The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1886-10-06
.oAaulN alLlta On cAlIEoaNlA
rrrIsatlOa Se.afai 10 Increase cailtst-
nia,s Agricultural Prosperity

trfigAuon Neeotul 70 tnereaee CAtiter-
nias Agricultural Fro,psrlty.
For forty years the American has
fooliahly fought the Mexican methods
OF agriculture, He insisted that naturd
would provide the rain, Indeed. | once
heard a preacher, who was sighting
rather against iho priests than for his
followers, insist from the pulpit that Il
was sinful to irrigate. And bis text
was that God sends His rain On the
Just and the uniuAt.' And 50 70 day
look away, 800 miles TO the south, and
SEQ a brown land cleaning and glitter.
ing under the precipitate sun, with the
unhappy settlss sweltering in i0i Dc.
} grees OF heat. Not speatot yeriurel.
Not a sign Of any green thing, save the
! solemn and impressive old oaks that dot
the boundleas scene and shelter the
sheep and cattle, and pigs But many
ottl,e creatures must perish. Tie yall
ley Is, Of course, sparsely settled. And
how could 1t be otherwise where wa
have farms with GO,0OO acresl
/ But away over yonder beyond thu
capital, lies the less fertile valley Of San
Joaquin; green. fruitful. restful; beauti.
! fnl and bouhliful as In middle May
And MI this because last year the obsti.
nate American idea succumbed to the
Mexican experience OF centuries, San
/ joaquin valley Is irrigated.
A poor French family, escaping from
death, brought a letter to a friend Of
mine near hero many years ago and set
tied down on the nearest spot Of vacant
ground he could find. And that nearest
spot was four acres Of and and gravel
and chOpparal. Ii was SO poor and
dusty and dry and withered, men tell
ME, that even the rabbits would not llyg
there. But It was not more poor VI
withercd than the weary family tlint
had worked lis way hero on an old sail'
ship coming out from Liverpool fot
grain. And so they sat down on these
four dry and dusty heaps OF sand aud
stone to stay, Let us pass over the
wretclledness Of the first year, during
which time the man dug well, put in
windmill, raised a rivulGt Of water,
and then planted his stoneheals in black'
berries.
Briefly, his feur acres Is to-day a BID
fortune. 1t Is, literally every inch 3
Eatdcn! And these four acres are al
that this man can handle or cares to
have. His ong acre Of meadow produces
six crops Of alfalfa year. lie now In.
cows, horses, pigs, In fact lie gets more
out OF these four acres Of sand and
gravel thnn my good friend, Gen. Bid
well. gets out Of any forty acres Of all
his $1,000, And this Is the way Tor
CNlifonians to make California populous
and proftable-to cure the country Of
tranips and communists, And now
propose the greatest scheme on this coni
tinent Look ut the map. Like new
moon the vast level valley OF the Sacre.
mento sweeps away from this tip a tld
upper horn around past the capital, Slrl
ramentO City, then down to San Frani
cisco, Well, turn the Sacramento river
out OF its bed here above bedding anl
let 1t flow down and I'LL the hungry llVl'
low OF the nloonl Then will tho fertility
and eternal richness Of Egypt DO once
more with us as OF old.
It all very easy, urged this same
thing years ago, have gone over ali tlld
ground, and know what 1 say. 0f
course was laughed at years ago, aud
derided rs lover Of Slexicans, and all
that sort Of argument. And even now
one little paper Is pounding me for urg'
ing this greatest state measurG and
charging me with having come up front
Mexico filed with Mexican ideas. But
time will settle 1t all my way and show
that am entirely right Lam very NM
bilious, however, to shorten the time u
suffering for those thirsty and painting
brutes that stand in tie burhiha dust
under the noble old oaks over all tliese
thousand OF square miles down toward
San francisco.
took horse and rode oft over the
hot heaps Of 'tailings" that liz on tllt
deserted and worked oft thines this
morning. found the few farmers WHO
have settled down without tint sccur ny
water for irrigation not in good heart.
Things are burning up where they ars
not irrigated. But where watr 1owf
all things are rank, anil full, and fairly
tropical. And so let ME put down the
invitation to this, or, indeed, an; part Oi
California, with this qualification: SetNs
almost anywhere, for the Land Is oil rich,
and farm or grow stock, II you caH have
water. Otherwise It Is too murli u n
lottery. You may strikea -lleatel term"
like this, and have allyOur apples turned
to ashes,
Thirty years ago, when came here, d
great ditch flooded all the place. Watef
was sold at 20 cents per inch at the head
Of the sloping mining region. Then Il
was sold a second, third and fourth tlmq,
atscaling or declining figures, till 1t flowed
into the Sacramento near this town,
Senator Jones, Of Nevada, not long a,;t
tried to restore the great ditch. hui
after investing a great tnany thousanLt
he let his noble enterprise stop. And 80
the whole world is simply scorehing and
blazing and burning up, Small farmers
who hoped the ditch would be restored
are sitting by helpless and discouraged.
And the sight Of them makes mo cautious
here today, The truth is, II all this
countTy-this side Of Arizona, where tho
great rainfall finds its limls-must pm
its future to irrigation. all these great
rivers must ultimately flow over tllese
great valleys, Then surely seed.Hms
and harveSttime Shall not fdL -Reddina
(Call Cor. Chicago Times.
Andrew jackson In Sew YsTIL
l recall one day wlnn, through its
whole extent, Broadway was crowlclto ID