the use of water at a time when it is now almost everywhere allowed to run to the

sea.

Where a country is underlaid by sheet rock very near the surface, through which the water can travel only in fissures, moisture cannot be retained very long by any

means.

But where the subsoil is porous and retentive of moisture, or where the top soil is very deep and of about the right mixture of clay, sand and gravel, the length of time it will hold moisture enough for many crops is very great.

Southern California ships annually about fifteen hundred carloads of beans that are raised without irrigation and generally without rain, and always without rain that amounts to anything. The grower aims to keep the seed out of the ground until the last rain of the season is over, so that he can start out with the ground so cultivated that the winter weeds and grass are killed. The beans will then get ahead of the summer weeds and grass, which are much later. Consequently the entire crop is raised on the moisture stored in the ground from the winter rains and retained by good plowing and pulverization of the top soil into a mulch. Corn and many vegetables are raised in the same way, while over one-half the entire fruit crop of the State and probably four-fifths of the deciduous fruit trees never get a particle of water or rain after the setting of the fruit. It is difficult to see why this cannot be done anywhere else where the depth of soil or porous subsoil is great enough, as it is on the greater part of what is called desert. If the winter rainfall of twenty inches, of which one-third runs off and is lost in direct surface evaporation, will do it, it is certain that a foot or fourteen inches in depth from a ditch will do the same thing where the summer is not too hot and dry. And where it is so hot and dry as to need more water, it will not need what it would had the ground not been wet in winter. And on the greater part of it the raising of a fair crop of grain on ground thus thoroughly wet should be an easy matter without farther wetting, and enough for a profitable crop of hay a certainty.

The difference in California between the amount of water needed in the summer following a very wet winter and a very dry one is enormous. And still more surprising is the way the water in the ground

from an extremely wet one is carried ahead to the second year. After the very wet winter of 1883-4 when, on the greater part of the lowlands, forty inches of rain fell in four months, hardly anything needed water until very late in the fall, and then it was needed mainly by oranges and lemons in full bearing. Almost everything that matured its fruit by September was fine without any irrigation. Crops of corn equal to the best ever seen in the prairie states were common all over the uplands a hundred feet from any subterranean water and leagues beyond the influence of any coast fogs or moisture.

The next winter was a very short rainfall with very bad distribution. Yet the effects of the great wetting of the year before were everywhere plain in the summer following this short rainfall. Crops of grain, corn, beans and various other things were raised everywhere on the uplands to an extent that would have been utterly impossible on the amount of rain of that second winter.

If

Probably two feet of water entered the ground that wet winter. There are few irrigation systems that are worth anything that cannot in addition to the summer supply furnish at some time of the year this quantity of water to consumers. in a state having a wet winter season like California, the rainy period is generally long enough to put more water than that amount into the ground; if on a desert like the Colorado where the high water comes during the irrigating season the winter is long enough, and there is then water enough in the river to fill the ground quite well. There are exceptions, as on the Rio Grande, where I have seen the winter-flow insufficient to wet much territory. But I have seen times there in the spring when a vast amount of water went to waste that could have been employed somewhere in filling up the subsoil. As a rule there is at some time plenty of water under any system that could be had without extra charge and in addition to the regular water-right, as it costs nothing to carry it in aqueducts already built. But so far as I have seen, the fault lies not with the companies, but with the consumers, who will not use the water but prefer to take their chances on there being plenty in the dry season.

If water cannot be stored above ground the next best place is in the ground, and

The first is that it chills the soil too much. For oranges, lemons and a few other things ripening at this time, care should be taken against applying water too cold. But for grain, deciduous fruits and all crops not planted until warm weather, such as corn and beans, it can do no harm. In California most deciduous fruits are all the better for being held back by cold ground, as is shown by the superior quality of the mountain fruit over that of the lowlands. Some, such as

cherries, apples and some varieties of plums and pears, actually demand a soil. cold in winter. Probably such is the

case in all the lands of sunshine.

