The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. I., No. 4, October, 1889

October, 1889.
PRESS OF TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR, NEW HAVEN, CONN.
Vol. I. 1889. No. 4.

BY WM. HAMMOND HALL.
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Society:
When I was invited to address this society I had no material at hand on the subject. I have come to the east without any notes or memoranda whatever, from which to prepare a lecture or address, no statistical data which would make a paper valuable, no notes of characteristic facts to render an address interesting, and no time to write anything to guide me in any way to a proper treatment of the subject. Some of your members have thought that I have written something worthy of being read, and hence this invitation to address you. But, even if they are right, people who can write cannot always talk, so if I fail in this address, I shall hope, on the basis of their opinion, that you will find in the reports I have written something worthy of reading. The subject has been announced as the Problems of Irrigation in the United States. I should like very much to speak broadly on that subject, but I am unable to do so, for the reasons I have given, and shall have to speak rather of irrigation in California, trusting that something which is said, may, perchance, be valuable in relation to the subject at large. Irrigation in the far west, generally, is attracting a vast deal of attention. This is particularly the case on the Pacific Coast—the field with which I am specially acquainted. I apprehend that although many gentlemen present have a far-reaching and definite appreciation of the subject at large, many others do not appreciate the value and importance of irrigation. In the arid parts of California (for we do not admit that California is as a whole arid) it is a vital matter. There it is a question of life, for the people. Not more than one-sixth of the tillable area in the State can sustain a really dense population, without irrigation; two thirds of it will not sustain even a moderate population, without irrigation; while one third will not sustain even a sparse population, without such artificial watering. Think well over these facts. They are very significant. I doubt whether they are generally appreciated in California itself.