USA > California > History of California, Volume V > Part 19
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In the semi-tropic region of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego, the uplands, or mesas, which occupy the larger portion of the surface, is usually found prevailing a reddish, gravelly loam soil, the coarse material of which consists chiefly of granitic sand. These lands are conspicuous for their orange- red tint and vary in depth from ten to many feet. It is these soils which are chosen as preeminently adapted to citrus fruits. These soils are evidently a modification of the foothill soil northward of the Sierra Fernando, but of greater depth, more easily tilled and with higher percentages of plant food, especially phosphates. On the lower lands frequent gravel beds are found, which in their original condition seem to be too barren for any useful purpose, and yet orange planting on these areas has proven remarkably profitable and some of the finest orange groves in the state can be found on these unpromising masses of debris. The reddish gravel loam soils of the south are probably excelled by few for the crops and fruits which are adapted to the climatic
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conditions of the region. In the San Bernardino valley proper the red loams are very conspicuous and give the name to the noted citrus district of Redlands.
On the lands which rise from the seashore the loams take on a different aspect and appear as dark colored, sandy, micaceous loams, impregnated to some extent with alkali. Such lands are notably found in Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura counties, and extend northward as far as Santa Barbara. It is on this type of lands that the sugar beet industry has been highly developed in the southern part of the state. As a rule these lands are extremely productive and are yielding rich returns under cultivation, but both fruit and field crops must be chosen with reference to their adaptability to low levels and exposure to costal influences.
The soils of the so-called desert regions of southern California, under influence of irrigation have surpassed all expectation in crop production. They are usually loams of light color, with sometimes a reddish tinge, and of unusual depth. They are all highly calcareous, exceedingly rich in potash, but comparatively low in phosphoric acid, and all notably deficient in humus. It is on this type of soil, which characterizes the now well known Imperial valley, that a very wide range of crop production is being developed, notable among which may be mentioned alfalfa, melons, and cotton.
Northward from Ventura to Humboldt counties the Coast Range valleys are mainly characterized by soils of a gray, silty loam, quite different in appearance and composition from those found farther south. Chemically they are distinctly less calcareous than
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those southward, but markedly superior in phosphoric acid. These silty soils are very remarkable for their retention of moisture near the surface even in dry sea- sons-a property of exceeding value in any country of limited rainfall. In such a broken area the soils naturally show a correspondng variety in phase, but in general they may be classed as loams in that they carry a sufficient proportion of gritty material to enable free working conditions.
The Clay Loams. This general group of soils varies from the former in being distinctly heavier and more tenacious, rendering them more difficult of cultivation. They are, however, stronger and more lasting in char- acter. They exist in great variety of color and physical condition in California, but are not found in such dis- tinctly large areas as those formerly described. They are exceedingly rich in all the elements of fertility and what they lack in ease of working they compensate to a degree in their great durability. Crops upon these heavier soils have to be chosen with greater care as to stocks upon which fruits are to be grown.
From Redding, at the head of the Sacramento valley, to Bakersfield, at the south end of the San Joaquin, the valley has along its eastern border a belt of upland, or foothills, falling from an elevation of four thousand feet at the base of the mountains to five hundred feet, or less, at the edge of the valley proper. The rocks are chiefly sandstones in the southern part of the belt and clay slates from Mariposa county northward, giving rise to bright red clayey loam soils, which, though but a few feet deep, are productive, and have underlying them upturned layers of slate, between which plant
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roots are able to penetrate to considerable depths and thus secure both moisture and plant food. In texture these foothill soils vary from a moderately heavy clay loam to a heavy, though not uncommonly gravelly, clay, often of an orange-red color. This color is due to a high percentage of iron which is often present in amounts varying from seven to over twelve per cent. These soils generally carry a good percentage of lime, though the potash and phosphoric acid is sometimes low, seldom to such an extent, however, as to make them non-productive in the presence of sufficient amounts of moisture, which is doubtless due to the high availability of these elements in the presence of a good lime supply.
