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THE

I R R I G A T J'.p:jfi -;A &

Million** °f
Farms

the leading question is the replacing
of worn out implements. If it's a
flotu. Lifter. Harrotv. Calti-
•ciator. there is no question at all
in the minds of many thousand far-
mers. It will be a

John *Deere9

of course, just as with Mr. R. F. Stockton, of \y'
Maywood, Ills., who says,

"We used the old, reliable John Deere Plow for 25
years on the farm. It stands second to none. When
I go back to farming, which I hope to do soon, the
John Deere Plow will be my companion."

When you decide, why not choose the best. "We
make Plows of every description, for every purpose,
for every section. Walking, Riding, Disk, Listing,
single and in gangs, Middlebreakers, Harrows, Pul-
verizers, Walking and Riding Cultivators. The most
extensive line in America.

The John "Deere flotu Has "Been the Stand-
ard of Quality for fi early 6O

If you wish to jet how a plow is made in the oldest and largest
steel plow factory in the world, send for handsome illustrated
book, "From Forge to Farm" — fret if you mention this paper.

'DEE'RE

CO., Moline,

DEERE BEET TOOLS. !

Endorsed by the Leading Beet Sugar Factories of the Country,

X>eeire Beet Seeders

Has large seed box; wide tire carrying wheels; adjust-
able force feed with positive drive; runner openers, either
stagger covering wheels as shown in cut or concave as pre-
ferred. One lever raises all the runners and stops the
seeding. The pressure spring insures uniform depth of
planting. All adjustments are within easy reach of the
driver and the dropping seed is plainly seen.

Deere Beet Cultivators.

Made in two and four- row sizes, both sizes having
combination pole and shafts. Has spring lift, spring steel
draw bars, adjustable bearings; handles are attached direct
to draw bar, giving good leverage and making it the easiest
handled cultivator on earth.

DEERE & MANSUR CO.

MOLINE, ILL

mmmmummmw

"V&J&

'• r". •

'* 0V»

G ATI ON AG1

THE LEADER

in any rock or earth to a depth of from 200
feet to 1000 feet and will therefore insure you an ample sup-
ply of water for either stock or irrigating.

Do not rely on uncertain streams or springs for water
that you must have for stock, or to insure a crop.

Write us for Prices and Illustrated Circular.
Sparta Iron Works Co. SPARTA, WISCONSIN, u. s. A.

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The Aspinwall Line

-OF-

POTATO MACHINERY

Consists of CUTTERS, PLANTERS, WEEDERS,
4-ROW SPRAYERS, DIQQERS and SORTERS.

The best and most complete outfit of modern, up-to-date,
automatic, accurate and reliable Potato Implements made.

"World "Wide !*er>ci.tatio«.
Over SO Years on tti.e

Used and Bfndorsed t>y

We also manufacture a full line of

COTTON SPRAYERS

for the destruction of the Mexican Boll Weevil, Spring Web
Worm, Careless Worm, Army Worm. Write for catalogue and
circulars.

Aspinwall flfg. Co.,

4-ROW POTATO SFRAYKR. JACKSON, MICH.

lUMUHUUUHMMMMHUIUHUHUUHUMHUUIHII

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

Superior Disc Drills

SOWS ALL GRAINS EVENLY AND OF MORE UNIFORM
DEPTH THAN ANY HOE OR SHOE DRILL. WILL SOW
AND COVER GRAIN IN HARD GROUND, WHEREVER A
DISC HARROW WILL RUN.

Lighter Draft than any other drill.
Never Clogs in foul ground.
Wheels Extra Heavy, bioad tire.
Wears Longer without repairs.

Saves Time and labor for the farmer.
All Sizes from 8 to 22 discs, 2, 3 or 4 horse.
Buy the Superior, the original and best of
all disc drills.

The Good is Always Imitated, that is, when it comes to Farm Machinery— which accounts
for the many infringements upon the advantages and improvements which go to make The Superior
Disc Drill the acknowledged leader of the grain drills. We furnish them with steel wheels, steel
seat and spiral wire grain tubes on your special order. Ask for Catalog.

The Superior DfSC Drill is the original, and has the greatest record of any seeding machine
on the market. We make every size drill that is desirable, besides we also make

DISC HARROWS, HAY TOOLS AND CIDER MILLS THAT WILL
BE MOST SATISFACTORY TO PATRONS. ALL ARE WINNERS.

Write for printed matter and mention The Irrigation Age.

The Superior Drill Company

SPRINGFIELD. OHIO

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The Aultman & Taylor
Machinery Co.

OF MANSFIELD, OHIO,

One of the oldest concerns in the threshing machine busi-
ness, in fact one of the pioneers and pathfinders, are build-
ing portable and stationary rice separators which are tak-
ing the lead everywhere. They are guaranteed for superior
separation and cleaning, as testimonial letters elsewhere in
this issue would indicate.

The Aultman & Taylor Alfalfa Huller

Has established a
reputation in the
arid regions that
no other make of
a 1 fa 1 fa separator
and cleaner has
ever attained. Its
capacity is fully
one-third greater than that of any other machine. It saves
more seed and cleans it more perfectly than any other type.

Those interested in perfect rice separators, either of portable
or stationary type, or a superior alfalfa huller, should address

The Aultman & Taylor
Machinery Co.

OF MANSFIELD, OHIO,

for one of their illustrated catalogues, which is sent free

to any address.

In addressing the Aultimn & Taylor Machinery Co. kindly mention The Irrigation Age.

••••••••••••••••••••••«•«•••••••••••••••«»«€««•««•€•••«••««««•••••••€••««•••«•«•

THE IRRIGATION AGE

VOL. XVIII.

CHICAGO, NOVEMBER, 190-J.

No. 1.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING CO.,

PUBLISHERS.
112 Dearborn Street. CHICAGO

Entered at the Postoffice at Chicago, III . as Second-Class Matter.

D. H. ANDERSON, Editor.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.

To United States Subscribers, Postage Paid »1 00

To Canada and Mexico 100

All Other Foreign Countries 1.50

In forwarding remittances p'ease do not send checks on local banks.
Send cither postoffice or express money order cr Chicago or New York
draft.

A monthly illustrated maeaiine recognized throughout thewoild as
the exponent ot IrnigaltoB and its kindrtd industiies. It is the pioneer
journal of its kind in the world, and has no r val >n ha f a continent. It
advocates the mineral development and the industrial growth of the West.

irk A r\ \r Ai-fi c^f c II may inter€st advertisers to know that The Irrigation Age is the only publication
IU ^kU VC1 L1SC1&. ^ the world having an actuai paid ia advance circulation among individual

irrigators and large irrigation corporations. It is read regularly by all interested in this subject and has readers in all parts of the world.
The Irrigation Age is 18 years old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world.

E

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For the convenience of the large number of
Notice. iibraTies and other institutions that regularly
bind the. different volumes of THE IRRIGATION AGE we
are beginning Volume 18 with the present (November)
issue. This is done so that it may not be necessary to
bind two different sizes in one volume.

Mr. L. G. C. Mayer, Agent and ex-
L. (j. C. Mayer : . , , , .

pert, pumping and tanning machin-
ery investigations, United States Department of Agri-
culture, called on the IRRIGATION AGE recently and
explained the object of his work, which appears in de-
tailed form in another column. It is hoped that manu-
facturers generally will give such aid as they can to the
department in its new line of study and research.

Have'You?

If any of the readers of THE IRRIGATION

AGE who are members of the National
Irrigation Association have been notified of annual meet-
ings, and have on hand any report of the meetings,
giving full proceedings, election of officers, etc., etc.,
they will confer a- favor by sending same to this office.

Interesting.

Our readers will find the articles reprinted
in this issue from the Denver Eepublican
of October 10th a very fair description of the standing
of Geo. H. Maxwell among the people who have kept

track of him in the west. The reply of Prof. Elwood
Mead, of the department of agriculture, to the attack
made on the department by Mr. Maxwell will also prove
interesting reading.

Personal and In a circular headed "Personal and
Confidential. Confidential" issued by Geo. H. Max-
well, late last year, appears the following paragraph:

"A fund of $100,000 a year could be expended
wisely and to advantage in carrying on the necessary
educational campaign, in printing and circulating liter-
ature and pamphlets, in conducting a wide correspond-
ence with thousands of leading men throughout the
country to awaken their interest, in publishing an illus-
trated monthly magazine and a weekly journal as the
organ of the movement ... in the support of
a lecture bureau and in holding an annual irrigation
congress."

The above was signed by Mr. Maxwell as Executive
Chairman and sounds strange to one who heard his
harangue about killing off the National Congress by
merging it with the Trans-Mississippi Congress.

To Whom is Our old friend Wm. 0. O'Neill., who was
C*edit Due? killed at San Juan Hill, was the first
to push the subject of National Aid, and the Editor
of the AGE has the original manuscript of articles
written on that subject long before Geo. H. Maxwell
ever attended a National Irrigation Congress. In fact
some of the matter on the subject of National Aid was
published in "Wind and Water" long before The Con-
gress held at Phoenix, Arizona, in 1896, which, as we
understand it, was the first National Congress that
was honored by the presence of Mr. Maxwell, and if the
memory of the writer serves him right, that gentleman

G

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

had nothing to say on the subject lie now advocates at
that particular meeting. It is our impression that Mr.
Maxwell entertained the delegates with a talk on The
Wright Act in which he was so deeply interested at
that time. As soon as a copy of the proceedings of the
Phoenix Congress are placed in our hands we will give
our readers extracts from the speeches of Wm. 0.
O'Neill and Geo. H. Maxwell, which will clearly show
who was the first champion of National Aid, and it may
perhaps, prove that all of Maxwell's fireworks and
ammunition were deliberately appropriated after
"Bucky" O'Neill's untimely, death.

^__, . If The National Irrigation Association is a
national organization for national good, why
should the list of its members be held as private prop-
erty by Geo. H. Maxwell or any other individual ? The
editor of IRRIGATION AGE asked Mr. Maxwell for a list
of the members and he declined to furnish it, giving
as an excuse that he feared that it would possibly fall
into the hands, of the enemies of the cause. What
cause ! Why should he fear to have the list made public ?
Is he or his associates any more the friends of irriga-
tion and National Aid Laws than the rest of us?
Answer, Mr. Maxwell.

Our New Beginning with this issue the size and
Form. general form of THE IRRIGATION AGE is
changed and improved. The old Magazine form was
found too small to accommodate the illustrations which
we wish to present from time to time, hence, it was
thought better to double the size of the pages and offer
something new and attractive in our cover design.
By increasing the size of the pages our advertisers will
be gainers, as they will secure twice as much space as
formerly, without additional cost. This will hold true
with all advertisers who are now with us. After Janu-
ary 1st, however, the page rate will be $600 per year
to all new advertisers or those who have not entered
into contracts for space.

. This increase in our rates is fully justified by our
largely increased circulation. The paid list of the
magazine has more than doubled since December, 1901 :
in fact, the increase in paid subscriptions during 1902
has exceeded the combined increase of the three preced-
ing years.

We will be glad to receive from our subscribers
names of friends who are interested in irrigation, farm
drainage or kindred subjects, to whom sample copies
wijl be gladly mailed.

The publishers will strive to add 5,000 new names
to the list during 1903.

Fred. J. Kiesel.

We arc presenting as our leading illus-

born in Ludwigsburg, Wurttcmbcrg, Germany, in May,
1841, and left for America in 1857, where he lived in
the South until 1862. He crossed the plains in 1863,
arriving in Salt Lake City in the summer of that year.
Soon after locating, he engaged in mercantile pur-
suits, freighting and forwarding to Montana- and Idaho.
Mr. Kiesel was very active at the front of the line of
construction of the Union Pacific, Oregon Short Line,
and the Utah and Northern railways and subsequently
in 1879 moved to Ogden, where he has since been en-
gaged in the wholesale grocery business, also in the
manufacture of salt and in various irrigation enterprises,
agriculture, horticulture and the breeding of fine cattle
and horses. He is also heavily engaged in the bottling
of a natural mineral water known as the "Tdan-ha"

tration in this issue a half-tone por-
trait of Mr. Fred J. Kiesel, of Ogden, Utah, the newly
elected chairman of the Executive Committee of the
llth National Irrigation Congress. Mr. Kiesel was

HON. FKED. J KIESEL, OGDEN, UTAH.
Chairman Extcuti\e Committee, llth Irrig.uun Congress.

at Soda- Springs, Idaho. The wholesale business carried
on by the firm of Fred J. Kiesel & Co. is one of the
largest in the Inter-mountain section ; goods being dis-
tributed in Utah, western Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho and
Montana. Mr. Kiesel is a prominent member of the
Lutheran Church, has been active in politics as a demo-
crat, has filled the office of mayor of Ogden, was a mem-
ber of the Constitutional Convention, member of the
National Commission from Utah to the World's Fair,
Chicago, and was also a member of the upper house of
the legislature. Mr. Kiesel states that he is now retired
from active politics and intends to devote all activity
left him to irrigation and the further development of
his jobbing business. He is a man of extraordinary
activity and push and is all-round interesting and com-

THE IBKIGATION AGE.

panionable. We will devote some space in future issues
to the irrigation enterprises in which he is the leading
spirit.

GEO. H. MAXWELL.

Mr. George H. Maxwell is given the following
editorial notice in the Denver Republican of October 10,
under the heading: Mr. Maxwell and The Irrigation
Congress.

It would be base flattery to assert that the sum
total of what was accomplished at the Irrigation con-
gress, whose session has just closed at Colorado Springs,
will hare any great bearing on the solution of -the great
practical questions which confront the people of the
West. Indeed, if we were called upon to express an opin-
ion, we should be inclined to say that it was of very much
more consequence in the exploitation of the feelings,
prejudices and ambitions of its ruling spirits than it was
calculated to promote the objects at which it was pro-
fessedly aimed.

The power behind the throne and, indeed, frequently
in front of the throne, was Mr. Maxwell, who has for
a number of years been conspicuous in irrigation mat-
ters. Mr. Maxwell is a man of plausible exterior and
good address. He has a tongue between his teeth that
many good public speakers might envy. He lives in
good style and occupies himself exclusively in irrigation
matters. Precisely how he lives so well without any
visible means of support and how he can afford to devote
all of his time to such affairs without a private fortune
to back him is not too clear to an inquiring mind. But
the fact remains that he does it, spreading the irrigation
propaganda throughout the country not onlv through
his Washington weekly paper but through visits and
speech-making in the arid regions of the West. Just
where he always stands on the irrigation question is
not so self evident as a mathematical demonstration.
He opposed the existing federal irrigation law with all
his powers until he discovered that its passage was a
foregone conclusion, when he came in out of the wet
with such a sudden right about face as furnished food
for laughter to the ungodly.

Since then he has apparently assumed full charge
of the work in the West, although not carried on the
government pay roll or in anywise in the employ of
Uncle Sam. He has been everything and all of it,
deciding where reservoir sites are to be selected and
when they are to be built. In some sections of the arid
region the impression prevails that he is a sort of foster
child of Uncle Sam, and whatever he says goes with
his gifted parent. There is no foundation in fact for
the impression, but Mr. Maxwell does nothing to destroy
the delusion. As a matter of fact, he does what he can
to encourage it by adroitness and indirection.

It occurred to the astute and industrious Mr. Max-
well that so long as he was about it he would entirely
eliminate the agricultural department. If he needed
an official back door he would utilize the geological
survey. It was for this reason that he sent no invitations
to any of the eminent gentlemen connected with the
agricultural department to attend the irrigation congress.
Fortunately two weeks after the other invitations had
been sent out other people saw fit to attend to that duty
for him. But even when they came his fast and loose
programme was so arranged that they would be elim-
inated, and it looked as though they would return to
headquarters with their undelivered speeches quietly re-

posing in their inside pockets. And he very nearly
succeeded in his design. But in such a gathering as an
irrigation congress such men as Elwood Mead and Wil-
lis Moore have many friends. These finally discovered
the conspiracy afoot to eliminate them, and under tha
skillful management of Ex-Senator Carey of Wyoming,
backed by a great majority of the Colorado delegates
(among others), Mr. Mead was briefly heard and Max-
well's scheme of fusing with the Transmississippi con-
gress was voted down with singular enthusiasm.

Mr. Maxwell is doubtless a valuable man in his own
way and his own sphere, whatever it is, but so far he
has only succeeded in placing the geological survey in
a false attitude before the public and perhaps arousing
a- spirit of antagonism in the two branches of the pub-
lic service. If this should prove to be true, it would be
exceedingly unfortunate for the arid region and for the
cause of irrigation. Its baneful effects would be directly
traceable to too much Maxwell, for that gentleman with-
out any apparent official authority is assuming every-
thing and placing Mr. Maxwell in an odd and indefensi-
ble attitude before the people of the West who have
high hopes, even though they may never be realized, for
the reservoir bill that recently passed congress.

The Queen Ranch Rider of the West is Miss Annie
Pantenburg, of Sidney, Nebraska. She is a tall, win-
some lass of nearly eighteen years and weighs one hun-
dred and thirty pounds.

Her father was an old-time freighter between Sid-
ney and the Black Hills in the days when Indians,
buffoloes and road agents were as plentiful as jack rab-
bits. Later he became an extensive ranchman. As a
child little Annie was his right bower, because she was
a fearless rider and an expert in stock marks and brands
and all matters pertaining to the range.

She took to this life as naturally as a young duck
to water, and never is so happy as when mounted on her
favorite saddle horse and engaged in the manipulation
of stock on the range. Since her father's death, three
years ago, she has had entire charge of the ranch ; buying,
selling, roping, branding and breaking her stock for
the eastern market.

Coupled with the fearless disposition inherited from
her father, she has acquired a rare skill in horse wrang-
ling. Single handed and alone she will rope, hobble,
harness and hitch the wildest member of the band and
in a very brief time have him going a sober gait that
would put to shame the work of many a professional
masculine horse wrangler. She also loves a trotter and
any evening can be seen speeding a favorite black which
gives every indication of being heard from on the grand
circuit when his education has been perfected.

Notwithstanding so much of her young life has been
spent in the saddle, she has found time to acquire a
good business education. She is a book-keeper, can
figure out the interest on a note, draw up a bill of sale
and mortgage, measure a stack of hay and figure the
number of tons, and write a beautiful letter in a hand
like copper-plate.

Miss Pantenburg is a magnificent specimen of a
western ranch queen. She neither sings, nor does she
play the piano ; the only music in which she delights
is the jingle of her spurs and the rhythmic hoofbeats of
her trottor as she speeds down the avenue. She drives
the finest and fastest pair in Sidney and takes nobody's
dust on the course.

8

THE IEEIGATION AGE.

LATERALS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT.

BY E. II. PAHGITER, SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER, IRRIGA-
TION BRANCH, PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT,
DELHI, INDIA.

The natural method of irrigating a tract of land,
of conveying to it the life-giving streams of water from
one main source of supply, and distributing them to
every part, can best be learned from the similar proc-
esses we see in the vegetable and animal world. Here
the body or substance of a plant or animal is irrigated
by its sap or blood. The main source of supply is re-
peatedly subdivided into smaller and smaller channels,
until the network of these is spread over the whole
body, and every cell lias a supply brought to it. The
same principles will everywhere work out the same re-
sults. Consequently in all irrigating countries, we find
the same process of a canal branching off into a sys-
tem of distribiitaries or laterals, each of which in turn
gives off field water courses, to supply every little plot
of ground with the water it needs. This, obviously, is
the only plan on which a number of different interests
can combine, each in the first place seeking its own in-

MR. EDWYN H. PARGITER,
DELHI, INDIA.

terest; but in the combination mutually seeking the
best interests of all.

But what is not so obvious is that this same prin-
ciple of mutual co-operation must be - carried out to
the very end, in order to ensure the truest economy
in the use of the water, and the highest efficiency
in most expeditiously conveying it to every plot of
ground to be irrigated. The same principles that
have, in India, worked out rules for the maintenance
and management of laterals and watercourses, are now
working out the same rules in America. Co-operation
has been found to be the necessary preliminary to
successful working of a lateral. The supply of water
required for several different farms or estates, can be
utilized to far greater advantage by each receiving the
whole supply for its share of a certain time, rather than
by each receiving its share of the supply continuously
for the whole of that time. The advisability of such
a system of rotation of supplies is now as clearly rec-
ognized in America, as in India. But the joint use of
a common channel by several owners necessarily in-
volves its maintenance by them jointly also; and it is
as to the best and fairest method of apportioning to
each user his proper share in the work of maintenance,
that differences of opinion arise, and shareholders dis-
agree; with the result, often, that the whole, or part,
of the common channel is not kept in proper order, and
some, or all, suffer by receiving a poorer supply of

water than they might. This is due to a perverse
and short-sighted trait of selfish human nature, whereby
each irrigator fails to see why he should be called on
to do work which at first sight does not seem to benefit
himself, but only others.

Now the management and maintenance of a lateral
is very rightly made over to the users of that lateral,
as they are most directly concerned in its being always
kept in good working order, and are always on the spot
to see to this being done. But what they often fail to
see, is the necessity of co-operation in the whole of
the work, in the maintenance of the whole of the com-
mon channel. The irrigators at the lower end, or tail,
can quite see the justice of their doing their share in
the maintenance of the whole lateral from its headgate
down to the end where they receive water. They will
help in clearing the whole channel of silt and weeds,
and in repairing breaches or strengthening weak banks
along its whole length. They quite acknowledge the
fairness of their bearing a share in the cost of bringing
the water they require from the canal to their land.
But an irrigator, who takes off water higher up the
course of the lateral, often cannot see why he should
do a single stroke of work for, or bear any part of the
cost of, clearing or repairing the lateral, below the
point where he takes off his water. In consequence he
fights hard against any rule requiring him to help in
this way; holding that it is other people's work, and
that it is none of his business to do work for them,
which does not benefit himself.

?fow if each irrigator from a lateral were allowed
to neglect that portion of it beyond his own land,
the burden of maintenance would vary for each accord-
ing to the distance of his land from the head of the
lateral, and might come very heavily on those at the
lower end; so much so as to limit very soon the prac-
ticable working length of a lateral ; and consequently the
number of shareholders in it; and so, also, the quan-
tity of water carried in it. But the smaller the chan-
nel the less efficiently and economically it will work;
the greater will be the proportionate share of cost to
each shareholder, and the less the available supply of
water in times of scarcity. At such a time, indeed,
when the whole supply is taken in rotation by each irri-
gator, each has at his disposal a larger supply in the
case of a larger channel, and can irrigate more land in
a short time than he could with the smaller supply
of a smaller channel in a proportionately longer time.
The irrigators along the upper end of a lateral will thus
directly benefit by having many others as sharers lower
down; and in consequence they can fairly be expected
to help those others in maintaining the whole length of
the lateral, from which they thus benefit. Even if
each irrigator along the upper portion never requires
to take the whole supply, still he reaps the benefit of
using a larger and more efficient channel involving
a proportionately smaller cost and trouble to maintain.

As it would be quite impossible to ascertain and
apportion correctly to each shareholder the exact length
of channel he should help to maintain, after calcu-
lating the exact benefit he derives from having so many
other shareholders using water beyond the point he
takes his off, the only reasonable and feasible plan is
to make all equally responsible for the maintenance of
all common channels; each baring his share allotted
proportionately to the area of land he irrigates; or to
the quantity of water he iises, where different crops re-
quire very different quantities of water. Every portion

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

of the channel, conveying water to more than one share-
holder, is to be considered part of the common channel, *
and all shareholders are to be responsible for its com-
plete maintenance. Where any watercourse branches
off for the land of one shareholder alone, that water-
course would not be common, but belong wholly to
that shareholder, and he alone would have to main-
tnin it: no other could be called on to help in its cost.
This principle is now generally recognized everywhere
as the only reasonable and efficient way of working lat-
erals. In India it is not clearly laid down yet, by
laws or regulations, but it is usually acted on; though
often enough it is resisted successfully by powerful men,
who take water from the upper portions of a lateral,
where the irrigators lower down are unable to influ-
ence them, and will not seek the aid of the canal
authorities for fear of arousing the enmity of their
more powerful neighbors. But it is very clearly the
only principle that can be fairly allowed in justice to
all shareholders; and none are overburdened in compari-
son with others. It may sometimes appear necessary
to modify it in cases where the land at the upper end
is high and not readily commanded by the water, while
the land lower down lies low and is well commanded
at all times. But even in such cases no modification is
required or would be fair. For when it is the turn
of the higher land to take water the whole supply
can then be given it; and though the land may be so
high as to allow of only a slight grade or slope in the
water surface from the lateral head on to it, yet this
whole supply will irrigate it in a reasonable time, where-
as a partial small supply never would. The time al-
lowed for the turn would, of course, have to be longer
than that for lower lying lands towards which there
would be a greater velocity of the water in the lateral,
and so a greater quantity of water-flow in a given time,
but the share in the cost of maintenance would not
then depend on the time of the turn, but on the area
of land irrigated, and the quantity of water used. The
owner of the high land would thus very largely benefit
by there being many other shareholders in the lateral,
and should, of course, help them in maintaining their
longer channel, as their larger supply of water helps
him. He can irrigate more land and do it more effi-
'ciently and rapidly by being one of many shareholders
in a large lateral, than he could if he had only a small,
separate, short lateral of his own. Experience has
clearly shown that but little can be done with a con-
tinuous small supply, in comparison with what can be
done with the same total quantity of water used in
a larger body for a shorter time.

As these shareholders who take water from the
upper portion of a lateral so evidently benefit from
there being other shareholders lower down, it is clearly
only just and proper for the former to join with the
latter in the maintenance of the channel further down.
And no way of apportioning to each his share in the
cost of maintenance can be found so practical and fair
as the extremely simple one of considering as com-
mon channels, for the maintenance of which all share-
holders in the lateral are jointly responsible, all por-
tions of the lateral which convey water to more than
one shareholder; and of apportioning to each a share
in the cost according to the quantity of water each
uees; which again will be usually according to the
area; of land each irrigates. This will be true mutual'
co-operation both in the benefits of irrigation, and in the
cost and trouble of obtaining those benefits.

But it may happen that when some clearance or
repairs must be promptly carried out, some of the
shareholders will refuse to join the others in doing
the required work; it may be, because they have other
urgent work in hand or even from sheer obstinacy. As
they cannot be allowed either to delay the work by
making the others wait their convenience or whims,
or to escape bearing their fair share of the work, if
the others do it without their help it becomes neces-
sary to provide legislation to insure such cases being
properly attended to so that irrigation shall not suffer.
In the Northern India Canal Act, No. VIII., of 1873,
this matter is efficiently dealt with. It is enacted in
Section 19 thai; when the necessary maintenance of
any watercourse is not being d6ne, any shareholder may
apply to the officer in charge of the canal, stating the
case. The canal officer will then issue notice to all
the shareholders to attend on a certain day that he
may investigate the case. He does so on that day, no
matter how few of the shareholders may attend, and
if he considers that the work is necessary, he may issue
an order directing it to be done at once. Such share-
holders as are willing to get the work done can then
at once get it carried out, eithes by themselves, by hired
labor, or by contract work. When completed an ac-
count of the total cost is given to the canal officer with
a statement of expenditures incurred by each who has
contributed. He then apportions the total cost among
the shareholders according to their shares,, and directs
all who have not contributed their share to pay up
within a certain time; and then such as have contributed
more than their share are recouped for the excess in-
curred by them. Should any one not pay up as ordered,
the money is recovered from him by process of law.
If the shareholders who institute the proceedings are
not in a position to do the- work themselves, or bear
the cost of it, the canal officer may, on their request,
get the work done himself, by hired labor or contract,
and then recover the cost from the shareholders as
stated above.

This procedure proves prompt and effective; and
the people freely avail themselves of it. In India, the
canals being mostly owned and administered by govern-
ment, such legislation is readily provided. But in
America, with privately owned canals, the difficulty of
getting such legislation provided by a State may be
considerable. The canal management must then have
recourse to by-laws ; which can be arranged to suit the
requirements of each canal. Before being given a share
in a lateral,' and a right to take water from it, each
would-be irrigator should be required to sign a com-
mon agreement for the lateral, binding themselves to
abide Joy and to carry out the principles explained.
In the case of irrigation already established it may be
difficult to get perverse or obstinate shareholders to
agree to these conditions, in their ignorance of the
benefits to be derived from mutual co-operation, but
by leaving them severely alone, to receive only their
small share of the supply continuously, instead of be-
ing allowed a turn in the whole supply, they should
soon find out their mistake. ' Public opinion and social
pressure may also often be brought to bear on them;
and as each such ease can only be treated on its own
merits, no general advice can be given; there will gen-
erally be found some means of inducing refractory pec-
pie to see that their own best interests will be in a
line with the public good. But in the case of new
irrigation the way is clear and the remedy prompt and
efficient.

10

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Still, even if cases could be brought forward to
show that in them these principles and conditions did
not apply, they would be only the exceptions that may
be said to prove the rule. It is, after all, only a mat-
ter of applying to laterals the same principles of gov-
ernment thai all communities recognize as necessary
for their existence and well being. The contributions
of all go into a common fund for the common good of
all. A man would not have his State taxation reduced
because he could show that he derived less benefit from
the government than another man who paid less in
taxation. In all such matters of individual and ex-
ceptional detail we must act on the motto "de minimis
non curat lex," if anything at all is to be done.

August 27, 1902.

GEO. L. M'DONAUGH.

We show in this issue a half-tone photo of Mr.
Geo. L. McDonaugh, Colonization Agent of the Union
Pacific railway. Mr. McDonaugh is one of the success-
ful men in this line of business and is known all over
the West as a hustler in the truest sense of the word.
The special prominence attained by the colonization de-

GEO. L. MCDONAUGH,
Colonization Agent Union Pacific Ry , Omaha, Neb.

partment of the Union Pacific Eailway during the past
two years is attributable in part to the efforts of this
gentleman. Those wishing information on subjects
pertaining to Colonization can address Mr. McDonaugh,
care E. L. Lomax, Omaha, Neb.

Richard Harding Davis went to Spain to attend
the coronation and see the great coronation bull fight.
He has- witnessed bull fights also in many Spanish-
American countries. In the Christmas Scribner's he has
a satirical article called "The Gentle Art of Bull Fight-
ing," in which he advances a special claim for a new
hero of the bull fight, the humble chulo who sweeps
up the debris in the ring.

WHAT IT COSTS TO PUMP WATER.

J. J. VERNON, IN DENVER FIELD & FARM.

An experiment was undertaken with the three fol-
lowing points in view : First, the development of a
water supply from the underflow in sufficient quantities
for irrigation purposes. Second, a test of the efficiency
and economy of different makes of pumps. Third, the
determination of the cost of irrigating different crops by
pumping,/ under varying conditions of drouth. One six-
inch well forty-eight feet deep with a slotted strainer
located in a twelve foot gravel stratum furnished over
800 gallons of water a minute or something over 6,400
cubic feet an hour at the rate of 177 cubic feet a
second.

At the end of a- thirty-hour continuous run there
was no sign of a diminution of the water. During this
run 63 acres of alfalfa were irrigated in 23 hours
and 45 minutes at a cost of $1.30 an acre for fuel.
This field was irrigated on June 5th with river water,
but had received no water from that date until irrigated
by pumping on July 30th, 55 days later. The ground
was very dry and cracked open quite a depth. Since
at this season of the year alfalfa is usually irrigated
once in from 14 to 21 days, it is quite probable that
twice the quantity of water was required for the irri-
gation that would have been necessary under normal
conditions.

Taking this as probably true, the cost of irrigating
alfalfa would amount to about 65 cents an acre under
normal conditions of dryness and frequency. It is no
more than just that I should add that this run was made
with inferior fuel and the cost is likely to be less rather
than more. The following figures are based on a cost
of a-bout $2.25 a cord for wood. Computations from the
data obtained from the tests that have been made will
no doubt be of interest, though incomplete, and are
as follows :

Cost of fuel for irrigating alfalfa, covering the sur-
face of the ground : One inch deep 19%c an acre. Two
inches deen 39c an acre. Two and a half inches deep
49c an acre. Three inches deep 58%c an acre. Thre«
and a third inches deen 65c an acre. Six inches deep
$1.17 an acre. Six and two-thirds inches deep $1.30
an acre. Area that could be irrigated in twenty-four
hours, covering the surface of the ground: One inch
deep 42 acres; two inches deep 21 acres; two and a
half inches deep 164-5 acres; three inches deep 14
acres ; three and a third inches deep 12 3-5 acres ; six
inches deep 7 acres; six and two-thirds inches deep
6.3 acres.

Size of farm that could be irrigated by running
twenty-four hours each day if an irrigation be given to
the successive fields every fourteen days, covering the
surface of the ground : Two inches deep 294 acres ;
two and a half inches deep 235% acres; three inches
deep 196 acres; three and a third inches deep 1762-5
acres; six inches deep 98 acres; six and two-thirds
inches deep 88 1-5 acres. Size of farm that could
be irrigated by running ten hours each day if an
irrigation be given to the successive fields every four-
teen days, covering the surface of the ground: Two
inches deep 122% a-cres; two and a half inches deep
98 acres; three inches deep 81 2/3 acres; three and
one-third inches deep 73% acres; six inches deep 404-5
acres, six and two-thirds inches deep 36.7 acres.

Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE
for 1903.

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

11

PRACTICAL IRRIGATION— ADVANTAGES OF GAR-
DEN AND ORCHARD IRRIGATION.

BY JOHN M. IKWIN.
Sup't Agencies, Stover Mfg. Co , Freeport. 111.

The object of this article is not to instruct those
who are interested in reclaiming large areas of our arid
plains, who depend on the Government or corporation
water canals for water, but to point out to the farmers
and gardeners the advantages of irrigation.

Dry sea-sons are not unusual in every part of the
United States, therefore irrigation is advantageous and
profitable in all parts of the country in dry years. It
is in dry years that irrigation becomes indispensable
in making good crops. Every farmer and gardener
knows that, were he in position to supply artificially
enough water to his land to make up the deficiency
of the rain fall, he would be able to harvest full crops.
How is this to be done, and can it be done? In answer
to the first question the reply is, make a well that will
furnish enough water, then build a good earth reser-
voir of suitable size and puddle it thoroughly so that
it will not leak, and then put in a good pumping plant.
With such a- preparation, start the pump and fill the
reservoir with water. Always keep the pump running
when the reservoir is not full, so as to be prepared
with a good supply of water for use when wanted.

The answer to the question, "Can it be done?" is
not as easily given. Has a well been made or can
one be made to furnish enough water? How high
must the water be, raised, how much land is to be
wartered and what is the deficiency, in inches of rain
fall? The quantity of water the well supplies, if all
is taken out, will determine the amount of land that
can be irrigated. The power required to pump a given
quantity of water in a given time depends on the per-
pendicular distance from the water level in the well
to the highest point of delivery. It requires twice as
much power to lift one gallon two feet high as to
lift it one foot high. It aiso costs twice as much power
to lift enough water for two acres, one foot high, as
for one acre, one foot high. It will also require twice
as much water to complete the irrigation if the defi-
ciency of rain fall is ten inches as it will if the defi-
ciency is only five inches.

The system of irrigation by means of pumping
plants has been so simplified in this country that in
the states of Louisiana and Texas thousands upon
thousands of acres grown to sugar cane and rice are
irrigated entirely by pumping plants. In California
many of the great fruit farms, and not a few of the
grain farms, are irrigated by pumping plants. It was
during the dry season of last year (1901) that the
need for irrigation was felt by the farmers over such
a large area of this country. The field crops were gen-
erally cut short and gardens were nearly or quite de-
stroyed, arid the fruit crop, also, was very generally

injured by the drouth. The loss of vegetables and fruit
would have been prevented by the use of pumping
plants, and the loss sustained from failure of fruits
and vegetables in the year 1901 would have gone a long
ways toward the cost of enough pumping plants to hare
made such failure impossible. As a result of last year's
drouth, and lack of means to irrigate and save the
vegetable and fruit crops, these articles of food were
extremely scarce and very high in price; so much so,
that while large importations of them were made from
foreign countries, still the great mass of people did
not enjoy as much as could have been economically con-
sumed. It is to emphasize the value of irrigation
as applied to small areas, such as gardens and orchards,
that this article is written.

It may be said that the Germanic races, which in-
clude Americans, look upon irrigation as something
needed to insure crops in the arid section of the coun-

1RRIGATION MILL AND RESERVOIR.

try, but o'f no value elsewhere, and forget that aridity
and dryness are synonymous terms. Large sections east
of the Missouri river became arid last year (1901);
so dry that all vegetation withered and died. For the
time being the area of aridity had enlarged to enor-
mous proportions and the same system of insuring the
crops in Colorado, Arizona and California would have
insured the crops in Missouri and Illinois. But to
insure success in any new undertaking it is necessary
to begin in a small way, and as experience is gained,
increase the operations.

As the vegetable gardens and orchards contribute
so much of the necessaries of life, prudence suggests
that to guard against injury or failure from drouths
an irrigation plant of sufficient capacity should be in-
stalled by every farmer. The time to do this is when
conditions are favorable. Some preparation must first
be made and the necessary means provided. It is not
prudent to delay until the drouth comes, but in time
of good opportunity provide the irrigation plant.

Once having become familiar with irrigation, from
its use in the garden and orchard, it could be easily
extended to the field crops, by increasing the capacity
of the plant. There is no better nor more economical
power than the wind mill for operating sc pump for
raising water for irrigation. Many farmers already own
one or more wind mills and by making a reservoir to
store the water, could, without much cost, irrigate their

THE IBEIGATION AGE.

gardens and orchards, when a dry season set in. A
pumping plant for irrigating will be equally serviceable
for supplying stock water, since the drinking troughs
may be supplied from the reservoir. In fact, the earth
reservoir is the best for storing water. It is simple,
easy and convenient to combine the work to supply
water for the garden and orchard as well as for the
stock. The small irrigation plant that takes care of
the garden and orchard soon pays for itself, even though
neither vegetables nor fruits are grown for the mar-
ket. The saving in the purchases made necessary for
the table, in the absence of vegetables and fruits from
a good garden and orchard, will soon amount to as
much or more than the cost of the plant.

The writer knows of instances where the irrigation
plant was used for growing both fruit and vegetables
for the market and for both industries produced enough
to pay for the cost several times over, the first year.
It is in arid countries, as well as during dry years,
that vegetables and fruits are so scarce and sell at
such high, and for the irrigator, remunerative, prices.

It is an old adage which says, "In time of peace
prepare for war." May one not be permitted in these
times of plenty to say, "In time of prosperity prepare
for dry seasons," and suggest the best time to install
an up-to-date irrigation plant for the garden and orchard
is this year, and thus insure for the future full crops?
To delay means, wait until the dry season arrives. To
do so means great haste, and too often overlooking es-
sential features that may greatly lessen the proper effi-
ciency of the plant.

This is a practical age and, ours are the most prac-
tical people in the world. Practical people provide
against uncertainties, therefore prudence decrees that
irrigation must intervene to save the crops in dry years
in the humid sections. Wisdom ordains that the fer-
tile soils of our great arid regions must be made fruit-
ful by irrigation to supply homes for other millions.

THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY.

The following letters will be interesting to many
of our readers along the Eio Grande river as well as
many others who advocate dams as against pumping
plants. It will be worth the while of manufacturers of
pumping machinery of all kinds to study conditions in
the valley of the Eio Grande river. — Ed.
The Irrigation Age, Chicago, III.:

Following the line of pumping irrigation which I
am pleased to note you are following very closely, I
enclose you a letter we received from Mr. Samuel J.
Hensley of Presidio, Tex., which may be of interest to
your readers, coming as it does from a man of as wide
experience as Mr. Hensley.

Eespectfully,

J. A. SHARP,
Manager, Rio Grande Lund & Imp. Co.

PRESIDIO, PRESIDIO COUNTY, TEX., Nov. 15, 1902.
Eio Grande Land & Imp. Co., El Paso, Tex.:

DK.UI SIR: Without the honor of an acquaintance
with you I beg the liberty of addressing you a line on
the subject of Agriculture and Irrigation in El Paso
Valley. To begin with I am a Californian. A son of
the land of gold, flowers, fruits and progressive people.
I have watched the growth of that land of beauty from
1853 to this the day when the efforts of the most intelli-
gent, most metropolitan people on earth have produced

what is about as near a '"'Garden of Eden" as we are
likely to know in our day. I was raised on the banks of
irrigation ditches and bathed in them when a child. I
am the first man that ever placed a- trancet on the
Swilling Canal, the first and original (American) canal
in the Salt Eiver Valley in Arizona, following the course
of the old Aztec Canal, where Phoenix now stands. I
harye since that time taken two canals from the Eio
Grande and been connected with other enterprises of that
nature.

With that experience and the fact that I have been
an agriculturist all my life, I feel that my views on the
subject of Irrigation in the Eio Grande Valley may be
of some worth, and have decided to give you an opinion
without the asking, which I hope may at least serve to
increase your faith in the new enterprise of which I see
you are at the head.

The Big Dam at El Paso will be a failure and a
menace to the city and valley as long as it holds any
considerable quantity of water, which will not be very
long, as the slickens (sediment) will equal about 1/20
of the water that flows into the basin with the result that
within 10 years it will be filled to the top of the wall,
making a more or less level valley the size of the space
covered by the water when the dam is full. This deposit
can not be flushed out, as claimed by the supporters of
the enterprise. After the basin fills there will be left
onlv an interesting waterfall which may be utilized for
generating electricity or other power, nothing more,
and the International Dam will have served the sole
purpose of giving employment to an army of laborers
and inflating values of real estate for the time, which
may or may not be good for the growing city of the
Southwest.

On the other hand, I predict that your enterprise
for supplying the valley with water by means of pumps
is entirely feasible and that you will meet with great
success, and that you will do more for El Paso than
all the dams that may lie built in the years to come'on
the Bio Grande.

There is still another feature in your favor which
many gardeners will agree is of much importance. The
muddy waters of the Eio Grande are sure destruction
to many plants. The fine sediment covers the leaves
and the plants die. It is worthless for the irrigation
of flowers of many kinds. It rots tomatoes, onions,
melons and lettuce, and cabba-ge plants are often de-
stroyed by being covered with the slime from the water.
I own a large farm at Paloo in this county which is
irrigated from a ditch from the river, and I know what
I am writing about. The alluvial deposit which the
water brings to the land is good for the land, of course,
but the difficulties it brings are more than an offset to
the advantages.

I have simply written you this letter to encourage
you Jn the good work you have commenced for the good
that others will receive from your efforts and with the
hope that it may serve you some good in your under-
taking. I have had two struggles with canals from the
Eio Grande and frankly own that I have more faith in
pumps than dams, and if I had used pumps in the
beginning I would be wealthy to-day, whilst as a matter
of fact, I am land poor through trying to dam the river
until now in despair I say D — n the river, and will put
in a pump as soon as I can get one.
Eespectfully,

Your obt. servt.,
SAMUEL J. HENSLEY.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

13

PROF. ELWOOD MEAD'S REPLY TO GEO. H.
MAXWELL'S ATTACK.

An open letter to the delegates to the .National
Irrigation Congress at Colorado Springs, October 6-9,
1902.

WASHINGTON, D. C., October 15, 1902.

GENTLEMEN : Those of you who were present at the
Wednesday evening session of the Congress will recall
that after my statement of what the Department of
Agriculture is doing for irrigation an address was made
by Mr. George H. Maxwell criticising the irrigation work
of this Department. The lateness of the hour and my
enforced departure before the next session of the Con-
gress prevented any reply at the time, although I very
much desired to make this becaiise silence on my part
might be construed to be an acquiescence in his state-
ments. Since then, I have concluded, in justice to Sec-
retary Wilson and the work under my charge, to reply
to the portion of his address which is regarded as un-
called for and unfair, and this can be most conveniently
done in an open letter.

Although several of Mr. Maxwell's criticisms were
by implication' rather than by direct statement, the im-
pression which he sought to convey seemed to be :

That I had, officially and otherwise, opposed the pas-
sage of the National irrigation act.

That the Department is carrying on a propaganda
to force other arid States to adopt the Wyoming code
of irrigation laws.

The paragraph which he objected to will be found
on page XCII of the Secretary's report for 1901 :

"If the States are to control the water supplies,
there should be satisfactory assurance that whatever is
made available by public funds shall benefit the actual
users of water and not enrich the holders of speculative
rights. In some States there is such assiirance. These
States are entitled to National aid, because it is known
from present conditions that such aid would be clearly
beneficial. But there are other arid States where the
doctrine of riparian rights jeopardizes the success of
every irrigation work now built, as well as any works
which the Government might build. In other States
rights have been established to many times the existing
supply, yet there is nothing to prevent new claims being
filed, new diversions made, and unending litigation over
the conflicts thus created. For the Government to
provide an additional supply on these streams before
existing controversies are settled would simply aggravate
and intensify the evils of the present situation. What-
ever aid Congress extends should be conditioned on the
enactment of proper irrigation codes by the States, and
be made to promote the greater efficiency and success of
such laws rather than interfere with their operation."

No one will question that this deals with one of the
most important problems of Western irrigation and that,
if the facts are a-s stated by the Secretary, it was his
duty to submit them to Congress and the Nation. To
have withheld this information would have subjected
the Secretary to just criticism, because it has a vital
relation to any irrigation legislation. The only question
which can be raised 'regarding this paragraph in the
Secretary's report is as to whether or not the conditions
described exist. Mr. Maxwell said they do not. In this,
he is contradicted by President Roosevelt, whose support
of National irrigation he cannot well question, and who,
in his first message to Congress, describes these con-
ditions in stronger language than Secretary Wilson used.
I desire that everv one interested in this discussion shall

compare the following quotation from President Roose-
velt's message with the above paragraph in Secretary
Wilson's report, in order that there may be no mistake
regarding their agreement : (The italics in this and all
other quotations are mine.)

"Whatever the Nation does for the extension of irri-
gation should harmonize with, and tend to improve, the
condition of those now living on irrigated land. We are
not at the starting point of this development. Over two
hundred millions of private capital has alreadv been ex-
pended in the construction of irrigation works, and many
million acres of arid land reclaimed. A high degree of
enterprise and ability has been shown in the work itself;
but as much cannot be said in reference to the laws re-
lating thereto. The security and value of the homes
created depend largely on the stability of titles to water ;
but the majority of these rest on the uncertain founda-
tion of court decisions rendered in ordinary suits at law.
With a few creditable exceptions, the arid States have
failed to provide for the certain and just division of
streams in times of scarcity. Lax and uncertain laws
have made it possible to establish rights to water in excess
of actual uses or necessities, and many streams have al-
ready passed into private ownership, or a control equiva-
lent to ownership.

Whoever controls a stream practically controls the
land it renders productive, and the doctrine of pri-
vate ownership of water apart from land cannot prevail
without causing enduring wrong. The recognition of
such ownership, has been permitted to grow up in the arid
regions, should give way to a more enlightened and larger
recognition of the rights of the public in the control and
disposal of the public water supplies. Laws founded
upon conditions obtaining in humid regions, where water
is too abundant to justify hoarding it, have no proper
application in a dry country.

In the arid States the only right to water which
should be recognized is that of use. In irrigation this
right should attach to the land reclaimed and be insep-
arable therefrom. Granting perpetual water rights to
others than users, without compensation to the public,
is open to all the objections which apply to giving away
perpetual franchises to the public utilities of cities.
A few. of the Western States have already recognized
this, and have incorporated in their constitutions the
doctrine of perpetual State ownership of water.''

If Secretary Wilson's statement is untrue, the Presi-
dent's message is untrue, but both are true. They are
supported by the reports of the State engineers of Colo-
rado, Nebraska, Utah and Idaho, and by Mr. Maxwell's
own State, and by the action of the Water and Forest
Association. In a petition addressed to the Secretary
of Agriculture, asking for an investigation of the water-
right problems of California, signed by the Director of
the California State experiment station, by the President
of Leland Stanford University, by the Manager of the
State board of trade, by the President of the San Fran-
cisco Savings Union, the Bank of California, the Cali-
fornia Academy of Sciences, and by a large number of
the leading business and professional men of San Fran-
cisco, the following statement is made :

"We respectfully submit that nowhere in America
are there irrigation problems more important, more in-
tricate, or more pressing than in California. Neither are
there any whose study would be more greatly instructive.
We can offer, we presume, examples of every form of
evil which can be found in Anglo.-Saxon dealings with
water in arid and semi-arid districts. Great sums have

14

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

been lost in irrigation enterprises. Still greater sums
are endangered. Water titles are uncertain. The liti-
gation is appalling."

The paragraph in Secretary Wilson's report, which
Mr. Maxwell attacked, did not affect the passage of the
National irrigation act. It did not suggest delay in the
passage of this act. It did recommend that the act should
contain a clause requiring the arid States to accept its
conditions and pass laws providing for public control
over the distribution of water thus made available. I
believe that such a provision would have been a wise one
and that future events will demonstrate this.

It does not matter on what grounds Mr. Maxwell
bases his statement that I opposed the passage of the
National irrigation act. It is not true. For twelve years
I have been an advocate of National aid for Western irri-
gation. I was consulted by a number of members of the
committee of seventeen who framed the National act,
and every one of these will bear testimony to my support
of the measure from beginning to end. Among these are
Senators Warren and Dietrich, Congressmen Mondell,
Burkett, Sutherland, Newlands and Shafroth. While
I did not regard it as ac perfect measure I advocated its
passage, believing that future legislation would cure its
defects. I challenge Mr. Maxwell to name a single mem-
ber of either house of Congress to whom I ever spoke in
opposition to this act. He cannot do this, because there
was no such opposition either in word or thought.

There is no foundation whatever for the statement
that I am attempting to force other States to adopt the
Wyoming code of water laws. I have urged that titles to
water should be established by some systematic and order-
ly procedure, as land titles are, that the water of Western
rivers should be under public control and be divided by
public officials, that rights to their use should be limited
to the actual needs of users, and that with every irri-
gated farm should go a right to the water which makes
it productive. In doing this, I am simply advocating
policies which the experience of all irrigated lands has
shown indispensable to enduring peace and success. So
fas as the Wyoming irrigation code embodies these prin-
ciples, it is a good law, and the same is true of the Colo-
rado irrigation law, the Nebraska irrigation law, the
Canadian irrigation law, the Australian irrigation law,
and the irrigation codes of Egypt and Italy, in all of
which these features are found in large measure.

As was explained in my statement to the convention,
a large part of the irrigation work of the Department
has to do with the practical questions which confront
farmers, but it is also gathering and publishing the
facts which show the character of different irrigation
codes and the results which have attended their operation.
We are doing this to protect rather than injure the pres-
ent users of water, and the appeals of Mr. Maxwell to
the fears and prejudices of those who do not understand
the Department's work have no basis in fact.

Because of Mr. Maxwell's dislike for me personally,
he has in his publications, in letters, and otherwise, mis-
represented the work of the Agricultural Department
and my views and acts. Before this personal difference
arose, Mr. Maxwell repeatedly commended the work of
th,e Department's Irrigation Investigations. In the
National Advocate of October, 1900, he wrote as follows :

"The excellent work which Elwood Mead, of the
Department of Agriculture, and his assistants are doing
throughout the West along irrigation lines, is becoming
well known. As State engineer of Wyoming, Mr. Mead
achieved for his State such an enviable reputation in the

irrigated region that his broader work of investigation
under the General Government is meeting with much
favor and is being watched with deep interest. His first
annual report on 'Irrigation Investigation' is just is-
sued, and will be found of great value to the West."

He wrote differently in February, 1902 :

"Mr. Mead goes out from Wyoming to California
to tell the people of California what they must do to put
themselves in shape to get appropriations from Congress
for national irrigation works, and he finds the horrible
hobgoblin of riparian rights in the way. He prepares a
careful dissertation on the laws of water in California in
relation to riparian rights, but overlooks the celebrated
case of Fifield v. Spring Valley Water Co., 62 Pacific
Reporter, 1054, where the Supreme Court of California
has established it as the law of that State that a riparian
owner can not prevent the storage of flood waters above
him, and their appropriation to beneficial use. The
magnificent reservoir of the Spring Valley Water Com-
pany, on San Mateo creek, from which it supplies water '
to the city of San Francisco, stands today as a living
refutation of Mr. Mead's theories as to conditions in
California."

No one in public position should object to candid
and truthful criticism, and I have always welcomed
it, but the paragraph just quoted is not fair to myself
or to the public. One would suppose from reading it
that I had gone to California on my own motion and
had prepared a report with especial relation to the
securing of appropriations from Congress. Nothing
could be further from the truth. The report in ques-
tion was prepared in response to a- petition to the
Department of Agriculture, asking that I conduct the
investigation and promising to pay a large part of
its expense, which was done. The facts were gathered
by some of the leading irrigation authorities of this
country, including the professors of civil engineering in
the University of California and Stanford University,
and such civil engineers as James D. Schuyler and Edwin
M. Boggs, of Los Angeles, C. E. Grunsky and Marsden
Manson, of San Francisco, and such students of the
legal and economic phases of irrigation as William E.
Smythe, of San Diego, and Prof. James M. Wilson, of
the University of California-. These gentlemen were
unanimous in their conclusions and I am willing that
Bulletin 100 of the Office of Experiment Stations shall
stand as an answer to the criticism quoted above and to
those made by Mr. Maxwell at Colorado Springs. Since
its publication a commission having among its mem-
bers the chief justice of the California Supreme Court,
an ex-justice of that court, a distinguished member of
the California bar, the presidents of Leland Stanford
and California universities, the professors of civil engi-
neering in these two unversities, Mr. F. H. Newell,
of the U. S. Geological Survey, and myself, has been
asked to frame an irrigation code to carry out the re-
forms recommended by this report. Mr. Maxwell sought
to convey the impression in his address at Colorado
Springs, and in the extract above quoted, that the water-
right problems of California had been substantially set-
tled, but the Commission asked to frame this law think
differently. They have recently issued a report from
which the following is quoted:

"If it be the unalterable law of this State that
an owner of riparian land may, as at common law,
prevent any one above him from taking any water
out of the stream for beneficial use, merely that the
stream shall flow past his place undiminished in quantity,

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

15

and whether such riparian owner can put the water to
a beneficial use on his land or not, then no legislation
that we may suggest, or the legislature enact, will ma-
terially relieve the situation. If that be the law, and
it cannot be changed or modified, there is probably no
water in any stream in the State that can be legally
appropriated, and the right to the use of water that
has been appropriated heretofore has only been acquired
by the sufferance of riparian owners or their neglect to
assert their rights. The enforcement of such a law
would be disastrous in the extreme. The majority of
the Commission do not believe, if this is the law of
the State, as declared by the Supreme Court, that it
cannot be changed by the legislature."

This is not my statement. I hare not been able,
much to my regret, to attend the meetings of the Com-
mission and had no share in the preparation of this
report. The conclusions above expressed are those of
able jurists, and Mr. Maxwell once agreed with them,
as can be seen by readirfg a brief he filed in th United
States Court of Appeals in San Diego Flume Company
v. Souther et al. The following quotation shows how
different were the views he held before he began his
attempt to eliminate .the irrigation work of the Agri-
cultural Department:

"The uncertainty as to what the law of California
is as to the source, nature and extent of a; right to
the use of water and the status, under the Constitution,
of a water company distributing water for irrigation,
on the one hand, and the irrigator, using the water,
on the other, is a great public detriment to California,
retarding both investment in the construction of irri-
gation work and the settlement of irrigated lands; and
as it now stands it is to be feared that the decision in
this case will rather intensify that uncertainty."

There has been no important change in the laws and
no new interpretation given since the above statement
was made, to bring about Mr. Maxwell's conversion to
the opinion that California needs no reform in its
irrigation laws.

One of Mr. Maxwell's grievances is that I entered
the Department's service from Wyoming. He appar-
ently does not like that State or any of its citizens. In
the supplement to the National Homemaker for March,
1902, he voices thie feeling as follows:

"The fact should be borne in mind that it seems to
be always an influence coming from Wyoming which
makes trouble whenever the effort is made to get through
Congress legislation which would insure the settlement
of the public lands by small farmers.

"Wyoming was for years the storm center of the
theory of State cession. The ablest argument in its
favor ever presented was the paper read by Elwood
Mead, then State engineer of Wyoming, before the
American Society of Irrigation Engineers at Denver,
some years ago. Failing to get State cession, the Mead-
Mondell Leasing Bill was brought forward as an alter-
native. This bill raised such a hornet's nest of opposi-
tion in the West, and even in Wyoming, among the
small settlers, that Mr. 'Mondell himself, who had in-
troduced it, moved to lay it on the table."

Now, what are the facts? A Wyoming Senator
secured the passage of the Carey Act, which has done
more to promote settlement than any law passed by
Congress in ten years preceding the National irriga-
tion act. Under it, land must be both lived on ' and
cultivated before the Government parts with the title.
No man has done more to promote irrigation legislation

than Senator Warren, of Wyoming, and when this at-
tack on the State of Wyoming was written every mem-
ber of its delegation was working with all the zeal in
his power to secure the passage of the National irriga-
tion act, Mr. Mondell having charge of the bill in the
House. ,

Mr. Maxwell speaks of a paper of mine as an argu-
ment in favor of cession. It was rather a discussion of
land and water laws, with cession urged as a means
of reform in their abuses. It was prepared seven years
ago when cession seemed the most promising method
of securing National aid in development. It was pub-
lished by Mr. Maxwell in the first issue of his National
Advocate as one of his opening guns in favor of such
aid and was commended by him in a public address.
When he speaks of the Mead-Mondell Leasing Bill, he
seeks to convey a falsehood without directly uttering
it. There never was any such bill. I have been in
favor of leasing the public grazing land in small tracts
to actual settlers, but Mr. Maxwell could just as truth-
fully have used this fact to call the Lacey Land Leasing
Bill the Mead-Lacey Bill as he could to call the Mon-
dell Leasing Bill the Mead-Mondell Bill, because I
had nothing to do with the framing of either of them
and never saw either until after they had been intro-
duced in Congress and printed. He could with equal
truth have called it the Maxwell-Mondell Leasing Bill,
because he formerly advocated leasing, as is shown by
the following quotation from an address he delivered
in Wichita, Kansas, and published in No. 2 of The
Homebuilder, issued by the National Irrigation Asso-
ciation :

"The public grazing lands should be leased and the
revenues derived therefrom used to build large irriga-
tion works, such as reservoirs, main canals, and great
dams or diversion works, which would be beyond the
scope of the resources of the land owners."

Judging from the fervor with which Mr. Maxwell
now supports the National irrigation act and attacks
those whom he claims opposed it, one would suppose
it had, from start to finish, received his unswerving
support. This was not the case, however. In February,
1902, when it seemed as if the bill would fail, he
issued a supplement to the National Homemaker, in
which he speaks of the bill and its advocates as follows :

"No true friend of western development can con-
template this compromise committee bill without cha-
grin and humiliation.

"No broad-minded eastern man, who wants the
whole country to grow and prosper, can contemplate
it without disappointment and disgust.

"Every open and avowed opponent of the National
irrigation movement will hail it as a confirmation of
the charge that the whole movement is a scheme of
speculators and land grabbers to loot the National Treas-
ury for selfish, private profit.

"No one needs a microscope to find the bugs in
the bill. They are so plain that. he who runs may read.

They invite and make certain the defeat of the measure.
* * *

"No western man can justify the bill to the East.

"No bill can be passed without the support of the
East.

"And there you are! * * *

"What is the use of wasting any more precious
time trying to unite the West?

"It can not be united on any measure which the
country generally will approve.

16

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

"As one of the most influential eastern members
of the House of Representatives, who is a friend of
national irrigation, provided it makes homes, has said
of this bill:

" 'It has no more chance than ice in hades !' *

The 17 western members who framed the National

irrigation act can answer for themselves whether "the

whole movement was a scheme of speculators and land

grabbers to loot the National Treasury for selfish, private

?rofit." That is Mr. Maxwell's statement, not mine,
f I had said it, I would have expected to be charged
with opposing the bill and would have been chary about
charging opposition on the part of others.

For more than four years, Mr. Maxwell has been
before the country as the head of the National Irriga-
tion Association. He has maintained expensive offices
in Chicago and Washington. He has carried on a cor-
respondence bureau from the first named city and run
a press bureau and published a paper in Washington
in which he has praised his supporters and abused those
whom he dislikes. He has given his entire time to his
propaganda. It is fair to ask who has furnished the
money for this censorship of Congress and of public

"This so-called association seeks $5 annual sub-
scriptions from eastern merchants and manufacturers,
and probably does succeed in getting' a few — possibly
enough to pay the cost of obtaining them. No financial
statement is ever rendered to the public. The real con-
tributors to the funds of this 'association' have been the
five great transcontinental railroads — the Great North-
ern, Northern Pacific, Union Pacific, Southern Pacific
and Santa Fe lines, each of whom contributed $6,000
a year, making a fund of $30,000 a year in addition
to the 'pick up' from other sources. It has the sym-
pathy, and possibly the material aid of private owners
of large tracts of irrigable land, some of whom are in
Congress. It has the influence to secure prominent poli-
ticians to serve as 'presidents' and 'vice presidents,'
whose functions are to preside at public meetings and
make irrigation speeches. The real power is in the
'executive chairman,' which is a prominent office filled
by George H. Maxwell, well known in this State."

I am informed that substantially the same charges
were made before a congressional committee. Mr. Max-
trcll lio.-i iierer publicly denied them, and I know that
lir ecu IK. I truthfully deny some of them.

officials, and what has been the real influence which
controls his activities? The San Francisco Chronicle,
in an editorial, answered these questions :

" 'George H. Maxwell of San Francisco, who has
been prominent in the National Irrigation Association
for years, is the uncompromising foe of the bill and
declares that it can not pass. The organ of the irri-
gation association has published an article against the
bill, and this is being used by the eastern enemies of
irrigation to show that the western people do not agree
among themselves.'

"It is quite time that this so-called 'National Irri-
gation Association' should be unmasked. It is an asso-
ciation of five transcontinental railroad lines, which each
contribute $6,000 per annum to the concern, and it is
nothing else whatever. Its a;gent is this man Maxwell,
who spends money lavishly in Washington and else-
where, ostensibly for the 'association,' and we challenge
the proof that the association has ever received any
income worth mentioning except from the treasuries of
these railroads. If it is a public association, main-
tained in the public interest, why does it not issue the
financial statement usual in such societies ? It does not
dare to print such a financial statement, and it can not
be got to do so. This is no secret. It is perfectly well
understood at Washington."

In a subsequent editorial, the Chronicle was even
more explicit:

There is no reason for criticism of the railway man-
agers for contributing to a movement for irrigation
development. They have, I believe, contributed to the
support of Mr. Maxwell's association for the same rea-
son that they give reduced rates to home seekers, because
they have the same interest as the public in the settle-
ment of the vacant lands to which their lines run. But
Mr. Maxwell, with one hand reaching for the railways'
contribution, and the other for the $5 annual dues of
members in his association, while declaring that "the
National Irrigation Association stands for a principle
and will inflexibly adhere to it" is another affair.

Since the passage of the act Mr. Maxwell's activities
have increased rather than diminished. The character
of his labors is described in the Denver Republican of
October 10, as follows :

"Since then he has apparently assumed full charge
of the work in the West, although not carried on the
government pay roll or in any wise in the employ of
Uncle Sam. He has been everything and all of it, de-
ciding where reservoir sites are to be selected and when
they are to be built. In sonic sections of the arid region
the impression prevails that he is a sort of foster child
of Uncle Sam, and whatever he says goes with his
gifted parent. There is no foundation in fact for the
impression, but Mr. Maxwell does nothing to destroy
the delusion. As a matter of fact, he does what he
can to encourage it bv adroitness and indirection."

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

17

This statement is made Lccause of a belief in the
value of the work being done by the Agricultural De-
partment, and that to have it misrepresented and mis-
understood would be an injury to the whole country;
because of a belief that Mr. Maxwell's present activities
are altogether selfish and that they threaten the working
of a beneficent measure. A thorough understanding and
investigation of the questions 1 have raised is desired by
myself and all those connected with the irrigation work
of the Agricultural Department.

Respectfully, ELWOOD MEAD.

PAWNEE PASS, COLORADO.

In this issue is shown a half-tone photo of the
Pawnee bluifs on each side of Pawnee Pass, near Ster-
ling, Colorado, where the citizens of the South Platte
Valley hope to see a government reservoir which will
store enough water to irrigate 250,000 acres of land
below it. As will be seen from the formation shown
in photo, these bluffs, which are about one hundred
fict higher than the valley or plain below them, curve
like two huge horns toward each other, forming a lower

"The grateful acknowledgments of this congress
are due to Theodore Roosevelt, president of the United
States, for his invaluable assistance in the cause of
irrigation. His message to Congress in December, 1901,
marked the beginning of a new epoch in the history not
only of the arid West, but also in that of the whole
region. Without his powerful aid and that of his ad-
ministration it would not have been possible to secure
the passage of that great act which will inaugurate and
put into enective motion the national irrigation policy
for which we have been striving so long. Great as his
administration may be, we believe that none of its
achievements will rebound more to the greatness of our
people and the glory of our country than will the pas-
sage of the national irrigation act. We send him our
greeting and give him our assurances of our most sin-
cere respect and admiration.

"We appreciate the invaluable assistance rendered
to this glorious consummation by, and here express our
sense of obligation to, the secretaries of the interior and
of agriculture, to the friends of the bill in the Senate
and House, and to all who have labored so effectively
and unceasingly to secure this inauguration of the policy

semi-circle rim to a basin which extends back as a
water shed for upwards of 70 miles. The space be-
tween these ledges varies from 3~y2 to 5 miles in width,
and it is claimed by those who have made a study of
the ground, that by building a dam across between the
two promontories a distance of a little over 1J/L miles
a reservoir 9 miles long and from 4 to 5 miles in width
will lie established which will hold enough water to
ani|>ly .simply 200,000 or more acres lying under it.
The photo shown was taken expressly for the IRRIGA-
TION' AGE to show the formation at Pawnee Pass, through
which flows Pawnee creek. The people of Sterling and
vicinity are building great hopes on the possibilities
of this work being accomplished.

RESOLUTIONS OF THE TENTH IRRIGATION
CONGRESS.

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS.

"The Tenth National Irrigation Congress felicitates
the entire American people upon the enactment of the
national irrigation act of June 17, 1902, one of the most
beneficial and wide-reaching measures in the history of
our legislation, and rejoices in the fact that its passage
was due neither to partisanship or sectionalism, but io
the patriotic and united co-operation of men from all
parts of the country, irrespective of political complexion.

for the reclamation by the national government of its
arid empire — a policy which will be productive of greater
good to a greater number than any governmental achieve-
ment of modern times.

"This congress, having confidence in the fairness
and intelligence, ability and integrity of the adminis-
tration and in those officials of the interior department
to whom is intrusted the execution of the national irri-
gation act, deem it inexpedient at this time to nia-kc
specific recommendations regarding the manner of carry-
ing the law into effect, or the policy that shall be pur-
sued in the expenditure of the available funds, and leaves
all questions relating to this subject to their discretion
and judgment.

"We urge the enactment of adequate national and
state laws for the preservation of our forests. Forest
reserves should be extended wherever necessary for the
preservation of the water supplies; more rangers should
be appointed for the protection of the reserves from fire ;
adequate provision should be made for the prompt
extinguishment of all fires; burned areas should be
reforested, and the national government should, wher-
ever practicable, utilize its troops as a forest patrol, and,
with the co-operation of the states, rigidly guard against
forest destruction.

"We call attention to the recommendation of Presi-
dent Roosevelt in his message to Congress, in which he

18

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

points out the overshadowing importance of a wise
administration of the forest reserves for the perpetu-
ation of the forests and their protection as sources of
water supply.

"In this message the president made the following
recommendations :

" 'At present the protection to the forest reserves
rests with the general land office, the mapping and
description of their timber with the United States geo-
logical survey, and the preparation of plans for their
conservative use with the bureau of forestry, which is
also charged with the general advancement of practical
forestry in the United States. These various functions
should be united in the bureau of forestry, to which they
properly belong. The present diffusion of responsibility
is bad from every standpoint. It prevents that effective
co-operation between the government and the men who
utilize the resources of the reserves, without which the
interests of both must suffer. The scientific bureaus
generally should be put under the department of agri-
culture. The president should have by law the power
of transferring lands for use as forest reserves to the
department of agriculture. He already has such power
in the case of lands needed by the department of war
and of the navy.'

"We earnestly urge upon Congress the enactment at
its next session of a law which will carry into effect this
recommendation of the president in his message.

"We believe that the principles of irrigation and
forestry and their relation to our social and economic
problems should be taught in all the higher institutions
of learning of the country.

"We urge the Legislatures of the several states to
provide for a full representation of their irrigation and
forestry interests at the exposition to be held in St.
Louis, Missouri, in 1904, and pledge them our support,
believing that such action will not only prove to be of
incalculable educational advantage to the people directly
interested, but will demonstrate to our own countrymen
and to the world that the estimate which we place upon
the importance of forestry and irrigation to mankind is
not excessive.

"The Tenth iSiational Irrigation Congress has
learned with sorrow of the death of Major John Wesley
Powell and mourns the loss as that of one of the pioneers
in explorations and studies of the arid region. In par-
ticular we wish to express our profound appreciation of
his unremitting efforts for national irrigation during
the early days of the movement.

"We express our appreciation of the successful
labors of the president and other officers of this congress,
who have worked earnestly and faithfully, and the re-
sults speak for the value of their efforts."

A Calif ornian has placed an order with New Or-
leans fanciers for all the chameleons he can get at $10
a hundred. He does not want them as a decoration for
ladies, nor as dainty dishes for the Chinese, but to rid
the orchards of insect enemies. The chameleon lives
entirely on insects. Its green color deceives the average
insect, and when it shoots out its long, pink tongue, it
never fails to hit the mark and capture the game. To
them is due the protection afforded New Orleans from
the swarms of insects that prevail in that semi-tropical
climate. The value of the lizard in keeping down and
destroying insects has long been recognized, and the
dealers say they have done considerable business in
lizards for years, particularly in the East.

THE OLD MILL.

"There's a dusty old mill on the bank of a stream

Where the road winds its venturesome way,
And the waters that urge the old wheel ever seem
As they leap down the rocks with the j oiliest gleam
On a midsummer's day, as they're running away,
To be chasing the sunbeams in play.

"But the dusty old mill on the bank of the stream

Sings a song of content thro' the day,
And the miller in white, like the soul of a dream.
Flitting busily on in pursuit of his theme,

Measures time to the lay that the stories ever play,
As the waters go laughing away.

"When the shadows glide out from the trees on the hill,

At the close of a midsummer's day,
To caress and enfold the old moss-covered mill
Till the wheel, soothed to rest, becomes passive, then still.

There are fortunes to weigh that the waters in play,

Have tossed up to the genius in gray.

"Oh ! the mossy old mill nestles under the hill,

Taking toll the soft night-breezes pay,
Resting there in the fairylike moonlight until
The quick flashes of dawn its gray spirit shall thrill,
And the glad waters play, ever laughing and gay,
Thro' the wheel all the long, golden day.

— Geo. E. Bowen, in Inter Ocean.

When the grafters discovered the other day that
the fund available for irrigation reclamation in the
West had suddenly grown to $9,500,000 a great gleam
of joy overspread the face of nature. Just think of all
that money brought so quickly into the grasp of men
who a few months ago could not flag a bread wagon and
we have some idea of the opulence in store for them. —
Denver Field & Farm.

The big irrigation project near Wichita Falls, Texas,
is already proving a great success. An immense storage
reservoir was constructed which is now partly filled.
This reservoir forms a lake nine feet deep and covering
an area of more than 1,200 acres. When filled the reser-
voir will be eighteen feet deep and cover 2,200 acres.
A complete system of canals and ditches leading from
this reservoir has been constructed and next season 20,-
000 acres of land will be placed under irrigation. No
effort at irrigation from this reservoir was made until
August of this year, when the water was turned on
about two thousand acres and the ground softened so
that plowing could be done. Different kinds of crops
were planted as an experiment even at that late date,
and the results have been simply marvelous. — Denver
Field & Farm.

When it comes to the actual work of building reser-
voirs the government at Washington will have to send
us out better engineers than those whom we have already
seen or we will be threatened with flood and disaster
worse than the Johnstown horror. Three parties of
geological surveyors are now playing at work in run-
ning the lines on the Pawnee site in eastern Colorado.
They are a fine set of amateurs in hydraulic work. Re-
cently they started near Jackson lake to run levels.
Instead of running a preliminary line to see how the
grade could be determined as any of our Colorado en-
gineers would have done, they began the expensive work
of cross-sectioning at once and the first thing they knew
they had run slap-dab up against a range of hills which
they could not circumvent by climbing over, digging un-
der or going around. All the work was thus lost and
they had to do it over again along different lines. —
Exchange.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

19

Pulse The Irrigation Industry

WHAT THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IS
DOING FOR IRRIGATION.

BY ELWOOD MEAD, CHIEF OF IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS,
OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS.

(.An address delivered at the National Irrigation Congress, Colorado Springs ,
October 9, 1902,]

The passage of the National Irrigation Act was
one of the most significant events of the last session
of Congress, and is destined to have a far reaching in-
fluence in increasing population in the arid States and
in shaping the laws and customs under which their
people will live and work. It shares with the Panama
Canal in public interest. The bureau which has its
administration in charge has before it great responsi-
bilities and great opportunities, and it is the duty of
all friends of irrigation to contribute in every way
possible to the success of its labors. This requires that
there shall be moderation, patience, and co-operation
with those intrusted with the work. The making of
surveys and preparation of plans is a labor which re-
quires time and ought not to be hurried. Harmony
and public spirit are essential and every one who has
the best interests of the West at heart must seek to
promote these. Speaking for the Department of Agri-
culture, I can say that this is the spirit and purpose
with which its irrigation work is being prosecuted and
will be carried on in the future.

Irrigation,' however, is more than a matter of
ditches and acres. The construction of irrigation works
and overcoming material obstacles are only one feature
of western agriculture. After the channels are dug
and the dams built, new and different issues have to
be dealt with. The problems of the engineer are suc-
ceeded by those of the farmer. Irrigation is not unlike
railroading. The location of the railway line, the fix-
ing of grades, and the laying of the track are only the
beginning of a railroad. Much of its after success de-
pends upon the ability and judgment shown in these
preliminary steps; but when the line is completed, the
work of the engineer ceases and that of the passenger
and traffic manager begins. The questions of rates, the
questions of the relation of the road to the public wel-
fare are then : natters of vital interest, and their solu-
tion requires a different training and a different kind
of ability from that which built the road.

So in irrigation. The value of the works con-
structed under the National Irrigation Act will, in the
end, be measured by the success of the farmers who
live under them, and the success of the farmers de-
pends in large measure upon the skill and economy with
which water is used, and upon rights to water being
established and protected. Just and effective water laws
and proper officials to administer these laws are as much
a part of an irrigation system as ditches and dams.
The building of National irrigation works is destined
to make this more apparent than it has been in the
past, because when there is an abundance of water in
the stream there is no need of public control : but when
we seek to use not only the natural flow but to store
the floods and to water farms stretching for hundreds
of miles along rivers, and even across State boundaries,
the distribution of the water supply, so that each one

will be assured of his proper share, is a problem in
administration as complex and important as that which
confronts the managers of the great trunk railway lines.
The value of the irrigated farm and the pleasure and
profit of the farmer depend in large measure on men
being able to till their fields without having to watch
the stream to see that some one does not steal their
water supply. Stable water rights and proper protec-
tion are as essential to the success of irrigation as are
stable railroad rates to the prosperity of the business
world.

The Department of Agriculture is the branch of
the Government created to promote the growth of rural
populations and to foster conditions- which will make
farm life pleasant and prosperous. This Department is
therefore vitally concerned with irrigation, because it
is the foundation of agriculture in nearly one-half
of the country, and is the means by which a balance
in population between the East and West can be brought
about and the demands of our growing trade with
the Orient fully supplied. There are several bureaus
of the Department which deal with questions relating
to irrigation, and especially to the prosperity of the
arid region, in which valuable work is being done. But
I wish to speak particularly of the irrigation investi-
gations carried on by the Office of Experiment Stations,
which deal with the agricultural and economic questions
which must be solved in order to lay an enduring foun-
dation for the future agricultural life of the arid West.
This office supervises the expenditures of the fund pro-
vided for agricultural research in the different States,
under which $15,000 go annually to each agricultural
experiment station in the arid region. It is also charged
with the promotion of agricultural education through-
out the Union. Its irrigation work brings a closer as-
sociation between what is being done by the State and
what is being done by the Nation, and is an agency for
securing harmony and co-operation in working out the
perplexing questions which confront the State and Na-
tion in the control and use of water supply.

Dr. A. C. True, the director of this office, has for
many years been an active and earnest friend of irri-
gation development. He realizes that it is the founda-
tion of western agriculture, and has used his influence
with State boards of agriculture and trustees of agri-
cultural colleges to give it the largest possible recog-
nition in their work. Irrigation investigations carried
on under this office help to broaden the work of the
State stations and furnish information for Congress
and the whole country regarding both the problems
and possibilities of the arid West. It occupies, there-
fore, a distinct field. It is working to promote the
success of National works by helping farmers to use
water with more skill and success. It is aiding the
States in studying the causes which have made water
right litigation so costly and harassing and by the
publication of reports is helping to bring about a bet-
ter understanding of the issues involved and a more
speedy and lasting settlement of these questions. In
this work have been enlisted the irrigation experts of
every one of the agricultural colleges of the West and
the co-operation of all of the State 'engineers' offices.
The. experience and results of widely separated localities
are being brought together, and irrigators of one sec-
tion are being shown what has been learned elsewhere.

The most valuable work of the office, however, is
its studies of irrigation laws and institutions. The char-
acter of rights to water established by law will do more
than a-11 other influences combined to determine whether

20

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

western farmers are to be tenants or proprietors. Every
acre of land irrigated ought to have a right to the
water it requires. In this way the owner of every home
will be secure and water monopolies be impossible. The
disposal of the water resources of the West should be
hedged about with every safeguard that wisdom or ex-
perience can suggest, and to do this there is need at
the very outset of a full understanding of the exist-
ing situation. The first thing needed is the facts ; the
next thing is an enlightened public sentiment which will
make the right use of them. We need to know what
has been done by private enterprise in the past. We
need to fully understand all the merits and defects of
State irrifation codes. We need to know the extent
of the water supply. This the Geological Survey is
determining. Then,, we need to know what are the
character of the rights to that supply, and this the
Office of Experiment Stations is studving. Making
these investigations under the National authority gives
them an impartial character and shows to Congress
and to the States the vital relation of State laws already
enacted to the welfare of irrigators.

The wisdom of Congress in guaranteeing the pro-
tection of rights already established and in making State
laws governing the rights to water supreme will, I
believe, be vindicated by the future, because in a mat-
ter so vitally affecting the welfare of the home as the
control of the water supply, changes in laws should
come through the action and consent of those most
concerned. The need, however, of a larger measure
of public supervision over streams is becoming more
and more manifest.

The great demand for water for irrigation purposes,
the greater need of cities and towns for domestic uses,
the importance of streams in the generation of power,
are ma-king it absolutely necessary that some simple and
final method of protecting rights to streams shall be
provided. The Office of Experiment Stations is en-
deavoring to bring this about and with the most en-
couraging results. No feature of these investigations
has met with more -appreciative recognition than the
study of water-right problems. The value of what has
been done is not to be measured, how.ever, by the re-
sults already achieved, because all educational influences
must be slow in their operation. The real value of
the work being done by the office can only be told by
its future influence on the social and industrial life
of the West.

The irrigation work of the Department of Agricul-
ture supplements its work along other lines in the arid
region. It goes along with the Bureau of Plant In-
dustry in its efforts to bring about a better management
of the grazing areas; with the Bureaus of Chemistry and
Soils in their studies of soils and water; and with the
Weather Bureau in its measurement of rains and snows.

Nor is its irrigation work confined to 'the arid
region. It is an essential part of the Department's work
in the humid East. It is showing that irrigation is a
benefit rather 'than a drawback, and is helping the
farmers of that section to make use of it. Nothing
is more significant than the rapidly growing demand
for information and advice about irrigation which is
coming from eastern farmers. Letters from every State
in the Union not only manifest an active desire to
know more, about irrigation in the arid West, but how
it can be applied as an aid to production in the East.
The answering of these inquiries and the furnishing of
this advice are destined to be an important factor in

promoting the success of agriculture throughout the
country, and in strengthening the demand for land and
water under the works which the Nation is to build.

Those of the uninformed masses of the people who
attended the National Irrigation Congress at Colorado
Springs this week came to the conclusion that some-
thing has evidently been doing in Colorado within the
past score of years, and that we are surely becoming civ-
ilized through the beneficent influence of the waters
led captive. These folks see that Colorado has awakened
at last and is now first in the rank of irrigated states.
Twenty years ago farming was practically an unknown
quantity in Colorado. The people were all after the
elusive dollar hidden in the bowels of the earth in
the mines. It was a speculative era. Only the live
stock that grazed on the plains brought reward to the
yeomanry.

