THE GREAT BENEFITS DERIVED FROM IRRIGATION.

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enumerated in Inclosure No. 13, indicate more clearly than words can tell the story what results have arisen from irrigation in the lower portion of the San Joaquin Valley The barren, arid lands, lacking irrigation and devoid of vegetation, are shown; the water is seen running its way through the many ditches to perform its labors, and the irrigated fields are shown heavy with their growth from unity of sun, soil, and water; the thousand occupations arising from irrigation are made to appear as in the life; and after examining these photographs, if any one doubts the results of irrigation in a country valueless without it, he will have to come to Kern County, examine the reality, and abide by the result of his observations.

Inclosure No. 14, enumerating the various products which we have been able to raise through irrigation, and Inclosure No. 15, showing a comparison of taxable property, population, etc., in Kern County, as between 1867, prior to irrigation, and 1888, during its progress, also serve to show the results therefrom.

And now, in conclusion, gentlemen, let me say that what I have stated here in reference to the advantages and necessities of irrigation, the storage of surplus waters, and the construction of reservoirs, applies equally not only to Kern County but to the whole of California, and also to all of the now arid country lying tributary to the rivers having their sources in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains. The climatic conditions are the same, both in the valleys where irrigation is necessary and in the mountains where the sources of the water supply lie.

I can not in too forcible terms laud the object that your committee has in view. The most telling results as regards the future of the nation's agriculture can but ensue. I believe that Congress can not be too liberal in the appropriation of money to be used in ascertaining and selecting the best sites for such reservoirs or other storage works, and for the construction of the same. It is certain that whatever is expended will be returned to the Government a hundred fold, and to the nation a thousand fold.

The results of irrigation in Kern County, as here explained, are not by any means the only examples apparent in southern California, and I await with pleasurable anxiety the reports to your committee of the similar experiences of Tulare County, Merced County, Fresno County, San Diego and Los Angeles Counties, and other irrigating districts of California, which can but multiply the brightness of my predictions.

The results thus anticipated can not be accomplished in a year, or a decade, but will demand careful, continuous, and intelligent application, and a mighty Government's helping hand. Therefore, with congratulations to your committee and ourselves on the prospect of a long continuance of your labors so auspiciously begun, let me join my voice to the common sentiment of California that our records, experiences, and results are at your command, and that our best wishes and support attend your labors.

MEMORANDUM CONCERNING MAP OF A PORTION OF KERN COUNTY.

[Inclosure No. 1.]

This map shows that portion of the property in Kern County, Cal., lying to the north of Kern River and to the west of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which J. B. Haggin and his associates have already reclaimed, and are now in process of reclaiming, from an arid, unproductive state, by means of irrigation.

The shaded lines indicate the lands owned by the parties directly interested in this

work of reclamation and irrigation, and who also own the net-work of ditches through which such results have been and are to be effected.

An idea of the magnitude of these operations can be obtained from this map, keeping in view that the length already constructed of the Calloway Canal amounts to 32 miles, and that an extension is in contemplation of 11 additional miles to be of the same size as the present ca al, namely 80 feet wide on the bottom and 120 feet wide from bank to bank.

The Beardsley and McCord Canals also supply water to this same district of country, and it is proposed to extend the former 22 miles and the latter 27 miles, as shown by the dotted extensions of the heavy lines indicating the canals, thus largely increasing the extent of the irrigable lands, increasing the area suitable for cultivation and homes, and multiplying the output and taxable property of Kern county.

The interests of these associates are not alone represented by the lands portrayed on this map. They possess an equal amount of property on the south of Kern River, and on all of this vast estate the science of irrigation has been studied in all its branches for over fifteen years, resulting in the Kern Valley of to-day.

On the west bank of the Calloway Canal is constructed, at an altitude, a road way which serves as an observation point, commanding miles of the sloping plains.

Upon it, with the waters of the canal dancing in the summer sun, one can look far to the westward over fields of waving alfalfa, whose verdant green is a most beautiful carpet with its 3 feet of thickness to the moistened earth. A thousand cattle are in the radius of the eye's circle; a dozen hay stacks oppose their thousand tons of bulk to shut off the view from further fields of green; everything speaks of thrift, of success, of life.

Looking to the eastward above the canal, and on the arid lands not yet reclaimed, one can at once realize the absolute necessity of irrigation, and the results derivable therefrom. In the spring one would see perhaps a patch of short-lived wild flowers, some scant alfilleoria, and perchance some at that time passable grain which some experimenter had planted above the line of irrigation, and which had been sprouted by the light rain-fall. But in the summer the flowers would be withered, the alfilleoria dead, and but a patch of rusty blackened straw, with drooping hollow heads, would tell of the failure of the grain, resulting from want of irrigation. Everything dry and barren, with possibly a few stunted sage-brush, populated only by a passing jack-rabbit, by lizards, and horned toads, would tell the story of Kern County fifteen years ago, and when brought into comparison with the irrigated plenty, would make one conclude that water is king, and that Kern County needs such beneficent kingly rule.

MEMORANDUM CONCERNING PLAN SHOWING SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION, AND BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF ONE SYSTEM OF IRRIGATING AS OPERATED IN KERN COUNTY.

[Inclosure No. 2.]

In the "bird's-eye view" are shown the river, a portion of the Calloway Canal, two distributing ditcues, and several contour checks. As indicated by the arrows, the water in the river, arrested by the weir, enters the Calloway Canal through its head-gate and from thence passes into the distributing ditches. In the latter are shown the "drops," acting similarly to the river weir, and forcing the water out of the distributing ditches through the "side gates" of those ditches onto the land inclosed by the contour checks, thus accomplishing the actual irrigation.

In the "plan of irrigation" are similarly shown a portion of the Calloway Canal, distributing ditches, and checks, together with cross-sections of the Calloway distributing ditch and of land in process of irrigation.

The checks are run on a level, and thus at regular intervals of 6, 9, 12, 18, or 24 inches, as desired, act as dams to back the water over the space intervening between the check so constituting the dam and the next check above, as appearing in the cross-section. When the irrigation in one check is completed the surplus water from that check is drained into the next check below, the balance of the water required being supplied from the distributing ditch.

Such is the system of irrigation most general in Kern County, and from its cheapness of construction as compared with other systems and their results, its extreme cheapness of operation, its most satisfactory results in the even and thorough distribution of the water, resulting in thorough irrigation and profitable returns, it commends itself for