Interspersed in these foothill lands are granitic areas in a belt reaching from Feather river south to Amador county, forming gray or reddish gravelly soils, less pro- ductive than the distinctly red lands. Lava beds cover the foothills northward and furnish no agricultural land of value, except along the small streams.
While at present the main portion of this land is devoted to early spring pasture, it is without doubt, destined to be in the near future productive of products of high value. Where the foothill soils obtain a suffi- ciency of moisture either naturally or from irrigation, and are of sufficient depth, they are highly productive. At a higher elevation than the valley plain the danger from frosts is less and the writer ventures to predict that they will finally be devoted to the culture of citrus fruits which are too sensitive to be risked upon the plain lands generally.
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There are numerous distinct phases of this general division of these soils, notable among which may be mentioned along the foothills in Fresno, Tulare, and Kings counties. Here may be found a narrow belt of irregular width where these clay loams, both red and black in color, become quite heavy, and are so highly calcareous as to break up, when dry, into small granu- lations, producing a condition locally known as "dry bog." On this type of land is found the noted citrus district of Porterville. Westward of this area, reddish or brownish heavy loams predominate, which by con- trast with the lighter soils of the immediate region, are designated as "adobe," although far from true adobe in character. This type of land characterizes a belt varying from eight to ten miles in width at its widest part in Tulare county and narrows both northward and southward. When under irrigation, these lands are proving of great fertility both in field crop and orchard productions.
The Clay Soils. Under this general classification is placed all of the very heaviest of the soils, most prominent among which is the well-known "adobe" type. Under this name, however, there is a wide difference in character in different localities until the term has come to be used to distinguish relatively between soils of any region as to whether very heavy or sufficiently intermingled with coarser material to enable it to be easily and freely worked. This type of soil consists essentially of clay and fine silt, and popular terms are used to classify its various phases as "black adobe," "gray adobe," and "black waxy." All of these phases are exceedingly sticky when wet,
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and bake very hard when dry, making them very hard to work; in short, they are clay soils of an extreme type. The depth, fineness and virginal fertility of these soils, when free from injurious salts, render them very fertile when properly handled. Large bodies of this soil occur in the Sacramento valley, lying between the Sacramento river and the Coast range. Here the color is for the most part gray and the soil is more difficultly tilled than the black adobe on the east side. In this region these soils are being extensively developed to rice culture to which they lend themselves admirably on account of their richness and their imperviousness to water. For many years little has been done with this type of land, but with the introduction of rice upon them, they are returning phenomenal results with this staple, and their value has been very much enhanced. So far the adobes have been very little used for fruit, but alfalfa has been placed upon them with much success. In the bay region and in the vicinity of Stockton these soils assume prominence, in the latter region forming a natural division between the Sacramento and the San Joaquin valleys.
While predominating in the region of the northern Coast range, the loams gradually take their place southward from the bay region.
The Peat Soils. In the deltas of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers is found a very large body of land, which under natural conditions is unproductive on account of swamp conditions, but which in point of area, the progress of reclamation, and agricultural possibilities, is of great interest and importance. These lands lie for the most part in
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San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Sacramento, and Solano counties. In typical section this soil consists of six feet or more of fine alluvial river and tidal silts, inti- mately intermingled with partially decayed vegetable matter. A considerable variation occurs in the struc- ture of these soils for in certain districts subject to overflow by streams in flood times, the surface of the soil consists largely of river silts, in which the usual proportion of vegetable matter is much decreased, while in other cases the soil mass consists principally of peaty material. These soils need only to be protected from overflow, and to be properly drained, to be surprisingly productive as has been thoroughly demonstrated upon thousands of acres of this class of land. Extreme light- ness in weight constitutes a very striking feature of these soils. They carry a large supply of plant food, and under proper culture return enormous profits from asparagus, beans, onions, potatoes, celery, barley, corn, and truck garden crops. On the higher and better drained areas alfalfa is also grown with much success. When it is remembered that every month of the year is harvest time for some of the products grown on these lands their value can be the better appreciated. These lands are all below the water level of the rivers and streams, and are irrigated not by the addition of water to the surface, but by raising the water table from below, thus giving ideal conditions for plant growth to all except the very deep rooted crops. The unique conditions which obtain here, including those of long season, suitable climate, rich
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soil, subirrigation, coupled with both water and rail transportation, combine to promise a value in these lands equal to that of the polders of Holland.