The speculative era passed and investors began to
investigate the possibility of the application of water
from tbe streams to the soil. Money came to us from
the East by the bagful. Great canals were constructed
and now Colorado is blessed with the investment of
$100,000,000 in the building of irrigating ditches, reser-
voirs and laterals. Today the question of irrigation is
acknowledged to be one of the greatest of all the promi-
nent ones before the people of the West. Proper irri-
gation means that Colorado will double and treble its
population and become one of the foremost agricultural
states of the Union.

Tne whole western half of the United States con-
tains today less than one-tenth of the total population
of the entire country. Two-thirds of it is yet govern-
ment land. If tbe water that goes to waste every year
in our western rivers were saved and used for irrigation
the West would sustain a greater population than the
whole United States contains today. Millions of acres
will in time be transformed from deserts into populous
and prosperous farming communities. Alfalfa fields
crowded with improved stock will take the place of sand
and sagebrush. Valleys and hillsides will blossom with
the fruiting of the orchards and vineyards and the now
arid plains will be carpeted with fields of waving grain.

Great as will be this agricultural development, it
will constitute but a part of the whole grand result.
Farms will bring both railroads and cheap and plentiful
food into many regions of the West where immense
bodies of minerals are awaiting only transportation and
a: lower cost of living to make it possible to work
them profitably. Not only this, but the waters stored
in mountain reservoirs will furnish power for all min-
ing operations and the changed conditions which must
result if all the waters that now go to waste are stored
and saved can scarcely be conceived at this time. The
irrigation congress this week anticipated all these possi-
bilities and again rallied the people into renewed energy
and enthusiasm regarding the future. — Denver Field &
Farm.

The following letter to the Leader was received
recently: "Editor Leader: Will you please tell me
how to make cement for a ground dirt reservoir ? I have
a tank that leaks. Thanking you in advance for the
information. I remain, yours truly. — Subscriber." The
following makes a good cheap cement for ground tanks :
72 per cent clean sand; 3 per cent lime; 25 per cent
coal tar, by weight. Mix well and plaster over tank
about three-quarters to an inch thick. When dry paint
over with pure coal tar.— Pearsall (Texas) Leader.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

21

IRRIGATION PROGRESS IN SAN SABA COUNTY,
TEXAS.

Judge Allison and E. L. Rector, Esq., returned last
Friday from Austin where, on Thursday, they secured a
charter for the San Saba Valley Irrigation Company.
The capital stock is $360,000. The directors are John
Kelly, president; Joe A. Williams, vice president; N.
D. Lidstone, treasurer ; John Cunningham, W. R. Doran
and T. A. Murray, of San Saba, and Stephen F. Dem-
mon, of Chicago. R. W. Burleson is the secretary, and
Wm. Allison and E. L. Rector, the attorneys. The
charter and franchise fee for fifty years was $250.

Attorneys Allison and Rector said after examining
the charters of some other irrigation companies, they
decided the charter formulated for our company was the
best of all and so filed it without making any changes
from that agreed upon in the directors' meeting at home.

The work on the abstracts is long and tedious and
is being rapidly pushed.

Engineer Duvall. came in last Friday and is look-
- ing after some preliminary work. He very kindly fur-
nished the News the following data on the actual plant :

"The dam for the San Sa-ba Irrigation system will
have an extreme height of 50 feet. At its greatest depth
the base will be 37% feet; its top width will be 10
feet; its length at bottom of creek will be 300 feet;
length on top, 800 feet. Available storage 15,000 acre
feet of water.

"On the main ditch it is intended to construct two
other storage reservoirs, one of 5,000 acre feet and one
6,000 acre feet, to be held by earthen dams. The main
ditch will be 57 miles long. At the head the bottom
will be 14 feet. Slopes of sides, 2 horizontal to 1 verti-
cal. Depth of water in ditch at maximum flow, 6 feet.
As laterals are taken out the main will be reduced
until the lower section will have a bottom width of
but five feet with a depth of only 2% feet.

"There will be 150 miles of laterals and sub-
laterals from 6 feet bottom" width down to 11/2 feet
and a depth of from 3 feet water down to 6 inches."- —
San Saba County (Texas) News.

Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE
for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

GASOLINE ENGINES IN IRRIGATING REGION.

J. STONEY rORCHEI!, TEXAS, IN ORANGE JUDD FARMER.

Be sure to have a good engine. Everyone who has
handled gasoline engines knows that some will start
every time, and others require much persuasion. This
defect is eliminated now by some recent makers. An
engine that will start and stop easily must have a
mixture of air and gasoline before reaching cylinder.
The air and gasoline must be mixed before reaching
cylinder, the longer the better.

Now, having a reliable engine, to what use can
a farmer put it ? In this arid region pumping for
irrigation is the most important. This I consider is
the severest test that an engine can be put to, as there
is no let up, and the demand for power is constant. We
start the engine and pump and then go a half mile,
perhaps, to sec that the water is properly distributed;
or when running day and night, go to bed for three
hours, get up and see if engine and water are behaving
properly, and go to bed again. ' The engine might stop,

but this would .be the worst that could happen. There
is no danger from fire. If the belt runs off, the governor
will hold it. If we need ever so little water, say for
hotbed, it is often cheaper to run the engine than .haul
water, say 50 yards.

Having formerly been an eastern farmer I know
the value of securing water, even for gardens, while
waiting for rain. An irrigation pump there would be
of great benefit. To have an engine in or near the barn
would be most convenient. The farmer could cut his
feed, if only for one day, or one feeding, grind feed or
grain, run separator or grindstone, and saw his own
wood.

Pumping for irrigation requires the greatest econ-
omy. For some crops it is hardly profitable, as it takes
so much water in this dry region to wet an acre. We
must use the cheapest power possible and we find it in
the gasoline engine, even when gasoline costs from 16
to 18 cents per gallon. The power needed for farm
work, such as grinding, cutting hay for ensilage, etc., the
farmer would hardly feel it. Of course pumping for
irrigation takes more gasoline than for any other work,
as it is constant. My five-horse engine pumps from 400
to 450 gallons every minute, with 25 feet lift, costing
about 10 cents per hour, or from 50 cents to $1 per
acre, according to crop, land, and time of year. I am
using a five-horse engine with an Edison-Lcland
battery, have on another farm a; ten-horse engine, ex-
ploded by a dynamo. Also a five-horse motor for pump-
ing out the sand in making new wells.

It is the most economical power, especially when
you take in the cost 'of attendance. A farmer must
1 learn to run his own engine, but it will take less atten-
tion than in looking after the water and fuel in a
steam engine, and as I said before, there is no risk of
fire or of being blown up. Since the advent of cheap
Texas oil, some claim that a steam engine, run with
crude oil, will be cheaper than a gasoline engine. This
may be so for large engines and manufactories but for
the farmer the care and risk from, fire will still be there.
The cost of an engineer and fireman for a 50-horse
engine may not count, but for a five or ten-horse
engine it would amount to as much or more as the cost
of fuel.

Manufactories are experimenting with crude Texas
oil, and if they succeed the cost of fuel will be wonder-
fully lessened. However, the success so far is only par-
tial, as the heavy oil is apt to get into the cylinder and
gum it. I believe they do very well with some light
crude oil. The battery, if used, is cheaper than the
burner, but the latter is simpler. By all means do not
accept a cheap battery. Keep your temper when she
won't go, for it is apt to be your fault. If everything
is right and screws set tight, there should be no trouble.
I would advise a farmer who wishes to buy an engine
to make an agreement with the agent, if there is one in
his town, to come to him whenever he is in difficulty,
until he learns thoroughly how to run it, and is complete
master of the situation. It will take some practice,
as one must not only know what to do, but get used
to it. I know of 14 gasoline engines in this valley and
about the same number on cattle ranches.

Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AOE
for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

22

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

CORRESPONDENCE

CLEARWATER, MANITOBA, CANADA, October 30, 1902.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, 112 Dearborn Street, Chicago, 111.:

Dear Sir — Will you kindly send me a copy of THE
IRRIGATION AGE? I have been looking for something of this
kind for some time and will subscribe for your paper in the
near future.

I would like a few hints on damming a creek with shale
bottom, or "under-current."

I would also like to know what power a turbine wheel
would develop under a five-foot fall of one cubic foot of
water flowing through a pipe.

If I were to attach an electric dynamo to above turbine,
under above circumstances, what electric power would 1
get, or would it pay for farm power?

Hoping to hear from you in the near future, I am
Respectfully yours,

GEORGE SPEARMAN,
Clearwater, Manitoba, Canada.

Replying to your inquiry, asking for hints about damming
a creek with shale bottom, or under-current, one of the best
practical papers on that subject was prepared by Prof. S.
Fortier, who now lives at Bozeman, Montana, as a bulletin
of the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station. If you will
write to Prof. Fortier, it is likely he can furnish you with a
copy.

If it is proposed to build an earthen dam, the first thing
to be done is to get rid of all of the vegetation on the present
ground surface, in order that the dam and the soil on which
it rests may have a close union. If there is a perceptible
under-current, it may be necessary to dig a trench through
this and fill this trench with clay or some impervious material.
A substitute for this, which is sometimes used, is the driving
of deep piling down to an impervious strata. In building an
earthen dam, the front slope should be not less than 3 to I,
and the back slope not less than 2 to I, with a width of 10
feet on top. It should be built up in horizontal layers of
about one foot in thickness, and if these layers can be wet as
they are filled in, so that the teams driving across them can
puddle the soil, it makes a much better structure.

If the intention is to build a masonry dam, then you will
have to go to a solid foundation. The last Yearbook of the
Department of Agriculture contains an article on the useful-
ness of reservoirs, which describes the construction of a num-
ber of storage dams built in Colorado. We have requested
that a copy of this be mailed you.

In your inquiry about the power of a turbine, you do
not give the time in which one cubic foot of water would be
delivered. If it was one cubic foot of water per second, you
would have theoretically about one-half a horse power. I
question whether it would pay to install a dynamo to use
this for farm work, as it could only be applied to very light
operations.

MANSFIELD, OHIO, October 22, 1902.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :

Gentlemen — We are today in receipt of a letter from A.
H. Garrett, 1913 Washington street, Boston, Mass., who saw
our ad. in THE IRRIGATION AGE, and writes us concerning
alfalfa huller and machine for threshing castor beans. We
can equip him for both the alfalfa and the bean, but Mr.
Garrett desires information and detailed estimate of the ma-
chinery necessary to prepare, plant and harvest 500 acres of
alfalfa, including barbed wire to surround the plantation to
keep cattle out. He also desires to know where the most
reliable alfalfa seed can be purchased. Kansas and Nebraska
produce considerable alfalfa seed, but this year the crop was
rather a failure. Will you kindly give Mr. Garrett the desired
information, and if you cannot, perhaps you can refer him
to the proper authority? Yours truly,

THE AULTMAN & TAYLOR MACHINERY COMPANY,

By A. KALMERTEN, Secretary.

The above inquiry was referred to Hon. W. J. Powell, of
Iliff, Colo., one of the largest ranchers and alfalfa raisers in

that State, and the following is his reply, which may prove
interesting and instructive to our readers :

SPRING VALLEY RANCH, POWELL & BLAIR,
ILIFF, COLO., October 26, 1902.
D. H. ANDERSON, Chicago, 111. :

Dear Sir — Your favor to hand regarding the information
desired. The expense would depend upon locality. Taking
our locality as a basis, this is how I would estimate :

Two 3-horse riding plows $70.00

One 2-horse stirring plow 12.00

Two hand seeders (rotary) 3.00

One disc harrow 25.00

One 4-horse drag (good) 30.00

Posts and wire for fence, 4 wires, posts 21

feet apart, per mile, here 90.00

In sowing alfalfa seed here, if party owns, or can borrow
or rent, a grain drill suitable for sowing grain or clover seed,
we usually adopt this mode of sowing, as alfalfa seed are
very similar to clover ; in fact, it is of the same family of
plants. We usually plant the alfalfa with wheat or oats,
using about two-thirds or three-fourths amount of wheat
or oats seed per acre, as where planted alone we use from
ten to twenty pounds alfalfa seed per acre. If wanted for hay,
the thicker it grows, the better for the hay. If for seed, the
contrary. There is also a wagon seeder, costing $10.00 or .
$15.00, to be attached to wagon bed and hind wheel of wagon,
that does excellent work, both for grain and alfalfa seed.

Geo. A. Henderson, Sterling, Colo., deals in alfalfa seed
and can generally supply any kind of seed wanted. This
information is necessarily vague about cost, etc., of preparing
and planting 500 acres of alfalfa, as some kinds of lands
can be handled for almost one-half compared with others,
but this will give a general idea. If further information
is desired, I will take pleasure in trying to give it to you at
anv time. With best wishes, I am sincerely yours,

W. J. POWELL.

SPOKANE, WASH., November 6, 1902.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :

Gentlemen — I am trying to find a copy of Flynn's "Irri-
gation Works." If you know where one can be obtained, will
you kindly forward this letter and oblige yours truly,
SPOKANE VALLEY LAND & WATER COMPANY?
By W. L. BENHAM.

CHICAGO, November 9, 1902.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111.:

Dear Sirs — Will you please change the address of A. A.
Crane from Alta Loma to 703 McKinney avenue, Houston,
Texas? He writes that he is much pleased with THE IRRI-
GATION AGE. He says irrigation is coming to the front in
Southern Texas. The drouth there the past season has put
the people to thinking. I remain yours truly,

F. P. CRANE.

THE SNAKE RIVER VALLEY.

OGDEN, UTAH, October 31, 1902.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :

I send you a pamphlet, issued about four years ago ; it
states fairly all you wish to know about our Owyhee canal
and farm. We do not now sell any of the land. I have
bought out Mr. Theodore Danilson and am, therefore, the
owner of two-thirds of this farm, incorporated under the
name of "The K. S. & D. Fruit Land Company," besides own-
ing 1,000 acres of lands adjacent, belonging to me individu-
ally.

I cannot well enlarge on what you have already stated
in your letter. We raise on an average seven tons of alfalfa
per acre. We fed and reared on ten acres of alfalfa, by
alternating (i. e., changing from one five-acre lot to another),
in one season 93 head of pigs, at an average weight of 130
pounds, at no cost but the alfalfa pasturage.

We can raise by rotating crops (». e., plowing up the
alfalfa after three years) on the same land from 60 to 65
bushels of wheat, 97 bushels of corn, 100 bushels of oats,
300 bushels of potatoes, 90 bushels of barley per acre, always
presupposing that the land and crops have good care and
plenty of water.

We can raise so much fruit that half of it has to be
knocked off to save the trees from being overloaded. The
clirrlate is simply perfect— about 300 days of sunshine in a

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

23

year ; very warm in the summer, but tempered by fine
breezes and cool nights; seldom excessively cold in the
winter, rarely any snow in the winter, except in the moun-
tains, where it should be. You saw our fruit at Colorado
Springs. Where can you excel it? Our prunes were shipped
to Liverpool, where only the most perfect fruit is shipped
by the Earl Fruit Company.

Now, regarding a specific plan for reservoir on the Owy-
hee, and other information, quantity of wild land to be re-
claimed, I cannot say, as that is the province of the technical
gentlemen ; but, in a general way, I desire to say that there
are large quantities of land subject to reclamation under the
Owyhee, as also under the Malheur rivers, which can un-
doubtedly be made to yield enough water to reclaim 100,000
acres, provided the water be reserved during torrential
floods, and during the time when water is not applied for
irrigation.

I am now engaged in a survey for a reservoir on the
Owyhee, not only to make our own supply more certain, but
to reclaim more land. When that survey is completed, I can
furnish you additional data, but I wish you to take into con-
sideration other factors — that is, the proper use of water ;
for instance, in the orchard the proper cultivation of the land
will almost do away with the use of water ; at least, much re-
duce its use. Rotations of crops, made obligatory, will mel-
low the soil ; alfalfa will enrich it and thereby cause those
phenomenal yields, which almost pass comprehension and
stagger the uninitiated — t. e., the tenderfoot. The water
companies and farmers must be enjoined not to waste water ;
perfect systems of measurements of flow and distribution
adopted ; spraying of orchards should be enforcgd ; intensive
farming encouraged. Holdings of an ordinary family should
not exceed 40 acres. Sugar factories, drying and canning
establishments should be given extra facilities, even if neces-
sary by exemption from taxes, until well on their feet, as wit-
ness at Ogden, where beet and tomato lands are worth $300
per acre and farmers are made independent and rich. Cattle
and sheep naturally follow the growing of grain and alfalfa.

If possible to further save water, it should be piped ;
these are observations which occur to me at this time, the
rc.ult of my own practical experiences.

Another problem facing irrigation is the reclamation of
alkali lands, which, when reclaimed, are the richest and
strongest lands we have ; this requires endurance and energy.
The salts, which are the leachings from the uplands, so-
called benches, accumulate in excess on the lowlands ; that
the land can be made tillable is abundantly demonstrated, es-
pecially in Utah, and is done by frequent and deep plowing,
heavy manuring, the application of chaff and straw, so as to
break ut> the toughness and the stickiness of the soil, making
it mellow and powdery, and certain crops which absorb
alkali, as white clover and beets.

The richest part of Oregon, in my humble judgment, is
east of the Cascades. Yours truly,

FRED. J. KIESEL.

SEATTLE, WASH., September 25, 1902.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :

I think, with the exception of perhaps the last year or
two, I have been a constant reader of THE AGE since
its first publication. I am in this line of business, and have
been for ten years or more. Am now in charge of construc-
tion of what is known as the Wenatchee Highline canal, a
canal taking its waters from the Wenatchee river, some
eighteen miles above its mouth, carrying the same down
to the junction of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers, and
across the river, covering the flat known as the Wenatchee
valley. This project, I believe, is without doubt the most
expensive and one encountering the greatest obstacles, both
in number and difficulty in overcoming, of any canal ever
constructed on the coast, the area of land considered. On its
route we have two tunnels, one of 850 feet and one of 300
feet ; a flume across a canyon, 530 feet in length and 130 feet
above the roadway in the canyon ; three or four other flumes
crossing canyons, none of which are less than 60 feet in
elevation and 160 to 500 feet in length ; great rock cuts and
side hill excavations, and in conveying the water across tht
Wenatchee river we use a continuous stave-pipe, with steel
bands 48 inches in diameter, outside measure, 8,500 feet long,
and reaching a point 250 feet below its intake, returning to
a point 220 feet, giving it a head of 30 feet from the in-
take, after which we have comparatively easy construction.

As a matter of comparison, I would like to ask you to

furnish me with a description of the most notable canal in

jColorado and one in California. Our canal covers only a lit-

tle over 6,000 acres, at an expense of perhaps of over $150,000 for
construction alone. If you can give me the names of the manage-
ment of two notable enterprises, would like to secure photo-
graphs from them, showing their difficult construction.

Hoping that I have not asked too much of you, will
await your reply. Yours truly, W. T. CLARK.

Replying to the inquiry of Mr. Clark : The most notable
canal in Colorado is the Greeley No. 2, which diverts water
from the Cache la Poudre river, a few miles above Greeley.
It was among the first canals built in Colorado and was the
first to irrigate lands away from the river bottoms. It was
built in 1871, but has been enlarged several times since. The
success of the Greeley colony largely depended on this canal.
It is about forty feet wide and 5 feet deep at the present
time.

The Highline canal, also in Colorado, is a more remark-
able channel as far as engineering difficulties are concerned.
It was begun in 1880. It diverts water from the South Platte
river near the mouth of the canyon some twenty miles south
of Denver. The canal begins with a tunnel 800 feet long
through a mountain and then runs for three-quarter miles
on a shelf of rock where the water is carried in a wooden
flume. This canal is 40 feet wide on the bottom and 7 feet
deep. It carries nearly 1200 cubic feet per second.. It is over
70 miles long and irrigates 90,000 acres of land where the
water supply permits.

The King's river and San Joaquin canal in California is
perhaps as celebrated as any in that state. It does not
carry as much water as the Turlock and other canals, but
like the Greeley No. 2 has done much toward establishing
the advantage of irrigated agriculture in California. It is
32 feet wide and 4^2 feet deep and has a capacity of 600
cubic feet per second. It is 67 miles long and serves for
the irrigation of 90,000 acres of land]

We can give you more detailed information regarding
any important canal should you desire it.

Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE
for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

FARM IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINERY.

The following circular letter relative to farm imple-
ments and machinery has been sent out to manufacturers
recently by the office of Experiment Stations, United
States Department of Agriculture. Manufacturers gen-
erally are requested to comply with this request, as it will
materially assist this branch of the Government in its
new line of work :

DEAR SIR : This Office desires to secure all of the
information possible regarding the manufacture of im-
plements and machinery used in agriculture in the
United States, the data to be used in replying to in-
quiries constantly being received, and in the preparation
of bulletins descriptive of our progress and of present
methods and their influence on our success and future
development.

It is believed that the collection of such data and
their arrangement and classification in form for con-
venient reference will be of service to both the makers
and users of farm machinery, and your cooperation and
aid in making the record complete and authentic are
solicited. We would like to secure a catalogue and illus-
trations of all the farm implements or machines made
by your firm and of all publications descriptive of their
character and merits. We also wish to prepare a histor-
ical record which will show the types of these implements
or machines as first manufactured, and the improvements
in design which have been made subsequently. To this
end, we shall appreciate receiving copies, where you can
spare them, of earlier catalogues, circulars, or illustra-
tions showing development of your machines.

As this countrv is the largest producer and user of
(Continued on page 28.)

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

NEBRASKA IRRIGATION LAW.

(Synopsis Furnished the Eanch News by Adna Dobson,

State Engineer and Secretary Board of Irrigation,

Lincoln, Nebraska.)

The first legislation affecting irrigation in Nebras-
ka was passed in 1877, when a law was placed on the
statute books authorizing corporations organized for
the purpose of constructing canals for irrigation or
water power purposes to condemn rights of way and
declared irrigation canals to be works of internal im-
provement.

The act of 1889 covers the subject more fully.
Section 1, Article I., reads as follows : "The right of
the use of water flowing in a river or stream or down a
canyon or ravine may be acquired bv appropriation by
any person or persons, company or corporation organized
under the laws of the state of Nebraska; provided, that
in a-11 streams not more than fifty feet wide, the rights
of the riparian proprietors are not affected by the pro-
visions of this act."

This act was amended by subsequent Legislatures,
but no general irrigation law covering the subject fully
was pas'sed until 1895, when the present irrigation law
was adopted.

This bill establishes a; state board of irrigation
composed of the governor, attorney general and land
commissioner, who shall elect a secretary who shall be
a hydraulic engineer of theoretical knowledge and prac-
tical skill and experience, and also one under secretary
for each water division. The duties of the State board
of irrigation and the secretaries are stated as follows :
"It shall be the duty of the State board at its first
meeting to make proper arrangements for beginning
the determination of the priorities of right to use the
public waters of the State, which determination shall
begin on streams most used for irrigation, and be
continued as rapidly as practicable until all the claims
for appropriation now on record shall have been ad-
judicated. The method of determining the -priority
and amount of appropriation shall be determined by
the said State board, which at its first meeting shall
designate the streams to be first adjudicated.

DUTIES OF OFFICERS.

The under secretary shall, under the direction of
the State board see that the laws relative to the distribu-
tion of water are executed in accordance with the rights
of priority of appropriation.

The State board has authority to create water dis-
tricts within each water division and appoint an under
assistant for each water district.

It is the duty of the under assistants under the
direction of the State board of irrigation to divide the
water in the natural streams of his district among
the several ditches taking water therefrom and to shut
and fasten the heaxlgate of ditches when in time of
scarcity of water, it is necessary to do so. Every per-
son who shall wilfully open, close, change or interfere
with any headgatc or water box without authority shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction
thereof, shall be fined in, any sum not exceeding $200,
or imprisoned in the county jail for a period not exceed-
ing three months.

Each appropriation shall be determined in its
priority and amount by the time at which it shall have
been made, and the amount of water which the works
are constructed to carry : provided, that such appropria-
tor shall at no time be entitled to the use of more than

he can beneficially use for the purposes for which the
appropriation may have been made, and the amount of
any appropriation made by means of enlargement of the
distributing works heretofore shall be determined in
like manner; provided, that no allotment for irrigation
shall exceed one cubic foot per second for each seventy
acres of land for which said appropriation shall be
made.

Any party or number of parties acting jointly, who
may feel themselves aggrieved by the determination of
the State board, may have an appeal to the District Court
of the county within which the appropriation or ap-
propriations of the party or parties so aggrieved may be
situated.

HOW TO SECURE APPEOPBIATIONS.

Every person or corporation intending to appro-
priate waters of Nebraska under the law of 1895 are
required to file with the State board of irrigation an
application for a permit which shall show all essential
facts in connection with the proposed works. On receipt
of this application, which shall be in a form prescribed
by the State board of irrigation, and upon blanks fur-
nished, the secretary will make an examinuation of the
application, and if there is unappropriated water in the
source of supply, and if such proposition is not other-
wise detrimental to the public welfare, the State board,
through its secretary, shall approve the same. If there
is no unappropriated water in the source of supply,
or if a prior appropriation has been made, to water the
same lancj to be watered by the applicant, the State
board, through its secretary, shall refuse such appropria-
tion. Any applicant feeling himself aggrieved by the
action of the State board may take an appeal to the
District Court of the county in which the point of
diversion is situated.

A cubic foot of water per second of time is the
legal standard of measurement of water in this State
and fifty miner's inches under a four-inch pressure
shall be deemed equivalent to a cubic foot per second of
time.

All appropriators are required to maintain suitable
headgates and measuring flumes.

Any person, corporation or association hereafter
intending to construct any dam above ten feet in height
shall, before beginning such construction, submit the
plan of the same to the State board of irrigation for
their examination and approval, and no dam above ten
feet in height shall be constructed until the same shall
have been approved by such board.

The right to divert unappropriated waters of every
natural stream for beneficial use shall never be denied.
Priority of appropriation shall give the better right;
those using the water for domestic purposes shall have
the preference over those claiming for any other pur-
pose, and those using the water for agricultural purposes
shall have the preference over those using the same
for manufacturing purposes.

All ditches, canals, laterals or other works used
for irrigation purposes shall be exempt from all taxation,
whether state, county or municipal.

Under the district law, whenever a majority of the
resident freeholders owning lands in any district sus-
ceptible to one mode or irrigation from a common source
and by the same system of works they mav form an
irrigation district and the district is authorized to issue
bonds to pay for the construction of works and to levy
an assessment to pay the said bonds and interest.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

25

SPEECH BY JOHN W. SPRINGER.

President National Live Stock Association, Denver, Colo.

Before the Tenth National Irrigation Congress.

This congress is called to inaugurate the redemp-
tion of arid America. Sixteen States with 600,000,000
acres of land are vitally interested in the provisions of
the irrigation bill passed by the last Congress. When
our bill was being weighed in the balance, and the
crucial test was upon the faithful men who for a quarter
of a century had been educating the people as to the
benefits of irrigation, when the East was objecting to
giving away government lands or government money
to aid this great undertaking, it fell to the lot of Theodore
Roosevelt to administer the allopathic dose of irrigation,
which means more to the western states than any
measure ever adopted by the American Congress.

Irrigation is our western ignis fatuus, which will
draw thousands of landless tenants from the over-
crowded East, and tens of thousands from the valley of
the Mississippi. The twentieth century is heavy with
possibilities. Irrigation is now a fixed fact, and we
have $8,000,000 available for immediate expenditure
under federal management for an actual demonstration
of the practicability of storing the flood waters oi the
Rocky mountains. The conservation of waste waters is
the chief link in what shall be a great chain of lakes,
reservoirs and dams, which, during this decade, shall
make glad the waste places of the great American
deserts. A new empire is to be builded ! All hail to the
progressive men who aided in its birth, and will, from
this congress, direct the first step toward making the
wilderness of the West blossom and bloom as the rose.

This proposition, like every other great question
confronting us at the dawn of the twentieth century,
must be handled by men who do things — progressive
men — men who believe in their country, men who believe
that the pathway to industrial independence and com-
mercial supremacy lies before us and not behind us.
We firmly believe in hitching our wagons to a star
where there is light, than to a hole in the ground where
there is no light, but a symbol of the old warning "aban-
don hope all you that enter here," I admire a typical
American. I enthuse when I read the history of the
struggles and trials and hardships of the leaders of the
decades now sweet in memory. It has been a symposium
&t national successes, and I would not pluck one star
from our national diadem. History, however, can never
solve actualities. You and I live to-day and it is our
province to aid in writing the history of greater successes.

STOCKMEN HAVE HELPED.

The great industry I have the honor to represent
before this congress is the live stock industry of the
United States. The stockmen of America have aided
this irrigation bill during the five years' existence of
the National Live Stock Association of the United
States. We were the first great organization to wire
our approval to the President on his irrigation message
to Congress, and we here, now and unreservedly, pledge
our best efforts to aid in effecting what we believe will
bring more people and more money into the West than
all the other measures enacted by. Congress .in over a
hundred years. The stockmen who ride the range —
who climb the hills, the mountains ; who live along the
trails; who follow their flocks and herds looking for
water, know better than any other class of men living
what the value of water is to a country. We know that
the more water we have, the more moisture, and that

means more grass, more forage crops and more feed.
The stockmen have been the great American pioneers;
they have fought the Indians ; scattered the wild beasts ;
annihilated the buffalo; builded ranches on the confines
of civilization, and with true, progressive American
spirit, left a heritage to their children typified in the
beautiful lines :
"Our fathers crossed the prairies as of old their fathers

crossed the sea,
To make the West, as they the East, the home land of

the free!"

Evolution has come to our interests, as well as to
every other interest on this continent. The time is upon
us for the breaking up of the great ranges. The old
free grass and general mavericking days are laid away
with the recollections of pioneer days. Unnumbered
herds of cattle and bands of sheep are referred to now
around the camp fire of the modern outfit as the "boys"
tell of other days and other cow punchers and sheep
herders. We are yearly getting closer to humane ideas
of breeding and fattening and marketing live stock.
We have been taught severe .lessons that now we must
have quality rather than quantity in our flocks and
herds. We are prosperous and our values of live stock
have increased over $400,000,000. in the five years' his-
tory of our organization. Our people are meat eaters,
and the consumption continually increases, while pro-
duction fails to keep pace with our growing popula-
tion.

We. have at last placed on the federal statute books
the principle of "the conservation of the waste waters,"
and this small beginning will work like a little leaven;
the conquest with a bloodless revolution of our American
wilderness.

We are constantly growing broader in our national
life. We have learned to get away from our own door-
yard and our own neighborhood. We are no longer
circumscribed by the narrow limits of down east ; of the
coal fields; of the oil fields of Ohio and Indiana; of
the wheat belt of the northwest ; of the corn district of
Illinois, Iowa and Kansas; of the cotton fields of the
south or of the fast developing sugar beet districts of
Colorado, or the cattle and sheep ranges of the far west.
Our national life is too great, too broad, too unselfish;
too cosmopolitan; too national. We are all striving for
success. We want to grow, expand, advance. We want
in fine to go forward !

Woe to that leader who seeks to sidetrack the
energies of the American people ! Woe to the pessimist
who continually predicts clouds, failures and defeat for
American genius — he will drop out, down, like the
Irishman in Mexico, who, in going down to work in a
mine for the first time, became very nervous as the
shadows gathered about him. As the bucket dropped
lower and lower his fears increased and he yelled,
"Lower me up; 0, I say — lower me up, or I'll cut the
rope !"

NEED NEW LAND LAWS.

At this great irrigation congress, I wish to state
another contention of the National Live Stock Asso-
ciation, and that is, that we believe the time is opportune
to re-write the land laws of the United States. What
was good for our people 100, fifty and twenty-five
years ago, when they had the virgin prairies of the east
and the Mississippi valley, with their rich loams, will
not apply to the arid and semi-arid lands remaining in
the far West. We believe the homestead laws should be

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

made more liberal for the lands that remain. We be-
lieve a homesteader should be allowed 320 acres in-
stead of 160 acres, which he could pick from the rich
alluvial lands in Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. The
lands of the far west are a different proposition and
the government can afford to be more liberal.

Another point our association makes. We believe
it in the interest of the homesteader, the settler and all
western interests for the government to adopt a policy
of exchanging lands to enable them to solidify their
ranches and their farms, and put them under a higher
state of improvement and cultivation than they would
where they only owned every other 160 or every other
section of land. Our people are pre-eminently "home-
builders" and every inducement should be extended by
state and federal government to enlarge the population
of the western states.

And now, my fellow-workers — what of the night !
Believers in irrigation, are you keenly alive to the
superb opportunity just ahead of you, for to no other
age has come the same great chance to build a Paradise
from the icy hills of Montana to the sand dunes of
Arizona, from the plains of Kansas to the orange groves
of the golden state. Methinks that that sweet singer,
William Bradbury, must have written these wonderful
lines after a trip over this vast territory :

"There, on verdant hills and mountains,

Where the golden sunbeams play,
Purling streams and crystal fountains
Sparkle in th' eternal day."

This will be truly a paradise with water — a- home
where sunshine and contentment will be the chief cor-
ner stones, an ideal, a typical dwelling place for free
men, for free women and the sweet children a merciful
Providence has given them. This, the great American
riddle — the utilization oi' the arid plains — will be solved
under irrigation. I wish to sound sc note of warning.
Do not expect everything of the federal government.
It has blazed the way, and its efforts should stimulate
every western state to aid this measure by state enact-
ments and state aid. Do not, my hearers, rely upon
either federal government or state government. Beneath
and above it all, beyond both aids, rely upon yourselves
and your own efforts. Individual and corporate aid
will accomplish much more than all the governments on
earth. Private capital should be induced, encouraged
and coaxed to build dams, lakes and reservoirs. All
should be protected in their rights.

FIELD FOR CAPITAL.

The great rivers of waters yearly running to waste
from the eastern and western slopes of the Rocky
mountains will furnish a very inviting field for the
investment of capital for the next quarter of a century.
Over this, wonderful stretch of territory is my dream of
the Elysian fields, opened by the intelligent, God-fearing
American husbandman. Away and across these sweep-
ing happy hunting grounds of the departed red man
of the American fastnesses shall be heard the songs of
contented labor harvesting their crops underneath the
snow-capped peaks of the Rockies; not watered as was
the Eternal city by a giant aqueduct built by slave labor
under the lash of the Caesars, but a promised land — at
home, our home, with streams clear and pure from
God's great storehouse in the hills ; the waters from the
melting snows, from the mountain streams, pure as
the hlueness of the sky overhead, is our supply for rich
and poor alike.

For this new Utopia shall rival the old Arcadian
settlement, styled by Longfellow the home of the happy.
The poet tells us of Arcadia that irrigation was the
sine qui non of their tranquillity, for he says :
"Dikes, that the hands of the farmers had raised with

labor incessant,
Shut out the turbulent tides, but at stated seasons the

flood-gates
Opened and welcomed the sea to wander at will o'er

the meadows."

The history of these American plains has been
written in the best blood of the American pioneers. In
a; part of this land, the old prophet, Brigham Young,
taught his footsore pilgrims to store the mountain water
and redeem the deserts, and the faithful followed on and
obeyed his injunction of "Live and help live."

Beyond these rocky fastnesses dwell still the de-
scendants of Montezuma — in a land flowing with milk
and honey. They have conserved every little stream and
ma-de the barren mesas bear fruit a hundred fold, and
the wandering Spaniard of hundreds of years ago ex-
claimed when in sight of the Mount of the Holy Cross :
"Sangre de Christo," and the mountains were so named.

Aye, on and away across the San Bernardino moun-
tains we drop into the orange groves of the Pacific, the
tropical orchards where the lime, the olive, the pome-
granate, the lemon, the orange, the date grow amid
hedges of roses and wide fields of lilies. As I drove
over the mountain roads surrounding the superb valley
of Redlands, Pasadena and Riverside, and beheld below
me the wheat fields yellow for the harvest, the orchards
with every kind and variety of fruit, free for the picking,
and inhaled the odors from hedge and garden and
meadows, with songs of the birds and a mellow sun-
light over all, while old San Bernardino mountain,
whose craggy peaks were white with everlasting snow,
formed a picture that mu^t have inspired the poet when
he sang:

"On the other side of Jordan,
In the sweet fields of Eden,
Where the tree of life is blooming.
There is rest for you."

Here in this matchless territory of the west, sur-
rounded by such environments as I have tried to depict,
will grow, expand and prosper the American Utopia,
not ideal, but everlastingly real, with millions of happy
American citizens, with modern comfortable homes, and
with people with a charity born into them as wide as
our domain, and with characters as strong as our national
life.

THIRTY YEARS OLD.— The Christmas (De-
cember) number of The Delineator is also the thirtieth
anniversary number. To do justice to this number,
which for beauty and utility touches the highest mark,
it would be necessary to print the entire list of contents.
It is sufficient to state that in it the best modern writers
and artists are generously represented. The book con-
tains over 230 pages, with 34 full page illustrations, of
which 20 are in two or more colors. The magnitude of
this December number, for which 728 tons of paper and
six tons of ink have been used, may be understood from
the fact that 91 presses, running 14 hours a day, have
been required to print it; the binding alone of the edi-
tion of 915,000 copies representing over 20,000,000 sec-
tions which had to be gathered individually by Ivuman
hands.

THE IEEIGATION AGE.

••••••••••••••••••••••(•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••MHH

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SAM50N DOUBLE GEAR

GALVANIZED STEEL
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The Strongest and Best
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is a double- geared mill and is the latest great ad-
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It will be readily seen that this double gear im-
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of any other mill of equal size. Since the gear is
double and the strain of work is equally divided
between the two gears, there is no side draft,
shake or wobble to cut out the gears. The gear-
ing, therefore, has four times the life and Iwearing
qualities of any single gear.

All interested in irrigation should write us for
our finely illustrated book on irrigation matters,
which will be sent free to all who mention THE IRRIGA-
TION AGE. This work contains all necessary informa-
tion for establishing an irrigation plant by wind power.

Remember We Guarantee the Samson

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28

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

(Continued from page 23.)

farm machinery in the world, there is a large opportunity
for investigation by this Department of this branch of
our development. It is desired to receive help in it from
every source and we shall appreciate your opinion as to
its usefulness, as well as any suggestions which may
occur to you as to how we can most effectively make this
information of service.

Sincerely yours,
Approved: A. C. TRUE,

JAMES WILSON, Director.

Secretary of Agriculture.

A Missoula, Montana, correspondent says : While
no definite plans have yet been decided on there is now
under discussion a scheme for the construction next sea-
son of a large irrigating system that will cover a con-
siderable portion of the land on the bench across the
river south of Missoula. One large canal has been
built this summer by the Orchard Homes Company.
This is nearly finished and will cover a large tract of
land. It is one of the largest ditches in this part of the
State and will result in the reclamation of a large tract
that is now almost entirely unproductive.

The Kansas State Historical Society will hold its
thirty-sixth annual meeting in the State Capitol, To-
peka, on Dec. 29, 30, 31, 1902. One hundred dollars
will be given in premiums for exhibits of fruit. Pro-
grams will be issued soon.

ALTON'S^
19O3

FENCING;

GIRL

Copyright, i«oa
byC. & A. R'y.

ART CALENDAR

Fonrgraceful poses from life; figures ten inches
high, reproduced in colors. Highest example
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"THE ONLY WAY"

to own one of these beautitul calendars is
to send twenty-five cents, with name of publi-
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toGEO. J.CHARLTON,Geiieral Passenger Agent „
Chicago & Alton Railway, 328 Monadnock
Building, CHICAGO, ILL.

The oest railway line between CHICAGO,
ST. Louis, KANSAS CITY and PEORIA.

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THE' IEEIGATION AGE.

29

Power

for any

Purpose

Buy a THOMPSON-LEWIS and
have a reliable Gas or

Gasoline Engine

That will always be ready and easy to start, safe

convenient, economical and durable. For de-

scriptive catalogue, address the manufacturers.

J. Thompson & Sons Mfq. Co., Be'o I. W'$.

Irrigated Land
Excursions

The Great South Platte Valley, Colorado.

Buy tickets to Sterling and Return
via Union Pacific Railroad

We have a large list of Irrigated Faims and
Stock Ranches and large tracts of land already
under irrigation, suitable for Colonies.

It wiil pay Land Agents and Investors to inves-
tigate our propositions. Send for advertising
matter.

The Colorado Colony Co.

Colorado Nat'l Bank Bide.
Denver, Colo.

First Nat'l Bank Bldg.
. Sterling, Colo.

Irrigators who contemplate buying a Rake, Plows, Planters, Cultivators,
Harrows or Seeders should write us for catalogue, which will be sent post-paid.

J. Thompson & Sons Mfg. Co., Beloit, Wis

We make the Lewis Gas and Gasoline En?ine for irrigation pumping
Mention Irrigation Age.

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in pumping plants. !

••••••••••••J

1 I I I I I I I I t+l I i I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE
for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

The Navajo Indian Blanket

Stores Co.

Incorporated

501 to 507 16th Street
Denver, Colorado

Controlling the entire out-
put of the five largest trad-
irg posts situated in the
Navajo country.

Miners, Cutters and Sellers o! American Gem Stones
We cannot be undersold

The Shuart
Earth Graders

Style No. 2

These machines rapidly and
cheaply reduce the most uneven
land to perfect surface for the ap-
plication of water. Made in
several different styles. On the
No. 3 style the blade can be
worked diagonally, as well as
straight across, thus adapting it to
throwing up and distributing bor-
ders, ditches, etc For descriptive
circulars and price, address

B. F. SHUART

Oberlin, Ohio

Exposition
Flyer

Via

Big 4"

To

St. Louis

Write for Rates and Folders

Warren J. Lynch, W. P. Deppe,
Gen'l Pass. & Ass't Gen'l

Tkt Agt. P.&T. A.

CINCINNATI, OHIO

30

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Myers Power Pumps

"Without an equal on
the Globe"

Full information in regard to our
varied line on application

Adapted especially for gas engines,
motor and belt powers, in harmony
with present requirements.

FIG. 813.

No. 359. Bulldozer Working Head, 5, 1% and

10-inch stroke.
No. 361. Bulldozer Working Head, 12, 16 and

20-inch stroke.

FIG 800.

Bulldozer Power Pump, sizes 3, 4, 5 and
6-iuch cylinders, stroke ranging from 5 to
20-inch.

F. E- Myers * Bro., Ashland, o., u. s. A,

FIGURES NEVER LIE

IF NO

MISTAKES ARE MADE.

No Errors In

ROPP'S

Commercial

CALCILATOB,

Sayes Labor, Time, Money.

It Bhows at a glance, the correct Cost of
Grain, Stock. Cotton, Hay, Coal, Lumber,
Iron and all kinds of Merchandise, In any
quantity, at market prices. Also the exact
Interest on any sum, for any time, at all
practical ratesr Wages by the Month, Week
or Day; Profit and Loss In merchandising;
Exchange. Freight, Kent, etc., are all accu-
rately computed. Likewise the true measure-
ments of Lumber, Logs, Cisterns, Tanks,
Granaries, Bins, Corn-cribs, Cordwood, and
Carpenters, Plasterers and Bricklayers work.

Besides nearly a million Ready Calcula-
tions, all the Rules in Arithmetic are concise-
ly and clearly stated, and Its principles in-
tetligently explained and practically applied.
The operations are wonderfully shortened
and simplified by numerous Short-cut* and
Original Methods, which will, by a little
effort, enable anyone to become a Sure and
Rapid Calculator— a stepping stone to higher
positions and a successful business career. .

It Is by far the most useful, complete and
practical work on Figures ever published
especially for Dally use and Reference, and
will prove a boon to thousands who are not
fully versed in all the Rules, Short-cuts and
Up-to-date methods of this great and useful
science. It Is neatly bound In pocket size,
wub silicate slate, memorandum. oock»t- etc.

In art cloth, round corners,
red edges, 50 cents, or we
will send you the Calculator,
postage paid, if you will send
us one new subscriber or
send renewal of your sub-
scription for another year.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

\ \2 Dearborn Street, # CHICAGO

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

31

FINE FARM LANDS.

Wisconsin is noted for its fine crops,
excellent markets, pure water and
healthful climate.

You can buy a farm on easy terms in
Wisconsin along the line of the Chi-
cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway
for less than you can rent one for three
years in any of the Eastern states. Now
is the time to invest.

Address F. A. Miller, General Pas-
senger Agent, Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul Railway, Chicago, 111.

Low Round Trip Rates via

UNION PACIFIC

. From Missouri River ....

$15.00

$

To Denver, Colorado Springs
and Pueblo, Colo., June 22 to
24, inclusive, July i to 13, in-
clusive.

To Denver, Colorado Springs

IQ /\ /\ and Pueblo, Colo., June I to 21,
y m\J \J inclusive, June 25 to 30, inclu-
sive.

To Salt Lake City and Ogden,
Utah, August i to 14, inclusive.

To Glenwood Springs, Colo.,
June 22 to 24, inclusive, July i
to 13, inclusive.

To Salt Lake City and Ogden,
Utah, June 22 to 24, inclusive,
July i to 13, inclusive.

$25,
$25

$30

00
00

00

$32

_ To Glenwood Springs, Colo.,
I 00 June ! to 21, inclusive, June 25

* to 30, inclusive.

To Salt Lake City and Ogden,
/% /\ Utah, June I to 21, inclusive,
• \l \J June 25 to 30, inclusive, July 14
to 31 inclusive.

$45.00
$45.00

To San Francisco or Los
Angeles, Cal., May 27 to June 8,
inclusive, August 2 to 10, inclu-

sve.

To Portland, Ore., Tacoma and
Seattle, Wash., May 27 to June
8, inclusive, July 1 1 to 21, inclu-

sive.

Full information cheerfully furnished on application to

E. L. LOIYIAX, C. P. * T. A., Omaha, Neb.

32 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Great Irrigated
Valleys —

ARKANSAS VALLEY, COLORADO. Altitude 3,400 to 4,600 ft; beet sugar factories,
thousands of acres of alfalfa, millions of cantaloupes, extensive orchards, flocks of sheep;
largest irrigated section in the U. S. Extensive cattle feeding and dairy interests, population
.doubled in five years.

PECOS VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,000 to 4,000 feet. ; 175 miles long; on edge
of great plains' cattle pastures, affording profitable home market for alfalfa and grain; noted
for its large orchards and fine quality of fruits and vegetables; artesian belt with 300

flowing wells.

*,--••" "

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,700 to 5:300 ft.; 350 miles long;

great sheep raising .section^ mining in adjacent mountains; adapted to fruit raising and
small farms.

SALT RIVER VALLEY, ARIZONA. Altitude i ,000 ft.; 60 miles long and 20 miles wide;
special industries-yearly oranges, live stock, vegetables, small fruits, alfa'fa, bee culture.

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Altitude 50 to 400 ft.; 250 miles' long, 50 miles
wide; wheat raising, live stock, oil wells, alfalfa, raisin and wine grapes, olives, figs, citrus
and deciduous fruits, almonds, walnuts, lumbering and mines in mountains.

ALL FIVE VALLEYS have never-failing water supply, extensive systems of irrigating
ditches and rich soil, insuring profitable crops. Pleasant climate, especially in winter.
Thriving towns, affording good markets. Directly reached by the SANTA FE.

For information about farm lands, manufactures and general business openings,
address

Gen. Pass. Office A. T. 4 S. F. Ry. System,
GREAT NORTHERN BLDG. A CHICAGO.

Santa Fe

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Million*
Farm*

the leading question is the replacing
of worn out implements. If it's a
ftota. Lifter, Harrota. Cttltt-
ffator. there is no question at all
in the minds of many thousand far-
mers. It will be a

John *Deere9

of course, just as with Mr. R. F. Stockton, of '•
May wood, Ills., who says,

"We used the old, reliable John Deere Plow for 25
years on the farm. It sta_nds second to none. When
. I go back to farming, which I hope to do soon, the
John Deere Plow will be my companion."

When you decide, why not choose -the bcsl. We
make Plows of every description, for every purpose,
for every section. Walking, Riding, Disk, Listing,
single and in gangs, Middlebreakers, Harrows, Pul-
verizers, Walking and Riding Cultivators. The most
extensive line in America.
The John "Deere Flotv Has Veen the Stand-

-. ard of Qaalt'1y_for JV early 6O years.

If you wish to Jft how a plow is made in the oldest and largest
steel plow factory in the world, send for handsome illustrated
book, "From Forge to Farm" — free if you mention this paper.

fSL CO., Moline.

^••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••UIMIMHHMHHHiq

DEERE BEET TOOLS.

Endorsed by the Leading Beet Sugar Factories of the Country,

i

J>eere Beet

Has large seed box; wide tire carrying wheels; adjust-
able force feed with positive drive; runner openers, either
stagger covering wheels as shown in cut or concave as pre-
ferred. One lever raises all the runners and stops the
seeding. The pressure spring insures uniform depth of
planting. All adjustments are within easy reach of the
driver and the dropping seed is plainly seen.

Deere Beet Cultivators.

Made in two and four- row sizes, both sizes having
combination pole and shafts. Has spring lift, spring steel
draw bars, adjustable bearings; handles are attached direct
to draw bar, giving good leverage and making it the easiest
handled cultivator on earth.

DEERE & MANSUR CO.

MOLINE, ILL.

THE IERIGATION AGF

Myers Power Pumps

"Without an equal on
the Globe"

Full information in regard to our
varied line on application

Adapted especially for gas engines,
motor and belt powers, in harmony
with present requirements.

FIG. 818.

No. 859. Bulldozer Working Head, 5, 1% and

10-inch stroke.
No. 861. Bulldozer Working Head, 12, 16 and

20-inch stroke.

FIG 800.

Bulldozer Power Pump, sizes 3, 4, 5 and
6-inch cylinders, stroke ranging from 5 to
20-inch.

F. E. Myers * Bro., Ashland, o., u. s. A.

m

8

•

E

The Aspinwai! Line

-OF-

POTATO CUTTER.

POTATO MACHINERY

Consists of CUTTERS, PLANTERS, WEEDERS,
-4-ROW SPRAYERS, DIGGERS and SORTERS.

The best and most complete outfit of modern, up-to-date,
automatic, accurate and reliable Potato Implements made.

POTATO PLANTER.

iv>- 1 >« • t .- » t i»i i .

< >x-t-i- 2O 'Vt'ii !-.«* on. tin- J\I ; i i-li » • t .

and

We also manufacture a full line of

COTTON SPRAYERS

for the destruction of the Mexican Boll Weevil, Spring Web
Worm, Careless Worm, Army Worm. Write for catalogue and
circulars.

Aspinwall flfg. Co.,

-•

i

4-ROW POTATO SfRAYER.

lUMUUUUUHaU!

JACKSON, MICH.

•••••••MHHHHHHHHUi:

THE IERIGATION AGE.

35

Superior Disc Drills

SOWS ALL GRAINS EVENLY AND OF MORE UNIFORM
DEPTH THAN ANY HOE OR SHOE DRILL. WILL SOW
AND COVER GRAIN IN HARD GROUND, WHEREVER A
DISC HARROW WILL RUN.

Lighter Draft than any other drill.
Never Clogs in foul ground.
Wheel* Extra Heavy, broad tire.
Wears Longer without repairs.

Saves Time and labor for the farmer.
All Sizes from 8 to 22 discs, 2, 3 or 4 horse.
Buy the Superior, the original and best of
all disc drills.

The Good is Always Imitated, that is, when it comes to Farm Machinery— which accounts
for the many infringements upon the advantages and improvements which go to make The Superior
Disc Drill the acknowledged leader of the grain drills. We furnish them with steel wheels, steel
seat and spiral wire grain tubes on your special order. Ask for Catalog.

The Superior DlSC Drill is the original, and has the greatest record of any seeding machine

on the market. We make every size drill that is desirable, besides we also make

i

DISC HARROWS, HAY TOOLS AND CIDER MILLS THAT WILL
BE MOST SATISFACTORY TO PATRONS. ALL ARE WINNERS.

Write for printed matter and mention The Irrigation Age.

TKe Superior Drill Company

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO

3fi

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The Aultman fie Taylor
Machinery Co.

OF MANSFIELD, OHIO,

One of the oldest concerns in the threshing machine busi-
ness, in fact one of the pioneers and pathfinders, are build-
ing portable and stationary rice separators which are tak-
ing the lead everywhere. They are guaranteed for superior
separation and cleaning, as testimonial letters elsewhere in
this issue would indicate.

The Aultman & Taylor Alfalfa Huller

Has established a
reputation in the
arid regions that
no other make of
alfalfa separator
and cleaner has
ever attained. Its
capacity is fully
one-third greater than that of any other machine. It saves
more seed and cleans it more perfectly than any other type.

Those interested in perfect rice separators, either of portable
or stationary type, or a superior alfalfa duller, should address

The Aultman & Taylor
Machinery Co.

OF MANSFIELD, OHIO,

for one of their illustrated catalogues, which is sent free

to any address.

In addressing the Aultman & Taylor Machinery Co. kindly mention The Irrigation Age.

FATTENED

AULTKaNlMLOR STRAW SlUK-

>••••••••••••••••• I

THE IRRIGATION AGE

VOL. XVIII.

CHICAGO, DECEMBER, 190-2.

No. 2.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING CO.,

PUBLISHERS.
112 Dearborn Street, CHICAGO

Entered at the Postoffice at Chicago, 111., as Second-Class Matter.

D. H. ANDERSON, Editor.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.
To United States Subscribers, Postage Patd,
To Canada and Mexico, . . . • -.-4. ,.?
All Other Foreign Countries

$1.00

. 1.00

1.50

In forwarding remittances please do not send checks on local banks.
Send either postoffice or express money order cr Chicago or New York
draft.

A monthly illustrated magazine recognized throughout the world as
the exponent o( Irrng. tion and its kindred industries. It is the pioneer
journal of its kind in the world, and has no rival in half a continent. It
advocates the mineral development and the industrial growth of the West.

tn A rl VPrH <apr«l II may interest advertisers to know that The Irrigation Age is the only publication
LU 7-VU VC1 U.J5C1S. ^ ,he wofl(j having an actual paid in aavance circulation among individual

irrigators and large irrigation corporations. It is read regularly by all interested in this subject and has readers in all parts of the world.
The Irrigation Age is 18 years old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world.

E

D

I

T

O

R.

I

A

L

If the National Irrigation Association
is a national organization for national
good, why- should the list of its members be held as
private property by Geo. H. Maxwell or any other
individual? The editor of the IRRIGATION AGE
asked Mr. Maxwell for a list of the members and he
declined to furnish it, giving as an excuse that he
feared it would possibly fall into the hands of enemies
of the cause. What Cause ? Why should he fear to
have the list made public? Is he or his associates
any more the friends of irrigation and National Aid
Laws than the rest of us ? Answer, Mr. Maxwell.

"Grorge."

Editor Melick of The Pasadena (Gal.)
News, in writing a defense of George H.
Maxwell, informs us that he was in such close touch
with the people of the White House that the President
referred to him as "George." What rot, Mr. Melick,
what rot.

Through a mistake a portrait was
C. E. Wantland. . ~ . , ,

shown in our October issue under

which was the inscription, C. E. Wantland. The half-
tone shown was of Mr. McCune, of Colorado.

We have secured and are showing herewith a true
likeness of Mr. Wantland, who is general agent at Den-
-ver and Salt Lake City for The Union Pacific Land
'Company, also publisher of the well-known journal,
liancli News.

Irrigation
Congress.

The Eleventh National Irrigation Con-
gress will be held at Ogden, Utah, Sep-
tember 8, 9, 10, 11, 1903, and it is pre-
dicted that this will be the greatest meeting in point of
attendance and results in the history of the congresses.
Full information concerning subjects to be discussed, ac-
commodation, rates, etc., etc., may be obtained later by
addressing Mr. Fred J. Kiesel, executive chairman, Og-
den, Utah.

Edwin F. Holmes.

In this issue will be found an
article on the Eleventh National
Irrigation Congress by Edwin F. Holmes, president, of
Salt Lake City. Mr. Holmes advises state irrigation
congresses to be held annually and that each State Con-
gress appoint delegates to the National Congress. This
is a good suggestion and should be immediately acted
upon by states having no organization of that kind. The
IRRIGATION AGE will be pleased to chronicle any move
in that direction by anv of the states.

, Would those interested in irrigation mat-
ters prefer to know that the government
receives its information of the needs of the arid section •
from a discussion of the matter before a regular meeting
of the National Irrigation Congress composed of men
who are directly interested in this subject, or from reso-
lutions framed by the National Irrigation Association
composed of merchants, manufacturers and others who
receive their knowledge of the situation from one indi-
vidual whose only claims to recognition are assupmtion
and a lar^e sprinkling of personal ambition? In a na-
tional congress no one individual can go very far astray

38

THE IKEIGATION AGE.

as was shown at Colorado Springs when the National
Association representative tried to kill the Congress by
merging it with the Trans-Mississippi Congress.

An Arizona In a recent letter from one of the friends
Opinion. of the Irrigation Congress whose home is

Arizona we quote the following : "Mean-
while I think your little editorial in which you announce
that he (Maxwell), has refused to give the names of
the rnemhors in his association is one of the strongest
things brought against him, and I hope in your nexf,
'ssue you will reiterate that inquiry. Maxwell is posing
as the representative of 2,000 members and is attacking
the Department of Agriculture as the representative of
those men. In that case we want the list of member;
we want to know the receipts and disbursements of thid
association; we want to know when Mr. Maxwell was
ever authorized to carry on this warface. Any associa-
tion which claims to be public and to attack public
officials, should make all these matters public.

San Francisco The San Francisco Call, in comment-
Call. ing on Mr. Geo. H. Maxwell and his

ambition in an editorial in a recent is-
sue, has the following as a finishing paragraph :

"This brief review of the work to be done, and of
the compensative accommodations that will be necessary
negatives at once the ambitious aspiration that Mr. Max-
well's or any other private association may have to
take to itself the expenditure of the twenty million
dollars or more that will be devoted to irrigation under
the law. It must be a Government concern. The com-
pensation of those whose lands will be disused and whose
irrigation systems will be destroyed, must, of necessity,
come out of the irrigation fund, and in that aspect alone
it is evident that only the Government can be permitted
to deal with that phase of the problem. A glance at the
rest of the work suffices to convince any reasonable man
that only the Government has the competent facilities
to deal with the whole question."

tjt r- r -an- Mr- C- G- Elliott, C. E., formerly

Mr. C. G. Elliott. , , ,. , . ' „ .

owner and publisher of the Dram-
age Journal, which has been merged with the IRRIGATION
AGE, contributes an interesting article on Irrigation
and Drainage in the Fresno district, California, which
appears in this issue with illustrations. Mr. Elliott has
been called by the government to act as expert in drain-
age investigations for the Department of Agriculture at
Washington. The selection of Mr. Elliott for this work
reflects credit on the department officials, as Mr. Elliott
is eminently qualified to perform this work. It will be
Mr. Elliott's duty to answer all inquiries and give ad-
vice upon the subject of drainage of farm and public
lands. This is a new position made necessary by tho
great number of inquiries for information coming to
the Department of Agriculture and as well by the call

for drainage investigations in the irrigated territory of
the country.

This appointment necessitated the sale of the Drain*.
age Journal, which had been built up to a commanding
position by Mr. Elliott and that journal was absorbed
by the IRRIGATION AGE. A regular drainage department
will be maintained by this publication, to which Mr.
Elliott will be a regular contributor.

Colorado
River.

THE IRRIGATION AGE received a call in De«
cember from Mr. F. H. Newell, chief hydrog-

rapher, IT. S. Geological Survey, who was
on his way West to look after work being done on the
Colorado river preliminary to the gigantic reservoir sys-
tems contemplated along that stream, whereby at least
one million acres will be reclaimed between The Needles
and Yuma, or the international boundary. This will be
the largest project of the kind ever undertaken in the
United States and will, with other work contemplated
along that stream, be equal in magnitude to the famous
Assouan dam recently completed by the British Gov-
ernment on the Nile. Mr. Newell states that his depart-
ment have about one hundred engineers now at work
on both sides of the river below The Needles, both in
California and Arizona, and that he wall start in at
the first mentioned point and drift down as far as
Yuma, studying conditions along the route. The en-
gineers engaged in -the work will investigate dam sites,
going down to bed rock at such points as may seem
available for that purpose. THE IRRIGATION AGE will
regularly post its readers on the work being done in
that section. In this connection it may be well to say
that there is now in course of preparation an extended
article on the Assouan dam in Egypt by the pen of
Prof. Clarence T. Johnston, assistant chief, Irrigation
Investigations U. S. Department of Agriculture. This
article will be splendidly illustrated and will be the most
complete description of this project ever published.

Three of Many, many years ago, or perhaps it was
Them. not so many, there lived in Philadelphia a
man, ,T. Wilford Hall by name. One day
Wilford discovered that the essential hypotheses upon
which modern physical science is based are all wrong.
So he began forthwith to publish a magazine in order
that the world might be set right. And this magazine,
in honor of himself, he called Wilford's Microcosm.

After Wilford had run his course and had sub-
sided, the world had a weary wait of several years
before it enjoyed another such a treat. Then came,
not two years distant from our own time, H. Gaylord
Wilshire, a young man whose worldly possessions were
many, but who found that in spite of that fact there
were spots here and there on the surface of the globe
wherein his name had never been heard. So he set
about to correct a state of affairs which he regarded
as cruelly wrong, and after testing the efficacy to that

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

39

end of open letters to men of note, bill boards, and
hired halls, he learned wisdom, and made arrangements
so that to this day all who will may peruse the pages
of Wilshire's Magazine.

And now, within the calendar year, it has come to
pass that another, in the exuberance of his self esteem,
having found that small capitals at the heads of printed
columns for which the deluded members of the National
Irrigation Association were paying, and that giant
capitals on imposing looking circulars, and an ex-
ceedingly liberal interlardation of his name in hand-me-
down interviews and editorials, did not, any one nor
all of them, suffice to render him the measure of noto-
riety which he considered his due, has burst upon us
with Maxwell's Talisman.

MR. C. E. WANTLAND,
Denver, Colo.

Mr. Maxwell attempts to discredit State
control of water on the grounds that
local politics affect the efficiency of an ir-
rigation administration. Eecently he has become fond
of such terms as "Political Boards of Control," "Politi-
cal State Engineers," etc., referring to such institutions
in Wyoming and Nebraska. If he were better acquaint-
ed with the work of these boards or if he knew how care-
fully the members were selected as to fitness and experi-
ence he would not have fallen into error. To defend his
"Home Rule" policy he has tried to convey the impres-
sion that these officers receive appointment wholly
through political preferment. We defy him to select a
single member of a board of control who is not fully
qualified by experience and training to carry on the work
entrusted to him. Mr. Maxwell can satisfy himself on
this point and he must then find some other argument
to warrant his stand against this kind of state adminis-
tration. If his "Home Rule" policy were carried into

effect local politics would be more liable to interfere
with a just distribution of water than is the case under
existing conditions. Corporate interests would have
greater power to control the water supply and force
small irrigators to the wall unless they were protected
by State laws affording equal protection to all. It is
true that there would be great opportunities for such a
man as Mr. Maxwell in representing large interests ih-
the litigation which would be sure to follow the adop-
tion of a "Home Rule" policy.

It may be that Mr. Maxwell hopes all supervision
to finally come from Washington. It may be that he
has aspirations to be in charge or to be placed where
he may dictate to those entrusted with the work. That
the few politicians at Washington might be easier for
him to control than the many State officers where irri-
gation is well understood, is probably true. The recent
irrigation act, which was alternately supported and
opposed by Mr. Maxwell and his propaganda, finally
became a law. It was passed through the united efforts
of western statesmen and it is doubtful whether or not
Mr. Maxwell's influence greatly affected the final vote
on the measure. The same men who fostered this bill
are still in Congress and we believe they will continue
to stand by their own State institutions and do their
utmost for the irrigator through national legislation.

A Live One.

When a man dies and his mortal remains

are laid away in the earth the world at
large forgets him, his friends buy a few flowers, heave
a sigh or two as they leave the graveyard and then
return to their daily avocation of tearing each other
to pieces in a buisness and social way, and give very
little thought to the good qualities of those who are
gone or those who are living, with whom they are in
daily contact. It is interestng to study living people,
the others should be left for medical students.

The way to figure out the per cent of goodness in
your fellow men is to stand them up in a row in your
mind's eye, and learn who in the lot go over fifty per cent
to the good and then keep in close touch with those who
scale fifty-one per cent or better.

In looking at an imaginary line of men recently,
one figure stood out prominently, as considerably above
the half way mark, and on examining the tag the writer
learned that it read, Clifford F. Hall, president of the
Implement Trade Journal Co., Kansas City, Mo. "Cliff"
as he is known to his friends was born in Rochester,
N: Y., in 1855, and drifted west with his parents and
after a diversified and devious early course learned the
printer's trade which, as he says, is the best thing that he
ever did, as it gave him an excuse for living and event-
ualy led him into a branch of journalism which he
thoroughly enjoys and in which his talents are employed
to a good purpose.

Mr. Hall has been conducting the Implement Trade
Journal since 1889 as president of the company and

40

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

principal owner. He is one of the shining lights in
the field of implement trade- journalism, original, witty,
forceful.

Mr. Hall aspires to make the Implement Trade

Journal one of the greatest trade papers in the world

and that he will win out, his friends have no doubt. In

discussing this matter wth friends recently he made

• the following statement:

"It may sound hold and presumptuous, but I believe
that I can, with the able force now supporting my
efforts, in the course of a few years, demonstrate that the
implement trade paper of to-dav is but a shallow make-
shift that not one of them comes anywhere near being

MR. CLIFFORD F. HALL,
President Implement Trade Journal Co., Kansas City. Mo.

what a representative dealers' paper should be, and that's
what all of them purport to be and on the strength of
such a claim gain advertising patronage. In a field
where advertisers discriminate so lightly it has been
comparatively easy for "most any old thing" in the
shape of a trade publication to get along, but it will not
be so easv in the future. We expect to advance the
Journal to a weekly, beginning with January 3, 1903,
and we hope to do much thereafter toward raising the
standard of papers of this class."

In presenting a likeness of Mr. Hall we gently re-
frain from comment further than to say that he looks
his best in an evening suit.

Home
Rule?

Mr. George H. Maxwell, who pretends to direct
the policy of the Government in irrigation mat-

ters, has recently delivered an address at Oma-
ha, which, unfortunately for his reputation as an author-
ity, has been given spme publicity through the Omaha
papers and a- periodical of Washington, D. C., "Forestry
and Irrigation." In this address Mr. Maxwell took oc-
casion to criticize the state engineer's office already cre-
ated, to warn law makers of the dangerous character
of such officers and to arouse a feeling of distrust of
State control of streams. The arguments he presents
do not make clear his reasons for taking the position
he attempts to defend, hence we must presume that

he has some ulterior motive, which, if disclosed, would
not strengthen his case. That the States which have
adopted the best water laws and have employed efficient
irrigation officers have afforded the best protection to
the water user and have reduced litigation in the set-
tlement of rights to a minimum, is an established fact.
Mr. Maxwell understands this as well as any one and
it is difficult to understand how in the face of such evi-
dence he can advocate "home rule" as he calls it, in-
stead of State control. What does home rule mean?
It means that the rights to use water from every small
tributary would be settled under a different procedure.
When the rights were adjudicated each tributary would
have distinct rules and regulations for carrying the de-
cree into effect. As water is used from the tributaries
the main stream is effected. How would Mr. Maxwell
settle the rights on the main streams? As it is, county
boundaries have been disregarded in the settlement of
rights to use water from a stream flowing through sev-
eral of these small political divisions. It is plain that
interstate streams will soon have to be treated under
a broader code of water laws than now exists among
the ami states. Let no one be deceived by believing
that when the time comes for the settlement of these
rights generally, the States will fail to get together a-nd
adjust their differences. What could they do toward a
just division of the water if each were divided into-
many small districts each enjoying "home rule"?

That the State Engineer's offices are not what they
.should be in all cases is not disputed, but their short-
comings ejmnot be attributed to the officers themselves,
but to the State Legislatures which have to give ear
to those who profit by the existing chaos as well as
those who seek reform. Nevertheless, the sentiment in
favor of the creation of central offices of record is grow-
ing and this winter will see a number of the western
states falling in line and establishing offices where the
proposing investor and the government engineers in
charge of the construction of irrigation works can be-
come acquainted with the flow of the streams, the extent
of diversion therefrom and the area and location of
the land irrigated along each. Supposing that each
State could already furnish this information to the
Government construction engineers. An inspection of
the records of these offices would disclose to them the
facts which they must secure before deciding upon the
location of irrigation projects. In addition private
enterprise could become acquainted with the undeveloped
districts of each State and the irrigators along the vari-
ous streams could easily satisfy themselves whether or
not enough unappropriated water remained in the tribu-
tary supplying them to warrant them in extending canals
or building storage works. Where States have not pro-
vided such offices this kind of information is not avail-
able. Neither the Agricultural nor the Interior De-
partments have collected minute details of the irriga-
tion development along a single western stream. The

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

41

census bureau has largely depended upon these offices
where they exist and where they do not the labors of
the special agents have been greatly increased. While
the statistics of the census bureau are valuable as far
as they go, they can be considered as but a summary
of a small part of the facts which the Stale Engineer's
offices should contain. Where shall we turn to find
the volume of unappropriated water, the location of the
land already irrigated and the character of the rights
which have accrued?

As an example let us take two adjoining farms in
the Yakima valley in Washington. Suppose one to be
located under a canal and the other just above so that
it cannot be watered. The land of the dry farm would
probably be worth $1.50 per acre and could be used only
for grazing purposes. The irrigated farm would sell
for $75.00 per acre before the sage brush were removed.
Irrigation makes the difference. The added value of
$73.50 per acre must all be attributed to water. As
soon as the settler obtained his patent from the Gov-
ernment, a record was filed with the county clerk which
describes his land, and whenever the title passes into
other hands the record is chanuged so that it shows
at all times who is in possession. But the value of
the land depends on whether it is irrigated or not.
Where is the record of the water right? Nothing of
the kind exists in Washington. The people of the
irrigated districts of the State appreciate the value of
such records and if their influence were felt in the
legislative halls as it should be, a State Engineer's office
would have long since been created. And yet a man
who represents himself to be the leader in formulating
policies for the development of the arid West has
instituted a campaign against further reform in State
irrigation law.

The experience of the West in irrigation matters
has been dearly bought. The price has been paid in
the courts, and Mr. Maxwell has realized his share of
the profits. The time has arrived when a change must
be made and we believe that the States having no fully
organized offices in charge of irrigation will profit by
the example of those" that have gone before and shown
that only by wise laws justly administered by the States
themselves can the irrigator be protected and the public
be kept informed as to the character and extent of
irrigation development.

AT SET OF SUN.
If we sit down at set of sun
And count the things that we have done,

And counting find
One self-denying act, one word
That eased the heart of him who heard,

One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went,
Then we may count the day well spent.

IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE IN THE FRESNO
DISTRICT.

C. G. ELLIOTT.

Starting a vineyard in the raisin district of Fresno
county, California, requires more careful attention
than its subject culture. The small cuttings are planted
where it is desired to have the vines grow and the soil
about them must be irrigated frequently enough to
keep it moist near the surface or they will not root
readily. A neglect in this part of the work will re-
sult in the premature drying up of the young plants
and the loss of a year's time in the starting of the
vineyard. The planting of previously rooted vines,
while accompanied with greater certainty in securing
a stand, is not regarded with favor by experienced
raisin growers. It is claimed that cuttings rooted in

MR. C. G ELLIOTT, C. E.,
Expert ic Drainage Investigations, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

place send out direct from the cutting individual and
independent roots which grow downward and become
established at greater depth and with more permanence
than vines which are started from rooted cuttings.
The reason given for this is that transplanted roots are
necessarily broken or trimmed, from the end of which
new roots start in clusters and grow with a tendency
to spread rather than at once to seek nutriment and
moisture from the lower soil.

It has been observed in recent years that adult
vines and trees in the older fruit belts require but a

42

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

fraction of the irrigation formerly found necessary be-
cause the water has filled the lower soil to within a
few feet of the surface and furnishes sub-irrigation.
The little plants, however, must be watched over and
nursed by irrigating and cultivating them frequently
during the first and second years. Some lands in the

PUMPING PLANT OF R. W. BRISCOE,
Near Malaga. Cal.

Fresno fruit district are not easily reached with ditch
water by gravity and recourse is had to methods of
pumping so that newly planted trees and vines may be
watered as frequently as necessary. Wells are now
drilled or bored and a bountiful supply of excellent
water for irrigating purposes is found at depths where
once there was none.

The writer witnessed the operation of a little pump-
ing plant which supplies the water for the new vine-
yard of Mr. E. W. Briscoe near Malaga, Cal. The

PUMPING WHEEL, SUNNY SIDE FRUIT RANCH,
Near Fresno, Gal.

well is bored fifty-six feet deep and cased with twelve-
inch casing. A six-inch centrifugal pump is set in a
pit directly over the well and ten feet below the surface
of the ground. A gasoline or oil engine located as
shown in the cut connected by belt to the pump in
the pit furnishes the power, and may be started at

any time that it is desired to use water on the field.
The water rises in the well so that when the pump is
running at full speed it lifts water thirty feet and
throws from one thousand to twelve hundred gallons
of water per minute at a cost for fuel oil of six cents
per hour. The well is located near the highest point
on the two hundred and forty arcres which it is intended
to irrigate. Water can be easily lead over the land
from this point, thus avoiding the expense of con-
structing independent laterals from the supply ditch
to the vineyard. The engine runs with slight attention
from the irrigator, making the plant thus equipped both
efficient and economical, considering the work performed.
Generators for use on gas engines are now furnished
with them, by means of which crude oil as it comes
from the wells may be used, making the cost of running
an engine much less than when gasoline or the distil-
late is used. The abundance and consequent low price
of California crude oil has greatly simplified the fuel
question, making it the most convenient as well as the
cheapest fuel known. Mr. Briscoe regards this method
of obtaining water for irrigating purposes as highly
satisfactory. As to the permanent supply of water
from so small a well there may be some question
should pumping be commonly practiced in a limited
territory.

Knolls or small tracts which are too high for irri-
gating from the ditches are found on some fruit ranches.
They are irrigated in some instances by water raised
from the supply ditches by a large water wheel, to
which is attached buckets which empty themselves into
a side trough or small flume which conveys the water
to the more elevated ground. The wheel is adjust-
able to the height of water in the ditch, and of course
raises water without expense after it is once installed.
This plan is old and is efficient where only small quan-
tities of water are required, and
a supply ditch with the necessary
check or drop is accessible.

The rise of water through the
sub-soil, which has been inci-
dentally alluded to as providing
sub-irrigation, is a phase of the
water question which has been
gradually forcing itself upon the
attention of the fruit growers of
Fresno county. While the grad-
ual rise of water looks like a
great help to the cultivator, and
is, under certain limitations, yet
where the rise is unchecked, it
has resulted in the depletion of
once valuable fruit farms. After
sub- water rises to such a height
as to be available for sub-irriga-
tion, it does not remain at that
desirable level, but continues to
rise to such an extent that the
available depth of soil is lessened,
and the water containing alkali
in solution being evaporated
from the surface, leaves the solid

alkali at or near the surface. This process, going on for
some time, surcharges the surface soil to an injurious ex-
tent, even going so far as to destroy every valuable plant,
and that, too, in the face of the most persistent efforts
of experienced fruit culturists to prevent it. The annual
rise and fall of three or four feet in the position of

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

4,°,

the water table is a fact sustained by observation. Some
of the county roads are systematically sprinkled with
water which is obtained from shallow tubular wells
which have been sunk at convenient points along the
road. Their supply is the seepage which percolates
through the soil from ditches and from the run-off of
irrigation water. The tank wagons used for sprinkling
are fitted at the rear end with a small gasoline engine
and pump, by means of which the water is pumped
from the wells into the tank. It is no uncommon sight
to the passer by to see a four horse tank wagon stand-
ing by one of these wells with engine and pump work-
ing at full speed until the tank is filled. This is an-
other instance of the pumping process adapted to the
demands of the situation.

The reduction of the level of the soil water through-
out the older fruit growing area is the problem which
is now occupying the attention of many vine growers
in the Fresno district. The Office of Experiment Sta-
tions of the Department of Agriculture has had sur-
veys made during the past summer under the direction
of Prof. 0. V. R. Stout with the view of recommend-
ing some feasible drainage plan. This work is nearing
completion and involves the drainage of twenty-five
square miles of some of the finest fruit country of
the State, and valuable data for the improvement of a
much larger area. This is a country first desert, then
made productive by irrigation, but now suffering from
seepage from canals and over-irrigation. That such
reclamation can be effected is reasonably well demon-
strated. As in every new project there are many de-
tails of economic importance which must be worked
out to the satisfaction of land owners before a practical
demonstration on a large scale can be made. The
intimate relation existing between irrigation and drain-
age is becoming apparent to every careful cultivator
of irrigated land. If the seepage of water from canals
cannot be prevented, or the use of water so controlled
that there will be no waste, then provision for drainage
must sooner or later be made in places where the nat-
ural condition of the lower soil does not afford ample
facilities for carrying away surplus water.

SINS OF GENIUS.

A wise man who had studied long

Desired to a-chieve renown;
He sought attention from the throng,

But did not play the crank or clown.
He trusted to his work alone,
And went unnoticed and unknown.

At last he donned a gaudy coat

And wore a hat with spreading brim ;

He tore the collar from his throat
And people stopped to notice him.

He let his hair grow long and made

Men wonder at the part he played.

Thus showing eccentricities

That often made him blush for shame,
His work took on the strength to please,

The world was busy with his name.
That which before had won no praise
Served now to gladden and amaze.

• — Chicago Record-Herald.

BREATHING WELLS OF NEBRASKA.

In a recent paper published by the United States
Geological Survey, on wells and windmills in Nebraska,
mention is made of the interesting phenomena of the
breathing or blowing wells which are found distributed
throughout a large portion of the State of Nebraska.
These wells are of the driven type mostly in use upon the
plains, but are distinguished from those of ordinary
character by a remarkable and unexplained egress and
ingress of currents of air which produce distinctly
audible sounds and rive the names variously applied to
them of breathing, sighing, blowing, or roaring wells,
according to their characters in different places. The
air currents are readily tested with flames of candles,
or by dropping chaff or feathers into the well tubes.
There are periods when these wells blow out for several
days, and equal periods when their air currents are re-
versed. It has been observed that the blowing occurs with
changes of the barometer. Some wells are found to be
most audible when the wind is from the northwest,
with a rise in water level; but with a change of wind,
air is drawn in and the water is observed to sink. Dur-
ing the progress of a low-barometer area over one of
these regions, wind is violently expelled from the wells,
with a noise distinctly audible for several rods. Pro-
fessors Loveland and Swezey, of the University of Ne-
braska, have made observations on a well of this nature
in Perkins County, and found that its breathing periods
were exactly coincident with the barometric changes.

The citizens of the region have attempted many
explanations of the wells. Some have reasoned that the
blowing is probably due to the liberation of gas produced
from petroleum, and that as petroleum is a natural dis-
tillation from great coal fields, there must be an abun-
dant supply of the latter mineral beneath the surface.
Fortunes have been staked upon this deduction and
much time consumed in a fruitless search for coal.
Others have noticed the change of current which some
wells show every twelve hours, morning and evening,
and have thought that this regular oscillation was due to
a tidal action of the sheet of water, erroneously con-
sidering the latter as a great subterranean lake. The
phenomena are most frequently attributed by scientific
observers to atmospheric pressure, which, though prob-
ably exerting great influence, is not necessarily the whole
cause.

The material through which the wells are driven
may throw some light on their peculiarities. In south-
eastern Nebraska a layer of dense limestone about 4
inches thick lies beneath 50 to 100 feet of subsoil. Below
the limestones is found water-bearing gravel. When the
limestome covering the water-bearing beds is penetrated
water under slight pressure rises about 1 foot. The
water-bearing layer is very porous and must always con-
tain more or less air. As the air above and the air in-
closed in the gravels below are alike subject to the
fluctuations of the barometer, it follows that if the sur-
face air is rendered less dense the air below will pass
out through the well openings until equilibrium between
the rarer air and denser air is established, and the oppo-
site effect will follow during a period of high pressure.
Still, this explanation, plausible as it is, hardly ac-
counts for the force with which the air is expelled from
some of the wells, and a more comprehensive study of
the problem is needed to satisfactorily explain all the
phenomena-.

44

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

THE ELEVENTH NATIONAL IRRIGATION CON-
GRESS.

BY EDWIN F. HOLMES, PRESIDENT.

The Eleventh Irrigation Congress to be held in
Ogden, Utah, next September, is destined to become
one of the most important, if not the most important,
meeting of that body from the time of its inception
as a Congress of Irrigators and there will be present
at that time a notable gathering of representative people
from all over the country, as there was at Colorado
Springs for the tenth session of that Congress.

There are already under way plans and arrange-
ments for the perfect accommodation of delegates and
guests, and in every way we hope to show our appre-
ciation of the great honor done to Utah by holding the
Congress in that state, the birthplace of the irrigation
movement in the United States, and which movement
we hope to see grow and develop to a remarkable de-
gree, not only in the arid and semi-arid sections, but
wherever the soil is cultivated in this country, believing
that even where large crops are now raised without
irrigation, even larger crops may be grown with irri-

COL. E. F. HOLMES,
President Eleventh National Irrigation Congress.

gation, and the value of every acre so treated to have
a largely increased value in producing crops.

