Deming headlight., 1893-06-24

NHoi
From The Irrigation Aee1
a prominent weekly publication 81
San Francisco, In a lengthy editorial
upon irrigation, makes this assertion a.
lis iext' Artificial irrigation, however
obtained. whether from arioslan wells
or canals, for the distribution Of water
oyer the lauds, Il never 40 profitable a.
that which comes from natural rainfall.
II u difficult 10 understand how any
one who reads the current literature Of
the day, or who has followed the won
dcrful development OF California dur.
Ing the last twenty ycafa, could make
an assertion Of this Kind ID the face Of
all the easily accessible facts to prove
lts erroneousnese. The simple fact that
the lrrlgator ls independent Of the rain
fall and can produce cropa year after
year with no failure, which will be
granted by every one conversaut with
the facts, ought to be enough 70 turn
the scale In favor Of irrigation.
II Il very true that Il matters could be
so arranged that there might be abund.
ant rainfall everywhere at the proper
season, neither too much nor TOO little,
then there would not be 40 great pro.
tlt Ia artificial irrigation as 10 depend.
cnce ON clouds. But no such happy To-
calliles have yet been found In The
world On the other hnnd, no farmer
need be told Of the grieyoua losses that
have been sustained because OF the fail.
ure Of needed rain and the absence Of
any other means for supplying the
moisture, without which plant growth
Of any kind must suffer.
To prove the erroneous nature Of the
statement quoted, one needs only look
At the remarkable success which has
attended the experiments made In west
ern New York by A. A. Cole, the origin
ator Of peculiar system Of underground
irrigation. In that ease few acres OF
formerly barren hillside have been made,
simply by irrigation, to yield returns 50
far superior to anything heretofore 80.
cured Ia the best soil Ia the most favor.
able locations, yet where the natural
rainfall was depended upon solely fer
moisture, that many have refused 10 be-
lieye the accounts until convinced by
actual demonstration. A single acre Of
land, irrigated by Mr. Coles system, will
yield as much a. ten acres not so treated.
Tho value Of irrigation Is becoming
more and more appreciated every yeaT,
aud the practice Is spreading Ia sections
wherc, for centuries, the rainfall was the
only dependence. How, then, can any
Intelligent, well posted man say that ar
tlilclal Irrigation can never be so profit
able as dependence solely upon raiufallg
When the arid region OF tho States IL
considered, Tho wonder becomes still
greater that such PROPOSITION could be
stated Ia all seriousness. Al least n
third Of the entire county Is included
within the limits OF what has been de.
slgnated as the arid region. Within
that region the average annual rainfall
Is rather less than twenty Inches, Care.
ful observation shows that while some
crops may be matured with so limited
rainfall as that noted, still, rs general
proposition, Il may be laid down that
uniformly successful farming cannot
be carried on Que year with another un.
der such conditions. Hence Il becomes
necessary 20 resort 10 an artificial supply
Of moisture. With that supply the far
mer becomes Ut oncA Independent OF the
rainfall, and can depend upon the pro-
ductlon Of good crops year after year
with the certainty Of not encounterlng
any failure, at least, from the lack OF the
necessary amount OF moisturei aud at the
same time the farmer finds that u much
smaller amount Of land need be cultivat-
cd with irrigation Ia order 10 produce
certain results than Ia the case where
the rainfall 10 the sole dependence.
Coming close home, the question 4
once suggests itself lrreslstablly, whore
would the rasin vineyards, the orange or
charda, the alfalfa hslds Of California be
today, were Il not for irrlgaiiong The
answer Is simply that they would never
have sprung Into existence al all Where
too Is there any unirrlgaled land, that
Yields such large returns rs thvao vine.
yards, orchards aud alfalfa neldui
Where Is there any great exieut Of unir-
rlgaicd land, live, ten hF twenty acres OF
which will support family Ia comfort
IA will such trncts Ia nn irrigated sec.
ilOny II lsR we'll known fact that Ger.
tain parts Of this etAte base one OF theii
claims for superiority upon the assertion
that "lfrigallOn "a not needed" Yet al
the anne time thOse very districts are
now engaged 10 the work Of organizing
Irrigation schemes under the state laws
They have seen the benefits 20 be derlv,
ed from a comprehensive system Of lrrl.
CATION aud are anxious % participate
ihoreln. The very fact that the rainfall
here IA light and that irrigation must b,
reaOried n, Is one ~ the most valuabl,
factors ia the progress ofthe state. Were
there nn abundant rain fall en that arlin
clal moisture was not needed, how wOliit
the millions of trua OF raeina and nihoi
lfelis be prepared FOR murkcti Every
one knows that this could not be proper
~ or economically done by nfllnca
heat. A long dry season ID nn essontla
for these industries, and such aeneol
must he accompanied with lrrlgatlukl
suppnat the eaftern farmer was tol'
that he cnuld make himself Independent
~ the rainfall and be assured oi pfnduc
Ing uniform crops year after year
Would be not hall such propagation
with pleasuref Would be not cnnsldr
| Il W luhulle vnluel Yet lhlt "a sxaoll
what lrrleatlnn does. WHO then say
that artificial irrigation can never 10 d
valuable ue the present uncertain rain
lAIl. With an 10 AIlAndAnl loAa. Aa mnn