It has been impossible within the confines of this chapter to more than treat of the most general classes of California soils in their wonderful variety. Their productiveness is proverbial, and under the best of conditions even fabulous, and to even relate stories of actual yield would stigmatize the writer as a decided victim of California optimism.
Gw Show
IRRIGATION IN CALIFORNIA
T HE importance of irrigation in California is well illustrated by the great number of official reports which have been made on many phases of the subject by state and federal bureaus. The old State Engineering department, which was created in 1878 and discontinued in 1887, prepared maps showing the irrigation systems and irrigated areas in the San Joaquin valley and in parts of southern California, made stream measurements and assembled and compiled much hydrographic data, and published, under date of October 1, 1888, an exhaustive treatise on irrigation in San Diego, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties.
In 1888 the United States geological survey began its work of surveying reservoir sites for irrigation pur- poses. During the nineties it established steam gaging stations, and for the past ten years has maintained such stations on most of the California rivers used or useful for irrigation purposes. Besides hydrographic data, it has published in its "Water Supply Papers" many reports on storage possibilities and underground waters for various parts of the state.
In 1900 Irrigation Investigations of the United States department of agriculture instituted a study of "the existing legal, engineering, and agricultural conditions along nine typical streams used for irrigation in the state." The work on each stream was in charge of a recognized expert, and the report (published as Bulletin No. 100 of the Office of Experiment Stations, United States department of agriculture) is especially forceful in portraying the dire need of rational legislation regard- ing water rights. Since 1900 Irrigation Investigations
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has been very active in California and has published many bulletins giving the results of its examinations in many irrigated sections.
The United States census bureau, cooperating with Irrigation Investigations, made an unusually careful census of irrigation in 1909, and the results have been published as advance sheets.
In 1911 the California legislature created the conservation commission to investigate and report upon certain specified subjects of conservation. The commission contracted with Irrigation Investigations and with the United States geological survey, so that the state funds were expended under the direction of the two federal bureaus and a needless duplication of field and office work was thus obviated. As a result of this cooperation, Irrigation Investigations was able to extend and perfect the statistical work started by the United States census, and the geological survey com- piled and published in three volumes all stream flow data for the state up to July 1, 1912.
In addition to work outlined above, the Topographic branch of the United States geological survey has been active for over twenty years in making contour maps of parts of California, and its published sheets are now much used in irrigation reconnaissance. The agricultural experiment station of the University of California has also published many bulletins on soils and crops, which are intimately related to irrigation studies.
Area Irrigated and Irrigable. In another chapter in this volume the subject of rainfall is treated. It is sufficient here to call attention to the striking difference
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in seasonal precipitation for different parts of the state. At Salton, in the Imperial valley, some seasons have no more than a trace of rainfall, while at Crescent City, in Del Norte county, the minimum seasonal precipi- tation for the period 1885-1908 was 53.73 inches-about four and one-half feet. It is interesting to note that Del Norte county is the only county in the state in which irrigation is not practised.
In a recent examination of lands irrigated and irrigable, Irrigation Investigations divided the state into three parts-northern California, central Califor- nia and southern California. The data, as published in the report of the Conservation Commission of California (January 1, 1913), are as follows :
Valley agricultural land.
Valley. plains.
Foothill agricultural land.