We earnestly recommend that State Irrigation
Congresses be formed in every State, to look after the
particular interests of that State, provide maps of
irrigation districts, together with lines of canals built
and to be built. Compiling statistics as to the work
accomplished each year ; locating possible reservoir sites,
keeping lists of all parties interested in the great move-

ment, and all matters of general interest in the work.
The National Congress of the future to be composed
mainly of delegates from these several State organiza-
tions, together with such others as may be appointed,
thus meeting upon a common ground for the exchange
of ideas in the development of the work from year to
year, to learn of improved methods in the use of water,
and its more economical distribution to the benefit of
all parties interested in this great movement. Let
each State congress possess itself of a library of cur-
rent publications on the subject of irrigation and for-
restry, which is so closely allied to the main question

MY SKIES ARE SELDOM GRAY.

I've had my share
Of carking care,

Of fickle Fortune's frowns;
I've braved and borne
The cold world's scorn,

And had my ups and downs.
Yet I can still
A ditty trill

Or sing a roundelay;
For though I hold
Nor lands nor gold,

My skies are seldom gray !
The stress and strife
Of toilsome life

Have taught me one glad truth —
Not he who must
Crawls in the dust,

But he who will — forsooth !
And so I sing
My song, and fling

My load of care away ;
For though I hold
Nor lands nor gold,

My skies are seldom gray !
I would not give
A fig to live

Divorced from fret and moil;
The bread I eat
Is rendered sweet

Because of daily toil.
And so I still
A ditty trill—

A blithesome roundelay;
For though I hold
Nor lands nor gold,

My skies are seldom gray !
— James B. Naylor, in National Magazine.

A MERRY CAN.

"I can fly kites, oh, awful high,
Away up higher than the sky!"

Thus Bobbieboy began.
"You can !" said I, with quick surprise
At Bobbieboy's indignant eyes.

Cried he, "I'm not a can !"

Then laughing at his queer mistake,
I said "My word I never break ;

So. Bobbieboy, my man,
A 'can' you are, a- 'can' were born,
But yet a 'can' we do not scorn —

For you're A-mer-i-can !"

—Washington Star.

THE IEEIGATION AGE.

REPORT OF IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS BY
SECRETARY WILSON.

The portion of the report of the Secretary of Agri-
culture which deals with irrigation describes what the
Department has been doing during the past year, and in-
cidentally brings out many facts of general interest.
Interest in these investigations, which are a part of
the work of the Office of Experiment Stations, is con-
stantly increasing and has been stimulated during the
past year by the growing desire of the arid States for
laws and conditions which will secure the largest and
best use of the water supply, and in the humid region
by the drouth which prevailed throughout the middle
West in 1901 and in the 'South during the present
year. As a result, the requests for information and
advice have been more numerous than ever before, and
it was only through the increased appropriation made
by the last Congress that the department has been able
to comply with the demands made upon it.

Eeferring to the need of better irrigation laws,
the Secretary says that no branch of the Department's
irrigation work has received 'more cordial recognition
than its studies of legal and sociological questions. A
number of the arid States are co-operating with the
Department in these studies and two have made special
appropriations to extend them. The question as to how
much of the water of Western rivers has already been
appropriated under State laws, the nature of the rights
which have been acquired, the conflict which exists be-
tween riparian rights and rights acquired \mder the
doctrine of appropriation, are some of the problems
which confront irri gators in these States. A settlement
of the rights which have become vested is needed to
show how much water remains for future appropriators
and to relieve farmers under existing ditches from
anxiety and give to a State a safe foundation for future
development. To the litigation over water rights within
States there has recently been added important suits
over interstate rights, the one of Kansas against Colo-
rado being the most conspicuous. The law providing
for the Department's investigations provides first of all
for an investigation and report on the laws affecting
irrigation and the rights of riparian proprietors. Under
this, an investigation of interstate rights is now going
on, the results of which will be watched with much in-
terest.

The report of the Secretary brings out the fact
that drainage is becoming an important problem in the
older irrigated districts. Two drainage surveys were
carried on during the past year; one in the valley of
Kings Eiver in California, under the direction of Prof.
0. V. P. Stout, and another in' Colorado, which was
carried on by Mr. C. G. Elliott, agent and expert,
under a co-operative arrangement between the State
Engineer'^, office of Colorado and the Office of Experi-
ment Stations of the Department. The owners of lands
which have become swamped by too much water will
be encouraged by the results thus far secured, the Sec-
retary reporting that they show that it is not only pos-
sible to remove the surplus water and restore large areas
of land to cultivation, but that the water which conies
from these drains can be used for the irrigation of
other lands.

The Secretary's report shows that much interest
is being given to irrigation in the humid States, espe-
cially in the South, where the irrigation of rice has
proven exceedingly profitable, and where important ex-
periments are being carried on to determine the value

of irrigation as an aid to market gardening. The fact
that the Department has in' its employ a number of
irrigation engineers who harve had wide experience in
the West has resulted in a saving of large sums of
money to those who were putting in pumping plants.
This has been done by correcting a tendency to put
in pumps of too small capacity to be of any real service.
He also calls attention to the changes in farm
life and farm work which have come about through the
inventions of machinery and its extensive use by Amer-
ican farmers. The United States the greatest manu-
facturer and user of farm machinery in the world, and
the changes which have come about through their in-
vention have made almost as radical a revolution in
farming operations as has been wrought by the substi-
tution of machinery for hand labor in manufacturing.
Among the complex machines which the farmer has to
operate today are combined harvesters and threshers,
traction engines, automobiles, power machines for har-
vesting corn, for shucking the ears and shredding the
stalks, and recently dynamos operated by electricity
have been added to the agencies employed to do farm
work. These facts, in connection with the increasing
demand for more efficient labor-saving tools, the grow-
ing scarcity of farm labor, and the organization in
foreign countries of institutions for the systematic
study and improvement of farm machinery, make it,
in the opinion of the Secretary, important that we
should not longer neglect this field of inquiry, and
provision for carrying this out in connection with the
irrigation investigation is recommended in the Secre-
tary's report. In his estimates submitted to Congress,
the Secretary asks for an appropriation of $75,000
to continue the investigations in irrigation and agricul-
tural engineering.

Colorado will get $3,000,000 for the arid land re-
clamation fund and work will commence in this state
next spring on the two great projects under the reclam-
ation law. This is the quiet hint that has gone forth
to irrigation experts and those interested in what Colo-
rado will get as its share of favors under the new law.
The report of Secretary Hitchcock, which was issued
last week, and which is so highly favorable to the pro-
jects under the new law and the supplementary reports
of Hydrographer Newell and others show that all doubt
as to the plans being carried out is now at an end.

That Colorado will get a large amount of the
money that is to be expended seems certain. There will
be about $8,000,000 on hand when the experiments begin
next spring, and of this sum Colorado will get about
$3,000,000. It is pointed out that there have been seven
different sites recommended in all of the western
states. Of these, two arc in Colorado. They are the
Pawnee Pass and Gunnison sites, and it is now con-
sidered certain that both these projects will be favored
and utilized by the federal government. It is also felt
that Colorado offers greater advantages and has already
shown such advancement that two sites are needed in
this state. The surveys will be completed this winter. —
Denver Tim-es.

"Sympathy is the cheapest graft that ever looked
over the hill; its got every other con game skinned t.o
death, and a guy in a tight pull takes chances o' break-
ing his neck over it every time he opens his mouth."
— From "The Ragged Edge" by John T. Mclntyre,
McClure., Phillips & Co.

46

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

A GREAT ENTERPRISE.

The Pueblo (Colo.) Chief tan of a recent date con-
tains the following:

"If the present plans of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron company materialize, over ten thousand acres of
the most fertile land adjacent to Pueblo that has for
years been considered range and grazing land and which
is supposed to have millions of gallons of petroleum
under it, will be made to bloom and blossom like the
rose and will be the homes of thousands of people. The
entire section of Pueblo county known as Boggs' flat,
together with miles of land southwest of Pueblo, will
be put under one of the largest ditches in the world
and by means of a system of reservoirs, which will hold
the flood waters of the Arkansas river, it will be sup-
plied with water.

So quietly have the plans for this big undertaking
been consummated that even the most enthusiastic irri-
gationist and the closest student of the arid land ques-
tion hare known nothing about them.

For carrying out this irrigation plan the Colorado
Fuel and Iron company desired the waters from the
Twin Lakes reservoir, and its officials have for some
time been in consultation with the attorneys of the com-
pany that owns them looking to a purchase, saying they
wanted the water for the Pueblo steel works. The com-
pany said it could not furnish water, as there was no
way to transfer it from the lakes near Leadville to Lake
Minnequa and the adjacent reservoirs of the company.

One of the largest irrigation ditches in the state
was planned for this purpose, and surveyors are working
on the right of way. Three surveys have already been
made. They leave the river at Canon City and proceed
southwest along the bluffs to near Pueblo. The first one
made was too far south. The second was too crooked;
the third passed through school lands and the state
would not permit its construction. The fourth one will
probably be adopted.

The men are now at work on it. Leaving the river
at a point west of Canon City, it proceeds along the
bluffs to the second mesa between Pueblo and the St.
Charles river, where it empties into Salt Creek and the
new reservoirs of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
and ultimately into Lake Minnequa. Plans may also be
drawn for a ditch connecting the lake with the Bessemer
ditch so that when water is low in that ditch it may
be supplied by the Colorado Fuel and Iron company for
a nominal sum.

Where the ditch will leave the Arkansas river will
be one of the finest dams and irrigation schemes ever
tried in the west. It will be much on the order of the
big dam which catches the flood water of the St. Charles
river and carries it to the new reservoirs of the com-
pany. The water in the river is more than appropriated.
For this reason the ditch can not be built out into the
stream to secure any of the constant flow. A large dam
will be built which will permit the normal flow to be
kept in the bed of the river, but when a flood comes
the extra water (to the capacity of the ditch) will be
diverted.

Along the ditch for storage purposes will be con-
structed four magnificent reservoirs. This flood water
will be stored in them and a constant flow given the
ditch for irrigation purposes. Billions of gallons of
water will thus be stored west of Pueblo, and the Arkan-
sas valley will not suffer from a scarcity of the water
supply as has been the case in the past.

Half of the supply of the Twin Lakes reservoir,

it is stated by an official, has been arranged for, and when
the water in the river is low it will be turned in and
given to the company through the new ditch.

A large new reservoir, almost the size of the Twin
Lakes, has been planned and is being constructed near
Leadville. The water stored there will also act as a
supply for the new ditch.

Hundreds of wells will be sunk in the low lands and
the underflow, which is greater than the natural flow
of the river, will be tapped through artesian wells, and
the water used as a supply for irrigation purposes in the
lands below the ditch during the dry season.

While the Colorado Fuel and Iron company will
directly benefit from the construction of the ditch, in
that it will make thousands of acres of its land now
non-productive capable of cultivation, and thus enhance
its value, it will also do the same for thousands of acres
of private land and government land.

For Pueblo, however, the greatest advantage to be
seen in the construction of the new ditch and system of
reservoirs is the fact that it insures to the steel works
what it must have — a water supply for all time to
come. In the past it has been threatened with a water
famine, but when the new system of reservoirs are in
operation there will be no further danger from this
source. '

Besides the lands of the Fuel and Iron company
southwest of Pueblo, which will be placed un3er irriga-
tion, what is known as Boggs' flat, a level piece of
ground containing nearly 10,000 acres, will be most
benefited. It will all be under the ditch and for a
nominal sum water can be secured for it. The new ditch
will do for it what it was thought the state canal, planned
years ago, would do. Some of this land is owned by
private parties, but most of it belongs to the government
and can be entered upon. When the state ditch was
planned it was taken up, but when it fell through the
pre-empters and homesteaders failed to prove Tip and
much of it reverted to the government. A year ago when
the oil fever struck Pueblo and so many companies were
formed it was again filed upon, but for the purpose of
boring for oil. The Pueblo Oil Wells company was the
only company to sink a well, and so far it has not struck
oil, though two wells have been sunk to a considerable
depth. Because no improvements were made and no
wells sunk it is thought the land will again revert to the
government and be open for entry.

The result of constructing this ditch and large
system of reservoirs can hardly be comprehended. It
means that the entire country for miles southwest of
Pueblo, reaching almost to Canon City, will be farmed
and where buffalo grass now grows will be waving fields
of alfalfa and grain, where the long cactus rears its head
will be beautiful trees, and where the rabbits and gophers
have their holes herds of cattle will be fattened each
year and bring to Pueblo county thousands of dollars
in revenue.

THE COW SLIPS AWAY.

The tall pines pine,

The pawpaws pause,
And the bumble-bee bumbles all day;

The eavesdropper drops,

And the grasshopper hops,
While gently the cow slips away.
— From "Ben King's Verse." Copyrighted.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

47

HAGUE'S PEAK GLACIER.

A body of frozen snow and ice more than 30 feet
high, with a number of crevices jthat show it to be
more than thirty feet thick, and extending for nearly
3,000 feet around an amphitheatre, is one of the inex-
haustible sources of water supply for the farmers of
northern Colorado, who are under ditches that tap the
Poudre river.

This immense glacier lies on the top of Hague's
peak, eight miles northwest of Estes park in Larimer
county, Colorado. It is at an altitude of 12,000 feet
above sea level and 2,500 feet above timber line. It
requires three days to travel after leaving the park,
and then three hours of steady climbing on foot before
the great deposit of everlasting snow and ice is reached.

From this topmost summit of the continental divide
the vision rests upon a scene of utmost grandeur.
To the West is presented the entire great North park
basin, and beyond to the North, the grazing lands and
fertile fields of southern Wyoming. So clear is the
atmosphere that trains on the Union Pacific going
through Sherman, Wyoming, fifty miles away, can be
plainly seen.

made at that time. It failed, for a cloud settled over
the scene, and not being prepared for such a condi-
tion, and not knowing how long it might last, he gave
up the work. The next year two storms of rain and
snow came up within a few days of each other, and
he was forced out. Last year he went up in the month
of July and secured the photographs herewith presented.
He will go out again this month, do some surveying
for a reservoir site, also to look into the feasibility
of turning the waters on the continental divide west of
Hague's peak from the western slope back into the
Greeley district.

The energetic irrigationists interested in the North
Poudre Irrigation Compam', of which B. D. Sanborn
is president, are back of this enterprise, to add to their
already excellent plans for the reclamation of thousands
of acres of the soil of Weld county, changing them into
productive farms, and thereby increasing the stock
feeding industry of that section. The feature about
this company's enterprise is that, in the first place,
there is much local capital interested and they are
spending their money freely to get it into shape.

The Fossil creek reservoir can be taken as an in-

H AGUES PEAK

The top of this glacier is composed of better than
200 feet of frozen snow, and the remainder is ice to
a lake of crystal purity and covering about six acres.
From the lake the water starts down into the North
Poudre river and to the arable lands along its course.

The glacier was discovered in 1871 by Professor
Hayden and party of the United States Geological
Survey. With this party was F. E. Baker, a photogra-
pher, now a resident of Greeley. Very little exploita-
tion was given the matter, but Mr. Baker always bore
it in mind, satisfied that some day, when the soil pro-
ducing possibilities of northern Colorado were brought
under a system of development by irrigation this par-
ticular source of supply would be a good thing to file
on. At the time of the discovery no photographs of
the wonder were taken. Since irrigation has been given
more attention Mr. Baker, about three years ago, de-
cided to take some action relative to the glacier.

The ' first attempt to photograph the glacier was

GLACIER.

stance of their push. This is a natural reservoir site
located in Larimer county, and one of the fourteen
owned by the company. It will cost about $250,000
to put in shape. It will have the largest earthen dam
of any reservoir in the State — one-half mile long and
forty-eight feet high. The reservoir covers 750 acres.
When the fourteen reservoirs are filled they will have
water enough to cover 70,000 acres one foot deep.

. The company found that its water supply was
unreliable because of the priority of Weld county ditches,
and therefore the headgates of the North Poudre canal
would be closed early in the season as soon as the
floods were feirly over. To overcome this grarve objec-
tion the company built the Fossil creek reservoir, thirty
miles lower down on the stream where the water was
abundant, and the unappropriated winter supply suffi-
cient to fill one of the largest reservoir basins in north-
ern Colorado. This reservoir is now completed.

48

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

SATISFACTORY WORK FROM GASOLINE
ENGINES.

J. M. HENDIUCKS, NEW YOKK, IN ORANGE JUDD FARMER.

I have had in use on my farm for over two years a
gasoline engine of 2y2 horse power, the cost of which was
$135. My experience with it has been very satisfactory.
I was a little sqeptical at first about its power ; also some-
what shy of gasoline; but when I got the engine, put
it up, and saw it work, all fear was dispelled. It did
more than the manufacturer claimed for it. It has
cost me only 25 cents for repairs, and the machine does
not seem to be worn at all.

Purop water from a bored well over 100 feet for
all uses on a 300-acre farm. I keep considerable stock.
The engine does it with ease. It has converted a dry
farm into one amply supplied with water, without the
bother and expense of ditches. I have a large box
14x10 feet and 1 foot deep, lined with zinc. It holds
about 14 barrels of water and I can and do have fresh
and pure water for my stock that any city may envy.
To pump this water by hand would be impossible ; and,
with a wind engine, it would be too warm in summer
and too cold in winter, as you need to keep a supply on
hand.

I use wood altogether for fuel on the farm. The
engine attached to a- S4-inch circular saw does it all.
I am nearly 60 years of age, and in eight minutes
after I light the burner I will be sawing wood; and in
two hours I will have more wood for the stove than
four men could cut in a day, and with little labor to
me. We also grind bone for fowls. If we hare a large
washing, by using another attachment we make the
engine do it. It will crush and grind feed; in fact,
you can utilize it wherever you have need of power.

The work mine has to do costs me about 3 cents per
day. I get six gallons of gasoline every three weeks.
I have an airtight metal can and pay 13 cents per gallon.
It would be cheaper possibly if bought by the barrel;
but it evaporates too readily from a barrel, and the five-
gallon can is easier to handle. If I were to use the
engine ten hours at its full capacity, the cost would
be about 33 cents. But no farmer has use for it continu-
ously. It is the cheapest power known. It is cheaper
than my horse feed, not counting the gearing up and
hitching up, and a hand to mind the horses. Then, too,
the engine will pull, no matter how you crowd it. It will
just pump itself a little more gasoline and cough away.
It consumes gasoline according to the work it does.

There is no danger without willful carelessness.
The engine for its own use has to pump gasoline up hill
and pumps it only as it is needed. If it should by
chance pump more, there is a tube to allow it to run
back into the tank. For still greater safety, if four or
five charges should be exploded, the exhaust is sufficient
for it. After you start the engine and regulate it, you
do not need an engineer. It runs itself, and will run
as long as there is gasoline in the tank.

I never made a better investment in machinery.
Other machines I use in their season. I use this engine
all the year. A great many farmers and some from a
distance have come to see it work, and all were well
pleased. Some of them hare purchased engines. A
good way for many farmers to use them would be to
bolt them on a truck to be used anywhere on the farm.
I have mine stationary in a small well house, and have it
so arranged that I can change from one job to another
in from not more than two to three minutes' time. I

think every well-managed farm is not complete until
there is a. gasoline engine upon it and rigged for work.
Why chop wood, pump water, turn the grindstone, grind
your apples for cider, grind your feed for stock the
old way, and by hand, when you can have a; power that
will do it for you, and cheaper than you ever did it?
Help on the farm is getting scarce everywhere.

The third annual report of the irrigation investi-
gations of the office of experimental stations, United
States Department of Agriculture, made under the di-
rection of Elwood Mead, says that averages of measure-
ments, embracing nearly all of the arid states, show
that during the past three years enough water was
turned into the heads of ditches during the irrigation
season to cover the land irrigated to a depth of 4.45
feet, or, stated in another way, 4.45 acre feet of water
were taken from streams for every acre of land irri-
gated.

CANYON

George W. Bowman and a number of capitalists as-
sociated with him contemplate the reclamation of a con-
siderable area of fertile lands at Socorro. The company
will purchase 1,840 acres of bottom land stretching east-
ward from the Cocorro depot. It is fertile land but
undfained. ' About 340 acres will be reserved for a
townsite and park and the remainder after it is drained,
will be plowed and irrigated from the Rio Grande and
set out in staple crops. The company is also negotiating
for the purchase of the Socorro Fire Clay Works from
Edward Dodd, of Albuquerque. An electric light plant
and water works will also be put in.

The Eartham Electric Company of Denver is erect-
ing a 150 horse power pumping plant at Las Cruces that
will furnish water to orchards during the dry season.
The project is considered a feasible and profitable one.
— Santa Fe New Mexican.

Send in your subscription for Irrigation Age.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

49

CANYON LANDS NEBRASKA.

[See Illustration.]

Nebraska is not a new state, yet settlement is barely
started. As many more people could go into the state
as are there today, and if it were not for the census
enumerator it would hardly be noticed that- any increase
had been made. There are thousands of acres in the
State without a settler. Yet finer grazing lands have
never been located than these same acres. They have
been passed over during the rushes of the past because
lands were looked for which could be farmed as the
lands of Illinois, Michigan and Ohio were farmed.

That greater wealth could be produced from these
grazing lands, through the intelligent handling of stock,
than was ever dreamed of in farming, did not occur
to these early seekers of homes. They were following
in the beaten paths marked out by their fathers. The
only piirpose they conceived for which the land was
created was to raise corn, wheat, oats, and rye, and
where these things could not be raised, to their notion
the land was worthless.

As time passed on these people, who sought to con-
vert the wild lands of the West into growing fields of
corn and wheat, gave up their missionary labors. Many
of them returned to the place from whence they came,
with their original capital converted into experience,
while others learned the lessons which nature taught.
They understood that these plains were created as the
basis for the meat supply of the country, and lost no
time putting into effect their newly acquired informa-
tion. These people can yet be found in all portions
of the Great" West, and without exception they are
prosperousj They are the most enthusiastic boomers
the country has. They know, for they have passed
through all the trials, and there is nothing like exper-
ience to convince one of an error.

Nebraska opportunities are being made known.
Many people from Iowa, Illinois and other states have
been investigating western Nebraska, and particularly
along the Union Pacific Railway line.

WINDMILL AS A CIVILIZER.

Appliances for Irrigation — The Rain-Makers Must Go —
Utilization of Windmills to Provide Power

—Their Uses on the Farm.

The time was when a windmill was a curiosity.
Occasionally some crude affair would be found in some
localities, an imitation of those used in Europe, the
miller and his family occupying a tower, with great
arms extending from the tower to receive the force of
the mill, and the wheat being ground on the lower floor
in all seasons. The progressive spirit of the Americans,
which allows no escape from enterprise, reached into
the domain of windmills, however, and gradually
changed the entire method of construction and use.
To-day the windmill is seen on all farms where progress
and intelligence rule, and it is as much the portion of
the complement of the well-regulated farm as the wagon,
the reaper or the harrow, being, in fact, an indispensable
adjunct to success.

Perhaps we might safely assert, without exa-gger-
ation, that the windmill can be applied to a greater
number of uses than almost any other appliance that can
be attached to the farm. It is restricted to no section,
and is as serviceable on a small plot, proportionately,
as on the largest farm. It is the "general servant" of
the farmer, faithful at all times, working at all hours,
day and night, and tirelessly performing its duty without
the necessity of an engineer, driver or guide. It entails
literally no cost for labor, seldom requires repairing and
stands at its post of duty like a sentinel on guard
during all seasons to assist the farmer and lessen his
work. It fills his reservoirs, supplies an abundance for
stock, and also provides water for household of the
purest kind to be had ; gives power for its grinding mills,
and may even be made to light his house with electricity.
It is a source of wealth, and its application to service
is almost without limit.

Geared mills are the power producers. While we
must give some consideration to the pumping of water,
it is with due regard to the new fields now opening for
windmills. But the real labor-saving windmill is that
which is geared, and which can cut the feed, grind the
grain, reduce the straw, hay, etc., to shreds, and sarve
time and labor of both men and teams. The farmer who
drives miles to have his feed ground allows others to do
for him what Nature volunteers to perform without cost ;
and incurs an expense for hauling and labor of himself
and his animals when he can, at all times, under shelter,
and at all seasons of the year, do for himself by using
the untaxed forces of Nature, which are free and without
price to all who will avail themselves of the opportunities
offered. The cheapest, easiest and most feasible appli-
ance of power is the geared windmill.

The windmill also brings into requisition other im-
plements and appliances, for every farmer who has a
windmill seeks to derive the greatest benefit from its

50

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

capacity to assist him. Instances have been known in
which windmills have been used in connection with
water power, being made to assist in adding to the
volume of water in ponds during the periods of drought,
such water, however, being conserved for occasional use.
And there are hundreds of barns complete with belting
which, during favorable winds, are busy with the work
of^ several implements that are being operated at the
same time.

There, is one advantage derived from the windmill
which is paramount to all others, and that is its low
cost. It may be truly claimed that the power costs noth-
ing. There may be better sources of power and greater
capacity, but the item of cost must always receive the
first consideration. The comparison of windmill power
with that derived by some other methods must be made
upon a standard of cost. And, it may be added, that
while the cost of power is nothing — harnessing the winds
— the cost of a windmill itself, owing to invention and
improvement, is insignificant, considering the great ser-
vice it performs.

It is not within our province here to describe
methods of making reservoirs for the storage of water,
but it is not out of place to call attention to the matter
of securing water for crops. It is not every location that
is favored for irrigating with canals, and the windmill
is the agent that must be used by some. As a well-
known manufacturer states, how much in water, in
addition to the rainfall, is required, has not yet been
fully determined for any kind of crop. Taking the
generally accepted amount of 24 inches of rainfall as
the necessary amount of water to mature a crop, it is
only necessary to deduct the average annual rainfall
from 24 and the difference will be the amount to be
supplied. When the rainfall during the year equals 12
inches, then 12 inches more must be supplied ; and where
the rainfall is 18 inches, the remaining about to be
supplied is 6 inches, and so on. One acre of ground re-
quires 27,000 gallons of water to cover it 1 inch deep,
and this amount, multiplied by the number of inches
necessary to add to the rainfall, so as to make up the
required 24 inches, will give the number of gallons per
acre of water to be pumped. But due allowance must
be made for leakage through the bottom and walls of
the reservoirs, and leakage and loss in ditches and evapo-
ration, all of which amounts to a great deal in the
aggregate. About 250,000 to 325,000 gallons of water
will probably mature one acre of any crop when the
average rainfall is 12 inches or more. A pump with
G-inch cylinder should supply 1,000 to 2,000 gallons
per hour, and will probably supply water to irrigate 5
to 10 acres. A pump with 8-inch cylinder should sup-
ply 1,800 to 3,600 gallons with wind at 15 to 30 miles
velocity, and will supply water to irrigate 20 to 40
spring crops.

When general crops are grown, so that the pump
works the year round, twice the amount of land can be
irrigated. Smaller mills can operate pumps in shallow
wells, while it will require mills of larger size to operate
the pump as the depth of the well increases. The same
mill will operate more than one pump, as the force of
wind increases from 15 to 30 or 35 miles velocity, and
the added pumps, reinforcing the first one, increases the
amount of water pumped, so that a great deal more land
can be irrigated than where only one pump is employed.
Water supply and how to obtain it is a problem but
little understood. Open wells and well points are con-
tending for preference.

Market gardeners are now using windmills, and they
find that by the control of the moisture they can pro-
duce enormous crops. The beautiful lawns that often
become parched during dry seasons are kept green and
inviting by being independent of the rainfall. Every
country house may have its water from garret to cellar,
and any field on the farm may be supplied with an
abundance for stock. Eainmaking experiments are no
longer a necessity, and future crops may be larger and
produced at less cost. The windmill can banish all
danger of famine in any section, enable man to store
his supply of water when it is most plentiful, and in-
crease the comforts of all classes.

The general use of windmills increases the improve-
ments of every department of the farm, and also in-
creases the capacity of the farm itself. Larger num-
bers of stock can be supported, as greater supplies of
water and greater abundance of food can be provided.
The moderate cost of a windmill permits of the use of
any number of them, as may be required. The pro-
tection against loss of crops increases the profit, and
leads to the introduction of other implements. Larger
crops demand more wagons, plows, cultivators, cutters,
grinding mills and other accessories. The wind is made
to do .the work that cannot well be performed with any
other agent, and Nature's power is utilized for grinding
the food and bringing the water from lower depths to
be applied where most needed on the surface. There
is not a village or town that cannot be benefited with
windmills. Every citizen can control his water supply,
and free himself from the pollutions of rivers and the
dread of disease. Health depends upon the conveniences
and facilities for obtaining -pure water. It serves not
only as a drink, but is also a constituent of nearly all
foods. It can be obtained from open well or deep down
below the reach of pollution, through driven wells, which
serve as barriers to the entrance of the solutions from
the surface. The farmer is not alone the interested
beneficiary ot the windmill, for the merchants, the
retired manufacturers, the schools, the colleges, asylums,
health resorts and the people in general may resort to
its use and take advantage of its benefits. — Export Im-
plement Age.

THE ADVANTAGES OF A WELL.

Irrigation by water from a well if the latter yields,
even a small flow of 15 gallons per minute at a moderate
depth from the surface, possesses certain advantages
over that from a gravity supply, in spite of the usually
greater annual cost of lifting the water by machinery.
The well and the source of water are, as a rule, under
the individual control of the irrigator. It is not neces-
sary for him to combine with other men and to invest
large capital in a complicated and uncertain undertak-
ing before he can receive any benefit.

It is often possible for the farmer to dig or drill the
well himself, or have it dug at small cost, and he can
purchase, sometimes on credit if "necessary, the ma-
chinery, windmill or pump for bringing the water to
the surface.

Being under his own control, he can apply the water
whenever in his judgment the plant needs it, not being
compelled to wait his turn, or take water at inconvenient
times, whether day or night, according as it may be
allotted under a large irrigating system. The well should
be dug or drilled on the highest point of the land if
possible.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

51

BOTTLING UP COLORADO FLOOD WATERS.

SUCCESSFUL STORAGE RESERVOIRS CAPACITY LARGE

WILL IRRIGATE LARGE AREAS.

Colorado is having its first practical experience
with flood reservoirs, and the experience is certainly
encouraging. The thorough utility of such reservoirs
appears to be fully demonstrated. The results, too,
go far toward proving the wisdom of the recent na-
tional irrigation legislation. Storage reservoirs are not
a new thing in Colorado. But it was not until recently
that distinctive flood reservoirs were constructed. The
reservoirs of previous construction were designed to
be filled through the channels of regular irrigating
ditches, and were filled at such times as the ditches
were not in use for direct irrigation. They were filled
principally during the non-irrigation season. But this
season is not usually. one of floods; so the process was
quite slow and sometimes unsatisfactory.

The flood reservoir, however, is constructed in the
bed of some small stream, so that primarily it will
have a water supply of some sort. Then in addition it
has a supply canal leading from some large stream,
so that when there happens to be a surplus of water
in that stream, this surplus may be collected. If a
ditch of this kind is not practicable, a lateral or branch
leading from the main irrigating ditch of the system
to which the reservoir belongs is substituted. Thus,
good advantage may be taken of any flood that may
occur.

The best examples of flood reservoirs in Colorado
are those of the North Poudre irrigation company in
Lorimer county. These were constructed during the
winter and spring of 1902. With these and the reser-
voirs already in existence, the company has a system
with a combined storage capacity of nearly 3,000,000,000
cubic feet of water.

The larger of its flood reservoirs is the Fossil creek
reservoir, situated about ten miles southeast of Fort
Collins. This reservoir has a storage capacity of 550,-
000,000 cubic feet of water. It was completed in the
last of May and very little water was received in it
until September 20 and 21, when the long drouth in
Colorado was broken. Within 40 hours nearly 7 inches
of rain fell in the Poudre valley. Then the flood reser-
voirs began to tell their story. The Fossil creek reser-
voir receives the entire flow of the stream whose name
it bears. It also has a large supply ditch leading from
the Cache la Poudre river. Within 24 hours after the
storm began the water in the reservoir rose 14 feet, in-
dicating a gain in water held of 44,000,000 cubic feet.
October 10 the water had risen to nearly 24 feet, and
the amount of water received from the beginning of the
storm up to that date was 300,000,000 cubic feet.

In the other storage reservoir of the company a
like saving was made, so the company has stored away
as the result of one storm 600,000,000 cubic feet of
water for next season's irrigation. It is the opinion
of the company that all of its reservoirs will be filled
to their utmost capacity long before the next irrigation
season opens.

The value of the water already saved by this com-
pany can be approximated when it is stated that it
is sufficient to irrigate nearly 14,000 acres of land for
an entire season.

Pulse ihe Irrigation Industry

The White Mountain Irrigation Company, with
a capital of $250,000, has been incorporated at Santa
Fe, N. M., by_ Frank W. Parker, Martin Lohmann,
Joseph N. Bonham, Gilmore Friend and James P.
Mitchell. A large storage reservoir is to be erected
near Talarosa, Otero county, and a ten miles canal
will be constructed. The company will have its head-
quarters in Las Cruces, Dona Ana county.

It is very sad to see that even New Mexico's irriga-
tion works are passing from the wooden period to the
cement era, like those of California, -long before there
is any sign of it in Colorado. The Pecos Irrigation
Company is about to have the wooden flume crossing
the Pecos river six miles above Carlsbad replaced with
a permanent concrete structure at a cost of $50,000.
Kansas, and fifty men will be at work three months.
This is the kind of works we can have in Colorado when
we get around to it, the cement being made at the
new Colorado factory at Portland which began opera-
tions this week. — Chieftain, Pueblo, Colo.

Editor Trickey of the Pearsall Leader is still
preaching irrigation but it appears to be as if his argu-
mental drill had struck nothing but the granite stone
of indifference to that all important question — Uvalde
Leader News.

This is where you are mistaken, brother. There are
at least ten men in Frio county putting in irrigation
plants and several others will go to work with the same
intention in the next few weeks. The Leader is drilling
in soapstone now, we are keeping the mossbacks cased
off and now and then we strike pure water and feel en-
couraged for a few days. Granite rocks get in the way
occasionally, but we keep on with the drilling and work
that much harder. Now and then a progressive farmer
comes in and with cheering words shows his appreciation,
helps us, so to speak, keep the drill sharp and ere long
we hope to strike artesian water.

Keep it up, Mr. Trickey, don't allow anything to
discourage you so long as you know you are on the
risrht track.

Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE
for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

The famous Arrowhead reservoir site near San
Bernardino, California, with all its tributaries, tunnels
and canals, has been offered for sale to the government
and the department of the interior has asked for an
exhaustive report upon the condition of the property,
its description, the cost and character of the work so
far accomplished and approximately the cost of com-
pleting the gigantic undertaking, together with a state-
ment as to the number of acres which would be directly
brought under cultivation through its completion. The
company is composed of Cincinnati capitalists, who
ha-d planned an immense reservoir high up among the
mountains above San Bernardino valley to impound
billions of gallons of water pouring from an almost
limitless watershed and use the water upon the thousands
of acres of rich fruit lands in the valley. For ten years
work has been going on. Cement canals miles in length
have been built and a high impounding wall of concrete
is over half completed, the outlay so far running above

THE. IRRIGATION AGE.

the million mark, but the project seems no nearer com-
pletion than five years ago — in fact the company has
been chiefly pouring out gold to keep the work so far
done in repair. Should the government secure the
property and complete the reservoir a very large acreage
could be placed under cultivation. — Denver Field and
Farm.

Tne following communication from the pen of 0. V.
P. Stout recently appeared in the Omaha Bee under the
heading, Mistakes made by Maxwell.

Omaha seems to have been chosen by Mr. George
H. Maxwell, otherwise the National Irrigation associa-
tion, as a center from which he will hurl his thunder-
bolts. An address delivered by him there not long ago
has been placed in the hands of western editors and has
to some extent been quoted. This address attacks the
system of state control and administration of public
waters which is in force in our own and some neighbor-
ing states. In making this attack, he absolutely ignores
the facts which serve to intrench those laws in the favor
of those who have acquired or who expect to acquire
water rights under them. He undertakes to prejudice
the minds of those who may not be fully informed, using
to this end such terms as "a corps of state ditch tenders
appointed by state officials." He states that the system
in force "puts the control of the distribution of the
waters of a state in the hands of a great political-irri-
gation machine, controlled by the state politicians,"
and presumably expects no one to recognize the fact that
a similar statement might be framed in regard to any of
our affairs the administration of which is intrusted to
state or national authority.

He takes up "home rule in irrigation" as a "slogan,"
and with the same abandon which he assumes when he
assured th.e delegates to the irrigation congress at Colo-
rado Springs that when the government built its reser-
voirs and irrigation works, there would be "plenty of
water for everybody," he now brushes aside all difficulties
in the way of a system of water administration which
would permit "everv drainage basin, every irrigated
communitv, every canal system, and the whole body of
irrigators on any stream" to "control its or their affairs"
independent of any central state authority. On this
point, does it seem that the local control of the North
Platte and Platte rivers would be simpler than the pres-
ent state control ? Mr. Maxwell must imagine that
nothing would be easier than for the people of Scotts
'Bluff county and those living several hundred miles
nearer to the mouth of the river to get together in the
town meeting and fix up their affairs.

He sneaks of the "complicated code of state laws,"
in the face of the fact that the more completely the ele-
ment of state control of streams has been embodied in
the constitution and statutes of the irrigation states,
the more simple and inexpensive is the process of ad-
judication of priorities of right to the use of water and
the more definite and secure are those rights.

Mr. Maxwell says that the codes of state water laws
"would complicate and retard beyond calculation the
operations under the national irrigation act," and, fur-
ther, he limits what the states should do in this matter
to the establishment of "a few fundamental principles by
constitutional amendment and judicial decision."

President Roosevelt says that a majority of titles
to water in the west already "rest on the uncertain
foundation of court decisions rendered in ordinary suits
at larw. With a few creditable exceptions the arid

states have failed to provide for the certain and just
division of streams in time of scarcity,"

Note the radical departure of Mr. Maxwell from
the opinion entertained by the president in regard to the
desirability of judicial decisions as a foundation for
water rights. Moreover, who can doubt that Nebraska
and Wyoming were foremost in the mind of the presi-
dent when he noted that there were creditable exceptions
to the general rule that states had failed to provide
efficient laws for the distribution of water.

In Mr. Maxwell's own state of California his pro-
gram has been ignored. There a representative com-
mission, composed of three leading members of the
California bar and some of the foremost economists and
engineers of the state, headed by a chief justice of the
supreme court, has framed a bill for putting into effect
a law in that state which follows precisely the lines which
Mr. Maxwell condemns.

There are now indications that a campaign has
been inaugurated which will center around the legisla-
tures of those states which have not as yet reached firm
ground in respect to irrigation legislation. This cam-
paign will be one of agitation and misrepresentation,
having its origin in private selfishness and personal spite,
and will be directed to the end of preventing that dis-
passionate and unprejudiced study of what has been ac-
complished and the lessons which have been learned in
other states and other countries, and which should pre-
cede any wise move in the formulation of irrigation
laws. The campaign will have the support of every
lawyer of that class which has everything to gain and
nothing to lose by the creation of conditions of chaos and
anarchy in those states. 0. V. P. STOUT.

President Roosevelt made the lollowing reference
to irrigation in his annual message :

Few subjects of more importance have been taken
up by the Congress in recent years than the inauguration
of the system of nationally aided irrigation for the arid
regions of the far West. A good beginning therein
lias been made. Now that this policv of national irri-
gation has been adopted, the need of thorough and
scientific forest protection will grow more rapidly than
ever throughout the public land states.

Legislation should be provided for the protection
of the game,_and the wild creatures generally, on the
forest reserves. The senseless slaughter of game, which
can by judicious protection be permanently preserved
on our national reserves for the people as a whole,
should be stopped at once. It is, for instance, a serious
count against oiir national good sense to permit the
present practice of butchering off such a stately airl
beautiful creature as the elk for its antlers or tusks.

So far as they are available for agriculture, and to
whatever extent they may be reclaimed under the na-
tional irrigation law, the remaining public lands should
be held rigidly for the home builder, the settler who
lives on his land, and for no one else.

BUILDING OF HOMES.

In their actual use the desert-land law, the timber
and stone law, and the commutation clause of the home-
stead law have been so perverted from the intention with
which they were enacted as to permit the acquisition of
large areas of the public domain for other than actual
settlers, and the consequent prevention of settlement.
Moreover, the approaching exhaustion of the public
ranges has of late led to much discussion as to the best

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

53

manner of using these public lands in the West, which
are suitable chiefly or only for grazing.

The sound and steady development of the West de-
pends upon the building up of homes therein. Much
of our prosperity as a- nation has been due to the opera-
tion of the homestead law. On the other hand, we should
recognize the fact that in the grazing region the man who
corresponds to the homesteader may be unable to settle
permanently if only allowed to use the same amount
of pasture land that his brother, the homesteader, is
allowed to use of arable land.

TO STOP TRESPASSING.

One hundred and sixty acres of fairly rich and well-
watered soil, or a much smaller amount of irrigated land,
may keep a family in plenty, whereas no one could get
a living from 160 acres of dry pasture land capable of
supporting at the outside only one head of cattle to
every ten acres. In the past great tracts of the public
domain have been fenced in by persons having no title
thereto, in direct defiance of the law forbidding the
maintenance or construction of any such unlawful in-
clusure of public land. For various reasons there has
been little interference with such inclosures in the past,
but ample notice has now been given the trespassers,
and all the resources at the command of the government
will hereafter be used to put a stop to such trespassing.

In view of the capital importance of these matters,
I commend them to tho earnest consideration of the
Congress, and if the Congress finds difficulty in dealing
with them from lack of thorough knowledge of the sub-
ject, I recommend that provision be made for a com-
mission of experts specially to investigate and report
upon the complicated questions involved.

The largest irrigation project in the United States,
and the third in scope in the world, has been launched
in Salt Lake City. Although local capital is largely
interested, the land to be reclaimed is along the Snako
river, in Idaho, and the tract is 271,000 acres in extent.

The principal shareholder in the new company is
F. H. Buhl, of Sharon, Pa., who has purchased con-
trol. The other principals in the deal are S. B. Milnor
and Frank Knox, Salt Lake City capitalists, and I. B.
Perrine, a wealthy ranch owner at Blue Lake, Idaho.

The scheme includes the building of two immense
canals, the development of horse power at Shoshone
Falls, and the building of an electric railroad forty-five
miles long from the Oregon Short Line railroad at
Shoshone to the two towns. The land is to be taken up
under the Carey act, and a contract for its reclamation
has already been made with the state of Idaho.

The area to be recovered includes the tract which
was set aside a couple of years ago for a national park,
because of its beautiful scenery. Pressure was brought
to bear on the interior department to rescind the order,
and this was done.

The Twin Falls Land and Water Company was
organized and arrangements entered into for the rec-
lamation of the land, but the project was left to slum-
ber until recently. A deal was closed today, however,
by which Mr. Buhl and his associates will put $1,500,000
into the project, building the two canals and making
valuable for agricultural purposes an area of land one-
third as great as the entire state of Rhode Island.

Tinder the terms of the Carey act, this land must
be sold in tracts not greater than 160 acres each.

TO HARNESS THE COLORADO.

COLORADO RIVER WATERS MAY BE UTILIZED.

One of the most ambitious schemes conceived by
prince, potentate or capitalist, now or ever, is an en-
gineering feat by which it may be practicable to harness
the great flow of the Colorado river as it passes through
Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and California, utilize
the" water for irrigating vast areas of desert, and inci-
dentally create 200,000 or 300,000 acres of new land
by scientific guidance of the stream so that it will de-
posit its alluvium or sediment as desired by man and.
likewise create vast electrical power, says the Denver
News.

The Colorado has never been considered a stream
whose waters could be utilized to a great extent for ir-
rigation, but Arthur P. Davis, who has spent several
months in a careful reconnoissance of the situation,
presents a plan of startling proportions. Mr. Davis is
one of the best known hydrographers of the United
States geological survey, and was detailed as chief
hydrographer of the isthmian canal commission. In
speaking of his recent reconnoissance, he said: "The
great Colorado river is the largest stream, both in
drainage area and discharge, that lies wholly within the
arid portions of the United States. It is formed by a
junction of the Green and Grande rivers, rising in
Wyoming and Colorado, respectively, in regions of
heavy rain and snowfall. Only a very small part of the
flow of the Colorado has yet been utilized for irrigation.
Through most of its courses this river and its tributaries
flow at the bottom of profound canyons, from which it
is impossible to divert them upon irrigable lands. If its
water could be fully utilized it would irrigate vast areas
of rich land."

POWER IS LIMITLESS.

Measurements made in Arizona show that the river
sometimes discharges as low as 3,000 cubic feet per
second. Its maximum discharge is unknown, but Mr.
Davis states that it probably exceeds 500,000 cubic feet
per second, or the incredible amount of 2,250,000,000
gallons per minute, enough to water 20,000 acres one
foot deep in twenty-four hours.

The river is navigated for several hundred miles
from its moutli by flat-bottomed, stern-wheel boats, but
this is so difficult, owing to the shallow, changeable
channel, that wagon transportation is preferred
wherever it is possible. In times of high water the cur-
rent is very swift.

The development of the mineral resources, in which
the country tapped by the Colorado is very rich, is
greatly hampered by the heavy cost of power and the
lack of transportation. Mr. Davis believes that this
proposed plan of storage reserves will completely solve
both transportation and mining.

All the land that can be irrigated from the lower
Colorado can be regarded as having a semitropical cli-
mate where the growing season for most products con-
tinues the year round, the requirements for water, how-
ever, being probably double in the summer season over
those of the winter. It is believed that with proper
regulation the Colorado river will be able to furnish
a continuous stream of water for industrial use, varying
from 10,000 cubic feet per second in winter to 20,000
cubic feet per second in summer in dry years, and allow-
ing the great floods of wet years to speed on to the sea
as art present. This will be sufficient to irrigate 2,000,-
000 acres of land:

A considerable portion of the valleys of the lower

54

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Colorado consists of sandy flood plains, which are sub-
ject to occasional inundations and unsuitable for culti-
vation. This large acreage it is proposed to reclaim by
impounding upon them the silt which annually passes
down the Colorado river.

Mr. Davis' plan is for the provision of a series of
reservoirs on the Colorado river by the construction
of dams where the possible storage is large. The fall
of the river is so slight that reservoirs of enormous
capacity may be constructed without involving dams
of impracticable height. At any time by opening the
sluiceways of the reservoirs the current of the river will
quickly cut the channel through the deposited sediment.
With this exception, each reservoir is expected to grad-
ually fill with sediment.

When this occurs it is proposed to draw down the
surface of the reservoir permanently twenty to forty
feet and to convert all of the reservoir site except the
river channel into irrigated farming land, and, if
necessary, construct another reservoir for storage pur-
poses higher up on the stream.

It will then be practicable, whenever desired, to
close the sluices and inundate all of the agricultural
land in each filled reservoir, and thus fertilize it, as
has naturally been done by the river Nile for its valley.
Such irrigation is done artificially in some parts of
Europe and Africa. With the deep alluvial soil, semi-
tropical climate, arid atmosphere, abundant water sup-
ply and the practicability of thus richly fertilizing
fields every year without expense, Mr. Davis states that
such lands can be farmed the year around and several
crops taken off annually, no acreage production being
attained entirely without precedent in history.

LOCATION OF THE DAMS.

Mr. Davis has outlined a tentative plan, contem-
plating four dams, one at Norton, Ariz., with a capacity
to irrigate 300,000 acres near Yuma; a second one at
Bill Williams' fork, with a capacity sufficient to irri-
gate 400,000 acres; a third one at Bull's head, with a
capacity to irrigate 300,000 acres, and a fourth one
in the Black canyon of the Colorado, with a capacity of
200,000 acres. These reservoirs would each be provided
with large canals, which would be navigable. The
reservoirs, Mr. Davis estimates, would also develop water
power to the extent of 500,000 horse power. In case
more storage capacity is required in the future, other
reservoirs could be constructed in the canyon of the
Colorado, each of which would furnish additional stor-
age, power and navigation facilities. This additional
storage would only be needed by the complete filling
by silt of the reservoir in the Black canyon, which Mr.
Davis says would mean the creation of 200,000 or 300,-
000 acres of rich farming land, the value of which would
far more than pay for the additional reservoir above.

The development of the enormous horse power
above mentioned could be utilized extensively in the
mining industry throughout the region, where power is
very costly.

The cost of the entire development as outlined by
Mr. Davis is $22,000,000. Against this, however, he
credits at least 1,200,000 acres of land, which could be
irrigated, alone worth several times the cost of the
project; 500 miles of navigation worth at least $10,-
000,000, and immense power possibilities worth easily
$100,000,000.

CORRESPONDENCE

NEW MEXICO COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND MECHANICAL

ARTS AND AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, MESILLA

PARK,

December 4, 1902.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :

Gentlemen — I notice in your issue for November, last,
more or less reference to the important question of pumping
for irrigation, among which, on page 10, second column, is
in full one of the recent press bulletins of this experiment
station. Nothing is given to show to what it refers, and a reader
would naturally presume that it was the result of some ex-
periment in Colorado. As a matter of fact, this refers to one
of the experimental tests conducted at this experiment station
in connection with the extensive investigation' of the best
methods of pumping from wells, that this station is carrying
on and has been carrying' on for several months past.

For the whole of the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico,
and the arid regions generally, the question of pumping
for irrigation is one of the most important of those present-
ing themselves to the farmer or fruit grower. Recognizing
this fact, this experiment station has undertaken the investi-
gation referred to, which has been carried on for nearly
a year. The work accomplishel has demonstrated an ap-
parently inexhaustible underflow on the grounds of the ex-
periment station at Mesilla Park, New Mexico, which are
typical of the agricultural lands of the Rio Grande Valley.
A well, 48 feet deep, was sunk with slotted strainer in a
gravel bed, and from this well, six inches in diameter, over
1,000 gallons a minute has been pumped. A steady stream
was pumped for a test of thirty hours, throwing over 800
gallons a minute. The experiment station has already tested
six different makes of pumps under precisely the same condi-
tions on the same well, and full and complete data has been
recorded, showing the economy of the various types. A
comprehensive bulletin is in course of publication, giving the
results so far accomplished. The experiment station is now
about to sink another well, 12 to 14 inches in diameter. It
has been demonstrated that the farmer can pump water from
the underflow at a low cost and for a moderate outlay of
capital can provide himself with a reliable and independent
water supply. Respectfully yours,

FRANCIS E. LESTER, Registrar.

We have written to explain that the article referred to
was copied from a western exchange, to whom credit was
duly given. The bulletin mentioned will be published in full
when a copy is received at this office. — EDITOR.

OBERLIN, OHIO, December I, 1902.
D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING Co., Chicago, 111. :

Gentlemen — The enlarged form of THE IRRIGATION AGE
for November brings a pleasant surprise and is an indication
that, in common with almost every other enterprise now-
adays, THE IRRIGATION AGE is prospering. I congratulate
you upon the persistent pluck and foresight which enabled
you to hold on through so many years of depression to the
development of irrigation interests until the dawning of the
new day, so full of hope and of promise to the great, arid
West. That you are already reaping your merited reward is
evident. Your absorption of the Drainage Journal should
add much to the value of your paper for the advertiser, ana
doubtless will. The quality of the leading articles in THE
IRRIGATION AGE is deserving of especial notice and com-
mendation. The article in the November number, for ex-
ample, by Mr. Pargiter of India, on "Laterals and Their
Management," gives the results of a large experience on an
important question in practical irrigation. No irrigator, who
wishes to keep abreast of his art, can afford to do without
THE IRRIGATION AGE. Yours truly, B. F. SHUART.

Send in your subscription for IERIGATIOK AGE.

MOLINE, ILL., November 28, 1902.
D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING Co., Chicago, 111.:

Gentlemen — We wish to compliment you on the im-
provement in THE IRRIGATION AGE. Think you will be able
to do much more business on it in this shape arid with its
improved appearance. Yours truly,

DEERE & Co.,
By L. B. KUHN, Advertiser.

THE IRE I OAT ION AGE.

55

NEBRASKA CITY, November 28, 1902.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111.:

Gentlemen — Can you refer me to any work (book) that
has a good deal to say about the loss of soil by erosion and
washing? I get some from geology and some from govern-
ment reports, but, after all, they have but little to say; a
few pages would cover all I can find. I am asked for an
address before institute meetings this winter, so I want all
the available information I can get. The loss of our agri-
cultural soils is so enormous and its effects so far reaching
that something must be done to stop it. Yours truly,

L. C. BURNETT.

MANSFIELD, OHIO, November 28, 19x12.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111.:

Dear Sir— We acknowledge receipt of yours of the 2ist
inst., and also copy of November issue of THE IRRIGATION
AGE, which you doubled in size. I think it was a happy
thought to make this change. THE IRRIGATION AGE, in its
new form, is certainly much improved and creates a better
impression. We certainly appreciate the extra advertising
space that we are receiving under our contract.
We wish you' success. Yours truly,

THE AULTMAN & TAYLOR MACHINERY Co.,

By A. KALLMERTEN, Secretary.

MCMILLAN, NEW MEX., December 20, 1902.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :

I am this day in receipt of copies for October and No-
vember, respectively, and glad to welcome THE AGE among
my periodicals once more. The address of Hon. Thomas F.
Walsh is very fine, appeals strongly to my judgment and
sympathy, and is of itself well worth the cost of the sub-
scription.

He is a noble and excellent man to utter such splendid
sentiments. I would like to meet and know a man capable
of such magnificent thought. Yours truly,

W. V. JOHNSON.

LINCOLN, NEB., December 19, 1902.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111.:

Gentlemen — Enclosed, I hand you express money order
for $1.00 to pay enclosed subscription bill. Kindly receipt
and return. I wish you unbounded success in your efforts
to give the irrigators of this country a first-class publication.

Please announce that the Nebraska Irrigation Association
will hold its annual convention and conference in the city
of Lincoln Thursday, January 22, 1903, holding both day and
night sessions. Important matters of legislation and the gen-
eral interests of practical irrigation will be discussed by
eminent and reliable authorities. A full one-fare rate will
be obtainable from all points within this state, and a one and
one-third rate from points outside of the state. Purchasers
of tickets should take certificates of the American Short Horn
Breeders' convention, which meets here at that time. Very
respectfully yours, A. G. WOLFENBARGER,

President Nebraska Irrigation Association.

THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :

I have a well on southeast %, section 27, town 7, range
49 west, twenty-five miles southeast of Sterling, Colo. This
well is 156 feet deep ; a current of air came from it. Can
this be explained. The water is fine, soft and cold. Re-
spectfully yours, JOHN J. LONG,

Denver, Colo.

The above inquiry was referred to Prof. B. C. Buffum,
director of experiment station and professor of agriculture,
University of Wyoming, who sends the following reply:

I have your letter in regard to the well at Sterling and
had a talk with Professor Knight about it. He tells me that
air storage in nature is almost unknown, and thinks that
if there is a flow of gas from the well it is something other
than air. Very likely CO2*. It would be easy to take a sam-
ple of the gas by filling a large bottle with water, inverse
it in the gas and let the water run out, allowing the gas to
take its place, when it could be corked up and saved for ex-
amination. Professor Knight thinks that in the region of
Sterling there would be little probability of common air
flowing from a well, as you indicate. Yours, truly,

B. C. BUFFUM.

ALL IN THE POINT OF VIEW.

In response to a request from the editor of a prominent
magazine for a short article on the irigation contro-
versy, the following was submitted by the editor of THE
IRRIGATION AGE:

I have read the article published in your issue for Octo-
ber and am inclined to believe that the opponents of the
merger of the National Irrigation Congress with the Trans-
Mississippi Congress are unfairly dealt with.

In discussing the late Irrigation Congress, it is difficult
to go into details without giving the impression that there is
a lack of harmony in the organization, which, in fact, is not
true.

This seeming difference is shown only in so far as a few
of the delegates, who are interested in the National Irri-
gation Association, are anxious to have the Congress prac-
tically killed by merging with the Trans-Mississippi Congress.
It can readily be seen that this move would leave the Na-
tional Irrigation Association, which is a child of the Con-
gress, and which was organized to act as financial agent
of that body, with a clear field. In view of this situation, sev-
eral delegates, who were particularly anxious to bring about
the merger, are somewhat disgruntled, and I can, perhaps, bet-
ter illustrate the case by reproducing a letter received from a
prominent member of the National Association with my reply.
It will be seen that the main object in opposing the merger
is to keep the child from murdering its parent and at the
same time prevent too much power being placed in the hands
of one man, as would be the case if the National Irrigation
Association were to occupy the whole field with only one
individual in control. It is a fairly well established fact
that upwards of $40,000 have been contributed and has
passed through the hands of the acting official of this asso-
ciation, Mr. Maxwell.

HINSDALE, MONT., November 21, 1902.
EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :
DEAR SIR-.

In the last issue of THE AGE appeared an editorial re-
garding the National Irrigation Association and Mr. George
H. Maxwell. I have not the time at my disposal just at
present to reply to it specifically, but I want to say, as one
wno has been indentified with the settlement and irrigation
development of Montana for nearly twenty years, and one
who has been watching closely the interest created by the
association referred to, and also Mr. Maxwell himself, also
as one who is familiar with the history of the irrigation
movement from its very infancy, that you have done both Mr.
Maxwell and the association a great injury; you have also,
in as far as you have gone, done the cause of irrigation an
injury; it is clearly evident from the editorial in question
that you are not posted upon the question and have, been
misinformed.

While on a recent trip over Montana, several prominent
persons spoke to me regarding this editorial. A general feel-
ing of indignation prevails. This is especially true in a sec-
tion that has always been much interested in the question of
irrigation.

You asked, in this editorial, for any criticisms contrary
to your editorial. Had I the time I might go into a general
reply, personally, I am sorry that THE AGE has seen fit
on two occasions to take a view which is certainly detrimental
to the best interest of this important question. I had thought
that, with a change in the staff of THE AGE, that it would
again reach its old-time importance in the discussion and
promoting of interest in the irrigation question. I trust
that this may yet be the case, but you are certainly on the
wrong track. Yours truly,

'COa. carbon dioxide (carbonic acid gas), often found in mineral waters
and forms an important pait ol limestone, etc.

The following was sent in reply to above:

November 28, 1902.

MR. , Hinsdale, Mont. :

. My Dear Sir — I am in receipt of your favor, dated No-
vember 21. A man usually forms an opinion of another
through correspondence, whether he has ever met him per-
sonally or not, and from that source and from hearsay I
have formed the opinion that you are a man of broad views
and better able to judge than many others, inasmuch as
your efforts tend to the betterment of the masses. I am, con-
sequently, very sorry that any matter contained in our Octo-
ber or other issues should strike you as an injury to Mr.
Maxwell or the cause of irrigation.

Your statement, however, that I am "certainly on the
wrong track," does not fully assure me that such is the
fact, and I fear that you possibly base your opinion on a

56

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

superficial knowledge of conditions inside of the organiza-
tion known as the National Irrigation Association. I can
very readily understand how such matters as we have pub-
lished would sound harsh to one whose heart and soul is
in this work and who has fully believed that the plans which
George H. Maxwell or the National Irrigation Association
are attempting to carry out are all good.

It would, perhaps, interest you to know that the writer
helped William O. (Bucky) O'Neill, of Arizona, shape up
his first speech on the subject of "National Aid," which was
delivered before the Farmers' Protective Association of Mari-
copa count}', Arizona, July 18, 1896, which, if you will look
up the records of the National Irrigation Congress, you will
find was some time previous to the time the Congress was
held at Phoenix. This, by the way, was the first Congress
in which George H. Maxwell took any part ; hence, I claim
that he is in no wise responsible for the early work done
along the line which resulted in the passage of the irrigation
law, and, while we all give him due credit for what he has
done in subsequent years, the fact remains that he simply
carried out the ideas of O'Neill and others ; and, as one
writer has stated, "in some sections of the arid region the
impression prevails that he is a foster child of Uncle Sam
and whatever he says goes with his gifted parent." There
is no foundation in fact for the impression, but Mr. Maxwell
does nothing to destroy the delusion. As a matter of fact, he
does what he can to encourage it by adroitness and indi-
rection.

I will ask, Mr. — , if you have ever known of

a statement being issued by the National Irrigation Asso-
ciation showing the condition of its finances, or if you have
ever known of a list of members who contributed money to
the association being published? or a statement published of
the sums paid in by the different members of this association?
or if you have ever received any information as to how the
money received has been disbursed?

When the writer purchased THE IRRIGATION AGE, he went
to Mr. Maxwell and explained to him that he was anxious fa
let the people, interested in irrigation, understand that -tne
publication had changed hands, and would like very much to
send a sample copy, only one copy to each member, mind
you, so that they would understand that the publication had
changed hands and was showing signs of improvement, edi-
torially and otherwise. Mr. Maxwell refused to comply with
this very reasonable request and if you look at the edi-
torials of our November issue you will note that I quote his
reason for refusal.

You may now place yourself in my position, if you please,
Mr. - — , and tell me what your opinion of that sort

of a stand would have been. Did it not look like a close cor-
poration instead of a national organization? Why should
Maxwell refuse to allow that list to be made public, or to
give out information as to how much each member paid in
the organization? These are a few of the points which first
led me to wonder whether this was a National Irrigation
Association or a Personal Maxwell Association. I note that
since we have called attention to the discrepancies in the di-
rection above indicated a meeting of the National Association
has been called, to be held in St. Paul some time next year.

I have roughly outlined some of the features of the situ-
ation associated with Mr. Maxwell and am prepared to furnish
you with much more data, but prefer to do so through the
columns of THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Allow me to emphasize, however, that THE IRRIGATION
AGE is working along the line of the best good for the arid
and semi-arid West, and if work of this character removes
from the front of the stage a man like Mr. Maxwell, it is
no fault of THE IRRIGATION AGE or its friends. As stated
previously, I can readily understand how, from your geo-
graphical position and remote point of view, you may be some-
what lacking in inside information concerning conditions
surrounding this controversy.

I will call your attention to this particular feature, viz.,
that I have yet to notice where Mr. Maxwell has replied in
print or otherwise to any of the statements made in this
publication or by government officials in printed forms.
Trusting that I may have the pleasure of meeting you some
day and go into this matter more fully, I am, yours respect-
fully,

D. H. ANDERSON.

It will be readily seen that with the parent organiza-
tion killed and out of the way that the National Irrigation
Association, practically absorbing its patronymic, controlled
by two or three individuals and with no especial necessity of
informing the public of its doings, financial or otherwise,

would control a wide strip of territory and could wield too
great an influence either for the good of or injury to the
cause of irrigation. In explanation of the above, will say that
it is possible to be too good to a good cause.

At the meeting of the eleventh Congress at Ogden in
1903, this subject may possibly be discussed, but it is doubt-
ful if it will ever be brought up again, as it is the intention
of those having this meeting in charge to devote the time to
a discussion of subjects of direct value to the arid West
rather than to the airing of personal animosities or individual
ambition.

THE WIDE OUTLOOK FOR IRRIGATION.

Nearly $7,000,000 is available in the federal treas-
for the construction of national irrigation reservoirs.
This fund promises to increase in the future, from the
sale of public land. This new legislation thus introduces
entirely new possibilities of enormous development in
the heretofore arid west. The matter is creating the
utmost interest throughout the semi-arid states, and
many large reservoir locations are now rapidly surveyed
by the government.

The public in the Mississippi valley and east there-
of has as yet but little conception of what is meant by
this federal policy toward irrigation. It is going to
open to the settlement in small tracts for intensive
agriculture very considerable areas of now worthless
lands. We thoroughly believe in the general principle
of this policy, but of course the utmost precautions are
to be taken to insure economy and wise good judgment
in the administration of the enormous fund now avail-
able for national irrigation works. It is proper that
government should own, control and develop the main
sources of water for irrigation throughout the arid
regions. Only by so doing can the now worthless public
lands be made valuable, and the interest of the whole
people in the water supply be conserved. And within a
very few years the income from the sales of land thus
brought under water, promises to exceed cost of the irri-
gation works.

Intelligently administered, therefore, the new pub-
lic policy may not only promote the welfare of the arid
west in particular, and of the whole people in general,
but may be self-supporting and perhaps yield a hand-
some surplus to the government over and above the first
cost. — Exchange.

MERGER OK JOURNALS.

The D. H. Anderson Publishing Co., 112 Dearborn
street, Chicago, announce that the Drainage Journal of
Indianapolis, Ind., the only publication of its class in
the world, will be merged with the IRKIGATION AGE
January 1, 1903, by which move their circulation will
be more than doubled, and the editorial department
materially strengthened. THE IRRIGATION AGE is one
of the best journals of its class, and is doing notable
work in its chosen field. It is a first-class magazine,
ably edited and recognized as an authority by all who
are interested in irrigation. The combination with the
Drainage Journal will make the magazine even more
valuable than previous to the merger. Our good wishes
are extended to the publishers. — Implement Age, Phila-
delphia.

NOT TROPICAL.

Not all of us can leave our work

To hunt the long-lost pole,
But we can freeze to death at home

At current rates 'for coal.

— Chicago News.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

57

ODDS rfND ENDS

POTATO TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES.

Imports of potatoes into the United States in the
fiscal year ended June 30, 1902, amounted to 7,656,162
bushels, against 371,911 bushels in the previous year,
according to statistics published by the United States
Treasury Department. Exports in 1902 were 628,484
bushels, leaving the net imports 7,027,672 bushels. With
two exceptions, the 1902 imports into this country were
the heaviest ever made. The short domestic crops of
1881, amounting to only 109,145,494 bushels, resulted
in imports in the following fiscal year of 8,789,860
bushels. Another shortage in the domestic production
in 1887, when the crop amounted to only 134,103,000
bushels, was followed by imports of 8,259,538 bushels.

As a general rule neither the exports nor imports
of this product are important. The trade is, in fact,
am anomalous one among food products, in that heavy
increases anfl decreases in domestic production have
little effect upon the external commerce. During the
past thirty years exports of potatoes from the United
States have never amounted to so much as 1,000,000
bushels annually ; in only fifteen years out of the thirty
have imports exceeded that amount, and four times only
have they exceeded 5,000,000 bushels. The annual pro-
duction, meanwhile, has varied widely, ranging from
the low figures of 1874, when the crop was only 105,981,-
000, to the high record figures of 1895, when the crop
amounted to 297,237,370^ bushels. The difference be-
tween the smallest and the largest crops of the past
thirty years is thus seen to be 191,256,370 bushels,
and it would be naturally expected in an important food
product like this that the wide range in production
would be reflected by important variations in the export
or import trade. It has not been unusual, however, that
in a year when the crop was greatly short of an average,
and was apparently entirely insufficient for domestic
consumption, there followed no appreciable increase in
imports. Crop variations ranging from neglible quanti-
ties up to as high as 190,000,000 bushels have never yet
resulted in an iinport trade amounting to so much as
10,000,000 bushels annually.

N. A. Easton, of Merle, San Diego county, forwards
to the Los Angeles Express a sample of the evergreen
Australian forage plant, which has been found ad-
mirably adapted to the arid lands of Southern Cali-
fornia. He has more than forty acres planted to this
peculiar shrublike grass, and he declares that it is ex-
cellent for live stock and for poultry.

While the plant will grow profitably on lands hav-
ing but little raik it is found to be far more profitable
where there is plenty of rain and where water is avail-
able for irrigation. The plants are set from four to
eight feet apart, like cabbage plants, when grown without
irrigation, and ten feet apart when subject to irrigation.
The plants must be watered until rooted, after which
they will take care of tremselves.

' "This plant has been known to grow successfully
on the hardpan, or on rocky, steep side-hills," says Mr.
Easton. "It is far superior to evergreen millet, as it has
but one tap root and does not kill out like alfileria. It is
a great fertilizer when plowed under and well rotted, and

with irrigation it has produced fifteen tons of hay an
acre the first year and thirty tons the second year."

Without irrigation the product is said to be about
one-tenth as much. Mr. Eaton declares that it will
make most any rocky sidehill worth $5 to $10 an acre
or more where brush or timber has grown successfully,
and it is very nutritious for all kinds of 'stock when
accustomed to it. The tender tops, he says, are excellent
for greens. — Riverside (Cal.) Press & Horticulturist.

The following, clipped from The St. Paul Globe
of Nov. 18, is an evidence that Geo. Maxwell of the
National Irrigation Association is awakening to the fact
that an occasional meeting of his association would be
the proper thing :

"At the meeting of the Board of Directors of the
Chamber of Commerce, it was announced by the Secre-
tary, B. F. Beardsley, that he had just received advices
from the executive committee of the National Irrigation
Association that the national advisory board of the asso-
ciation will hold its next annual meeting in St. Paul in
October, 1903. There are about 600 members of the
association on this board, and a majority of the number
are the most representative business men of the country.
The national association numbers about 3,000 members,
and it is expected that at least 500 will be present at the
convention here next October.

The Oregon Irrigation Association met recently at
Portland and elected permanent officers, appointed
committees on resolution and legislation and adjourned
until next day. The following were elected to serve
during the ensuing year :

President, A.H. Devers of Portland ; vice-president,
W. R. King, Malheur county; secretary, J. M. Moore,
Portland ; treasurer, W. T. Wright, Union county. The
election of Devers as president is considered a vic-
tory for the adherents of government irrigation as
against private enterprise under the Carey act. The
reselutions passed by the association will be received
by the United States government as a partial guide
for its reclamation work and as an expression of popu-
lar sentiment in this state.

George H. Williams, mayor of Portland, delivered
the address of welcome to the delegates, in which he
facetiously referred to the steady downpour of rain dur-
ing the past two days, remarking that "eastern people
who have traveled in California and have been told
there that it rains 12 months of the year in Oregon
will be surprised to hear that $1,000,000 can be prop-
erly expended in this state in artificial irrigation, but
they do not know that Oregon is a state distinguished for
its variety of scenery, climate and soil." — Spokesman-
Review.

The Stover Mfg. Co., Freeport, 111., U. S. A., desires
every reader interested to write them for an illustrated
catalogue of their celebrated "Samson" windmill. They
have one of the largest factories in the world, and/ supply
pumps, tanks, towers, and all other windmill appliances.
They'have unexcelled facilities for shipping, and already
have a large trade in foreign countries. Write them in
any language. In the United States the "Samson"
windmill is one of the favorites, and wherever one goes
others follow, as it establishes itself on merit. Their
catalogue is a work of art, and will be found interesting,
as it contains much valuable information.

58

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

A recent dispatch from Portland, Ore., gives the
following information :

The Oregon irrigation association adopted resolu-
tions requesting F. H. Newell, chief hydrographer of the
United States Geological survey, to begin work at once
on reclamation projects under the national irrigation
law at such points in Eastern Oregon as in his judgment
offer the best assurances of success and benefit.

Mr. Newell, in an address to the association, said
the United States would not interfere with existing
rights and that companies organized to do the work
would be allowed to continue without interference from
the United States government.

had by purchase at cost from the Superintendent of
Documents, Washington City, and may also generally
be obtained free of charge from the applicant's Member
of Congress.

One of the functions of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion, at Washington, is the diffusion of knowledge in
language "understanded of the people;" so that, while
most of its works are intended primarily for the special-
ist, there is an exception made by the Secretary in pub-
lishing an Appendix to the Report of the Board of
Regents, which is in fact an annual summary of the
most interesting events of the scientific year, prepared
for that large body of the public which does not care for
professional memoirs, but has a general interest in such
matters.

This popular volume for 1901 is before us. It con-
tains fifty articles, many of them illustrated, nearly all
prepared by masters of the respective subjects, telling
in clear and interesting language of the latest progress
in all the principal branches of knowledge.

A short s-ketch of the history and work of the
Smithsonian Institution begins with a paragraph from
President Roosevelt's first message to Congress, in which
he calls attention to the Institution's functions and "its
present needs. The paper further states that the Smith-
sonian Institution, which is composed of the President
and his Cabinet, and the Vice-President and Chief
Justice of the United States, has a remarkable organi-
zation for the administration of funds for the promotion
of science. Its activities could be still further increased
if it had greater means at its absolute disposal; while
those who are thinking of giving for some special
scientific object may yet find the Regents, on account of
the peculiarly disinterested position they hold, the best
counsellors in suggesting the channel into which gifts
for public purposes might be directed, even should they
not see their way clear to accepting such donations for
the Institution itself.

"Bodies Smaller than Atoms" is the title of an
interesting paper, and as we read "The Laws of Nature,"
"The Greatest Flying Creature," and "The Fire Walk
Ceremony at Tahiti," we are reminded of the wide range
of subjects included in the Report. Wireless telegraphy,
transatlantic telephoning, and the telephonograph are
discussed by experts in electrical progress. Attention
ought also to be called to papers on utilization of the
sun's energy, the Bogosloi? volcanoes of Alaska, forest
destruction, irrigation, the Children's Room at the
Smithsonian, the submarine boat, a new African animal,
pictures by prehistoric cave-dwellers in France, auto-
mobile races, the terrible lizards that once lived in Am-
erica, and Mr. Thompson Seton's paper on the National
Zoological Park at Washington.

The whole volume has been called "the best popular
scientific annual published in the world."

The Smithsonian Reports are distributed by the
Institution to libraries throughout the world; may be

ONE HORSEPOWER.

When men first begin to become familiar with the
methods of measuring mechanical power, they often
speculate on where the breed of horses is to be found
that can keep at work raising 3,000 pounds one foot per
minute, or the equivalent, which is more familiar to some
mechanics, of raising 330 pounds 100 feet per minute.
Since 33,000 pounds raised one foot per minute is
called one horsepower it is natural that people should
think the engineers who establish that unit of measure-
ment based it on what horses could really do. But the
horse that can do this work does not exist.

The horsepower unit was established by James
Watt about a century ago, and the figures were fixed in
a curious way. Watt found that the average horse of his
district could raise 22,000 pounds one foot per minute.
At that time Watt was emploved in the manufacture
of engines, and customers were so hard to find that all
kinds of artificial inducements were necessary to induce
power users to buy steam engines. As a method of en-
couraging them Watt offered to sell engines reckoning
33,000 foot pounds to a horsepower. And thus he was
the means of giving a false unit to one of the most im-
portant measurements in the world.

THE DEARBORN CANAL.

Montana State Arid Land Grant Commission Reports
on It.

A meeting of the members of the Montana State
Arid Land Giant co anu«non was recently held in M;s-
soula at 'the office of the president, Col. Thomas C.
Marshall. The full membership was present — President
Marshall, Vice-President and Field Agent Donald Brad-
ford, Helena, and Secretary D. H. Cory, of Helena.
The business considered was largely routine, but a re-
port presented by the field agent showed the affairs of
the commission were being carried forward as directed,
and that indications pointed to a large amount of good
which would follow plans for irrigating a large area of
land in Northern Montana.

Figures of the agent were confined largely to work
being done on the Dearborn canal in the northern part
of the state. He furnished documents to show that
the canal now carried water that was irrigating satis-
factorily nearly 14,000 acres. One-half of this has been
contracted for bv settlers now living on the lands, and
who have made at least one payment on a contract pur-
chase. Other letters read gave assurance that the re-
mainder of the land would probably be claimed within
the coming six months.

According to previous arrangements, the board
will go ahead with the erection of reservoirs and dams
to hold water for the irrigation of a tract containing
22,000 acres in Cascade county. The supply for this
will come through the Dearborn canal. It is not
expected the work on this feature will be completed be-
fore 1904.

Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE
for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

59

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It will be readily seen that this double gear im-
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of any other mill of equal size. Since the gear is
double and the strain of work is equally divided
between the two gears, there is no side draft,
shake or wobble to cut out the gears. The gear-
ing, therefore, has four times the life and wearing
qualities of any single gear.

All interested in irrigation should write us for
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which will be sent free to all who mention THE IRRIGA-
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Remember We Guarantee the Samson

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60

THE IREIGATION AGE.

DAIRY AND CREAMERY

IS THE PAPER for the "man
behind the cow." It deals with
every phase of his business in a bright
and interesting way. It tells how to
improve the capacity of the herd,
how to rear calves in the best way, how
to take care of milk and cream and
how to get the best prices for dairy
products of all kinds. The dairy far-
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and the creamery operator will find
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know — no long stories, no untried
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at 50 cents a year. Send for sample
copy and see how good it is. We
want agents and will pay them good
wages to work for us. Write for terms.

Draper Publishing Co.

Dept. Q-65 Chicago, III.

Eureka Potato Planter

The Eureka is the most
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man who operat' s it. Have won out in every test Send for circulars. Not an experiment, but a machine used by
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THE IKRIGATION AGE.

61

Power

for any

Purpose

Buy a THOMPSON-LEWIS and
have a reliable Gas or

Gasoline Engine

That will always be ready and easy to start, safe
convenient, economical and durable. For de-
scriptive catalogue, address the manufacturers.
J. Thompson & Sons Mfq. Co., Beto.t, Wis.

Irrigated Land
Excursions

The Great South Platte Valley, Colorado.

Buy tickets to Sterling and Return
via Union Pacific Railroad

We have a large list of Irrigated Fauns and
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Irrigators who contemplate buying a Rake, Plows, Planters, Cultivatots,
Harrows or Seeders should write us for catalogue, which will be sent post-paid.

J. Thompson & Sons Mfg. Co., Beloit, Wis.

We make the Le*is Gas aid Gasoline En ine for irrigation pumping plants.

I

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I I I I I I I I I +4 I I ! I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I'

Eenew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE
for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

inn i 111 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 111 1 ilium n 1 1 1 1 1 n 1 1 1

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THE IREIGATION AGE.

"Only live
fish swim
up stream"

If your friends are looking for an irrigation
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the pioneer and only distinct irrigation publica-
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Copyright. 1902
byC. & A. R'y-

ART CALENDAR

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THE IRRIGATION AGE

\ \2 Dearborn Street, ,* CHICAGO

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

63

FINE FARM LANDS.

Wisconsin is noted for its fine crops,
excellent markets, pure water and
healthful climate.

You can buy a farm on easy terms in
Wisconsin along the line of the Chi-
cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway
for less than you can rent one for three
years in any of the Eastern states. Now
is the time to invest.

Address F. A. Miller, General Pas-
senger Agent, Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul Railway, Chicago, 111.

CALIFORNIA

with its lovely seaside resorts, orange
groves, beautiful gardens, and quaint,
old mission towns is visited every year
by thousands of tourists who travel

Over the Union Pacific

because it is the BEST and QUICKEST
route, and the ONLY LINE RUNNING
THROUGH TRAINS FROM

OMAHA TO CALIFORNIA

It is also the Only Line Runn'ing
FOUR PERSONALLY CONDUCTED
EXCURSIONS to California from Omaha
every week with choice of routes.

Full information cheerfully furnished on application to

E. L. LOMAX, G. P. 3 T. A. Omaha, Neb.

64 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Great Irrigated
Valleys —

ARKANSAS VALLEY, COLORADO. Altitude 3,400 to 4,600 ft.; beet sugar factories,
thousands of acres of alfalfa, millions of cantaloupes, extensive orchards, flocks of sheep;
largest irrigated section in the U. S. Extensive cattle feeding and dairy interests, population
doubled in five years.

PECOS VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,000 to 4,000 feet. ; 175 miles long, on edge
of great plains' cattle pastures, affording profitable home market for alfalfa and grain; noted
for its large orchards and fine quality of fruits and vegetables; artesian belt with 300
flowing wells.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,700 105,300 ft.; 350 miles long;
great sheep raising section; mining in adjacent mountains; adapted to fruit raising and
small farms.

SALT RIVER VALLEY, ARIZONA. Altitude 1,000 ft.; 60 miles long and 20 miles wide;
special industries — early oranges, live stock, vegetables, small fruits, alfalfa, bee culture.

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Altitude 50 to 400 ft.; 250 miles long, 50 miles
wide; wheat raising, live stock, oil wells, alfalfa, raisin and wine grapes, olives, figs, citrus
and deciduous fruits, almonds, walnuts, lumbering and mines in mountains.

ALL FIVE VALLEYS have never-failing water supply, extensive systems of irrigating
ditches and rich soil, insuring profitable crops. Pleasant climate, especially in winter.
Thriving towns, affording good markets. Directly reached by the SANTA FE.

For information about farm lands, manufactures and general business openings,
address

Gen. Pass. Office A. T. 4 S. F. Ry. System,
GREAT NORTHERN BLDG. A CHICAGO.

Santa Fe

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

,65

H^^B^H

-;:xiC ';i?^*f!

IN THE SPRING

The farmer's fancy turns to the tillage of his
fields. A new plow will be the order of the day
on at least 1,000,000 farms this year. One fourth
of them will be Modern, Up-to-date, High Grade,
Standard

JOHN DEERE STEEL PLOWS

About 2000 car loads of which will go out between
January and May for

Enterprising, Progressive Farmers

Of the United States and Canada.

If vou don't need a new plow, you may want a Deere Spike Tooth or
Disc Harrow, a Deere Corn Planter or Cultivator. In any event write
for the little booklet advertised in THE IRRIGATION AGE.

DEERE &. COMPANY, Moline, Ills.

