The herald., 1897-06-07
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While there u no better advertisement
OF the great resources OF Southern Cali
fornda than place irrigated In economi-
cal, neat and effective style. there are
few worse advertisements than bad irri-
cation. The idea Of irrigation among
those who have never seen It generally
ie that It IL q sort Of a makeshift by
which one who Is foolish enough to per-
sist in living In desert maN scratch
something out Of the ground to support
wretched existence without rain. That
1t Is an improvement on rain 90 great
that one who understands It would
rather never see drop of rain fall ex-
cept on the mountains that supply him
Is conception quite novel to a stranger.
The consequence is that wherever he
sees bad work OF any kind from irriga-
tion he thinks It the fault of the system,
the land, or the climate. The last thing
he thinks Of is that 1t il the fault Of the
irrigator.
Los Angeles city shows some very
fine irrigation and also some of the
worst. The place Of Mr. Forman, on
Pico street, Is one of the finest speci-
mems of good irrigation by flooding to
be found In the world. The checks OF
basins are large and regular, almost a
perfect level on the bottoms and so fed
that body of water can be quickly
spread over the whole of a very thin
sheet which in a short time wete the
whole evenly and uniformly to a depth
exceeding that of any ordinary rain. In
few hours the whole is almost diy
again upon the top. leaving no resem-
blance to a swamp, no suggestion of
malaria or any of the objections sup
posed to apply to irrigation. but showing
as clean and neat a place ae any, with a
productive power far in excess of what
can be done on any rainfall in any coun-
try.
Some OF the lawns Of Figueroa street
that are so leveled that they may be
quickly flooded by a good head of water
from the cement ditch In front, are as
fine as any that can be made by the
sprinkler. while the difference in the
cost Of management is very great. Still
greater is their ability to stand drouth.
Lawns SO treated will look we'll for days
oAA OAeSh ACi "CChS III tCIy LOl WtdtHeT
when those that have the roots trained
to the surface by constant sprinkling
will lose the brightness of their green
in two or three days of very ordinary
weather. With a few days of neglect
or shortage they are in such bad coalition
that 1t may take weeks to restore them,
whereas those trained by flooding are
easily brought back If they fail a little
from want of water.
While there are many places like theee
in Los Angeles. the majority are the
other way. Within the city limits one
can see more bad work than in almost
any other part of Southern California.
The bad oranges that abound in so many
quarters are almost wholly the result of
bad methods of watering. for there is
nothing in soil or climate that should
make them bad. Although it Is not the
best Of the orange belts, good orange
can still be raised here. But good one
cannot be raised anywhere in California
by bad work. Orchards of other fruits,
making very poor showing solely from
bad irrigation, are almost as common
as those that injure the reputation of
the country from having no water at all
and no cultivation. Too much water or
even the right amount wrongly applied
will spoil the yield and especially the
appearance Of any kind of an orchard.
And even alfalfa, which should do
very well anywhere in or around the
city, has in many places dilapidated
look, resulting solely from too much
water or water allowed to stand too
long or too deep upon it.
Outside the city irrigation is much the
same in the western part of this county.
Ae we approach Pomona 1t grows much
better and in the counties of San Ber-
nardino and Riverside the finest work
in the world can be seen on every hand.
The success they have had in selling land
and the high prices sustained by the
lands on the falling market of the COL
lapse OF the boom have been due almost
wholly to the fine showing made on
every hand. The neat and beautiful
work done at Redlands in imitation Of
Riverside and Highlands has had as
much to do with the rapid settlement
of that place as anything else.
On the other hand it is as certain that
places having as good conditions for
fruit growing have been held back by
bad work that strangers could not un-
derstand. The stranger buying land is
much like the capitalist buying bonds.
He wants no explanation. He demands
a clean slate. The more you have to ex-
plain the worse off you are. That IS
why Redlands sells land at such high
figures. Minneola, with good soil, good
water and climate like that of Antelope
valley, has been cheated out Of at least
a years growth by allowing persons
ignorant Of the first principles of irriga-
ton to take a head of two hundred
inches Of water and turn it loose on dry
soil with a slope of twenty-five feet to
the mile without either grading or
checking and then plant things on the
ground so unevenly wet. In Kern and
other counties, on the San Joaquin, there
are dozens of places ruined with alkali
and many Of them abandoned, simply
spoiled from excessive and ignorant use
Of water 1t Is the same in other states
and Pecoe valley, New Mexico, with rich
soil, grand waterworks and plenty of
water is "hoodooed" into several years
sleep simply because any stranger who
sees 1t will swear the soil is too alkaline
for any uee. It is merely ruined with
bad irrigation.
While California shows the best irri-
cation in the world there is no excuse
for any Of the wretched work we see.
The water supply of Los Angeles is am
pie and can be had In heads convenient
for the best work. The soil. climate and
kn~x i, 4. 1.