
skill and strength. They constitute an item OF
large proportions in the estimated and real costs
of canal. Our bitches have no lockage what
ever.
bitches in California are more properly aque-
ducts They are designed to take water from
river at a high point in the mountains and
convey it to mining regions in the lower coun-
try. A substantial dam is generally built across
the river at the point where the ditch commen-
ces. BY this means the water is turned from
the river into the ditch, and large reservoir
is formed to supply the ditch.
bitches vary in size. Some are four feet in
depth and four feet in width on the bottom
Others are eight feet on the bottom with cor
responding depth, and some in this State are
twelve feet in width. Whatever the size, the
ditch proceeds from the elevated starting point,
not on a level but on a very gradual descent
along the mountain side, conforming itself in
its progress to the natural indentations of the
mountain. Fumes built of thick plank and
supported by heavy timbers, are used for con-
Quoting the water across ravnes and gulches,
When lower level is sought the water passes
down an almost perpendicular fume into re-
servoir below, when the ditch again proceeds
on its winding way by gradual descent to the
mining region.
The water is distributed and measured by
means of pieces of board made fast on the in
side of the ditch. Through the boards, holes
are inserted one inch square, or larger, accord
ing to the wants of the miner, through which
the water passes from the ditch and is con-
Quoted by the purchaser to his claim. Slides,
or gates, are attached to the board so as to
place the water entirely under the control of
the ditch company's agents who have charge of
that part of the business.
IheSe bitches have been found to be very
profitable investments. The miners must have
water to work their claims. Those who culti-
vate gardens in this dry and hot region must
irrigate freely. A ditch, therefore, becomes the
more valuable as good mining grounds and gar
dens increase along its locality. There are two
bitches passing through, and terminating within
few miles of Columbia, which bring water
from point mere than fifty miles distant in the
mountains, and yet there is not garden, or a
mining claim which is worked on the whole
line of either of them three miles above Column
bia. And yet these are paying Investments
How much more so would they be if in their
entire length they passed over rich mining
grounds. Columbia Gazette