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5

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stagger covering wheels as shown in cut or concave as pre-
ferred. One lever raises all the runners and stops the
seeding. The pressure spring insures uniform depth of
planting. All adjustments are within easy reach of the
driver and the dropping seed is prainly seen.

Deere Beet Cultivators.

Made in two and four-row sizes, both sizes having
combination pole and shafts. Has spring lift, spring steel •
draw bars, adjustable bearings; handles are attached direct
to draw bar, giving good leverage and making it the easiest
handled cultivator on earth.

( DEERE & MANSUR CO.

VHMHI

MOLINE, ILL.

:
j

-*•-*•

mmmmmJ

66

THE IKRIGATION AGF

Myers Power Pumps

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the Globe"

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20-inch stroke.

FIG 800.

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6-iuch cylinders, stroke ranging from 5 to
20-inch.

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The AsDinwall Line

-OF-

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THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Superior Disc Drills

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DEPTH THAN ANY HOE OR SHOE DRILL. WILL SOW
AND COVER GRAIN IN HARD GROUND, WHEREVER A
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Lighter Draft than any other drill.
Never Clogs in foul ground.
Wheels Extra Heavy, broad tire.
Wears Longer without repairs.

Saves Time and labor for the farmer.
All Sizes from 8 to 22 discs, 2, 3 or 4 horse.
Buy the Superior, the original and best of
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The Good is Always Imitated, that is, when it comes to Farm Machinery— which accounts
for the many infringements upon the advantages and improvements which go to make The Superior
Disc Drill the acknowledged leader of the grain drills. We furnish them with steel wheels, steel
Seat and spiral wire grain tubes on your special order. Ask for Catalog.

The Superior Disc Drill is the original, and has the greatest record of any seeding machine
on the market. We make every size drill that is desirable, besides we also make

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DISC HARROWS, HAY TOOLS AND CIDER MILLS THAT WILL
BE MOST SATISFACTORY TO PATRONS. ALL ARE WINNERS.

Write for printed matter and mention The Irrigation Age.

The Superior Drill Company

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO

-68 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The Aultman & Taylor
Machinery Co.

OF MANSFIELD, OHIO,

One of the oldest concerns in the threshing machine busi-
ness, in fact one of the pioneers and pathfinders, are build-
ing portable and stationary rice separators which are tak-
ing the lead everywhere. They are guaranteed for superior
separation and cleaning, as testimonial letters elsewhere in
this issue would indicate.

The Aultman & Taylor Alfalfa Huller

Has established a
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and cleaner has
ever attained. Its
capacity is fully
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more seed and cleans it more perfectly than any other type.

Those interested in perfect rice separators, either of portable
or stationary type, or a superior alfalfa huller, should address

The Aultman & Taylor
Machinery Co.

OF MANSFIELD, OHIO

for one of their illustrated catalogues, which is sent free

to any address.

In addressing the Aultman & Taylor Machinery Co. kindly mention The Irrigation Age.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

VOL. XVIII.

CHICAGO, JANUARY, 1903.

No. 3.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING CO.,

PUBLISHERS,

112 Dearborn Street, CHICAGO

Entered at the Postoffice at Chicago, 111., as Second-Class Matter.

D. H. ANDERSON, Editor.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.

To United States Subscribers, Postage Paid *1.00

To Canada and Mexico 1.00

All Other Foreign Countries 1.50

In forwarding remittances please do not send checks on local banks.
Send either postoffice or express money order or Chicago or New York
draft.

A monthly illustrated magazine recognized throughout the world as
the exponent ot Irragation and its kindred industries. It is the pioneer
journal of its kind in the world, and has no rival in half a continent. It
advocates the mineral development and the industrial growth of the West.

Tfl tPt"P<iti T1 CT fr» A r\ \7P»1*H «P»r« '' mav interest advertisers to know that The Irrigation Age is the only publication

VC1 115>erj5. -m the worl(J ka^g an actoal paid in ajvance circulation among individual

irrigators and large irrigation corporations. It is read regularly by all interested in this subject and has readers in all parts of the world.
The Irrigation Age is J8 years old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world.

EDITORIAL

H t' d? *S ** Possible that Mr. Maxwell has
caught Mr. Wooldridge with one of those
"heroic looks" which he assumed in recent photographs
and has hypnotized him ? God forbid.

"Watch THE IRRIGATION AGE has written a number of
for letters to leading men throughout the West.

Replies, asking their opinion on the range problem or
leasing question, as well as their views on the
matter of state boards of control of the water supply.
It is our intention to publish all of the replies and
allow our readers to form an opinion after all sides
of the case have been presented.

The editor of this journal does not wish
Wooldridge to be unfair in any sense to any individual
in Defence, and after having published a letter from

Mr. Wooldridge in response to an edi-
torial on Mr. Maxwell in our issue of October, with
our reply to Mr. Wooldridge, which appeared in the
December issue, it is only fair to give publicity to the
answer from Mr. Wooldridge, which is cheerfully given
space in our correspondence department. The editor has
great respect for both Mr. Wooldridge and his opinions,
but is constrained to note that the gentleman has not
fully answered several of the important questions con-
tained in our letter to him dated November 28.

In an early issue will be presented an
Arnett on article on "Tile Drainage, Its Bene-

Tile Drainage, fits," by Mr. J. Arnett, C. E., London,

Ohio. Mr. Arnett has prepared a very
interesting story, and the remarkable feature in con-
nection with it is that the gentleman is upwards of 83
years of age. We hope to present a likeness of Mr.
Arnett in connection with its production.

wt. •>
^

has

are members of his association, who claim that
there are too many congresses, and advocate a merger
of the Trans-Mississippi and Irrigation Congress, why,
we ask, have they called a meeting of the "National
Association" to be held in St. Paul this year? If there
are too many congresses perhaps it would be a good
plan to reduce the number by a merger of "The Maxwell-
National" with the Trans-Mississippi. Would this
arrangement suit "George?"

Prof. We are pleased to note that Prof. A. Golf, for-
Golf. merly of Bonn, Poppelsdorf, Germany, who re-
cently made a tour throughout the irrigated
sections of the United States to study our irrigation
systems, has been made assistant in the Agricultural
Institute of the University of Halle, Germany. Prof.
Golf writes us that THE IRRIGATION AGE is a very im-
portant assistant in becoming acquainted with new de-
velopments and iri the preparation of his report on Irri-
gation in the United States, which he is now arranging
for the Universitv. THE IRRIGATION AGE will publish
the report in full as soon as the manuscript is submitted
and it should prove interesting to all our readers, as
it will give the impressions of a careful student who
covered the field thoroughly while in this country.

70

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Prof. Clarence We are showing in this issue, in con-
T. Johnston. nection with our article on The As-
suan Dam, a- fine lot of photographs
taken along the River Nile in Egypt by Prof. Clarence
T. Johnston, Chief Assistant Irrigation Investigations,
U. S. Department of Agriculture. . These photos were
taken in 1902 by Prof. Johnston when on a trip of in-
vestigation of this great dam in the interest of the
Agricultural Department, and through the courtesy of
that gentleman we are permitted to embellish our article
with them. We are also showing a fairly good like-
ness of Prof. Johnston.

. that city, which office he held .for. .four years. In 1894
Mr. Bond was engaged in field engineering in the
northern part of Wyoming. During the four years
in which he was at -this work he was associated with
others in some of the largest canal surveys undertaken
in his state. Mr. Bond returned to Cheyenne in 1898
to accept the appointment of chief clerk in the office
of the Surveyor General, but resigned that position later
to accept the appointment of State Engineer of Wyom-

Scipio THE IRRIGATION AGE has changed its maga-
Craig. zinc form of the regulation size- — 6x9 inches
— to a sort of a quarto form — 9x12 inches.
Now if the editor would let up trying to stand in
with the cattlemen and the state cessionists his change
of form would look like a change of heart. Which
that same is a much needed change. — The Citrograph,
Eedlands, Cal.

Scipio : Little did we think, when looking at those
honest blue eyes when we met in Colorado recently, that
you carried a knife in your boot-leg. Ah, me ! Scipio
Craig !

Irrigation Beginning with this, our January num-
and ber the subject of land drainage will fill
Drainage a good part of our columns, as with this
issue The Drainage Journal is merged with
THE IRRIGATION AGE. Hereafter a separate drainage
department will be maintained, to which will be con-
tributed articles by the best thinkers and students of
this very important branch of agriculture. Regular
articles will appear from the pen of Mr. C. E. Elliott,
agent and expert in charge of drainage investigations,
United States Department of Agriculture. Mr. Elliott
was formerly owner and editor of The Drainage Jour-
nal, and has made this subject a life-long study. We ex-
tend our best wishes to the many thousand readers of
The Drainage Journal, whom we gladly welcome as
readers of the combined journals.

F 4 Ro A

Bond, State Engineer of Wyom-
ing, whose likeness is shown in these col-
umns, is a native of the State of Iowa, where he lived
up to the time he became a citizen of Wyoming. He
graduated with distinction from the Iowa State Uni-
versity, Iowa City, with the class of 1880 and moved
to Wyoming in the summer of 1882. His first work
there was for the government in connection with govern-
ment surveys, in the office of the U. S. Surveyor Gen-
eral. Following this, Mr. Bond became acquainted with
the banking business in Cheyenne in the capacity of
bookkeeper, and later was appointed city engineer of

MR. FRED BOND.
State Engineer, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

ing, and he has filled that important office acceptably
to the present time. Mr. Bond is very popular through-
out his state and has a wide circle of friends among
those interested in irrigation all over the country. THE
IRRIGATION AGE will try and secure an article from
the gentleman for a future issue on the future of
irrigation development in his state.

The Range The passage of the late irrigation act
Problem. has brought the attention of the public
to the value of our vacant lands and
many theories have been recently advanced providing
that only actual settlers receive title to the lands oc-
cupied or used. That this policy would be all right
where a large area can be brought under irrigation and
where a comparatively few acres will support a family
is not disputed. The trouble has been that the possi-
bilities of national irrigation have been over-estimated
by the periodicals devoted to this subject and sent out
broadcast to the public. Where lands can be reclaimed
the Irrigation Bill has provided that they can only be
disposed of to actual settlers after the government has
completed the irrigation works. It is only necessary,
therefore, to withdraw lands before surveys are begun
to insure protection to the settler who is to come.

Unfortunately the papers referred to have already
created the impression throughout the East that the
reclamation of the arid West is simply a matter of
building canals and laterals and storage works to retain

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

the flood water until the irrigator has use for it. We
wish this were the case; that the sand hills of western
Nebraska, the bad lands of the Dakota-s, Wyoming and
Colorado, the deserts of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada
and California, the high table lands of Idaho and
Montana, and the entire mountain region could all be
brought under irrigation and cultivation. After the
•water resources of the West have all been utilized there
will be 250.000,000 acres of land which cannot be re-
claimed, and which has no great value for mining, tim-
ber or for agriculture. It may be possible to reclaim
50,000,000 acres of arid land along our streams; this
remains to be seen. What shall be done with the 250,-
000,000 acres of public lands which can never b'e irri-
gated and which are now of value only to those inter-
ested in the growing of live stock? That difficulties
•will arise regarding the division of this land among
the owners of flocks and herds has already been demon-
strated by experience that has been disastrous to many
homes and has reflected but little credit on the dispo-
sition of the government toward the management of
this valuable property.

Several large and influential stockmen can monopo-
lize the range in their own vicinity and by employing
numerous men in the management of their interests
control local politics and policies to such am extent that
they can stifle any move looking toward a definite divi-
sion of the range which would give smaller concerns
opportunities equal to their own. The same element
in irrigation matters that labors to defer the final set-
tlement of rights to use water. The range problems,
however, should be much easier to settle since no thM
party is, as a rule, interested in a continuation of the
strife and litigation.

We must recognize that while much is to be ac-
complished through the irrigation of arable lands in
the West, that there has already grown up one of tlw
most prosperous and profitable industries of the coun-
try owing to the grazing value of large areas of the
public domain. This industry needs encouragement,
and those engaged jn it should have the protection of
the government as\rar as it is possible for this to
be extended. It is not a credit to the government
or our land office officials to permit a continuance of
the strife which now exists. If a leasing system can
be adopted which will prevent range troubles and at
the same time limit monopolies in land which are now
•common, although not recognized by law, it should at
least be given a trial. If, as has been suggested, a
local option law were to be made effective it would
be left with the livestock interests of each community
as to whether the range should be divided or not.

It should always be borne in mind that the grazing
area will always be in excess of the irrigated area:
that a family can live comfortably on from forty to
160 acres of irrigated land depending on soil and cli-

mate; that it requires from four to forty acres of graz-
ing land to support a single steer. Should not the
two kinds of lands be classified and disposed of under
such restrictions that the people would derive the most
from them and the strife on the range be brought to
a close?

In defending its stand on irrigation matters and
the problems of the open range the Rocky Mountain
Husbandman, of Montana-, makes the following state-
ment concerning the papers of the state, while criticiz-
ing an article which appeared in the San Francisco
Chronicle, condemning 'a certain agent of the trans-
continental railways : "Before these declarations can
be made to carry any weight with them it would first
be necessary to know whose utterances they are, who
owns the San Francisco Chronicle. We know that here
in Montana all the daily papers are owned by three
concerns, The Amalgamated Copper Company, W. A.
Clark and the Great Northern and Northern Pacific
Railway Companies, and their utterances are made in
accordance with their interests." It would seem, under
such conditions, that the Husbandman should endeavor
to represent the farming and stock interests in an in-
dependent and fearless manner. We believe that this
it will do, and that sooner or later, the campaign against
reform in irrigation law and in the disposition of the
public lands now. being waged will show that only selfish
motives are at the bottom, and that Montana must pro-
tect the irrigator and the stockman or these industries
will suffer to such an extent that here will be no demand
for a purely agriculural paper along the upper Missouri.

IRRIGATION IN NORTH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA.

One of the large irrigating ditches near Stockton,
Cal., is the one. known as the Woodbridge canal, which
waters 30,000 acres of land. The land under the ditch
is exceedingly productive when plenty of water is ap-
plied. Each season three to five crops of alfalfa are
harvested, the average yield for each crop being from
one to one and one-half tons per acre. The method
of irrigating alfalfa fields is to flood at a depth of
two to three inches a-fter each cutting.

This region is celebrated for its fruit plantations.
Pears, plums, peaches, prunes, oranges, all do well.
The orchardists in that country are experts at caring
for trees, which are given frequent and constant cul-
tivation. Not a weed is allowed to develop and the
trees are sprayed regularly and in every way given the
best of attention. • The fruit trees are watered by
canals and wells. There seems to be an inexhaustible
supply of water underlying all this region. It is made
available by boring wells from 40 to 120 feet deep, and
eight to ten inches in diameter. These adequately sup-
ply pumns with a: capacity of 1,000 to 1,500 gallons
per minute. This amount of water is sufficient to
irrigate eighty acres of orchards or vineyards. The
pumps are run by gasoline or steam. When land can-
not be had adjacent to a canal, a pumping plant can
be put on each farm at no very great expense.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

EGYPTIAN IRRIGATION.*

While comparing irrigation in the United States
and in Egypt it should be borne in mind that the con-
trast between political and social life in the two coun-
tries is necessarily great. Until within the last half
century the khedive of Egypt has been considered the
owner of all the land and water. The people were re-
garded as slaves and until quite recently they were at
the command of the political leaders for all kinds of
public and private work. Farmers have been tenants
rather than proprietors. Land titles have only recently
been recognized. The tax gatherer has taken everything
from the farmer each year, leaving only enough to keep
soul and body together. The farmer has been compelled
to borrow money at ruinous rates of interest and be-
fore his crops were harvested the lender has secured all
the surplus of the farm profits. The English are re-
forming many of these evils, but the peasant has been
accustomed to corruption in all branches of the govern-
ment for so long that he can not understand the new
administration and consequently does not appreciate
much that has been done for his benefit. English engi-

. PROF. CLARENCE T. JOHNSTON.

Chief Assistant Irrigation Investigations, U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Cheyenne, Wyo.

neers in the Egyptian service fully understand the con-
dition of the farmer, and are well enough acquainted
with other irrigated countries to appreciate the diffi-
culties which confront them in the administration of
irrigation law and regulations.

Among the engineers with whom I have had the
pleasure of talking was Mr. W. Willcocks. He has had
20 years' experience in Egyptian irrigation and held
a similar position for 15 years in northern India. He
has written and traveled much and has had opportunity
to study irrigation law and practice throughout the
world. I visited him at Cairo to learn of Egyptian
irrigation, but found myself compelled to discuss our
own shortcomings during our conversation. Mr. Will-
cocks and others who have given the matter study realize
our mistake. He felt reasonably sure of his ground
when he undertook a criticism of the way we have per-
mitted the water to be bought and sold. He regards

* Portion of an illustrated address delivered at the Irriga-
tion Congress, at Colorado Springs by Clarence T. Johnston,
Assistant Chief of Irrigation Investigations, U. S. Department of
Agriculture.

many of our states as having failed altogether to meet
their obligations when it comes to protecting the irri-
gator. The Nile is one of the most important rivers
in the world as far as navigation is concerned, yet dur-
ing May and June of each year both branches of the
river in the delta are practically dry. It is plain,
therefore, that Egypt does not recognize the doctrine

WATER CARRIER.

of riparian rights when the supply of water is needed for
irrigation. Our greatest blunder, according to foreign
critics, is in permitting private parties to buy and sell
water which is placed temporarily in their hands as a
trust. The doctrine of priority of rights was unknown
to the foreign engineers I met. They can understand
how such a doctrine should come to be recognized, and
agree with us that it is a just basis for establishing
rights to the use of water.

Egypt excels us in the administration of such law
as it possesses. The principal strength of the adminis-
tration, however, lies in the efficiency of the irrigation

ASSUAN DAM.
From West Bank of Nile— Lower Face of Dam January 7, 1902.

engineers. Why they should be successful may be made
more evident as one appreciates the size of the country
and the primitive condition of the farmer.

Egypt has to-day but 5,000,000 acres of agricultural
land. Over half of this is in the delta. The delta is
triangular in shape and about 120 miles on each side.
The vallev above becomes narrower as one ascends the

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

73

river. The widest point is located about 40 miles above
Cairo. At Assuan the valley is only i, few hundred
yards wide. There are three large dams on the Nile.
The one at the head of the delta is perhaps one of the
most striking in the world. The one at Assiut, 250 miles
above .Cairo, is of nearly the same design and will not
be discussed separately. The dam at Assuan, which
has just been completed, is of a new type. The ancient
system of irrigation in Egypt was perfected during the
12th dynasty, about 4,000 years ago.

The delta is a network of canals and drains. The
water in the canals runs a few feet below the surface
of the ground and it is all lifted by devices which have
been invented by the natives. There are a number of
fine, large pumping plants in the delta, but a large part
of the water is still lifted by baskets swung by two
sturdy natives or by a cylinder furnished with a wooden
screw, turned by hand. As one ascends the river the
character of these devices change. The country in the
neighborhood of Cairo is full of interest to the traveler.
The great dam 12 miles" down stream is an object visited
by tourists who have but little interest in irrigation.
The valley is dotted with small villages, where the

THE ROSETTA BANOP.

From Mainland West of Nile Looking; East, Wooded Land in Distance
on Delta, Lock in Foregroudd.

farmers who till the .surrounding lands live during high
water. The village of Taibia, to which I shall refer
later, is on the road from Cairo to the pyramids of
Gizeh, 7 miles away.

The great dam at the delta was begun early in the
last century by the French. The khedive would not
consent to its construction until the engineer agreed
that a fort should be erected along the dam. There ar?
two branches of the dam, one across the Rosetta and one
across the Damietta arm of the Nile. Each dam con-
tains three forts, one at each extremity and one in the
center. Running north from the line of the dam in
the delta- is one of the largest canals in Egypt. The
head-works are of substantial masonry and the canal
furnishes water to practically all the land lying between
the arms of the river.

As one crosses the river and reaches the farming
land, the natives' houses along the Nile may be examined.
Some of these people do not live in villages but reside
on their farms. As soon as one gets back into the dis-
tricts which are annually flooded, village life only is

possible. The farmer labors in his fields almost in-
cessantly along these high lands. His only tool is a
kind of hoe having a handle but a little over two feet in
length. This compels him to assume an attitude whicti
alone would not be an inducement for a native of the
United States to become an Egyptian farmer.

The flow of the Nile is nearly the same each year.

LOADING COTTON OFPOS1E CAIRO.

It is a much steadier stream than any of the large
rivers of the United States. The high water mark of
the Mississippi at St. Louis may be 250,000 cubic feet
per second or it may reach to nearly a million. The
Nile never exceeds 450,000 cubic feet per second and
seldom falls below 300,000 cubic feet per second during
the period of ilood. The river varies from 1,500 feet to
a mile in width. It has many -small channels and
numerous islands are found along its course. Some of
these islands are cultivated, while others are simply
sand bars. As one ascends tho 'Xile, boats may l>e

PERSIAN WHEEL OR SAKIEYEH.
For Raising Water (or Irrigation.

seen laden with cotton and other farm products.
Pleasure boats are ascending the river and farmers are
transporting straw, pottery, and other commodities from
upper Egvpt to Cairo and Alexandria. At a number of
points the Nile spreads out over a broad, sandy bed.

74

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

giving it the appearance of a much larger river. The
odd native boats may be seen at any landing.

The devices for lifting water are numerous along
both banks. The shadouf is the most common because
of the simplicity of its construction. The native is
justly proud of his contrivance for raising water. Each
machine raises water about 6 feet. I have seen as
many as five lifts before the water was finally poured
into the distributing channel on the bank. Sometimes
the shadouf has but one lift. Often two men work
together, one on the right and one on the left. The
sakiyeh or Persian wheel is owned by the aristocratic
native farmer. It costs about $125 on an average and
two or three oxen are necessary before one can be oper-
ated successfully. Many large steam pumping plants
may be seen along the river. Some of these have been
erected on scows and go from place to place as the
demand for water necessitates. Probably one of the
largest canals in Egypt is the Yusef, which furnishes
water for the Fayum Province. It is 180 feet wide
and 30 feet deep and carries 30,000 cubic feet of water
per second during flood season. This is a larger volume
than the maximum discharge of the North Platte River.

PLOWING.

The Yusef Canal has many branches after reaching the
province. Many of the basin canals have no head works
but simply depend upon earthen dams thrown across
the channel near the river. When the water reaches a
certain stage the dams are broken and the basins fill
forthwith.

The town of Assuan, 580 miles south of Cairo, is
nearly on the southern border of Egypt. It is located on
the east bank of the river, just below the first cataract.
The island of Elephantine lies opposite in the river
and the island of Philae is 4 or 5 miles up stream, just
above the cataract. The granite formation of the first
cataract appears just south of Assuan. The Egyptian
railway ends at Shellel, opposite the island of Philae.
The island contains a number of temples of the Ptole-
maic period, the foundations of which are being strength-
ened by the Egyptian government so that the structures
may not be injured when the Assuan reservoir is filled.
The water will stand 6 to 10 feet on the island during
this period. The temple of Isis is the most celebrated
structure on the island. Similar temples on the south
end of the island and the liosk on the eastern margin
are also picturesque and interesting. A row of columns
along the west shore of the island is representative or

the architecture of the Ptolemaic period. Two nilc-
meters are located on this shore. They are simply
stairways running from the land down to the Nile.
As the Nile rises its depth is indicated on the walls of
the stairways by graduations of different kinds.

Two miles north is the Assuan dam. It is 1^
miles long and 70 feet high. As places is was neces-

IRRIG.XTED GARDENS, CAIRO.

sary to go 70 feet below the bed of the river to find
solid material upon which to erect the dam. It is built
entirely of granite masonry and contains enough stone
to build a wall 6 feet high and 18 inches thick from
Colorado Springs to Omaha. No water will flow over
the dam. The discharge of the Nile is controlled by 180
sluiceways through the dam, which arc closed by heavy
steel gates during the time water is being stored. Work
on the foundation was greatly facilitated by turning
the discharge of the river from one channel to another
as the construction progressed One of the problems

JOSEPHS CANAL.
Largest in the World Near Medioet el Fayum.

which the engineers had to overcome was to protect the
cement from the sun until it had set properly. This
was accomplished by covering al! newly laid masonry
with burlap which was kept wet. Some of the sluice-
ways are lined with ashlar masonry, while 40 of the
lower ones hare cast iron linings. This was used because
the work could be completed much more quickly, and a

•BHfi I.R'RI,G'.ATLON AGE.

certain amount had to be done each year before high
water appeared in the Nile. The dam had to be put in
shape to withstand this high water during June and
July each year, and the work could not again be under-
taken until toward the middle of November. The dam
was completed July 31 of this year. It will store
360,000 acre-feet of water, which is sufficient to irrigate

IRRIGATING FIELD WITH WATER RAISED BY PERSIAN
WHEEL NEAR CAIRO.

about 400,000 acres of land. This water will be used
largely to extend the system of perennial irrigation and
to reclaim a small area of new land. It will require
storage works having a capacity six times that of the
Assuan reservoir to furnish water for perennial irriga-
tion to all of the arable lands of the valley. Reser-
voir construction has therefore just begun. Even when
all the reservoirs are completed, no great change will
have taken place in the climate of the valley. It will
still be necessary for the irrigator to use a pump or other

CANALS IN FAYUM PYOVINCE.
75 Miles South West of Cairo.

-water raising device. Water for domestic purposes will
still be carried by women, as it has been for thousands
of years.

Returning to Cairo we will proceed along the road
leading to the pyramids until the village of Talbia is
reached. The, town proper is located just to the south
of the pyramid road. Districts called "hods" containing

5 to 50 acres or more -are supposed to divide the land
into areas having the same taxable value. The farms
which lie within these hods are numbered, so that the
official records refer to the number of the farm and the
number of the hod, in addition to showing the name
of the village to which they belong. The farms are long
and narrow. This is due to the fact that only the hod
lines are preserved by monuments. When a piece of
land is sold, measurements are made along the hod lines
instead of laying out a new piece of land having better
dimensions. I have the measurements of a number of
the farms near Talbia. One farm in particular was
found to be 6 feet wide and 1,500 feet long and con-
tained less than ^ acre. The farming scenes around
the village of Talbia are as interesting as those elsewhere
in Egypt. The farmer plows his land with a wooden
plow where a hoe is not used instead. It seldom happens
that one farmer possesses a team of his own and animals
are exchanged. This brings about strange combinations.
An ox and a camel drawing a plow is frequently seen.
The water buffalo is among the most useful and profit-
able of the animals grown by the Egyptians. Where it
is difficult to plow the land, natives may be seen in the
fields breaking the ground with a hoe. Indian corn is

LOADING BOATS WITH WATER JARS AT ASS1UT.
210 Miles South of Cairo.

raised extensively and it forms an important part of the
food of the farmers. It is piled along the high em-
bankments before the season of flood, where the grain
is beaten from the cobs by clubs in the hands of the
farmers. Egyptian corn is treated a good deal the
same way. Wheat is threshed by the old-fashioned
sledge drawn by oxen. All kinds of grain are winnowed
and all straw is preserved for feeding to the animals.
Where a small stream of water can be obtained from a
well or from a pump situated on the banks of the Nile,
farmers may be seen irrigating. Often the earth is
thrown out by hand after being loosened by means of
the hoe. Canals are still dug as they were thousands of
years ago, the material being put in baskets with the
hoe and carried by the native workmen to the bank.

Leaving the village of Talbia, the pyramids may
be seen in the distance. The trolley line which runs
from Cairo to them is furnished with cars which were
made in St. Louis. A drainage channel runs along
side the road, which carries water from the irrigation
basins back to the Nile. The basins near the pyramids
are quite low and are the last to reappear after the
flood.

76

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

CAN THE UPLANDS BE IRRIGATED ?

EDITOR PRICE, OF THE STERLING, COLORADO DEMOCRAT,
THINKS THEY MAY.

For the benefit of those who have made no study
of the question of upland irrigation and of the water
which may be supplied for that purpose by storm drain-
age, we submit the following facts:

The amount of precipitation in the arid region,
mainly rainfall, is sufficient to raise good crops every
year if it were properly distributed throughout the
season and wholly used for moistening the soil. This
is easily demonstrated. Of one and one-quarter inches
of rainfall, about one-fourth of an inch seeps into the
soil and one inch runs off in the mass of storm drainage,
following the declination of the land surface to the
lowest available point, usually a large depression, where
a temporary lake is formed, or the head of a stream
by which it is mainly carried down to the great rivers
and thence to the gulf. Allowing that four-fifths of
the water which falls is thus carried off and its use
lost to the land on which it is precipitated, and that
really only one-fifth of that precipitation is left for
crop growth, since the uplands have produced on an
average more than one-fifth of a crop ever since the

KOM OMBO TEMPLE.
South Sil sileh On East Bank of Nile.

settlement of the country, and have always produced
a full crop when the moisture was sufficient, it fol-
lows that if a good proportion of the four-fifths of
the moisture which is carried off in the storm drain-
age could be retained on the land and applied to
its crops the arid region would be made to blossom
as the rose. While it is not possible to distribute
water evenly over our uplands, because of the rolling
surface of the country, it is possible by constructing
dams in the line of drainage to arrest the outflow and
make artificial lakes from which the land below them
could be irrigated.

Computing the present loss of moisture by storm
drainage to be four-fifths of the precipitation and ac-
cepting the present estimate of total precipitation of
fourteen inches as correct, we figure an annual loss of
moisture in this dry climate of about eleven inches, at
least nine inches of which, or more than three times the
amount of storm moisture now appropriated by the
soil, could be retained on the uplands by artificial
means, and applied to the purposes of irrigation.

Properly applied there can be no reasonable doubt

that nine inches of moisture would raise the annual
crop average of these uplands to a very profitable point,
for less moisture is required by crops in this region than
in one of greater humidity.

To be radically conservative, suppose that only
six inches of the annual precipitation is wasted by
storm drainage. The net result of water wastage for

THE ISLAND OF PHILAE.

Two Miles South of the Assuan Dam, Looking East from West
Bank of Nile.

each acre would be 21,280 cubic feet or 490,000,000
cubic feet of water for each township annually. This
would fill a reservoir four and one-half miles long,
1,000 feet wide and twenty feet deep. Such a body of
waier would irrigate, after three or four initial years,
10,000 acres of land or a little less than half a town-
ship. It would not be desirable to construct one great
reservoir in each township because a number of smaller
ones would he nearer to the land and less expensive,

LOOKING NORTH FROM THE ISLAND OF PHILAE.
2 Miles South of Assuan Dam.

avoiding long laterals and consequent seepage, and
evaporation, thus insuring greater efficiency of service.
The average cost per township of such a system of
reservoirs would be in the neighborhood of $30,000, if
the work were done by the most economical and ad-
vantageous methods, while the increase in annual profits
arising from the servient lands •would be the same

THE IKKIGATION AGE.

77"

amount. Of the latter item, operating and betterment
charges, interest and sinking fund requirements would
absorb $6,500 annually, leaving a net result of annual
profits, $23,500. However, from what we have said it
must not be inferred that we favor the township system
of reservoirs. We use that area to illustrate the prob-
able profitableness of an enterprise of the character
referred to. As a matter of fact, such reservoir systems
as we have suggested would necessarily have to be con-
structed on natural lines of storm drainage — the long
draws or drains and the channels of storm floods — in
consequence of which township lines would cut no
figure in their development.

But while storm drainage is the most important
factor in the reclamation of the arid uplands, it is by
no means the only factor. The waters of the Soutli
Platte river from November 1st to March 15th of the
following year are not required for the irrigation of
the Platte valley. During these months so much of the
Platte floods as might be necessary should be diverted
from that stream by ditches and used to fill the upland
reservoirs. We have not at hand sufficient data by which
to compute the average discharge of the Platte river
for the months of November, December, January, Bebru-
ary and half of March, but it is very great; probably
sufficient to irrigate all eastern Colorado, western Neb-
raska and Kansas, if it were all made available for
that purpose and was supplemented by the impounded
storm drainage; at least all of the territory indicated
which is susceptible of reclamation. At flood tide it
probably flows, in the vicinity of Sterling, conservatively
estimated, 5,000 cubic feet per second, or 432.000,000
cubic feet per day. The agricultural possibilities inci-
dent to the entire appropriation of the vast bulk of water
to irrigation are difficult to estimate.

It may be that additional legislation will be neces-
sary to the effective working of upland irrigation sys-
tems, and, if so, representations to that effect ought to
be immediately made to the Legislature, which will con-
vene within a few days. More important yet, the Legis-
lature should be asked to make a small appropriation for
experimental purposes. The more conservative may
hesitate to embark upon a plan of improvement of such
magnitude and capitalists to finance a proposition of
this kind unless we first demonstrate to them the prac-
ticability of the plan a'nd the safety of their investments.

IN PRAISE OF PROSPERITY.

They raised his salary two years ago last May,
The said increase amounting to thirty cents a day ;
Since then they've raised the prices

Of carrots and of beets,

Of flour and of meats,

Of corn and coal and fruits,

Of babies' little boots,

Of potatoes, milk and cheese,

Of the product of the bees,

Of hats and socks and coats,

Of all that sinks or floats.
He's paying out the money that he saved before his

raise,

But prosperity's upon us, and his heart is full of praise.

— Chicago Post.

THE IRRIGATION MATTER.

The following is taken from the editorial columns
of The Implement Age, of Philadelphia, one of the-
leading implement journals of the world :

"Mr. Fred Bond, State Engineer of Wyoming,
sends us the following regarding an editorial which»
appeared in The Implement Age of November 24th,
which is presented in order that explanation may be
made :

"Dear Sir — In the issue of the Age for November
20th there appears an editorial in which is discussed'
certain criticisms of Mr. Geo, H. Maxwell by the
IRRIGATION AGE, in which you state that just as soon as
the least suspicion arises that irrigation development
is being promoted for selfish purposes the doom of'
irrigation will follow, and I wish to protest against
any such conclusion by your influential paper. It is-
not fair to insist that the experience of the country
following the enactment of the irrigation law shall
be wholly different from that succeeding the passage of"
other laws. Is it not a fact, and one to which there is
practically no exception, that adventurers and pro-
moters undertake to feather their nests at the expense
of the public immediately following legislation of any
nature, and especially that concerning new subjects and"
for which large sums of money are available? In this-
section of the arid region the feeling seems to be general
that the success of the new law can be best and earliest
assured by the prompt segregation and elimination from
any possible connection with its operation of any and"
all who may undertake to use it for personal or selfish
ends. Surely The Implement Age, whether the friend
or the enemy of the irrigation act prior to its passa-ge,
can join with the West in hoping that the funds made
available will be expended wisely and well without
damning the whole plan because 'promoters' who, like the
'poor,' are always with us, need first to be located and
weeded out. As long as Mr. Maxwell worked as a lobby-
ist for the passage of the law the West generally did not
inquire into his motives, but his present activity has
wholly to do with the disposal of the funds, and taken
in connection with the nature of his employment is-
indefensible from any standpoint.

"Upon reading your editorial I communicated with
Prof. Elwood Mead, of Washington, D. C., and re-
quested him to send you a copy of his open letter to-
the delegates of the last National Irrigation Congress
held at Colorado Springs. This letter is now probably
in your hands. You will find in it an accurate and con-
cise statement of a few of Mr. Maxwell's positions and"
conflicting views on irrigation matters which are well
worthv of vour consideration."

WHY HE DID IT.

A characteristic story is told of Abe Gruber, the
well known New York lawyer. When he was a boy
looking for something to do he saw a sign "Boy
Wanted" hanging outside a store in New York. He-
picked up the sign and entered the store. The pro-
prietor met him. "What did you bring that sign in
here for?" asked the storekeeper.

"You won't need it any more," said Gruber, cheer-
fully. "I'm going to take the job." — Washington Post.

The tongue usually has more to do with honor
than the conscience has.

vS

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

IRRIGATION OF RICE IN THE UNITED STATES.

An interesting report has just been issued by the
office of experiment stations known as Bulletin No. 113.
It is comprehensive of searching investigations and
should be in the hands of all rice growers, a copy of
which can be had by application to the Department of
Agriculture at Washington, D. C.

In his letter of submittal through Director A. C.
True, of experiment stations, Prof. Elwood Mead, expert
in charge of irrigation investigations, gives out the
following valuable information :

WASHINGTON, D. C., April 2, 1902.

Sir : — I have the honor to submit herewith a report
on the irrigation of rice in the United States, including
a report on the irrigation of rice on the uplands of
Louisiana and Texas, by Frank Bond, agent and expert
in irrigation investigations, and a report on irrigation
of rice in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia,
by George H. Keeney, special agent, irrigation investiga-
tions.

During the last half century rice production in the
Tnited States has grown but little, the crop of 1850,
as given by the census of that year, almost as large as
the maximum crop reported since that time, and con-
siderably larger than the average crop of the last ten
years. While rice production has remained practically
stationary, there has been a decline in the South Atlantic
States and an increase in the Western Gulf States.
Within the past few years the raising of rice in Louis-
iana and Texas has developed into one of the leading
industries of that region, and has given great value to
lands heretofore used only for grazing, and to water
which had been allowed to waste into the Gulf of
Mexico. This development has been so rapid that laws
and institutions have not kept pace with the industry,
and already serious loss lias resulted iTom the failure
of those States to provide for the establishment and
protection of titles to the use of water. Streams have
been overappropriated, and early investors who should
Iiave been protected in their use of water have been
made to suffer with the later corners, who .should have
been prevented from diverting water until earlier settlers
were supplied. This study of conditions in Ixmisiana
and Texas was undertaken for the purpose of applying
to those States, so far as conditions were similar, the
lessons learned in those parts of the country where
irrigation has long been practiced. It is hoped that
this report may aid the rice growers and the lawmakers
of Louisiana and Texas in the adoption of codes of
irrigation laws which will bring about the highest de-
velopment of their resources.

The rice industry in the South Atlantic States
has been on the decline for many years, owing chiefly
to the decline in the price of rice and the inability of
the rice growers in those States to cheapen production
sufficiently to make rice growing profitable under the
new conditions. If rice farming along the Atlantic
coast could be so modified as to permit of the use of
labor-saving machinery, there is little question that the
industry in that region could be carried on at a profit.
The descriptive portions of the accompanying report
on the industry in Louisiana and Texas, should suggest
to the rice growers of the South Atlantic States methods
which will enable them to compete with cheap labor
abroad and with labor-saving machinery at home.

During the past ten years the United States have
produced less than half the rice consumed in this coun-

try, the average importation for that time being 172,-
736,057' pounds per annum, having a value of $3,185,968.
Rice as yet enters very little into everyday use in this
country. With the present large importation and the
increasing use of rice as a staple food rather than a
luxury the possibilities for the expansion of this industry
are unlimited.

There have been frequent calls upon this office for
information regarding pumping water for the irrigation
of rice and other crops. The attempt has been made to
meet this demand by collecting information regarding
the cost of pumps and their installation and operation,
and their duty in the irrigation of rice. This informa-
tion is included in the report of Mr. Bond.
Respectfully submitted,

ELWOOD MEAD,
Chief of Irrigation Investigations.

PRES. SLOCUM, OF COLORADO COLLEGE, BEFORE
THE zoth NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS.

With the annual export of nearly a billion dollars'
worth of farm products, and the business of the country
adjusted to that fact, with a rapidly increasing popu-
lation to be fed, with .a shortage in the corn crop
affecting nearly every citizen in the republic, we have
come to problems which require the very best training
and the most careful thought for their solution. There
must be the s»me large grasp of the situation that
the English have had in their irrigation projects which
will double the amount of arable land in Egypt, and
which will accomplish more to relieve poverty in that
country than has ever been done in all its history.

A careful study of the situation indicates that
the colleges and universities harve an important part
to play in this national undertaking. The people as
a whole know very little about the whole matter. The
nation has been interested in questions which relate
to the tariff, the creation of harbors, foreign commerce
and domestic manufacturing, and thus far have left
this matter alone until it is now demanding consid-
eration. This makes it necessary that the irrigation
of our large areas of arid land should receive the most
intelligent and scientific consideration. It is not a
matter of partisan politics, but one which requires
special training and careful study of the whole problem
and all that is involved in it. For this reason the time
has come when our colleges and scientific schools should
give the whole subject serious consideration.

It is important that our colleges should offer
courses of lectures treating the whole subject of irri-
gation, including a study of all the arid districts in
the United States, the problem of water supply and
the great water sheds and reservoir sites;. the relation
of forests to irrigation.

Let me whisper to you, little maid, little man —
Don't follow the path that's wrong;

Be honest and noble and always do right,
And your life will be sunshine and song.

Go, make thy garden fair as thou canst,

Thou workest never alone ;

Perchance he whose plot is next to thine

Will see it and mend his own.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

7.9

IRRIGATION IN CALIFORNIA.

Several interesting phases of agriculture in Cali-
fornia appear in the report of Irrigation Investigations
of the United States Department of Agriculture, just
published as Bulletin No. 119 of the Office of Experi-
ment Stations.

Professor Hilgard, of the University of California,
gives the results of 14 years' study of the water problems
of the Santa Ana valley in southern California. In
this valley water is scarce and exceedingly valuable.
The right to a single inch sells for $1,250, and irrigated
orange lands have sold for $1,800 an acre. He shows
that the gravel deposits of the river where it leaves the
mountains act as a regulator, the water sinking into
these debris fans where it is stored up without expense
for dams or losses from evaporation. His researches
show that this water feeds the artesian wells below and
that as the number of these wells is increased the pres-
sure and flow is diminished, the final result however,
being a considerable gain in the water obtained. These
studies of Prof. Hilgard will be widely read in Califor-
nia for the bearing they have on the interdependence of
underground water supplies. The recent decision of the
state supreme court in the case of Katz v. Walkinshaw,
limiting the right of a land owner to take percolating
water from his own land, has given the subject new
interest.

The report of Prof. Hilgard is supplemented by
one made by Wm. Irvine, engineer of the Gage Canal,
giving the duty of water in the Santa Ana valley and
some conditions whidi influence it. An interesting
feature of Mr. Irvine's report is the illustrations of
. the canal, measuring boxes, and methods of distributing
water. Nowhere in this country if in the world is water
used with greater economy and skill than in this section.
The main canal and many of the distributing laterals
are cemented and in some cases pipes are used. Water
is delivered to the different tracts from hydrants and
carefully measured over weirs, all these details being
illustrated in this report. The canal was operated at
first without cementing but the losses from seepage and
growth of vegetation in the banks and bottoms reduced
its capacity so much that only- one-fourth of the cal-
culated volume could be carried through it. Since
cementing the loss is only about 1 per cent. The plans
and specifications for this work are given so that en-
gineers may understand clearly its character. The ex-
pense of cementing a channel 7 feet wide on the bottom,
15 feet on top, and 4 feet deep was 75 cents per linear
foot.

Irrigation in central California is covered by a
report by A. E. Chandler, Agent and Expert. The
canals where Mr. Chandler's measurements were made
were not cemented and in some cases the losses from
seepage were as great as those on the canal in southern

California before its improvement. On the Vandalia
Ditch 92 per cent of a discharge of 16 cubic feet per
second was lost in a distance of two miles. The illus-
trations show that the flow of water in these canals is
also interfered with by weeds and grass so that it is
probable that cementing or some other method of lessen-
ing seepage losses will be employed in the near future.
The possibilities of this are discussed by Mr. Chandler
in his report. He estimates that some canals on which
the losses are large could be cemented for a cost of
between $4,000 and $5,000 per mile and that the loss
of water in a single season in some sections has been 28
per cent more than the cost of this work. The products
of irrigation in this section have a high value. Under
the Pioneer Canal the orange crop was worth $137 per
acre; on one orchard under the Pleasant Valley Ditch,
$107 an acre. On this orchard water was sparingly
used so that the value of the crop grown with an acre-
foot of water was $63.79.

This report may be obtained by applying to the
Director of the Office of Experiment Stations, United
States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

A recent issue of The Signal, Weisar, Idaho, con-
tains the following:

"S: F. Stark, accompanied by his father, returned
from the line of the construction work of the Malheur
Butte Ditch Company Monday afternoon. They re-
port more than 50 teams at work and this force will
be increased to 100 as soon as the line is cross sec-
tioned ahead of the work far enough to allow of their
being placed on the work. Messrs. Stark and son's mis-
sion to the city was to secure an engineer to do the
work. D. A. Utter, who is the engineer in charge, is
employed at Mineral surveying some mines in that lo-
cality,, and could not do the work.

"The construction work is under the management
of Hoskins & Harkins. Their contract calls for the
completion of their work — sixteen miles — by April 1st.
This will bring the ditch to the upper end of Dead
Ox flat, opposite Weiser. It is the intention of the
company to have the water on Dead Ox flat in the
spring in time for irrigation. The completion of the
ditch to the upper end will practically cover the en-
tire district, as small ditches and laterals will be run
in every direction from the main canal, so that it may
be distributed to all the ranches covered by it. The
bringing of the water to the ranches of that section
will be a matter of great gratification to them, as they
have waited long and patiently for the completion of
the big canal. It not only means much for the ranch-
ers of that section, but for Weiser, which is the natural
supply point for that section.

"R. C. McKinney, who is the resident agent of the
company, reports much inquiry for lands covered by
the ditch, and expects a great deal of activity in that
section in the spring."

Even now from far, on viewless wing,
Hither speeds the nameless thing,
Shall put they spirit to the test ;

Haply, or ere yon sinking sun
Shall drop behind the purple west,

All shall be lost — or won !

— R. W. Gilder.

80 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••(•••••••••••••••••••••••I

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I

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

81

DRAINAGE DEPT.

REMINISCENCES OF A DRAINAGE SURVEY.

BY C. G. ELLIOTT.

It has been sixteen years since the subject of the
drainage of the Eed River valley in Minnesota was first
taken up in a comprehensive way. In view of the active
interest exhibited during recent years in ihe construction
of ditches in the valley, and the gratifying success which
has attended the work in both constructive and legal
phases, it may prove of interest to describe some of the
pioneer work which preceded the system of improve-
ments which is now k-ing carried out.

The Red River valley has been noted from its
earliest settlement as a tpyical wheat growing country.
The merits of "Minnesota No. 1 hard'' were appreciated
l>y every milling establishment in the ATorthwest, and
the superior nutritive value of flour made from it was
well understood in the markets. The fame of the im-
mense wheat farms which were opened up in the 70's
and the reports of money made in operating them
brought the valley into prominent notice as a desirable
place for the home seeker and speculator in lands. The
large or bonanza farms, as they were called, were selected
from a large domain and naturally the choicest locations
wore first occupied.

The portion of the valley which became distin-
guished in this respect is a strip of prairie land from
twelve to eighteen miles wide bordering the Red River
and extending from the north line of the state south a
distance of two hundred miles. To the casual observer
it is a plain diversified by no slopes which suggest ade-
quate natural drainage. Such streams as there are
have their rise in the higher lands lying to the east, flow
westerly towards the Red River, but in crossing the
prairie plain many of them loose themselves and form
marshes thousands of acres in extent, and then as they
approach the river discharge their overflow through
diminutive channels— /mere ditches — into the sluggish
Red River of the Norfeh. Upon a closer examination at
a time when there is ah abundance of water io indicate
the comparative levels,Harge flat areas are discovered
with corresponding more elevated tracts, the difference
between the two being perhaps from one to three feet,
but of such large extent that no drainage outlets are per-
ceptible. Another natural feature of this valley are well
defined channels six or seven feet deep and often
several miles in length which occur at irregular inter-
vals, but have no outlet connection with any stream.
These are called coulees and are evidently old water
channels which have been rendered inoperative by the
action of more recent streams from the eastern slope of
the valley.

According to the evidence secured by the geological
survey of the state, the valley was at one time a- large
inland sea having connection at the north with Lake
Winnipeg. Later as the land at the north became
higher, the movement of the water as it receded from the
higher land was toward the West where it found an
exit through the channel of the Red River. As the
channel of the river became better defined, the fall of the
water was more rapid until at last it passed away leav-
ing the lacustrine clay bed upon which the alluvial de-
posit was subsequently made. This body of water is
called Lake Agassiz. As the waters of this inland sea

gradually receded from the higher land, beaches were
formed which can now be traced and show the successive
positions occupied by the shore line of this ancient lake.
These beaches often fragmentary, but sometimes con-
tinuous, have been located and are marked upon the
geological map of the state, and seem to prove con-
clusively that the theory of the existence of an ancient
inland sea is correct. Artesian wells have been sunk
200 feet or more deep through soil, yellow clay and
blue clay into a stratum_of gravel where fresh water is
found, indicating that rock does not exist at ordinary
depths.

These were the characteristics of the valley as seen
by the writer in 1886. At that time the desirability of
better drainage had become pretty well impressed tipon
the minds of leading business men. A series of wet sea-
sons had just closed during which great injury had been
done to crops which, in addition to the low price of
wheat then prevailing, had worked great hardship upon
all classes of settlers. The methods of farming are pe-
culiar to the climate and should be briefly mentioned.
During the rigorous winters the ground freezes to a depth
of six feet, thereby effecting a thorough opening up and
pulverization of the soil to that depth. The field for
tHe crop is plowed in the early fall and the wheat sown
in the spring as soon as the frost passes out of the sur-
face sufficiently to leave a few inches of mellow seed
bed. The moisture produced by the continual thawing
of the frost furnishes all needed moisture for the grow-
ing plants during the first part of the season. Early
seeding is imperative, otherwise the grain does not have
time to mature in the fall before frost overtakes it,
resulting in "frosted wheat." If warm rains melt the-.
snows on the slopes to east of the valley land quite
rapidly, a wave of water moves down the slope and
over the fields, causing a suspension of all seeding,
often delaying all farming operations for two or three
weeks. This may mean to the farmer a difference be-
tween a good crop and a total loss. In addition to this
annual risk, occasional summer rains drown crops al-
ready well started. These discouraging effects were be-
coming a serious menace to the prosperity of this wheat
growing valley and it was decided that something must
be done. The extent of the valley, its level surface and
lack of adequate outlets, presented a problem in drain-
age which no one had solved. There was much difference
of opinion as to what direction the drainage should
take. The banks of the few streams which could be
utilized were higher than the land bordering them.
The coulees were channels with no outlets. Swamps
of from 2,000 acres to 30,000 acres which filled up
and overflowed the surrounding land intensified the
difficulties to be surmounted. That united action of
the counties bordering on the Red river should be
taken was a proposition finally acceeded to by those
who had given the subject consideration.

A convention was called to meet at Crookston in
July, 1886, to formulate a plan of action. The counties
were well represented by delegates, who took an active
part in the discussion of the plans proposed. Presi-
• dent J. J. Hill, of what was then known as the St.
Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba R. R., was there and
encouraged the movement greatly by offering to con-
tribute one-half of the cost of a preliminary survey.
It was agreed that a topographical survey should be
made and" a comprehensive plan of drainage be formu-
lated and reported to the same convention, which should
be convened at the call of the chairman after the sur-

82

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

vey was completed. A joint commission was chosen
.by President Hill and the counties, which should have
direction of the work and of the expenditure of the
funds jointly contributed. It was estimated that the
work required in six counties would cost $10,000.
Only five counties united at this time in the work,
Marshall, Polk, Norman, Clay and Wilkin. The com-
mission organized as the Red River Valley Drainage
Commission and offered the writer the place of chief
engineer of the survey. This was accepted and im-
mediate steps were taken towards getting parties in
the field.

It was desired by the Commission to have the
survey completed and report ready to submit before the
close of the coming December. How to accomplish
the work within the time required no little thought
and planning. There were 'but few available engineers
in the locality, and to get any from a distance required
time. The plan was to get one party in the field
at the earliest possible moment and from that draw
a chief of party for the second and so continue until
four parties should finally be in the field. The general
plan of work adopted was as follows : Copies of town-
ship plats, as found in the U. S. Land Office, were
made to be used as a basis of the survey, and as field
maps. These plats were constructed on a scale of two
inches to one mile and showed every topographical fea-
ture found by the U. S. government surveyors in sub-
dividing the townships. It was proposed to follow
the section lines east and west to and from the river,
taking levels at every quarter mile and at such in-
termediate points as might be necessary, and to trace
out to the right or left of this line any depressions
which might be found, taking and recording levels on
the natural surface and also in the bottom of all de-
pressions. The original government corners could be
located in most instances, for but a comparatively small
part of the country had been fenced and but few of
the corners had been obliterated. They were invariably
"post in mound," the post part of the corner, in many
cases being a mere stake. The survey was to be a level
survey with estimated distances between government
corners.

A party consisted of four levelmen, four rodmen,
one teamster and one cook. One of the instrumentmen
held the position of chief of party, and was charged
with the direction of the party, comparing and checking
of field notes, and the daily entries on the field map.
The outfit consisted of one team and wagon which
were furnished by the teamster, two wall tents without
flys, one 12x14, used as a sleeping tent, and one 9x12,
used as a cook tent; a cooking outfit consisting of a
light iron cook stove and tin and iron utensils. In
all but one of the parties the cook was employed by
the month and provisions were furnished by the Com-
mission. In one party the cook furnished the outfit
and provisions and boarded the men at $5.00 per week.
The difference in expense of the two plans .was but
slight. Sea level elevations were obtained from bench-
marks furnished by the railroad company, and closing
elevations were taken and noted wherever it was pos-
sible to reach them.

In field work each man started from a common
point and ran his independent section line with the
necessary offsets during the day, the four in the party
ma-king a sweep four miles wide. At the close of
the day the men on the outside lines ran a check line
to the center and the four closed on the same point,

the chief of party noting the disagreements of ele-
vations. It .was then his place to record all elevations
on the field map and fill in such topographical fea-
tures as each instrument man had noted in his book.
The camp, according to instructions given in the morn-
ing, had moved forward to the estimated closing point
for the day. The following day the programme was
repeated. Each man carried his noon lunch with him
and pulled into camp at night checking on the levels
taken by one or more of the party. The closings of
the levels of the four we're usually within one-tenth of
a foot, though two-tenths- were allowed. These dis-
crepancies were not carried on but were adjusted each
day and the entire work checked up on the next bench-
mark found which was at the crossing of the lines with
the railroad. In this way any errors made were not
permitted to accumulate, thus keeping all of the lines
within reasonable limits of accuracy.

Four parties such as described were placed in the
field and continued work until the last of November.
They were made up of county surveyors, student engi-
neers, railroad engineers and one veteran U. S. gov-
ernment surveyor. Levels of six different makes were
used, each man furnishing his own instrument. The
weather during the time the field work was done was
unusually pleasant so that there was no delay on that
account.

The field maps and note books were turned into
the office, and from them was made a map of the
part of each county covered by the survey. The ele-
vations were transferred to the county map, those
indicating the bottoms of streams or drainage depres-
sions being placed in parentheses, thus showing at a
glance the depth of any channel which was outlined.
No contour lines were placed upon these maps for
the reason that there were tracts which for a mile or
more were practically level, and others where there
were local slopes of varying degrees to such an extent
that contour lines would be misleading, and of no value
in planning systems of drainage. After all elevations
and topographical features had been entered upon the
map, the plans for drainage were worked out from
the data; at hand. The area was divided into dis-
tricts, main drains located and designated by numbers,
estimates of sizes and cost made out, and the whole
tabulated. The limits of this article will not admit
of a description of the results developed by the sur-
vey or the numberless details connected with the esti-
mates required, nor can adequate credit be given to
those whose untiring labor and faithfulness made these
results possible. The convention was called for Dec.
20th, at which time the Drainage Commission reported
to the convention that the survey had been completed
and presented the maps and estimates showing the
feasibility of the work. Mr. J. T. Fanning, C. E.,
consulting engineer for the Commission, made an elab-
orate report endorsing and commending the plans
which had been evolved from the survey. The reports
and copies of the maps were soon published in pam-
phlet form, and thus made available for use in the sev-
eral counties. The subsequent work done by the peo-
ple of the valley in their efforts to obtain state aid in
carrying out the work and in securing the passage
of a drainage law, together with a description of the
work accomplished in the valley during recent years,
would make a most interesting addition to drainage
literature.

THE IKKIGATION AGE.

83

DRAINAGE PROBLEMS OF IRRIGATION.*

BY C. G. ELLIOTT.

The drainage Of irrigated lands seems like a prop-
osition involving a contradiction of terms. Yet its
necessity is a fact in many of the older-irrigated areas of
the West. Had the necessity of this been suggested
to the early promoters of irrigation improvements, they
would have pointed to the heated sands and barren
wastes as furnishing a sufficiently conclusive answer and
dismissed the matter with scarcely a passing thought.
However, such a necessity exists and is acknowledged
to-day. By the side of productive fields are seen areas of
marsh and bog similar in appearance to those found in
the well watered parts of the rainfall belt. Thousands
of acres which were once the pride of the farmer, afford-
ing him abundant crops and ample remuneration for his
labor, are now waste, by reason of the water-logged con-
dition of the land. Villages and towns are also victims
of this unforeseen condition, and find the necessity of
drainage forced upon them as a- sanitary measure.

The causes which have produced these undesirable
conditions mav be briefly given. In the improvement of
arid lands it is necessary to lead the water required
for irrigation in ditches which are constructed for long
distances through soils often exceedingly open by reason
of the large per cent of gra.vel and sand which they
contain. As a- result, much loss by leakage occurs,
especially during the early history of every canal. In
many localities this is never effectively checked, but is
looked upon as an unavoidable loss which must be pro-
vided for. In some of the older ditches upon which
measurements have been made, this loss is found to be
from 30 to 50 per cent of the total volume of water
taken from the stream. It is continual during the sea-
son when water is supplied to the land. In addition to
the supply from this source may be mentioned the reck-
less and prodigal use of water which frequently pre-
vails in early irrigation practice. The soil at first is
dry and deep and apparently will contain an unlimited
supply of water, but unless some underflow furnishes
a ivlief, the ground fills up and the water appears on
the surface at lower Bevels, or at points where there is
some underground b&rrier which obstructs its course.
Where the surface is generally level, as in some of the
districts in southern California, the filling up is more
uniform and manifests itself in a more general satura-
tion of the soil, with its accompanying results. This
is commonly known as "seepage" and is a condition
becoming more familiar to irrigators each succeeding
year.

The saturation of the soil is not the only injury
done by the seepage. The soils in nearly ever.y locality
in the arid regions contain large quantities of sodium
chloride, sodium sulphate and sodium carbonate, and
other salts which are derived from the rocks from which
the soils originate, and are distributed through them,
forming an important part of their fertility under
normal conditions. When, however, any portion of
the soil contains an excess of water, these substances are
dissolved from the solid portions and are held in solu-
tion. The water, when brought to the surface by either
gravity or capillary attraction and evaporated, leaves
the salts concentrated at or near the surface. The
continuation of this process results in the accumulation
of alkali, as it is commonly called, in such strength as

*Read before the Engineering Section of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science. Dec. 31, 1902.

to destroy all vegetation except such as is indigenous
to alkali soils. While these salts are valuable when
properly distributed in the soil, more than one-tenth
of one per cent has been found to be injurious to the
larger part of cultivated plants. The dryness of the
atmosphere produces an excessive evaporation whenever
moisture is brought to the surface, resulting in a rapid
concentration of the salts, especially during the most
heated season in the arid climates.

This is briefly the situation in some of the irrigated
districts of this country, and, it may be added, that a
counterpart may be found in foreign irrigated districts
which has attracted the attention of investigators for
some years. The engineering problems connected with
the treatment of this growing evil, which is curtailing
the profits of the irrigation farmer, are somewhat differ-
ent from those to be dealt with in humid lands where
drainage is successfully practiced. The rise of soil
water must be controlled or limited. to a certain horizon
below the surface. Owing to the finely divided structure
of this soil and its chemical composition, its capillary
power is such that this horizon should be distant not
less than 5 feet from the surface, and for many kinds
of plants a greater depth is preferable. Otherwise the
water will continually pass to the surface where, being
evaporated, it will occasion the results before described.
The source of the water is the supply contained in the
irrigation canals, which always occupy a higher level
than the land irrigated by them. It places a constant
head upon the soil water, in many cases similar to the
force which produces artesian flow. In other cases,
water under this head follows courses in the lower soil
until arrested by some less permeable barrier, it appears
at the surface.

The remedy, in the light of present investigation, is
to cut off the supply rather than to remove the water
after it has appeared, or, in the case of large and level
tracts, such as are found in southern California, to so
arrange the drains as to arrest the supply from beneath
rather than remove it after it reaches the surface. In
land which requires reclamation, water flows upward
instead of downward, either directly' or after it has passed
through an inclined stratum of soil, and is then arrested
and forced to the. surface. In either case, it is clear that
if a drain can be located in such a way as to intercept
this flow before it appears too near the surface, an im-
portant part of the problem has been solved. It is not
necessary to intercept and remove all of the excess of
water, since the soil will care for a part of it without
detriment to its surface production. In the fruit belt
of Fresno, Cal., it has been estimated that in order to
control the water line of the soil properly, 2% cubic
feet of water per second per square mile should be
removed. Each location, however, demands a special
investigation to determine this quantity on account of
the varying conditions of surface, soil, and physical
structure of the land through which the supply ditch
passes.

The proper location of drains is, perhaps, the key
to the situation and furnishes a field for practical in-
vestigation of a peculiar nature, since it is not neces-
sarily the number or kind of drains which will accomp-
lish the work, but their intelligent and skillful location,
both as to surface locality and depth. Various elements
enter into this phase of the work which ca.a not be
mentioned at this time. It is sufficient to say that pres-
ent drainage practice in irrigated land, though of limited

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

extent, is sufficient to emphasize the truth of these sug-
gestions.

The various kinds of drains, such as open ditches
and covered drains constructed either of drain tile, or
of lumber in the form of wooden boxes, have their ap-
propriate places in construction work, according to the
locality which may demand attention and the con-
ditions peculiar to it. The laying out of proper grades,
details of construction with thejr practical difficulties,
will furnish to the engineer a fruitful field for the
exercise of both common sense investigation and tech-
nical experience.

This practically new drainage problem is of great
interest to the older irrigated districts and should also
command the earnest attention of all canal companies
and irrigators, in view of the serious results which are
certain to follow in the wake of excessive leakage from
canals and the wasteful use of water. Lands newly re-
claimed from the desert may in time require supple-
mentary drainage work. The conclusions which may be
drawn from recent investigations thus far made in
Colorado and California upon this subject are :

First. — Much valuable land now under irrigation
has been destroyed by seepage and the resultant deposit
of alkali, and the process is still going on in certain
quarters at a rapid rate.

Second. — Such land can be reclaimed and other
land now threatened with the effects of seepage can be
protected from injury by simple methods of drainage.

Third. — The simplest and most effective method
of drainage is a ditch, either open or closed, constructed
across the slope where seep water first manifests itself
parallel with the supply ditch and between it and the in-
jured land. Whatever subsequent work may be found
necessary, this is the first step.

Fourth. — The depth of drainage in most, if not in
all cases, must be not less than 5 or G feet, in order to JDC
effective.

Fifth. — For the protection of extensive tracts, large
ditches of considerable length may be required in which
cooperation of land owners in their construction will
be necessary, and which can only be done effectively
under the provisions of suitable drainage laws.

It may be said that the growing importance of this
subject, in view of the added interest now taken in
the improvement and extension of irrigated areas, de-
mands more minute and careful examinations than
have thus far been made. The preservation of the lands
already subdued, irrigated and improved, is as of great
importance as the addition of new land to our cultivated
domain.

At Latham, Logan county, 111., recently, R. M.
McWilliams, the dredge boat man of Mattoon, was
awarded a contract to dredge a ditch eight miles long
known as the Illini-special drainage district. Mr. Mc-
Williams will have to remove 10,000 yards of dirt, and
the contract must be completed in the early spring.

There were numerous bidders there, and Mr. Mc-
Williams was the successful one of fourteen who were
anxious for the work.

The large contracts taken by the McWilliams com-
pany in the past year makes it one of the widest known
dredging concerns in the West.

The contract includes eight miles of open ditch, and
five miles of drain tile — 10 to 18 inches. The ditches
are to be six feet deep, five feet at the bottom and 17
feet wide at the top.

CORRESPONDENCE

HINSDALE, MONTANA, Dec. 28th, 1902.
EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE :

My Dear Sir: Your favor of Nov. a8th came duly
10 hand, but owing to a rush of work has not received
attention until the present time.

Answering your questions, I have seen several lists
of members in various sections, among others being lists
of the Chicago, St. Paul, Montana, and California member-
ship, together with amount of their membership fees. These
lists contained the names of the largest business houses
and commercial organizations in each locality, and have
known how some of the money was disbursed, for instance,
I was informed by one in authority to know that in support
of the Chicago Congress Maxwell pledged and paid $I,OOO
for the use of the Central M\isic Hall in which the meetings
were held; again that he paid $1,000 for the use of the
Auditorium ; that the association paid all the expenses in-
cident to the Chicago Congress, which was no small amount,
and which congress was one of the most successful ever
held.

Regarding his refusal to furnish you a list of members
to whom you desired to send copies of THE AGE, I think
that was nothing unusual. I do not doubt but that he would
have been pleased to have sent the copies through his office
for you, but to furnish a list for that purpose would be
another matter. In my own particular line of work, for ob-
vious reasons I would not furnish any one with a copy of
my mailing list, nor do I think you would dp so with the
mailing list of THE AGE. Now let us be fair in this matter,
would you ?

If you have fully followed the history of this irrigation
movement during the past six or eight years, you will admit
that the entire movement was on the decline, that the Mis-
soula congress was the last one at which any strength was
developed. Even there money was not available for the
purpose of publishing the proceedings of the congress,
that some time elapsed before courage was mustered to try
it again. In the meantime Maxwell at the suggestion of
a few of his friends concluded to establish the headquarters
of the movement at. Chicago, and to carry the work right
into the 'east ; among Maxwell's friends and others it was not
seen how he could maintain the work, the expense being so
great ; then it was1 proposed to organize the National Irri-
gation Association and by providing a membership fee
provide the funds with which to carry on the work ; it was
in thin manner that interest was worked up in the Chicago
Congress, and the expenses of that Congress met. It was
(he real starting point pf the entire national irrigation move-
ment, Maxwell, by arousing the commercial interests of the
east and south and inducing them to co-operate with the
west, at the same time awakening an unusual interest among
I he press of the east, brought an influence to bear upon
Congress, which could not have been secured in any other
way, and men like O'Donnell, Boothe, Gibson. Wantland,
Maxson, Gavin, Beardsley, Thurber, Fowler and Hewitt,
all men of national reputation marvel at what has been ac-
complished by Maxwell.

In THE AGE you state that the three transcontinental
lines were interested to the extent of $30,000 per year. To
me and those who desire to see the arid lands of the west
settled and developed, this is interesting news. It affords me
much satisfaction to learn that they have at last recognized
the importance of the movement to the exent of assisting it
financially, and they can well afford to, it means greatly
increased traffic to them to have the west settled.

Reference has also been made to the "Open Letter."
I beg to advise you that to my own personal knowledge
that certain statements therein contained are at variance
with the facts; that I have here in my possession letters
which prove them. I do not think it hardly necessary to
go into personal reference unless absolutely necessary, but if
the proof is required it can be produced.

My friend, for several years past an effort has been
made to secure control of first one thing, then another.
At one time it was the leasing of the public lands. I sup-
ported that idea until I discovered that the effort being
made was not in the interest of the small settler, and that
if any attempt were made at the time to secure a leasing
bill that advantage would be taken of the man who was

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

85

just beginning to move west again and create a home.
Then came the proposition to place the carrying out of the
provisions of the irrigation bill under state control, and now
it is being attempted again under a new guise, namely, that
a state board of control shall be created in each state. I pre-
sume if this should prove successful then the effort would be
made to have the carrying out of the provisions of the new
irrigation bill under this state board of control. From my
experience here in Montana with the manner in which the
state school lands question has been manipulated in the
past, I am unalterably opposed to schemes of this character.

It is also being asserted throughout the west that un-
less such a state board of control is created we are not in
harmony with the government authorities, and in proof of
this, quotations are made from the report of the Secretary
of Agriculture. Care is taken, however, not to mention the
fact that the administration of the irrigation law is not under
the department of agriculture, but under the department of the
interior, but nevertheless the impression is created among
those not fully posted that we are really in opposition to
the government by not following the recommendations of
the honorable Secretary of Agriculture. When the real
facts are made known, what effect will this have on the peo-
ple at large? Do you not think they will discern the true
inwardness of the matter?

In my desire to see the west fully settled and developed
I yield to no one ; no one would oppose more strenuously
any matter in which I would feel that it was opposed to the
best and lasting interests of my state. On the other hand,
I do not believe there is a man in my state who is willing
to labor harder, or to make a more continued effort to secure
anything which would benefit her. I believe any scheme
gotten up for selfish purposes will not triumph for any length
of time. I believe that you are well aware of the attempt
which is being made at this very time in this state to
foist a proposition upon us farmers and irrigatprs which
is obnoxious to us, and which will not prevail if I know
anything about the people of this state. This matter also
comes from the same source.

The situation throughout the west today on the national
irrigation movement is that we are divided among ourselves.
First it is this, then that. The original proposition was that
the west could not build the large propositions. In order
to secure the passage of the irrigation bill it was pointed
out that the Secretary of the Interior had recommended
three specific propositions which were entirely too large for
private capital. Now it is stated that the money should
be divided up into small propositions. Only last summer
a prominent government official told me that the officials had
reversed themselves, and it was ordered that attention would
be paid to small propositions. Then some section in the
west, fearing that some ( other section may get a little ad-
vantage over them if the work of reclamation is not started
in that particular section, gels up a protest remonstrating
against the first proposition. My attention has been called to
articles which have appeared in the Denver Republican
criticising the St. Mary's Lake proposition. Yet this was
one of the three propositions recommended by the Secre-
tary of the Interior. In the article referred to all sorts of
ridiculous statements were made which had no foundation
in fact, and we are not one of those communities in the
west which is tamely waiting for some one to pull us out
of the mire. We are sawing away. Each year shows a
good increase in the acreage of irrigated land. We now
have fully 80,000 acres under water and are adding at least
10,000 yearly. While additional water supply would be of im-
mense benefit we do not believe in waiting. But the entire
situation in the west presents a peculiar condition of affairs
to the easterner and is not inspiring, or calculated to secure
their support. It occurs to me that the wisest course would
be for the people of the west to unite upon those matters
which we all agree upon, and let those other matters await
a more favorable time for settlement. We are supposed to
be interested principally in irrigation, yet we branch off onto
leasing, state control, etc.

In conclusion, I do not believe we can secure any full
recognition in the east as long as we are divided among our-
selves. Patriotism would suggest that we all unite, and pre-
sent a united front to the east. Again we cannot hope for
much without the aid of the east. The best way to reach
the east, in my judgment, is through the business interests
of the east, just as Maxwell is now doing, and if the railroads
can be induced to assist us by contributing financial support
we should congratulate ourselves on the fact, and the Na-
tional Irrigation Associati6n is just the agency to accom-

plish this. We should aid the association in every way
possible.

Mhxvyell is charged with wanting the merger at Colo*
rado Springs, as a delegate to the Trans-Mississippi Com-
mercial Congress at St. Paul last July, and as an executive
officer I did all I could to bring that about, believing it
the only proper thing, and believe it will prevail in the end. It
is a great waste of time and expense to have two or three
organizations for practically the same purpose, and we have
reason to be thankful to the Trans-Mississippi Commercial
Congress for their strong endorsement at Cripple Creek.
There is no doubt in my mind that it assisted very materially
in securing the passage of the irrigation bill.

An organization similar to the National Irrigation As-
sociation is an absolute necessity to carry and sustain in-
terest in irrigation matters. In the irrigation congress no
provision is made whereby funds are provided. The Trans-
Mississippi Commercial Congress have found it necessary to
perfect a similar organization with a permanent member-
ship fee. Were we fortunate enough to unite with the Trans-
Mississippi Commercial Congress and were able to exert any
influence it would be a case of the tail wagging the dog. You
know it has been a very difficult matter to develop interest
and financial means sufficient to hold a congress each year,
and have been only too glad to ask the T. M. C. C. people
to give us a day for irrigation discussion. The same people,
who are interested in one organization are also interested
in the other, and have the same interests at heart. There is
no earthly reason why two different congresses should be
held. See my position this year ; I could find time to go
to one, but not to both, although I had expected to go to
the irrigation congress until the last day.

In THE AGE reference was made to the request from
the executive committee for $10 to assist in paying the ex-
penses of publishing the report. No request of this character
was made after the Chicago Congress, and I believe the peo-
ple of Colorado Springs pledged the necessary expense of
publishing the report when the congress was offered them
at Chicago.

I offer you these suggestions in the best of spirit, and
trust that you will receive them in that way. I trust we may
have the pleasure of meeting on one of my trips to Chicago,
and that you will do everything possible to bring about a
better feeling among the opposing forces in the west. When
I see you personally I have some inside history to tell and
show you myself, and I wish to say in conclusion that the
right will prevail in this as well as in other matters. Propo-
sitions for selfish reasons might prevail for a time but not
always. It would be much better for the welfare of this-
movement if all would sink their personal feelings in the
matter, agree on those maters on which we all think alike,
and let the others rest.

With sincere regards to you personally and the hope
that we may meet at no distant time, I will close this letter,
which has grown longer than I expected when I sat down
to reply to you. My friend, in conclusion, and without
mentioning names, there are more than one government of-
ficial, or set of officials, interested in this matter. Some
are very conscientiously doing everything in their power
to accomplish a result, even to the extent of not protecting
themselves when assailed. They go right on doing their
work, in a quiet, unostentatious manner. Another set I cannot
say so much for. Strife is being created, and I have letters
from senators of the United States complaining of their ac-
tion pending the passage of the irrigation bill in which this
statement occurs : "The greatest foes of the movement
come from supposed friends of the west, and who are from
the west. Their opinions are frequently quoted and ac-
cepted as facts, and make it difficult of explanation. Mr.

and Mr. so and so (naming them) are doing

more harm than the east all put together, and I fear that
the bill will not receive a favorable consideration at this,
time. Yours truly,

W. M. WOOLDRIDGE.

REDFIELD, IOWA, Jan. 2, 1903.
IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL:

Gentlemen : Enclosed find programme of our twenty-
third annual convention to be held at Ames, Iowa. If not too
late kindly publish same. If you can give us a little write
up it will be greatly appreciated. We had the largest attend-
ance of any state meeting last year and as Ames is the home
of Iowa College, every member should be present this year..

Very truly yours,
ROBT. GOODWIN, JR., Secy.

86

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

PHILLIPS, Wis., Dec. 22nd, 1902.
THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL,

Dear Sirs : I have been observing closely for about three
years past, the effects of drainage on our swamps in Price
county, Wisconsin. Have tried to ascertain what it costs
tc clear these low-lands of timber and prepare for crops.
.Cost of ditching per rod of different sized ditches. How
near the ditches should be to each other and how deep.
How long after draining before the land was ready for
crop, etc. Have also tried to ascertain the relative values of
upland and low land after having been put into crop.
Effects of excessive rains or drouth upon same. Durability
of soil. What fertilizer is best. What profits per acre
are received from raising hay upon same, and the tons per
acre taken from these low lands. It is only this year that
I began, actual experiments upon these marsh lands. Have
a peat marsh of 200 acres on the main highway, two miles
sodffi of the city of Phillips. Began clearing last fall and
have now 18 acres cleared, and 10 acres is ditched and
partly into crop. This swamp is surrounded by improved
farms. The farmers had no faith in the marsh, claiming it
was sour and made sport of us as we prepared to put in a
crop. Have a pretty little garden now in the center of the
swamp and near the road which crosses it. Have a variety
of vegetables in it, which are doing splendidly. I might
write you a short article occasionally, upon the results of
my investigations. I am more and more convinced that the
swamps of the north are a gold mine to those who buy early
and put into tame hay.

Yours very truly,

DEWlTT VAN OSTRAND.

HOUSTON, TEX., January 10, 1903.
EDITOR OF THE IRRIGATION AGE: , ..••

Chicago, 111.

Dear Sir: We beg to advise you of the formation of
the firm of Maxcy & Anderson, civil and mechanical engin-
eers, to do a general consulting engineer business, and es-
pecially the engineering of irrigating plants, of which there
are a great many being built in Texas and Louisiana.

The members of this firm are Mr. John W. Maxcy, who
;has had charge of much of the important engineering work
in this section, and Mr. William E. Anderson, who was,
for a number of years, mechanical engineer for the Ameri-
can Cotton Company.

Very respectfully,

MAXCY & ANDERSON.

KEOTA, IOWA, Jan. 2, 1903.
IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL:

Dear Sirs : Enclosed please find draft for $2.00 to pay
subscription for your journal for the years 1902 and 1903.
I have always considered your journal one of the indis-
pensable helps in our business. The past year has been a
very prosperous one in our business. We have not been able
to supply the demand. The 25th of last September I bought
Mr. j. C. Clarke's interest in the works. I now own the
works alone. I have recently contracted for a new 60 H. P.
boiler and expect to add another building to my works
in the spring. Wishing the journal a happy new year, I re-
main, Very truly.

S. K. LEACOX.

CAREY, OHIO, Jan. 5th, 1903.
IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL:
Indianapolis, Ind.

We have just effected a consolidation with the Heck
& Marvin Co., of Findlay, O. The company will be known
as The Van Buren, Heck & Marvin Co., and with a capital
and facilities at least four times as great as has the present
company.

We will be pleased to send you copy for our ad as
soon as we possibly can.

Thanking you for past favors, we are

Very truly yours,
S. C. VAN BUREN'S SON & Co.

THE TILE WORKS AT CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS.

One of the oldest drain-tile factories in central
Illinois is that of S. H. Record at Charleston. Mr.
Record began business in 1877 with a horsepower mill
and one small kiln. He dried his tile in an open
shed, as was the universal custom in the earlier days
of the clay business. When drying tile with steam
heat was first proposed, it was regarded as an inno-
vation which should be adopted with caution. It was
found, in many cases, that rapid drying made the tile
crack and in thai way occasioned considerable loss.
Drying in the open air, however, was entirely too slow
to keep pace with the growing demand for drain tile,
as was also the molding of them by the horsepower
mill. These primitive methods gave place to the steam
power mill and to sheds equipped with steam pipes
the manipulation of clays, the regulation of artificial
heat for the dry shed, and the art of burning the ware
were gradually learned by dear experience. Competi-
tion in the tile business became disastrously sharp by
reason of the multiplication of factories. Our veteran
clay workers dwell upon this phase of the business with
special bitterness in recounting the early trials of the
tilemaker. The reduction of selling prices below the
cost of manufacture forced many out of business, and
nearly ruined others, if we may believe the reminiscences
related by the veteran tilemakers. Many expensive

Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE
for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

TILE WORKS, S H. RECORD, CHARLESTON, ILL.

mistakes were made in developing the business, and,
take it all in all, there were ups and downs in the
career of the manufacturing of drain tile, which the
purchaser knew nothing of.

Now that the condition of the trade is such that
there is good demand for tije and fair prices are realized,
the feeling is better and tilemakers prosecute their work
with energy, having confidence in the future of the
business. Many of the older factories show the suc-
cessive steps of enlargement which have been made
necessary by the steady advancment of drainage inter-
ests. Air. Record's shed was extended, after which an
L constructed of hollow building blocks was put up in
a substantial manner. Both are two-stories high, have
slated floors and are heated by a complete system of
steam pipes. The clay used is tender and considerable
care in handling the heat is required or the tile will
crack badly in drying. The tile mill and clay dump
are located in the angle of the L formed by the two
dry-sheds, from which both sheds can be filled with
equal facility. The clay is hauled to the dump with

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

87

teams, and worked direct from the bank on a New De-
parture mill. This mill makes large tile as well as
small, which is fortunate, as there is a growing de-
mand for drains of large size. Doubtless a much more
convenient factory, and a better one in every way
could be built now after twenty-five years' experience.
Though the modern tile factory is far in advance of the
one built several years ago, yet it is but the develop-
ment of those primitive affairs which have served the
people well.

Mr. Record lias apparently acted upon the advice
once given by an experienced tilemaker when inquired
of regarding the best kiln to use. Said he, "Learn to
burn the kilns you have." The practice of doing the
best with what one has has laid the foundation of
many a fortune and is often the best course to pursue.
This factory at Charleston enjoys a good trade. It
is in the broom corn belt, which is noted for its fertile
land and well-to-do people. The farms are being more
highly improved each year, requiring the addition of
drains to complete the systems which in many instances
hare only been outlined. All this adds to the produc-
tiveness of the land and the consequent wealth of the
broom corn belt of Illinois.

Pulse ihe Irrigation Industry

Supervisor West, who has been up and down the
Colorado river the past week, says that fully 150 men
are with the government surveying parties, which are
running lines preparatory to the building of the im-
mense Government canals, which are to spread the
waters of the Colorado river over the desert lands and
make them blossom. One crowd of surveyors has been
along the river north of Needles, as far as the Bull's
Head and has taken soundings and run lines along both
banks between the Bull's Head and Fort Mojave. From
present appearances it would seem that the Govern-
ment intended to build canals on both the California
and Arizona side of the river. At the Bull's Head a
wire cable has been stretched across the river and very
complete soundings and measurements have been taken
at that point. It is believed that at that place the big
diverting dam will be built, as it affords unusual nat-
ural advantages and is above the head of steam navi-
gation.

