the land or who are to buy the water; or if a particular district is to be irrigated by the owners thereof, that the agreement made by the majority of the owners reckoned by the area owned. The project is then to be advertised, and objections may be made for a month. The project is referred to various authorities, to ascertain whether it is desirable, whether it interferes with any vested rights, whether it promises to endanger the public health, or whether the constructions proposed are suitable. Any grant of water is subject to rights of other parties previously established.

Certain privileges are granted to undertakings of this class, as follow, viz:

1st. To quarry on the public land. Sites for the necessary works, shops, kilns, &c., on the public lands are given free.

2d. Exemption from certain charges required in transfer of property. 3d. The capital invested is exempted from tax of every kind; and all foreign capital invested in these enterprises will be under the protection of the government, and it shall never be confiscated in time of war. 4th. Employés have certain local privileges. If the company allows the works to fall into bad repair, and does not restore them within the period assigned by the government, or if the new works shall not be finished in the stipulated time, they may be sold at public auction to the highest bidder.

All the land included in any project which is called for by the majority of the proprietors shall pay the approved rate, whether the owners wish to take water or not; and those who refuse to pay are obliged to sell their lands to the company at a price equal to the assessed value of the land, for taxation, increased by 50 per cent. If the company declines to purchase the lands at this price, the proprietor shall be exempt from any payment.

The law of April 22, 1849, provides, that for ten years after the works are completed all products of irrigation shall be free from taxation. All land brought under irrigation is taxed as unirrigated land for ten years.

The law of July 11, 1865, appropriated $5,000,000 to be given as subsidy or as loans, without interest, to irrigating enterprises, in sums not to exceed $100,000 for each enterprise. The special authority of the Cortes is necessary to permit a larger grant. This subsidy is generally given to the amount of 15 per cent. of the estimated cost, as certified by the government engineers, and it is paid in three installments: 1st. When the earth-work is finished.

2d. When the bridges and culverts are finished.

3d. When the work is completed and the irrigating is begun. The attitude of the government toward the administration of these enterprises is commended by M. Aymard in the following terms:

We may inquire, What is the nature of the action of the government in regard to enterprises of irrigation? What is the character of its intervention or supervision? Does it lead or does it follow the people?

The government is in advance of the people, but it does not exercise an injudicious pressure. Where customs sanctioned by antiquity prevail, it does not seek to overthrow them merely for the purpose of securing unity of administration.

Itis in advance of the people in this sense, namely, that it lays down with clearness and precision in the laws the modern principles of the administration, so that the moment that the necessity for a reform is felt, the people are at once informed in what direction that reform is to be sought.

In regard to the terms on which new concessions are granted, the same author says:

In the activity which has recently prevailed in the extension of enterprises of irrigation, the problem was to guard the rights and interests of future generations, while

making such concessions to the commercial spirit of the present as would induce the extension of these necessary works. In its decrees the government lays down with great wisdom the general terms of all concessions of water-franchises, and defines the respective rights of the proprietors, and of the users; so that enterprises of this character may be undertaken without hesitation or embarrassment. The outline of every possible enterprise is defined in the statutes, and in each particular case it is only necessary to fill in the details.

One clause in these statutes provides that in every irrigating-district or community there ought to be established a syndicate or association, and a system of regulations fixing the details in every respect concerning the use of the water; which regulations must be approved by the government or by the provincial authorities, as the case may be.

The general principle which forms the base of the syndicate is this, namely, that the administration of the water-supply and use shall be in the hands and under the control of the irrigators.

We see that the Spanish systems of a thousand years' duration lead to the same general conclusion that the experience in Italy has established and exemplified in the association for the irrigation of the Vercellese, an account of which is given elsewhere.

This conclusion may be stated in these terms: that where the irrigators do not own the irrigating-works, they ought nevertheless to have the control of the distribution of the water, and of the details of irrigation.

A conclusion which is fortified by the experience of hundreds of years in Italy and Spain, where the people cannot be supposed to be more familiar with the principles of self-government than are our own people, which is supported by the wisdom of a man like Cavour, which promises relief from the difficulties attending the administration of water by capitalists having no direct interest in the land, but looking for the best return for their money invested, and which, moreover, is congenial to the habits and feelings of people like our own, must, perhaps, with modifications, prove the solution of our own vexed problem.

It is worthy of remark, and it is confirmatory of the general conclusions derived from the experience elsewhere, that in a country where irrigation is so desirable, and where its effect is to increase in so striking a manner the value of the lands, the government feels obliged to aid works of this kind by subsidy and by exemption from taxes.

