Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-09-03
JOAQUIN MILLER ON CALIFORNIA.
Irrigation Needful to Increase Califor-
MAS Agricultural Prosperity.

1OOllSnly 1OuSnt the Mexican methods
of agriculture. He insisted that nature
would provide the rain. Indeed, l once
heard a preacher, who was fighting
rather against the priests than for his
followers, insist from the pulpit that it
was sinful to irrigate. And his text
was that God sends His rain on the
just and the un just" And so to-day
look away, 300 miles to the SOUTH and
see brown land cleaning and glitter
ing under the precipitate sun, with the
unhappy settlers sweltering in 104 de-
grees of heat. Not spear of verdurel
Not a sign of any green thing, save the
solemn and impressive old oaks that dot
the boundless scene and shelter the
sheep and cattle, and pigs. But many
of the creatures must perish. The val
ley is, of course, sparsely settled. And
how could it be otherwise where we
have farms with go, 600 acres!
But away over yonder beyond the
capital, lies the less fertile valley of San
Joaquin, green. fruitful, restful; beauti-
full and bountiful as in middle May.
An all 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 letter to a friend of
mine near here 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 sand and gravel
and chapparaL 1t was so poor and
dusty and dry and withered, men tell
me, that even the rabbits would not live
there. But it was not more poor or
withered than the weary family that
had worked its way here on an old sail
ship coming out from Liverpool for
grain. And so they sat down on these
four dry and dusty heaps of sand and
stone to stay. Let us pass over the
wretchedness of the first year, during
which time the man dug a well, put in
windmill, raised rivulet of water,
and then planted his stoneheaps in black
berries.
Briefly, his four acres is to-day big
fortune. 1t is, literally, every inch
garden! And these four acres are all
that this man can handle or cares to
have. His one acre of meadow produces
six crops of alfalfa year. He now has
cows, horses, pigs. In fact, he gets more
out of these four acres of sand and
, gravel than my good friend, Gen. Bid
, well, gets out of any forty acres of all
, his 5000 And this is the way for
Californians to make California populous
, and profitable-to cure the country of
tramps and communists. And | now
, propose the greatest scheme on this con-
tiDpnt no, at tba ike
, moon the vast level valley of the Sacre-
, mento sweeps away from this tip of the
, upper horn around past the capital, Sac
, ramento City, then down to San Fran
cisco. Well, turn the Sacramento river
, out of its bed here above Redding and
let it flow down and fill the hungry hol-
low of the moon. Then will the fertility
and eternal richness of Egypt be once
! more with us as of old
g 1t is all very easy | urged this same
5 thing years ago, have gone over all the
2 ground, and know what | say. OF
5 course | was laughed at years ago, and
, derided as a lover of Mexicans, and all
5 that sort of argument. And even now
s one little paper is pounding me for urg-
ing this greatest state measure, and
1 charging me with having come up from
S Mexico filled with Mexican ideas. But
e time will settle it all my way and show
4 that | am entirely right. | am very am
4 bilious, however to shorten the time of
t suffering for those thirsty and painting
g brutes that stand in the burning dust
under the noble old oaks over all these
thousand of square miles down toward
f San Francisco.
/ / took horse and rode out over the
4 hot heaps of "tailings" that lie on the
deserted and worked out mines this
morning. | found the few farmers who
have settled down without first securing
4 water for irrigation not in good heart.
I Things are burning up where they are
t not irrigated. But where water flows
s all things are rank, and full, and fairly
e tropical. And so let me put down the
;, invitation to this, Or indeed, any part of
o California, with this qualification: Settle
d almost anywhere, for the land is all rich,
and farm or grow stock, if you can have
S water. Otherwise it is too much of a
S lottery. You may strike heated term"
4 like this, and have ali your apples turned
n to ashes.
; Thirty years ago. when came here, a
9 great ditch flooded all the place. Water
t was sold at IS cents per inch at the head
of the sloping mining region. Then il
) was sold second, third and fourth time,
Il at scaling or declining figures, till it flowed
Il into the Sacramento near this town.
Senator Jones, of Nevada, not long ago
l. tried to restore the great ditch. But
& after investing great many thousand:
g he let his noble enterprise stop. And SC
i the whole world is simply scorching and
; blazing and burning up. Small farmers
who hoped the ditch would be restored
are sitting by helpless and discouraged.
v And the sight of them makes me cautious
: here today. The truth is, if all this
e country-this side of Arizona, where the
o great rainfall finds its limits-must pin
e its future to irrigation. All these great
d rivers must ultimately flow over these
!, great valleys. Then surely seed-time
L. -. Il. 81 4.