There is evidence that the surveyors have done
much work along the river, below Needles, as the sur-
veyors' flags are to be seen at various points. It is
reported at Needles that another crowd of surveyors
are working north along the Colorado from Yuma.—
San Bernardino Sun.

On his return to Great Falls, President Hill spoke
freely to the newspaper men concerning the development
and growth of Montana. He pointed out that with
irrigation this State has just as good possibilities as
Washington, where thousands of new settlers are locat-
ing, and said when the Montana lands are reclaimed
"the Great Northern will see that the settlers are brought
here to occupy them." The "Great Northern will lend
every assistance in securing irrigation, for we are as
much interested in the upbuilding of the State of Mon-
tana as you are." Mr. Hill asserted that the reclamation

of the arid lands is too large a proposition for individual
effort ; "it must be done with national aid and will be if
the proper spirit is shown in this and other parts of the
State." When the arid lands are reclaimed Mr. Hill
said the question would be "How quickly can we build
railroads, not when?'' "There are in the Middle West
thousands of homeseekers, ready to move to any western
state just as soon as they know they can get land fit for
agricultural purposes. Develop your agricultrual re-
sources and other things will be cared for accordingly."
This is good advice for the people of Montana. It is
true that the irrigation bill has been passed, but much
remains to be done to make it effective. There is a vast
area to be reclaimed and but little money for the work
at the start. To secure early advantages under the law
the people of Montana must work together in harmony.
When the lands are reclaimed and ready for settlement
the settlers will come, and with the increased settlement
and development the railways will quickly follow. They
will go where there is business for them, and the settle-
ment of the country will make more business than could
be secured in any other manner. — Northwest Magazine.

J. M. Johnston, missionary among the Navajo -In-
dians, has secured an appropriation and authority from
the government to experiment in the irrigation of desert
lands now occupied by the Indians. Mr. Johnston was
in Chicago recently, and stated that he had secured
authority to .spend $5,000 at once in his. experiments,
and declared that he believed the dawn of better times
and of a complete independence was at hand for the
N avajos.

Mr. Johnston is located at the mission where the
Little Colorado crosses Canon Diablo, and his plan is
to irrigate from that river by means of wells sunk in the
bed of the river. The present plan is to sink several deep
wells in the river's bed near Canon Diablo and to run
pipes from these to the adjacent lands, and by means
of the supply thus obtained to irrigate them sufficiently
to produce grazing grass.

Mr. Johnston expects to demonstrate to the Interior
Department the practicability and value of the plan,
and to show that it is the only way that the Navajos
and other Indians now occupying the great Red Desert
of Arizona and New Mexico can be kept from being a
constantly growing charge upon the government. Ex-
periments have already been made, and have elicited the
fact that water flows underground and close to the sur-
face in many portions of the desert, so that irrigation
by means of wells, both in the bed of the river and in
the desert, would provide an abundance of water for
irrigation purposes. Mr. Johnston said :

"I expect to prove to the department that it will
cost very much less to make the lands of the desert
fertile than it does to supply the Indians with food and
clothing. Every year the desert Indians are becoming
more and more destitute and more and more of a charge
upon the government. All that the Navajo, for example,
needs is a little water to make the grazing grass grow
on his lands, and he will become more than self-
supporting. The Narvajos are now self-supporting, but
their condition is fast becoming poorer and poorer, and
their flocks are yearly dying out for want of sustenance.
I believe, however, the government is awakening to the
facts, and that the irrigation plan will prove the solu-
tion of the Indian question so far as the desert red men
are concerned.

88

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

ODDS JND ENDS

TO RECLAIM THE LAND OF GOSHEN.

A consular report states that in the land of Goshen,
lying between the Nile and the Red sea, and famous
in Biblical history as the region to which the Israelites
were assigned by Pharaoh, the Egyptian government
is now engaged in a gigantic reclamation project. Prof-
iting by the example of enterprising private companies,
the authorities have determined to reclaim an im-
mense area which has long suffered from lack of suffi-
cient moisture and which was, it was supposed, rendered
utterly worthless by a canal dug by the engineers con-
structing the Suez canal for the purpose of supplying
fresh water to the large force of workmen engaged in
that undertaking. The canal was not carefully con-
structed and the seepage was of unusual proportions.
Reaching the alkaline deposits which underlie the en-
tire area, the water brought them to the surface in such
quantities as to make the soil absolutely arid.

.The government is now constructing two canals ai
different altitudes. One will supply fresh water for
irrigation, and the other will carry away the alkali
drawn off by the drains, which will be placed about four
feet below the surface and 150 feet apart. During the
first year it will be necessary to keep the surface sat-
urated and no crop can be grown, but immense quanti-
ties of alkali will be washed out and into the Red sea.
The second year a forage crop can be raised, and after
that the usual crops of Egypt — corn, wheat and cotton
— can be grown in great abundance. In the course of
this work the surveyors discovered the well preserved
remains of an irrigation canal, constructed by one of
the Pharaohs, a description of which is to be found in
Herodotus. The officers in charge are now working
on the problem of restoring portions of the original
aqueduct for present use.

HISTORY OF ALFALFA.

So much is said now of the wonderful qualities of
the forage plant known as alfalfa that its history is
overlooked by the majority of farmers.

Alfalfa is a native of Western Asia, according to
the report by the Maryland Experiment Station, whence
it was early taken to Southern Europe. The Spaniards
carried it with them to South America. From Chili
it was taken to California and thence spread through-
out the drier portions of the West. Everywhere it has
added immensely to the stock carrying capacity of
farm and ranch. Its great value as a feeding crop
becoming better recognized, an effort has been made to
extend the use of it and there is probably no state now
in which it is not growing, at least experimentally.

Recently the Department of Agriculture has im-
ported from Turkestan a- variety which is remarkable
for its ability to resist great extremes of heat and cold,
and it is this variety which it is believed by the officials
will be extremely valuable for the states of the North-
west.

Briefs have been filed by the Farmers' Irrigation
District and William Frank in the three-cornered con-
test over the right to tap the Platte river in Scotts
Bluffs county for the irrigation of a tract comprising
about 60,000 acres of land. The Farmers' Canal Com-
pany, which is the third party in interest, has not
yet filed its brief, although today was the date set
for all of them to be in. It is estimated that the land
which it is proposed to irrigate will be worth $2,000,000.
The scheme of William Frank contemplates watering
150,000 acres, and the development of power along his
canal for industrial purposes. He rests his claim wholly
on priority of application. The irrigation district ob-
jects to Frank's pretentions because, it is claimed, it
is speculative and will give him a monopoly of rights,
contrary to the terms of the Constitution and against
public policy. It is alleged that he proposes to exact
$20 an acre for water rights, and that the granting of
his application will deprive residents of the district
from watering their own lands.

It is alleged that Mr. Frank has at heart not so
much the interest of the district as of his own bank
account. When the district came into the field it is-
sued $400,000 bonds, afterwards declared valid by the
supreme court. Mr. Frank undertook to negotiate
them. He failed to find a taker. Then he made the
district a proposition to construct the canal through
the agency of a syndicate, if the district would give
him a half of the land, amounting to 40,000 acres
and the $400.000 in bonds. For this reason the counsel
for the district assert, that Frank is in the business
for speculative purposes. — Omaha Bee.

In commenting on the late irrigation congress the
Denver Field and Farm has the following to say
in comparison with the National Farmers' Congress:

"Our own beloved National Irrigation Congress is
built on much the same plan, the only difference be-
ing that it is run principally as a one-man show, al-
though it must be said in all truth that the one-man-
Maxwell was thrown down so good and hard at the
recent meeting in Colorado Springs that all the wind-
pudding was knocked out of him, and hereafter he will
be numbered among the nit crowd."

DAILY AND PERSONALLY CONDUCTED EXCUR-
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convenient means of travel in Pullman sleeping cars
with agreeable company, in charge of experienced con-
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Francisco, Los Angeles or Portland. Choice of routes.
Finest scenery. Low rate tickets and only $6.00 for
double berth. Maps and information free on appli-
cation to ticket a-gents or address, W. B. Kinskern, 22
Fifth avenue, Chicago, 111.

Renew your subscriptions to the IRHIGATION AGE
for 1903. Send us in Post, Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

The San Gabriel River Water Committee held its
monthly meeting Tuesday morning. It has just com-
pleted putting a submerged dam in the development
tunnel, which is confidently expected to result in a
heavy accumulation of water during the winter months,
and a correspondingly increased flow through the sum-
mer.— Covina (Cal.) Argus.

THE IKKIGATION AGE.

89

THE DEARBORN CANAL.

A meeting of the members of the Montana State.
Arid Land Grant commission was recently held in Mis-
soula- at the office of the president, Col. Thomas C. Mar-
shall. The full membership was present — President
Marshall, Vice President and Field Agent Donald Brad-
ford, Helena, and Secretary D. H. Cory of Helena.
The business considered was largely routine, but a
report presented by the field 'agent showed the affairs
of the commission were being carried forward as di-
rected, and that indications pointed to a large amount
of good that would follow plans for irrigating a large
area- of land in northern Montana.

Figures of the agent were confined largely to work
being done on the Dearborn canal in the northern part
of the state. He furnished documents to show that
the canal now carriod water that was irrigating satis-
factorily nearly 14,000 acres. One-half of this has
been contracted for by settlers now living on the lands,
and who have made at least one payment on a contract
purchase. Other letters read gave assurance that the
remainder of the land would probably be claimed within
the coming six months.

According to previous arrangements the board will
go ahead with the erection of reservoirs and dams to
hold water for the irrigation of a tract containing 22,000
acres in Cascade county. The supply for this will come
through the Dearbonvcanal. It is not expected the work
on th'is feature will be completed before 1004. — The Mia-
soulian.

The Lake Koen Navigation Reservoir and Irriga-
tion company was restored the right to do business in
the state of Kansas by the charter board at Topeka
recently. The company, so it was alleged, had refused
to pay its just debts and had also failed to file a state-
ment of its business in compliance with the law. The
attorneys for the company showed that it was willing
and able to pay all just debts and that the failure to
make a statement of the business was simply an over-
sight. The officers of the company claim that the trouble
started in the first, place by the action of a man who
attempted to hold up the company for $10,000, which he
happened to be in need of, and that.he had no just claim,
the company having paid him in full.

The company was said to be one of A. E. Stilwell's
enterprises, but Mr. Stilwell said last week that he was
neither an officer nor director in the company. He took
$2,500 worth of stock when a reorganization v/as being
effected and the enterprise is now known as the Lake
Stilwell company. The company was formed in Bar-
ton county, Kansas, where it is proposed to build an
irrigation reservoir. — Kansas City World.

"Among the Flowers with Rexford," the regular
department of experiences and help for amateurs in
floriculture in the January, Home and Flowers, con-
tains an editorial, "What to Do in January," Rexford;
"The Golden Hop-Tree," by W. C. Egan, and "January
in1 Southern Gardens," by Mrs. G. ^ . Drennan.-

A FAIR AVERAGE.

Visitor — '"'Lady Evelyn tells' me, Dan'l, that you
have had four wives." , ,

Daniel (proudly) — "Ess, zur, I 'aye — an' what's
more, two of 'em was. good 'uns \"—&fvAon Punch.

Ere yet thy heart be hard and dry,
Make haste to pardon and atone ;

One hoarded hate shuts all the sky,
And turns the Father's heart to stone.

— Frederick Langbridge.

Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE
for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

'HE NAVAJO INDIAN
BLANKET STORES CO.

501 to 507
6th Street
Denver
Colorado

Controlling
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mtput of the
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Irrigators who contemplate buyine a Rake, Plows, Planters, Cultivators,
Harrows or Seeders should write us for catalogue, which will be sent post-paid.

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We make the Lewis Gas and Gasoline F.n i"e for irrigation pumping plants.
Mention Irrigation Age.

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Buy a THOMPSON-LEWIS and
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convenient, economical and durable. For de-
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J. Thompson & Sons Mfq. Co.. Beloit, Wis.

90

THE IEKIGATION AGE.

The Shuart
Earlh Graders

Style No. a

These machines rapidly and
cheaply reduce the most uneven
land to perfect surface for the ap-
plication of .water. Made in
several different styles. On the
No. 3 style the blade can be
worked diagonally, as well as
straight across, thus adapting it to
throwing up and distributing bor-
ders, ditches, etc For descriptive
circulars and price, address

B. F. SHUART

Oberlin, Ohio

WANT AND FOR SALE
ADVERTISEMENTS

Drain Tile— all size?.

ORESTES TILE WORKS, Orestes, Ind.

Drain Tile— all sizes.

A. K. WRIGHT, Fairmont. Ind.

Drain Tile— all sizes.

WILLIAMSON BROS., Sweetzer? . Ind.

Drain Tile— all sizes.

JOHN W. RUST, Herbs t, Ind
The above drain tile manufacturers are situated
on railroad lines convenient to ship in caiload
lots, and solicit trade, especially for large sizes.

FOR SALE.

KO.OOO Brick and Tile Plant.
60 Double Deck Dryer Cars.
10 Acres, 5 Kilns, good market.
Having gone into banking and building business
can use product as part pay.

Write PELLA DRAIN TILE Co.,
Pella, Iowa.

FOR SALE— Potts disintegrator. No. 2, com-
plete, with new rolls and pulleys, tun but a few
weeks. Address, M. J. LEE, Crawfordsville, Ind.

FOR SALE— A completely equipped factory
for drain tile and flower pots; seven acres clay
land; good trade: wish to retire from business.
Address, A. M. FISH, Milan, Ohio, Erie Co.

Exposition

To

St. Louis

Write lor Rates and Folders

Warren J. Lynch, W. P. Deppe,
Gen'l Pass. & Ass't Gen'l

Tkt. Agt. P. &T. A.

CINCINNATI, OHIO

Seeds

the Kind

that Leads

cost more— yield more.

sold by all dealers.

19O3 Seed Annual

postpaid free to all

applicants.

D. M. Ferry & Co.,

Detroit, Mich.

CALIFORNIA FOR THE WINTER.

The cold weather which characu riies
ihe average winter in the north, east and
middle west naturally causes consider-
able attention to be drawn to the sec-
tions of the United States in which
different conditions obtain. California,
Arizona and Mexico are the great winter
resorts of the country. Southern Cali-
fornia contains a myriad of attractions for
the tourist, and the Southern Pacific-
Sunset Route operates double daily pas-
senger trains between New Orleans and
all California points, with all modern
conveniences and comforts and excur-
sion sleeping cars Washington, Cin-
cinnati and Chicago to San Francisco on
regular days.

The celebrated Sunset Limited with
magnificent dining car service, leaves
New Orleans daily at 11:55 a. m.

For information or literature address
any Southern Pacific agent, or

W. G. MUNGER, G. A.,
Chicago, 111.

$2.50
Bbl.

POTATOES

Larffeftt ffrowemof Seed Potatoealn America.
The" Rural New Yorker** fl ven^alzer'M Kar-
ly W iBconnln a yield of T4« bu. per a. Price*
dirt cheap. Mammoth weed hook mid earn pic or
Tco«lntc, Hpeltz. Macaroni Wheat, «8 bu. per
a., Clant Clover, cU:..uiK>n rcx,>i|,t of lOc poslage.
JOHN A. BALZEU SF.KIX'O. La Croue, « U.

R. H. McWILLIAMS,

G E N E R. AL
DRAINAGE
CONTRACTOR

Special attention paid to reclaiming
swamp lands with steam dredges.
Drainage bonds bought and sold.

OFFICE:

n \TTOON.

ILLINOIS.

EDGAR M. HEAFER
TILE COMPANY

MANUFACTURERS OF

Round Drain Tile

Of Superior Potters' Clay.

ASLO DEALERS IN

SUPERIOR FIRE BRICK AND SEWER PIPE
BLOOnilNQTON, ILL.

James W.Craig. Edward C. Craig.

James W. Craig, Jr.

James W. 4 Edward C. Craig,

ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
MATTOON, COLES COUNTY. ILLINOIS.

Special attention given to the Law Department
of Drainage Work.
Drainage Bonds Bought and Sold.

M. H. DOWNEY. E. J. WILCOX.

DOWNEY & WILCOX, Civil Engineers,
Drainage and. Roads a Specialty.

Correspondence Solicited. loom 2, Court Bouse, ANDERSON, IND.

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

9J,

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

JEFFREY CONVEYORS

Will handle your product rapidly and economically

Also MaiMifsvctvire

Screens, Elevator Bvickets, Water Elevators

Crushers, Etc.

SEND FOR.
CATALOGUE

ADDRESS

; The

Jeffrey Mfg. Co.

Columbxis, Ohio.

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ii

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

! ..Eureka Potato Planter.

The Eureka is the most
practical Potato Planter
on the market. Price
within the reach of all
farmers, and does the
work correctly. Plants
cut or uncut seed.

Nothing equals it; yield greater from it than from planting by hand. Light draft for one horse and easy for the
man who operates it. Have won out in every test. Send for circulars. Not an experiment, but a^machine used by
the thousand and for the past four years on the market. Our latest catalogue of implements should interest you.
Shall we send it?

ji Eureka Mower Co., Utica, N. Y., U. S. A.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 18 j I I I i i I I I I I I I I I I I l l I I I I I I I I I I I 81

92

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

for Brick, Tile and Sewer
pipe Manufacturers

SEWER PIPE BARROW

TILE TRUCK HEAVY FURNACE FRONT

(

These Trucks and Barrows are made of first-class material, and the workmanship is the
best. Special trucks and barrows to suit customers, made to order. Prices quoted on
receipt of specifications.

BAND TIGHTENERS AND DOOR CONNECTORS

CLASS B CLASS C

TUPPER STYLE GRATE

Sections 6 inches wide.

CAST IRON KILN COVERS

, 42, and 48 inches long

STRAIGHT GRATES

VENTILATORS

Any length. Sections 3 inches to 3% inches wide. Weight average about 1 pound
per inch in length.

We also make Kiln Bands complete with sections cut to length and rivet holes punched. Rivets fur-
nished and tighteners riveted on to end sections. Prices quoted for anything in this line upon application.

Address

The Arnold -Creager Co.

NEW LONDON, OHIO

or Cor. 6th and Vine Sts.. Cincinnati, Ohio

THEIRKIGATIONAGE. 93

0«0«0«0€0«0«0«0«0«0€0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«

Say, Mr. Tile maker,

Does the machine you are now
using pug the clay sufficiently

If not, here is one that will. The best Tile
Machine made, combined with an eight*foot
double*shaft Pug Mill; and it is arranged to
make tile from 2 1/2* in. to 24* in. It will pay
you to investigate this machine and also Ben*
sing's Automatic Cutting Tables. Write us for
full information and prices

THE J. D. FATE CO.

(A PLYMOUTH, OHIO

We make a full line of Clay Working Machinery

•o»o«o«o«o*o»o*o«o»o»o*o»o»o»c«o«o*o«o«c •O9O9O9O9O9O9O9O9O9O

94 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 n 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M n 1 1 1

TH E

S. G. VAN BUREN'S SON 4 CO. of CAREY, 0.

HAVE CONSOLIDATED WITH THE

HECK 4 MARVIN COMPANY of FINDLAY, 0.

FOR THE PURPOSE OF INCREASING THIER FACILITIES AND CAPITAL
:::::::: FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF THE : : : : : •: : :

BUCKEYE

THE COMBINED COMPANIES ARE NOW KNOWN AS

VAN BUREN, HECK & MARVIN GO.

The Buckeye Traction Ditcher POSITIVELY cuts to a perfect
grade and to its greatest depth at one cut. It finishes the trench
with once passing over the ground. It is manufactured in sizes
ranging from n^ inches to 24 inches in width, and from 4^ feet
to 61A feet in depth. It has a speed of from 8 to 20 rods per hour
and is operated by two men. We would like to tell you more
about this machine. .:::,:::::::-:,::::::::::::::

SEND FOR OU-R CATALOG

VAN BUREN, HECK & MARVIN GO.

FINDLAY, OHIO, U.S.A.

i'.| I I I I I I I I I I U I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I C I I I I I I I I I I I I I I i I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

95

Built Right

R\m Right

Unsurpassed for Tile, Hollow Ware. Brick and all
Classes of Clay products. Write for Particulars
on this or other Clayworkini; Machinery 999?

The Improved Centennial Auger Machine

Bucyrus, Ohio
U. S. A.

The American Clay-Working
Machinery Company

96

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

^J The MARION
STEAM SHOVEL CO.

Mo. 632 W. Center Street, MARION, OHIO.

A COMPLETE LINE OF STEAM SHOVELS, DIPPER

AND CLAMSHELL DREDGES, ETC.

constructing Drainage Ditches we have both
dryland and floating Dredges, and we build
them to suit the requirements of your work. We
manufacture our own steel and grey iron castings,
and make our own chain.

One.ya.Td Ditching Dredge. When in the market write us for information and prices.

(When Writing Advertisers, Please Mention IRRIGATION AGE.)

FINE FARM LANDS.

Wisconsin is noted for its fine crops,
excellent markets, pure water and
healthful climate.

You can buy a farm on easy terms in
Wisconsin along the line of the Chi-
cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway
for less than you can rent one for three
years in any of the Eastern states. Now
is the time to invest.

Address F. A. Miller, General Pas-
senger Agent, Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul Railway, Chicago, 111.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

99

I

Superior Disc Drills

SOWS ALL GRAINS EVENLY AND OF MORE UNIFORM
DEPTH THAN ANY HOE OR SHOE DRILL. WILL SOW
AND COVER GRAIN IN HARD GROUND, WHEREVER A
DISC HARROW WILL RUN.

Lighter Draft than any other drill.
Never Clogs in foul ground.
Wheel* Extra Heavy, broad tire.
Wears Longer without repairs.

Saves Time and labor for the farmer.
All Sizes from 8 to 22 discs, 2, 3 or 4 horse.
Buy the Superior, the original and best of
all disc drills.

The Good is Always Imitated, that is, when it comes to Farm Machinery— which accounts
for the many infringements upon the advantages and improvements which go to make The Superior
Disc Drill the acknowledged leader of the grain drills. We furnish them with steel wheels, steel
seat and spiral wire grain tubes on your special order. Ask for Catalog.

The Superior Disc Drill is the original, and has the greatest record of any seeding machine
on the market. We make every size drill that is desirable, besides we also make

DISC HARROWS, HAY TOOLS AND CIDER MILLS THAT WILL
BE MOST SATISFACTORY TO PATRONS. ALL ARE WINNERS.

Write for printed matter and mention The Irrigation Age.

The Superior Drill Company

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO

100 THEIERIGATIONAGE.

The Aultman & Taylor
Machinery Co.

OF MANSFIELD, OHIO,

One of the oldest concerns in the threshing machine busi-
ness, in fact one of the pioneers and pathfinders, are build-
ing portable and stationary rice separators which are tak-
ing the lead everywhere. They are guaranteed for superior
separation and cleaning, as testimonial letters elsewhere in
this issue would indicate.

The Aultman & Taylor Alfalfa Huller

Has established a
reputation in the
arid regions that
no other make of
alfalfa separator
and cleaner has
ever attained. Its
capacity is fully
one-third greater than that of any other machine. It saves
more seed and cleans it more perfectly than any other type.

Those interested in perfect rice separators, either of portable
or stationary type, or a superior alfalfa huller, should address

MARK

The Aultman & Taylor
Machinery Co.

OF MANSFIELD, OHIO

for one of their illustrated catalogues, which is sent free

to any address.

In addressing the Aultman & Taylor Machinery Co. kindly mention The Irrigation Age.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

VOL. XVIII.

CHICAGO, FEBRUARY, 1903.

No. 4.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING GO.,

PUBLISHERS,

112 Dearborn Street, - CHICAGO

Entered at the Postoffice at Chicago, 111., as Second-Class Matter.

D. H. ANDERSON, Editor.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.

To United States Subscribers, Postage Paid $1.00

To Canada and Mexico 1.00

All Other Foreign Countries 1.50

In forwarding remittances please do not send checks on local banks.
Send either postoffice or express money order or Chicago or New York
draft.

fn A rl xrP»rti QP>r<! II may interest advertisers to know that The Irrigation Age is the only publication
LU X^.U V Ci. U.OC.L £>. ta the wor,d jjaving an actuai paid in aavance circulation among individual

irrigators and large irrigation corporations. It is read regularly by all interested in this subject and has readers in all parts of the world.
The Irrigation Age is 18 years old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world.

EDITORIAL

Through the kindness of Mr. Geo. H.
Dreamwold Pollard, manager of Dreamwold, the
Drainage. farm and country place of Mr. Thomas

W. Lawson, Scituate, Mass., we are ena-
bled to present an article from the pen of the con-
tractor, Mr. O'Hearn, on the drainage work accom-
plished on the polo field on this place, with pen draw-
ings showing plan of work. The article, with illustra-
tion, will be found on another page.

An In a recent letter from a gentleman promi-

Opinion. nent in irrigation affairs in Montana we
find the following: "I have to thank you
personally for the stand you have taken in upholding
Blwood Mead. His department has done wonderful
work for the west during the short time since its
establishment. I regret very much that there should
be such antagonism between Mr. Maxwell and himself.
I have known for a: long time both Mr. Mead and Mr.
Newell and consider that the interests of the West
are safe in their hands.

In this issue is presented a report of
the annual meeting of the Nebraska
Irrigation Association, which was held
at Lincoln, January 22. Among the
many interesting papers presented are
those of the president, Mr. Wolfenbarger, and that of
Mr. J. C. Stevens, assistant secretary of the Nebraska

Nebraska
Irrigation
Association.

State Board of Irrigation. Mr. Wolfenbarger treats
particularly of what Nebraska land will produce by the
proper application of water, and advises investigation
along lines to improve small tracts and gives figures
of profits from small holdings properly cultivated. The
paper by Mr. Stevens is published in full in connection
with the report, and is worthy of perusal by all our
readers.

Eleventh

Irrigation
Congress.

The eleventh National Irrigation Con-
gress, which will be held at Ogden, Utah,
September 8, 9, 10, 11, 1903, promises
to be largely attended, and if the people
of Utah carry out their present pro-
gramme the delegates will receive a welcome at Ogden
such as has never been accorded delegates at any similar
meeting. As will be seen by articles in another col-
umn, an appropriation has been made by the State Leg-
islature for ample money to properly entertain all del-
egates. It is estimated that a fund of not less than
$10,000 will be available for that purpose. All inter-
ested should make preparation to attend and help swell
the number so that the eleventh congress may outstrip
all preceding meetings in point of attendance and
results.

Wolfenbarger's
Speech.

We wish to call attention to the
speech of Mr. A. G. Wolfenbarger,
president of the Nebraska Irrigation
Association, which appears in our
report of the annual meeting of that body. Pump and
wind mill people should be interested in the following
paragraph :

"A cattle rancher about forty miles south of Brush,

102

THE IEBIGATION AGE.

Colo., produced on a little truck patch, containing lets
than one-half acre, over $129 worth of miscellaneous
garden vegetables by irrigation from a wind mill plant,
the storage reservoir of which did not cost to exceed
$23." Mr. Wolfenbarger says farther :

"Onr people need to learn that on thousands of
farms there are opportunities to construct and put into
operation small irrigation plants, which would increase
the value of farm products from $100 to $300 per acre
on each farm when such a plant is established."

What Mr. Wolfenbarger says of Nebraska and the
West is equally true of the Central and Eastern States.
and the time is not far distant when manufacturers of
wind mills, gasoline engines and other pumping outfits
will begin a campaign of education along these lines
cast of the Missouri River.

ject. A good likeness of Mr. Wolfenbarger is shown
in this issue.

President
Wolfenbargcr.

A. G. Wolfenbarger, of Lincoln, Neb.,
recently unanimously elected presi-
dent of the Nebraska Irrigation As-
sociation, is one of the best known
irrigation attorneys in the central West. He is a
farmer's son, and for the past twenty-five years has
been engaged in journalistic and social reform, and for
the past twelve years has been actively engaged in the
practice of his profession in the capital of Nebraska.

MR. A. G. WOLFE iBARGER.
Lincoln, Neb.

He has held commissions from four governors of his
State as an accredited representative of Nebraska in
the various national irrigation congresses. He has de-
voted much time to the study of irrigation law and his-
tory, and in all positions he has held in connection with
the irrigation movement he has never received a dollar
of salary and his expenses have be'en met from his per-
sonal funds. He published the Nebraska Irrigation
Annual in 1896 and 1897, and during his incumbency
as an officer of the Irrigation Association has printed
and circulated over three tons of literature on this sub-

Secretary of
Agriculture.

Through the courtesy of the Division
of Publications, II. S. Department of
Agriculture, we are presenting in this
issue a very good likeness of Secretary
of Agriculture James Wilson, who was born in Ayrshire,
Scotland, August 1C, 1835. Secretary Wilson is a
nephew of Rev. Dr. J. McCosh, ex-president of Prince-
ton College. In 1852 his parents emigrated to the
United States, settling at Norwich, Conn., whence, in
1885, he removed to Traer, Tama County, Iowa. He
attended the public schools and finished his education
at Iowa College. As early as 1861 Mr. Wilson took
up farming as an occupation, and in the same year was
elected to the State Assembly, of whose lower house he
became speaker. In 1872 he was electd to the Forty-
third Congress (1873-75), also to the Forty-fourth
(1875-77), and to the Forty-eighth (1883-85). In the
interim between the Forty-fourth and Forty-eighth he
served as a member of the railway commission; in 1870-
71 he was a regent of the State University, and in 1890-
97 was director of the agricultural experiment association
and professor of agriculture at the Iowa Agricultural
College at Ames. He was confirmed Secretary of Agri-
culture in President McKinley's cabinet, March 5, 1897,
and was retained in office when the President began his
second term. Secretary'Wilson is recognized as one of
the most conscientious workers in the cabinet and has
accomplished great good for the farmers of America
since being placed in this high office.

FIGHT ON.

If things seem a little blue,

Keep on fighting.
Stay it out and see it through,

Keep on fighting.
Do not give up in despair,
There will come a change somewhere,
Skies to-morrow will be fair.

Keep on fighting.

Is the struggle hard and long?

Keep on fighting.
Face the music and be strong,

Keep on fighting.

Show you're game and proud of it,
That you're not the sort to quit,
That you have old-fashioned grit.

Keep on fighting.

But if you should win or no,

Keep on fighting.
If you lose, then be it so,

Keep on fighting.
You had better bite the dust
For the cause you know is just
And eternally go down
Than with wrong to win renown.

Keep on fighting.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

103

IRRIGATION IN THE SOUTH.

BY FRANK BOND,
Assistant in Irrigation Investigations, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

In no other portion of the humid sections of the
United States has agriculture by irrigation received
such an impetus as in the States which border the
Gulf of Mexico. The success which waited upon the
artificial application of water to the rice fields of
southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas has
encouraged the application of the principle to the di-
versified farm crop, and especially to
the growing plants of the market gar-
dener's truck patch. But as yet ag-
riculture by irrigation, so far as the
same is applied to market gardening,
is in the experimental stage in the
South. It may be said, however, that
no failures have yet been experienced
by those farmers who have used irri-
gation in their fields or patches of
vegetables, grain, tobacco, or orchards.
The irrigation of sugar cane may be
anticipated at an early date, for the
observant cane grower has learned
that during every week of drouth the
joints on the cane
grow shorter and
shorter, the ripened
stalk often showing a
shortage below what
a sufficient rainfall
would have produced
of 10 to 25 per cent.
In a cane field cover-
ing thousands, or even
hundreds, of acres,
this loss is tremendous
in comparison to the
cost of an irrigation
plant capable of pre-
venting it. The writ-
ar believes that irri-
gation of sugar cane
in districts subject to
drouth conditions is
one of the certainties
of the near future. In
southern Texas the
irrigation of truck
farms from compara-
tively shallow artesian
wells has already be-
come established, and
with marked success,
and the farmers of
Alabama and Georgia
also are awakening to
the fact that they have
within their reach a
means of preventing
the failure of crops
which has become so
regular the past few
years that farming
was being considered
a doubtful occupation.
In southern Georgia
800 bushels of onions

MR. FRANK BOND.

Courtesy Division of Publications.

SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE WILSON.

per acre, worth $1 per bushel, is a common crop when
opportune rains in May and June come to mature the
plants. During these months in 1901 and 1902, how-
ever, the necessary rains did not come, and complete
loss of crop followed, the healthful but odoriferous
vegetable withering away in the dry and shrivelling
heat. One good irrigation each year would have saved
the crop and made the returns maximum in quantity
and irreproachable in quality — measured from an onion
standpoint.

The irrigation of corn and peas near Rome, Ga.,
during the past season has demon-
strated the great value of this aid to
agriculture in the humid States. In
addition to saving valuable crops by
artificial application of water, there is
no doubt that these worn-out lands
will be greatly benefited in another
way. Greater diversification of crops
will be possible, causing a renewal of
soils and thus increasing their produc-
tivity.

The chief crop of the South at the
present time which is dependent upon
irrigation is the rice crop. The ex-
periment which was begun upon the
"plantation of the Ab-
bott Brothers, of
Crowley, La., Michi-
gan farmers who went
South "to grow up
with the country" ten
or a dozen years ago,
has developed into an
industry of the great-
est importance to the
people of the United
States. Prior to 1889
the upland prairie re-
gion of southern Lou-
isiana was an im-
mense grazing coun-
try, occupied almost
wholly by the descend-
ants of those unfor-
tunate French sub-
jects who were de-
ported from Nova
Scotia by British ships
about a century and a
half ago. Longfellow,
in entrancing verse,
and George W. Cable,
in touching prose,
have made pleasant
reading out of the
hard facts of their
exile without mitigat-
ing the horror of an
exodus that will al-
ways seem as unnec-
essary as it was de-
plorable. During all
the years following
their exile in 1755,
the Acadians, who
spoke their native
French and taught it
to their negro serv-

104

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

ants, occupied these prairies with their herds of horses
and cattle until rice growing in the closing years of
the nineteenth century changed the face of the coun-
try as no fairy wand could have changed it. Stock
raising as the dominant industry of the people gave

< c uitesy Division of Publications.

BINDERS AT WORK, RAYWOOD, TEXAS.

way to rice growing, and prairies which fifteen or
twenty years ago were dotted with lowing herds became
noisy with the songs of harvesting machines and the
promising clatter of the separator. Land values re-
sponded immediately to the influence
of the change from pastoral to inten-
sive agricultural conditions. Prairie
land worth $1 per acre for raising
ponies and dewlapped cattle soon
brought $10 per acre, the price rising
rapidly to $20, $40, and even $50 per
acre for choice locations in 1902.

Owing to the topographical charac-
ter of this country the method of
supplying water for the irrigation of
rice differs materially from that em-
ployed in the arid and semi-arid
States. The water supply is contained
in sluggish bayous and streams which
are from 5 to 70 feet below the land
to be irrigated. This water must be
lifted by pumps, and a series of three
or four supplementary lifts are often
necessary to get the water sufficiently
elevated to reach the higher lands.
The average lift of these pumps is
about 20 feet and their discharge va-
ries between 1,00.0 gallons and 50,000
gallons per minute. The water from
the pumps is discharged into a flume
and carried to the first canal, which
conveys it as far as the contour of
the surface will permit. These canals are not dug into the
earth, hut a strip of the highest land is fenced in, as
it were, by two levees thrown up on either side and
running parallel. The water at one end of the canal

is exactly the same height as at the other end, and if
no means were provided to withdraw it, overflow would
occur on both sides from one end of the canal to the
other. At the farther end of the canal, if the land to
be irrigated has not yet been reached, another pumping
plant is established, which again lifts
the water, emptying it into a still
higher flume and by which it is car-
ried to a higher canal. There is suffi-
cient grade to the land along the
canal, on one or both sides, to carry
the water by lateral canals to the lands
to be irrigated. Contour levees 12 to
18 inches high are run across the fields
of rice often enough to permit any en-
tire "cut" or field to be covered with
water so that the depth on the lower
side will not exceed 10 or 12 inches.
Rice being a water plant, requires a
completely saturated soil to bring it to
maturity, and it is the practice to keep
the fields covered with water for a pe-
riod varying between 50 and 70 days.
At first glance it would appear that
enormous values of water would be re-
quired, but careful measurements
show that the duty of water in rice
growing is fully twice as great as it
is when used for the ordinary farm
crops of the irrigation States. That is
to say, the four or more feet required
to be diverted where the soils are grav-
elly and very porous is reduced to two
feet or less in the rice districts, where the loamy and
clay soils hold water without loss except that due to
evaporation. On this account seepage losses, which are
a very important factor in irrigation in the North-

Courtesy Division
PLOWING RICE

of Publications.

FIELDS WITH CATTLE, BAYOU PLAQUEMINE, LOUISIANA.

west, do not interest the rice planter. However, the
latter has troubles of his own, especially along streams
and bayous where over-appropriation prevails.

It is a matter of interest to know that nearly all of

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

105

the water courses in the rice district, which flow se-
renely, deliberately, and in almost perpetual shade,
follow channels cut far below the level of the water of
the Gulf of Mexico. Because of this fact, salt water
for irrigation becomes a certainty when a dry season
prevails and the pumps withdraw the
fresh water from the upper reaches of
the stream. This is not a theory, but
an actual experience of rice farmers
along several streams during 1901 and
1902. The result was great loss of
crops and also damage to soils.

In one important particular only
does rice growing in Texas and Louis-
iana differ greatly from wheat farming
in the Northwest. Owing to the rapid
growth of vegetation in the warm cli-
mate, both fall and spring plowing are
practiced by the best farmers, but in
general the preparation of the soil,
planting, harvesting and threshing the
crop are processes exactly similar to
those followed on a wheat farm. After
the plowing, the land is usually disced
thoroughly and then harrowed to still
further reduce the lumps. The broad-

, i , t Courtesy Division o

casting sower fastened to the rear or THRESHING

the wagon box, or better still, the regu-
lation seed drill, is used to plant the seed, the reaper
and binder cuts the grain, and the regulation separator

practice in the wheat field where irrigation is neces-
sary. Repairing the field levees, described above, is
iisually left until the seed is planted, and actual irri-
gation, which does not begin until the plant has reached
a height varying between 6 inches and 1 foot, which,

f Publication0.
RICE, MOORE-CORTES PLANTATION, BAY CITY, TEXAS.

g upon the season, occurs from one to two
months after p'antiijg. At this time a flood of water

ourtesy Division of Publications.

RICE STACK YARDS.

threshes it in the most approved and expeditious fash-
ion. Preparation to irrigate the rice crop and the meth-
od of applying water, however, differ greatly from the

from the great canal is poured upon the highest cut
on the farm and through the lower levee, conveyed suc-
cessively to the cuts below until the entire farm presents

106

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

the appearance of a shallow lake. Nothing further is
required in maturing the' plant than keeping the fields
saturated until the appearance of the head indicates
that within ten days or two weeks the services of the
binder will be needed. The levees are then cut and
the water drained off.

Water for rice irrigation is not confined to the sup-
ply contained in the bayous and rivers which empty
into the Gulf. In both Louisiana and Texas lands
which are too far removed from the large canal, or too
high to be covered from this source, are being reclaimed
by artesian water, which appears to underlie the entire
region at depths varying from 50 to 300 feet. Six,
tight, ten, and twelve-inch wells are put down into the
beds of gravel which supply this water and 'centrifugal
pumps lift it to the rice farms above. Some of these
wells flow freely, but in the great majority the water
must be lifted1 a height varying between 4 and 20 feet.
Continuous pumping from these wells materially re-
duced the water level during the irrigation season, and
although the extent of development based upon this sup-
ply is conjectural, there is no doubt that it will be
much greater than the area which the unaided surface
water will supply. Small farms and large population
arc the dominant features of the artesian well districts,
and prosperity seems to prevail wherever wells are
bored.

In conclusion it may be said that the irrigation of
rice in Louisiana and Texas is an infant industry.
There is a superabundance of land adapted to the re-
quirements of this crop and sufficient water to greatly
magnify the acreage now utilized. Successful rice
farming is being carried on in a territory 50 to 70 miles
wide and extending from the Vermillion River, in
Louisiana, on the east, to and beyond the Colorado
River, in Texas, on the west. The discouragements
along many streams due to the presence of salt water
under the pumps, which is the immediate effect of
prolonged drouth, will continue until some reasonable
settlement of the live question of water rights is under-
taken and the experience of other States turned to a
profit in Louisiana and Texas. In the former State,
diversion of a stream for any purpose is unlawful, and
there is, of course, no recognition of special or prior
rights. Provision for any division of the supply among
those who do not appropriate is not discoverable in the
laws of either State.

Under the able direction of Prof. Elwood Mead, the
U. S. Department of Agriculture is making a careful
study both of the water right problems and the physical
problems of irrigation which confront the rice grower.
As a result of this assistance wiser water laws and regu-
lations governing the diversion and distribution of
water in the States mentioned may be anticipated at an
early date. A settlement of these questions is of t'r •>
greatest importance to the stability and prosper.! ':y
this important agricultural industry.

THE ELEVENTH IRRIGATION CONGRESS.

Ogden, Utah, 1903.

The next session of the Irrigation Congress is to be
held in Ogden on the 8th, 9th, 10th and llth days of
September next. This congress had its inception in
the minds of Utah men, its first session was held in
this city, and now after ten years it comes back to Utah
to hold its eleventh annual session. It is not necessary
to dwell upon the importance of this body, says the

Salt Lake Tribune of January 23, representing as it
does the life of the great agricultural processes of the
whole arid region; its importance cannot be overesti-
mated. The passage of the National Irrigation law
increases the importance of the functions of this con-
gress, arid as the benefits of that act become better
understood and its workings more applied, the great
irrigation question will grow in magnitude and bene-
ficial application.

We note that a very proper move was made in the
House yesterday in support of this meeting of the
congress. A resolution of welcome, whose preamble
recited the origin in Utah and the benefits of irriga-
tion in this mountain country, was unanimously passed.
A bill was also introduced and referred to the House
Judiciary committee (of which an Ogden member is
chairman), which appropriates $6,000 to aid in defray-
ing the expenses of the executive committee of the
congress, on condition that $3,000 for the same purpose
be raised by the people of Ogden. This is not much
money to pay out for such a meritorious meeting as
this of the Irrigation congress will be, and it is not
probable that there will be any particular objection to
it, as the object is worthy and the purpose a public
purpose. We look to see the bill go through with ease.

The Salt Lake Herald of January 23 has the fol-
lowing to say concerning the llth National Irrigation
Congress :

A bill of particular merit was introduced in the
House by Dr. Condon of Weber county yesterday. It
provides for an appropriation of $6,000 to aid in de-
fraying the expenses of the executive committee of the
eleventh annual session of the National Irrigation Con-
gress, to be held in Ogden next September. A proviso
that the citizens of Ogden must raise at least $3,000
in addition is included in the bill.

The importance to Utah of the National Irrigation
Congress is beyond estimation. The organization was
formed in Utah eleven years ago, and it is particularly
fitting that after so many years the irrigationists should
again assemble in the state. The next meeting will be
of special interest because by the time it assembles we
will have had at least the beginning of a practical test
of the new national irrigation law.

The practical benefits of irrigation are neither
intangible nor indefinite. They are actual and concrete.
N'o argument is needed to convince Utah people of
the importance of the work; no argument should be
needed to convince the legislature that the Condon bill
should be passed as promptly as possible. The sum of
$6,000 is not a large one, as public appropriations are
measured.

The money is not to be used for the benefit of any
individual or any single community. It will be used
in the furtherance of irrigation ideas and irrigation
work. Utah has been highly honored by the congress.
Colonel Edwin F. Holmes of Salt Lake is president
of the organization, and Fred J. Kiesel of Ogden is
chairman of the executive committee. The state is
pledged to entertain the congress in a fitting manner
and the legislature should do its part,

The prompt passage by the legislature yesterday of
the joint resolution of welcome to the congress and of
endorsement of its purposes, indicates the temper of the
lawmakers. The Herald does not believe there will be
any trouble about the adoption of the Condon bill.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

107

IRRIGATION IN THE SPOKANE VALLEY.

During the present year the State of Washington
has begun to realize that her greatest resource is her
fertile land for farming, and the supply of this is
gradually diminishing. Still this vast resource is com-
paratively free, as many years are needed before the

RESIDENCE, ORCHARD AND SPILLWAY, GREENACRES, WASH.

land of the State will be made to yield all of which it
is capable.

The question of reclaiming the arid land by irriga-
tion has become of wonderful importance, and already
the building of canals is an important
feature in the commercial affairs of the
West, and large amounts of capital are
being employed in this construction.
Barren land over the State has assumed
a new value which is based upon the
chances and cost of putting it under
canal. High line ditches, deep cuts,
long flumes, etc., are some of the things
which are necessary in order to get
water upon tillable land near some
good market. At first this cost of ditch-
ing governs, to a certain extent, the
cost of the irrigable land, but in time,
as the district becomes well enough es-
tablished so that the returns therefrom
can be counted upon, then it is the
revenue which it will bring to the
farmer that determines what he is will-
ing to pay for his land.

Along this line some almost fabu-
lous amounts have been realized from
investments made in land when it is
first put upon the market after ditch
is built. In the State of Washington
rushes have been made to secure this
land as soon as canal is completed, and
in almost every case companies have sold first tracts so
low that the farmers have the first year made as much
from produce as they have paid for the land. This,
however, is only where a ditch is new, for it soon be-

comes known just what elements enter into the farmer's
business as resources or liabilities and the land values
are determined accordingly.

In this respect there is no irrigation country.in the
West which is capable of such rapid increase of value
>:s the lands of the Spokane Valley. The expenses in
connection with putting water upon
the land are comparatively small,
and yet the merits of soil, climate,
and market are unequaled.

The richness of soil has long
been evidenced where irrigation has
been used and in a few sub-irri-
gated tracts in the surrounding foot-
hills. In few cities are the yards
richer in trees, gardens and vegeta-
tion of all kinds than are those of
Spokane, where the city water
makes the soil respond to its fullest
extent. Time alone is needed, now
that canals have been built, to make
the entire valley one large garden,
and then the return to the farmers,
the wealth of the valley, and the
prosperous condition of the mining
country which is dependent, will be
many times as great as at present.

As to the climate little need be
said, as the Spokane climate is al-
ready far famed.

The market? Well, yes, a few
things can be said regarding it. A
careful study of Spokane's location
will show the vast area of mining
country tributary and at the same
time dependent upon Spokane. It is tributary in wealth
and commercial affairs and dependent for nearly all
produce which it uses. Spokane is the great general
store for this area, and as this land is the land where

RESERVOIR AND MAIN DITCH, GREENACRES, WASH.

the highest prices are paid for labor, the prices which
these people can pay fbr produce is not to be scorned.
The population of this area added to Spokane's own
population, making in all about 200,000 people, must

108

THE IREIGATION AGE.

be supplied through the Spokane market. Then con-
sider that the Spokane Valley is surrounded by moun-
tainous country and that the only land excepting the
valley itself is many miles distant, and it will be readily
seen the wonderful incentive which this valley land offers
to the raiser of some special kinds of farm produce.
Fruit, berries, vegetables, dairy produce, etc., must be
secured near at hand in order that it may be shipped
to this mining country and arrive there in good condi-
tion. At the present time, when the irrigated land is
but making a start at production, it can be understood
why the mining towns are seldom supplied with the
above. To be sure, other portions of the State — Yaki-

MAIN CANAL, GREENACRES, WASH.

ma, Wenatchee, Walla Walla, Clarkston — help out in
supplying the market, but they are all over one hundred
miles away, and the freight and commission charges
necessary cause the high prices which are found in the
Spokane markets. Now that irrigation is making it
possible to raise these articles in the valley it can read-
ily be seen why the returns to the farmer are so great
and why these lands will increase rapidly in value.

We are showing in this connection scenes in the
Greenacres irrigation district near Spokane, Wash.
These cuts fairly well illustrate what may be accom-
plished by irrigation. This section is owned by the
Spokane Valley Land & Water Co., Spokane, Wash.

NEW IRRIGATION ENTERPRISES.

There ought to be a big demand in the inter-
mountain country this spring for implements used in
canal and ditch excavation and dredging. There are
two immense corporations starting in at American Falls
and Twin Falls on the Snake river in Idaho; the for-
mer for electrical power generating and irrigation, and
the latter for irrigation. One of the canals of the Twin
Falls Company will be 69 miles long and 80 feet wide
at the bottom. This gives a canal sufficiently large for
transportation purposes, and will doubtless be used thus
to a considerable extent. The railroads, too, are to
enlarge the borders of their operating garments, and
implements needed in construction work will be largely
called for this spring along the lines of the D. & R. G.
Oregon Short Line, and the Pacific roads.

ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE NEBRASKA
IRRIGATION ASSOCIATION.

(From staff Correspondent)

Held at Lincoln, Neb., January 22.

A large representative body was present at the
opening of the annual convention of the Nebraska Irri-
gation Association in Room 106, University Hall, this
morning at 10 o'clock. The session continued through-
out the day and adjournment was taken at 4 o'clock.
Unusual interest was shown in the discussion. Between
ten and fifteen counties were represented by from one
to ten delegates each. The discussions were of intense
interest, covering wide range of topics, and a very val-
uable paper wa& read by Assistant Secretary Stevens of
the State Board of Irrigation on the water supply of
Nebraska.

The association was called to order by President
Wolfenbarger, who delivered his annual address, which
is as follows:

To the Officers and Members of the Nebraska Irri-
gation Association : We assemble in annual convention
and conference after a lapse of more than the regular
term, and it has been deemed a matter of great im-
portance that this association, which was the pioneer of
practical irrigation in its broadest and most compre-
hensive view, should again take up educational and
promotive work looking to the material, economic and
general welfare of our great commonwealth.

Since we last met Congress has passed an important
act providing for national aid and, to a limited extent,
national supervision along certain lines of irrigation,
but this only increases the importance and urgency of
maintaining our organization and keeping it in step
and touch with the progress of our day.

This new national enactment calls for a most care-
ful analysis and consideration on the part of our com-
mittee on legislation, and it is the hope of your presi-
dent that this new committee will be selected with
great care and with especial reference to the fitness and
ability, of its members to grasp in a timely manner the
vital problems that confront our people in assisting
in the wise administration of the present law, and in
suggesting and urging necessary amendments, which are
practically certain to be needed as time progresses.

Irrigation, although practiced in the great West for
more than a third of a century, may be still truthfully
said to be in its infancy. Only a small proportion of
the waters available for irrigation purposes have as yet
been applied to beneficial use. Uncounted millions of
cubic feet of storm and flood water pass over the sur-
face of our soil, carrying with it more or less of injury
and destruction, before it reaches the -Gulf, and the
present generation and its successor owes it to civiliza-
tion to see that man utilizes his great opportunity in
turning this great force of nature into an engine for
his advancement, protection and legitimate enjoyment.

Our present law is poorly understood, and in fact
remains uninterpreted by our Supreme Court, with
conflicting decisions pending on appeal or error from
the District Courts of our State. In certain sections
of Western Nebraska tbe rights of prior appropriators
are wholly ignored^ and confusion and dissatisfaction
exist among many who have staked their all on the
promises of protection held out by our present and ante-
cedent statutes. It is hoped that the atmosphere will
soon be cleared, and a broad and comprehensive policy —
as broad and comprehensive as the statute and our con-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

109

stitutioi* will permit — will bo adopted and declared by
the expounders of our law.

Irrigation in our State presents a most promising
outlook to the man who is ready to be reasonable, dili-
gent, studious and patient. The man who imdertakos
to irrigate too much land with too little water will al-
ways be disappointed. The man who undertakes to
irrigate his land with water which rightfully belongs
to his neighbor will ultimately come to grief. But he
who realizes the value of priority of appropriation, con-
summated and vested by beneficial application . of the
water to the soil, and who has the courage to go for-
ward until he has made a success of his undertaking,
will not know defeat.

I cannot at this time discuss the various branches
and methods, but it has been demonstrated by William
A. Sharpnack, of Harlan County, during the past two
years that the cultivation of sugar beets by irrigation
will yield a net profit of over $90 to $110 per acre per
year. This he has demonstrated by two years' cultiva-
tion of thirteen acres of land irrigated from a small
private plant. A well known farmer in Scotts Bluff
County, in 1902, marketed $700 worth of potatoes from
two acres of irrigated land. A cattle rancher about
forty miles south of Brush, Colorado, produced on a
little truck patch containing less than one-half acre,
over $129 worth of miscellaneous garden vegetables by
irrigation from a windmill plant, the storage reservoir
of which did not cost him to exceed $23.

Our people need to learn that on thousands of
farms there are opportunities to construct and put into
operation small irrigation plants, which would increase
the value of farm prodiicts over $100 to $300 per year
to the farmer putting in such plant, and in the aggre-
gate the increased value of agricultural production in
our State would amount to, at a safe estimate, over two
million dollars.

Trusting and believing that this meeting will result
in reviving interest in this vital subiect, I cast the
burden of duty upon everyone present and invoke
your aid in placing our organization in its rightful
place at the head of the procession which is marching
steadily to the goal of success.

Following Mr. Wolfenbarger's address, and in the
absence of Secretary Oberfelder, of Sidney, J. C. Ste-
vens, of Kearney, was chosen secretary protem. A
committee on credentials consisting of Mrs. Nellie M.
Richardson of Lincoln,, F. G. Hamer of Kearney, and
Frank Meagley of Lexington was appointed by the pres-
ident. This committee made immediate report, which
was adopted.

The next order of business was to hold the annual
election of officers, which resulted as follows : Presi-
dent, A. G. Wolfenbarger, of Lincoln ; vice-president, W.
H. Wright, of Scotts Bluff; secretary, H. 0. Smith, of
Lexington; treasurer, W. H. Fanning, of Craw-
ford. An executive committee in addition to the
officers named were Hon. J. S. Hoa gland, North Platte ;
C. G. Crews, Culbertson ; Henry E. Lewis, Lincoln, and
F. G. Hamer, Kearney. The president gave notice that
the standing committee would be announced at a later
date.

A committee on resolutions consisting of F. G.
Hamer, W. Z. Taylor and 0. P. V. Stout was appointed.
Pending the report of the committee on resolutions
Mr. J. C. Stevens read a paper on the subiect of the
water supplv of Nebraska, which is herewith given in
full.

A siudy of the water supply of Nebraska and of the
uses to which this supply has been put leads one to
the conclusion that the development of this resource is
still in its primitive state.

The lands drained by the North Platte River and
its tributaries have undoubtedly received the greatest
attention, and from an agricultural point of view has
reached the highest state of development of any within
the State. But there are yet large areas of arable lands
new used only for grazing, and some hardly fit for that,
that need only the application of water that yearly goes
to waste to make them immensely productive.

This river, rising as it docs in the northern part of
the main range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado,
and flowing in a northerly course across nearly half the
State of Wyoming, thence bending to the east and south,
is fed throughout its course by numerous mountain
streams, receiving their waters from the melting
snows.

Whenever, as in the last two or three years, there
is a scarcity of winter snows in the mountains, a like
diminution in the flow of this stream is plainly evident.
Inspection of diagram published in the Fourth Bien-
nial Report of the State Board of Irrigation shows this
at a glance. During the present winter, if reports are
true, there has been abundant snows in the mountain
regions, so that for the coming summer we may safely
predict a large increase in the discharge of the North
Platte River.

The next question that presents itself is the con-
servation of this supply. In the natural course of
things, this stream furnishes its greatest amount of
water before the crops in the valleys are ready for its
application. The greatest floods occur in May and
June, when water is in little demand, and there is plen-
ty and to spare for everyone, but in August and early
September, when the application of a little water would
aid so materially in the maturing of these valuable
crops, there is none to be had. What water may reach
Nebraska is soon lost in its transition through the sandy
river bed. Now, what is needed to equalize this flow
and make the supply available when most needed, are
impounding reservoirs in eastern Wyoming* of sufficient
capacity to hold the flood waters of the spring till such
times as they are most needed. A calculation of the
probable capacity of such a reservoir based on the re-
sults of the IT. S. G. S. reports of the daily flow of this
river for the six years previous to 1901, shows that in
order to utilize the entire supply, and make it avail-
able when needed, should have a storage capacity of
2,300,000 acre feet, or water enough to cover two entire
townships to a uniform depth of 50 feet. Such a
single reservoir site does not exist, but a series of sites
may be found that may be made available only by the
outlay of an immense amount of capital, and this the
Federal Government must take in hand in order to
insure success.

The South Platte is in many respects similar to the
North Platte, except that it goes dry much earlier in
the season. The lands contiguous to this stream are
capable of excellent cultivation ; most of its waters, flood
waters and all, however, are appropriated for irrigation
purposes in Colorado, so that it is of little value to the
Nebraska irrigator.

Similar in many respects to the two Plattes is the
Republican River, draining the southern portion of the
State, though the period during which the surface flow
is extinct is of much shorter duration, and it not infre-

110

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

quently happens that water is found throughout most
of its course during the entire season. Yet the value
of this stream may be greatly increased by storing the
flood waters. A measurement of the river at Superior
during the flood in July of the past year showed a dis-
charge of nearly 15,000 cubic feet per second, while
another in September of the same year gave a discharge
of 154. These are the maximum and minimum meas-
urements for 1902.

The streams heretofore mentioned show that dur-
ing some seasons an infinite ratio exists between the
maximum and minimum discharge. But now we come
to a river where these conditions do not exist. I refer
to the Loup, in which this ratio is sometimes as low as
1| for the season and seldom reaching above 4. The
lowest actual measurement made on this river since
continuous records were begun in 1895 was at Columbus
in July, 1901, which showed a discharge of 1,211 sec-
ond feet. The greatest amount similarly found at the
same station was on August 10, 1902, giving a discharge
of 7,685 cubic feet per second. The ratio of this
maximum to minimum for the extremes in eight years
is 6.34. The exceptional uniformity in the flow of this
river is nicely illustrated in a diagram published in the
Fourth Biennial Report of the State Board of Irriga-
tion, entitled "Nebraska and Colorado Streams, Com-
parative Mean Discharges for Six Years, 1895 to 1900,
Inclusive," showing at a glance the means for the six
years of the mean daily discharges for the months
of April, May, June, July, August, September and
October of the Loup at Columbus, North Platte at
Camp Clarke, Arkansas at Canon City, and the Cache
La Poudre at Fort Collins. The agricultural district
in the neighborhood of Grecley, Colo., depending en-
tirely upon the Poudre River for its water supply, has
a world-wide reputation. What the possibilities for
development along this line in the water-shed of the
Loup River, with nearly three and one-half times as
much water and a uniformity of flow that is not ex-
celled by any other river in the country, can only be
imagined. Extensive surveys have been made for the
utilization of the waters of this stream for power pur-
poses, and we are undoubtedly living in a period that
will see the construction and operation of some of these
plants.

Next in importance I would name the Niobrara
River, draining the northwestern part of the State and
emptying its waters into the Missouri. The land
through which this stream flows is not nearly so well
adapted to agricultural purposes as the southern and
eastern parts of the State. The country is rough and
heavily rolling and the river banks are high, so that
although it has a discharge, measured at Valentine, of
from 800 to 1,200 cubic feet per second, and is remarka-
bly Uniform in its flow, irrigation throughout a large
portion of its course is impracticable. It has, however,
a heavy fall. Surveys made near its mouth show a
fall of over 10 feet to the mile, so that the condition
on this river makes it principally valuable for its possi-
bilities in power development.

One who has traveled across Nebraska on the F. E.
& M. V. Railroad cannot but be impressed with the
beauty and richness of the Elkhorn Valley. Extending
on cither side to the hills beyond are green fields of
corn and smaller grain, broken by patches of shady
timber, dotted here artd there with villages or farm
houses. Through it all winds the cool waters of the

Elkhorn River that has brought to this valley its wealth
of peace and contentment.

On motion of J. S. Hoagland it was ordered that
the papers read before this convention, and particularly
the paper read by Mr. Stevens, be printed in the Ne-
braska Irrigation Annual, and that it be given as wide
circulation as possible, because of its interest to the
public.

The committee on resolutions submitted the fol-
lowing, which was unanimously adopted :

Whereas, An investigation by experts in charge
of the irrigation work of the United States Department
of Agriculture has been instituted and is still in prog-
ress for the benefit of the water users of the States of
Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado; and

Whereas, The said experts have made arrange-
ments for carrying this work to completion, and we be-
lieve that the funds appropriated for this work in former
years have been economically expended and with great
beneficial results to communities concerned; therefore
be it

Resolved, That we respectfully request and urge
that when the agricultural appropriation bill is under
discussion on the floor of Congress, the recommendations
of the secretary of agriculture and the director of the
office of experiment stations relative to this investiga-
tion be thoroughly indorsed by the honorable representa-
tives of the State of Nebraska in the Senate and in the
House of Representatives; and be it further

Resolved, That the secretary of this association
be instructed to forward forthwith a copy of this reso-
lution to each member of the Nebraska delegation in
Congress.

Resolved, That the right to obtain support from
the soil lawfully occupied by him belongs to every citi-
zen of the State as an inherent and natural right, and
where such right may not be fully enjoyed without
diversion of water from the running streams of the
State, and its application to the production of crops, the
right to so divert and apply the water exists, and should
at all times be so declared and maintained by all legis-
lative and judicial authority.

"Whereas, There is no adequate method provided
by the district irrigation law of this State whereby an
irrigation district may disorganize and settle its busi-
ness affairs; therefore, be it

Resolved, That the committee on legislation of
this, association is hereby instructed to prepare and pre-
sent to the present Legislature a bill providing a just
and equitable method whereby an irrigation district may
disorganize itself and settle its business affairs.

WTiereas, The operation for seven years of the
Nebraska law providing for the control and distribu-
tion of the waters of the streams iised for irrigation has
been marked by an especially orderly and progressive
advance of the irrigation industry and by an almost
complete absence of expensive litigation in regard to
water rights; and

Whereas. The operation of this law enables the
irrigator to have the priority and extent of his right to
the use of water determined practically without ex-
pense, in marked contrast to the experience in this
respect of irrigators in nearly all other States; and

Whereas, Said law has also permitted the irri-
gator to rest in the assurance that his rights so deter-
mined will be promptly and effectively enforced; and

Whereas, The administration of the law has been
characterized by honesty, impartiality, tact and judg-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Ill

ment on the part of the officers charged with that duty ;
therefore, be it

Resolved, That we join in earnest commendation
of the wisdom and foresight of the men who framed the
Nebraska irrigation law and secured its passage; and
be it further

Resolved, That we hereby express our apprecia-
tion of the manner in which the said law has been ad-
ministered by the Nebraska State Board of Irrigation,
acting through its representative, the state engineer, sec-
retary and his assistants, at all times and under the
administration of the different political parties.

F. G. HAMER, Chairman.

At the afternoon session the president called Mr.
F. G. Hamer to the chair. Addresses were made by
J. S. Hoagland, W. H. Wright, F. G. Hamer and others
and a general discussion of the subject of irrigation,
its methods and effects was participated in by a large
number of delegates and was of particular interest.

A very interesting and instructive address on the
subject of "Drainage as Affecting the Different Alkalies
Contained in the kSoil and Their Removal by Flooding
and Drainage," made by Prof. 0. V. P. Stout,
whose experience as an expert of the U. S. Department
of Agriculture in California, Nebraska and other places
particularly qualifies him to speak on this subject, was
the feature of the afternoon session.

The selection of a time and place for the next an-
nual irrigation convention was left with the executive
committee.

INFANT DAMNATION.

Deacon Johnson — "Does yo' b'liebe in infant dam-
nation, Brudder Jackson ?"

Brother Jackson — "Deedy no ! Dey'll pick up cuss
words 'nough widout bein' swored at by deir parents."-
Puck.

VICE VERSA.

Here's a late story anent Christian Science. A
Boston mother said to her little daughter, "If you had
my faith, darling, you would have no toothache."

The child replied, "Well, mother, if you had my
toothache you wouldn't have any faith." — Boston Her-
ald.

TRAIL SONG.
Here's out on the open trail, my lass,

With a heart for rain or shine.
Here's out to race with wind in the face,
To roam and to rove at the wilding pace
Where the weather thrills like wine.

We'll follow the wind of the way, my lass,

Where it chases a truant stream,
We'll loaf along with a vagrant song,
With the glow of life and all thrilling strong,

And the future a vibrant stream.

For what's a day or a year, my lass,

But time for finding joy?
We've naught to do, we crony two,
With the ship of Worry's crafty crew,

We're free from all annoy.

Then here's a song, a song, my lass,

A song for the open trail !
We're off to seek the crimson streak
That's sunk behind West Mountain's peak,

And to drink from Freedom's grail.

— Frank Farrington in Lippincoit's.

A PROFESSIONAL IRRIGATIONIST.

We would like to know who appointed George H.
Maxwell the dry nurse of all irrigation legislation, says
a recent issue of The Oakland, Cal., Tribune. Mr.
Maxwell has for years enveloped the subject of irriga-
tion in a cloud of talk, but so far as anybody — that is,
anybody not on the inside — is able to discern not a
drop of water has yet fallen from these clouds, not a
yard of earth has felt any moistening influence from
his percolating ambience and eloquence. What's his
graft, anyhow? He is the high cock-a-lorum of some
association or society or other that is about as misty
in personnel as the Kings of the Fourth Egyptian
dynasty. But the association or whatever it is has
money to spend, and that is what is letting out the slack
of Maxwell's jaw.

Who is doing the putting up? And what is the
putting up being done for? Maxwell is a lawyer. At
least he is an attorney which sometimes means the
same thing. He butted into the irrigation question
some years ago, and has since been butting into every-
thing that pertained to water and forest legislation,
and everything, as well, that was connected with the
public domain, from cattle raising to timber. One
thing is quite certain. Maxwell is not muddying the
irrigation waters for his health. Only we would like
to know whose black jack he has got in his pocket.

Maxwell is opposing the Works irrigation bill pre-
sented by the California Water and Forest Association
on the ground that it will destroy riparian rights. This
• very clearly indicates that he represents interested par-
ties, for he is not an interested party himself. Pro-
ceeding a little further, it is not difficult to reason out
that his clients are men who want an irrigation law
with a kink in it, a law that will enable them to
monopolize the irrigable waters in certain sections. If
this is not the joker up Maxwell's sleeve we are mightily
mistaken.

The Arabs have a proverb to the effect that he who
owns the water also owns the land. Mr. Maxwell didn't
get this maxim out of the lawbooks, but he evidently
wants to get it into the law books in a form that will
allow certain thrifty persons, most likely the members
of the aforesaid association, to make a practical applica-
tion of it for their own benefit.

The question now is not as to the desirability of
irrigation; it is a plain question of the economic prac-
ticability of a wholesale application of it throughout the
arid sections of the West. The most valuable, because
the most _productive, farm lands in the United States
are in those parts of the arid regions where irrigation
is practiced ; for agriculture by irrigation yields larger
crops of nearly all the staples than are produced upon
the same acreage in the humid districts and agriculture,
even now, is the chief resource of nearly all of the arid
states and territories.

The apparent need is that the construction of reser-
voirs shall be managed by the General Government.
That would obviate the chief causes of failure, and would
place the individual farmer upon a more secure footing.
There must also be an intelligent modification of exist-
ing laws respecting both land and water rights, to meet
actual needs. Then the prairies will enter with con-
fidence upon a future of limitless achievement. In the
arid and humid zones together there will be more than
one-quarter of a billion acres of productive farms.

112

THE IREIGATION AGE.

SAMSON DOUBLE GEAR

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The Samson

GALVANIZED STEEL
WIND HILL

The Strongest and Best
Mill on Earth

It is a double-geared mill and is the latest great
advance in wind-mill construction.

The capacity of our new wind-mill factory is
75,000 mills a year — the greatest capacity of any
factory of its kind on earth.

All interested in irrigation should write us for
our finely illustrated book on irrigation matters,
which will be sent free to all who mention THE IRRIGA-
TION AGE. This work contains all necessary informa-
tion for establishing an irrigation plant by wind power.

Remember We Guarantee the Samson

. . . THE SAMSON . . . i

is a double- geared mill and is the latest great ad- JJ
vance in wind-mill construction.

It will be readily seen that this double gear im-
parts double the strength to the Samson over that
of any other mill of equal size. Since the gear is
double and the strain of work is equally divided
between the two gears, there is no side draft,
shake or wobble to cut out the gears. The gear-
ing, therefore, has four times the life and wearing
qualities of any single gear.

\

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The Stover Manf g Co. [

617 River Street

FREEPORT, ILL.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

113

DEPT.

WISDOM OF PLANNING COMPREHENSIVE
DRAINAGE SYSTEMS.*

BY C. 0. ELLIOTT.

The commonwealth of Iowa is destined to soon
occupy one of the leading places among the prominent
agricultural states of our nation. Her location between
two of the greatest rivers of our country and the 56,000
square miles of land inclosed by her boundaries, give
her a commanding industrial position. Above all, her
soil being naturally fertile and especially susceptible
to improvement, may be so developed that there is
scarcely an acre which may not become a productive
factor in the markets of both state and nation. The
attractiveness of her lands and confidence in her future
agricultural prowess have induced a large number of
most excellent citizens from states farther east to locate
within her boundaries, much to her advantage in both
material and social affairs. The development of her
natural resources is of eminent import to each one of
her citizens. This convention will consider one of those
industries which pertains to her material progress, in
so far as it relates to individual business interests. The
manufacture of finished products from native clays is
an art of notably ancient origin, and one distinguished
by great advancement in the methods of work and
results obtained since the days of the Pharaohs.

The application of one division of the clay in-
dustry to the development of the lands of the state may
very properly engage the attention of prominent clay
workers here to-day. The number of nourishing fac-
tories for the manufacture of drain-tile in the state and
the continued addition to the list indicate the active
interest which is taken by landowners in this phase
of development. Those who are interested financially
in this matter enjoy the advantage afforded by the
experience of other states in dealing with the various
problems connected with drainage. No organization is
better qualified to appreciate the needs of the state in
this regard, nor in better position to wield an influence
in shaping public opinion regarding proper laws and'
comprehensive work than this association. Every
measure may be promulgated and supported by its
mc-rits. While manufacturers of tile and implements
for drainage may incidentally profit by the advancement
of such interests, it may be easily shown by referring
to the history of the movements in other states, for a
similar purpose, that landowners, citizens and the coun-
try at large will receive far greater benefit.

Only one phase of this subject can be alluded to
in this brief paper. The people of the state are but
just beginning to appreciate the additional productive-
ness of their soil which may be secured by drainage.
The value of comprehensive plans is beginning to force
itself upon those who are most fully conversant with
the subject. As early as 1883, the writer made plans
for the tile drainage of a large farm in Black Hawk
County, for Gen. A. C. Fuller, of Illinois. All tile for
this work were shipped from central Illinois, which
fact may afford some notion of the expense of under-
drainage at the time of its inception in Iowa. The

*Read before the -Iowa Brick and Tile Association,
Ames, Jan. 21, 1903.

outlet for the system was of easy access, but the boun-
dary of the watershed included a much larger area of
land than that owned by Mr. Fuller. The work did
not include the entire watershed, and in later years
complications arose when it was desired to make the
drainage of outlying lands more complete. The defin-
ing of watershed lines and drainage basins should be
one of the first duties of those who desire to undertake
such work in a comprehensive and efficient way.

The method pursued under the old laws of Ohio,
Indiana and Illinois, of constructing a drain and assess-
ing its cost with reference to its length and land imme-
diately contiguous to it, gave rise to much confusion
and to complications which later called attention to the
wisdom of recognizing natural watershed boundaries in
the consideration of all large drainage operations. Yet
this is now often overlooked, and there are drainage
districts in Illinois which overlap each other and land-
owners find themselves under the embarrassing situation
of being assessed for work under two or more different
organizations. It will be wise for tile manufacturers
to inform themselves fully upon drainage questions and
to become advisers, as far as their business relations
extend in these matters. It is said that an old physi-
cian, in giving advice to young practitioners, said:
''Never discuss health topics." Perhaps there are manu-
facturers who follow the sentiment of this counsel. If
such is the case it is a mistake. On the groxind of
personal interest, if no other, manufacturers of drainage
requisites may well interest themselves in promulgating
sound and far-reaching ideas on a subject upon which
their own prosperity as well as the agricultural advance-
ment of the state depends.

It was a memorable occasion in the history of Illi-
nois drainage when Senator Whiting appeared beforfe the
tilemakers' convention of that state, asking the assist-
ance of that body in obtaining the passage of a more
comprehensive and equitable drainage law. Such enter-
prises, the value of which had become recognized, were'
greatly jeopardized by the confusion resulting from
adverse decisions of the courts, relating to the existing
laws and the individual rights of drainage. The associa-'
tion endorsed the efforts of the Senator and appointed a
committee to act with him in urging the passage of the
bill then pending. The result was the enactment of the'
law of 1885, which, as finally amended, constitutes the-
most practical legislation ever enacted for the develop-1
ment of a state requiring comprehensive drainage sys- •
terns. ,

Developments of the drainage practice of Indiana
resulted in the passage of the law of 1893, which 'per-
mitted the substitution of the large drain-tile for openi
ditches where such was regarded advisable. This was*
brought about by the active influence of tile manufac-
turers, so that now the use of tile from 30 to 30 inches
in diameter in place of the open channels is not un-
common in that state.

Iowa has the example of states older in -the work,:
from which she may profit without passing through the
entire experimental successes and failures from which"
these practices and laws were derived. When Minrie-1
seta realized her need of a law to meet the demands
of her growing drainage interests, she evolved one from
the Illinois code. When Missouri wished to improve'
her waste lands in a radical and comprehensive way,
she found the Indiana law best suited to her require-
ments. By taking heed to the lessons learned by others,

114

THE IKKIGATION AGE.

we may obey the injunction of the old adage, "Cut off
your losses and let your profits run on."

But returning to consider the necessity of looking
further in drainage matters than the immediate needs
of the hour, it may be observed that tile manufacturers
should consider the probable demands in the near fu-
ture for tiles of large size as the development of drainage
work proceeds, lleference has been made to the special
enactments of Indiana regarding the use of large drain-
tile. In a late number of the "Drainage Journal," an
engineer, writing from Christian County, 111., says:

"We have for the past several years been laying
large drain-tile for principal outlets upon drainage dis-
tricts in this locality, using twenty-eight, twenty-seven
and twenty-four-inch tile and sewer pipe for the work,
and of course maintaining a portion of the old channel
to carry away overflow, with adjacent lands fairly well
underdrained. One district comprises 2,850 acres, hav-
ing a twenty-eight-inch tile outlet for a mile, then
reducing in size, and with branches radiating therefrom
and comprising fourteen and eight-tenths miles of main
and principal branches, besides almost hundreds of
miles of field branches. The main line has a gradient
of but three and two-tenths feet fall per mile. During
the unprecedented flood in the first week of July the
overflow from the lands continued but thirty hours, and
no damage was done to the growing crops. Upon the
other systems, most of which have a better gradient,
no damage was suffered by reason of the surplus water,
and we regard this sort of a system of drainage as being
eminently the proper kind. Where tile or sewer pipe
will serve the purpose, and the drainage area is not too
great, I have of late years used tile upon my drainage
. work."

Iowa has every condition of land requiring drain-
age, from the rolling portions which drain themselves
into sloughs and draws, to extensive levels, vast swamps
and overflowed bottoms. All will be drained in time,
because the land is fertile and well worth the labor and
expense. Scarcely a condition found elsewhere in the
Middle West can not be duplicated here. No more
important advice could be rendered to any locality where
adequate drainage of land is contemplated than to
definitely define and describe the natural boundaries of
the areas to be treated and to outline the main drainage
which should be provided for them. This is a simple
process, but is frequently omitted until a large amount
of interior drainage has been executed, and complica-
tions of a vexatious and serious nature begin to rise.
"There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at
the flood, leads on to fortune." Iowa is at that point
in the development of her agricultural resources. The
nanufacturers of drain-tile must seize upon the opening
now afforded by the unusual interest which is being
shown in this state in the development of her lands.
The 290,000,000 bushels of corn produced in the state
in the year 1902, though large and satisfactory under
present conditions, represents but one-half of what she
may produce eight years hence, if her lands are wisely
developed and properly cultivated. In accomplishing
this, however, a fair amount must be invested in drain-
age improvements, of an extended and comprehensive
character, in which those who furnish the material and
execute the work will be materially interested and
should be party of the second part in the transaction.

In carrying out this work in a comprehensive way
the aid of the engineer should be secured in the begin-
ning of every proposed work. Too frequently this mat-

ter is deferred until some serious difficulty is encoun-
tered from which he is expected to extricate the land-
owner, public officer or contractor. The engineer should
be a man of good information and experience in his
particular line of work. Many who are in other respects
accomplished engineers do not have the qualifications
for the efficient planning of drainage work. This asso-
ciation would confer a benefit upon the land interests
of the state if it would sanction the work of the com-
petent engineer and even go so far as to recommend
that drainage work be placed in charge of those who are
professionally fitted to direct and advise. This should
be done, not for the purpose of adding another expense,
but to secure better results in the end at less cost. Tile
manufacturers are in a position to do much in the
interest of thorough work if they choose. As purchasers
of machines often ask the seller about the work they
will perform and how they should be set up and oper-
ated, so have purchasers of drain-tile, in time past at
least, inquired of manufacturers concerning their use,
where skillful labor may be secured, and for much other
gratuitous information.

Let us turn for a moment from the consideration
of matters of conquest, that is, the reclamation and im-
provement of property, the labor and vexation connected
with the work, and the vicissitudes of business in the
acquirement of a competency, to the results which may
be expected to be enjoyed. No titled owner of estates
in foreign countries can appreciate the feelings of the
American landowner who, by his own well-directed
efforts, has made himself a home, and looks out upon
the fruitful fields which are his by title acquired through
intelligent labor. He may well forget for the time
being the trials only made pleasurable by the thought
of future success, and enjoy the afternoon of life sur-
rounded by the amenities of a peaceful home. It is
not all of life to overcome the physical difficulties along
its pathway. It is not quite enough to know that he
has succeeded in a business way. The building up of
character, the cultivation of higher sentiments and the
commendable discharge of obligations to his associates
in business and to his immediate family should in
reality be the ultimate end sought. He who, though in
the garb of his daily work, can exhibit the higher ele-
ments of citizenship and manhood is most worthy the
name of a successful man. There are no more inviting
fields for the establishment and development of rural
homes than may be found in the state whose clay manu-
facturing interests you represent. Without your work,
which is both honorable and remunerative, the state will
fail to point off upon the dial of progress these suc-
cessive periods which characterize our age and define
our position among industrial people. Her rural citi-
zens may take a commendable pride in the towers and
minarets which adorn her cities, and boast of their part
in the direction of the affairs of state, but after all they
turn with greatest satisfaction to the acres which they
have improved and adorned as their own most valued
heritage, and the state's choicest possessions.

WHY?

Tess — "You and Miss Sere don't seem to be good
friends. What's the matter?"

Jess — "Why, she remarked that she was twenty-four
years old and —

Tess— "And you doubted it?"

Jess — "Not at all. I merely said, 'Of course, but
when?" — Philadelphia Press.

THE 1KEIGATION AGE.

115

POLO FIELD AT DREAMWOLD.

THE FARM OF THOMAS W. LAWSON CO., SCITUATE, MASS.

The polo field, so called, is the area enclosed by the
trotting and coach tracks, and contains about eight and
one-third acres, which was originally a swamp, practi-
cally impassable except when surface became frozen
in winter time. Through the center of this area was
a brook, which was the natural outlet for some 200
acres of territory lying to the south and west.

The growth on this swamp varied from bushy
scrub growth to heavy wood, and contained many varie-
ties such as white birch, maple, ash and oak, inter-
spersed with alder, dog-wood, wild grape and brier, all
together forming the usual typical growth of similar
land in the vicinity.

The soil also showed much variation, from the loam
usual to the upland to a heavy peat or "sphagnum,"

and varied in depth from six inches to three and one-
half feet. The subsoil showed even a greater variation,
and within a very small area, sand, gravel, clay and
hard-pan, so called, was encountered, all saturated with
water supplied by springs, which made the handling of
such materials both difficult and expensive. The area
between the contour line A B and the track (to the
west) on plan accompanying was cut down and the
material used in filling the two tracks to grade required,
while the remaining area was not changed as to grade,
but was stumped and grubbed and roots and rubbish
burned and ashes spread.

The fact of this site of the polo field being the
natural outlet for surface drainage of area beyond, re-
quired provision to be made not only for the field itself
but for the additional territory mentioned, and for that
purpose a main drain of 20-inch Akron pipe, laid dry
and surrounded on sides and top by small stones, was
constructed.

From this main drain lateral drains were laid, as
exigency required, and wherever possible at an angle to
the surface slope of the land.

The brook existing was filled with stone, and con-
nected with the main drain, and the westerly part of
the field near the turn of trotting track was ditched and
stoned in like manner, thereby cutting off water coining
under the track on the original level of the ground.
This ditch was connected at intervals with the lateral
drains, and thereby with the main drain.

Another drain twelve inches in diameter was laid
almost at a right angle to the main and extending
underneath the track and driveway, which acted as an
outlet for the several catch-basins along the driveway.