Areas irrigated.
Acres.
Acres.
Acres.
Acres.
Northern California.
4,621,200
790,000
789,000
487,805
Central California ..
7,889,000
1,046,000
730,000
1,959,355 745,486
Southern California.
*6,070,325
18,580,525 1,836,000 1,519,000 3,192,666
*Includes valley and foothill.
After considering the total irrigable area in each of the three divisions and the available water sup- ply, Irrigation Investigations estimates that, of the 6,200,000 acres irrigable in northern California, it is likely that 3,450,000 acres (about fifty-three per cent) will be irrigated in the future; of the 9,665,000 acres irrigable in central California, it is likely that 4,300,000 acres (about forty-four per cent) will be irrigated; and of the 6,070,325 irrigable acres in southern California, it is likely that 1,949,600 acres (about thirty-three per cent) will be irrigated.
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HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA
Summarizing the above data for the entire state, the estimate is that, of the 21,865,200 acres irrigable, 9,699,600 acres (about forty-four per cent) may be irrigated. As the report shows 3, 192,646 acres irrigated in 1912, the estimate is that the present irrigated area may be trebled.
Types of Irrigation Enterprises. The types of irri- gation enterprises, as well classified by the United States census bureau, are as follows:
"United States Reclamation Service enterprises, which operate under the Federal law of June 17, 1902, providing for the construc- tion of irrigation works with the receipts from the sale of public lands.
"United States Indian Service enterprises, which operate under various acts of Congress providing for the construction by that service of works for the irrigation of land in Indian reservations.
"Carey Act enterprises, which operate under the federal law of August 18, 1894, granting to each of the states in the arid region 1,000,000 acres of land on condition that the state provide for its irrigation, and under amendments to that law granting additional areas to Idaho and Wyoming.
"Irrigation districts, which are public corporations that operate under state laws providing for their organization and management, and empowering them to issue bonds and levy and collect taxes with the object of obtaining funds for the purchase or construction, and for the operation and maintenance of irrigation works.
"Cooperative enterprises, which are controlled by the water users under some organized form of cooperation. The most common form of organization is the stock company, the stock of which is owned by the water users.
"Commercial enterprises, which supply water for compensation to parties who own no interest in the works. Persons obtaining water from such enterprises are usually required to pay for the right to receive water, and to pay, in addition, annual charges based in some instances on the acreage irrigated and in others on the quantity of water received.
"Individual and partnership enterprises, which belong to in- dividual farmers or to neighboring farmers, who control them without formal organization. It is not always possible to distin- guish between partnership and cooperative enterprises, but as the difference is slight this is unimportant."
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IRRIGATION IN CALIFORNIA
All of the types are represented in California with the exception of Carey Act enterprises. In order to take advantage of the provisions of the congressional Carey Act, each state must accept its terms by the passage of a state Carey Act. California has not done so. The failure to do so has not been due to any opposition to such projects, but has resulted from the lack of interest in such on account of the small bodies of irrigable desert land remaining as public lands in the state.
The acreages irrigated and irrigable by each type of project in California, as given by the census, are as follows:
U. S. Reclamation Service, irrigated in 1909. 400
Enterprises were capable of irrigating in 1910
1,200
Included in projects 14,200
U. S. Indian Service, irrigated in 1909 3,490
Enterprises were capable of irrigating in 1910 3,490 Included in projects . 3,800
Irrigation districts, irrigated in 1909 173,793
Enterprises were capable of irrigating in 1910 294,108
Included in projects 606,351
Cooperative enterprises, irrigated in 1909 779,020
Enterprises were capable of irrigating in 1910 984,570
Included in projects 1,388,435
Commerical enterprises, irrigated in 1909 746,265
Enterprises were capable of irrigating in 1910 1,204,059
Included in projects 1,965,063
Individual and partnership enterprises, irrigated in 1909 .. 961,136
Enterprises were capable of irrigating in 1910 1,131,951
Included in projects 1,512,5II
United States Reclamation Service Projects. The only reclamation service project entirely within California is the Orland project. The project consists of a reservoir, on one of the tributaries of Stony creek, and canals diverting water from the north and south banks
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of the main creek for the irrigation of 14,000 acres in Glenn and Tehama counties. The project has recently been completed, but has not yet been for- mally opened as a project subject to all the provisions of the reclamation act.
