Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-04-11
Irrigation and wells.

In bucn year as tnis IL seems TO be
mere work Of supererogation 10 talk
about irrigation and wells, the latter
whether artesian or surface. Yet, AZ q
matter Of fact, there will probably be
more talk about this subject now than at
any former period. For instance. in
Southern California, artesian wells will
now renew nil their old.time vigsr. The
California irrigator mas many strings to
his bow. Where water cannot be drawn
from neighboring river or from reser.
voir created to store the Winter rains, il
can often be obtained by boring artesian
wells, and where the latter resource does
not exist, or costa too much to develop,
a sufficient supply can generally be had
by pumping the surface water. In Tu.
lare county, which possesses every natu-
raj advantage for becoming IN agricultu.
raj paradise, all OF these methods OF irri.
cation can be utilized in greater or less
degree. In tho artesian belt, flowing
wells can be obtained at moderate ex.
pense, but, according TO the visalia
Delta, 1t is even cheaper to raise the
water by u steam pump. That journal
says: ut is well.known fact that
strong flows Of water exist but short
distance below the surface Of the earth
in this valley. The first, or surface flow
as II is termed, being met with at dis
tance Of only ton. or twenty feet at
most, below the surface. This flow Of
itself, in wells Of ordinary size, does not
furnish any great amount Of water, but
would be an important factor in the
makeup Of flow for pumping purposes
If we'll Of large. enough proportions
were sunk upon IT, The second flow,
met with at depth of from fifty to sixty
feet, Is practically inexhaustible, and in
every case known to the writer, whero
1t has been tapped, rises to the
level Of the surface water In strong
continuous How. II must be apparent
then to thinking mind that these two
flows of water united, as they become at
the level Of the surface water, will fur.
nish supply that may bs drawn ad Hb-
ifum and without stint. The experience
of others may help us il we will but heed
II, and Mr.. Blowers. of raisin fame, can
furnish 1t. He has well al Woodland
from which he draws water to irrigate
very large vineyard. OF course it is not
an eight or ten-inch well by any means,
but 20.foot well, sunk down into the
surface water some eight or ten feet. He
has storage capacity beyond the power
OF his pump to exhaust, drawing alone
from surface water. Why may we not
follow in the path Of Mr.. Blowers and
sink large we'll, say ten or twelve feet
square, till the clay soil below the sur.
face water /, reached. A curb OF brick
or lumber may be used to restrain the
quicksand and prevent caving. When
tho clay is reached, If we do not consider
the supply of water ample enough, let
us bore with an ordinary well boring
Quilt from four to twelve or fifteen six
inch holes through to the second flow,
and thereby provide means Of allowing
the two flows to unite. With such well
q quarter section Of the land can easily
be irrigated. The holes bored In the
bottom Of the well will not need casing,
as the clay usually lasts firm aud strong
right down to the lower water, which is
generally found in q stratum OF sand. A
small engine or good horse power with
one OF the numerous lstely.devised and
improved pumps, and such well as is
here spoken Of, will not cost anything
like even q shallow artesian well with
the advantage of greater supply Of
water. tis not proposed by this means
to irrigate for grain, such as wheat and
barley, but fruit trees, vines, vegeta-
bles, alfalfa and Egyptian corn may be
successfully irrigated in quantities suffi.
cient to gladden. the heart of any reason
able "sand-lapper."
The experience of Gen. Banning, at
| Wilmington. with his mammoth well,
shows that surface water is attainable
in Los Angeles county in volume
which dozen artesian wells could not
hope to rival. There we have the in.
stance of single surface well which
would afford abundant water, on the
scale adopted in New York city, for tho
needs of population of seventeen or
eighteen thousand souls, and which
would irrigate a goodly farm on the
expanded California plan. Why should
not our wealthy farmers sink more Of
these mammoth wells ? While it is
true that they are not needed in years
like the present, nevertheless, in dryer
years, they would profit by the currents
directed their way in such seasons of
flood as the present.
But why talk about wells at time
when houses have foated off bodily to
Compton, aud so soon after people have
been busted baling out their back yards !.