Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-04-17
An Interesting Letter.

$3.50 --''-
Orange Culture = How to Irrigate
Laud-The wilcox Pump-valuable
Suggestions 70 settlers. H.
-
EDITOR HERALD: In your weekly
issue of the 18th inst. appears an arti-
Gle headed "Plenty of Land for Orange
Trees,n which has been copied by the
Gan Eranc;sco P,J,e,;n.anJ other GAL
-. ~ - -,
Ho1nia papers. III Ihis ar.leie you
state thatland suitable for the cultiva-
ton Of the orange and other tropical
fruit With natural ;rr;oatinu facilities
-, ~. 80. 500 sone
Is heid at from SzuV 70 p3W per acre,
but that we have about 100000 acres
of nesa land. with water from eight
- twon.,, Con. f.o,,, ~ . srrsaoa ae,ol,y
..,, sas..Sa.a 80. a,,,.,,ro.nsa,, h;oS
well adapted 70 ifult culture ana which
can be bought at from $40 to $50 per
acre Tn these estimates T think Won
$500. W. Gov. ~ .h;r.,
arc soilec'' iou say. guy .uAvy
acres at $50 per acre, erect windmills
and tanks at a cost of from $1,000 to
to 50, 600, thereby saving some $1,000
on purchase of thirty acre orange
orchard. Now here is where the ques-
ton comes in. Will say $1,000 ex-
pended on windmills and tanks be suf-
ficient to raise water enough for irri-
eating g. GGG Grange trees?
VIZ WIZ CAV
-.
lhat we lrf'sae .ne .lees o :s, .
month, rom April TO Octoper ihc.as-
I'VE, eacn Tree requiring ABOUT my
gallons OF water at u time, making
loO,Ooo gallons Per montn iol thirty
aeses =. .,ees. W. suplU'I We s;n IvH q
sun ..si, supply " dOo ~ a,,i,, r1
mains how to raise these i5O o0i pal.
Ions per month in the shortest time
and most economical manner. When
arrived at Los Angeles three years
AGO. this was the question that sug-
gested itself to me, as already then
came to the conclusion that dry land
with water at from ten to twenty feet
from the surface was preferable, con-
sidering the difference in prices, to
land with irrigation right. I exam
ined several windmills, some costing
over $500 with tanks, but found none
that would fill a 2, 600 gallon tank day.
From these observations l came to the
conclusion that windmills were not
the thing for extensive irrigation in
Southern California, where the wind
blows but little and the ground is very
dry. think q good horsepower far
preferable to windmills, except for
house use and watering flowers, where
a windmill performs It's duty admira-
bly, adding q fresh supply of water
every day. But it is with raising
water as with any other kind of work
that requires great power: steam is
always the cheapest and
MOST EFFECTIVE MOTIVE POWER.
will now. with YOUR permission,
give YOU a correct estimate Of the cost
Of irrigating thirty acres of orange
trees with a Wilcox steam water litter
of capacity Of 10000 gallons per
hour. Such litter will cost, put up
in Los Angeles in complete running
order, about $3.50. twill in two days
pump water enough for irrigating
5000 orange trees, no tank being re-
quired, as the stream is large enough
TO lrrlgaCe from Qlrect from the pump.
Fuel will cost, calculating wood at sic
per cord, about So for each days run
ning-if brear or asphaltum Is used,
the cost will be less than half. The
entire cost of our seasons irrigating
being: interest on the price of pump
at Ii per cent per month, SIP so; fuel
fourteen davis pumping, $42; oil,
etc. $50: total cost Of water for
one wear, STA SO; or about Sc
per acre; such bringing an acre OF
land with perfect and independent ir-
rigation facilities, to cost Indirectly
SO. a saving of 81 900 on q purchase OF
thirty acres.
TN pro,-,prs
-
me same number Oh men 10 lrrlgate
with the litter, as IL wouid from q
natural stream. me man VINO attends
10 the pump would nave TO watch the
water IN the main dltcn from breaking
through or being stolen, II PUBIC