At intervals on the main drain, man-holes were con-
structed of stone and covered with iron covers, set so
as to be covered by about six inches of top soil.

The general surface of the polo field was as is
usual to swamp areas, practically level in itself, and the
fact of being governed by the grade of the outlet at a
culvert under the railroad made the available grade for
the 20-inch main drain limited, there being but about
twenty inches fall in the total length of over 1,100
feet. This same condition governed most of the lateral
drains, except where they were laid when surface was
cut down, when more fall was available.

Notwithstanding this lack of grade available,
coupled with the fact of the water-shed outside of the
field being at a much higher elevation, many drains of
which were laid at a 5 per cent grade, all meaning a
large volume of water in a very short space of time,
the main drain has proven of sufficient capacity to take
care of, not only the ordinary, but the unusual demands
of a heavy storm.

The approximate length of the different-sized drains
are as follows :

Main drain (20") 1,150 feet.

Main drain (12") 300 feet.

French drains (4") 4,700 feet.

Stone drains 925 feet.

After the drains were constructed, the surface was
graded and laid down to grass, and considering the
drouth of the early part of the season, already gives
promise of a good turf in the near future.

M. J. O'HEARN, Contractor.

A correspondent at 'Grand Eapids, Wis., says a
drainage company has been formed there which pro-
poses to drain the extensive marshes in Wood and Por-
tage counties.

The company has purchased as much of this marsh
land as can be obtained, but many owners still hold
their marshes, as they desire their wild hay each year,
which practically costs them, nothing excepting the cut-
ting.

The drainage company intends to make ditches as
large as creeks through these marshes and the farmers
strongly object to such proceedings.

By the construction of ditches the marshes lose all
value for hay-raising and as the farmers have large
herds of stock to feed the loss of hay each year will be
a large item.

Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE
for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

116

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

TILE DRAINAGE, ITS BENEFITS.

BY J. ARXETT, C. E.

Kind reader, remember that tile, well burned,
iemivitrified, will not decay. Remember further, that
when such tile are laid to a proper gradient with close
joints to exclude silt, the benefits increase with time
and the improvement does not deteriorate with age, but
grows better and better, doing its work promptly, when
work is to do, hot or cold, rain or shine, snow or blow,
day or night; it is on duty and never goes on strike.
A. 0. Jones, formerly a tilemaker of Columbus, now of
Zancsville, Ohio, showed the writer a piece of tile,
brought by him from Italy that had lain in the ground
1.500 years.

For all practical purposes such tile may be regarded
as indestructible. Tile should be everywhere large
enough to do the work likely to come upon it. The
writer believed at the time he as engineer began run-
ning county ditches that the tile "he was putting in
was not large enough. Now he knows that it ought to
have been at least as large again. Several things con-
spired to bring about such work. First, farmers were
not 'educated up to the importance of tile drainage.
They knew but little about it and cared less. Second,
there were no large tile made then as now. Then 2
inches to 12 inches was the oiitput, the latter size being
regarded as ne plus ultra. Now we have from 3 to 42
inches, the latter delivering an ocean gush of water
\vhen a cloudburst puts it on its muscle. Third, then,
the price of tile for like sizes '-was more than double
what it is now and of an inferior quality. The writer,
for some 200 rods of the outlet of his first county ditch,
paid '$2 a rod for foot lengths, 12-inch tile. And such
tile! An end-view look at a pile gave you, roughly,
the circle, the ellipse, the parabola and other shapes to
which mathematics, as yet, have given no name, and
all with a greater or less unequal length of sides. So
the tile had to be laid rather serpentine in the trench
to make passable joints.

The benefits of tile drainage are many. The writer
will here enumerate a few. Deeply laid tile. 4 to 6
feet deep (reader, don't bug out your eyes, you are
not hurt), will aerate and air slake and make porous
and friable a hard pan subsoil and give the roots of the
growing crops to forage upon underlying the impover-
ished superincumbent soil skin in which the rootlets of
plants, after stomachs are filled, fairly run riot and play
liidc and seek. How is this? Water and air are co-
workers in plant growth. They cannot both occupy the
soil at the same time. Water must precede the air in
the soil. See that field of growing corn, the soil fully
saturated with water and puddles standing here, there
and yonder. Now what? The. field is deeply under-
drained, 4 to 6 feet deep. Its owner was not afraid of
his shadow and believing he was doing a work for all
coming time and all expenses in ditching were the
same except a little deeper digging and a -little more
back filling, he went down, yes, he went down to his
arms, his chin, the top of his head and if need be so
lie could barely reach the surface, in places, and laid
his tile to a proper gradient. And then what? Tile
thus well and deeply laid need no bidding to begin the
removal of flood waters, but in gushing streams the
superabundant water is borne* away. What now? See
bow rapidly the water subsides with the air at its heels
in its wakes armed with its chemical laboratory ready
for work on the phosphates, hydrates, sulphates,

nitrates, etc., left on the roadside by the water in its
retreat.

What more about the air? The soil is deeply
drained. The tile is not at work for the reason no
work is to do. The superincumbent air is as cold as
Greenland. And what of that? Volume for volume it
is heavier than the air in the tile and soil and rushing
in at the outlet of the drain, forces the warm air in the
mains, sub-mains, laterals, sub-laterals, out into the ad-
jacent soil and up through the soil to the cold air
above. This particular volume of cold air by the ab-
sorption of heat from the tile and adjacent soil, has
expanded, occupying greater space with same weight is
out-weighed by the outlying cold air and by it in its
turn is forced out and up through the soil. Does it end
here? Nay, verily. It has made only a beginning.
This process of warming air in the tile and soil and
then forcing it up through the soil to the surface must
go on so long as volume for volume the air in the tile
drain and soil is warmer than the outlying air.

See the rush of air, as if forced by bellows into
your furnace to supply the draft of a 200-feet flue.
The relation between the air in the tile in winter and
the outlying air is the same as the air in the 200-feet
flue, and the external air when the fire in furnace is
aglow. There may be a current of water leached from
the soil flowing adown the tile while the cold air rushes
in the tile drain above. The rippling water in the tile
drain is of the same temperature as that of the ground
4 to G feet below the surface, and, good Samaritan like,
gives off its warmth to the cold air above. • This flow-
ing in of cold air at the outfall of a tile drain running
le?s than full of water ever continues so long as the
exterior air is colder than the air in the drain and
subsoil.

There comes a time, however, when the air in the
drain and subsoil is co'der than the outside air. Then
a reverse order takes place. The superincumbent atmos-
phere is ever pressing upon the ground surface with
a force of 14 pounds to- the square inch. This pres-
sure forces warm air into all the interstices of the soil
and this warm air gives off its warmth to the soil as
it goes down. Thus parting with its heat it becomes
colder and heavier and being a fluid and meeting in the
soil the least resistance in the direction of the drain,
the air, like water, flows thither, enters the drain, and
like water, flows down the drain to its outfall where it
takes the lowest seat.

Thus in a thoroughly and deeply underdrained
soil, the air, a God-given chemist, is always on duty.

A new and revised edition of "The Standard Guide
to the City of Mexico and Vicinity" by Robert S. Bar-
rett is announced for publication, February 1, by the
Modern Mexico Publishing Company of New York.
This will be- the third edition of Mr. Barrett's book in
three years. It contains a vast amount of practical
information for tourists, as well as a very fine collec-
tion of views of the Mexican Capital. Mr. Barrett, the
compiler of this guide, is a young Georgian, now a
resident of the City of Mexico, being correspondent
there for several' prominent United States newspapers.

your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE
for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

CORRESPONDENCE

PERU, IND., February 3, 1903.
THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL, Chicago, 111.:

Gentlemen — The city of Peru is going to receive, bids on
a 20-inch tile sewer of 3,000 feet in length, to run all the
way from 8 feet to 14 feet deep, at their council meeting on
the night of February 24, 1903.

And, as a matter of news to you people, I thought I
would inform you of the same. Yours respectfully,

WILLIAM O'HARA, City Clerk.

BLOOMINGTON, ILL., February 2, 1903
THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL, Chicago, 111. :

Gentlemen — Would you kindly give me the address of
some manufacturer of the old-fashioned or new-fashioned
"Mole Ditch Machine?"

Find stamped envelope inclosed. Respectfully.

B. M. KUHN.

The mole ditcher was quite commonly used (hirty or
forty years ago on the prairie farms of Illinois' before tile
drains were thought of in the West, and at a time when they
were found upon but few farms in New York and Ohio. The
ditcher as then used consisted of a long beam mounted
on shoes, carrying a strong steel cutter upon the end of
which was the "mole" of conical shape. The rtiole was set
in the ground at the outlet of the proposed drain, and pulled
by a strong cable about 200 feet long by means of a capstan
operated by oxen. The mole was forced through the subsoil
clay, leaving an underdrain usually about five inches in
diameter. The depth of the drain could be regulated some-
what, though usually it followed the surface undulations of the
ground at a depth of from twenty-four to thirty inches.

Where the surface grade was proper, and the clay was
compact and free from stones and roots, some excellent
results were obtained. In some instances the drains made in
this way lasted six or eight years, in others they were of
short duration. We do not know that the machines are
now manufactured. While the mole drain under favor-
able conditions will serve an excellent purpose it is at best
only temporary.

Many tile ditching machines have been placed on the
market during the last twenty-five years, and have passed into
oblivion. They are of two types ; the repeater, which com-
pletes the ditch by successive passages over the line until
the required depth is reached, and the machine which com-
pletes the ditch to grade at one passage over the ground.
While the farmer has been partially successful, we do not
now know of any upon the market.

The Plumb Steam Ditcher was a machine of the latter
type and performed excellent work, but on account of its
cost the demand for it was so small that its manufacture
was discontinued.

The Buckeye Traction Ditcher has been in use for
nine years and more nearly meets the requirements of a
tile trenching machine than any that have been in the field.
It is operated by steam, is compact and easily handled and
completes a perfectly graded ditch at one passage over the
line. We understand that this machine is meeting with much
favor wherever it has been used, and that the number manu-
factured has been steadily increasing from year to year.

GANADO, ARIZ., January 25, 1903.
MR. D. HL ANDERSON, ESQ., Chicago, 111.:.

Dear Sir — In June, of last year, an .ac,t was, passed by
Congress and signed by the president, which grants me a
title to the land which I now occupy. I suppose you have not
forgotten me. If you remember, we have had seme cor-
respondence on the subject. The survey has been ordered
by the surveyor general. Yet it seems to hang fire on account
of no surveyor wishing to take the work at the price offered
by the department. I had been waiting to have the lines fixed
to write you on the subject of nutting in an irrigating
plant. I have been reading several irrigation articles in your
valuable paper, have come to the conclusion that a gasoline
pump would be the best thinaf for me here. I have also con-
cluded to put in the plant this spring. I am very ignorant

of the price of machinery of this kind, and also of the quality
of the same. I desire to trouble you, asking you for advice
on the subject. I desire to build, or, rather, dig, the well
close to the bank of the creek, so that when there is not
sufficient water in the well, which I doubt not there will be
at any time, I can turn the water of the creek into the well.
I will build a house over the engine and well. I would like,
if not too expensive, to have a feed grinder, or preferably a
mill, that would grind whole wheat and corn for the pur-
pose of meal. That is, what the Indians can use for the pur-
pose of making bread without bolting.

Also, a circular saw attachment for the purpose of cut-
ting wood, and one attachment to turn a grindstone. The
water in tne creek is sufficient to irrigate over four hundred
acres of ground, except in very dry seasons. That is the
reason I desire a reservoir, as I can then pump water both
winter and summer, and let the Indians use the surplus. I
would like to get your advice as to what the flume should
be made of. I could make it out of pine trees, that are very
handy here, not being over eighteen miles, and I can get
the work done very cheaply. It may be possible that there
might be some steel flumes made that would be cheaper, and
would be equally permanent and substantial. I do not think
it would be a good idea to make them out of lumber. I would
like to have ,a plan of a house that would be necessary for
the above machinery. ' The cheapest and best buildings in
this country are adobe, with a good stone foundation, and
a dirt roof, which prevents all danger of fire.

I would like to have information what the above articles
will cost'. Such as the gasoline engine, mill for grinding
meal, pump, and any other thing that may be necessary for the
plant. Would also like to get an estimate of what a steel
flume would cost for the 750 feet. My intention is to run
the engine day and night as long as the water supply is suf-
ficient. I will pay cash for every article bought. I want to
ask your advice as to the best that can be bought, as it will
not pay to get anything that will go to pieces in a short time.
Also would like to ask the parties that would sell this gaso-
line engine what they would charge for a man to come out
here ?nd set up the plant and put it in running shape.

Dr. W. H. Knap will call on you, and he will give you a
description of the land ; he has been here and will tell you
that it will be the means of selling other engines in this
country, if successful. Yours respectfully,

J. L. HUBBELL.

The above letter has been referred to firms of known
standing, who will furnish the writer all necessary informa-
tion.

IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :

Gentlemen — I have just received a copy of your paper,
and it purports to treat upon a subject of vital interest to this
section of the country. I herewith inclose a draft for $1.00
for one year's subscription.

In your issue of December last, on page 42, you gave a
view of a watering wheel for raising water for irrigation
purposes. I would like some data upon this subject, if con-
venient. I have a stream running across my property, which
is about twenty feet below its highest point. I wish to raise
the water to this point, and for so doing have constructed
a dam, forcing the water into a space of about six feet in
width, which is now about two feet in depth and flows at the
rate of approximately five to six miles an hour. During a
large portion of the season this water will be some three or
four feet in depth and running at a corresponding rate of
speed. I wish to construct a wheel which will deliver water
into a flume as before indicated, twenty feet from the present
level of the water.' Can you give me any data as to the
construction of such a wheel and its approximate lifting
power in gallons? Yours respectfully,

B. J. MclNTIRE.

• The above inquiry was referred to Clarence T. Johnston,
Assistant Chief Irrigation Investigations, and his reply, with
illustration, is herewith presented.

CHEYENNE. WYO., January, 31, 1903.
MR. D. H. ANDERSON, 112 Dearborn St., Chicago, 111.:

Dear Sir — I have your letter of the 27th, with the in-
closure from Mr. Mclntire. The current described by Mr.
Melntire. running two feet deep, which I believe is the mini-
mum, would furnish sufficient power to raise about one
cubic foot per second to a height of 20 feet. Figuring on a
wheel 26 feet wide, furnished with 24 vanes, the continuous

118

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

discharge of practically one cubic foot per second would be
procured. The buckets for raising water could be placed, as
shown in the sketch, 41 inches apart, five feet long and
one foot square on the inside. The wheel would dip two

WATER WHEEL.

feet in the water and extend four feet above the bottom of the
trough, which carries it to the ditch. One cubic foot is ap-
proximately equal to 7H gallons, and one cubic foot per second
is about 450 gallons per minute.

I return herewith Mr. Mclntire's letter. Sincerely,

CLARENCE T. JOHNSTON,
Assistant Chief Irrigation Investigations.

KANSAS CITY, February 4, 1903.

Gentlemen — I think that it was during the latter part of
last year that I read in a copy of THE IRRIGATION AGE of issue
of that time also, an article regarding rice culture and its
profits in either Texas or Louisiana, and previously to that,
it may have been in an issue of IRRIGATION AGE of 1901, I
notice an amusing method of telling one's age; therefore, if
the enclosed 25 cents in stamps is sufficient to send me a
copy of both of these issues, postpaid, please forward them
to me.

May I trouble in asking you where to buy land that is
intended to be irrigated, abutting the main canal, or away from
it? Should it be agreeable to you, I would like to know
through the columns of THE IRRIGATION AGE, to be answered
by anyone, the average number of acres of apple orchard that
one man can irrigate and attend to during a season, with and
without small crops between rows of apple trees?
Yours truly, C. MYGIND.

Will some of our readers send answers to us covering
questions in last paragraph of this letter?

VALUE OF IRRIGATION.

Up to quite recently the general sentiment in the
eastern states was antagonistic to the scheme of reclaim-
ing the arid lands of the West by irrigation. They
seemed to regard the idea as but a manifestation of the
overwrought western brain. But with a better under-
standing of the subject, irrigation is now more favor-
ably viewed by them. As yet the Wesi; has proposed
no plan for the future that has anything like the prac-
tical value of the reclamation of the desert areas. If
results be the criterion, then western railroad building
will be dwarfed in comparison. The accomplishment of
present designs will contribute incalculably to our na-
tional wealth,. strength and prestige.

Any one who doubts the value of water as an agent
of regeneration in the arid section should look upon the
Colorado and Arizona communities that have been bene-
fited by it and be forever rid of His doubts. JSTot many
years ago, Phoenix, ir; Arizona, was the very heart of
a superheated region of desolation, almost as barren of
life as the coppery sky above it. But, through irriga-
tion, Phoenix has indeed risen from the fire. That erst-
while baked expanse of sand is now rich with orchards
of figs, almonds and citrous fruits and beautiful with
long avenues of palms — a new Paradise,

A recent despatch from Washington to the Denver
Republican says it may be stated with certainty that the
efforts which have been made in the present congress
to repeal the various land acts of the country will come
to naught.

Bills for this purpose were introduced in the senate
and house and referred to the respective public lands
committees. The house committee discussed the repeal
measure at some length, and informally decided not to
make a report upon the repeal bill which had been
introduced by Representative Powers of Massachusetts.
The senate public lands committee has not considered
the repeal bill pending before it, which was introduced
by Senator Quarles, and it is not likely to do so. The
bill is not known to have a single friend in the com-
mittee. Even Senator Quarles, who introduced it, says
that he did so by request, and that he has no interest
in the measure.

In the meantime there has been considerable alarm
on the part of Western citizens lest these repeal meas-
ures should be seriously considered by congress, and
many letters and petitions have come from all parts of
the West protesting against the proposed changes in the
land laws.

On the other hand, a large number of stereotyped
resolutions and petitions have come to the senate and
house from labor organizations in the extreme Eastern
and Southern states asking that the land laws be re-
pealed, and "the heritage of the people preserved."
The similarity of all of these petitions, and the fact
that most of them are in printed circular form, indi-
cates the workings of an organized bureau or lobby
which has for its purpose the repeal of the laws under
which the West is being settled and developed.

Chairman Lacey of the house public lands com-
mittee attributes the unwonted activity and desire on
the part of Eastern organizations for the repeal of
Western land laws to the agency of George H. Maxwell,
who is the representative of the land departments of
several transcontinental railways. These companies
have large areas of land, acquired through grants of
congress, and they find it difficult to sell these holdings
while the government is a competitor and offering its
land practically free of cost. If the remaining public
land can be withdrawn from sale to the public, and can
only be ac'quirecl through the conditions of the home-
stead law, those who are seeking to obtain homes and
lands in the West will be forced to buy from the rail-
way companies, and the corner thus established in West-
ern land will be greatly to the advantage of these com-
panies.

Much of the literature which now reaches the pub-
lic, either through the columns of the Eastern press or
of the several publications maintained by the railroad
lobby, is paid for at much more than space rates by the

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

119

railroad companies whose interests it seeks to advance.
The general line of attack is to denounce the citizens of
the West as land grabbers, or land pirates, and that the
lands of the West are being stolen in wholesale quanti-
ties by land speculators. These articles lose their weight
when it becomes known that their source of inspiration
is the land department of a railroad company which
wishes to sell its land and put all other owners having
lands to sell out of the market.

The Boston Herald of January 23 contains the
following report of a meeting of the Commercial Club
of that city :

The reclamation of arid lands was discussed at the
meeting of the Commercial Club in the new Algonquin
Club house last evening, it being the 314th meeting.
Professor F. H. Newell, chief engineer of the reclama-
tion service of the government, was the guest and only
speaker, his remarks being supplemented by stereopticon
views. There were forty-five members present, Presi-
dent Lucius Tuttle occupying the chair.

The dinner over, President Tuttle introduced Pro-
fessor Newell with one of his famous brief bitt pertinent
talks, declaring that the irrigation of the West is one
of the most important matters which have come before
the country since the Louisiana purchase.

Professor Newell first called attention to the act
of June 17, 1902, and explained that the money to be
used in reclaiming the arid lands conies from those
states in which the work is to be done. "It is to the
direct interests of the commercial and business men
of the East," said he, "to build up in the West homes
for men who will purchase from the East nearly all of
the necessaries of life. Every article used from the
cradle to the grave will naturally be bought in the
East.

"The government is the owner of the land to be
reclaimed»and it owns now over one-half of California,
95 per cent of Nevada and 90 per cent of Arizona. It
would be the worst of policies to abandon that land
when, by spending a few dollars, it could be made val-
uable and productive. The barrier to this productive-
ness is the aridity, and this can be removed by irriga-
tion, and all of the money expended by the government
will be returned to its treasury by the states in which
it is used."

Among the lantern slides shown were some illus-
trating the relative rainfall in the different parts of the
country, and in comparing the size of the rivers, East
and West, the lecturer said that if the Charles River
was out in the West it would be nationally known as
one of great size. He said that Colorado has the largest
area of irrigated land to-day, and the irrigated soil is
capable of producing wonderful crops.

The great enterprise having for its purpose the
reclamation and settlement of 271,000 acres of land
in the Snake River valley, Idaho, was finally and for-
mally launched yesterday afternoon. A strong control
in the Twin Falls Land & Water Company passed from
the Milner to the Buhl-Kimberley syndicate, so-called,
and within the next few hours bids will be sought for
the construction of the big dams above the Twin Falls
and the more than eighty miles of canals that will
supply water to the lands from the Snake river. These
canals and the laterals from them through the lands
will aggregate something like 1,000 miles in length,
and not a stop will be made until the monster under-

taking has been rounded out and the beautiful level
valley has been peopled with thousands of prosperous
and happy inhabitants.

To accomplish all this will require the expenditure
of from $1,500,000 to $5,000,000, but with such men as
Frank H. Buhl, the multi-millionaire iron operator of
Sharon, Pa., and P. L. Kimberley, the wealthy mining
operator of the same place, and their associates, as well
as Colonel S. B. Milner and others of this city, the
chance of failure or delay is believed to be remote.

Since last Monday morning Messrs. Buhl and
Walter G. Filer have been going over th'e details of the
undertaking, and yesterday the deal with Col. Milner
and his associates, which involved the transfer of con-
siderably more than one-half of the 100,000 shares in
the company, was closed and the reorganization of the
board of directors took place. F. H. Buhl was made
president; Walter G. Filer, vice-president and general
manager ; M. B. DeLong of Sharon, secretary and treas-
urer; these, with P. L. Kimberley and S. B. Milner,
completing the board.

Manager Filer said he could say little about the
details of the undertaking at this time. Bids would be
sought at once for the work outlined above, and opera-
tions would begin at the earliest possible moment.
Things will be made to hum when once he gets them
started, and before the year is over a great change will
be wrought in the section where the company has de-
cided to build up what they believe will prove to be
the greatest commonwealth in the state of Idaho.

Messrs. Buhl and Kimberley both expect to leave
for the east again to-day, to return a few weeks later.
— Salt Lake Herald.

AN IRRIGATION EXHIBIT.

It is pleasing to hear that among the exhibits to
be made by the Government at the St. Louis World's
Fair is a miniature irrigation system copied after the
great Ontario plant in Southern California. The
hydrographic bureau of the Geological Survey, which
is to produce the exhibit, could not have found a plant
which illustrates so strikingly the economical possibili-
ties of irrigation. The Ontario system not only takes
all the water from the San Antonio river for irrigation
purposes, but it utilizes the water under heavy pressure
for generating electricity for lighting and power pur-
poses.

With the announcement of these facts comes an inter-
esting story of the experiences of the Ontario Colony.
In the early days of the colony there was thought to be
an ample water supply in the mountains to meet all
requirements, but with the lessened rainfall of the last
few years, and the need of additional acreage, this
co!on\-, in common with all Southern California, found
it necessary to resort to heroic measures to develop an
additional water supply. It was found that there was
plenty of water in the earth to be reached by drilling,
but pumping from deep wells was expensive, so it was
decided to compel the river to furnish the power to
pump the wells. It was necessary to conduct water
from the river a short distance around the foothills in
a ditch to a point where it would have a drop of 700
feet to a power house. The minimum horse power
which this fall develops is estimated at 400, while the
maximum is 1,200. Even the smaller amount is suf-
ficient to pump all the wells, light the houses and
streets of the colony and meet such demands for power
as now exist. The fact that the electric plant, as well

120

THE IKEIGATION AGE.

as the irrigation system, is owned by the land-owners
of the colony, gives to the entire system what is prac-
tically public ownership, resulting in the people getting
both water and electricity at cost of production. The
colonists believe the time is shortly coming when the
water .users will not only have all operating expenses
paid by the sale of electricity, but will actually draw
dividends on the water stock on which, until this little
feat was accomplished, they had expected to have to
meet perpetual assessments.

The subject of irrigation has become one of grave
importance to The producers of the western, half of the
Union, and the great work which is now being prose-
cuted under Government direction in the arid sections
is pregnant with possibilities of good to millions. In
the western parts of the great agricultural states of
Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas, as well as
in the inter-mountain and coast country, scientific in-
formation in regard to the possibilities of utilizing the
waters which are known to flow in abundance below the
earth's surface is being eagerly sought for, and no ex-
hibits that will be made at the World's Fair will com-
mand such attention from Western people as such
practical illustrations of the science of irrigation.

A recent report from Fort Collins, Colo., says:
The financial deals in water were made public here
yesterday, the first of local interest and the other in-
volving the entire llio Grande valley below Wagon
Wheel Gap. Former Governor Ben Eaton sold a three-
fifths interest in one of his reservoirs on the Cache
in la Poudre for $100,000 cash, representing a profit in
less than five years of $90,000, aside from the amounts
received each year from water, estimated at $100,000
more.

Hay Sayer of Denver was here in the interest of
the State Agricultural College regarding the details of
a dam which he and Eichard Broad intend building on
the south fork of the Bio Grande river about 15 miles
above Del Norte. The dam will be very small in struc-
ture, being located in a narrow canon a short distance
above South Fork station, on the Creede branch of the
Kio Grande road, below Wagon Wheel Gap. Its cost

will probably be less than $5,000, but it will impound
a vast amount of water. The site has already been
chosen, but the filings in the land office will not be made
until some time next week. The estimates of the col-
lege people place the value of the dam at a quarter of a
million dollars after the selling of water is well under
way. The idea is to impound only flood waters, for the
appropriations along the stream already exceed the flow
by several hundred feet. No accurate survey has yet
been made, but the opinion of experts seems to indicate
that with a circular dam about 100 feet long and 25
feet high about 200,000,000 cubic feet of water can
safely be stored.

The engineering department of the college ex-
pressed surprise at the carefully prepared plans made
up by Mr. Sayer, who lays no claim to being highly
skilled in work of this sort. His idea is to build a
semi-circular crib of heavy logs, with the convex side
upstream and have the ends abut into heavy piers in
the rocky banks. Then by filling the long crib the
clam can be made not only very strong, but thick and
heavy as well. As soon as the incoming water commis-
sioner is appointed the plans will be laid before him
and his consent asked for pushing the work so some of
the spring flood water may be impounded.

The announcement of the plan to build the dam
will probably cause a rush of locations in the vicinity
of the South fork, which drains an enormous area of
the San Juan mountains in the Eio Grande country
and is in reality the main feeder for the Eio Grande,
which is quite a sturdy stream below the junction,
especially during the early summer.

The New Mexico Territorial Irrigation Commis-
sion has addressed urgent requests to the secretary of
the interior for a soil and irrigation survey -of the
Puerco and Pecos valleys from the point where the
Pecos Valley and Northeastern railroad crosses the
Pecos down to the town of Carlsbad.

Eenew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE
for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

THE USE OF GASOLINE ENGINES in the pumping field is practically but just begun-
The demand on our Omaha and Chicago branches for pumping engines during the last year
has been greatly due to the deserved popularity of the "OTTO." The special attention we
have given to the building of this class of machinery is bringing its reward in increased trade.
We can serve buyers yet to come as satisfactorily as those that have already favored us.
Tell us your requirements and mention the " Age."

THE OTTO CAS ENGINE WORKS,

CHICAGO. PHILADELPHIA. OMAHA.

Beloit Champion,

STEEL FRAME

SELF DUMP RAKE.

With Angle Sfeel Axle, the Stifftst,
Smoothest and Nicest Steel Rake Axle
In the world.

Irrigators who contemplate buying a Rake, Plows, Planters, Cultivators,
I Harrows or Seeders should write us for catalogue, which will be sent post-paid.

J. Thompson & Sons Mfg. Co., Beloit, Wis
| We make the Lewis Gas and Gasoline Enjine 4>r irrigation pumping plants.
Mention Irrigation Age

E

Purpose

Buy a THOMPSON-LEWIS and
have a reliable Gas or

Gasoline Engine

That will always be ready and easy to start, safe
convenient, economical and durable. For de-
scriptive catalogue, address the manufacturers.
J. Thompson & Sons Mfq. Co.. Be'O't. W s.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

121

The Shuart
Earth Graders

Style No. a

These machines rapidly and
cheaply reduce the most uneven
land to perfect surface for the ap-
plication of water. Made in
several different styles. On the
No. 3 style the blade can be
worked diagonally, as well as
straight across, thus adapting it to
throwing up and distributing bor-
ders, ditches, etc For descriptive
circulars and price, address

B. F. SHUART

Oberlin, Ohio

"WANT AND FOR SALE
ADVERTISEMENTS

Drain Tile— all sizes.

ORESTES TILE WORKS, Orestes. Ind.

Drain Tile— all sizes.

A. K. WRIGHT, Fairmont, Ind.

Drain Tile— all sizes.

WILLIAMSON BROS., Sweetzers, Ind.

Drain Tile— all sizes.

JOHN W. RUST, Herbst, Ind
The above drain tile manufacturers are situated
on railroad lines convenient to ship in cat load
lots, and solicit trade, especially for large sizes.

FOR SALE.

$20,000 Brick and Tile Plant.
60 Double Deck Dryer Cars.
10 Acres. 5 Kilns, good market.
Having gone into banking and building business
can use product as part pay.

Write PELLA DRAIN TILE Co.,
Pella, Iowa.

FOR SALE-Potts disintegrator, No. 2, com-
plete, with new rolls and pulleys, run but a few
weeks. Address, M. J. LEE, Crawfordsville, Ind.

FOR SALE— A completely equipped factory
f,or drain tile and flower pots; seven acres clay
land; good trade; wish to retire from business.
Address, A. M. FISH, Milan, Ohio, Erie Co.

Renew your subscription of the
IRRIGATION AGE for 1903. Send us
in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

Exposition
Flyer

Via

"Big 4"

To

St. Louis

Write lor Rates and Folders

Warren J. Lynch, W. P. Deppe,
Gen'l Pass. & Ass't Gen'l

Tkt. Agt. P. & T. A.

CINCINNATI, OHIO

'16" LONG RANGE TELESCOPE.

FOR

Irrigators,
Farmers

and

Ditchers

Catalogue free.

Grade
Level Co.

Jackson, Mich.
No. 1, $27.00
Target and Rod
free with each.

Target and Rod alone $2.00.

Our Grade Levels are the only ones made with
a "Gradn Bar" and with a "Scale" showing tne
grade without figuring, ana the only one with a
Telescope at so low a price.

No. 1 Improved Level (our latest)— $30. Has horiz-
ontal circle divided Into degrees; can run at any angle
without measuring.

GREEN

per

Greatest. Cheapest Food

on Earth for Sheep, Swine,

Cattle, etc.

Will be worth $100 to you to read what
Salzer's catalog says about rape.

Billion Dollar Grass

will positively make yon rich; 12 tons
of hay and lots of pasture per acre, so
also BromuH, Peaoat, Speltz, Macaroni
•wheat for arid, hot soils, 63 bus. per
acre. 20th Century Oats, 250 bus. per
aero and Tcosfnte, Yields 1OO tons
Green Fodder per acre.

For this Notice and 1 0c.

we mail big catalog and 10 Farm freed
Novelties, fully worth $10 to geta start.

JOHN AMZER SEED CDL

For nearly
half a century

^^""^ *

errys

Seeds

have been crowing famous ineverr
Kind of soil, every where. Sold by
• all dealers. 1»08 Seed Annual
"i postpaid free to all applicants.
D. M. FERRY A CO.
Detroit, Mich.

We will pay liberal commis-
sion to agents securing sub-
scribers. Write to

THE IRRIGATION AGE

112 Dearborn Street, CHICAGO

R. H. McWILLIAMS,

G E N E R. AL
D RAIN AGE
CONTRACTOR

Special attention paid to reclaiming
swamp lands with steam dredges.
Drainage bonds bought and sold.

OFFICE:

riATTOON,

ILLINOIS.

EDGAR M. HEAFER
TILE COMPANY

MANUFACTURERS OF

Round Drain Tile

Of Superior Potters' Clay.

ASLO DEALERS IN

SUPERIOR FIRE BRICK AND SEWER PIPE
BLOOniNGTON, ILL.

James W. Craig.
Ja

. Edward C. Craig.

ames W. Craig, Jr.

James W. 4 Edward C. Craig,

ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
MATTOON. COLES COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

Special attention given to the Law Department
of Drainage Work.
Drainage Bonds Bought and Sold.

M. H. DOWNEY. E. J. W1LCOX.

DOWNEY & WILCOX. Civil Engineers,

Drainage and Roads a Specialty.
Correspondence Solicited. Room 2, Court House, ANDERSON, IND

122

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 n 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 n 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

JEFFREY CONVEYORS

Will handle your product rapidly and economically

Also Manufacture

Screens, Elevator Buckets, Water Elevators

Crushers, Etc.

SEND FOR.
CATALOGUE

ADDRESS

Jeffrey Mfg. Co.

Columbus, Ohio.

, NEW YOR.K

DENVER. JEFFREY

_.

III I I I I III I I I I I I I III I I I I I I I I I I I I-H-I I I I I I++I II I I I I I I I I I I I I ill I I I I I I I I I I I I Mill I I
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I II I I M I I I I I I I I II I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 1 +

..Eureka Potato Planter..

The Eureka is the most
practical Potato Pknter
on the market. Price
within the reach of all
farmers, and does the
work correctly. Plants
cut or uncut seed.

Nothing equals it; yield greater from jt than from planting by hand. Light draft for one horse and easy for the '
man who operates it. Have won out in every test. Send for circulars. Not an experiment, but a machine used by
the thousand and for the past four years on the market. Our latest catalogue of implements should interest YOU !
Shall we send it?

Eureka Mower Co., Utica, N. Y., U. S. A. i

Mil

I I I I II II I I I II I I I I I

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

123

Built Right

Run Right

Unsurpassed for Tile, Hollow Ware. Brick and all
Classes of Clay products. Write for Particulars
on this or other Clayworking Machinery 595?

The Improved Centennial Auger Machine

Bucyrus. Ohio
U. S. A.

The American Clay-Working
Machinery Company

124

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

for

ie Manufacturers

SEWER PIPE BARROW

TILE TRUCK HEAVY FURNACE FRONT

These Trucks and Barrows are made of first-class material, and the workmanship is the
best. Special trucks and barrows to suit customers, made to order. Prices quoted on
receipt of specifications.

BAND TIGHTENERS AND DOOR CONNECTORS

CLASS B CLASS C

TUPPER STYLE GRATE

CAST IRON KILN COVERS

Sections 6 inches wide.

36, 42, and 48 inches long

STRAIGHT GRATES

"i a i .. • it; • , i;

Any length. Sections 3 inches to 3}4 inches wide. Weight average about 1 pound VENTILATORS

per inch in length.

We also make Kiln Bands complete with sections cut to length and rivet holes punched. Rivets fur-
nished and tighteners riveted on to end sections. Prices quoted for anything in this line upon application.

Address

The Arnold -

er Co.

NEW LONDON, OHIO

or Cor. 6th and Vine Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0€ O«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«

125

Say, Mr. Tilemaker,

Does the machine you are now
using pug the clay sufficiently

If not, here is one that will. The best Tile
Machine made, combined with an eight-foot
double-shaft Pug Mill; and it is arranged to
make tile from 2 1/2 = in. to 24 'in. It will pay
you to investigate this machine and also Ben*
sing's Automatic Cutting Tables. Write us for
full information and prices

THE J. D. FATE CO.

PLYMOUTH, OHIO

We make a full line of Clay Working Machinery

•O«O*O«O«O*O»O»O*O*O»O«O«O»O«O«O«O»O*O«C«O»O*O»O«O»O»O»O*O»OI

126

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

'•€«•••«•••••••••••••••••«••••••••••••••

THE BUCKEYE TRACTION DITCHER

A winning proposition in a.ny kind of soil.

M
A
N

U

A
C

U
R

D

I
N

O
U
R

S

s

CUTTING

FROM

ELEVEN

AND

ONE=HALF
INCHES

TO

TWENTY*

FOUR

INCHES

IN

WIDTH

AND

FROM

FOUR

AND

ONE-HALF

TO

SIX

AND

ONE-HALF
[FEET

'IN

DEPTH

This cut shows The Buckeye just starting a trench with
grading targets out ahead. The BUCKEYE positively cuts
to a perfect grade, and to its full depth with one cut

EVERY USER GIVES HIS ENTHUSIASTIC ENDORSEMENT.

The Van Buren, Heck & Marvin Co.

FINDLAY, OHIO, U. S. A.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

129

#&,•:*••*«

• ::;•:••:'•

„,

**

*n
IN THE SPRING

The farmer's fancy turns to the tillage of his
fields. A new plow will be the order of the day
on at least 1,000,000 farms this year. One fourth
of them will be Modern, Up-to-date, High Grade,
Standard

JOHN DEERE STEEL PLOWS

About 2000 car loads of which will go out between
January and May for

Enterprising, Progressive Farmers

Of the United States and Canada.

If you don't need a new plow, you may want a Deere Spike Tooth or
Disc Harrow, a Deere Corn Planter or Cultivator. In any event write
for the little booklet advertised in THE IKKIGATLON Ar;R

DEERE & COMPANY, Moline, Ills.

IRRIGATION PLANTS!

WE BUILD THEM.

FURNISHING ENGINES, PUMPS, PIPE,
BELTING AND ALL OTHER MATE-
RIAL COMPLETE FOR OPERATION.

TELL US YOUR REQUIREMENTS
WEBER GAS AND GASOLINE ENGINE CO.,

WEN'S IMPROVED

CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS

Extensively used in paper and pulp mills, dye houses, bleacheries,
tanneries, dry docks,

DRAINING AND IRRIGATION OF LAND.

Pond pumping, circulating water in surface condensers, pumping
sand, gravel or gritty water. In fact, adapted for raising any
liquid in large or small quantities. Write for catalogues.

BOLAND (Si GSCHWIND COMPANY, Ltd.,

Office and Works, Melpomene, Chippewa and St. Thomas streets

New Orleans, La.

130

THE IKRIGATION AGF

Myers Power Pumps

"Without an equal on
the Globe"

Full information in regard to our
varied line on application

Adapted especially for gas engines,
motor and belt powers, in harmony
with present requirements.

FIG. 813.

No. 359 Bulldozer Working Head, 5, 1% and

10-inch stroke.
No. 364. Bulldozer Working Head, 12, 16 and

20-inch stroke.

FIG 800.

Bulldozer Power Pump, sizes 3, 4, 5 and
6-iuch cylinders, stroke ranging from 5 to
20-inch.

F. E. Myers * Bro., Ashland, o., u. s. A.

THE USE OF GASOLINE ENGINES in the pumping field is practically but just begun.
The demand on our Omaha and Chicago branches for pumping engines during the last year
has been greatly due to the deserved popularity of the " OTTO." The special attention we
have given to the building of this class of machinery is bringing its reward in increased trade.
We can serve buyers yet to come as satisfactorily as those that have already favored us.
Tell us your requirements and mention the " Age."

THE OTTO CAS ENGINE WORKS,

CHICAGO. PHILADELPHIA. OMAHA.

Beloit Champion, )

STEEL FRAME

SELF DUMP RAKE.

With Angle Steel Axle, the Stiffest.
Smoothest and Nicest Steer Rake Axle
In the world.

Irrigators who contemplate buying a Rake, Plows, Planters, Cultivators,
Harrows or Seeders should write us for catalogue, which will be sent post-paid.

J. Thompson & Sons Mfg. Co., Beloit, Wis.

We make the Lewis Gas and Gasoline Engine for irrigation pumping
Mention Irrigation Age.

>ing plants. B

••••••• J

It you
need

Power

for any

Purpose

Buy a THOMPSON-LEWIS and
have a reliable Gas or

Gasoline Engine

That will always be ready and easy to start* safe
convenient, economical and durable. For de-
scriptive catalogue, address the manufacturers.
J. Thompson & Sons Mfg. Co.. Beloit, Wis.

THE IKKIGATION AGE.

131

»•••••••€••«••••••••••«

THE BUCKEYE TRACTION DITCHER

A winning proposition in a.ny kind of soil.

M
A
N
U

A
C

U
R

D
N

O
U
R

S

s

CUTTING

FROM

ELEVEN

AND

ONE-HALF
INCHES

TO

TWENTY*

FOUR

INCHES

IN

WIDTH

AND

FROM

FOUR

AND

ONE-HALF

TO

SIX

AND

ONE-HALF
FEET

IN
DEPTH

This cut shows The Buckeye just starting a trench with
grading targets out ahead. The BUCKEYE positively cuts
to a perfect grade, and to its full depth with one cut.

EVERY USER GIVES HIS ENTHUSIASTIC ENDORSEMENT.

The Van Buren, Heck & Marvin Co.

FINDLAY, OHIO, U. S. A.

132

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The Aultman & Taylor
Machinery Co.

Or MANSFIELD, OHIO,

One of the oldest concerns in the threshing machine busi-
ness, in fact one of the pioneers and pathfinders, are build-
ing portable and stationary rice separators which are tak-
ing the lead everywhere. They are guaranteed for superior
separation and cleaning, as testimonial letters elsewhere in
this issue would indicate.

The Aultman & Taylor Alfalfa Huller

Has established a
reputation in the
arid regions that
no other make of
alfalfa separator
and cleaner has
ever attained. Its
capacity is fully

one-third greater than that of any other machine. It saves
more seed and cleans it more perfectly than any other type.

Those interested in perfect rice separators, either of portable
or stationary type, or a superior alfalfa huller, should address

The Aultman & Taylor
Machinery Co.

OF MANSFIELD, OHIO

for one of their illustrated catalogues, which is sent free

to any address.

In-addressing the Aultman & Taylor Machinery Co. kindly mention The Irrigation Age. '

FATTENED

AUlTMANlWLOR STRAW STACK-

>••••••••••••€>•«•(

(••••••••••••••f ••••••••«••«••••••««

THE IRRIGATION AGE

VOL. XVIII.

CHICAGO, MARCH, 1903.

No. 5.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING CO.,

PUBLISHERS,

112 Dearborn Street, CHICAGO

Entered at the Postoffice at Chicago, 111., as Second-Class Matter.

D. H. ANDERSON, Editor.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.

To United States Subscribers, Postage Paid $1.00

To Canada and Mexico 1.00

All Other Foreign Countries 1.50

In forwarding: remittances please do not send checks on local banks.
Send either postoffice or express money order or Chicago or New York
draft.

A monthly illustrated magazine recognized throughout the world as
the exponent ot Irragation and its kindred industries. It is the pioneer
journal of its kind in the world, and has no rival in half a continent. It
advocates the mineral development and the industrial growth of the West.

tr» A rl xr^t-ti «P>1-« II may interest advertisers to know that The Irrigation Age is the only publication
LU ZO.U VC1 LlCSCld. ^ the worW having an actoal pai<j in advance circulation among individual

irrigators and large irrigation corporations. It is read regularly by all interested in this subject and has readers in all parts of the world.
The Irrigation Age is J8 years old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world.

National Irrigation Congress at Colorado Springs, and
labored with the other delegates from Utah to defeat the
effort to merge the Irrigation Congress with the Trans-
Mississippi Congress.

EDITORIAL

Self Adjusting The attention of our readers is called
Weir. to an article in this issue on a self-
adjusting weir, which is well illustrated with pen draw-
ings. .

Mr. John Henry Smith.

We are showing herewith a

half-tone likeness of Mr. John
Henry Smith, of Salt Lake City, one of the foremost
men of his State, and an active worker in irrigation af-
fairs and development. Mr. Smith is a gentleman of
striking appearance, and commands attention as a
speaker and diplomat.

HIT HIT v. IRRIGATION AGE is fortunate ih

. M. McK.mney.

securing the co-operation of Mr. G.

M. McKinney, of the Southern Pacific Railway, in the
preparation of a scries of illustrated articles on various
irrigation projects along the lines of this company. The
first article, to appear in our April issue, will describe
an extensive project in California, and will be finely il-
lustrated.

Hon. Angus M. Cannon.

Elsewhere in this issue will be

' found a finely executed photo-
graph of Mr. Angus M. Cannon, of Utah, who has done
as much as any one man toward the furtherance of the
irrigation industry and the development of irrigation
projects in his State.

Mr. Cannon was active as a delegate to the Tenth

Irriga/ion Do not forget the Eleventh National

Congress. Irrigation Congress to be held at

Ogden, Utah, September 8, 9, 10, 11, 1903, and remem-
ber that September is one of the best months of the
year to visit that delightful locality. September is a
good month for a vacation, anyway, so go and take your
family along. You may rest assured that the people
of Ogden and Utah generally will extend a royal wel-
come. Write Hon. Fred J. Kiesel, Ogden, for further
particulars.

In Our Drainage In our Drainage Department

Department. will be found an article on the

Lemonweir Drainage District, Monroe and Juneau
counties, Wisconsin. As will be seen by perusal of the
article, the usual objections were raised to this under-
taking by poorly advised individuals. These objections
were finally overcome and thousands of acres of land
which was formerly practically valueless have been
proven to be capable of producing 100 bushels of oats
and 800 bushels of onions to the acre. This is a fair
illustration of what intelligent drainage of swamp lands
will accomplish, and it is a noteworthy fact that the rail-
way companies whose lines tap large areas of this land
have given little or no thought to the possibilities of
proper agitation along these lines.

In Wisconsin alone there are, it is safe to say, one
million acres of land of this character susceptible of

134

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

reclamation, which a few years ago could have been pur-
chased for fifty cents an acre, and is now offered at
from one to five dollars per acre, which, with proper
drainage, would readily bring from sixty to one hundred
dollars per acre. It is our intention to devote consider-
able space in future issues to this subject as associated
with Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Minne-
sota, as well as many of the southern States. Readers
who are acquainted with similar conditions in their re-
spective localities are requested to write us, giving full
information. The land mentioned in the article is lo-
cated along the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul Railway.

Modern THE IRRIGATION AGE is glad to note

Irrigation. that the publication which succeeds The

Irrigation Era, now known as Modern Irrigation, pub-
lished at Denver, Cobrado, shows healthy signs, and we
earnestly wish it all the good that is the due of a cleanly
conducted publication. Modern Irrigation is published
by Mr. George W. Wagner, and the editorial department
is in charge of Mr. M. C. Jackson.

It is gratifying to note that this journal takes a
flat-footed stand in support of the National Irrigation
Congress, and elsewhere in this issue we quote its pleas-
ant comments on Senator J. M. Carey, of Wyoming,
and his work for the continuance and separate existence
of the National Irrigation Congress.

Running the Judging from printed matter recently
Government, issued by Geo. H. Maxwell concerning
what he intends to do in the Salt River
Valley, Arizona, and a printed slip signed Guy E.
Mitchell on the Quarles repeal bill, one would assume
that these gentlemen are shaping the affairs of the In-
terior Department, if not, in fact, running the govern-
ment. In fairness to the President, Secretary of the
Interior and Senator Quarles, these gentlemen should
be "called off." But no; a meeting of the National
Irrigation Association attended by the two alone would
hardly call a halt on themselves.

Correspond- The publishers of THE IRRIGATION AGE
ence. are particularly anxious to publish reg-

iilarly correspondence from its readers, whether it be in
the form of inquiries or experiences along the line of
irrigation and drainage study, and for this reason we
invite all of our readers to send in inquiries for informa-
tion, and write us their experiences of both successe.s and
failures, so that our readers may profit by avoiding
mistakes made by others, as well as through the adop-
tion of successful methods in actual irrigation experi-
ence.:

Our readers are urgently requested to send in occa-
sional letters which will prove of value and interest to
others.

IRRIGATING PUMPING PLANT.

A. W. CLAPP, C. E

The subject of electric pumping for the purpose of
irrigation is one of growing interest in the State of
Utah. With the completion of the largest pumping
plant in the United States, now under course of con-
struction on the shore of Utah lake at the head of Jor-
dan river, will in part have solved one of the most per-
plexing questions in irrigation that the several canal
companies in and around Salt Lake City have had to>
contend with for some time.

Utah lake, the largest body of fresh water in the
State, covering an area of about 93,000 acres, is located
near the center of the State, about thirty miles south of

HON. ANGUS M. CANNON.
Salt Lake City (Father Utah Lake Project).

the capital city, its principal source of supply being the
streams flowing from Provo, American Fork and Span-
ish Fork canyons, together with several smaller streams
which flow into it during the spring months. Its only
outlet is the Jordan river, which takes its course from
the north end of the lake and flows in a northerly di-
rection through Salt Lake City and empties its waters
into the Great Salt Lake, the fall of the river for the
first ten miles being 2.5' per mile, while in the' next
two miles it has a fall of 72' per mile.

The waters flowing from the lake during the
months of June, July and August, irrigation months,
are used for irrigation purposes by the farmers of Salt
Lake valley. These waters are controlled and distrib-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

135

uted by five large and several small canal companies,
one of the largest being owned by the city of Salt Lake,
this canal being about thirty miles long and supplying
water for irrigation purposes in that city as well as to
the original owners of the waters of Parley's Canyon, the
waters of which have passed, by exchange, from the
farmers to the city.

The several canal companies have, by right of

FOUNDATION CONSTRUCTION.

agreement with the owners of land adjacent to Utah
lake, the privilege of raising the waters of the lake to
3' 3^", compromise level, at which point the discharge
into the Jordan is about 500 feet per minute, and when
3' below compromise point the flow is about 90 per
second. At the present time (October, 1902) the lake
is lower than at any time in its known history, as a re-
sult of which the discharge is less than 75' per second.
This condition is caused by deficiency in precipitation

PUMP RUNNER.

during the past winter, as a result of which none of
the canals are able to supply the demands made upon
them. Foreseeing this, in July of the present year,
and to save several thousand acres of standing grain,
three of the canal companies voted to install a pumping
plant at the outlet of Utah lake for the purpose of lift-
ing the waters of the lake into the Jordan river and
thence into the canals.

This undertaking was placed in charge of F. C.

Kelsey, late city engineer of Salt Lake City. Surveys
and plans were made and the contracts for the installa-
tion of machinery and the building of foundations were
given to Gardner & Ingalls, of Lehi, Utah. Buildings
to be built by the canal companies.

The plant, when completed, will contain four 40"
double suction special low running centrifugal pumps,
feed with "Y P" suction of 40" diameter, with a dis-
charge pipe of 48", giving a capacity of 100 cubic feet
per second of time for each pump under a 5.5' head.
Each pump will be separately driven by a 100 H. P.
Westinghouse Type "C" induction motor, running at a
speed of 580 revolutions, electric power being furnished
at potential of 16,500 volts to the motors through step-
down transformers at 440 volts.

The entire plant, when complete, will have a capac-
ity of 400 second feet of water per second; and the
guaranteed efficiency of this completed plant from the
low tension' side of the transformers when lifting 400
second feet of water 5' will be 40 per cent.

What is known as the two upper canals divert
waters from the Jordan at a point about eight miles

ONE OF THE PUMPS.

below its outlet from Utah lake; two of the others have
their intake 52' below what is known as the upper
canals. From this point two miles below is located the
Salt Lake Cit'y Water & Electric Co., one of the larg-
est power plants in the State, furnishing power for
the power plant; tile canal companies controlling the
pumping plant agreed to furnish to the electric power
company, for generating power to operate their plant,
one-third of the amount of the water in excess of the
natural flow of the river, this water, upon passing
through the power plant, part of it discharging into
two of the canals 52' below, the balance into the river
72' below. The power company enlarged the Utah &
Salt Lake canal from its head to the plant to a suffi-
cient size to carry the water used by the power plant in
addition to the regular supply carried by the canal.

The practical success of the pumps is not doubted,
and barring the institution of injunction suits, as has
been threatened by the owners of land bordering on
shallow Utah lake, the beneficial effect of producing a
largely increased flow of water the river for the
canals ought to be immediate within a few hours from
starting to raise the lake waters over the outlet bars.
It is feared by the lowering of the lake level to an

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

abnormal degree by artificial means, as is likely to be
objected to by the Ctah county people, will necessitate
the adoption of conciliatory tactics by bringing a larger
flow of water into the lake from new sources, and possi-
bly the continuation of pumping time, so as to supply
the cold weather needs of the people along the river,
who would be unable to get any water without the con-
stant running of the pumps.

The success of the pumps will be watched with
interest by irrigators and those who have favored the
plan of straightening the river channel down to the
tight dam at the intake of the canals and the dredging
of the outlet and river bars as a means of drawing off
river water from the lake without pumping. This plan
contemplated the storage of more water in the lake at
liood time and the contraction of the lake evaporation
surface by means of dykes.

While the scheme would cost several hundred thou-
sand dollars, it is claimed by experts that it would afford
permanent relief from failure of water supply at less
expense at the end than by pumping. If this were
done and the city canal made to do its fullest duty on a

PARTLY COMPLETED BUILDING. PUMPS IN FOREGROUND.

higher line, it would be possible to carry into effect
the plan of exchanging canal water with owners of
Big Cottonwood creek, thereby enlarging an adequate
supply of water to be piped into Salt Lake City from
this most desirable source.

The city of Salt Lake will pay one-fourth of ten
per cent of the cost of the pumping plant to provide
for the wear and tear of machinery, the amount thus
paid to apply on the purchase price, and will also pay
one-fourth of the operating expenses and the interest
on the investment, and will receive one-fourth of the
water pumped into the Joidan river. The entire cost
of plant, when completed, will be about $50,000, cost-
ing about $2,000 per month to operate.

I'nfortunately, the relief from the pumps will come
rather late for this season (1902), but the farmers whose
crops have failed to come to maturity on account of the
drought, and the municipality of Salt Lake, which de-
pends upon its canal for irrigation supply and water for
exchange with owners of Parley's canyon creek, will not,
fail to appreciate the new pumping plant.

To live nobly in this world one must forgive much,
forget much and forbear much.

LAND PIRATES AND CORRUPT POLITICIANS.
Professed Friends, Disguised Enemies of Irrigation

BY ALFRED F. SEARS, C. E.

M. Am. Soc. C. E.— M. Nat. Soc. C. E. of Peru, S. A.— Cor. M. Geographi-
cal Soc. Lima, Feru.

Oregon has safely passed the incubating session
of its Irrigating convention; it has brought forth a
State Irrigating Association.

In the December Age (p. 57) appears an extract
from the Spokesman-Review, to the effect that "the
election of Devers as President is considered a victory
for the adherents of Government Irrigation as against
private enterprises under the Carey act," which is a
mistake, shown by the resolutions adopted as the result
of the convention's deliberations.

The truth is, the instigators of this convention,
who organized a "State Association", to be the creature
of Maxwell have met a most significant defeat. When
the National Irrigation Congress adjourned certain del-
egates from Oregon met and formed themselves into
an "Oregon Irrigation Association", which then and
there elected officers and called a State convention.
This act, forestalling popular action was un-American,
like some others proceeding from that "National'' As-
sociation. The active spirit in this affair, was one
Williamson, Member of Congress elect from the eastern
district of Oregon, who has been floated to the top
with other froth in the boiling of the political cauldron.
His home is in the heart of the arid district of the
state, Crook county, containing 4,964,000 acres, sparsely
populated, the settlements of 4,000 souls being scattered
along the banks of the streams. Of this vast territory,
more splendidly fertile and more accessible to irriga-
tion than any other section of our state, less than
56,000 acres are improved in farms, or a trifle over one-
per cent, while less than 14,000 acres are under irriga-
tion.

All this magnificent empire is roamed over by the
sheep and cattle of a corporation of wealthy stockmen,
the backers of Williamson, who employ him to prevent
the opening up of the region to settlement.

Vnder the Carey act parties have surveyed and
prepared to irrigate, if pending contracts are closed,
some 240,000 acres of the land lying in the valley,
accessible to the waters of the River Des Chutes. This
active spirit of enterprise has roused the resentment
of the land pirates, whose guardian angel is Williamson.
They behold in the construction of such works the
loss of that free pasturage,, they have been usurping
for the last thirty years till they claim it their's by
right of possession.

Through subtle machination, well understood by
the cunning politician, this element of hindering wealth
succeeded in securing, under Republican protection, the
election of its candidate to Congress in our last elec-
tion. This man, an obscure aspirant, save as he has
bobbed to the surface occasionally in our biennial
legislatures, had been shrewdly preparing himself for
his part, by avoiding all public expression of opinion
on the subject of irrigation, and managed things so
adroitly, that when Mr. Newell of the Hydrographic
Bureau visited his region, he absented himself, although
he had received a week's notice of the mission, the
importance of which was recognized by every friend
of the public welfare, and Mr. Malcolm A. Moody,
the M. C., whom Williamson succeeds was with the
party. After his nomination by the party, Williamson.

THE IRRIGATION" AGE.

137

started to canvass the district and took with him a
staff writer of the Oregonian, the most powerful, able
and influential newspaper in all this Northwest region.
Mr. Holman's ability as a writer and his high character
as a reliable correspondent were valuable reinforce-
ments in the campaign. His first letter, written from
Prineville, the capital of Crook county and the candi-
date's home, told the people that "the people here are
opposed to irrigation." The influence behind that
Miiiement was apparent. It was well understood that
the Oregonian's correspondent had been permitted to
me"et and talk with only those parties, whom it suited
the candidate and his stock-raising supporters to have
him meet.

The statement raised a howl as being false repre-
sentation of opinion; but Williamson was equal to the
emergency. He had made a mistake; the people every-
where wanted irrigation; they must be humored. It
would not answer to have their representative appear
the enemy of the most popular relief measure yet offered
that constituency. No, he did not mean to oppose
irrigation; what he meant, was to oppose that dreadful
system by which, "under the Carey act, great and
greedy corporations could come into their beautiful
county and gobble up the land." "Let us have the
National system and no other," he cried and the "peo-
ple" swallowed, while his employers winked at each
other and said "he's all right." He now proceeded to
advocate vociferously the system of National Irrigation,
while he denounced the Carey act, which, as yet, is
the only practical system yet offered for that immense
area of Crook county. He understood as did his clients,
that with Williamson in congress the National Irriga-
tion system would never come to molest the piratical
interest of the stock raisers. He will be patriotic and
let it go to other counties.

He was the active party in organizing the Oregon
Irrigation Association, which has elected Mr. Devers,
a delegate to the National Irrigation Congress, its presi-
dent because he is a citizen of Portland, the com-
mercial center of the state. A public spirited man,
who has undeviating faith in Williamson's devotion to
irrigation, a subject of which he does not profess
knowledge.

It has been one of the frauds practised by men,
who are so wrapped up in the National System of
Irrigation, to discredit citizens, who favor all other
systems, including the Carey system. Especially are
the advocates of the Carey act in the valley of the
River Des Chutes, made the subjects of their curses.
I send The Age a copy of Williamson's speech in the
convention, from which may be learned his bitterness
towards those who have dared expose his Jesuitical
professions. To make it plainer I enclose with it the
letter of the present writer to the people of Oregon,
dealing with the gentleman's conduct. They are for-
warded only to illustrate the difficulties, that honest
intention to irrigate land, where stock-raisers have
usurped the territory, is forced to encounter in the
members of that very legislative body, which has pre-
pared the way for them. And this ,. corruption in the
legislator will seek to impede the progress of improve-
ment in home-building all over the arid region. You
will discover that in order to kill irrigation by the
Carey act, Williamson professes patriotic approval of
the National act.

At last,, in dispatches to the Oregonian of the 18th
instant, comes the revelation of the Maxwell scheme,

exposed by the Chairman of the Public Lands Com-
mittee in Congress, who holds the man up as an at-
torney of the great railroad corporations and declares
that his plan if successful will kill irrigation, it being
nothing less than the repeal of all the desert, timber
and homestead laws in the interest of his clients.
This is the clan of which our new member of congress
is a factor. It is however felt by the friends of irriga-
tion, that his defeat in the convention has taught him
the folly of pursuing the course he opened for himself
in the convention and has intimidated him with the fear
of political death.

The truth is, the trick was not understood, when
that body met. Williamson came here with 37 del-

MR. JOHN HENRY SMITH, SALT LAKE CIIY

egates (claquers) from his county, the representatives
of his sheep raising clients, who, with their heels and
howls gave acclaim to every word condemning the
Carey act or lauding their man, who had promised
more than half of them lucrative places in the govern-
ment service. The ultimate situation was saved by Mr.
Ernest Bross, the managing editor of the Oregonian,
who proposed by motion, that the committee on resolu-
tions should be composed of one member from each
county, and thus utterly disconcerted the claquers from
Crook, for whom Williamson had already drafted a
resolution, making the convention condemn the Carey
act. In the language of the Oregonian, the resolutions
will be seen to be nicely worded. By the diplomacy
which they reflect, the convention steered clear of the
Scylla of the private irrigation companies and the

138

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Charybdis of the advocates of Government irrigation
entirely. The private companies offered a resolution
in favor of enterprises under the Carey law. The
opposition proposed a resolution radically to the con-
trary. The resolution committee steered between the
two extremes. The following clause of the resolutions
of the convention is full of significance:

"Resolved, That the co-operation of the State Land
Board and all commercial bodies of! the State of
Oregon is respectfully requested in this movement for
the advancement of the general welfare of the State
through the promotion of all irrigation projects. And
this association and all of its members pledge their
earnest support to any effort that may be made for
the reclamation of the arid lands of Oregon."

The reader of the proceedings of this Oregon
State convention, will find in every address except
Williamson's, a defense of the Carey act and a determi-
nation to protect the interests involved in its execution
under the State contracts. Speaking for myself, an
engineer, commissioned by the State for professional
service in devising an important project in the Des
Chutes valley, I am certain, that the arid States will
reap a greater benefit of settlement and home-building
through any and every private enterprise whether it
be the Carey act or any other than by a "National"
system that can be manipulated by corrupt politicians,
who are in Congress "for what there is in it," for them-
selves.

If irrigation, not simply irrigation schemes, but
actual irrigation, come by the way of the National act,
every correct citizen will gratefully hail it and do all
in his power to extend its blessings. But the sheep
and cattle pirates of the ranges will continually obstruct
the people's will and be aided by men like Williamson,
a thing impossible under the Carey act having State
protection, the only home rule wanted in any part
of the arid region.

But I predict and warn our rulers, that only by
firmly establishing the administration of the National
System on the independence of the Geological Sur-
vey, in the agricultural or Hydrographic Bureaus,
can the National act be made to produce the results
for which it was designed.

The Maxwells and the Williamsons must be locked
out of the management.

The preceding article from the pen of Col. Al-
fred F. Sears, of Portland, Oregon, illustrates the
danger to be apprehended in the progress of enterprises
so necessary to our national growth, from the tempta-
tion it offers to the corrupt politician, always ready to
avail himself of the public necessity and the popular
passion, for his own personal ends.

Col. Sears is late assistant general manager of the
Mexican Central Railway, was chief engineer of the At-
lantic Division of the Costa Rica Transcontinental Rail-
way, Inspector of Railways of the North of the Republic
for the government of Peru, chief engineer of the Irri-
gation Commission for the Department of Piura, Peru,
and has held many other position of importance under
this and other governments. He is therefore emi-
nently qualified to handle any subject bearing a rela-
tion to public works as associated with irrigation.

A SELF ADJUSTING WEIR.

The invention of a self-adjusting weir and head-
gate will interest all farmers who irrigate land, as well
as canal and ditch companies who transport and sell
water. Such a machine was recently invented by Mr.
C. C. Carlisle, now assistant State engineer of Wyoming.
The sweeping claims made for the invention, if sup-
ported by field tests of the weir, may cause an aban-
donment of all the inaccurate, expensive, and unsatis-
factory methods of measuring water now in vogue
wherever irrigation is practised. The inventor claims
for this module that it is:

1. Simple in construction, comparatively inex-

A man can often improve his manners by drop-
ping some of them.

SELF ADJUSTING WEIR
AND HEADGATE.

pensive, easily placed in position, occupies small space,
will not leak, and will be durable.

2. Its discharge may be regulated as to volume,
will be uniform, and will not be affected by a rise or
fall of water in the source of supply.

3. The exact discharge in cubic feet per second
or in miner's inches may be read at once upon a simple
scale.

4. The module will not need watching and it will
do accurate work to its full capacity when a fall of an
inch is obtainable.

5. It may be securely locked when set for any
desired discharge.

6. Its use makes the common ditch or canal head-
gate superfluous because diversion and measurement are
.simultaneous accomplishments; and two expensive
machines, the water register and current meter, which
require great technical knowledge in their successful

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

139

use1, will no longer be required in measuring water for
irrigation.

7. The size of any module desired will be de-
termined by the maximum discharge required, and each
module may be set to discharge any volume between
zero and its maximum capacity.

8. It may be established in position by any
farmer who can handle a corn-planter or a mowing
machine.

For very few water-measuring devices used in ir-
rigation can half of these virtues be claimed, and the

SIMPLE METHOD OF ESTABLISHING SELF-ADIUSTING WEIR
IN A DITCH.

most important of them, such as uniformity of dis-
charge, no matter whether the water in the stream, or
canal rises or falls, and accuracy of discharge with
immediate reading of the amount, are not claimed for
any other module so far as known. The claims that the
machine, which will be made of metal, will be durable,
will not leak, needs the assistance of neither dams
nor commonly understood head-gates, and may be es-
tablished by any farmer, are also interesting. The
chief value of the machine is centered in the imper-

SELF-ADJUSTING WEIR IN A RICE CANAL.

vious and frictionless mercurial joint which permits
the floats supporting the movable conduit to raise or
lower the crest of that conduit, which is a circular
weir, as the water rises or falls in the canal.

The demand for a device which will measure water
accurately and under the varied conditions which obtain
along a ditch, canal, or river, is very great and should
this invention meet this demand, difference of opinion
as to amount of water given and received between
farmers and canal owners or between either party and
officials dividing water, would be a thing of the past.

TRIBUTE TO CAREY.

To Senator J. M. Carey, of Wyoming, more than
to any other single delegate, are the friends of the Na-
tional Irrigation Congress indebted for the continuance
and present existence as a separate, distinctive organiza-
tion. The surprise that was sprung, the long, labored,
eloquent appeals of our United States congressmen,
delegates from Utah, the orators from California and
Kansas, will long be remembered by those present, in
their appeal and endeavor to convince the National Irri-
gation Congress, when in its late session at Colorado
Springs, of the great importance and untold benefits to
be derived by merging with another national association

entirely foreign to our interests, to drop our name, our
identity, and, in fact, to pass out of existence as an irri-
gation congress. The older, faithful delegates that had
followed and attended every Irrigation Congress since
its inception, were amazed by the sudden outburst of
eloquence, and especially on the last day ana at almost
the last hour. They -were loath to give up that which
they had so earnestly worked for and had learned to
love — for its broad principles and humanitarian objects
— especially, immediately after the magnificent recogni-
tion the Congress of the United States had given the
principles they were laboring for, so generous and sub-
stantial support by passing its National Irrigation Act.
We will long remember that at the very moment it
seemed the advocates of merging had carried the day,
Senator Carey took the floor and eloquenUy pleaded
for hours for rational thought and discussion over the
action the Congress was about to take. Finally his
earnestness and manly plea appealed to delegates, and
the merging was defeated for at least another year, and,
from talk after the heat of the discussion was over, we
doubt if another attempt will be made next year at
Ogden, Utah, to destroy the usefulness and individual-
ism of the National Irrigation Congress. — Modern Irri-
gation.

The agricultural appropriation bill reported to the
national House of Representatives carries an appropria-
tion of only $25,000 for the irrigation investigations
now conducted by the Agricultural Department under
the direction of Mr. Elwood Mead.

In explanation of this small appropriation the
committee said that, while it was believed that the in-
vestigation was valuable, the work could be done for a
much smaller amount than that appropriated for the
current year, which was $65,000.

In this the committee is mistaken, and the bill
should be amended in the House to make the appropria-
tion at least what it was for the current year. It looks
as if certain influences hostile to this investigation have
been at work. The purpose of this opposition is to crip-
ple the investigations of the Department of Agriculture
in connection with irrigation in order that as far as
possible irrigation work under the direction of the na-
tional government may be confined to the Department
of the Interior and the Geological Survey. To this the
members of Congress should not yield, for there is no
need of conflict between the two branches of the gov-
ernment in relation to this matter.

The work of the Department of the Interior is con-
nected with the reclamation of arid land through the
construction of ditches and reservoirs, whereas that of
the Department of Agriculture is for the purpose of
promoting agriculture by irrigation in places where the
land has already been reclaimed. The investigation Mr
Mead is conducting is below the ditches; that of the
Geological Survey is above. Their jurisdictions are en-
tirely distinct, and to promote the interests of one there
is no occasion whatever to cripple the other.

Doubtless some members of Congress from States
outside the arid region do not appreciate the value of the
investigations which the Department. of Agriculture is
making in connection with irrigation and the methods
of applying water to land. If they understood it, they
would recognize that, viewed from the standpoint of
agriculture, they are but little if any less important than
the reclamation of new land now arid. — Denver Repub-
lican.

140

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

A GOOD POND.

The Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station
bulletin No. 91 contains the following valuable sugges-
tions concerning water storage:

"The winter season may be very profitably spent
in building ponds on farms where there is not an abund-
ant natural water supply. A constant supply of water
of good quality is essential to success with live stock and
there are but few farms on which the present sources
of supply could not be improved. Water for household
purposes must be obtained from wells, cisterns, or
springs. The last are not common and the water from
wells is very variable both in quality and in amount.
The Oklahoma experiment station at Stillwater has
analyzed waters from wells in practically every part
of the territory and while" they are usually free from
organic contamination, a large proportion of them con-
tain too much dissolved mineral matter to make them
either palatable or healthful. Cisterns, if properly con-
structed and looked after, constitute a very desirable
source of pure water for drinking and cooking.

Unless there is a natural stream that contains
water throughout the year, the source of stock water
is either wells or artificial ponds. Where more than a
few head of stock are kept and watered from a well,
a windmill is almost a necessity and while Oklahoma
has the reputation of being a very windy country, there
are many days and even weeks at a time when wind-
mills do not turn. If a windmill is depended upon
there must be a storage tank of sufficient size to hold
a supply for calm periods. Thus the outfit must con-
sist of a well, a pump, windmill, and storage tank if
this plan of securing stock water is resorted to. The
cost of this will vary from one hundred to three hun-
dred dollars and the outfit requires constant attention
to keep it in good working order.

Thousands of ponds harve been built as sources
of stock water but very few of these ponds have been
properly made. Water for any use about the farm
should be as clean and pure as it is possible to make
it. Pond water at best is not ideal, but the average
pond is constructed with every facility for the making
of the water of the pond the worst possible. Cattle and
hogs stand and wallow in it, then drink of it or refuse
to do so and go without water. Then they become sick
for some "unaccountable reason" when there was plenty
of water in the pond. Too often, the pond gets the
drainage of the barnyard, being located solely with
reference to proximity and with no regard to the kind
of water that will flow into it.

"A pond which is to furnish water for stock should
be located so as to receive its water from native prairie
hay land; if this is not possible, then from native prairie
grass pasture. More water will run off from such land
than from cultivated fields, it will be cleaner, and will
not carry with it so much sediment that will in time
fill the pond. The pond should be fenced so that
no animal can get into it and if any fence on the farm
is kept in perfect repair, it should be the fence around
the pond. A galvanized iron pipe should be laid
through the dam at such a point that it will completely
drain the pond and the end of the pipe inside of the
pond should be staked up out of the mud and be pro-
vided with a fine strainer. A cut-off may be placed
either inside or just outside of the pond bank and the
pipe should be at least a foot below the surface of

the soil where it comes out of the bank. Nearly every-
one knows how to build a pond bank. The chief cause
of leaky ponds is failure to remove the sod where the
bank is to be. The sod in time rots and causes leaks.
On some sandy soils, the hauling of clay may be desir-
able but this is seldom necessary.

"Up to this point the cost of construction of the
pond, where the ordinary natural advantages exist, will
be about the same as digging a well. If the pond is
in a pasture, a galvanized iron stock tank with an auto-
matic float valve should be conneeted with the pipe
just below the pond bank. If water is wanted at other
places on the farm, it may be piped if sufficient fall can
be secured and this should be taken into consideration
when locating the pond.

"Such a pond as this, with a capacity of about
one million gallons and full of water now, may be seen
on the experiment station farm. It is on a hill in the
pasture and gets it? water from sod land above it.
Water is piped to ail of the feed lots, including the
hog pasture lots, and flows by gravity to the second
floor of the barn. As it runs from the faucets, it is
as clear as the average well water and it tastes good.
The cost of building the pond and of piping the water
for about one-third of a mile was about four hundred
dollars. Barring unusual accidents, it should cost noth-
ing for repairs and it doesn't cost a cent to operate.
It is possible that in time the pipes may become clogged
with sediment, the fall being so slight that the wat?r
does not go through the pipes with sufficient force to
keep them clean. But if taken in time, when first
indications of trouble are noticed, and water is forced
through with a force pump, the job of cleaning the
pipes will be a small one. This will in all probability
not occur in several years.

There are few farms where a pond could not be con-
structed in the same manner and but few cases where
so much piping will be required. Ponds built during
the early winter have time to settle and the spring rains
will fill them and insure a supply of water through^
out the summer. But it does not pay to neglect rea-
sonable precautions and the expenditure of a little
money in providing good water is economy of the best
sort."

IRRIGATION IN INDIA.

In strong contrast with the selfish and ruinous
financial policy of the British government in India
stands its beneficent and broad-minded program of in-
ternal improvement, which compares more than favor-
ably with our Pacific railroads and Panama canal and
with Eussia's Siberian highway.

In the last forty years, says a writer in the Chicago
Inter-Ocean, the British government for India has ex-
pended $100,000,000 on irrigation works and as much
more on railroads. The railroads, measuring 25,000
miles, extend across the arid regions as well as along the
river valleys, and the irrigation canals water 14,000,000
acres of land counted as arid before the construction of
the canals. The question as to whether investment in
canals and railroads has paid is answered in the Indian
commercial reports just published.

It is gleaned from these official reports that the
value of the products from the irrigated lands, in a
smgh year, exceeds the $100,000,000 expended
on canals and other works. The railroads have devel-

THE 1RKIGATION AGE.

141

oped interior districts which were inaccessible before
their construction and have built up some oi the great-
est cities in the east.

Parallel with this favorable experience in India
stands the prediction made in the current report of the
division of hydrography of the United States Geological
Survey, to this effect:

"The open range of the arid region in the United
States is generally stated to be capable of supporting
one cow to every twenty acres. The same land, when
watered and put in alfalfa, will frequently feed ten
cows to every twenty acres; or, in orchards at favorable
altitudes, will support a family of three, or even five,
persons. The open range may have a value of 50 cents
an acre, while under irrigation the selling price may
jump to $500 an acre. Thus the values of the lands are
directly reversed, the grazing land having the greatest
extent and the least value, and the irrigated land the
least extent and the greatest value."

The general effect of internal improvements in
India, despite the bad influence of an enforced and un-
welcome old standard, is strongly shown in the figures
which represent the foreign trade of that empire. The
commerce of India in 1857 was $72,000,000 in imports
and $128.000,000 in exports. In 1902 the imports were
$264,000,000 and the exports $392,000,000. India has
grown in forty years to be one of the great exporting
countries in the world, standing sixth in the list. The
increase in commerce, to say nothing of the great in-
crease in internal trade has resulted mainly from
irrigation and railway building. In Egypt the
same system has been carried out by the British, and
the revenues of the government and the wealth of the
country have been increased tenfold. In Ceylon irri-
gation works have brought wealth to the agricultural
districts.

It is further demonstrated by the official reports
that in India the heretofore arid regions have become
more productive under irrigation than are the
lands in the rain belts, where natural moisture is
reasonably certain. Yet in India, according to official
data, the extreme between heavy rainfall and little
or no rain is greater than in any of the arid districts
in our Western states or territories. The Nile river
in Egypt has been more difficult to control than any
of our Western rivers would be, but in India and Egypt
public and private capital has found profitable invest-
ment in irrigating works.

Based upon the wide importance of the topic —
upon its general effects as to railroads and internal
commerce — it is needless to add that the forthcoming
irrigation report of the geological survey, now in the
hands of the printer, will be received with interest and
closely perused. It may well point to India and
Egypt as examples to follow.

DEEP IRRIGATION.

BY G. -M. HAWLEY, El CAJOK.

The object of irrigation is to make available the
plant food that the soil may contain, for tho benefit of
the growing crop. This being established, the next
question is the best method of securing these results.
There are practically three systems of irrigation in use;
the basin system, the furrow system and the subsoil, or
deep irrigation system. The first two accomplish prac-

tically the same results, leaving the surface wet or satur-
ated and require immediate cultivation as soon as the
soil is dry enough to permit, in order to produce a dry
earth mulch to prevent evaporation. The advocates of
this system assume that the plant food that nourishes
the crop is nearly all in the surface soil, and TO become
available this should be kept moist. While their theory
seems good, there are certain qualifying conditions that
make the ^practice bad, and it is not in accordance with
facts. Prof. Hilgard assures us that in counter dis-
tinction to the east, the California subsoils contain plant
food from many feet in depth that can be made available
if the roots can be got down there. By making a reser-
voir of the subsoil .instead of the surface, these results
can be accomplished and the attended evils of surface
irrigation avoided. By surface saturation there is a
tremendous evaporation going on until a dry mulch
is formed; its tendency is to form an irrigation hard-
pan or plow sole just below the cultivated surface. It
also brings the feeding roots near the surface necessitat-
ing frequent irrigation and incapacitates them to stand
the effect of hot, dry winds.

With deep irrigation we make the furrows apart,
usually following with a subsoil plow, breaking up the
bottom of the furrow and running the water a much
longer time in each furrow than by the other method.

My practice for winter irrigation is to make the
furrows nearly on a level, so that when we turn in the
water there is practically no current and the water goes
straight down until it meets a resistant surface, which
is the bottom of my soil reservoir, and there begins to
spread out and is retained where there will be the least
possible chance for evaporation. If your furrow is
steep so as to form much of a current or, in other
words, if you flush your furrows, there is a sediment
that forms on the bottom that prevents perpendicular
and promotes horizontal saturation. In land that has a
good depth of soil and is filled with water, drainage is
very slow, varying with different soils and conditions.
With proper cultivation this moisture may be retained
in some instances for several years.

To retain winter rains I would cultivate the sur-
face thoroughly and then plow, using no clod crusher
or cultivator. This will tend to prevent the baking and
assist in perpendicular seepage of water.

In conclusion, deep irrigation tends to educate the
roots downward and make them drought-resistant, it
prevents in a large measure the formation of an irriga-
tion hard-pan, requiring less frequent irrigation and
much less cultivation, and gives much better crop
results with the same amount of water. Having prac-
ticed this system for over three years, I am confident
that it has increased the productive value of my farm
over fifty per cent. My raisin crop this year was a hun-
dred per cent larger than last year, and last year's crop
was a hundred per cent larger than the year before. My
orange crop, the first year I practiced it, averaged five
pounds heavier to the packed box than any other crop
brought to the packing house. The next year they took
the first premium fit the San Diego county fair, and
have given a large increase in productiveness each year.
My attention was first called to this method at sc Farmers'
Institute, and I believe these institutes have been worth
more than they have cost to the horticulturists of South-
ern California. — Cal. Cultivator.

142

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS.

A correspondent at Wichita Falls, Texas, has the
following to say concerning the possibilities of this
growing town. He says in part: This is an ideal town
for the employment of the principles of civic pride.
A magnificent lake lies near by. Its water is brought
by an irrigation canal to the city. It can not be said
that the people of Wichita Falls are using as they
should the waters of this lake, the best gift of nature,
for the adornment of their homes and surroundings.
It is true that strangers often see in towns and cities
neglected opportunities and advantages. It is true, too,
that strangers judge a town and its people by the ap-
pearance of their homes and surroundings. The oppor-
tunities of Wichita Falls are greater, perhaps, than very
many of the towns of Texas. Natural advantages do
not always count in the progress of a community, but
any town that possesses such advantages is considered
fortunate.

The people of this section until very recently have
been completely wedded to the one-crop idea. The dis-
cussions in The Age of diversified farming and the
advantages of irrigation have changed the views of
many, and it is believed that the time of 1,000-acre
wheat fields is near an end. Instead, many now discuss
the advantages of the ten-acre patch under irrigation.
The growing of sugar corn, Irish potatoes, melons,
onions and vegetables of every kind is not in the exper-
imental stage at Wichita Falls. This was tried last fall
by many people in the town, who used from the city
waterworks the water from Lake Wichita, with most sat-
isfactory results.