The second objection often made is that if the season turns rainy toward the end, you then have the soil too wet. The winter of 1883-4, above referred to, proved that in California there is little in this objection. On all ground well enough drained to be fit for oranges or lemons at all, the quality of the fruit was not in

winter. On low ground, trees of many kinds were killed, and some of the raisins grown on them were too watery, but there was no trouble with anything on the uplands. While there is in some places a possible danger of having the ground too wet, there is more of having it too dry. And while the quality of fruit may be impaired by over-irrigation, the danger is seldom alarming. Men do suffer from overwork, but there is much more suffering from under-work. It is the same with spoiling flavor with too much water. And if you are working the ground for lucre instead of glory, it may even pay to sacrifice flavor to size. For, deplore it as we may, man is still the master fool of the universe, and first, last and all the time he grabs for the largest fruit, whether fresh, canned or dried, and gladly pays for looks what he will not pay for merit.

NOTE.-Owing to the fact that our offer to allow editors to use T. S. Van Dyke's articles, provided due credit was given THE IRRIGATION AGE, and also provided the articles were not used consecutively, has been grossly abused in many cases, the offer is now withdrawn, and the copyright will be fully protected.

VERY frequently good reservoir sites

VERY

are found without any adequate watershed which is directly tributary to them and from which they can be filled. In such cases, of course, the reservoir sites are valueless as such, unless water from some adjoining watershed can be conducted into them. Before a reservoir site is condemned and rejected on account of not possessing a watershed sufficient to fill it, an examination should be made to determine the practicability of filling it from some other adjacent watershed. Surveys for this purpose should be made of the watershed under contemplation in the same manner as has been recommended in the case of a watershed directly tributary to the reservoir site, with the following additions: A suitable point or points of diversion should be selected at a sufficient elevation above the proposed reservoir site to permit the carrying of the water to be diverted from the point of its diversion into

the reservoir site at a point not lower than the top of the dam.

The survey of a line suitable for a canal or other conduit for carrying the water from the watershed to the reservoir site should be made with sufficient accuracy to give its length, grade, cross-section and other data necessary for estimating its cost. A canal of this kind is called a storage reservoir supply canal, as it is used to perform the function of supplying water to a storage reservoir.

Storage reservoir supply canals partake of the nature of other canals used for carrying water for irrigation purposes, and their construction must be carried out in accordance with the same principles which will be laid down for the construction of irrigation canals in one of the succeeding chapters devoted to that subject. There are a few differences, however, arising from the fact that their use is confined to the rainy and cold season of the year,

when they are sometimes required to carry very large volumes of water in a very short space of time. It therefore follows that they must be of much larger size and capacity than if the carrying of all the water required were evenly distributed over the entire season. To determine what the capacity of such canals should be, it is necessary to know the maximum floods from their watersheds and what portion of the flood-waters is required to fill the reservoir sites they are intended to supply.

Another point requiring special care is the construction of the diversion dams to take the water into such canals. The suddenness with which the floods rise and fall and the large quantities of water the dams are required to handle, make it necessary that they should be made very safe and strong. Should the diverting dam fail, the water needed to fill the reservoir might run to waste before the dam could be repaired, and another opportunity might not occur to obtain sufficient water for filling the reservoir before it would be needed. Hence the importance of perfect designing and construction of head works for such canals. Often the elevation of storage reservoir supply canals is considerably above sea level, so that even in warm climates there may be danger of their filling up with snow and ice at the time when they will be most needed. It is frequently the case in semi-tropical climates that considerable snow falls and cold weather occurs at high elevations just before and during the time of heavy rains. This being the case, canals in such places may be filled with snow and ice when the water comes down which they are intended to carry off. The way to overcome this difficulty is by the construction of snow-sheds to prevent the drifting, snow from filling the canal. These matters will be more fully discussed in the chapter on canals, but are referred to in this place for the purpose of showing which are the principal matters to be considered in making estimates of the cost of bringing the water from a watershed not directly tributary to a reservoir site into such reservoir site.

PROXIMITY OF RESERVOIR SITES TO LANDS SUSCEPTIBLE OF IRRIGATION.