According to the official reports, the area of irrigated land in Spain is four thousand four hundred and thirty-nine square miles.

There are

The principal canals, however, irrigate only 500,000 acres. many small canals and a few tanks or reservoirs, which increase this area considerably. If we accept the official reports, the greater part of the land must be irrigated by wheels or norias. These wheels have buckets or jars attached to the circumferences, by means of which the water is raised. The motive power may be the current of the river, or it may be animal power.

We close this review of Spanish irrigation by a brief description of the agriculture and system of administration in the highly-cultivated huerta of Valencia.

This district extends for eight or nine miles along the river Guadalaviar, from which the canals which irrigate it are derived.

It has been under this kind of cultivation for perhaps a thousand years. The Moors introduced irrigation, and the executive and judicial system established by them retains to this day its essential characteristics.

The water in this district is, as has already been stated, annexed to the land, and when land is sold the right to water goes with it. A per

son cannot even give to another the water to which he has a right; if he does not use it, it reverts to the common benefit.

The plain of Valencia is irrigated by eight small canals, four of which are on each side of the river. Each canal is entitled to an aliquot part of the river-supply, and the proportions are established by the levels of the sills of the head-works. which are of masonry, and which have remained unchanged since the days of the Moors. It is, however, only in the low stages of the river that it becomes essential to observe the prescribed division of water, for at other periods there is an abundance for all.

The aggregate length of these canals is but forty-two miles. The longest is but twelve miles in length. The dams are of masonry.

The administration of these canals is at least curious, and it will be interesting to recount it briefly.

Each canal forms a district, the irrigators of which meet once in two years to elect a permanent committee of administration, to assess the expenses or taxes, and to elect the officers of the district. The principal officer is called the syndic; we should probably call him the superintendent. He must be an actual cultivator; not a proprietor merely, but one who actually holds the plow. He must have a good character and be owner of a certain quantity of land in his own zone or district. He is elected by a majority of votes, and he may be re-elected. His term of office varies between two and four years. He is chief administrator; he expends the funds, and in time of drought he is an absolute dictator in regard to the distribution of the water. The other employés are appointed by the syndic, or by the permanent committee, or sometimes they are elected by the general assembly.

Usually the taxes are assessed by the general assembly. Generally each irrigator pays according to the land under cultivation, but not always so. In some cases he pays in a measure proportionately to the quantity of water used. The taxes are collected in a summary manner. If any one fail to pay his taxes, he is deprived of the use of the water, and if he take it he is liable to a severe fine; or if any official shall allow him to take water, the latter is exposed to the same fine.

There is no regulating machinery for the distribution of water. The arrangements are at the discretion of the officials, who keep themselves informed as to the condition of the crops, and who supply water to those which seem to need it most. No cultivator can claim a definite quantity of water.

The cultivation is various; hemp, corn, wheat, beans, pears, melons, artichokes, and peppers are among the products of the soil. Hemp is regarded as the most valuable crop. It is cut in July, before the water gets very low, and therefore it seldom suffers from scarcity of water.

In times of drought the syndic gives water to the crop that needs it most, keeping in view, however, the value of the crop. Hemp being the most valuable crop, receives attention first if it needs it, which is seldom the case; next come artichokes, the order being established by long custom. If all of a given crop cannot be saved, the water is applied to half of each field, the other half being allowed to suffer. The decision is in the hands of the officials, none of the cultivators being permitted to take water without permission.

This is certainly a very rigorous kind of administration. It is democratic so far as its deliberations and constitution are concerned, but in its action it is essentially autocratic. Doubtless the long line of customs descending from a thousand years serves in practice as a guide for the action of the syndic, and divests it, in a measure, of its arbitrary appearance. The responsibility is, however, not divided. In times of

drought some responsibility must be taken, and one man can take it better than a number. The working of the system must be favorable, or it would long since have fallen under the opposition of its enemies. These canals have a curious tribunal, which has come down from the Moors, and which is as simple and untechnical in its constitution and in its modes of procedure as can be desired. Its proceedings are not recorded, unless at the request of one or both of the parties concerned. It enforces its decrees in a summary manner, and there is no appeal from its decisions.

