Los Angeles daily herald., 1873-10-02
gus Aaeelts Attala.
IRRIGATION.
lecture by Rev. Or. Patterson.

lecture by Rev. Or. Patterson.
Irrigation in the East--.Praetical kmR.
gestfsns 10 the Farmers Of Southern
California;.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF Los
ANGELES 1T was my privilege, little
more than year ago, to travel over
the irrigated fields of Egypt; to wan
der amidst the luxuriant orange groves
Of Jafia, laden with their golden
fruit; to examine the vines in the
vale of Eshcol; to see the bulls of
Bashan on their native hills and the
cOursers of Arabia spurning their des-
the rivers of Damascus, and to see the
oases rise from the sands of the desert.
And could not then have imagined
or believed that within year and
half from that time l should be ten
thousand miles from those sights and
scenes = viewing all this, and more
than this, within the compass Of one
or two days travel around this city of
Los Angeles. Yet, within that space
all, this and more than this, l have
seen. One thing that miss from
among you, as travel from place to
place, with which l have been familiar,
there are no armed officers encounter
ed at every step-the policeman who
meets you everywhere in Great Britain;
the armed soldier who greets you at
every station in France, Germany and
Italy. Here there Is no military escort
necessary, or officer from whom to OBJ
tain permission, and no danger, AZ i'm
crossing the plains Of Marathon, when
each man must be his own protector.
There we found that the farmer was
compelled to go out to his field armed
with knives and pistOls--the plowman
carrying his gun with him to the field to
protect his life and property. | miss
all these in coming to California, and
find, instead, a population gathered
from all the States Of the Union and
from nearly every country on the globe.
hnd here the grave Spaniarl, the mer-
curial Frenchman, the sturdy German,
the broad-chested Englishman, the
witty Irishman and the active Yankee.
find all these; all living together in
harmony and peace-and struggling
together for the advancement Of the
country allotted to them by Provi-
ence. Upon inquiring the cause OF
this harmony, l might be pointed to
yOnder Temple Of Minerva, whose COM
manding position recalls that ut the
AcrOpOlis Of Athens, which is visible
at distance of forty miles. This tenn
pie OF education, overlooking the
whole Of your city, Is lasting en-
blem Of the intelligence and character
Ofits inhabitants. Supported, too, as it
is, by able private schools, and by the
daily press sending forth its instruc-
tiOn in various languages, it is not
strange to find you connected with
lines of steamers carrying your pro-
ductiOns to other ports; and soon, too,
railroad communication with other
ports, will connect you with all the
principal markets OF the globe. He
must be more or less than man,
who will fail to acknowledge the possi-
biiity of making this valley the garden
Ofthe world. feel as minister Of the
gospel that 1 am not deviating from
my duty in speaking of this with you,
for We remember that when our
Heavenly Father planted and settled
his children in the Garden Of Eden, it
was not the intention that they should
remain there forever. Their charge
was to replenish the whole earth and
snbdue 1t. When His beloved Son be-
came man, and his last miracle OH the
earth was to direct his disciples to east
their nets and obtain miraculous
draught Of fishes.
But now, in regard to the subject Of
irrigation, feel that the merits of the
whole subject cannot be presented to
oyn at single lecture. By way of
ecOnomizing time, permit me to re-
mind you Of
/. The Principles of Irrigation.
2. The History of Irrigation in the
Old Word: and
5. The Facilities for Irrigation in
California.
will first call your attention to some
OF the first principles of irrigation.
Thus, as the workman gathers his
bench-tOOls around him to save time, a
few explanations will enable us to
have ut hand, during the course of
these remarks, principles Of this de-
scription.
In the first place, water is the origi-
nal condition of all life. You read in
the Ancient Oracle that in the begin
ming when the spirit of God moved on
the face of the water. This Is as true,
now, as it was when Moses wrote.
Water constitutes three-fourths OF the
whole bulk of animal and vegetable
bodies. Besides this, water is the
medium of communication by which
the various minerals that are contain
ed in animal and vegetable bodies, are
carried in and through the system, and
finally deposited in their allotted places.
When you see drop of water, at the
root Of tree, you see little holman,
who is about to travel up the trunk Of
that tree. As the holman supports his
load upon his shoulders. and ascends to
the top of the wall, in this manner,
this little agent will ascend through
the trunk of the tree, and deposit the
contents Of his vessel, to be wrought
into leaves, flowers and fruit-in the
peach or orange as the case may be-
AFT er which he must travel down again,
In the form of exhalatiOns to the atmOs-
phere.
The water contains mineral matter
in the average Of two to five grains to
the gallon of water. This is about the
average, but the water OF your noun
tain streams is an exception to this rule
for am assured that water will yield
less than one grain of mineral to the
gallon. This is, therefoS, the most
wholesome water In the world for drink
ing, purposes, though not, perhaps, on
that account, for irrigation. Besides
what the water contains in this way, it
carries in suspension, often, great
quantities of mud. The Nile, by it's
overflow, deposits in this way the mud
which 1t leaves on the plains of Egypt.
All vegetable life Is the result Of irri-