In general, the points already discussed cover everything essential to impart value to a storage project. Sometimes, however, reservoir sites are found so distant from lands where the water can be used for

irrigation that the cost of bringing the water to the lands, added to the cost of the reservoir, is greater than the profits to be realized from the enterprise will warrant. This is especially the case where an artificial channel to convey the water for the whole distance has to be provided. It is, therefore, always a part of prudence and good practice on the part of an irriga. tion engineer to know what will be the expense of conveying the water proposed to be stored by a reservoir to the lands where it is intended for use. For this purpose surveys of one or more practicable routes from the reservoir site to the point of delivery on the land to be served should be made.

These surveys should be made with sufficient precision to furnish the data required for making thoroughly reliable estimates of cost. In cases of reservoirs very distant from lands susceptible of irrigation, it is often possible to convey the water in the natural channels of rivers and streams for the greater part of the way. Thus it is often feasible to make a large saving in the expense of constructing artificial channels by utilizing those which nature has already provided. It does not follow, however, that all which is necessary is to find a natural river or creek channel in which the water will flow down to or near the place required. It often occurs that the loss of water in such conduits is so great as to make their use impossible. This point must therefore be investigated in order to find what will be the percentage of loss. Such examinations can either be made by actual measurements at times when water is flowing in the channels in question, or by comparison of the conditions and nature of the channels with others in which the percentage of loss is already known. It should be remembered, however, that the former method is always the more certain and reliable, and is therefore to be preferred.

A CORRECTION.

There was an error in the formula in the second column on page 19 of the July number being in line 23 of that column from the top in Finkle's article on Water Supplies. The error consists in making the fractional number & appear as a factor in the formula instead of as the coefficient of the factor A. The formula will then read as follows, which is the way it was intended: QSA (pef).-ED.

BY CLESSON S. KINNEY, OF

T is safe to say that California owes the greater portion of the prominence which that State occupies to-day to the results of irrigation. The localities where irrigation. has been practiced the longest and the most extensively have gained the widest reputation outside of the State. Almost every step taken in advance in California's prosperity, since the subsidence of the first great rush for gold, has been anticipated by new and more extensive irrigation developments. It is no exaggeration to say that were it not for irrigation the fame of California would be confined to the mining industry, and she would not have more than one-half of her present population. Without irrigation the major portion of the State, which is to-day thickly populated and in the highest degree productive, would still be in its original barren condition.

The methods of practicing the art of irrigation are many and diverse. We can also say the same of the laws regulating and controlling its practice. Its laws permit the acquisition and retention of water rights by means of all the known systems. One can acquire title to water rights by the means of prior appropriation, whereby he diverts the water from the natural channel and applies it to irrigating the soil or to some other beneficial purpose. The riparian proprietor is protected in his rights in and to the waters of the stream or the lake flowing over or adjoining his land, and greater license is allowed him than was permitted under a strict construction of the common law rules, in his being permitted to divert from the stream a reasonable amount of water for the purpose of irrigation. Rights acquired under the civil Spanish and Mexican laws, before California was transferred to the United States, are protected to the fullest extent. Also, at different times, statutory enactments have been passed by the State Legislature regulating and controlling the uses of water. And last, by the statutory enactments of 1887. and the subsequent amendments, the "District System," familiarly known as the "Wright Law," was created, which is without doubt the most

THE SALT LAKE CITY BAR.

one.

famous irrigation law in the United States, although it has been held by some courts to be unconstitutional. This view of the law seems to the writer to be the wrong But how the Supreme Court of the United States will decide the case which it has before it remains to be seen. But it is unfortunate for the people of California that the case could not have been decided this spring, instead of being kept under advisement over the long summer term. However, it may result in the case being decided right. It is a great subject. There are some of the old principles of law that may have to be modified. But there can

be no question but that the law, in a great degree, meets the needs and necessities of the arid West.

RIGHTS OF RIPARIAN PROPRIETORS.