This tribunal of the canals is composed of the syndics of the canals of the plains. It meets every Thursday at 11 o'clock in the public square in front of the Cathedral in Valencia. The judges are seated, while the parties concerned and the spectators stand respectfully a few paces distant. The syndic in whose district the grievance or offense was committed brings the case before the court. He questions the witnesses and presents the case, but he does not vote. When the case is heard, the judges discuss in a low tone for a few minutes, and announce their decision. No expense is incurred by the parties to the case, if the fines or damages assessed are paid at once. If they are not so paid, the tribunal has power to enforce its decisions by processes which entail expense upon the recusant party. The fines attached to particular offenses are stated in a code of laws. The jurisdiction of the court is absolute in matters of fact and police over those who appear before it. Any person may decline to appear before the tribunal. If, having been twice summoned, any person shall fail to appear, the matter is turned over to the ordinary courts, where its adjudication is attended with considerable expense. It is said that cultivators rarely fail to appear before this tribunal when summoned.

It may well be supposed that this institution has often been assailed. A court of peasant judges, whose proceedings are not recorded and whose decisions admit of no appeal, could not fail to attract criticism and invite intervention. The government has more than once attempted to make changes in harmony with the usual course of procedure, but the steadfast attachment of the people interested in the tribunal has sufficed to maintain it substantially as it descended from the Moors. Whatever may be its defects, we cannot doubt that it has dispensed even-handed justice; otherwise it could not have existed so long.

The canal of Moncade, which is also taken from the Guadalaviar River, has some differences in administration which indicate the character of the changes which the government has wished to make in the case just described. This association has a code of regulations which prescribes fines for the various offenses. The superintendent or syndic of the canal is invested with authority to impose fines in accordance. with the code. The parties concerned have the right of appeal to a court elected by the irrigators, which resembles in many respects the tribunal of the canals, and there is a further right of appeal to one of the ordinary civil courts. On this canal each irrigator has a right to water on fixed days for a certain number of hours.

IRRIGATION IN FRANCE.

Government owns canals-How canals are built and how managed.

Irrigation is quite extensively practiced in France, and several new canals have been built in the past few years.

There is nothing so specially distinctive in French irrigation as to

require detailed description. The principle of management of works by the irrigators applies here as well as in Spain and Italy. There is, however, more interference by the government.

The government owns no canals. They are generally built by the land-owners. The government encourages the construction of canals. In the charter of the Carpentras Canal, built in 1854, the irrigators were guaranteed that no increase of the land-assessment should be made for twenty-five years after the completion of the works.

There is no provision in the French law corresponding to the Spanish statute which permits a majority of proprietors to carry on an irrigation enterprise and compels the minority to bear their share of the expense.

When a charter for a canal is given it states the quantity of water which is granted. The plans for the works must be approved by the government. In some cases the canals are built under direction of engineers of the Corps of Ponts et Chausées. In all cases the works are periodically inspected by engineers of this corps.

CHAPTER V.

1. Cost of irrigation-Quantity of water required-Secondary and tertiary ditches to. be made by cultivators-Canals and primary ditches will cost about $10 per acre irrigated. 2. Conclusions-Large bodies of land in "the great Valley of California" require irrigation; abundance of water; irrigation much needed-Cost-Ignorance of the subject-A comprehensive system cannot be devised by the farmers-Duty of government-Proper laws depend on reconnaissance and surveys-Irrigation will be the work of time-Land and water should be joined together-State and counties benefitted-Private capital-Relation of the United States to irrigation-Super

vision.

COST OF IRRIGATION.

Before making an estimate of the cost of canals, it is necessary to inquire how much water is required to irrigate an acre of land. It will readily be understood that the quantity will depend upon a number of considerations. In the first place, it will depend upon the character of the soil, whether sandy or clayey; upon the character of the substratum. whether pervious or impervious, and upon the depth and inclination of an impervious stratum. It will depend upon the character of the culti vation. Rice and sugar fields, vegetable-gardens, orchards, and meadows require more water than cereals.

The present staples of this country are cereals. There is some cottoncultivation, which will probably be extended; and, with abundance of water, we shall doubtless have a good deal of Alfalfa or Lucerne grass. Every farmer will have a little orchard, and will raise the vegetables required for home consumption.

The evaporation is high in the interior valleys of the State, quite equal to that in Madrid, where it is about 13 inches in July.

The amount of water lost by absorption in the bed and banks of the canal, is an unknown and variable quantity, depending on the dimensions of the canals and on the character of the soil. In the absence of exact data upon these points, we may for the present adopt the rule laid down by engineers for other countries of similar climate, and estimate the loss of water from these causes at 15 per cent.

The rivers of California generally run full for about seven months.