Wichita Falls presents a rich and inviting field for
the wide-awake nurseryman. Thousands, yes, tens of
thousands of trees and vines should be planted all over
the town. The soil is rich and deep, and with sand
enough to be most congenial to plant life. The waters
of the lake are abundant, and for irrigation are abso-
lutely free of objectionable qualities.

As I look around me here and think of the possi-
bilities of beauty and adornment I can not help but
mourn that many are wasting opportunities that the
passing of time will render it impossible for them ever
to enjoy. Shade trees, green grass and lovely flowers
are now within the reach of all, and would transform
this city into a place of great beauty. The large court-
house square, with shade trees, well-kept lawns and
comfortable seats placed in the shady nooks, would be
a most inviting place as the summer sun warms up the
town.

The season of fishing is not yet at hand, but the
black bass are growing fat in the big lake. The tales
of fishing sport are heard about, and the boating pleas-
ures for summer are discussed.

Thousands of ducks and geese have found a winter
home upon the lake. Wheat fields extend to the very
water's edge, furnishing the necessary food for the
ducks and geese.

While the thoughts of home adornment and civic
pride are centered in the big irrigation lake, it is looked
to as the source from which may be expected much last-
ing good for the country. It is known that in Colorado,
not far away, the truck farmers are growing rich; that
the cantaloupe plat, the onion field, the cabbage ground,
the berry patch, all produce annually returns of several

hundred dollars per acre. The people marvel, why
has not irrigation been tried sooner? It has always
rained as it does now. There have been annual floods
and certain drouths, and truck patches have been with-
ered and seared by the hot July sun ever since the
waters of the Wichita flowed within its banks. The
thoughtless ones, and the. strangers, too, look out on
the muddy fields and wonder what all this talk of irri-
gation is about. The knowing ones go on their way. and
figure that the season of sunshine and drouth is sure
to come again.

It has required a great deal of money to construct
the big irrigation dam, more than a mile and a half
long, but it has formed a lake more than three miles
wide and stretching far back up stream. The dam
forms the barrier to the escape of the storm waters of
a large section of country, and a lake is made covering,
more than 2,600 acres of land. Below the lake stretch
out the valleys of the Wichita; irrigation ditches con-
duct the water upon these lands. A great object lesson
is being taught. The value of storm waters has been
shown, and the proof given that all over Texas, its
creeks and rivers carry away and waste in the sea a
wealth of water that figures in the millions as an annual
loss to the growth of crops.

It is not profitable to despair over what has gone.
To the present and the coming generations in Texas
there are and will be opportunities as great as those of
the past, and not least among the chances, profitable gar-
dening, fruit growing and farming by means of irriga-
tion. With water, work and sunshine, there is no end
to the value of the production of land. There is a pleas-
ure in a work that nature gives its rewards in proportion
to the labor done. This is true of the irrigation farm-
er's toil; his hands are full of remunerative work and
he is the happiest of all men. The farmer who irrigates
is master of the seasons, and can plant and grow his
crops at will, fearing nothing except the winter frosts.

The lands under irrigation at Wichita Falls will
afford, perhaps, the best place in the State for the prac-
tical truck grower and crop diversifier. The railroad fa-
cilities for handling crops are first-class, the climate is
fine, the seasons are long, and every condition favorable
for success exists.

The profits of farming by irrigation are so sure
that the farmer feels able to give his children the ad-
vantages of a good education. He surrounds his home
with green grass, shade and fruit trees; he adorns it
with beautiful flowers and provides it with the comforts
of life. Home happiness comes to the wife and little
ones. Children raised in the midst of such surround-
ings grow to be strong, intellectual men and women.
The day will come, and it is not far distant, when coun-
try life and the profit of farming will call, from choice,
thousands of the best young men and women from our
now overcrowded cities. Diversified crops, intense farm-
ing done by labor, not by machinery, and irrigation will
do their part.

You may know a man's principles by the things
he has an interest in.

Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE
for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

THE IKKIGATION AGE.

143

The Drainage Journal Department

DRAIN TILE FOR THE DISPOSAL OF HOUSE
SEWAGE.

BY C. G ELLIOTT.

Country life with city conveniences is sought for
by hundreds of people who, having experienced the arti-
ficial atmosphere of the crowded city, long for more free-
dom, more sunshine and the untainted breezes of the
iields. A change from the busy streets and bare walls
of the city to the quiet lanes of the suburb or more
ample grounds of the country place often imparts new
life to the city man, especially if he has a relish for rural
affairs. It is not strange that he should attempt to
introduce some of the conveniences to which he has been
accustomed into his country home. In addition to the
vine-covered porches, kitchen garden and ample lawns,
he wants the inside water supply and bath conveniences
of the city house. The attractive natural surroundings
and simplicity of his residence do not lessen his desire
for some of the fittings of the more pretentious resi-
dence.

Nor is a desire for these things limited to the peo-
ple who have become accustomed to city sewers and
lights. The thrifty farmer who receives his market re-
ports by telephone and his letters at his door, and the
country merchant whose tasty residence is an ornament
to the village, are fully alive to the comforts which their
city cousins enjoy.

As a result of this demand it is not uncommon to
see electric lights and waterworks in our unpretentious
villages, while their streets are but country roads and
their methods of sewage disposal by open vault and cess-
pool remain unchanged. That serious results from the
lack of city sewerage facilities in small towns have not
followed is contrary to the prediction of sanitarians.
l\'ot that warnings on this score should not receive care-
ful attention from all householders, especially in the
older settled towns, but all of the local conditions affect-
ing health are not always grasped by sanitary reformers.

It was frequently predicted by eastern people, when
emigration to the level lands of Illinois and Indiana
was fast dotting those States with farmhouses and
towns, that the country could never be made healthy;
that the malaria incident to subduing a country so level
would be a permanent inheritance of the people who had
been allured to the prairies by the attraction of cheap
and fertile farms. The development of the country has
shown that these predictions have not come true. On
the contrary, it is more often the town which adorns the
hillside or is found in some picturesque valley of the
more undulating country which heads the record for un-
healthf ulness. The reason for this is not difficult to
find. In order to make the level lands productive in
the highest degree, soil-drainage was necessary not only
for farms, but for towns. The depressions found upon
the surface of the country were but suggestions for the
location of artificial channels found necessary for drain-
age. The better defined streams were deepened and
otherwise improved. Interior drainage was provided
for the purpose of drying the soil. Towns constructed
underdrains along their streets and residents drained
their cellars and gardens with drain-tile. Stagnant

water in all cases suggested the desirability of more
complete drainage. In this way the soil of both coun-
try and town became capable of receiving and appropri-
ating a large amount of waste. The open condition of
soil produced by underdrainage encourages the work of
bacteria which require free air in the soil. These, to-
gether with growing vegetation, appropriate much mat-
ter in the soil which would otherwise be a menace to
health. Drainage water, instead of flowing over the
surface, carrying with it such waste as may be found
in its course, or sinking into the earth to find its way
through unknown underground channels and become
concentrated in a few localities, passes directly down-
ward to the floor of the drains and is carried by them to
the open stream. This gives more nearly a pure soil,
that essential to good health so much emphasized by
the Greek sanitarian, Hippocrates, than any other proc-
ess that can be named.

Many of our most healthy towns are found in level
sections of States where the only drainage is that found
necessary for agricultural improvements. In point of
sanitary merit they lead the list. Briefly stated, the dif-
ference is owing to the kind and efficiency of the drain-
age accomplished. In natural drainage the waste .from
one residence may be carried and concentrated upon a
neighboring situation in a manner which cannot be fol-
lowed out and prevented until its presence becomes
known by its injurious effects.

Col. Geo. E. Waring, a close observer upon the san-
itary effects of drainage, writing upon this subject, says:
"The agricultural drainage of land in and about towns,
and the soil-drainage which is usually effected even
where no special provision is made for it by the ordinary
works of sewerage, have fully demonstrated the sanitary
benefit arising from the removal of stagnant water, or
water of saturation from the soil. The earth acts upon
foul organic matters much in the same way that char-
coal would do, having, though in a less degree, the same
sort of capacity for condensing within its pores the
oxygen needed to consume the products of organic de-
composition. But no soil can do that as long as its
spaces are filled with water, and in order to make it an
efficient disinfectant it is necessary to withdraw its sur-
plus moisture and thus admit the atmosphere within its
pores."

It may be added as a demonstration along this line
that Col. Waring employed drain-tile in distributing
house sewage by subirrigation, a method of disposal used
successfully for farm residences, small factories, and
suburban places. In this plan the receptacle for the
liquid wastes is a tight tank holding froni 100 to 200
gallons, placed under the surface of the ground outside
the dwelling, equipped with an automatic siphon which
acts when the tank is filled, discharging its contents in
about one-half minute into a system of tile drains. The
drains are laid as branches to the main which receives
the sewage from the tank, their depth being about ten
inches and distance apart twelve feet. The plat of
ground which receives the contents of the tank should
be a back lawn or meadow, with a gentle slope, such as
may be provided near any dwelling. The disposal con-

144

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

sists of emptying the tank as frequently as once in
twenty-four hours, and distributing its contents under-
neath the surface of the soil periodically (not continu-
ously) so that it will be absorbed and appropriated In-
growing vegetation. It should be noted, however, that
the soil has its limitations in the quantity of material it
will care for, and, further, that in time solid matter ac-
cumulates in the branch lines of tile which of course
have no outlet, requiring that they be taken up, cleaned
and relaid. The system serves an excellent purpose,
according to reports from localities where it has been
used during the last twenty years, and has proved much
regarding the sanitary value of a drained soil.

To those who desire the conveniences of city
plumbing for country residences, nothing offers a better
solution of the disposal problem than the septic tank
which is now receiving the careful attention of drainage
engineers. It is called by some the biological method
of sewage disposal, a high-sounding term, yet one which
is possibly more suggestive of the true office of the tank
than any other. It claims a place in country sanita-
tion for the reason that it may be put in operation at
a small cost, and the effluent may be discharged into
ordinary soil drains without fear of any deleterious ef-
fects.

The tank should be proportioned in size to the
number of persons occupying the house which it is in-
tended to serve. For an ordinary residence it may be
circular, four feet in diameter, and seven feet deep,
built of brick laid in cement mortar, and made water-
tight by an inner coat of mortar. It is set flush with the
surface of the ground, and made tight at the top with
an iron or stone cover. The sewage from the house is
brought to it by a pipe laid helow the frost line and
discharged into the tank through a downward bend.
The effluent passes out through a similar pipe placed
directly opposite. The action upon the contents of the
tank is accomplished by bacteria which are anaerobic —
that is, they live and work without free air or oxygen.
A coat or scum forms upon the surface of the contents
of the tank after about a week has elapsed. The bac-
teria consume a large part of the organic matter and de-
posit an ash which settles to the bottom. The liquid
which flows away is thus deprived of from 50 to 90 per
cent of the organic matter, the completeness of action
depending somewhat upon the length of time which the
sewage is allowed to remain in the tank. The effluent,
purified to this extent, may flow off through soil or field
drains, where, coming in contact with air, another
change takes place, which is accomplished by another
kind of bacteria, known as aerobic, or those which re-
quire air for their development and growth. Some
sludge gathers in the bottom of the tank, which may be
removed as necessary, but from reports given of some
tanks, the amount of solid matter left is small.

With the aid of tanks of this description for the
complete change and disposal of house sewage, the coun-
try resident may avail himself of the conveniences of the
city house at but a fraction of the cost to him of his
city sewer system, and enjoy that freedom of life so
conducive to health and congenial to his tastes.

These matters have been but briefly outlined for
the purpose of showing the recent developments in sani-
tary matters and to suggest to the lovers of country life
that they need be deprived of but few of the conven-
iences usually considered the peculiar perquisites of
city life. The details of the plans described may prop-
erly form the subject of another article.

TRACTION DITCHING.

C |. VAN BUKEN, FINDLAY, OHIO.

The age in which we live is progressive. The same
methods that were in vogue even a very few years
ago are no longer in accord with the spirit of the times.
It matters not what subject is under consideration,
the fact holds true.

The subject I wish to discuss this time is traction
ditching. There was a time in some localities when
it was a comparatively easy matter to get men who
were quite expert in the digging of trenches for drain-
age purposes. This \\as before the days of the traction
ditcher. The same thing holds true of men in the
harvest field. Almost any of us can remember when,
in any grain growing locality, one could cotint the
men who were experts with the cradle by the score.
Greater acreage became a necessity. Hand labor was
no longer adequate in this field. So the self-rake made

C. J. VAN BUREN, FINDLAY, OHIO.

its appearance; later the harvester, and then the self-
binder, until today a man using a cradle in a harvest
field would be so great a curiosity that passers-by
would stop and look at him.

Drainage is as yet in its infancy, but even now
in some sections the man with the spade is getting to
be a curiosity. Hand labor is being superseded by
machinery all around us, and yet hand labor seems to
be getting scarcer all the time. New fields are con-
stantly being opened up for labor, so that when the
demand is lessened for it in one place, there are always
new demands created.

But I am getting away from my subject, traction
ditching. Drainage by hand can be accomplished only
in spring and fall, or in an open winter, while the
earth is moist and soft, for at other times the work is
entirely too expensive by this method. Here is where
the traction ditcher comes to its own.

The machine to be successful for this work must
needs be able to cut the trenches while the earth
is moist and soft, but also when it is dry and hard.
It must be able not only to work when the conditions
are fine, that is, comparatively loose earth, but where
hard-pan (which, by hand, is impossible to cut, except-
ing with picks or by blasting) is encountered, which is
sometimes strewn with gravel and boulders. It must

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

145

also be able to cut its way through wood-lots, as well
as through swamp lands.

Given such a machine, the rest is comparatively
easy, for, by it, grades can be cut, which, by hand labor
would be quite impossible. That is, impossible to keep
. the cost within proper limit. There are a few things
which are done by machinery which it is possible to
accomplish by hand, but at a much greater expenditure
of time, and time is money.

In these days of fierce competition, the annihilation
of time in the performance of any given work is
desirable. Hand labor compared with traction ditch-
ing is at about the same ratio as is the difference
between the cradle and the self-binder. If anything,
the difference is more marked in the former than in
the latter. Especially so is this the case where there
is not much fall. Of course, where the fall is, say,
ten per cent, hand labor is much more expeditious than
is the case where the fall is only one or a fraction of
one per cent. Perhaps I should make my meaning as
to per cent more clear. By a ten per cent grade, I
mean one foot in ten, or ten foot fall in one hundred
feet of length. And a one per cent is one foot fall in
one hundred feet of length. But when the fall is only
a few inches per mile in length, then the difference
between traction ditching and spade ditching is more
marked. In traction ditching, one grade can be cut as
cheaply as another. The power required in each case
is the same. The operating speed in each case is the
same, the only differenece being that it requires more
care on the part of the operator.

The difference in the cost of cutting drainage
ditches by hand labor or by traction power is perhaps
not as great as is the cutting of trenches for pipe
line work. Last season was perhaps the first time this
field was invaded by the traction ditcher to any great
extent. In pipe line work in Ohio last season machines
were used, which, operated by three men, did easily the
work of from 25 to 100 men, according to the size of
the machine. There were instances in which one
machine cut over one mile of trench per day, by using
two crews to operate it, one night and one day. The
trenches in this case were from three to three and a
half feet in depth.

These pipe lines were not laid out with regard
to getting nice soil to work in, for the reason that
iron pipe is very expensive, and the trenches were
laid out with the paramount idea of making the distance
as short as possible from one town to another. In
this way machines were working in adverse conditions
nearly all the time. Enough machines to complete
this work in the specified time could not be secured,
and hand labor was employed, in some cases at
a cost of $2.00 per day, and even at that price the
number of men desired could not be obtained. Cutting
ditches by hand is hard, laborious, back-breaking work,
and when the demand for labor in other lines, where
the duties are not so onerous, is so great, a laborer
can hardly be blamed for not wanting to get in the
trenches, even though the recompense promised is
greater than he can get elsewhere.

A machine propelled by horses is not traction ditch-
ing, nor is it, I think, treating fairly man's greatest friend
to put him at work which in a very few months will make
him old before his time, and fit him for no other place
except the boneyard. It is a hard pull all the while,
and will break a horse down more quickly than the

street car ever did. Bone and sinew cannot compete
with iron and steel.

Traction ditching is no longer an innovation. It
has come to stay, and has made itself as much of a ne-
cessity as has the trolley car, the bicycle and the auto-
mobile. And until such time comes as inventive genius
shall devise some method more expeditious, the Traction
Ditcher will continue making more friends and doing
more work as the years roll by.

THE LEMONWEIR DRAINAGE DISTRICT.

The Lemouweir Drainage District comprises some
15,000 acres located in Monroe and Juneau counties,
Wisconsin. The district has been before the court over
a year, and has met with determined opposition from
tome of the people affected from a belief that the cost
incurred would not be compensated in the advantages
obtained- The town of Cutler, in Juneau county, filed
a remonstrance against the proposed ditch on the ground
that as the outlet of the ditch in the Lemonweir river
lies in their town, so much water would be poured on
to them as to make it impossible for them to maintain
roads and bridges. After a number of hearings and con-
tinuations, the Circuit Judge finally overruled all ob-
jections and the construction of the ditches was ordered.
The judge appointed, as commissioners, Mr. B. C. Dame,
of Oakdale; Mr. W. S. Fryer, of Tomah, and Mr. Chris
Wagensen, of Camp Douglas.

The soil in the Lemonweir Drainage District may
be divided into two classes. Portions of the district are
overlaid with peat with a sand and clay subsoil. It is be-
lieved that ditches four and six feet deep will drain this
land very effectually. Other portions of the district are
heavy clay soil, which will require deep ditches and
close tile drains to make the drainage a success. It is
the intention of the commissioners to furnish an outlet
for every land-owner in the district, so that after the
mains are constructed each one can drain into the mains
in such a way as he thinks best.

Tile drainage is as yet used very little, but is bound
to be in great demand as soon as the outlet ditches are
constructed. As an example of what tile drainage will
do for this land, the case of Mr. B. C. Dame, one of the
commissioners, may be cited: Mr. Dame had a field of
100 acres. Most of this was wet swamp, producing only
wild hay. He tiled this land, or the wet portion, with
three and four inch tile, laid three and four feet deep,
and eight rods apart. As a result, Mr. Dame has one
of the finest pieces of land in the county, and 100 bush-
els of oats or 800 bushels of onions per acre is a common
yield from this land.

The plans and surveys made call for the construc-
tion of about twenty-seven miles of mains and laterals,
with a depth of four to eight feet and widths of eight
to sixteen feet. Bids will be called for soon and con-
tracts let, so as to begin work the coming spring. Con-
tractors can get further information by addressing any
of the commissioners.

THE DYING CALF.

An amateur sportsman had mistaken a calf for
a deer, and the calf was breathing its last.

"T-tell mother," gasped the dying martyr, address-
ing the sympathetic sheep who stood near by, "t-tell
mother t-that I died game." — Chicago Daily News.

146

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

A correspondent at Sterling, 111., sends in the fol-
lowing information concerning the work of draining
the swamp known as the Green river bottom, extending
through Lee, Whiteside, Bureau, and Rock Island coun-
ties, a distance of fifty miles.

This has been completed and the great pumping sta-
tion in the Meridocia swamp is now throwing 3,000,000
gallons of water into the Mississippi river every hour,
day and night.

The drainage system now completed has reclaimed
200,000 acres of once valueless land, but now worth $75
per acre. The work began fifteen years ago and cost
$2,500,000.

This land was redeemed by the digging of large
drainage ditches. The size of these ditches ranged from
an ordinary small ditch to a ditch the size of a regu-
lation water canal. There are forty-seven of these
ditches. They are on the average of five miles apart,
and so arranged as to completely drain the entire swamp
lands.

The biggest undertaking was the draining of the
Meridociar swamps. ' This swamp lies in the northern
part of Rock Island county and the southwestern part
of Whiteside and is bounded by the Mississippi on the
west. The Mississippi river surface is a few feet above
the level of the swamp. To overcome this difficulty a
great pump has been installed at the lowest part of the
swamp and the water is daily being pumped from the
swamp. It is said that the pump is one of the largest
of the kind in the world, and hourly throws millions
of gallons of water into the Mississippi river. This
pump is running night and day, in addition to smaller
pumps.

Several of the reclaimed farms have sold as high
as $90 an acre. It is considered to be one of the
most fertile regions in Illinois and is the great corn
belt of the state. New villages hare sprung into exist-
ence, every village being a corn center. The farmers
have become independently rich, and school houses and
churches dot the land that formerly was mud and water.

" 'They didn't say anything about the scarcity of
clay, did they?' cheerfully asked a sidewalk contractor,
as he looked down upon an accumulation of about three
inches of clav on his shoes."

The following is from The Kansas City Journal
of recent date :

"A sewer pipe combine is the latest. Yesterday
contractors and builders received notices from the mak-
ers of sewer pipe in Kansas City that the prices on that
commodity would advance 3£ per cent from the present
rate, beginning February 1, and that those who wanted
to save money would better get their orders in before
the first of the approaching month.

" 'I have a contract for a big sewer,' observed a
sewer contractor at the city hall yesterday, Trot I can-
not begin the work before the frost is out of the ground
in the spring. • I based my bid on the work on the
present prices, and this threatened raise will bankrupt
me and cause me the loss of a big pot of money.

" ""When I received the notice of the advance after
February 1, I went to the several sewer pipe makers
who have entered into the combine to boost prices, and
told them of my fix. The only consolation they would
give me was that I could buy the pipe prior to the raise,
but this means to me more money than I have at my
command to tie up. Their excuse for the advance is
that owing to the high price and scarcity of coal and
the increase in wages demanded by labor, they have been
forced into it.'

The Isle of Pines, lying south of the Island of
Cuba, is supposed to be the original of Stevenson's
"Treasure Island." Professor John Finley recently
paid a visit to the island which he will describe in the
February Scribner's. He found there at the present
day a man digging for treasures.

TWO BOYS.

(Original.)

BV HARRY H. TRAVERS, WOODSTOCK. WIS.

"Tommy, my boy," said grandpa one day,
"Come here and I'll tell you about

Two little boys I used to know,
Whose names were Merry and Pout.

"They lived side by side in a queer little town
Of the name of Tweedle-tee-dee.

Merry was glad from morning till night,
While Pout was glum as could be.

"Merry was a very good little boy;

He helped his mamma each day;
Carried the water and brought in the wood,

And always was happy and gay.

"Whenever he chanced to have

An apple, or peach, or pear,
He always was sure to give

His sister the largest share.

"Every one who lived on his street
Loved him because he was good;

Because he was kind and cheerful,
And never saucy or rude.

"Now Pout was a different kind of boy,

Quite a different kind was he.
H.e was always finding fault with things,

With the toast, or the eggs, or the tea.

"The toast was always a trifle too brown,

The tea too 'weak or stout,
Or the eggs too done; he always found

Something to grumble about.

"He never would share his apple or orange

With his sister so small,
But would say, ' 'Tis too small to divide,'

And selfishly eat it all.

"He liked to idle the days away,

He hated to do a thing;
He would let his mamma bring in the wood

And the water from the spring.

"And no one who lived on his street,

In this town of Tweedle-tee-dee,
Loved this Pout I have told you about,

Such a selfish boy was he.

"Now, Tommy, my lad. of these two boys

I have been telling about,
Which would you rather be —

Happy Merry or grumbling Pout?"

And from wee Tommy, whose golden hair

Clustered about his head,
Quickly the answer came:

"I'd rudder be Merry," he said.

A good deed is never lost. He who sows courtesy
reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers
love.

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

147

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148

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

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SPRINGFIELD. OHIO

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

149

Under the heading, "An Expert Investigation," the
Charleston News and Courier of recent date, has the
following:

A paragraph in the News and Courier yesterday
noted the fact that Mr. Elwood Mead, chief of the Irri-
gation Investigation Office of the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, and Mr. C. S. Elliott, a drainage
expert, had arrived in the city from Washington to in-
vestigate the region hereabouts, with a view to the devel-
opment of the rice industry. Their first move, it was
added, would he to take a trip up the Cooper river yes-
terday to inspect the lands about the headwaters of that
stream, which, it is believed, would be rendered much
more productive and valuable by a proper system of
drainage; and Mr. Mead will also ascertain later whether
there is any practicable way to provide the rice planta-
tions with an ample supply of fresh water.

We regard the investigation as of so great impor-
tance to Charleston and to this general region of the
State that we desire to call especial attention to it, and to
suggest that the representatives of the agricultural and
other business interests of the region should co-operate
with the experts heartily and in every way to enable
them to make their work as comprehensive and thor-
ough as it can be made in the time they may have to
devote to it. The area which might be improved and
employed in rice culture alone is very large, and it does
not nearly comprise all the lands that coxild be redeemed
by proper drainage, and made vastly productive for
other equally or more valuable crops by such drainage
in connection with a modern irrigation system. We do
not think it is at all amiss to say that there are thou-
sands of long idle acres between Charleston and the
Santee river, without considering those southwest of
the city, which could be converted into farms that would
rank with the most profitable ones in the county, if only
they could be dried and watered as they should be for
agricultural purposes. And the cost of putting them in
that condition should not be either prohibitive or dis-
couraging. Experience with similar lands in other sec-
tions has proved that the whole expense of their re-
demption has been recovered in the crops of a single
year or of a very few years at most; and an increase of
a hundred fold in the market value of large tracts
immediately following the first steps in their develop-
ment has not been a rare occurrence. The story of the
recent redemption of the marshes of Louisiana and of
their sudden advancement to a leading place among the
farms of the country reads like a fairy tale, and even
more wonderful things have been accomplished on the
plains of the more western States by the irrigation of
their arid soil.

It is certain that the swamp lands of this region can
be drained, and as certain that those which lie about
the headwaters of the Cooper and Wando and Ashley, or
a large body of them, can be irrigated as well, and in

large part by the same system of canals that would drain
them. We are not disposed, of course, to. try to antici-
pate the findings of the experts who are now investigat-
ing the subject, and shall await their verdict with great
interest, but we feel assured beforehand, from informa-
tion that has been printed in past years, that they can-
not fail to be impressed with the favorable conditions
of the district between the city and the Santee for both
drainage and irrigation purposes.

Our hope is that, while the experts are here, they
will be kept well employed in the important work they
have undertaken, and will receive all the aid they need
to make their investigation thorough and general. They
have come into the field very modestly, without any her-
alding or beating of tom-toms; but, in our opinion, it
has been long since this region has received any visitors
who were capable of rendering it more valuable service.

A correspondent at Fort Collins, Colo., sends us
the following:

"Two financial deals in water have just been made
public here, the first of local interest and the other
involving the entire Rio Grande valley below Wagon
Wheel Gap. Former Governor Ben Eaton sold a three-
fifths interest in one of his reservoirs on the Cache la
Poudre for $100,000 cash, representing a profit in less
than five years of $90,000, aside from the amounts re-
ceived each year from water, estimated at $100,000
more.

"Hay Sayer of Denver visited the State Agri-
cultural College yesterday regarding the details of a
dam which he and Richard Broad intend building on
the south fork of the Rio Grande river about fifteen
miles below Del Norte. The dam will be very small
in structure, being located in a narrow canon a short
distance above South Fork station, on the Creede branch
of the Rio Grande road, below Wagon Wheel gap. Its
cost will probably be less than $5,000, but it will im-
pound a vast amount of water. The site has already
been chosen, but the filings in the land office will not
be made until some time next week. The estimates of
the college people place the value of the dam at $250,-
000.

"The engineering department of the college ex-
pressed surprise at the carefully prepared plans made
up by Mr. Sayer, who lays no claim to being highly
skilled in work of this sort.

The announcement of the plan to build the dam
will probably cause a rush of locations in the vicinity
of the south fork, which drains an enormous area of the
San Juan mountains in Rio Grande county and is in
reality the main feeder for the Rio Grande, which is
quite a sturdy stream below the junction, especially dur-
ing the early summer."

The next great irrigation project under the Carey
act will throw open 45,000 acres of rich land in Routt
county. After the land is irrigated under this act it m&y
be sold to settlers in lots of any size up to 160 acres, at
fifty cents an acre. The proceeds go to the State fund
for desert lands. The irrigation company receives its
remuneration from the water rates, which must not ex-
ceed a yearly charge of $12.50 an acre. The route will
be along the Snake river from the middle of the north-
ern part of the county to the Godiva ridge. The main
canal will be forty-nine miles long arid the first section,
twenty-five miles, will be forty-five feet wide at the sur-
face and thirty-five feet at the bottom and five feet deep.

150

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The grade will be 1.32 and the capacity 633 cubic feet a
second. The estimated cost is: Eight of way, $2,000;
dam and headgates, $10,000; fluming, $6,000, and grad-
ing, $183,500. Total, $201,500.

The surveying for the flume and power house for
the Shoshone Water Power and Irrigation Company will
be completed in a week, and plans, for this immense
work drawn up. Mr. DeRemer, the instigator, says this
plant will eventually supply power for irrigation on land
immediately above a river or stream. He says nearly all
the mesa land between Glenwood and Grand Junction
can be watered by means of the power supplied from
this plant, at a nominal expense. — Glenwood (Colo.)
Avalanche.

ONION CULTURE.- Part II.

The following bulletin on Onion Culture has
reached us from the New Mexico College of Agriculture
at Mesilla Park :

The "new method" of onion culture, which is the
growing of onions from plants started in a seed-bed
and transplanted to the field, is becoming more popular
and is quite extensively practiced in other sections of
the country. The operation of transplanting onions is
slow, and usually considered an expensive one, and the
inexperienced onion-grower is liable to think it is too
laborious and not a paying proposition. But as a matter
of fact, it is no more expensive than the thinning out
and transplanting in the vacant spots of onions started
in the field. It is slow work to thin out the small
onions and leave in place, at the proper distance in the
row, the plants that are to be left without disturbing
them. If the onions are quite thick, or have come up
in bunches, and if the soil is at all hard or sticky, the
thinning is still slower and more expensive. The
onions, which are transplanted in the vacant spots in
the rows, make the fields look uneven. This is due to
the transplanted onions not recovering for some time
from the operation, while the plants left intact in the
rows continue to grow and consequently their growth
is larger. This unevenness of growth, while not a
serious drawback, does not occur in a field where all
the onions have been transplanted.

As stated in Press Bulletin No. 69, the results of
last year's work with onions at the Station show that
it was cheaper to transplant from the seed-bed than to
thin the onions grown in the field and transplant in the
vacant spots. A plat of one-tenth of an acre was
transplanted with onions grown in a cold-frame. The
rows were 300 feet long by 15 inches wide, with the
onions 4 inches apart in the row, making 900 onions
to the row or 9,000 to the plat. The onions were irri-
gated immediately after transplanting. The cost of
transplanting this plat of the 9,000 onions amounted
to $2.95. This included the cost of the first irrigation,
bringing the onions from the cold-frame to the field,
and the dropping of them about the proper distance
in the row. It was observed that better time could be
made by having a man drop the onions a little in ad-
vance of the man setting them. At this rate it would
cost $29.50 to transplant an acre, or 90,000 onions.
The thinning and transplanting in the vacant spots of
a similar plat cost $4.10. The estimated cost of thin-
ning an acre would be $41, practically one-fourth more
than in the former case.

The distance to plant onions varies, but the most

common one (when hand culture is practiced) seems
to be from 12 to 15 inches between the rows and from
4 to 4| in the row. Many of the authorities on onion-
growing give 100,000 to 160,000 onions to the acre.
Onions are very expensive to grow, but, as a rule,
they are one of the best paying crops. The following
is the cost of growing one-tenth of an acre of onions
at the Station last year :

Plowing and leveling land $ .30

Marking and bordering land 20

Transplanting 2.95

Cultivating and irrigating 2.90

Harvesting, topping and hauling. . . 2.95

Seed 35

Growing seedlings, or sets, about.. 1.05

Total cost of plat $10.70

Estimated cost of one acre. .$107.00
This plat produced 1,185 pounds, which was quite
low. The low yield was largely due to the crop being
set out so late in the season and partially to the hard
adobe soil in which the onions grew. It is believed
that by starting the crop earlier the yield can be very
materially increased, and the cost of production can
also be reduced. The onions were sold in the local
market at 2% cents per pound. The crop sold for
$27.65, which, after deducting the cost of production,
gave $16.95 profit. At this price the estimated profit
per acre would be $169.50.

— Fabian Garcia.

CORRESPONDENCE

7644 EMERALD AVE., CHICAGO, ILL., Feb. 15, 1903.
Tlie Irrigation Age, Chicago, III. —

GENTLEMEN : Below is a short article on surface drain-
age that you may care to publish ; it was written from my
personal observation while passing to and tro through the
farmers' country of the middle states.
Yours very truly,

C. N. SOUTH UP.

SURFACE DRAINAGE.

It should certainly be encouraging to the promoters
and upholders of surface drainage to note the rapid advance-
ment that has taken place in that line during the past three
years. The farmers of the middle states are at last begin-
ning to realize the necessity and advantages of surface drain-
age. As my business has carried me through the farmer's
territory of the middle states time and time again, I have
each year noted with satisfaction the changes that have
taken place simply by a few ditches being run in the right
places, transforming farms that heretofore had been prac-
tically swamps during the winter and spring months into
comparatively dry lands.

CHICAGO, February 6, 1903.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111.:

Gentlemen — We have an inquiry from Mr. Milton S.
Dewey, Mazon, 111., who asks for information in regard to the
manufacturers of tile ditching machinery. We beg you will
advise him in regard to this if you have the information at
hand. Very truly yours,

WINDSOR & KENFIELD PUB. Co.,

DANIEL ROYSE, Editor.

One can arrive at a better understanding of one's
self through an hour of self-disgust than through years
of satisfaction.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

151

ODDS JND ENDS

the intelligent use of its water supply that we must
not overlook the importance of irrigation in all its
branches. — Field and Farm.

In a recent report Secretary Hitchcock of the
Interior Department ha? the following to say: "The
thirteen states and three territories within which reclam-
ation work can be carried on embrace, with the exception
of Texas, the largest political divisions of the United
States. While it is not possible for any one man to
know the topography and hydrography of all these six-
teen states .and territories, yet in a general way the
opportunities for completing works of reclamation have
been discovered by the engineers of the division of
hydrography. Out of the wealth of localities offering
favorable opportunities it is possible to select one or
another place with reference to the wishes of the people.
Other things being equal, the attempt has been made to
consult the desires of the business men, commercial
organizations, or public officials who have given most
thought to the subject. But in the preliminary surveys
and designs the considerations outweighing all others
are the practicability of reclaiming the largest area of
good land, of dividing this into the greatest number of
homesteads upon which families can prosper, and of ulti-
mately returning to the reclamation fund the cost of
the works. Neither . sentimental theory nor political
expediency has had any influence in outlining the work
to be performed under the reclamation law. With the
corps of men selected solely for experience and efficiency,
and with localities chosen to yield the largest results,
it is hoped to secure ultimately the confidence and appro-
bation of the people of the entire country and to justify
the wisdom of the advocates of national construction of
irrigation works."

He further states that immediately upon the pas-
sage of the law, as soon as a few of these larger matters
had been determined, various tracts of land were tem-
porarily withdrawn for examination and survey. A de-
scription of these lands and of the operations will be
transmitted to congress in accordance with the law at
an early date, showing all of the details of the work
now in hand.

The secretary states that the actual work of con-
structing reservoirs will begin as soon as it can be
done with the exercise of caution in successfully com-
pleting the important preliminary steps.

While the people of the west are agitating a leas-
ing law and several other foolish things regarding the
range, it must not be forgotten that irrigation is after
all the salvation of the country. The open range of the
arid region is capable of supporting only one cow to
every twenty acres, and all the wire fences on earth can-
not change this ratio. The same land, when watered
and put in alfalfa, will frequently feed ten cows to every
twenty, acres, or, in orchards at favorable altitudes, will
support a family of three or even five persons. The open
range may have a value of fifty cents an acre, while
under irrigation the selling price may jump to $50 an
acre or if in orchards to $500 an acre. Thus the values
of the lands are directly reversed — the grazing land hav-
ing the greatest extent and the least value and the irri-
gated land the least extent and the greatest value. The
progress of the west is so dependent on the amount and

So extensive has become our irrigation system here
in Colorado, says Field and Farm, of Denver, that over
1,500 ditches and canals are now in operation. One
canal — the Fort Lyon — is operated for a distance of 113
miles. There are fifty canals over fifty miles in length
and fifty-one canals over twenty miles in length. Over
•500 large reservoirs are in operation, ranging in area
from 2,000 acres to five acres, and with capacities of
from 90,000 acre feet to fifty acre feet. The estimated
acreage under ditch is over 4,000,000 and the acreage
actually cultivated 2,500,000. It is a well-known fact
that irrigation development in the west has been re-
tarded more by lack of settlers than from capital. The
money invested in irrigated lands can yield no return
unless we have people to settle upon and farm the lands
reclaimed, and these people must come as small fanners
and home-builders. Heretofore they have been kept
away by the high price of land, by mistakes in the man-
agement of ditches and by lack of knowledge and prej-
udice against irrigation which has not been fostered by
liberal advertising as might have been done and as has
been done in other States with lesser attractions.

IRRIGATION IN SAN SABA.

The dam for the San Saba irrigation system will
have an extreme height of fifty feet. At its greatest
depth the base will be thirty-seven and one-half feet;
its top width will be ten feet; its length at bottom of
creey will be 300 feet; length on top, 800 feet. Avail-
able storage, 15,000 acre feet of water.

On the main ditch it is intended to construct two
other storage reservoirs, one of 5,000 acre feet and one
of 6,000 acre feet, to be held by earthen dams. The
main ditch will be fifty-seven miles long. At the head
the bottom will be fourteen feet; slopes of sides, two
horizontal to one vertical; depth of water in ditch at
maximum flow, six feet. As laterals are taken out the
main will be reduced until the lower section will have a
bottom width of but five feet, with a depth of only two
and one-half feet.

There will be 150 miles of laterals and sub-laterals
from six feet bottom width down to one and one-half
feet, and a depth of from three feet of water down to
six inches. — San Saba County (Texas) News.

Among the great irrigation failures of the far west
are three canals in the Pocatello country of Idaho,
known as Idaho Falls, the Idaho and the Reservation ca-
nals. After having gone through the customary litiga-
tion they were sold the other day to a reorganized cor-
poration for $100,000. The property, which has been in
the hands of a receiver for the past year, was bid in by
the Idaho Canal and Improvement Company, a corpo-
ration recently organized by J. H. Brady of Pocatello,
which is the headquarters of the new concern. It is
the intention of the new company to give the system a
complete overhauling, and extend the canal, which will
be an event of great importance, opening thousands of
acres of rich agricultural land.

Some of the sugar-beet growers of the Arkansas
valley have been surprised by receiving notice from the
American Beet Sugar Company cutting their contracts

152

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

down to one acre each for this year. No explanation of
the reduction is given, but it is supposed the company
is unable to handle the acreage now raised at its one fac-
tory and does not care to erect another at this time.
Some of those cut down have been among the most suc-
cessful growers in past years, and they are wondering
why they should have been sidetracked in this peculiar
manner, but will manage to employ their lands in pro-
ducing other and possibly more profitable crops. — Ex-
change.

FARMING IN COLORADO, UTAH AND NEW
MEXICO.

The farmer who contemplates changing his location
should look well into the subject of irrigation. Before
making a trip of investigation there is no better way
to secure advance information than by writing to those
most interested in the settlement of unoccupied land?.
Several publications, giving valuable information in re-
gard to the agricultural, horticultural and live stock in-
terests of this great western section have been prepared
bv the Denver & Rio Grande and the Rio Grande West-

ern, which should be in the hands of all who desire to
become acquainted with the merits of the various local-
ities. Write S. K. Hooper, G. P. & T. A., Denver, Colo.

"THREE WISHES."

It was down at the orphan asylum one day
That three little maids sat 'round the fire,

Each telling the thing she wished for most
If she could have her heart's desire.

"I'd like a pony as white as snow,"

Said Maud, "and I'd ride it each day, of course;
And the people would stop as I rode along

And say, 'Look at that child on a snow-white horse.'

Said Alice, "I'd like to own a 'ship.
And I'd sail clear 'round the world, I guess,

And bring back a present for all the girls,
And a beautiful crutch for dear little Bess."

Then lame little Bess, with her gentle voice.

Said, looking 'round from one to the other.
"I'll wish for the loveliest thing in the world —

That every one of us might have a mother."

Grand
Canyon

of Arizona.

Earth's greatest wonder — the titan o!
chasms, a mile deep, many miles wide

Pictures of it: F°r 25 cents will send

the season's no»elty —

a Grand Canyon photochrome view, uniquely
mounted to reproduce the Canyon tints. Or,
for same price, a set of four black-and-white
prints, ready tor framing.

Books about it: For 50 cents will send
- a Grand Canyon

book, Ii8 pages, 93 illustrations; cover in col-
ors; contains articles by noted authors, trav-
elers and scientists. Worthy a place in any
library. Or will mail free pamphlet, "Titan
of Chasms."

J. M. McCoNNELL, General Agent,
109 Adams St., Chicago.

S a-nt a. Fe

PATENTS

Send 25 cents and we will send you the

PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN

(the Patent authority of America) and

IRRIGATION AGE

for a 3-months' trial subscription and if you
have an idea on which you wish to secure a
patent we will, upon receipt oT a description,
sketch or model of your invention, have made
lor you

FREE OF CHARGE.

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(The regular charge for this is $5 Oi).) 11 you
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this liberal offer trusting that our efforts in
your behalf will induce you to become a per-
manent subscriber. If we find that your idea
is patentable we will get for you a Certificate
of Patentability which will be of great assist-
ance to you in raising capital. Write today.
Address,

The Progressive American,

58 North I3th Street
PHILADELPHIA, PA.

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• MODERN • METHODS • FOB • MODERN -PEOPLE •

THIRD FLOOR, SECURITY BUILDING
188 MADISON STREET CHICAGO

LANDS IN THE FAMOUS

Valley, of Mississippi,

Along the lines of the Yazoo and Missis-
sippi Valley Railroad, are of the most
wonderful fertility for raising Cotton,
Corn, Cattle and Hogs.

for

EDWARD P. SKENE, Land Commissioner,

When writing to Advertisers, please mention THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The clay will make the best of TILE and
Brick and manufacturers will find a great
field for TILE in that country, which is
so well adapted for Tile Drainage.

nix I .Mfi|>.-..

Central Station, Park Row, Room 506,
CHICAGO. ILL.

THE IEEIGATION AGE.

153

The Shuart
Earth Graders

Style No. 2

These machines rapidly and
cheaply reduce the most uneven
land to perfect surface for the ap-
plication of water. Made in
several different styles. On the
No. 3 style the blade can be
worked diagonally, as well as
straight across, thus adapting it to
throwing up and distributing bor-
ders, ditches, etc For descriptive
circulars and price, address

B. F. SHUART

Oberlin, Ohio

"WANT AND FOR SALE
ADVERTISEMENTS

Drain Tile — all sizes.

ORESTES TILE WORKS, Orestes. Ind.

Drain Tile— all sizes.

A. K. WRIGHT, Fairmont. Ind.

Drain Tile— all sizes.

WILLIAMSON BROS., Sweetzers, Ind.

Drain Tile— all sizes.

JOHN W. RUST, Herbst, Ind
The above drain tile manufacturers are situated
on railroad lines convenient to ship in carload
lots, and solicit trade, especially for Targe sizes.

FOR SALE.

$20,000 Brick and Tile Plant.
60 Double Deck Drver Cars.
10 Acres, 5 Kilns, good market.
Having gone into banking and building business
can use product as part pay.

Write FELLA DRAIN TILE Co.,
Pella, Iowa.

FOR SALE -Potts disintegrator, No. 2, com-
plete, with new rolls and pulleys, lun but a few
weeks. Address, M. J. LtE. Crawfordsville, Ind.

FOR SALE— A completely equipped factory
for drain tile and flower pots; seven acres clay
land; good trade: wish to retire from business.
Addres>s, A. M. FISH, Milan, Ohio, Erie Co.

Exposition
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Via

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CINCINNATI, OHIO

'16" LONG RANGE TELESCOPE.

FOR

Irrigators,
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Catalogue free.

Grade
Level Co.

Jackson, Mich.

No. 1, $27.00

Target and Rod

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Target and Rod alone $2.00.

Our Grade Levels are the only ones made with
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grade without figuring, and the only one with a
Telesrope at so low a price.

No. 1 Improved Level (our latest)— $3<». Has horiz-
ontal circle divided Into degrees; can run at any angle
without measuring. ,

Salzer's Rape^

gives Rich., ^

25c a
ton

SPELTZ—

.WliatisitT
Catalog
tells.

FARM

SEEDS

SALZER'S SEEDS HEVER FAIL!

i m I* 000,000 Customers

Proudest record of any seedsman on earth,
and yet we are reaching out for more. We
desire, by July ipt, 800,000 more and hence
this unprecedented otter.

S1O.OO for lOc.

V We will mail upon receipt of loe. in stamps
, our great catalonne, wortu J100.00 to any
'.wide awake farmer or gardener to-.'
ther with many farm seed samples,

,

eosmt?, Heardless liarley, liromus,
Bane, etc., etc. .positively worth JL

Please ,
send this
adv. with
loc. to salzer.

$10.00 to pet a start with,

nponreceipt of hut loc.

in stamps.

catalog
alone, 6c.
Send at once.

We will pay liberal commis-
sion to agents securing sub-
scribers. Write to

THE IRRIGATION AQE

112 Dearborn Street, CHICAGO

R. H. McWILLIAMS,

GENERAL
D RAIN AGE
CONTRACTOR

Special attention paid to reclaiming
swamp lands wjth steam dredges.
Drainage bonds bought and sold.

OFFICE:

flATTOON,

ILLINOIS.

EDGAR M. HEAFER
TILE COMPANY

MANUFACTURERS OF

Round Drain Tile

Of Superior Potters' Clay.

ASLO DEALERS IN

SUPERIOR FIRE BRICK AND SEWER PIPE
BLOOniNQTON, ILL.

James W. Craig. Edward C. Craig.

James W.Craig, Jr.

James W. 4 Edward C. Craig,

ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
MATTOON, COLES COUNTY. ILLINOIS.

Special attention given to the Law Department
of Drainage Work.
Drainage Bonds Bought and Sold.

M. H. DOWNEY. E. J. W1LCOX.

DOWNEY & WILCQX. Civil Engineers,

Drainage and Roads a Specialty.
Correspondence Solicited. Room 2, Court House, ANDERSON, IND

154

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

JEFFREY CONVEYORS

Will handle your product rapidly and economically

Also Manufacture

Screens, Elevator Bvickets, Water Elevators

CrusHers, Etc.

SEND FOR
CATALOGUE

ADDRESS

The

Jeffrey Mfg. Co.

Columbvis. Ohio.

NEW YORK

DENVER.

JEFFREY

I I I I I I I I II I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I III I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I M I I I II I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

..Eureka Potato Planter.. !

The Eureka is the most
practical Potato Planter
on the market. Price
within the reach of all
farmers, and does the
work correctly. Plants
cut or uncut seed.

Nothing equals it; yield greater from it than from planting by hand. Light draft for one horse and easy for the
| I man who operates it. Have won out in every test. Send for circulars. Not an experiment, but a machine used by
• ' the thousand and for the past four years on the market. Our latest catalogue of implements should interest you.
| | Shall we send it?

II Eureka Mower Co., Utica, N. Y., U. S. A. i

IIUIIIllllll II I Mil I I I III I I I I I

THE IERIGATION AGE.

155

Built Right

R\m Right

Unsurpassed for Tile, Hollow Ware, Brick and all
Classes of Clay products. Write for Particulars
on this or other Clayworkirvi" Machinery 5^9?

*

The Improved Centennial Auger Machine

Bucyrus, Ohio
U. S. A.

The American Clay-Working
Machinery Company

156

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

for Brick, Tile and Sewer
Pipe Manufacturers

SEWER PIPE BARROW

TILE TRUCK

HEAVY FURNACE FRONT

These Trucks and Barrows are made of first-class material, and the workmanship is the
best. Special trucks and barrows to suit customers, made to order. Prices quoted on
receipt of specifications.

BAND TIGHTENERS AND DOOR CONNECTORS

CLASS B CLASS C

TUPPER STYLE GRATE

Sections 6 inches wide. 36, 42, and 48 inches long

STRAIGHT GRATES

CAST IRON KILN COVERS

Any length. Sections 3 inches to 3% inches wide. Weight average about 1 pound VENTILATORS

per inch in length.

We also make Kiln Bands complete with sections cut to length and rivet holes punched. Rivets fur-
nished and tighteners riveted on to end sections. Prices quoted for anything in this line upon application.

Address

The Arnold -Creager Co.

NEW LONDON, OHIO

or Cor. 6th and Vine Sts.. Cincinnati, Ohio

THEIKKIGATIONAGE. 157

:0«0«O«O«O«O«O«OtOeO»O2O«OCO«O«O«O«O«O«O«0€O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«

Say, Mr. Tilemaker,

Does the machine you are now €\

using pug the clay sufficiently

If not, here is one that will. The best Tile
Machine made, combined with an eight-foot
double-shaft Pug Mill; and it is arranged to
make tile from 2 1/2 -in. to 24 = In. It will pay
you to investigate this machine and also Ben-
sing's Automatic Cutting Tables. Write us for
full information and prices

8
8
5
8
8
8
8
8

THE J. D. FJ1TE CO.

PLYMOUTH, OHIO

We make a full line of Clay Working Machinery

158 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The MARION
STEAM SHOVEL CO.

. 632 W. Center Street, MARION, OHIO.

A COMPLETE LINE OF STEAM SHOVELS, DIPPER

AND CLAMSHELL DREDCES, ETC.

constructing Drainage Ditches we have both
drydand and floating Dredges, and we build
them to suit the requirements of your work. We
manufacture our own steel and grey iron castings,
and make our own chain.

One-yard Ditching Dredge. When in the market write us for information and prices.

(When Writing Advertisers, Please Mention IRRIGATION AGE.)

FINE FARM LANDS.

Wisconsin is noted for its fine crops,
excellent markets, pure water and
healthful climate.

You can buy a farm on easy terms in
Wisconsin along the line of the Chi-
cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway
for less than you can rent one for three
years in any of the Eastern states. Now
is the time to invest.

Address F. A. Miller, General Pas-
senger Agent, Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul Railway, Chicago, 111.

A WONDERFUL OFFER.

YOU, Every Member of Your Family and All
Your Friends Are Personally Interested. ...

ALL ONLY
$1.5O

IRRIGATION AGE

The New York Magazine of Mysteries

Delivered to You for
One Year,

Delivered to You for
One Year,

AN ASTROLOGICAL DELINEATION OF YOUR LIFE

By ZAMAEL, The Greatest Living Astrological Seer,

WERE YOU BORN

Between December 23d and January
aoth, included ? If so, you were
born in Caprico'n. You are high-
minded and self-confident ; lover of
the beautiful ; love literature and
science; public-spirited; indepen-
dent and a natural leader ; executive
and aspiring. You are liable to be-
come blue and depressed. Read
carefully this advertisement and
see how you can get your horoscope
cast by the world's greatest astrolo-
ger, Zamael.

WERE YOU BORN

Between January aist and February
igth, included ? If so, you were born
in Aquarius. You are a good judge
of human nature ; are fitted to deal
with the public- are conservative;
are fond of public entertainments ;
area good companion : are practical ;
Zamael, the Great Seer, in your
horoscope will show you how to
achieve great success. You are in-
clined to be nervous, and have
gloomy forebodings. It is abso-
lutely necessary that you should
have your horoscope. This adver-
tisement tells you how you can get it.

WERE YOU BORN

Between February aoth and March
21 st, included ? If so, you were born
in Pisces. You are sensible and
thoughtful; anxious to gain knowl-
edge ; have mechanical ability ; are
positive in your opinions; when de-
termined are successful. You can
become very successful if you will
follow the advice that Zamael will
give you in your horoscope. Wealth,
healtn and" happiness come to all
Pisces people when they listen to
the Mystic Astrologers. Send $1.50
for our paper for one year, a year s
subscription to The Magazine of
Mysteries and an astrological delin-
eation of vour life.

WERE YOU BORN

Between March 2ad and April aoth,
included? If so, you were born in
Aries. You are earnest and sincere ;
full of life and activity ; can do won-
derful things if you study occult and
psychic forces. The horoscope that
Zamael will prepare for you can help
you in a wonderful way. We are
offering in this advertisement to
have this world-famous astrologer
prepare a horoscope for you, send
you our paper for one year and The
Magazine of Mysteries one year, all
for $1.50.

NOW READ CAREFULLY.

Our great offer to you is to send you our paper for one year, The
Magazine of Mysteries for twelve months, and give you an Astrological
Delineation of your life, all for $1.50. This is certainly a tremendously
liberal proposition, as our paper alone would cost you $1.00 for that
length of time, the year's subscription to The Magazine of Mysteries
(that wonderful magazine teaching Health, WeaTtn and Happiness)
costs $1.00, and an Astrological Delineation varies in cost from $i oo to
$25.01, according to the reputation and ability of the astrologer. The
horoscopes which we offer you are prepared by Zamael, one of the
world's greatest living astrologers.

ASTROLOGY IS AN EXACT SCIENCE, it is the
science that shows the young man or the young MOitian in what trade,
occupation or profession they will best succeed. It points out the way
for the parents to educate their children and develop their natural
capabilities. It keeps the old and young from making mistakes, and
protects all against disease. Every living human being should have
their horoscope cast by a reliable astrologer. In the horoscope which
Zamael will prepare for you, he "will give your natural tendencies and
indicate what you should do to make life a success and to guard against
disease.

If you are now taking our paper and have paid for any time in ad-
vance, we will extend your subscription for one year and will also see
that your subscription to that wonderful and interesting publication,
the New York Magazine of Mysteries, is started immediately, and that
your Astrological Delineation "will reach you without delay. Be careful
to give the exact date of your birth, mentioning the year and month
and place of your birth.

THE MAGAZINE OF MYSTERIES is the most
wonderfully interesting monthly magazine of the
Twentieth Century. It is entirely new and is the
only publication of its kind in the world. It gives
to all the knowledge of Perfect Health, Happiness
and the Secret of Prosperity. Address

Subscription Dept, Irrigation Age, Chicago, III.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

CHICAGO, ILL.

Gentlemen : — I herewith accept your Great Offer, and enclose you
$1.50 to pay for your paper one year, the New York MAGAZINE
OF MYSTERIES for one year and an Astrological Delineation of
my life by the world-famous astrologer, Zamael.
Yours truly,

Name

Address.

Be sure to fill out
these blanks for
the benefit of the
Astrologer :

PLACE OF BIRTH

DATE OF MONTH-

WERE YOU BORN

Between November 23d and Decem-
ber 22d. included ? If so, you were
born in Sagittarius. You are ear-
nest, honest, frank, jovial, fearless,
combative, generous, friendly ; very
sympathetic and outspoken ; you de-
test deception ; are quick-tempered
and impulsive. Be careful to curb
your anger. You are often mis-
understood. The astrological de-
lineation that we offer you in this
advertisement will help you, and
will point the way to success and
fortune. Send $i.«> for our paper
for one year. The Magazine of Mys-
teries one year, and have your for-
tune told by Zamael.

WERE YOU BORN

Between October 24th and Novem-
ber 22d, included ? If so, you were
born in Scorpio. You have great
vital forces; capable of endurance;
have magnetic and hypnotic pow-
ers which ought to be developed in
a scientific way. The most helpful
men and women come out of this
sign, and the world should rejoice
every time a Scorpio person is born.
The astrological delineation that we
are offering in this advertisement
will be of untold value to you.

WERE YOU BORN

Between September 24th and Oc-
tober 23d, included ? If so, you
were born in Libra. You are mod-
est and retiring; your inner nature
is receptive, intuitional, sensitive
and poetical ; you are naturally per-
sistent and competent ; your fore-
sight and judgment are excellent;
and you can win success if you fol-
low closely the advice given by
Zamael, in the astrological delinea"-
tion that we offer in this advertise-
ment.

WERE YOU BORN

Between August 24th and Septem.
ber 23d, included ? If so, you were
born in Virgo. You have a cool,
calm, confident bearing ; you ought
to be very successful, as you can
excel in anything you undertake.
You have everything to live for and
can have prosperity and happiness
by following strictly the advice of
Zamael in the horoscope we offer to
give you in this advertisement.
Send us $1.50 to-day. It will pay
you to do so.

WERE YOU BORN

Between Anril aist and May 2ist, in-
cluded ? If so, you were born in
Taurus. You live in the realm of
sensations and emotions too much ;
very fond of good living: can acquire
great wealth if you go about it right.
Zamael tells you how to become for-
tunate and happy. Learn how to
get great occult bowers. Send $1.50
immediately ana get our paper for
one year, Tlie Magazine of Mysteries
for one year, and your horoscope cast
by the great astrologer, Zamael.

WERE YOU BORN

Between May 22d and June 2ist, in-
cluded ? If so, you were born in
Gemini. You have a vivacious, rest-
less and anxious nature ; intensely
aspiring and energetic ; suffer much
at times because you do not know
how to use your wonderful occult
powers. Mysticism is your realm.
The full astrological delineation pre-
pared by the astrologer, Zamael, will
show you how to command the un-
seen forces which will bring to you
health and happiness.

WERE YOU BORN

Between June 22d and July 23d, in-
cluded ? If so, you were born in
sign of Cancer You have a sym-
pathetic and emotional love nature ;
are model housewives or husbands;
love home and family ; can amass
fortune and be very happy if you
will give attention to psychic and
occult powers. The full astrological
delineation that we give, as per this
advertisement, will ^give you the
mystic way of having fortune and
health.

WERE YOU BORN

Between July 24th and August 23d,
included? If so, you were born in
Leo. You are jovial, sympathetic,
free and friendly, kind and loving.
Be careful and guard against selfish-
ness. Your will power is very strong,
and the horoscope prepared by the
famous Zamael will show you how
to develop and apply it properly.
Read this advertisement and take
ad vantage of this gran d oppor-
tunity to get an astrological delinea-
tion of your life.

160 THE IKRIGATION AGE.

Great Irrigated
Valleys....

ARKANSAS VALLEY, COLORADO. Altitude 3,400 to 4,600 ft.; beet sugar factories,
thousands of acres of alfalfa, millions of cantaloupes, extensive orchards, flocks of sheep;
largest irrigated section in the U. S. Extensive cattle feeding and dairy interests, population
doubled in five years.

PECOS VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,000 to 4,000 feet. ; 175 miles long, on edge
of great plains' cattle pastures, affording profitable home market for alfalfa and grain; noted
for its large orchards and fine quality of fruits and vegetables; artesian belt with 300
flowing wells.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,700 105,300 ft.; 350 miles long;
great sheep raising section; mining in adjacent mountains; adapted to fruit raising and
small farms.

SALT RIVER VALLEY, ARIZONA. Altitude 1,000 ft.; 60 miles long and 20 miles wide;
special industries — early oranges, live stock, vegetables, small fruits, alfalfa, bee culture.

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Altitude 50 to 400 ft.; 250 miles long, 50 miles
wide; wheat raising, live stock, oil wells, alfalfa, raisin and wine grapes, olives, figs, citrus
and deciduous fruits, almonds, walnuts, lumbering and mines in mountains.

ALL FIVE VALLEYS have never-failing water supply, extensive systems of irrigating
ditches and rich soil, insuring profitable crops. Pleasant climate, especially in winter.
Thriving towns, affording good markets. Directly reached by the SANTA FE.

For information about farm lands, manufactures and general business openings,
address

Gen. Pass. Office A. T. 4 S. F. Ry. System,
GREAT NORTHERN BLDG. A CHICAGO.

Santa Fe

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

161

****«$$£: ,

-^f* ,^j*

^NSfe.

J0

i • v.<:."

IN THE SPRING

The farmer's fancy turns to the tillage of his
fields. A new plow will be the order of the day
on at least 1,000,000 farms this year. One fourth
of them will be Modern, Up-to-date, High Grade,
Standard

JOHN DEERE STEEL PLOWS

About 2000 car loads of which will go out between
January and May for

Enterprising, Progressive Farmers

Of the United States and Canada.

If vou don't need a new plow, you may want a Deere Spike Tooth or
Disc Harrow, a Deere Corn Planter or Cultivator. In any event write
forthe little booklet advertised in THE IRRIGATION AGE.

DEERE & COMPANY, Mo line, Ills.

IRRIGATION PLANTS!

WE BUILD THEM.

FURNISHING ENGINES, PUMPS, PIPE,
BELTING AND ALL OTHER MATE-
RIAL COMPLETE FOR OPERATION.

TELL US YOUR REQUIREMENTS
WEBER GAS AND GASOLINE ENGINE CO., KANSBA°SX Ui«ft? M0.

•••••••••••UHHHHHHHUnHHHHHnHHHHHHHHHHHHHHUHHUm

I WEN'S IMPROVED \

CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS\

5
:

:

Extensively used in paper and pulp mills, dye houses, bleacheries,
tanneries, dry docks,

DRAINING AND IRRIGATION OF LAND,

Pond pumping, circulating water in surface condensers, pumping
sand, gravel or gritty water. In fact, adapted for raising any
liquid in large or small quantities. Write for catalogues.

BOLAND <a GSCHWIND COMPANY. Ltd..

Office and Works, Melpomene, Chippew

rvJV^Il »» Il^l_» X^V^l'lI *»I1 I , LylU.. |

lippewa and St. Thomas streets - - New Orleans, La. I

:••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

162

THE IRRIGATION AGF

Myers Power Pumps

"Without an equal on
the Globe"

Full information in regard to our
varied line on application

Adapted especially for gas engines,
motor and belt powers, in harmony
with present requirements.

FIG. 813.

No. 359 Bulldozer Working Head, 5, 7!4 and

10-inch stroke.
No. 864. Bulldozer Working Head, 12, 16 and

20-inch stroke.

FIG 800.

Bulldozer Power Pump, sizes 3, 4, 5 and
fi-hich cylinders, stroke ranging from 5 to
20-inch.

F. E. Myers * Bro., Ashland, o., u. s. A.

THE USE OF GASOLINE ENGINES in the pumping field is practically but just begun.
The demand on our Omaha and Chicago branches for pumping engines during the last year
has been greatly due to the deserved popularity of the "OTTO." The special attention we
have given to the building of this class of machinery is bringing its reward in increased trade.
We can serve buyers yet to come as satisfactorily as those that have already favored us.
Tell us your requirements and mention the " Age."

THE OTTO CAS ENGINE WORKS,

CHICAGO. PHILADELPHIA. OMAHA.

4-0 TONS IN
TEN HOURS.

IHAY TRUTH.

Solid Compact Bales

that fill the car and cut down your freight

bills in hay shipping, is reason

enough for using the

E| I" Baling
••• Press.

The double expanding condenser makes the
"ELI" the most greedy consumer of hay.
Automatic block placing device saves lauor.
It stands by itself for safety, for economy of
time, labor and power. The staunchest,
most durable of all balers. 38 styles and sizes.
For horse or steam power. Indispensable to all hay balers where money making or saving
is an object. Free catalogue describes and illustrates everything in balers. Write for it.

COLLINS PLOW CO., 1203 Hampshire St., QUINCY, ILL.

to SO foot wheels.
We do strictly a mail order
business. For prices and
description address: The
Leach Windmill & Tank Co. Juliet, HI.,
V. S. A. Office & Factory Center & Monroe.

Renew your subscription of the
IRRIGATION AGE for 1903. Send us
in Post Office or Express money
order for $1.00.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

163

THE BUCKEYE TRACTION DITCHER

A winning proposition in cvny kind of soil.

M
A
N
U

A
C

U
R

D
N

O

U
R

S

s

CUTTING

FROM

ELEVEN

AND

ONEHALF
INCHES

TO

TWENTY-

FOUR

INCHES

IN

WIDTH

AND

FROM

FOUR

AND

ONE=HALF

TO

SIX

AND

ONE-HALF

FEET

IN

DEPTH

This cut shows The Buckeye just starting a trench with
grading targets out ahead. The BUCKEYE positively cuts
to a perfect grade, and to its full depth with one cut.

EVERY USER GIVES HIS ENTHUSIASTIC ENDORSEMENT.

The Van Buren, Heck & Marvin Co.

FINDLAY, OHIO, U. S. A.

164 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The Aultman & Taylor
Machinery Co.

OF MANSFIELD, OHIO,

One of the oldest concerns in the threshing machine busi-
ness, in fact one of the pioneers and pathfinders, are build-
ing portable and stationary rice separators which are tak-
ing the lead everywhere. They are guaranteed for superior
separation and cleaning, as testimonial letters elsewhere in
this issue would indicate.

The Aultman & Taylor Alfalfa Huller

Has established a
reputation in the
arid regions that
no other make of
a 1 fa 1 fa separator
and cleaner has
ever attained. Its
capacity is fully
one-third greater than that of any other machine. It saves
more seed and cleans it more perfectly than any other type.

Those interested in perfect rice separators, either of portable
or stationary type, or a superior alfalfa duller, should address

"" The Aultman & Taylor

Machinery Co.

OF MANSFIELD, OHIO

for one of their illustrated catalogues, which is sent free

to any address.

In addressing the Aultman & Taylor Machinery Co. kindly mention The Irrigation Age.

>ccceae««c«c««cc«occco«cc«e«oee«««

THE IRRIGATION AGE

VOL. XVIII.

CHICAGO, APRIL, 1903.

No. 6.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING CO.,

PUBLISHERS,
112 Dearborn Street, - CHICAGO

Entered at the Postoffice at Chicago, 111., as Second-Class Matter.

D. H. ANDERSON, Editor.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.

To United States Subscribers, Postage Paid $1.00

To Canada and Mexico, 1 00

All Other Foreign Countries 1.50

In forwarding; remittances please do not send checks on local banks.
Send either postoffice or express money order or Chicago or New York
draft.

A monthly illustrated magazine recognized throughout the world as
the exponent of Irragation and its kindred industries. It is the pioneer
journal of its kind in the world, and has no rival in half a continent. It
advocates the mineral development and the industrial growth of the West.

+r»

It may interest advertisers to know that The Irrigation Age is the only publication
-m the worjd faaving an actuai paid -n advance circulation among individual

irrigators and large irrigation corporations. It is read regularly by all interested in this subject and has readers in all parts of the world.
The Irrigation Age is 18 years old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world.

Copyright 1908 by D. H. Anderson.

E

D

I

T

O

RJ

A

L

Read.

Irrigation
Convention.

Bead article in this issue on Influences
in the National Irrigation Program.

Our May issue will contain a complete
report of the Irrigation Convention to
be held at Garden City, Kansas, April
16-17.

In our May issue will appear an article
on Artificial Glaciers, which will de-
scribe a California scheme coincident
with a similar suggestion for Colorado.
While the idea is not entirely new, it will be interesting.

Artificial
Glaciers.

Senator Carey In our issue for May will appear an
on article on the land question in con-

Land Question, nection with irrigation, from the pen
> of Senator Joseph M. Carey, Chey-
enne, Wyoming. Senator Carey is fully qualified to
handle this subject, and his opinions will be found
highly interesting.

Will our readers in the various sec-
tions of the West send us a short com-
munication giving their manner of cul-
tivating before and after irrigating;
depth of plowing, kind of soil and quantity per acre of

A Request.

principal crops? It is our intention to collate this in-
formation and add suggestions which may be of practi-
cal value in the way of improvements. Any assistance
of this character from our readers will be heartily ap-
preciated.

Keep in mind the llth National Irri-
gation Congress at Ogden, Utah, Sep-
tember 8 to 11. Eecent letters from
that city state that an elaborate pro-
gram is being prepared and many interesting features
in the way of entertainment will be offered.

Irrigation
Congress.

Administration Our May issue will contain ai finely il-
of Streams lustrated article from the Journal of
in Irrigation. the Western Society of Engineers on
"The Administration of Streams in
Irrigation." The data for the article is from a paper
read before that society by Elwood Mead, Chief of Irri-
gation Investigations, Washington, D. C.

The Primer of Irrigation, the first
chapter of which appears in this issue
' of THE IRRIGATION AGE. will, in its
completed form, make a volume of over
300 pages bound in cloth and finely illustrated. The
price will be $1.00. Those who wish to order the book
may secure it and THE IRRIGATION AGE for one year
for $1.50. We will not have it ready for delivery be-
fore August or September of this year.

166

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

In this issue will be found a photo
Prof. O. P. V. half-tone of Prof. 0. P. V. Stout, Irri-
Stout. gation Engineer on the staff of the

Nebraska State Board of Agriculture.
Prof. Stout is a native of Illinois, but has spent the
greater part of his life in Nebraska. He graduated in
civil engineering from the University of Nebraska in
1888, and was employed for a time in railway and muni-
cipal work. In 1891 he was appointed to an instructor-

PROF. O. P. V. STOUT,
Lincoln, Neb.

ship in the department of civil engineering in the Uni-
versity of Nebraska, and since 1893 has been in charge
of that department. Prof. Stout has also engaged ex-
tensively in outside practice, and has given considerable
attention to hydraulics and irrigation. In addition to
private engagements along these lines, he has been for
a number of years resident hydrographer of the United
States Department of Agriculture.

Anderson's We have in course of preparation, a
"Primer standard, practical book on irrigation,

of Irrigation." the first chapter of which appears in
this issue of THE IRRIGATION AGE,
and other chapters will follow in subsequent numbers.

It is our purpose to reduce the whole art and sci-
ence of Agriculture connected with Irrigation, to the
plainest language, within the comprehension of every
one who desires valuable, practical information on the
subject. In its bound form the matter will fill a vol-
ume of over 300 pages.

The time is ripe for a practical and comprehensive
book on the subject, years of experience having demon-
strated the fact that irrigation is the most profitable
means known to agriculture to secure profit in farming.

In its scope, the book begins with soils and their
nature, expressed in clear language, takes up Arid and
Semi-Arid lands, and shows plainly the benefits to be de-
rived from irrigation and proper cultivation, in every
branch of agriculture. The book is really a work on
farming for profit, whether the farmer raises cereals,
or limits his productions to a vegetable garden.

It tells how to utilize any kind of soil, how to raise
the proper kind of profitable crops, how to irrigate, how
to feed plants with the proper food, and how to avoid

failure. Anyone who reads this book will find in it
just what he wants, just what he has long been looking
for without being able to find it, and how to utilize
every foot of ground he owns or controls.

There has never been a similar book put before the
farming community, and when we say it is to be the
"standard," we mean that there may never be another
book with so much practical information, and so com-
plete in every detail. It is a book every farmer who
practices irrigation needs to attain success for his labor.
The work will be finely illustrated.

Influences in We begin elsewhere in this issue a dis-
National cussion of some of the influences that

Irrigation are affecting the program of national

Program. irrigation provided for by the National

Irrigation Act of June 17, 1902. This discussion has
been prepared by the editor of this journal with the sole
purpose of telling the truth about the operation of one
of the most important and far-reaching enterprises that
has been launched by Congress in recent years. We
have hesitated to publish the facts presented because
we believe that a work of such magnitude and importance
as is contemplated by the National Irrigation Act should
receive the unqualified support of a united West, and
that, if possible, all shortcomings in administration
should be allowed to correct themselves through the
further experience of those in charge. We have also
hesitated lest a plain statement of the truth might seem*
to reflect adversely on some of the public-spirited men
who have unselfishly and unremittingly given their sup-
port to the movement for national aid to irrigation.
Among these none has been more conspicuous than Mr.
Thomas F. Walsh, the president of the National Irri-

PROF. CHAS. M. HALL,
Fargo, N. D.

gation Association, and others who have been identi-
fied from the start with the movement conducted under
the name of this association. The part these men have
voluntarily played has been both praiseworthy and com-
mendable and nothing could be farther from our de-
sire than to connect them with what is uncalled for
and unwarranted in the present national irrigation pro-
gram. We believe that these gentlemen have been
placed in false positions by those who have sought to

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

167

influence the expenditure of the reclamation funds
toward corporate and selfish ends, and we further believe
that when once they know the truth they will cease to
stand sponsor for the acts of Mr. George H. Maxwell
and the interests he represents. We reach this conclu-
sion from the fact that many of those who have been
most influential in the National Irrigation Association
have already withdrawn their support from it. It is
these men who, with state officers, irrigation officers,

ADD1SON J. McCUNE,
State Engineer, Denver, Col.

irrigation associations, newspapers and newspaper cor-
respondents, have provided the material on which the
discussion is based.

It is the desire of the AGE to use its utmost effort
in support of what is right in carrying out the provi-
sions of the National Irrigation Act. In doing this
•we shall give our unqualified endorsement to all,
whether individuals or public officers, who stand
squarely on the side of an honest and wise expenditure
of the funds made available by the act. The expendi-
ture of these funds is a trust from the whole people for
the benefit of the whole people, and we cannot idly
see this trust misplaced through the machinations of
corporate agents.

His Mistakes.

From Montana newspapers we glean
that the Executive Chairman of the
National Irrigation Association, Mr.
George H. Maxwell, has been misus-
ing the prestige of his position and all the facilities af-
forded by the N. I. A. to prevent needed irrigation
legislation in that state. This action by Mr. Maxwell
is foreign to the purpose which most members of the
N . I. A. regard as its legitimate function. His per-
sistent interference in state matters, his wilful misrep-
resentations concerning meritorious measures have
hindered instead of aiding irrigation ; the result to Mr.
Maxwell is merited loss of influence and esteem in
Montana.

Montana credits him with some good done in
helping to create sentiment for national aid, but
charges he has been guilty of utilizing the literary bu-
reau of the N. I. A. to mislead by unfair statements
concerning laws and to circulate malicious attacks on

a government official who has an untarnished record for
able irrigation work. Just what Mr. Maxwell's motive
is beyond personal dislike is not shown, but those fa-
miliar with his past believe time will disclose that his
aim is entirely selfish.

Noting last fall that the Montana papers were em-
phasizing the need for better irrigation laws, Mr. Max-
well tried to forestall action by a long open letter to
Senator Gibson, in which he condemned, what two
years before he had in publications and in a brief be-
fore the California Supreme Court, praised very high-
ly, viz. : the Wyoming law. He referred to it as the
Mead "theory" of State control, with its army of polit-
ical appointees, predicted conflict with the federal gov-
ernment if any legislation ,was enacted, and plead for
no action. He did not investigate conditions in Mon-
tana, as he should have, he ignored the special re-
ports made by the Government, he suppressed the fact
that what he designated as a "theory" had for twelve
years in Wyoming, for seven years in Nebraska, and
for eight years in the Northwest Territory, been in suc-
cessful operation to the great satisfaction of irrigators.
That in these two States, under it, there had been over
5,000 claims adjudicated with slight expense and trouble
to claimants, and so justly decided that only about a
dozen appeals to court had been taken.

To befog the situation he made "home rule in irri-
gation" a slogan. Soon after his initial attempt to de-
ceive Montanians, a report was ma-de to the Governor
recommending a law based on the Wyoming law and
containing some of the law proposed for California by
her able State commission. In that report it was shown
that Mr. Maxwell had not been fair in his presentation,
and a controversy resulted.

Maxwell vociferously asserted that serious compli-
cation with the national government would ensue if the
State enacted an irrigation code, but he failed to show
how or why a law which embodied recommendations
made by the Government would hinder the national ir-
rigation law, or why of necessity any conflict between
State and Nation should arise. The position taken by
the State, or rather in the report to the Governor was
"The federal and State governments each have inter-
ests in the arid lands within the State, each have a
work to do in connection therewith that the other can-
not perform; there is no necessity for conflict of ani-
thority, there need be no friction between them and
the proposed laws makes easy their effective co-opera-
tion for the common good." A statute to aid the gov-
ernment in construction of reservoirs and other means

of saving flood waters was included.

It is significant that despite Mr. Maxwell's state-
ments as to what the Government would do, it bars out
of nine projects selected six in States having State con-
trol of water.

Mr. Maxwell's "home rule" idea proved a mis-
nomer. In November Forestry and Irrigation he is on

168

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

record, viz : "Every drainage basin should do business
with the national government as a unit 'the water-users
of which' can adopt any rules or regulations desired or
approved by the Secretary of the Interior." Is that
"home rule?" Or is it irrigation government through
and by agents at Washington, and the adjustment of
claims by political appointees of the national govern-
ment? Up to date the Government has not mani-
fested a desire to carry out his plan.

During the controversy Mr. Maxwell circulated a
thirty-two-page pamphlet in which a malicious attack
on Elwood Mead wa-s the leading feature. This and a
flooding of the Legislature and newspapers with mis-
representations confused many. Mr. Maxwell had
achieved some reputation by his campaign for the N. I.
A., and was by many considered well informed, and was
therefore given a hearing. The result was that not one
of several bills introduced to amend the irrigation law
was passed. The proposed law based on Wyoming was
carefully studied by a large number of irrigators who
approved and desired its enactment, but the limited
time of the legislator and other matters prevented.

Meantime Mr. Maxwell has suffered among those
who investigated the merits of the controversy, because
of his evident unfairness, his effort to mislead and his
unwarranted interference.

IN MISTY MARCH.

Above the bridge upon a day

When wintry chains no more
Extend their rigid tyranny

From helpless shore to shore,
I watch the waters rushing down

From somewhere thro' the mist
That hides the sources of the flood

In veils of amethyst.

Above the bridge — ah ! who shall say

How many hopes and fears
Float out upon the seaward tide

To meet the unknown years.
The laughing wave that dances on

Unmindful of its fate,
May karn to know the bitterness

Of some dark maelstrom's hate.

Above the bridge — the mystery

Of life's beginning lures ;
Below — the winding of the stream

Leads my long way — or yours.
We may not change the constant course

Nor well the tide resist —
Here on the bridge it comes and goes

Thro' veils of amethyst.

— GEORGE E. BOWEN.

Prof. Rudolf Eucken, of Jena, discusses in the
April-June Forum "The Present Estimate of the Value
of Human Life." He traces the causes of the recent
tendency to pessimism, but maintains that this conclu-
sion is not justified.

"John!" whispered the good woman in the dead of
night, "there are burglars down stairs."

"You go down, dear," replied John ; "they wouldn't
hurt, a woman."

INFLUENCES IN THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION
PROGRAM.

BY D. H. ANDERSbN.

That irrigation is essential to the arid region has
been amply demonstrated ; that the highest type of agri-
culture is represented there is evident to one visiting •
Colorado, Utah or California; that the government has
failed to do its whole duty by the pioneer farmers of
the west is each year more fully recognized. The irri-
gated area of the western states is six times as great
as the entire area of Rhode Island. The crops grown
are more diversified than those raised in the Eastern
Atlantic States and their value exceeds the product
of any equal area elsewhere in the United States. Ob-
ject lessons abound from the fruit farms of Washington
to the rice lands of Louisiana and Texas and from the
wheatfields of Montana to the orange groves of Southern
California. In one place the water supply has been
fully used by the husbandmen; in another, both land
and water lie idle, awaiting the quickening influence of
capital. Irrigated Spain is represented in California,
Egypt in Arizona and Italy in . Southern Colorado and
Utah. The possibilities for further development in each
state and territory are great, and the time may come
when the area irrigated in several of these may equal
or exceed that brought under cultivation in any one
of the older countries. Whether this is accomplished or
not depends upon how far the work of reclamation is
directed to aid the homeseeker and investor. It will
not take place during the life time of the present gener-
ation if the trust recently imposed by Congress is not
lived up to in good faith. It will be a death blow to
further extension of national aid if representatives of
corporate interests are permitted to manipulate the
reclamation service of the government. The object
of this discussion is to bring to public attention the
dangers which now threaten the prosecution of this im-
portant work. The AGE has been slow to make a move
in this direction and the step has not been taken without
due study and consideration. Those who wish evidence
on any point raised in this paper can, we are persuaded,
be satisfied, should they bring the matter to our atten-
tion.

CHARACTER OF WATER RIGHTS AND STATE SUPERVISION.

Before entering upon the principal subject for dis-
cussion, it is thought best to briefly review the character
of water rights in the various states and outline in as
few words as possible, the existing systems of state con-
trol. The west was settled before laws came from the
east. Strict local regulations prevailed in many dis-
tricts where it was impossible to protect the settlers
in any other way. Judge Lynch held sway where peace-
ful and law-abiding communities now flourish. The
first law introduced governing the diversion and use of
water was aimed to protect the miner. He often went
before the irrigator. When the latter appeared, he
found that he could secure a water right, so-called, by
simply posting a notice at the point where he proposed
to divert water. This was an extremely simple proced-
ure, and until new comers began to encroach upon the
supply, it was held in high esteem. Cases in court
grew out of neighborhood quarrels and now the only
way for a person to secure a right to use water in many
of the western states and territories is to institute legal
proceedings. When two irrigators appear in court they
establish, "in a way, their relative rights. A third party
who may feel aggrieved by the award can re-open the
litigation at any time. In the second suit there may be

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

169

one or several defendants. If all who have already
been to court do not again appear they may be de-
prived of the rights decreed to them in the first suit.
This may go on indefinitely, and even to-day there is
no orderly proceeding under the law of most of the
western states and territories whereby all of the irri-
gators interested may appear at one time and secure a
division of the water on a permanent basis. It is de-
nied by those who are in a position to be better informed
that litigation over water has been no more common,
than that relating to the title of other property. The
truth is that the heart has been eaten out of many irri-
gation communities by constantly recurring strife in the
courts.