It has always seemed strange to the writer that the legislature and courts of California should try to reconcile and retain principles of law governing waters so adverse to each other. Take, for instance, the laws of appropriation and diversion as against that of riparian rights. In the first, in order to hold the right, the water must be diverted from the natural channel of the stream and actually applied to some beneficial use. In the latter the stream must be permitted to flow, as it was accustomed to flow, without any substantial deterioration in quality or diminution in quantity.

One of the methods of reconciling these adverse propositions is seen in the case of Wiggins vs. Muscupiabe Land and Water Company, decided on the 5th of June, 1896, and reported in 45 Pac. Rep., 160, where it was held: That in determining the rights of riparian proprietors to the waters of a stream, for irrigation, it is within the power of a court of equity to apportion the flow by periods of time, rather than by division of the quantity, when such apportionment may be extended to the use of the water for domestic purposes, when necessary.

Mr. Justice Harrison, in rendering the opinion of the court in the above case, said: "The power of a court of equity to

apportion the flow of water in a stream to the respective riparian owners by periods of time, rather than by a diversion of its quantity, so that each may have the full flow of the stream during such designated periods, instead of a portion of the flow during all the time, when the circumstances are such that a division in this manner would better conserve the rights of all the riparian owners, was fully considered and established in Harris vs. Harrison, 93 Cal., 676. It was said in that case: 'According to the common law doctrine of riparian ownership, as generally declared in England and in most American states, upon the facts in the case at bar the plaintiffs would be entitled to have the waters of Harrison canyon continue to flow to and upon their land, as they were naturally accustomed to flow, without any substantial deterioration in quality or diminution in quantity, but in some of the western and southwestern states and territories, where the year is divided into one wet and one dry season, and irrigation is necessary to successful cultivation of the soil, the doctrine of riparian ownership has, by judicial decision, been modified, or rather

A

enlarged, so as to include the reasonable use of natural water for irrigating the riparian land, although such use may appreciably diminish the flow down to the lower riparian proprietor, and this must be taken to be the established rule in California, at least where irrigation is thus necessary.' In an arid country water for irrigation may become a natural want of man, as exigent as when needed for domestic purposes, since without it vegetation would cease, and the sources of life be indirectly destroyed. When, as in the present case, a stream, instead of increasing as it goes toward the sea, constantly diminishes, until it finally disappears, or ceases to have any appreciable volume, it is very evident that its beneficial use can be regulated better by periods of time rather than by a division of its quantity. A perpetual use of the water by all of the proprietors would be impracticable, for the reason that a perpetual use by the upper proprietor would, during a large portion of the year, entirely deprive the lower proprietor of any flow, and a just protection of the rights of both is best effected by a division in periods in time."

BY JOEL FURROW-MAKER is valuable to all classes of farmers in every section of the country. The irrigated districts require field furrows in order to properly distribute moisture. The prairie farmers need furrows to guide in planting and cultivating. Where land is level, furrows are beneficial in wet seasons for drawing the surplus water from the growing crops. In dry weather the same furrows retain what moisture falls, and distribute it by seepage and percolation to the roots of the crops in plats between the furrows. Furrows facilitate the cultivation and harvesting of crops. As every farmer must have more or less furrowing, the best, easiest and cheapest methods of making are always sought.

An old backwoods Western farmer has discovered what he thinks is a model method for making furrows. All his crops are rolled after planting, and as irrigation is required, he must have distributary furThese are made by having a furrow attachment upon the roller. His

rows.

SHOMAKER.

roller is made of wood. A big cottonwood log ten feet in length was hewn down to make the roller. Three feet from either end of the log he left the log full size and chopped down, sloping on either side, leaving the extra sap probably three inches wide on the outside. The main body of the roller is probably six inches lower than these rings of timber. In driving over the planted field, the roller levels the land and the rims of timber cut in and make the furrows.

To prevent the pieces of wood from breaking off, the entire rim was covered with an old wagon tire and spiked with twenty-penny wire nails. Straight furrows can be made as easily with the roller as with any other two-horse implement. The driver sits in the center in a spring seat and has nothing to watch but the course of the roller. This method could be used on rollers not made of logs just as well. Iron bands would answer the purpose if they were large enough and properly put upon the roller.