The state herald., 1891-07-24
IRRIGATED FARMS

eTutiOn bHectinE tne WchnSooA suo 49,
ss whole which has ever confronted the
people of California. IL will be conceded
without question that It is In tks develop
ment Of her agricultural and hoftiSulturst
possibilities that the greatest and most
permanent sources Of wealth and Dsuspsr-
lty In this State arc TO 10 found. Wills
1t IL true that many branches Of the
industries mentioned have been sucoess.-
fully pursued in various localities without.
the aid OF Irrigation, yet 1t must be con-
coded that development on those lines has
nearly II not quite reached the utmost ex-
tent Of which II is capable. Further
progress to any considerable extent must
depend In great measure upon The facil-
ity with which land and water may be-
brought into the closest relationship. For
many years II was consibered Q msSk Of
superiority for any particular locality n
be able 70 claim that crops couid anosw
without irrigation Why this should
have been SO Is one Of those thinss that
passes understanding. Whom u isslsssnsG
that, through irrigation, tho single great
clement Of chance IL eliminatedifrom the
operations of the isymer, who ID thereby
made independent Of the freaks and
idiosyncrasies Of the weather and 10 en-
abled to plow and plant 70 the sbsolute'
certainty Of harvesting, whether the RAIN
fall be light or heavy, one would naturally,
suppose that such boon would % ro'
garded as little less than priceless- Csr- =
tainly II an eastern farmer were asked
what was the greatest drawback under
which he laborcd, ho would sssuredly 70
ply that y was the painful irregulsrity OF
the rainfaN,, through which his fields ware =
liable to be flooded NJ one time or burned
up at another, urd wese he TO be assured
that an easily found remedy existed there-
for he would go to any extent TO avail
himself thereof. Without exception,
wherever irrigation enterprises have been
iusugurated, there has beon . rapid
growth both in population and wealth.
Thousands Of acres OF hithepto worthless
lands have been converted into orchards
and vineyards of phenomenal productive.
ness. Cities and towns have spruog up mi
an almost magical manner, rsirosdS have
been built in every direction, and wsAlthi
has multiplied bv tens Of millions. On Shs'
other hand, with few exceptions, the uS
irrigated sections havo either stood still
or have sstusily retrograded. Population
bus in many cases fallen on, wealth has
| decreased and general cra Of stagnation
has set in. The old csy Of tho lack Of ne.
cessfty for irrigation las lost its force.
II is tYug il 10 sometimes heard. but the
question neod no longer 10 discussed II
| Ia suffisaen 10 point tU the underinhis
records shc,ptag the comparative prug1oss
Of irrigated xss unirrigated sectiosA.-
San francisco Chronicle.
Dcmius advicos statc that the Rio
Grande Irrlssting .Company's eugineers
have completed iheir work on the Mimbrcs
and Deming canal and the contractors aFa
working In full force and expect to co..
plete the canal TO Demisg by September
| .. This line Is only twenty-five miles
long and can be chcsply aud quickly con.
| structed. The object in building II first.
| is that the company can show the rcsultsl
| Of irTigAtioa hero soouer than at any
other poet. however, they don't con.
| slider its Importance equal to the great
systcm Of irrigation which they hope 70
build In the Rio Grsnde valley. The e,a-
giuecYs leave Deming OH the lssh fon
Albuquerque, where they will ut once rum
| q connecting linz IRON Aibuquerque 10
| Santa Cruz cansu, whcr, engineer Audss'
son OF Colorado will meet them on the ls&.
and hand in his estimates aud plans for q
dam at Santa Cruz, und also for tho first
section OF iiity miles on the east side Of
tho river to u point opposite Albuquerque.
Construction begins Us soon as tho sa'
ginecrs are ready with plans and apecid-
cations.
one Of the greatest attractions Of tho
western section Of Colorado 10 the extss-
sive orchards and the excellent quality Of
fruit grown upon the trees old enough to
bear. The fruit crop Of this season win
surpass anything ever known to Colorado.
Thousands Of trees will bear for the fiSs,:
time aud thousands have been plantcta
which In lew years will add their quota
TO the constantly increasing fruit crop.
The time Is fast approaching when tho
amount Of fruit raised IN western Colo.
RADIO will be sufficiently large to admit Of
its being shipped over the range 70 assist
In supplying the markets of tho eastern
part Of the state. The home market and
the mining cities aud towns will consume
u greater portion OF the fruit for Year, 70
come but n small portion will find It's way
out To show to the doubling public
that California fruit cannot coAparo
with that OF western Colorado.
One OF the largest concrete dams 10 the
world was reosnty completed at BcctA
loo, South Australia, having been con.
strucicd by the government OF that colony
To store water for irrigation purposes. Il
was commenced In ls,, aud the work has
been carried out maiuly under the dircc.
tion OF MIR. A. B, MoGcricf. engineer. In.
chief The time OF construction was two
years and six months. About ~, 90 cubic
yards of cement concrete were rcauIrcd.
The height OF the wrir Is 10 feet and tho
width on top Is /, feet Tho .ength 4,
so fo.t. Tue capacity OF tho reservoir
made by the dam Is abJu, soo.oJo, ,OoO gal
Ions. The total amount expended In thc..
irrigation works has been y, tlo, 200. IN,
dam itself having COS, to;o,ooo.
Mr. l.. q, Trcd Of Kansas City is sbou.
to begin tho work Of completing tho Coli.
rado Irrigation Canal, In eastern Colorado,
MI Teed ID ahtkpcrt at this work, an.
has thu financial sup OFT OF eastern cspv
tn!ls's who have thoroughly Investigated
the matter and aio conndcnt OF It's being
u grand success Tho water from IN,
canal VIII come from the Arkan,a. river
aud viii bring under cultivation = Isrrc
quantity OF lani witch only needs water
TO make II very productive.
From the numbrr of persons and cor
porAtions whl want To build dItrh,, 4,