New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-02-02
SKETCH OF THE CANAL.
THE GREATEST IRRIGATION SCHEME IN THE
COUNTRY.

The Merccd Canal is the largest irrigation work
ever constructed in this country and represents
expenditure OF five years OF time and Sl500,000 Of
money II is expected TO irrigate about onequarter
Of huge county of Merced which lies in the heart
OF the San joaquin Valley. This county of the
granaries OF California 1t is protected from the cold
winds that sweep the Nevada plains by the
sIerras and from the harsh winds the by the
spur of the range Its soil is of great fertility,
and Its grain fields extend for miles without break,
looking, when the wind bends the tall grain like the
runied by a gentle breeze Merced County has
an area of 800 square miles, that 1t is nearly
large a. ths whole State OF Delaware. A tract of
4Oo square miles VIII bc Irrigated by the water from
this canal. The canal was begun in February, 1oe3,
and work has boon carried without any delays by
force Of from 200 to 500 men, The protector of the
Merced and he secured the assistance in his vast en-
terprse of Charles Crochet the Wi known aii9lna
railroad millionaire and vice president o the sOu,hin
Pacific Company Without the large wealth OF Mr..
Crocker the canal could never have been dug in five
years as II - safe to say thai no corporation wond
have furnished 50 promptly as he did the Big sums
digging Of the canal proved to lie a more formidable
have stood behnd it never lost faith in 'S lis
competition or in the great development that would
follow its opening
MAGNITUDE OF THE WORK.
Some idea Of the amount of excavation required
may be gained when It is stated that the canal is
seventy foe: wide the base, 100 feet wide AT the
top, and ten feet deep. The fall is one foot TO the
mile, sufficient to give good current to the water.
OF c,uSe the top sol! TO the depth of about two feet
was easily worked by ploughing IL up and scraping
tho loose earth up each sids but when the rock
struck trouble began Blasting was necessary
for the lower six eight feet all along the cal6 and
H. many rock OF extreme hardness was ehcoun-
tered
with its approac hes, is 44Oo feet lonS - feet wide
aud feet high II Is cut out OF the hard rock and
eight miles from Nerced, is 5000 feet long with us
spproaches - ioet vide and Ia t ieei e. high & the
snppon required for the roof and Sides No less
than l25o,o0o feet OF timber went into this tunnel mel
second has fall of ten feet, to the nile. Nothing
strongly these huge tunnels. with the swiftly flow
ing water and the massive approaches
caving Of the canal, while when the earth is soddcd
with natural grasses, there Will be absolutely 20 dan
Goat ordinary schooner 1t is now finished for
twenty-scven miles; reaching to within five mile, Of
which required long detour for th, canal to reach
SsrG sSed o. or e Rs ing OF tn? n ys u M and a
to bring the water into Merced in hIgo pipes. The
formidable In the whole undertaking. II required a
dam 900 feet long. made of earth and cement gravel
base 20 fee? wide at the tor. and Sd feet high.~a
built by the Spring Valley Water Company when
square @ s mile & While the average depth viii be thirty
feet. Il holds enough water TO irrgae 10000 acres
above the level Of the railroad track al Mered which
gives enormous pressure for the waler that is TO
carried from this reservoir to the town in s1teen-
Ge s ppn S@ PIP PIPE be SO s aog foot ~ trench The
branch mains will be six and eigh, inch iron pipes;
TWO ships are now on their way trom Philadelphia |
with this pipe. aud another Il losdfg al that city.
DANMING MErCED.
Another interesting feature Of tho work IS the enor-
nous dam and head gate in the MeIced River from |
which the is taken A dam of cobble stone and
timber has been placed atross the river two miles
below the MERGED Falls. fhls has raised the water
feet in the and so great is the natural flow
of the river. which fed from the everlasting SHOWS
Of high Sicrras about the Yosemite Valley, that
ample supply of water, even during the |
long dry season. Where tbs is brought in from
the river huge head gate OF timber is built, ninety
fcet wide II Is fine sight to see this gate opened
watch the great yOumc OF wafer pouring INTO
he canal company has the right to al
fact that the supreme Court ha. decided In favor of
the English Riparian law, the company proposes TO
Cont IS nullty for it were enforced would con
vert tho most promising colonies In southern Caior-
ago The coming Legislature will no doubt be called |
on TO modify the law IN some way so as TO recognize
the rights Of both the farmers and the
WHAT THr CANAL WILL DO
The present canal, has been said, is twenty |
seven miles long. 1t is estimated by the engineers |
that tho canal will rrlgate tract Of 100000 acres,
equal to about 465 square miles. This Is |
equivalent to One-thrd the Of Rhode Island The
system adopted wall be for the canal company to
build diches and head gates and for the owneIs Of
land construct the smaller dtches which Will con-
vey the to all parts of their tracts The canal
has been shrewdly lad out IL forms Inc avid
ing line between the good and the bad land In this
section of the Meroed Valley. To the east OF the
canal, the rsng ground to which 1t would be i'm
possible to carry water without pumping, the soil Is
thin, gravel which supports nothing but |
Jack rabbits and ground squirrels. On the west side
the country series Of high rolling grsvelly plains
for fifteen miles back from the river This land, to
the Eastern tourist looks very desolae In summer and
not attractive In winter. without water II Will
produce nothing ss the heat Of the sun dIes and
bakes It a. hard as brick With water, however, u
will produce almost anything, as has been dem |
onstraed in Los Angeles and San BcrnaI dino.
A French viney ard expert, who sent here |
about years by the Government Of France to
report on caornis wines, was taken ovor tho line Of
told were worth 300 an for wheat growing,
while this grsvelly tract could be had for acre
and regarded al that umo scarcely worth pay.
ing on lie analyzed some OF the soil, and then
said Mr.. Huffman: You think this land almost
worthless but In France regard II the best soil
for the choicest wine grapes, and 1t w day be
valuable than "a ssmo SS"r 9 With Sh1s tss a1 Certainly
raised tho value OF vineyard land In that county from
II IS part Of the scheme Of the canal company
to extend the great MERGED ditch twenty-five miles
beyond the town This WORK could be done done for one,
rgato another 400 600 acres of rich valley land
pow given to sna passnrsge ss n ss ior
County When this scheme will be carried out de
pends largely upon the owners of the land Inc pres
Ont canal far Ourun the original estimates OF
is cost that it's constructors desire to take breath
Ing spell develop this huge section OF Che aer
don .eSiSS SeS1' Is ssamrasy aS.psd to irrigation
H lies SO that water from the canal woud 10" over
I'll parts Of It.
PLANNING GREAT INDUSTRIES
The canal company owns about 10000 acres OF the
onest land along the ditch and controls about 10000
acres plan to develop this land and to
w TO sete this ROB valley with people who will own
sAs' own places. Tho land will be cut up into ool