The sun., 1893-10-04
What Water Does for Dry Lands.

What Water Does for Dry Lands.
There will assemble next week. at Los
Angeles. an International Irrigation Con-
gress, which. according to the circular no.
tlce sent out by Secretary GRESHAM to our
diplomatic officers In foreign lands. will
probably be attended by about thousand
delegates. many OF them from the arid re-
gions Of this country.
This important gathering is the result Of
the Irrigation Congress held at Salt Lake
two years ago. while the invitations to all
the world to take part in it were drawn up
by the Department Of State at the request
of the Mississippi Congress held last
April at Ogden.
The place Of meeting is well chosen
Los Angeles is the commercial centre Of
southern California. whose prosperity is
largely the result OF irrigation. Ten years
ago it was a quiet. semi-Mexican town OF
$4,000 people. but its population has since
increased more than fivefold. At that time
the assessed property Of the county was
$4,000 900; now it is ss4OOoOOO. Indeed. no
better illustration can be given OF the value
of irrigation in redeeming arid lands. and
80 adding to the public wealth. than the one
which is afforded by the five California
counties OF Los Angeles. Orange. San Ber-
nardino, Riverside, and San Diego.
There are now in these counties about
threescore irrigation compani, ;. some Of
them consisting OF landowners who have
united to make their fields fertile, while
others are corporations that sell water at
fixed prices. This water is obtained from
running streams. from storage reservoirs
or artesian wells. or In some cases by build
Ing underground dams to force the subter-
ranean flow to the surface. The Spanish
priests who brought in ditch small head
Of water from a neighboring stream to the
gardens Of the Missions. are looked upon as
the first irrigators in southern California; !;
but the system as we see 1t to-day dates
back only to about the year 1870. when the
bitches at Anaheim. Riverside. Duarte. and
Pasadena were started.
1t appears from the statements Of the
publication committee OF the forthcoming
Congress, that while the average value Of
irrigated lands. including improvements.
ranges from $Sl 40 an acre in Wyoming to
$50 an acre in California. the general
average being $s3.2s. there are individual
cases OF regions devoted to fruit culture
in which the rise of value has been almost
incredible. Lands" we are told that
were worth from 80 cents to SIS per acre
have. by the expenditure Of from $40 to $40
per acre in the construction OF irrigation
works, become worth $500 per acre and up
ward. Such lands. set out with citrus trees.
have within ten years OF planting sold at
ST. 900 per acre and more" Stock growing as
well as horticulture Is benefited by irriga-
ton, since pastures are kept green and fresh.
and yield heavy crops Of hay. Alfalfa. the
great forage crop OF that region. is made to
give from five to eight cuttings in season.
and corn also yields more abundantly with
irrigation. Naturally the amount Of water
furnished varies according to the crop. the
soil, and the judgment OF the farmer.
Citrus trees. which require more water than
any others. are generally irrigated every
four weeks during the summer; orange
trees. about six times annually; apricots,
peaches. prunes. and muscat grapes three
times; olives and corn only once; alfalfa
after every cutting Grain is not irrigated.
as the farmer can plough in December. sow
in January and harvest in May. the usual
winter rains from December to April being
enough to produce fine crop Of wheat or
barley. Sugar beets. also, are not irrigated.
The oldest irrigated settlement OF i'm
portance In southern California is Anahem.
In 1857 fifty residents OF San Francisco Of
German descent. united their funds to buy
a tract OF 1.l65 acres on an arid plain south
west OF Los Angeles for So an acre.
including a right to water. The men,
bers Of the colony were workingmen OF
almost every occupation. except farmers"
They chose competent manager. and built
a ditch seven miles long from the Santa
Ana. Vines and fruit trees were planted,
and three years later were bearing fine
crops upon what had been an arid waste.
Then the colonists thought the time was
ripe to take possession OF their lands. The
average cost to each stockholder for his
twenty-acre tract had been 81 ,OsO, and many
OF those tracts to-day are worth 5000 to
$4,000. while the lots now included in the
town of Anaheim are worth ten times as
much. About 1000 car loads OF farm prod
ucts are exported each year from that place.
In 1871 the desolate plain now occupied by
Riverside had not house. fence. tree,
or even bit OF brush upon 1t. and was as
scssed at only rs cents an acre. Last year
Riverside exported about $500 car loads OF
oranges. worth $500 car load. from its
nearly 10000 acres OF orange groves The
assessed valuation OF its property Is nearly
Sc, 600 900. and its banks last year carried
average deposits OF 81 .2OO.O 900, That repre-
sents another result of bringing water from
the Santa Ana River upon barren plain
Less than twenty years ago the san Pas
quail rancho was sold at S5 an acre. Water
was brought to 1t from tho mountains.