New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-22
THE DESERT TO BLOOM
WHAT IRRIGATION WILL DO FOR SOUTHERN
AND LOWER CALIFORNIA
,,r CT. SERPENT At BREAKFAsT-THH LAST

IRON Az OCCASIONAL cokRtsio'''"' co,,r,,,,oo
los Angeles Cal, sept i4-Iho 80 go 49, ha,.o
On Irrigation and Reclamation OF n,'e o.a a,,a,.
ten here for several days ahe nov 90. -,
utser than when they arrived lHS -,
in irrigation by the Federal cove $50 =,
,o.,,,,ed IN erra. good for instance 'o pooPio "a
tesuip" d" -. which occupies tho very south
can p'e0 - ,he Tinted states, have ascertained
Yves. Vo'io' -, made that they have nearly four
,r,o .cres Of the finest SOIL IN the "oilu onS
.,.,n tor water to become the gaTucn spot Oh 'nls
waluhs Ior This land is the Colorado Desert"
% ~ 10 the west of the Colorado River and TO
mn"" ., the Coast Mountains in San Diego County
vac e.a,ors had testimony of experts given
~. hoving that the soil almost identical with
os, If the Nile delta. That this region can all be
,,gatsa and that comparatively slight expense
., easv Of demonstration these facts seemed to i'm
nsss the Senators and will probably form an I'm
nortant feature of the report
G. ihern California soil, however, manages 10 be
rrolAc even without irrigation Senators Reagan
and stewart when viewing the exhibits of products
arra1ged for their inspection by the Chamber OF
Commerce at san Diego, were shown special eN-
bibit comprising the following: stock beet forty-sN
inches long and twenty-nine inches in circumference
= squash $50 pounds in weight and sNtySM mche9
in circumference; pumpkin 1913 pounds In weight
and seventy-six inches in circumference wafer
melon 0! ninety one pounds and 30 inches III circum-
ference; a colard weighing twenty pounds ana meas
uiing twenty seven inches around; an apple Uur'co"
and a half inches around, weight two POUNDS sugar
beet thirty inches long and twen'FeiehV ''0nV9
around, weight fifty pounds; sivet-SMh oN"o"
eighteen and half inches around weight ,"O "iy
a half pounds and a number of other prouuc's Vi
similar PROPORTIONS "Tuesc." said the menlDer Vi
The Chamber who was explaining matters were
all ra sed without any irrigation"
"Cood Lord said Senator stewart " II you can
rroduce sucb things without irrigation, what IN hedV
ems name will you do when you get tnal "SI''iio"'
desert under cultivation with Irrigation
a, . ,,o,ter Of fact the possible reclamation OF the
d.crt will probably be used strong argument IN
favor Of the acquisition Of Lower California ny the
Tpited states when the facts OF the case become gen
o,aIv known. Representative Nandcver has preached
This proposition in Congress, and Throughout sou'Iefh
california there is a strong feeling that the PENN
stJa should and must belong to the United States
This feeling IS of course fosered by those who favor
a division OF California into North and South Lower
California II is asserted would make the StAe Oh
South California well prOporuoned and enrich IT, 10
return TO the desert however, competent engineers
assert that the only practical way Of inieaiing IL
would be from the Colorado River and that the only
available point 10 tap thai river by an irrigation canal
is i,nt over the Mexican line and that the canal
would have 10 extend for several miles westward DC
low the line before turning north. Nearly nan Oh
the desert extends into Lower California ana IN that
territory there are about two million acres of superb
so
for use on this side Of the line. 1t is not an I'M
practicable proposition. this canal; practical is 10
that the senatorial Committee requested the best IN
formed man on the matter In southern California 10
report in detail the project. This man is Colonel
william Denton an engineer of ability, who has made
this desert and its possibilities study for years He
has explored IT, and surveyed It, with view
10 bringing il. portion OF II. under
IRRIGATION | interviewed the Colonel at the same
limo that he appeared before the Senators and obtained
.he following condensed statement Of his theory.
To take the river north OF the Mexican line would
be impractcabe7 he said, on account of tine cutting
necessary through the mountains and the immense
sand dunes 10 traverse. There is, In fact but one
point at all adapted to canal cutting, and that is
short distance the line. where slate formation
the river and where the foothills come down
to the river. The basin OF the desert is the finest
soil imaginable, composed of alluval and marine de
posts There millions of acres of it. 1t is
simply superb and extends from twenty TO forty feet
in depth. The canal that l propose would at no
point be three miles south of the line. The
river water would enter the canal at point Ito or
100 feet above sea-level. The lowest point in the
deserts basin is 266 feet below sea-level For eX-
ample, the water at the point of entrance would be
much higher than any point on the southern PACING
Railroad where it crosses the desert from between
seven Palms and Indo stations to point between
Flowing Well and Mammoth Tank stations
distance of over 100 miles. lndiO is 20 feet below
sealevel Walters. 1915 feet below SaltOn, 2G3 feet
below; Frnks. go feet below; Volcano Springs, 90
eet below, and Flowing Well only feet above sea
level
In 1879 1 got Professor Justin s. Moor, of the
California Academy of sciences, TO visit that portion
Of the desert thinking of retaining and report
On H. Among other things in his report, he says:
As to the soil think it the richest In America In
fact, know of but region in the world that will
compare with it fertility and that is the delta of the
mont
the soil will support dense population any in
the world The canal projected would bring
under cultivation least two.thirds OF this great
tracts
Tie serpent is Of perennial interest in his Oc
casonal appearances on the Atlantic Coast, but has