Los Angeles daily herald., 1873-10-03

tiycs i'm subiection, for the handful of
troops could not resist If the people
rose up against them; hut the alvan-
face with them is, that the people of
india are dependent upon the English
Government for their daily bread,
through their system of irrigation,
which renders their lands valuable and
capable Of producing crops. Should
ANYTHING happen to these canals the
nnople must fall yictims rs, in the
breaking of the Ganges, where 3,WM,-
600 people pershed of starvation. The
Canoes canal il 500 miles long, includ-
ino its branches. From these, the wa
ter is conducted over the rice fields un-
iii the rice has begun to form in the
ear. and then only, is the water allowed
to dry Off There are .a
VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF IRRIGATION fuR-
SUED IN INDIA.
have referred ro the rice fields, ~
recurring the greatest quantities OF
water for their cultivation. The sys-
fem of watering the fruit trees, grow
ing on the hill-.idcs,is another system
of irrigation. In this case the water
taken over the dam il fl st taken from
the highest level. You dig, at dis
tance of 30 feet from the dam,a trench
sufficient for the purposes of irrigation.
The smaller trenches are about nlne
inches broad and nine inches deep.
Along this, two feet from it, the trees
are planted. Thirty feet further down,
the trees are again planted two feet be-
low the trench; and so on, until the
ground is covered; the canals or
trenches for irrigation being. 80 feet
apart. Canalt are then cut downward,
connecting each one with the Others.
Thes are so arranged that a tree IS al
ways in the angle of these canals. The
result of this is that no tree can be
more than ID feet from water, and
sufficient will be absorbed for all
Durposcs when the water is allowed
TO flow. They believe in night irriga-,
tion, too, and IL is certain that the fruits
produced from ii are OF Il better flavor.
There is AA
ANOTHER SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION,
not particularly applicable here. 1t isa
system pursued in Egypt, where, by an
instrument like a well-sWecp, one man
lifts water from the Nile and throws it
into tub; another, above him, raises
it to. IA third, who throws it on the
ground. Another is 10y n water-whecl
turned by the stream IA few OF when
I have seen here, with buckets at
tached to carry the water and empty II
into pipe above; hut all these are too
extensive for this country, and hence
we need not further allnde to them.
LORD DBTLiOUsIE'S GREAT CANAL
is $50 miles in length. This canal Is
used for navigation as well "a irriga-
ton. The work of constructing 1t cost
f7,IM,( 900; but its income has long
since more than repaid this cost. In
deed in 1850, the British Govern
ment'S land tax was 4lj,MW, ,WM,, and,
i'm 1861, it had increased to eighteen
millions in consequence Ofth increase
i'm the nlantity of land irrigated. Here,
then, was about f3,NM, 600 added Othe
wealth Of the British Empire annually,
and the work did not cost One-haf the
income of one year, or, mother words,
the annual income more than d0ubly
paid the cost OF construction. y What
has thus been done by these natives,
working at ten cents a day--the value
of the rice they consume me-under the
direction Of the English government,
could surely be done by Americans UNI
der our system of labor, and directed
-by such Il government as that OF the
United States. Permit me, then, to
speak of the na.F.t
NECESSITY FOR IRRIGATION WHICH
EXISTS IN THIS STATE. .'"A
/ cannot ut this moment go into IN
Investigation of the condition of Kan
sas, Texas and Western Missouri,
which suffer from drOlths once in some
seven or eight Years from the want Of
rain. There are S9,WD,0tN of acres of
farming land reported in this state,
and Of thi, 10, ,Ok,, 900 acres are reported
lit for the ploW, and tile greater part OF
| which 1t il possible to irrigate. We
| have the report of tile Commissioners
| that there are II ,WO,RW acres in Sac
ramentO and San joaquin valleys,
which can he profitably irrigated. This
| estimate does not, as understand, in
clude any of the lands in your county;
and il does not include large tracts of
irrigable ground in other valleys Of
| this state. Now let Us take for grant
| ed that there are 20,0)h, 900 acres Of
| land capable of irrigation in this State.
Let us also suppose that the total in
crease of income il no greater than 1t
was in Italy before the perfection Of
| their great system of irrigation; that
| is, that the rent would he increased S3
| per acre, and the product five times az
much. The result would he to add SIS
! per acre to the value OF the land that
is now in need Of irrigatiR iRn. Atpres-
| ent, this land has only ga n0min nal
value, being used largely for grazing
purposes. The 20,UM,Mn acres thus
used and capable of cultivation, multi
| ply by the increased value. df ss1ii per
acre, and you will have an in
creased valueof $3tO,0D0,tWO added to
the wealth of the State. These are
facts. In 1861 there was less than~OnH
! million acres of land under II llivatiOn
in this State. In ls72-,last YEAR
| there were nearly five millions. You
observe, in these figures, the ratio Of
the increase We are quadrupling ey-
cry ten years. If this Statei lToceed
even no faster than this, la III, years
from to-day there will he 2O,Np,tt 400
acres of land unIer cultivation. The
Nalueof' the products last year amount
ell to So, 5,OOO,0W sd These consisted of
wool, hides, grain, fruit, etc. OF these
S5O,GN, 900 was exported. The value
of wheat alone was S25,0N,MM. There
was time when minerals We're the
great export from california;; but the
Industries of the country have changed,
and, last year, the grain exports We're.
about the same as the goldN ps&
A<NATIoNAL SYSTEM or IRRIGATION.
i think have made II evident, by
the experience of the other countries,
that single years Increased value OF