The main canals formerly belonged to private companies which, owing to lack of storage, served water in the early part of the irrigation season only. The Service, in purchasing the canals, has unified all interests, and the project is certain to be a success.
Irrigation Districts. California was the first state to pass an irrigation district act. Its "Wright Law" of 1887, with later amendments, has been the model of irrigation district legislation in other irrigation states.
It is not unusual today to meet men in northern California who not only can see no need of irrigation, but positively hold it to be a menace. As the act was passed over a quarter of a century ago, it is not sur- prising that there should have been intense opposition to the formation of districts under its provisions. As the valley lands were then, for the most part, in very large holdings, the owners naturally objected to an act which subjected their property to irrigation taxes against their will. As a result, practically every feature of the act was tested in the courts, and the supreme court of California and of the United States finally upheld the constitutionality of the act.
Forty-nine districts were organized soon after the passage of the act, but only twenty-five ever issued bonds. Of the twenty-five, only four are now being operated-the Modesto, the Turlock, the Alta, and the Tulare, and the last is not operated as a district, although its system is in use.
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IRRIGATION IN CALIFORNIA
It is apparent, therefore, that districts under the original act were generally failures. The money invested in their bonds was either entirely lost or only partially recovered by settlement payments of from thirty cents to eighty cents on the dollar.
Each district was controlled by a board of directors elected from among the residents of the district. As few, if any, of the directors had any experience in the management of such projects, the consequent lack of proper supervision is generally given as the principal reason for the failures. It is now realized, however, that most of the proposed projects would have failed under the best management, as they were initiated far too early to be properly colonized. Projects of the best type, even today, find difficulty in securing purchasers for their lands.
Regardless of the causes of failure, the fact remains that irrigation district bonds became a drug in the market. Within the past few years, the district movement was revived, and two districts, the South San Joaquin and the Oakdale districts, were organized. The two new districts were properly advised along engineering and legal lines, but they experienced the old difficulty in selling bonds.
As a result, an organization of all those interested in irrigation districts was formed to wage a campaign to secure legislation deemed necessary, and the move- ment has succeeded. In 1911 legislation was adopted creating a commission, composed of the attorney- general, the state engineer and the superintendent of banks, to report upon the feasibility of district projects when so requested by the district board of
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directors. Upon approval of the project by the com- mission, the bonds of the district may be registered at the office of the state controller and thereupon shall be considered legal investments for all trust funds and funds of insurance companies, banks, etc. By this method the district bonds are placed upon the same legal basis for purposes of investment as the bonds of school districts and of cities and counties.
COOPERATIVE OR MUTUAL ENTERPRISES
The Anaheim Union Company. The cooperative or mutual enterprise is an old type in California. So long ago as 1856 the Los Angeles Vineyard association was formed in San Francisco and purchased eleven hundred and sixty-five acres of the Rancho San Juan y Cajon de Santa Ana, lying along the Santa Ana river in Los Angeles county. The original plan was to work the land upon a cooperative basis for about three years, and then make an allotment of the subdivisions-aggre- gating fifty vineyard lots and fifty town lots-to each member. The town of Anaheim was started in 1857. In 1859 the Anaheim Water company was incorpo- rated, and the irrigation system was conveyed to it. The stock of the water company was divided into fifty shares-one issued to each of the fifty vineyard lot owners. The stock was made appurtenant to the land and could be conveyed only with the land. The Anaheim Union company is still an excellent example of the mutual type of enterprise.
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