As has been often said, water, and not land, is the
chief basis of value in an irrigated country. A ditch
leading through a; prairie may serve land just below it
worth from $100 to $500 per acre, while the grazing
land just above could hardly be sold for $2 per acre.
The government has disposed of the public land in a
systematic and business-like way, but has left the water
problems with the states and territories. This latter
has been disputed, but the contention has been over-
ruled by the United States Supreme Court, A recent
decision of that court, (Thomas C. Guiterres et al.,.
appellants, v. The Albuquerque Land and Irrigation
Company) emphasizes other decrees of similar char-
acter. The decision states that Congress has recog-
nized state and territorial legislation relating to the
diversion and use of water by two acts, one of 1866 and
one of 1891, and in the specific case sustains the terri-
torial statutes of New Mexico providing for the appro-
priation of water for beneficial uses and overrules the
contention that such water is the property of the United
States and not of the territory. With but few excep-
tions the states have not wholly accepted the responsi-
bility thus imposed, and in consequence, water is gener-
ally left to be quarrelled over. Until within the past
few years no organized effort has been made to obstruct
reform irrigation legislation. What opposition has been
felt has arisen from local sources. That water should
not be treated as personal property, but should belong
to the land irrigated, and that the volume furnished
should be limited to the quantity that can be beneficially
applied, are among the principles which have been in-
dorsed by the leading thinkers and writers on irrigation
matters. These along with other meritorious provis-
ions were first incorporated in the laws of Wyoming,
which state is considered to at least be abreast of the
reform movements to improve the condition of the irri-
gator. It might be said that the laws of the Dominion
of Canada are similar to those of Wyoming and that
Montana, lying between the two, has no law providing
a means whereby claims to water can be equitably,
cheaply and definitely settled.

There are people in every state who realize the in-
efficiency of the laws. in force, and who endeavor to
make public their defects that reform may be brought
about. The farmers of the west would still be quarrel-
ing over their land titles and farm boundaries if the
government had not provided that each should be given
title to a definite area having a fixed boundary. There
is no good reason why the rights to use water should be
any less definite in character, and we believe the time
is rapidly approaching when a reform along this line
must be carried out. The influences which are now
operating to delay or altogether prevent such a reform
•will be dealt with later in this paper. That the motives

of the agents thus employed are selfish, will, we believe,
be made evident. Our object is to improve conditions
in those districts where reform is needed and where
the irrigator is now giving up his hard-earned money
to protect his water right.

EARLY AGITATION TO ENLIST NATIONAL AID.

The early settlers of the west realized that the
government should do more than give title to land to
enable the pioneer to compete with the more fortunate
farmer of eastern districts. In Colorado, meetings were
held during the early seventies to bring the matter to
the attention of the government. This move has stead-
ily grown and while partial success has finally been
achieved, we should not permit ourselves to believe that

HON. JOSEPH M CARgY,

Cheyenne, Wyoming.

recognition from Congress has been gained through
any single influence. Colonel E. S. Nettleson was one
of the early pioneers in this agitation and a man who
understood irrigation from both a theoretical and prac-
tical standpoint. He took an active part in the irri-
gation development near Greeley and saw that that
colony could have but slow growth unless outside aid
were to be enlisted in the construction of irrigation
works. The colony has grown, and in thirty years has
become the foremost in the country in the culture of
several staple crops. The injustice that was done many
of the early irrigators through a lack of central con-
trol of the water supply and a failure to establish rights
as soon as the normal flow of the stream was exhausted
has retarded settlement and made the development of
the country difficult. The people of the Greeley colony

170

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

were not the kind to turn back, however, and not being
able to secure aid from the government, they did all
they could for themselves.

These people believed that the government should
build irrigation works as an inducement to settlement,
and that the national treasury would be fully reim-
bursed through the rapid development of the west. The
homesteader in Iowa had no great difficulties to sur-
mount. He had an ample rainfall for the growth of
crops and no timber to clear away before grain could be
planted. Why should one go to Colorado where the
labor of taking out irrigation ditches would consume at
least one season's time which might be employed more
profitably further east? The government was spend-
ing monev for the benefit of the commerce along the
Missouri. Why not extend this aid to the pioneer farmer
of the plains?

At a later date, the American Society of Irri-
gation Engineers was organized and also advocated
government construction of irrigation works of too
great magnitude for private capital. The Society held
regular meetings at which times irrigation topics of
the time were discussed. The members were engineers,
with whom practical questions were of greater interest
than were the leeal and theoretical problems which al-
ways arise in irrigated countries. The leading men
of the west who have become intimately acquainted with
practical irrigation and who have sympathized with the
policies advocated by this society, have stood as a unit
in favor of national aid, provided it should be direct,
that existing rights should not in any way be inter-
fered with, and that the control of the water should be
left with the states.

THE IRRIGATION CONGRESS.

One other organization has always stood for na-
tional aid. This is the Irrigation Congress which was
organized to further irrigation generally and bring to-
gether those who had special knowledge of the subject,
that an exchange of ideas might be possible. Meetings
have been held almost annually since the early nineties.
Interest in the Congress has fluctuated somewhat ow-
ing to the partial control gained over it at times by
men whose motives hare not been entirely praiseworthy.
During the past few years the leader of the railroad lob-
by at Washington has exercised a baneful influence in
the executive committee of the Congress. It is believed
that this influence has largely been removed and that
henceforth the deliberations of the Congress will be
carried on by those who desire to be of public service.

One of the unfortunate features of the Congress is
that almost anyone who so desires can be appointed a
delegate. Consequently, one or two sessions have been
largely controlled by agents of manufacturing concerns.
Delegations from localities where irrigation is of no con-
sequence have stood for policies of local importance
which should never be brought before such a body for
consideration. At one session, in particular, politicians
had the floor most of the time. These men were not of
national repute, but were state and county aspirants for
public honors who were not competent to speak on irri-
gation subjects except in a very general way. Under pro-
grams thus conducted those who have made a study of
irrigation have been prevented from appearing and as a
result the Congress has been voted a failure by the dele-
gates who went to learn something regarding irri-
gation practice in neighboring states. The enthusiast
has been on hand to tell the assembled delegates how
the banks of the Missouri are lined with homeseekers

looking toward the west, awaiting the time when a tract
of irrigable land should be furnished with canals and
ditches. Those better informed have generally remained
silent at such times, not desiring to destroy the pleasant
delusions under which the enthusist was laboring.

The question of the west to-day is one of people;
this, and not irrigation, has been the more urgent prob-
lem of the past twenty years. Canals have gone ahea'd
of settlement and the people do not come to till the soil
and use the water that has been made available. This
is the reason for the failure of many a promising irri-
gation enterprise launched by private capital. Land
and water have been brought together but not in a way
to attract settlers in time to save the enterprise to the
investors. The argument in favor of the recent act of
Congress is that the government loans the money and
charges no interest. It makes no difference, therefore,
whether s tract of land is settled in one or fifty years.
Whenever it is settled, the homsteader is given ten years
in which to pay for his land and water. If some of
the land is never taken, the government must raise on
the general assessment, or lose a portion of the money
invested.

Among the substantial men who have regularly
attended the meetings of the Irrigation Congress are
the state engineers. These officers have always favored
a broad policy aimed to benefit the people of the states
represented. The professional men from universities
and agricultural colleges have always been valuable del-
egates as have also the representatives from canal com-
panies and irrigation engineers engaged in a general
practice. Utah invariably sends a delegation to which
she can point with pride. Such men as Colonel Young,
Colonel Holmes, John Henry Smith and Fred J. Kiesel
are to be found with those who sympathize with the irri-
gator and strive to lessen the difficulties which he can
not overcome unaided. Ex-Senator J. M. Carey, of
Wyoming, is another example of genuine public spirit.
Of recent years the Congress has suffered from the
influence of certain men whose purposes will be ex-
plained in some detail in future issues more as a mat-
ter of current history than because they shoiild occupy
a prominent place in solving the irrigation problems of
the west.

(To be continued.)

PRETTY GOOD PLACE.

Treats a feller purty well, this ol' world of ours,

If you mog along an' do yer best.
Allers lots o' sunshine sandwiched in between the showers;

With the hard work comes the peaceful rest.

Lots o' days that's fair an' bright,

Spite o' clouds sometimes in sight.

Treats a feller purty well, this ol' world of ours,

Even when the days look sad and drear.
When the thorns are pushed aside you will find the flowers,

Smiles will make the heartaches disappear.

Purty good of world. I say,

Gittin" better every day !

Treats a feller purty well, this ol' world of ours,

There's a smile fer every tear an' sigh ;
There's a rainbow peekin" through every cloud that lowers,

Tellin' of the sunshine by and by,

Likely place, this here, to dwell —

Treats a feller purty well !

— E. A. BRININSTOOL.

THE IRRIGATION AGE for 1 year and The Primer
of Irrigation, a 300-page handsomely bound book for
$1.50. Send in subscription now.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

171

AN IRRIGATION EXAMPLE.

BY J. W. PRICE, CASPER, WYOMING.

It seems to be a prevalent notion, even among peo-
ple who are interested in irrigation, that a satisfactory
irrigation system cannot be constructed without a larger
outlay of capital than is possible to the ordinary ranch-
man or association of ranchmen.

In various parts of this firreat arid region, there are
comparatively large areas of land where it seems im-
practicable to get the water on the land on account of
what seems to be difficult feats of engineering and great
expense.

That it is possible to have an eminently satisfac-
tory system on quite an extensive scale with no great
outlay of actual money is shown by operations in this
locality.

I would refer the readers of IRRIGATION AGE
to the Goose Egg Ditch Company as one such example.
This company was formed in 1897, and was composed
of five ranchmen of comparatively limited means,
whose capital was their energy and appreciation of
the value of irrigation.

These men were located in the Bessemer Bend on
the Platte River in central Wyoming. The fall of the
Platte is not sufficient to divert water for irrigation

of which only about $600 was actual cash, the balance
being team, work and day labor done during the winter
time, the ranchman's leisure season.

Where there was once arid lands and ranchmen
making a bare subsistence, there are now bright and
happy homes and men independently well off.

While there are no two localities where the condi-
tions are identical, still this goes to show what can
be done with very little capital when men see their op-
portunities and have the energy to take advantage of
them, by using man's greatest resource — his own toil.

Lives of other men remind us

We may toil and sweat and sigh,

And, departing, leave behind us
Just what room we occupy.

A correspondent at Salt Lake, Utah, states that L.
M. Taylor, government engineer in the arid reclama-
tion service, passed through Ogden on his way to Ne-
vada to begin the work of land reclamation. He says
that work will begin within two weeks damming the
lower Carson river. Two hundred thousand acres south-
east of Wadsworth will be reclaimed by this dam, fur-
nishing homes for 1,250 families.

FLUME OF GOOSE EGG DITCH COMPANY ACROSS PLATTE RIVER, CENTRAL WYOMING.

purposes without enormous expense, but there is a
spring on the north side of the river, commonly known
as the Delaware Springs, which have a flow of water of
twenty-seven cu. feet per second. Various propositions
were discussed by the ranchmen for getting the water
across the river, but they were all discarded on account
•of the expense, until the idea occurred to them of build-
ing a wooden flume across the stream for which the cash
outlay necessary would be that of surveying, lumber and
salary of the overseer, who was the writer.

A company was therefore incorporated, composed
of the following named ranchmen: Alex. Mills, D. N.
Speas, Edward Kerns, John McClure and W. D.
Rhoades, and work was at once begun. Logs were
hauled from the mountains and cribs built in the river ;
upon these as a foundation a superstructure of logs was
erected in the form of "bents" to support the flume
proper, which was constructed of native lumber, 40,000
feet of two-inch plank being required. The flume when
completed was 1,100 feet in length, four feet wide, four-
teen inches deep and thirty-five high from low water
mark of the river.

The system, when completed, consisting of the
flume and three and one-half miles of ten-foot ditches,
successfully irrigating 800 acres of bottom lands, and
making six productive ranches, cost the sum of $2,500,

LET HIM KNOCK AGAIN.

Luck tapped upon a cottage door,

A gentle, quiet tap,
And Laziness, who lounged'within,

The cat upon his lap,
Stretched out his slippers to the fire,

And gave a sleepy yawn ;
"Oh, bother ! let him knock again !"

He said, but Luck was gone.

Luck tapped again, more faintly still,

Upon another door,
Where Industry was hard at work

Mending his cottage floor.
The door was opened wide at once;

"Come in!" the worker cried,
And Luck was taken by the hand

And fairly pulled inside.

He is still there — a wondrous guest

From out whose magic hand
Fortune flows fast — but Laziness

Can never understand
Hbw Industry found such a friend.

"Luck never came my way,"
He sighs and quite forgets the knock

Upon his door that day.

THE IRRIGATION AGE 1 year and The Primer of
Irrigation for $1.50.

172

THE IKKIGATION AGE.

PRIMER OF IRRIGATION.

BY D. H. ANDERSON.
COPYRIOHT, 1903, BY D. H. ANDERSON.

CHAPTER I.

SOIL IN GENERAL — ITS FORMATION, CHARACTERISTICS
AND USES — FERTILITY AND STERILITY.

The mere planting of a seed in the ground is not
sufficient to insure its growth, or development into a
useful or profitable plant. This fact is well known to
everybody, but what is not so well known is, the reason
or cause why a seed grows up into a vigorous plant cap-
able of reproducing seed similar to the one from which
i!' sprang, and how it does it.

There are certain elements which are essential to
the growth of every plant, the development of every
germ, for without them it cannot live; these are heat,
light, air and moisture. A few grains of wheat dis-
covered in the coffin of an Egyptian mummy after
three or four thousands years' deprivation of the four
essential elements, were found inert, that is, they were
not alive, neither were they dead, for upon giving them
the essentials above referred to, the wheat sprang into
life and produced a plentiful supply of grain.

PLANTS ARE LIKE ANIMALS.

Still, notwithstanding the necessity of heat, light,
air and moisture, plants cannot flourish without proper
food. In this respect plants are similar to animals.
Among animals there is no universal specified diet,
some eating one kind of food, others another. We see
many that eat flesh exclusively, others whose sole diet is
insects. Certain animals eat herbs and grass, others
grain, and when we reach man we find an animal that
will eat anything and everything, hence we call man
"omnivorous."

It is the same with plants, some devouring in their
fashion a certain kind of food, some another, and so on
all along the list. Plants are substantially like animals
that possess a stomach, they eat and digest, absorb and
assimilate the food they obtain. If the plant is not
furnished with its proper food, or if it is prevented
from obtaining it, it shrivels, droops, withers and dies
just like an animal that starves to death.

There is another striking resemblance between
plants and animals, which is the instinct and power to
seek food. The plant being a fixture in the soil, can-
not of course, "prowl" about in search of food, but it
throws out roots, fibres and filaments in every direc-
tion, its instincts reaching in the direction of food as
surely and with as much certainty as the nose of an
animal scents its prey, or the eye of an eagle sees its
quarry. Not only does the plant seek food beneath the
surface of the earth, but it thrusts shoots, branches and
leaves up into the atmosphere for the purpose of ex-
tracting nourishment there also.

It is, however, from the soil that plants receive the
principal supply of food necessary for their develop-
ment, hence an acquaintance with its chemical and
physical properties is important in helping us to under-
stand the nutritive processes of plants, and the operations
of agriculture.

Volumes of books have been written on the general
subject of agriculture, but they are more adapted to
soils upon which falls sufficient rain to dissolve the salts
necessary to produce a crop. In a book devoted to irri-

gation, the principles of agriculture and the adaptation
of the various elements of plant food in the soil, are
all the more important as the water employed in irri-
gation— which is nothing but artificial rain — is abso-
lutely within the control of man, and not dependent
upon meteorological uncertainties. One fact should,
however, be constantly borne in mind by the practical
irrigator, that pure water is absolutely sterile so far as
plant food is concerned, and if poured upon a pure
soil, which is also sterile, there can be no crop of any
sort raised. A remedy for supplying a defect of plant
food in irrigating water will be given in detail in
another chapter, the scope of this chapter being limited
to soils that contain plant food, or are arable, in which
case the quality of the water is of secondary importance.

ORIGIN OF ARABLE SOIL.

Arable soil owes its formation to the disintegra-
tion of minerals and rocks, brought about by mechanical
and chemical agencies. The rock may be said to stand
in about the same relation to the arable soil resulting
from its disintegration as the wood or vegetable fibre
stands to what is called the humus resulting from its
decay. To be fertile, however, the soil must contain
disintegrated vegetable matter. There is no fertility
in a heap of sawdust, nor is there in a heap of powdered
rock; indeed, the two might be combined and still re-
main sterile, it is only after both have been disinte-
grated by chemical or mechanical action that they be-
come plant foods capable of nourishing and maintaining
plant life.

From this it results that soil consists of two grand
divisions of elements: inorganic and organic. The
inorganic are wholly mineral, they are the products of
the chemical action of the metallic, or unmetallic ele-
ments of rocks. They existed before plants or animals.
Life has not called them into existence, nor created
them out of simple elements. Yet these inorganic min-
eral elements of soil become part of plants, and under
the influence of the principle of life they no longer
obey chemical laws, but are parts of a living structure.
Through the operation of the laws of the life of the
plant, these mineral elements become organic and so-
continue until death comes and decay begins, when
they return to their mineral form.

Organic elements are the products of substances
once endowed with life. This power influences the ele-
ments, recombines them in forms so essentially con-
nected with life that they are, with few exceptions, pro-
duced only by a living process. They are the products of
living organs, hence termed organic,' and when formed,
are subject to chemical laws. The number of elements
in the inorganic parts of soil is twelve : Oxygen, sul-
phur, phosphorus, carbon, silicon and the metals : potas-
sium, sodium, calcium, aluminium, magnesium, iron
and manganese.

The number of elements in the organic parts of
soil does not exceed four: Oxygen, hydrogen, carbon
and nitrogen.

The great difference between these two divisions
is, that while the inorganic elements are combinations
of two elementary substances, the organic are com-
binations of three or four elements, but never less than
two. These three elements, however, are variously
combined with the other elements to form salts which
enter into the great body of vegetable products, in fact
they are continually changing, the mere change of one-
element, or its abstraction forming a new product. It

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

173

is this susceptibility to change, and the constant as-
sumption of new forms by vegetable products which is
the foundation of tillage, and the essence of the knowl-
edge of irrigation.

HOW PLANTS FEED.

We do not know and we may not understand what
life is, nor how plants grow, but it is a knowledge which
comes to the most superficial observer, that all plants
feed upon various substances their roots find in the
soil, which substances are called "salts," and they arc
prepared for the uses of the plant by the action of or-
ganic matter on the inorganic or vice versa. That is to
say, vegetable matter combines with decomposed rocks
or minerals and forms a plant food without which the
plant cannot live. We know as a fact that the silicates
OT rock elements and minerals or metallic salts compose
all the earthy ingredients of soil, and are always found
i.u plants, the ashes of any burned vegetable or plant
showing this. But these silicates and salts do not make
fertility in soil. Fertility depends on the presence in
the soil of matter which has already formed a part of
a living, structure, organic substances in fact. It is
this matter which causes constant chemical changes in
which lies the very essence of fertility. To make this
quite clear, it will be sufficient to refer to the fertility
in the valley of the Nile in Egypt caused by the over-
flow of the river and the deposits, upon the silicates
and minerals or metallic salts, which in plain language
means the sands of the desert, of a layer of mud con-
taining decomposed vegetable or organic matter. The
consequence is, chemical action takes place and a rich
harvest follows. The result would be the same in our
arid plains where the soil contains all the ingredients
necessary to plant life, but the element of moisture to
dissolve and unite them is absent. Here, irrigation
creates fertility. The oxygen and the hydrogen in the
water supplies the soil with the elements it lacks to man-
ufacture plant food.

There is a curious, not to say mysterious, fact con-
nected with the transformation of the organic and inor-
ganic elements in the soil into plant food, and that is,
the chemical change does not take place except through
the intervention or agency of the living plant itself.
It is life that is necessary to the process and this life
of the plant gives life to the inert elements around it.
The. mere presence of a living plant gives to the ele-
ments power to enter into new combinations, and
then these combinations occur in obedience only to the
well-known, established, eternal laws of chemical
affinity. ,

If, on a dry day, a wheat or barley plant is care-
fully pulled up from a loose soil, a cylinder of earthy
particles will be seen to adhere like a sheath around
every root fibre. This will be also noticed in the case of
every plant. It is from these earthy particles that the
plant derives the phosphoric acid, potash, silicic acid,
and all the other metallic salts, as well as ammonia.
The little cylinders are the laboratories in which nature
prepares the food absorbed by the plant, and this food
is prepared or drawn from the earth immediately con-
tiguous to the plant and its roots. This demonstrates
the importance of the mechanical tillage of the ground.
Cultivated plants receive their food principally from
the earthy particles with which the roots are in direct
contact, out of a solution forming around the roots,
themselves. All nutritive substances lying beyond the

immediate reach of the roots, though effective as food,
are not available for the use of the plants, hence the
necessity of constant tillage, cultivation of the soil, to
bring the nutrition in contact with the roots.

FORMATION AND USE OF EARTH SALTS.

A plant is not, like an animal, endowed with spe-
cial organs to dissolve the food and make it ready for
absorption; this preparation of the nutriment is as-
signed to the fruitful earth itself, which in this respect
discharges the functions performed by the stomach and
intestines of animals. The arable soil decomposes all
salts of potash, of ammonia, and the soluble phosphates,
and the potash, ammonia, and phosphoric acid always
take the same form in the soil, no matter from what
salt they are derived.

It is essential that these "salts," as they are called,
should be understood, for without them there can be no
fertility,. Unless these "salts" exist in a soil in certain
quantities the organic elements, or what are known as
"humic acids," are insoluble and cannot be absorbed into
the plant through its roots, and so there can be no fruit
or vegetable. Yet there is such a thing as an excess
of these same salts, and then there is barrenness. A com-
mon illustration of which may be seen in what are termed
"alkali lands," which will be treated in detail in another
chapter.

To simplify an acquaintance with these various
salts, we shall divide them into three general classes
depending upon the acids formed from them, all of
them nutritious to plants.

First — Carbonates.

Second — Nitrates.

Third — Phosphates.

The carbonates compose a very large portion of
the salts used in agriculture, and include limestone,
marble, shells. These salts are set loose from tire rock,
that is the decomposed rock already alluded to, by the
action of the -living plant, and their business is to dis-
solve, or render soluble, the organic matter in the soil,
so that the plant may absorb it through its roots. When
there is an excess of these salts, or of lime or alkali,
the organic matter is rendered insoluble, that is, the
plant cannot absorb it, and then the soil is barren.
There are, however, certain plants known as "gross
feeders," which flourish in such soils, but of them more
will be said in another chapter.

The second class of nourishing salts is the nitrates,
and includes saltpeter, nitrate of potash, nitrate of
soda, and all composts of lime, alkali and animal matter.
This class of salts produces ammonia which hastens the
decay or decomposition of the organic matter, and pre-
pares it for absorption by the plant. All the nitrates
act under the influence of the growing plant and yield
nitrogen which is essential to its life, indeed, if there
are any salts which can be called vegetable foods, they
are the nitrates, and they hold the very first place among
salts in agriculture.

The third class of plant nourishing salts is the
phosphates. They are found in bones, liquid manure,
and in certain rocky formations which are abundant in
the United States, and around up, are largely used upon
land to add to its fertility and increase the supply of
plant food.

The phosphates act much like the nitrates, their
acid forming a constituent of the plant.

The proper, proportionate quantity of all these
salts in the soil, is generally in the order already given :

174

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

the carbonates in the greater quantity, the nitrates in
less quantity, and the phosphates least. The quantity
of any salt which may be used to advantage, however,
will depend upon the demands or necessity of the plant
which will show for itself the salt proper for its well
being and perfection.

To still further simplify the idea of the use and
operation of these salts and their necessity, it will
be well for the reader to again imagine a similarity
between the plant and an animal. The stomach of the
animal secretes, or produces, gastric juice and other
acids which come from practically similar salts, by the
action of which the organic matter — the meat and veg-
etables— put into the stomach, are digested and distrib-
uted to nourish every part of the body. If there were
no gastric juice, or other acids formed from the salts
of the body, the organic matter put into the stomach
could never become food, and the body, left without
nourishment, would starve and die.

So it is substantially with plants. The main dif-
ference being that the plant has no stomach within
itself, but it requires food just the same as the animal,
and if it does not receive it, it starves and dies. By the
active principle of life in the plant as in the amma-1,
the salts of the soil are brought into the presence of
each other to form acids which act upon the organic
matter in the soil, or the humus, in very much the
same manner as the gastric juice and other acids of the
animal stomach, convert it into prepared food, so to
speak, and the plant absorbs it, is nourished by it and
grows to maturity.

SILICATES AS ESSENTIAL TO FERTILITY.

There is one important prevailing element in all
soil which' can neither be overlooked nor ignored, in
fact, its power of fertility is unlimited ; we refer to the
silicates. Salts are spoken of as the inorganic sub-
stances acting upon humus or organic matter to pro-
duce nourishing foods that can be absorbed by the
plant, but behind these salts, there is another sub-
stance which really constitutes the framework of the
plant structure, the bony framework of the plant, the
sinew of the soil.

Silex, or silica, which is the earth of flints, is, in
its pure state, a perfectly white, insipid, tasteless
powder. Glass pulverized is an illustration, so also is a
sand heap. But earth of flints, sand heaps, are barren
and worthless, as much so as a peat bog, but put the
two together, and there is astonishing fertility. This
silica unites readily with the mineral substances or
bases, forming what are called "neutral salts," to which
is given the name "silicates." Thus we have the silicate
of soda, of potash, of lime, of magnesia, of alumina, of
iron and of manganese, a class which forms the great
bulk of all rock and soil.

The action of the silicates is simple and easily un-
derstood. When humus, or decomposed organic matter
— manure for instance — is mixed with silica, that is
added to a common sand heap, there is an immediate
decomposition of the silicate of potash, which we have
said is a neutral salt, and it becomes an active salt of
potash which dissolves the humus, or organic matter
and fits it for plant food. So the same process goes on
with the other silicates as the various plants growing
in the soil may demand for their nourishment. They are
converted into active salts, which are capable of dis-
solving organic matter, whereas, as neutral, inactive
salts or silicates, they are powerless to act.

Were it not for these silicates, the various active
salts and acids would lose their virtue, but as it hap-
pens, the silicates hold them in a firm grip, intact, un-
til the action of plant life demanding food, sets them
free to aid in preparing plant food.

The base^ or fixed element of the earth called silex,
or silica — keep in mind a sand heap and it will be easy
to remember — is "siliconj." It is pure rock crystal,
common quartz, agate, calcedony and cornelian. All
these are silicon acidified by oxygen, and hence called
silicic acid. It is this which forms, with potash, the
hard coat of the polishing rush, the outer covering of
the stalks of grasses. It is the stiff backbone of corn-
stalks which stand sturdily against the blast. Wheat,
rye, oats, barley, owe their support to this silica, and
where grain is said to "lodge" during a heavy storm, the
trouble may be traced to a deficiency of silica in the soil.
It, cases the bamboo and the rattan with an armor of
flint so hard that from it sparks may be struck. Enter-
ing into the composition of all soil, and hard and un-
yielding as it appears, forming not only the solid rock,
but the delicate flower, combining with the metals of
soil whose gradual decomposition is the birth of fer-
tility, silica, or the sand heap, may well be likened to
the bony structure or framework of the animal.

The next chapter on particular soils will give more
in detail, the component elements which enter into their
composition, and present a series of tabulated analyses
showing proportions favorable to the growth of various
products.

No sweeter voice was ever raised

To greet the dawn of day;
The joyous spring birds — Lord be praised —

Are with us now to stay.

One dollar and fifty cents will secure for you one year's subscrip-
tion to THE IRRIGATION AGE and a finely bound volume of the
Primer of Irrigation which will be sent postpaid in a few months,
when volume is completed. The Primer of Irrigation will be finely
illustrated and will contain about 300 pages. 3end post office or
express money order for $1.50 and secure copy of first edition.

PUSSY WILLOW.

Prithee, pretty pussy-willow,

Tell me truly what you dream
In the springtime sunlight mellow,

As you nod above the stream.

Are you dreaming in your swaying
O'er the torrent surging high,

Of the gentler waters straying
'Neath a laughing, summer sky?

Of the music of the meadows

When the clover calls the bees;
Of the silence of the shadows

Up among the forest trees?

Are you dreaming, softly dreaming,

Of the nights when lovers sail
Thro' the glamour and the gleaming

Where your fairy fingers trail?

Pussy-willows, dreams are fleeting

As the fancies of the day.
Tho' your heart may be entreating

All their luxury to stay.
Yet the dreamer, nothing daunted,

Points toward (he dearer view
Till the dreams his soul have haunted

Come to make his summer true.

— GEORGE E. BOWEN.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

175

WORK TO BEGIN.

SECRETARY HITCHCOCK HAS APPROVED FIVE IRRIGATION
PROJECTS TO BE DEVELOPED UNDER THE
PROVISIONS OF ARID LAND RESER-
VATION ACT OF JUNE, 1902.

After nine months of careful investigation the geo-
logical survey has decided upon and Secretary Hitch-
cock has approved five irrigation projects to be devel-
oped under the terms of the arid land reservation act
'of June, 1902. These projects are to be located at
Sweetwater Dam, Wyoming; Gunnison Tunnel, Colo-
rado; Truckee and Carson Rivers, Nevada; Milk River
and St. Mary's Lake, Montana; and Tonto Creek,
Arizona. Roughly estimated, they will make possible
the irrigation of 1,000,000 acres of land at a cost of
$7,500,000, an average of $7.50 an acre. As a matter
of fact, however, much of the area that may be reached
by water is unsuitable or unavailable for cultivation.
It is not expected that more than 60 per cent of the
total will be found worth irrigating, which will increase
the average cost to something like $12v50 an acre. The
cost is eventually to be paid by the owners of the land
reclaimed in ten annual installments. That is the policy
of the government. Much of the land is already in
the hands of private individuals, and undoubtedly that
which still remains will be taken up by settlers as soon
as the plans are made known, but the government will
require pledges that the cost of the reclamation will be
refunded according to the provisions of the law.

The irrigation bureau of the geological survey will
encounter many complications and legal difficulties in
securing reservoir sites and rights of way, and the ri-
parian laws of the several states must be observed in
every particular. The agents of the government un-
derstand that the reclamation scheme is still in the ex-
perimental state and have been proceeding with the
greatest caution in order that the first step may be suc-
cessful and attended by no serious errors. In selecting
locations the first consideration is to insure a return
of the costs of construction to the government, which
depends entirely upon the availability of the land for
cultivation and the disposition of settlers to own or
occupy it. They will not venture vipon any estimate or
prediction as to the time required to complete the five
projects mentioned. They must feel their way and
modify their plans as difficulties and obstacles may de-
velop.

Sweetwater Dam is to be located on Sweetwater
River at Devil's Gap, forty miles west of the town of
Casper and a similar distance north of Rawlins, Wyo.
The total area to be reached by irrigation is 100,000
acres, and originally it was supposed that nearly all of
it was susceptible of cultivation, but subsequent in-
vestigations have discovered large patches of alkali,
which will have to be eliminated from the estimates.
Detailed inspection will determine the exact amount of
lands that may be reclaimed and only those suitaWe for
agriculture will be included in the project.

The Gunnison tunnel scheme is expected to reclaim
nearly 100,000 acres near Montrose in central Colorado,
but upon closer inspection this area will undoubtedly be
cut down.

In Nevada it is proposed to divert water from Lake
Tahoe, California, and its outlet, the Truckee River,
into the Humboldt Valley, and supply settlers in the
vicinity of Reno. It is believed that nearly 200,000
acres may be reclaimed there.

The Milk River project in northern Montana is
expected to reclaim nearly 500,000 acres in the vicinity
of Malta and Glasgow, but this enterprise is attended by
serious complications, because a part of the water sup-
ply comes from Canada.

At Tonto Creek, eighty miles above Phoenix, Ari-
zona, immense impounding reservoirs are to be located
to provide a supply of water to irrigate about 200,000
acres in Salt River Valley, which is already thickly
settled. There is a; private irrigation system already in
operation, which makes it necessary for the government
to establish its 'source of supply at a higher level than
the canals already built.

The land necessary for ditches and reservoirs,
which is now owned by private individuals, must be
secured by comdemnation proceedings. ^Public land
within the area to be irrigated cannot be entered except
under the homestead laws in tracts of not less than forty
nor more than 150 acres. When the plans are finally
decided upon the Secretary of the Interior is required
by the law to give public notice of the location of lands
to be irrigated, the number of acres that may be en-
tered by any one person, the charge per acre for the
water and the number of annual payments required.
No sale can be made to any but bona fide residents, at
least one-half of every entry must be irrigated, and the
reclamation charges assessed against the claim must be
paid before a patent can be issued.

It is a well known fact that the large canals and
most of the smaller ones along Salt river, in Arizona,
take out all of the normal flow of the water of this
river, leaving its channel dry immediately below the
headgates of the canals. This condition of the river
bed, says a recent press bulletin by the United States
Geological Survey, continues sometimes for many miles
and then water again appe'ars in it, increasing in quan-
tity until it becomes great enough to be diverted into
another canal, when the same condition of the channel
again obtains.

Similar conditions exist along Gila river, as along
many other rivers of the arid region where irrigation is
practiced. It is thought that a large portion if not all
of the water that appears in the river channels below
points where all of the water is diverted for irrigation
purposes is seepage water from the irrigated land.

For several years the Hydrographic Branch of the
United States Geological Survey has been making in-
vestigations and collecting data in different parts of the
arid region for the purpose of determining the relation
existing between the quantity of water diverted for ir-
rigation and the quantity that returns to the channel of
the stream by seepage. Such investigations were made
in Salt River Valley during the summer of 1902, to
supplement data obtained in previous years.

176

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The Inyo Development Company, with office at
Carson, Nev., are at present installing a 44 horse power
Fairbanks-Morse gasoline distillate engine for the pur-
pose of operating a 13-inch centrifugal pump, the plant
being part of their equipment for producing the borax
from the highly saturated waters of the lakes of that
region.

The engine and pump are to be located out in the
center of the lake, and will deliver some 4,000 gallons
of water per minute through considerable length of
pipe line to the plant where the water will be taken into
the plant proper.

The centrifugal pump supplied at this plant was
tested in the shops to an efficiency of over 80 per cent,
and is to be driven by the 44 horse power engine, using
for fuel a crude oil from the Pacific coast.

A plant of this character will be a very efficient
adjunct to the work, and will enable the Company to
produce their product at a cost much less than has for-
merly been expended.

ARTESIAN WELLS.

There are fifty-two artesian wells on Mrs. H. M.
King's ranch, forty-three of them being in Nueces
County and nine in Cameron County. These wells
were made by T. Herring, King Machine Company, A.
W. Ferguson, Tom Leary, A. B. Fuller and J. C. Curry
and range in depth from 382 feet to 1,364 feet. Three

of the wells flow 400 gallons per minute; six, 300 gal-
lons or more per minute; seven, 200 gallons or more
per minute; nine, 100 or more gallons per minute, and
the balance flow less quantities.

The deepest well, 1,364 feet, flows only sixty gal-
lons, while the shallowest, 382 feet, flows seventy-five
gallons per minute.

One of the 400 gallon per minute wells is only
525 feet deep, while another well is 989 feet and flows
only ten gallons per minute.

The Kennedy ranch has twenty-six flowing wells,
all in Cameron County. These were made by Wm.
Turcotte, Guffey & Galey, White Bros., W. P. Gano and
1ST. G. Allen.

The deepest well is 1,175 feet, and flows 500 gal-
lons per minute, while another well is 710 feet deep,
and the flow is 1,000 gallons per minute. Ed C. Lasater
has eleven artesian wells, six in Starr and five in Hil-
dago County.

Laureles ranch, Nueces County, has four flowing
wells, Mrs. Anna Collins has fourteen artesian wells in
Nueces County ; Robert Driscoll, three ; Andres Canales,
two; Ragland & Herring, one; Chas. Weil, one; Seelig-
son ranch, four, made by Chas. Fremont, manager.
Major J. B. Armstrong, three artesian wells; Gunter &
Jones, two, and Col. 6. R. Fant, two, all in Cameron
County. — Alice (Tex.) Echo.

DO YOUR OWN IRRIGATING

TO IRRIGATE LEVEL
OR UNLEVEL LAND

PATENT APPLIED FOR BY

W. A. LEE

PEORIA. ILLINOIS.

20th Century Irrigating System.

SUB -IRRIGATION

r As our country is becoming more thickly populated
from year to year, likewise the demand for our arid land
increases, and hence the demand for water increases
also, and not only this, but there are over two hundred
and fifty million acres of arid land that cannot be irri-
gated by the flooding and furrow system,

Not only do I propose to offer a system to Irrigate
the above, but Lawns, Boulevards, Parks, Flower Gar-
dens, Truck Patches, etc., as well. <

In fact, the whole irrigating system in a nut-shell, is
to get the best results from the least amount of water,
labor and expense; and in my estimation there is only
one way to fulfill these requirements and that is by Sub-
Irrigation. Feed the roots moisture and not the sun,
and by so doing the roots grow down deep in mother
earth and as a result you have a good, healthy aud thrifty
plant, less liable to disease, that is found so common in
plants raised by surface irrigation.

Roots of whatever nature will always grow towards
moisture, this being the case by surface irrigation. You
not only lose fifty per cent of the moisture in evapora-
tion, but you also have the roots of your plants very near
the surface, and sometimes exposed.

This hinders very largely in proper cultivating of the
plants without injuring the roots and say nothing of
them being more subject to disease of their kind.

This system is easily laid and when once laid will last
a lifetime without any further labor or expense.

This system is only put about one foot beneath the
surface, just out of reach of the plow.

The main lead pipe is of sewer tile about six inches in
diameter, the joints are closed with cement, and near the
main cut-off or valve is an air vent. This not only lets
the air escape out of the system, but also indicates when
the system is full of water by the flowing of same out at
the air vent.

For further information and prices sddiess

W. A. LEE,

GRAVEL

Peoria.,

Illinois.

THE IRRIGATION AGE. ]

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THE IRRIGATION AGE.

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THE IRRIGATION AGE.

179

The Drainage Journal Department

MEXICO'S CANAL.

SANITATION, HEALTH AND COMMERCIAL PROSPERITY

AT ONCE ACCOMPLISHED BY THE GREAT DITCH

THAT SERVES MANY PURPOSES.

This stupendous piece of engineering is entitled to
take the first rank in the solution of modern sanitary
problems. We have as a result the capital city of the
republic rendered safe from future inundations, the
ground water of the valley kept at a desirable level, the
sanitary condition of the City of Mexico comparable to
that of any other on the continent. — Journal of the
American Medical Association.

Thus do great engineers and leading scientific pub-
lications unite in declaring the great drainage canal of
Mexico, just completed, to be one of the most wonderful
achievements of the century. It has wrested the City
of Mexico from the grasp of disease; fortified it against
the, heretofore, ever pending danger of being wiped
from existence by threatening floods; made the erstwhile
barren lands around to blossom with gardens and fruit

MAIN CANAL UP STREAM. 32ND MILE.

farms ; beautified the City of Mexico and made her cap-
able of competing for commercial supremacy with the
leading cities of the continent. Such is the good work
a great engineer can do when he is honest and consci-
entious. And what this engineer of Mexico has accom-
plished with the monetary allowance and facilities at
hand ought to put Chicago and Boston to shame when
they compare the results. The entire cost of the work,
-which began in 1886, has been only $16,000,000. The
Sanitary and Ship Canal of Chicago has cost more
than twice that amount and will have cost $100,000,000
before it is completed. Boston's sewage compares not
more favorably in cost and results.

The present elaborate scheme for the proper sew-
age of the city and drainage of the valley of Mexico
was inaugurated by President Diaz in 1879. The
Journal of the American Medical Association in a very
comprehensive report on this canal, says :

"The works are composed of three principal parts,
a canal, a tunnel and discharge cutting. The canal

starts on the eastern side of the city and continues
on that side of the Guadalupean range, between it and
Lake Texcoco. The canal has a total length of nearly
thirty miles. It has a uniform grade of two feet per
thousand. The depth of the canal below the surface of

MAIN CANAL, UP STREAW FROM SANTA CLARA BRIDGE.

the starting point is sixteen feet and at the commence-
ment of the tunnel, sixty-five feet. The sides have a
slope of forty-five degrees and the width at the bottom
is sixteen feet for the first sixteen miles and twenty feet
for the rest of the canal. The first sixteen miles may
be considered as a prolongation of the sewer since it
chiefly receives the sewage. The rest of the canal has
communication wtih Lake Texcoco, and is intended to
govern its waters, as it is the lowest in the whole val-
ley and can receive the waters from all parts for which

MOUTH OF CANAL FROM LAKE TEXCOCO.

reason the canal is designed to carry the largest volume
that could pass through the tunnel, 616 cubic feet per
second. The canal is crossed by four aqueducts and
thirteen bridges, four of which are steel for railway

180

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

service. The canal ends in a dam, the walls of which
are built of stone and the front of which is strengthened
by pilasters. The upper part, where the mechanism is
placed for moving the sluice gates, has a widtn of
twenty-five feet. These gates are mo.ved on rollers in
frames set into masonry. These raised, the water rushes
out in a cascade on account of the difference of level

tunnel is utilized for motive power and afterward dis-
charged into irrigating ditches and used for purposes
of fertilization."

FRONT EI EVATION OF DAM

between the bottom of the canal and that of the tunnel,
amounting to ai/out eight feet. The object of the dam
is to control the current whenever found necessary.

REAR ELEVATION OF DAM.

The entrance of the canal which receives the waters
consists of an arch with a radius of sixteen and one-half
feet, supported on vertical walls. This section gradu-
ally diminishes until it is reduced to that of the tunnel,
so that between the commencement and the final point
of reduction it is the section of a cone.

The tunnel is a little over six miles long, the height
is fourteen feet and the width thirteen. The tunnel has
a brick lining of sixteen inches.

The tunnel opens into a discharge cutting, which
is the third and last of the principal parts that com-
pose the work, and was the first to be completed. It is
a mile and a half in length and was formed by opening
a natural excavation made by the waters in the ravine
Acpalan, the stream having been turned by a special
canal. All the water flowing through the canal and

DRAINAGE IN MISSOURI.

Mr. Otto Kochtitzky, of Cape Girardeau, Mo.,
writes : "I have read with interest the article upon
Irrigation in the Nile Valley, and am impressed with
the thought that our Mississippi Valley, which needs
only drainage and protection from overflow, is several
times larger, and in many ways susceptible to a de-
velopment far beyond what is possible in Egypt. This
is an era of great undertakings, and we should have
the reclamation work of the Mississippi Valley brought
under a system.

"There is a large drainage ditch under way in the
north part of Remiscat County, and buyers of real es-
tate regard that section as an attractive field for in-
vestment. Mr. Pollard, the veteran dredging contrac-
tor of Illinois, is pushing the work vigorously.

A. V. Wills & Sons, of Pittsfield, 111., have been
working at a large dredging contract in Stoddard Coun-
ty. They have recently secured the contract in New Ma-
drid County for the dredging of four ditches eight miles
long, which will form a continuation of the work in
Stoddard County. They are now building two new
machines for this work."

It is probable that this year we will organize for
the construction of the main drain for Little River
and Castor River throughout this valley.

A project has been worked out, says the Earlville
(111.) Leader, for a big drainage ditch in Freedom
Township, which is thus described by that paper :

"The mouth of the ditch is to be at or near the west
side of Crooked Leg creek bridge, just below Freedom
postoffice, and it will follow the creek northwesterly
across Sections 10, 9, 4, 5 and 6, in Freedom Township,
and will be about five and one-half miles long. It is
planned to follow the general course of the creek as far
as possible, but the kinks and crooks will be taken out
of the stream, and it will run on section lines so far
as practicable. It will drain some 7,000 acres of which
probably 550 at a rough estimate, are now of little
value for tillage, and the crops on these 500 acres will
in two years pay the expense of reclaiming them. There
are now two miles of tile drain that have a very poor
outlet and in some cases absolutely no outlet at all, all
of which may be diverted into the ditch, which will be
an open water way, probably twenty feet wide and of
an average depth of say six feet. Of course, at places
it will be deeper and at other points not so deep.

Frank Hackman, who has circulated a petition and
is the prime mover in the proposed improvement, ob-
tained the signatures of forty-three of the fifty-three
farmers whose land will be affected bv the ditch."

DRAINAGE OF ALKALI SOILS.

The Bureau of Soils of the Department of Agri-
culture has just completed the tile drainage of an ex-
perimental field of tweney acres near Fresno, Calif.
The object of the work is to demonstrate the practica-
bility of washing out the excess of alkali from the sur-
face soil by irrigation, and by proper after cultivation
and cropping to restore the soil to its former fertility.
The land is now (March 20) being prepared for the-
first flooding.

THE IREIGATION AGE.

181

LARGE ENTERPRISE.

A Council Bluffs, !&,, correspondent states that ac-
cording to a report filed recently with County Auditor
Innes by Commissioners J. K. McGavren, of Missouri
Valley, and Bobert B. Wilson, of Carson, the cost of the
proposed drainage ditches in Harrison and Pottawatta-
mie Counties, Iowa, will be $87,467.73. The commis-
sioners estimate that 155 square miles of land in the -two
counties will be directly benefited. This report will
come before the boards of county supervisors of the two
counties at their regular meeting in April. J. K. Mc-
Gavren is the commissioner appointed by Harrison
County, and B. B. Wilson is the commissioner appoint-
ed by Pottawattamie County. They have selected
Thomas Tostevin, of this city, as engineer jn charge
of the work.

The commissioners before making their report went
over the ground and made a thorough investigation of
the existing conditions and the need for the proposed
drainage ditches. As a result of their investigations
they have to all intents and purposes accepted the sur-
veys made by County Surveyor Cook in Pottawattamio
and those made in Harrison County by Surveyor J. S.
Wattles. They recommend only a few minor changes
in the two surveys.

The commissioners recommend the construction
of two ditches in Harrison County, which will meet
in Pottawattamie County at a point in Bockford Town-
ship, and from there be merged into' one large ditch
which will drain into the Missouri river. The total
length of the ditches will be about thirty-seven miles.

LOCATION OF DITCHES.

The two ditches in Harrison County are designated
as the Willow creek and the Allen creek ditches. The
one in Pottawattamie County is designated as the Boyer
Cut-off ditch. The Willow creek ditch will start about
five miles north of Missouri Valley, passing directly
through that town and after merging with the Allen
creek ditch in Pottawattamie County will tap the Boyer
river at a point about one mile south of Loveland. The
Allen creek ditch starts in Eaglan Township, in Harri-
son County.

These two ditches come together in Pottawattamie
County about one mile north of the Boyer river, and
from this point they form one ditch until they tap the
Boyer. From the point where they enter the Boyer,
a ditch to be known as the Boyer Cut-off ditch, will be
constructed in almost a straight line to the Missouri
river. This ditch will be about one and one-half miles
in length, and will strike the Missouri river in Section
21), Township 77, Eange 44.

The Boyer river formerly ran directly to the Mis-
souri, but of late years has followed an erratic course
and from the point where the two ditches enter it is
eleven miles to the Missouri river. By making the
Boyer Cut-off ditch one mile and a half in length, ten
miles will be saved and for most of the way the old
course of the Boyer can be utilized.

ESTIMATES ON THE WORK.

The total amount of excavation which the con-
struction of the ditches will necessitate, the commis-
sioners estimate at 834,831 cubic yards, divided as fol-
lows: Willow creek ditch, 418,848; Allen creek ditch,
322,836; Boyer Cut-off, 93,147.

The estimated cost of the drainage scheme is placed
as follows: Cost of excavating, at 8 cents per cubic
yard, $66,786.48 ; cost of right-of-way, $16,681.25 ; ex-

penses of commissioners and engineer, $3,000; apprais-
ers, $400; miscellaneous expenses, $600; total, $87,-
467.73.

The commissioners in their report state that during
the last year the larger part of the area which will be
benefited by the drainage ditches has been flooded se-
verely, injuring or totally destroying the growing crops.
The conditions in Pottawattamie County, they say, are
similar to those in Harrison County.

Eegarding their suggestion that the water from the
proposed ditches be carried to the Missouri river by
means of the Boyer Cut-off ditch instead of following
the present course of the 'Boyer, the commissioners say
that the Boyer river, having an approximate water shed
of 900 square miles, with a channel varying from forty
to sixty feet in width and from twelve to fourteen feet
in depth and for many miles in Pottawattamie
County haying practically no fall, it is unaible to
carry the overflow of the proposed ditches. As it is at
present, it is only able to carry its water through by the
force of head or weight of the water above.

The commissioners say there is no foundation for
the report that the sewerage of Missouri Valley would
be drained through the Willow creek ditch, which passes
through that town. The work of constructing the
ditches, they say, can be completed in one season.

The Boards of Supervisors of Pottawattamie and
Harrison (Iowa) Counties yesterday took favorable
action on the petitions for drainage ditches extending
from Harrison County across the boundary line into
Pottawattamie County.

Harrison County appointed as its commissioner
in the matter, J. K. 'McGavren, of Missouri Valley.
Eobert Wilson, of Carson, was appointed as the Pot-
tawattamie County commissioner. These commission-
ers will elect a surveyor, who will either make a new
survey or accept the plat and surveys already made by
County Surveyor Cook.

It is expected that the commissioners will have
their report ready for presentation to the two Boards
of Supervisors by their April meetings. If the plans
reported receive the approval of the Supervisors the
work will be ordered and will at once be commenced.

The Harrison County people interested in the con-
struction of the ditch yesterday paid the expenses in--
curred by this county in the ditch matter heretofore,
amounting to about $1,000, and put up a bond for fu-
ture expenses. — Omaha World-Herald.

The following hill was recently introduced in the
New York Legislature by Senator Fancher, entitled, "An
act to provide for the promotion and preservation of
the public health in the Conewango Valley in the coun-
ties of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua, and making an
appropriation therefor," reads as follows :

"Section L The sum of fifty thousand dollars
or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appro-
priated out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise
appropriated, to be expended by the superintendent of
public works in payment for the drainage of low swamp
lands in the Conewango Valley in the counties of Cat-
taraugus and Chautauqua, done by and under the direc-
tion and supervision of commissioners appointed by the
udgment of the Supreme Court, adudging and decree-
ing that the public health required that such lands be

182

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

drained, and appointing commissioners for such pur-
pose and directing them to proceed with the work of
drainage. The Superintendent of Public Works is
hereby authorized and empowered to pay so much of
such moneys as may be necessary, to the said commis-
sioners to be used by them in paying for the work done
under the said judgment of the Supreme Court ; and for
such purpose the comptroller is hereby authorized to
pay such moneys to the Superintendent of Public
Works.

"Section 2. This act shall take effect immedi-
ately."

The bill was referred to the Committee on Finance.

CORRESPONDENCE

TO IMPROVE BADGER MARSHES.

Representative Davidson has been engaged during
the past month in consultation with the officials of the
Department of Agriculture at Washington re-
garding plans for draining and utilizing the marshes
and peat bog lands in central Wisconsin, notably those
in Waushara and Adams Counties, with a view to ascer-
taining what "can be done by the experts of the Depart-
ment to make those lands useful for agricultural pur-
poses. Mr. Davidson has talked over the matter with
Chief Witney, of the Bureau of Soils, and it is the plan
of that official to make an investigation of the State
during the coming season.

Under the drainage laws of 1897 certain duties
connected with construction and maintenance of State
ditches are imposed on county commissioners. County
commissioners are not mentioned in the title of the
1897 enactment, and as a result of the omission some
commissioners have blocked ditch work by declining to
recognize the law. Mr. Perley would remedy the situ-
ation by a bill introduced in the House yesterday. — St.
Paul Globe.

A syndicate of capitalists of St. Louis are to con-
struct a dredging machine at a cost of $50,000 to take
gravel out of the Mississippi river between the Hanni-
bal bridge and the wharf boats for railroads entering the
city. The gravel will be used as ballast. One dredg-
ing machine has already been constructed to take out
gravel for the Burlington.

A Michigan City (Ind.) correspondent says:
"Treasurer Bohland has sold the drainage bonds,
amounting to $79,500 for the construction of the
Kankakee river ditch, to the New National bank of Co-
lumbus, Ohio. The bonds commanded a premium."

BAREFOOTED WEALTH.

Oh, barefoot boy so brown of hue, •
In truth, I'm envious of you !
Your battered hat, your sunburned cheeks,
• Your knowledge of the woods and creeks
The careless whistle you possess
Are wealth I would again profess.
The future without bounds is thine —
The meager, narrowed past is mine.

Oh, barefoot boy dost know that thou
Art richer than thy father now?
To feed the calf thy weight of care;
The world thine own if thou but dare !
Thy father toils from day to day,
Forgetful of himself alway.
As men count wealth, a poor man he,
And yet — all things are his in thee.

TACOMA, WASH., April i, 1903.
EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE:

In your issue of February, the answer to B. J. Mc-
Intire's inquiry (p. 117) attracted attention, from there being
a seeming endorsement of the undershot wheel. There is a
system with a special plant which is so far ahead of the under-
shot wheel that it is almost absurd to make comparison. I
will state, for the information of your readers, that a test
of a machine used in this system was witnessed by myself
and several others, in which, under a 54-inch head, a small
model generated y$ horse power. The model had only 13-32-
inch cranks, and had three paddle-blades abreast, each six
inches square, in chambers, and connected by the shaft. The
operation of approximately nine inches of water on these
paddle-blades generated the amount of power specified, above.

A larger machine, under a four-foot head, generated
power enough to pump a column of water eighteen feet
high, of sufficient volume to irrigate 1,100 acres of land.
This machine is entirely automatic when installed, and is evi-
dently destined to revolutionize the irrigation of land. One
feature of the system is its economy of water. The amount
of land which could be irrigated by it from a given amount
of water would greatly exceed the area irrigated by gravity
ditch. It will be readily perceived that the gravity system is
an extravagant user of water, owing to the vast quantities
that are lost by evaporation, seepage and leakage.

Take the case of any long ditch, and we have vast initial
expense, waste of land and heavy maintenance charges. This
waste is avoided to the extent to which a saving is effected in
length of ditch.

The system referred to takes the weight and impetus
of the water in a current or head, transforms it to power,
.using this to raise by a novel and exceedingly effective pump
the necessary water in such volume as may be demanded at a
point nearest to the land. The machine can be built for any
condition or location specially. It is not a flimsy current
motor, but a massive engine, capable of taking a high percent-
age of the power in the entire volume of a river, at succeed-
ing points, to the full depth of rivers of large volume, and
without expenditures of fuel, or any but casual supervision,
using this to pump water by the valveless pump built on
the same principle as the motor, and of almost indefinate
capacitv.

There is no doubt that, to some extent, especially in cases
where tracts of fertile arid land lie along water courses of
insufficient volume to furnish the area with water by gravity
ditch, trouble will arise from the wastefulness of the latter
system.

Another advantage possessed by this machinery is that
standardized plants can be used by the individual rancher
on his tract from ten acres up — indeed, it could accommodate
the owner of an acre tract. In reference to this plant, an
experienced hydraulic engineer, of Holyoke, Mass., used
the expression, "It is a perfect machine — perfect in principle
and in operation." Another gentleman stated that it was
"the greatest invention of the twentieth century." These
parties saw the machine in operation, raising under a four-
foot head 3,000 gallons of water per minute, over eighteen
feet high, under exceedingly disadvantageous circumstances.
The machine which accomplished this work was only thirteen
feet long by five feet wide. It may be surmised or calcu-
lated, therefore, from the data above what work would be
accomplished by a motor having a paddle-blade exposure
to the energy of the water of 2,700 square feet. The 3,000
gallons were raised by three blades, each four feet square,
making forty-eight square feet; the larger machine should,
therefore, raise 168,000 gallons of water per minute to the
same height — eighteen feet — under the same conditions. The
power thus generated could .be duplicated again and again
along the water course. The above remarks presuppose the
utilizing of a stream of sufficient volume. The sum of the
matter is that as much of the power of a river as can be pos-
sibly generated hydraulically can be so generated by this
machinery, whether used under a head or in a current, and
that this can be conducted at intervals along the entire
course. From observation of the tests it was evident that
it would efficiently supply power for large manufacturing
concerns without the expenditure of an ounce of fuel. It so

THE IKKIGATIO.N AGE.

183

impressed one witness that he stated that a manufacturing
city along the Columbia could be supplied with all needed
power by this system and all the power be generated from
the current. The machine is absolutely efficient where the
turbine would be entirely useless, and is much more effective
under conditions guaranteeing turbine efficiency than the
latter.

In the February issue of THE IRRIGATION AGE, on page
no, the paper by J. C. Stevens, on "Nebraska Water Supply,"
makes mention of the country adjacent to the Niobrara river
as being uneven and not adapted to gravity irrigation. This
method would solve the difficulty for such regions and con-
ditions, as the placing of a plant sufficiently large to generate
electric power for a number of pumps would permit the
placing of pumps at such salient point as might best and
most efficiently subserve the requirements of the situation.
This feature would enable a combination of farmers to
place a large hydraulic motor for community use to generate
electric power and each have his own pump of the special
design accompanying the motor, for exclusive use on his own
ranch. Any individual who has had experience in irrigation
will see the vast advantage accruing from this, as it makes
him master of the situation so far as regards his own prop-
erty.

Being deeply interested in the question of irrigation and
knowing whereof I speak must be my apology for trespassing
upon your valuable space. I may be pardoned for adding
that in my estimation no owners of arid land having recess
to water should wait the advent of the gravity system so
long as so efficient a method is open to them and subject to
their own control. Respectfully yours,

W. H. BOOTHROYD.

CEDARBURG, Wis., March 21, 1903.
THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL:

I was somewhat surprised to find the answer
to my letter of March 24th came from Chicago, as I sent
it to Indianapolis, Ind. Well, I suppose Mr. Billingslea,
the veteran editor of the Journal, has joined the great army;
well, that's the lot of all of us. *You ask me to write some-
thing concerning the object of drainage in my part of Wis-
consin. I must say that I am not a writer far the press —
something I never did before, only on rare occasions, for I
have had no schooling, my school days being spent among
the Indian boys and girls — a poor place to learn to read and
write, was it not? Nevertheless, I will give you a rough
outline of what has been accomplished in this part of the
state by tile draining since I commenced in 1885. Should
I want to put the whole matter in a nutshell, I \yould say
that the farmers in an early day hardly knew what tile looked
like; now there are miles of them in the ground and giving
good satisfaction, but this \vould hardly explain the situa-
tion here, therefore I will give you a rough outline of the
land in Ozaukee and Washington counties. All this land is
rolling, plenty of fall on most of the land, but low places
are numerous ; that is, a kind of slough running in width
from twenty to eighty rods, some places whole sections of
black ash and tamarack swamp. The subsoil on Lake Mich-
igan as far as Sheboygan county varying from ten to twenty
miles in width, has very heavy clay soil. This clay does not
let the water down quickly enough in the spring ; tile drain-
age makes it porous and loosens the surface, which allows
early seeding; this it has accomplished in this part of the
state and the farmers know it, and drain every year as much
as time and money will permit. When I started, in 1885,
people did not know anything about drainage. For three
years I preached tile, tile drainage, distributed literature,
showing how to lay out ditches (here the Harris level came
handy, The DRAINAGE JOURNAL helped me a great deal in
furnishing printed matter. The first tile were laid on my own
farm, and when I got the Bowling Green traction ditcher, I
thoroughly drained ten acres in ten days, ditches thirty feet
apart. The next year twenty acres, having all the low land
drained before the fall. I pxit in for two neighbors 1,400 rods;
the next season I drained twenty acres for another neighbor;
no paying crop had grown on this twenty acres for many
years; it was drained at an expense of $130 and the first
crop paid all the expense of draining. In 1895 I drained
loo acres at an expense of $450, and the man for whom the
work was done said : "I have made double the cost on first
crop," and another neighbor, who had lost his barley crop
of 1,600 bushels, asked me what to do. I looked at the land
and told him he must have a drain of eight-inch tile running
through the whole length of the acres, or about 100 rods ;

it was put in at an expense of $100. Result, next year he
tnrashed 1,800 bushels of good barley from this land, where
the year before he had very little. These are special cases
selected to give you an idea of what has been done by tile
draining here. Not one dissatisfied person who went at
the work properly. Great stress must be laid on that word
"properly." If 1 should write all my experiences during
these years, it would fill a book of no small size. I am only
sorry that the factory cannot be kept running, as the farmers
now realize the importance of tile drainage, and in all prob-
ability will have more wet seasons than heretofore. One
point more I wish to mention and then you can put this
scribbling in the waste basket or pick out such as you think
of value to the public.

THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL has advo-
cated for years drain from three to four feet deep ; not-
withstanding this, my experience says "Don't;" on heavy
clay soil a four-foot drain is simply useless. I followed the
advice of the journal, and four years after I put one on
top of the other as an experiment in a field of corn when the
water stood two feet high for days ; we dug down to the
tile, opened them, when the water, of course, went away at
once. But it was an eyesore for me, and, what was worse,
a poor advertisement for tile drainage when my neighbors
pointed to the water on top of the drains ; so, you see, the old
German saying, "Man wird Greisse aber nicht weise."**

HENRY MEYER.

1. Mr. Myer is in error. Mr. Billingslea, when we last
heard from him, was, we are glad to say, well and pros-
perous.

2. "Man grows old but not wise."

POCATELLO, IDAHO, March 6, 1903.
EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE:

Dear Sir — Your favor of some time ago, advising me
that you had been recently informed of my interest in irriga-
tion in this section and asking me for the particulars of the re-
organization of our company, received.

Will say that the old Idaho Canal Company was organ-
ized in 1889 and subsequently secured control of the Idaho
Falls Canal Company, and constructed and has in operation
about seventy-five miles of canals and laterals, and later-
made a contract with the United States goverment to furnish!
them with 15,000 miners' inches of water for irrigations
purposes on the Fort Hall Indian reservation. The gov-
ernment paid the company $90,000 for a water right and!
37^2 cents per inch for the annual rental.

The construction properties were bonded for $300,000. I
made an original purchase of $75,000 of the bonds and later
purchased the balance of the $300,000, in order to protect the
investment I had already made. I foreclosed the mortgage
and took possession of the property January 10, 1903, and
have deeded the same to the Idaho Canal & Improvement
Company. This company now owns over 350 miles of canals
and laterals, and before the season is over will be capable
of having 80,000 inches of water.

The lands to be irrigated will be mostly around Idaho
Falls, Idaho, where they are building a large sugar factory
this season.

We charge nothing for a water right, and on the part of
the canal, at present constructed, charge from 50 cents to
$1.00 per inch for water, according to the distance it has to
be carried.

There seems to have been an erroneous idea existing
among the members of the last Congress of the United States
that I was going to bring this water down to Pocatello, and
that is the reason they marked the lands upon the settle-
ment down to $10 per acre for the arid land. Of course, you
know and I know that it was out of reason and caused me to
abandon my plans for bringing the water to Pocatello. This
is liable to work a great hardship on this city, for the reason
that the present legislature passed a law that is going to
restrain the building of canals, and in my judgment will
practically prevent the building of canals in the upper Snake
river valley.

I did not receive a copy of the paper that you said you
sent me, but would be pleased if you would send me a copy
and mark it "personal," as I am interested in this class
of journalism. Very truly yours, J. H. BRADY.

CHICAGO, April 3, 1903.
EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE:

Dear Sir — Considerable dissatisfaction has been aroused
among users of gasoline engines in the high mountains of the

184

THE IEKIGATION AGE.

west. The general rule as to the amount of gasoline to de-
velop a horse power per hour is one pint.

This rule works very nicely in the lower altitudes, but
when the engines are placed high in the mountains it is a
well known fact that they will not develop the horse power
which they will lower down.

The atmosphere at sea level has a pressure of about
fifteen pounds per square inch. The higher the altitude, the
less pressure, and, accordingly, less density. At 9,000 feet
elevation it is about one-half as much.

If an engine which was developing 10 horse power at
sea level would be placed at an elevation of 9,000 feet, it would
probably develop not more than about 7 horse power. To
genetrate 10 horse power at 9,000 feet altitude, an engine
with the air ports one-half as large again and a cylinder as
much larger would be required by local conditions. This is
because the air is one-half as dense, and, accordingly, one-half
more of it must be used in evaporating the same amount of
gasoline. If the same amount of air were to be used as at"
sea level, it would be seen that the mixture would be so rich
that powerful explosions could not result. The question
naturally arises, if the mixture is so rich, why not use less
gasoline? As the minimum amount of fuel per horse power
is one pint per hour, to use less would be cutting down the
power supply. Instead, one-half more air must be compressed
to equal the same amount as it would at sea level. No gen-
eral rule can be established to fix the size of the air ports
in high altitudes. The method I use is to consult the United
States Weather Bureau, finding the mercury column pressure
and compute the density of the atmosphere on this report.
We can give them a guarantee that an engine will develop
the rated horse power and feel perfectly safe in doing so.
Yours truly, F. G. RICKER.

Agent Foos Gasoline Engine Co.

Blairsburg, in Hamilton county. Length, twenty-six miles.

EDWARD E. Fox, C. E.,
Webster City, Iowa.

TOMAH, Wis., February 28, 1903.
D. H. ANDERSON, Chicago :

Dear Sir — Yours of February 19 received. My experience
in drainage work is not very broad. I have eighty acres of
swamp land and, during the dry seasons we had in 1895,
1896 and 1897, I cleared forty acres and seeded it to timothy
hay, which did well until the wet seasons came, that we have
had since. In 1858 I did some ditching and it heloed me in
drying out the land so I could cut the hay. My land lies
at the head of our drainage district and next to the hilly
country. The soil is a black muck and clay, which is true of
quite a large portion of the entire district. There is one
piece of a peat marsh that was cleared, ditched and tiled ; it
also lies at the head of one of our laterals ; it has proved a
success, as almost every kind of crop has been raised on it,
particularly onions, which have done well. By the use of the
ditch, which is a living stream, the owner can irrigate as
well as drain his land. We now have our organization
nearly completed. It is nearly two years since work was
first begun by our organization. Yours Respectfully,

•W. S. FRYER.

STANLEY, Ky., March 17, 1903.
THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL:

Gentlemen — Enclosed find $1.00 for my subscription for
your valuable paper, IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL.^
I have been ditching and tiling for the past eighteen years
and would not be without your valuable paper for five times
its cost. I saw an inquiry for ditching machines in your
last number by Mr. Milton S. Dewey, Mazon, 111. I have
had some experience in this line. For tile ditching, I think
the Buckeye, perhaps, the best. I have one — - machine;
it really does more than the firm claims, though it does not
finish ditch to grade for tile; I would dispose of this one
just for this reason and buy a Buckeye in its place. The
- machine is built at .

P. S. — I will try and get you some subscribers for your
paper. I know I can. Trusting this will be of value to
some one and wishing success to THE IRRIGATION AGE AND
DRAINAGE JOURNAL, I remain

Yours respectfully, E. H. KOERNER,

Civil Engineering, Ditching and Tiling Contractor.

WEBSTER CITY, IOWA, February 25, 1903.
Dear Sirs:

Surveys are now being made by Edward E. Fox, civil
engineer, for the "Farley Ditch."

It starts at the Iowa river, near Alden, Iowa, runs
through Hardin, Franklin and Wright counties, and heads at

Our Tacoma corrspondent, writing under date of April
I, has the following to say about the Twin Falls Land &
Water Company :

The greatest irrigation project in the United States and
the third largest in the world has been started in Idaho.
It is under the management of a corporation originating in
Salt Lake City. The plan contemplates an expenditure of
almost $5,000,000 and reclamation of 271,000 acres of the
best agricultural lands in the great Snake River Valley and
southern Idaho. The principal shareholder in this enterprise
is Frank H. Buhl, the multi-millionaire iron operator of
Sharon, Pa., who is the president He is associated with P.
L. Kimberley, another wealthy man, and Walter G. Filer,
a financier from the same city, who is the vice-president.
They have three western men, familiar with irrigation and
canal building, in the syndicate. These are Col. S. B. Milner
and Frank Knox, bankers of Salt Lake City, and I. B.
Perrine, a wealthy Blue .Lake (Idaho) rancher. H. B. De
Long, of Sharon, Pa., is the secretary and treasurer.

A tract of land as large as the state of Rhode Island
is to be brought under ditch and made ready for farming
and fruit raising. The lands were formerly set aside for
a national park, because of the wonderful scenery. By
an arrangement with the state officials, who are taking
advantage of the Carey act of 1894, making a donation of
1,000,000 acres of arid lands to each state that will con-
struct canals and have the lands reclaimed, the great part will
become a garden of small farms and vineyards. The enter-
prise includes the construction of two irrigation canals and
laterals that will have a combined length of over 1,000 miles.
The main canal will be sixty-nine miles long and eighty
feet wide at the bottom.

The Twin Falls Land & Water Company is the title of
the new corporation. It is the purpose of the new com-
pany to harness the Shoshone Falls and develop power for
operating an electric railway extending forty-five miles from
the city of Shoshone, to cover the country to be brought
under cultivation by means of two large canals. One canal
will be taken from the north side of the river and the
other from the south. The road will connect with the Oregon
Short Line at Shoshone.

Under the provisions of the Carey act, only 160 acres
of this land may be held by one man. The company
plans to have smaller holdings than this, and many of the
farms will be of the twenty-acre Utah class! The country
is particularly adapted to fruit raising and general mixed
farming, as practiced by the Mormons of that district. Al-
falfa is the chief forage plant and grows to perfection. The
country is also a choice spot for growing prunes, peaches
and similar fruits.

The construction of these canals and laterals will prob-
ably require a period of five years' hard work. When com-
pleted, the system will be the most perfect in existence in
the irrigated world. It is planned to have electric car lines
reaching every farm and orchard, and, when the country
is settled, to secure the rural mail system. Public telephones
and all modern conveniences are to be added to the com-
forts of making homes. Many settlers are located on their
lands, awaiting the coming of the water ditch.

Several carloads of graders' implements have been
shipped from Tacoma to the ooint on the Snake river where
construction will begin. Nelson Bennett, the Northwestern
railroad builder, has secured the contract for constructing
works to the value of over $2,000,000. Hundreds of men are
to be engaged in the work, which will be pushed as fast as
possible until every acre of the large tract has been placed
in touch with the canal. Water rights are to be sold to
actu?l users at reasonable rates.

Our correspondent at Ellensburg, Wash., states that there
is a strong prospect that the Highland canal, which has
been under consideration Tor some time, will be commenced
this summer. The project is to be backed by eastern capital
and will water from forty to fifty thousand acres and will
require an outlay of something like half a million dollars.
The people of Ellensburg and vicinity have looked forward
to the consummation of this project with great interest, as
all the land to be irrigated will be tributary to the city
and will promote business in the city to the extent of thou-
sands of dollars. The representative of eastern capital has
been in Ellensburg for several months and met with the
usual difficulties in securing the assistance of the various

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

185

interests involved, but now it appears that active work will
be started this summer.

Our correspondent at Wenatchee, Wash., says: Accord-
ing to the federal census, Wenatchee, Chelan county, Wash.,
had a population of 451 in 1900. The present population of
the town is about 2,000, and it is still growing rapidly. Its
prosperity is a product of irrigation.

Wenatchee lies at the junction of the Great Northern
railway and the Columbia river. Steamers ply between the
town and up-river 'points. It is the natural trading center
for an immense territory.

Good yields of grain are produced on the uplands with-
out irrigation, but the pride of Wenatchee is its fruit, and
especially its apples, and the orchards are irrigated. The
fruit is handsome in appearance, firm in texture and has a
tantalizingly, pleasing flavor. The yield is large and the
growers have the advantage of a great and growing market.
One and a half dollars per box is considered a low price.

Irrigation heretofore has been the result of individual
effort and the systems are relatively small.

Several large irrigation enterprises have been contem-
plated and one important system is now in course of con-
struction. The farmers in the vicinity are prosperous and
enterprising. Nature smiles upon them and affluence claims
them as her own. It is small wonder that they insist that
theirs is the promised land.

NALGONDA, NAKRAKAL, INDIA, February 16, 1903.
D. H. ANDERSON, ESQ., EDITOR THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago :

Dear Sir — I am sending you by M. O. the sum of 6s 3d,
being a year's subscription for 1903.

I had written to my agents at Bombay to discontinue
sending me the journal for 10x33, but when I received direct
from you a copy, the No. I, Vol. XVIII., of the journal, in
its present improved state, I could not resist the tempta-
tion of continuing to subscribe.

I have brought the journal to the notice of our chief en-
gineer for irrigation and a friend at Surriapett, and both of
them would like to subscribe. Yours faithfully,

H. DINSHAW.

SHOULD ALKALI LAND BE IRRIGATED ?

The above is a subject that has puzzled the best of
farmers for many years here at Greeley, Colo., but as years
roll on it is generally believed that seepage land, where
alkali exists, necessarily has to be irrigated more thoroughly
and more often than where it does not exist, because while
this land is apparently moist enough to grow a crop, yet you
will find the crop will come up and then begin to grow
thinner all the time. It is the alkali burning off the young,
tender plant, but if thoroughly irrigated before plowing, it
will cool off the alkali until the crop gets up, and as. soon
as yellowness appears it should again be thoroughly irrigated.
Although the ground be apparently wet, the irrigation will
again offset the alkali until the crop matures. Two irrigations
are generally sufficient to grow a crop here. We find the
crops that do the best on alkali land are: First, sugar beets;
second, barley; third, oats. Irrigation has no tendency to
make the ground permanently wet.

JOHN G. HALL,
Greeley, Colo.

The Simplification of
Water Records by
a Right System
Insures

Not Only
Labor-Saving
but also Money-
Saving.

SEALED PROPOSALS

Will be received by the

LEMONWEIR RIVER DRAINAGE DISTRICT

Of Monroe and Juneau Counties, Wisconsin

Up to 8 A. M. of the 15th day of May, 1903, for the dig-
King of the mains and laterals of said district. Each
bid must be accompanied by a certified check of 5 per
cent of bid. The right to reject any and all bids is
expressly reserved. Plans may be seen and specifica-
tions obtained by application to

WM. S. FRYER, Tomah, Wis.

FOR SALE CHEAP

COMPLETE OUTFIT OF TILE
AND BRICK MACHINERY^

(ALL PENFIELD MAKE.)

Engine 24 H. P., Boiler 35. Dies from 2^ to 8. 10x12 inch
die with cut-off table. Penfield's extra side and end cut brick
die with table. One smooth roll crusher. One corrugated
crusher. 3-chain elevator 12x18 feet. Track and wheelbar-
rows. Belts, main 10x55 feet. Pulleys of all kinds, all in good
condition; engine as good as new, also The Buckeye Traction
Ditcher, good as new. Will be sold at a snap, write or better
call at

OZAUKEE DRAIN TILE WORKS,

CEDARBURQ, WIS.

PORTER HAY TOOLS

The largest and most successful line
of hay tools in the market. Hay
carriers for steel, wood and cable
tracks. Hay forks of all styles.
Hay slings of all sizes, etc., etc., etc.

Send for Complete Catalogue. It is Free.

J. E. PORTER CO.,

OTTAWA, ILLINOIS.

186

THE IERIGATION AGE.

M. H. DOWNEY. E. J. W1LCOX.

DOWNEY & WILCOX, Civil Engineers,

Drainage and Roads a Specialty.
Correspondence Solicited. Room 2, Court Home, ANDERSON. IND

CENTS

INTRODUCTORY OFFER

CARBON PAPER

For the purpose of introducing pur CARBON
TISSUE we will, for a limited period, one order
only to the same address, send 75 sheets, size
8x12 inches, for 50 cents.

This paper is made by a new and secret pro-
cess ; in colors purple, blue and black ; will not
smut; perfect printing qualities; very durable;
will not dry out.

As good as any carbon paper on the market,
or your money back. I

SUPPLY DEPARTMENT OF

THEBUSINESSSYSTEMS&

• MODERN • METHODS - FOB • MODERN • PEOPLE -
THIRD FLOOR, SECURITY BUILDING

188 MADISON STREET CHICAGO

The Truth
about the
Southwest

THE WESTERN TRAIL is the

name of a paper devoted to the devel-
opment of the great Southwest. It
contains letters from residents telling of
actual conditions, how they happened
to settle there and what their experiences
have been. It is printed on good paper
and is beautifully illustrated. Published
every month during the fall, winter and
spring months, and every two months
during the summer. It will interest
you, and may be the means of opening
your eyes to the unequaled opportuni-
ties awaiting you in the great South-
west.

Send twenty-five cents TO-DAY
for one year's subscription. Stamps
will do. Address

"THE TRAIL,"
Room 42 5 Rialto Bldg., Chicago.

R. H. McWILLIAMS,

G E N E R. AL
D RAIN AGE
CONTRACTOR

Special attention paid to reclaiming
swamp lands with steam dredges.
Drainage bonds bought and sold.

OFFICE:
riATTOON. - . - ILLINOIS.

Grand
Canyon

of Arizona.

Earth's greatest wonder — the titan o!
chasms, a mile deep, many miles wide

Pictures of it: F°r 25 cent's will send
^ — ^— the season's no»elty —
a Grand Canyon photochrome view, uniquely
mounted to reproduce the Canyon tints. Or,
for same price, a set of four black-and-white
prints, ready tor framing.

Books about it: For 50 cents will send
- a Grand Canyon

book. US pages, 93 illustrations; cover in col-
ors: contains articles by noted authors, trav-
elers and scientists. Worthy a place in any
library. Or will mail free pamphlet, "Titan
of Chasms."

J. M. McCoNNBLL, General Agent,
109 Adams St., Chicago.

Fe

%.

Dakota

From Chicago and Milwaukee,

March 24 and 31
April 7 and 14

To all points in North Dakota and in South Dakota,
on the Chicago, 'Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway,
and to many other points in those states via the

Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul

Railway

Proportionate rates apply from stations west of Chicago.

South Dakota to-day presents opportunities espe-
cially attractive to those who would own their
homes. To the man who has determined to stop
paying rent and to seek a home where land is
cheap and the crops certain and profitable,
South Dakota appeals with great force.

A postal card will bring complete information.

Tickets:

95 Adams Street, Chicago.

F. A. Miller,

General Passenger Agent.

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

187

WANT AND FOR SALE
ADVERTISEMENTS

Drain Tile— all sizes.

ORESTES TILE WORKS, Orestes. Ind.

Drain Tile— all sizes.

A. K. WRIGHT, Fairmont. Ind.

Drain Tile-all sizes.

WILLIAMSON BROS., Sweetzers, Ind.

Drain Tile— all sizes.

JOHN W. RUST, Herbst, Ind
The above drain tile manufacturers are situated
on railroad lines convenient to ship in caiload
lots, and solicit trade, especially for large sizes.

FOR SALE.

$20.000 Brick and Tile Plant.
60 Double Deck Dryer Cars.
10 Acres. 5 Kilns, good market.
Having gone into bankingand building business
can use product as part pay.

Write FELLA DRAIN TILE Co.,
Fella, Iowa.

FOR SALE— Potts disintegrator, No. 2, com-
plete, with new rolls and pulleys, run but a few
weeks. Address, M. J. LEE, Crawfordsville, Ind.

FOR SALE — A completely equipped factory
for drain tile and flower pots; seven acres clay
land; good trade: wish to retire from business.
Address, A. M. FISH, Milan, Ohio, Erie Co.

James W. Craig. Edward C. Craig.

James W. Craig, Jr.

James W. 4 Edward C. Craig,

ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
HATTOON. COLES COUNTY. ILLINOIS.

Special attention given to the Law Department
of Draipage Work.
Drainage Bonds Bought and Sold.

Exposition
Flyer

Via

"Big 4"

To

Style No. 2

These machines rapidly and
cheaply reduce the most uneven
land to perfect surface for the ap-
plication of water. Made in
several different styles. On the
No. 3 style the blade can be
worked diagonally, as well as
straight across, thus adapting it to
throwing up and distributing bor-
ders, ditches, etc. For descriptive
circulars and price, address

B. F. SHUART

Oberlin, Ohio
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

St. Louis

Write lor Rales and Folders

Warren J. Lynch. W. P. Deppe.

Gen'l Pass. & Ass't Gen'l

Tkt. Agt. P. &T. A.

CINCINNATI, OHIO

The Shuart
Earth Graders

JEFFREY CONVEYORS

Will handle your product rapidly and economically

Also Manufacture

Screens, Elevator Bxickets, Water Elevators

Crushers, Etc.

SEND FOR.
CATALOGUE

ADDRESS

* 3s Jeffrey Mfg. Co.

Columbus, Ohio.

, NEW YOR.K

I

1 1 Illlllllllllllll

DENVER.

JEFFREY

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I-

188

THE IEKIGATION AGE.

Built Right

Run Right

Unsurpassed for Tile, Hollow Ware, Brick a.nd a.11
Classes of Clay products. Write for Particulars
on this or other Clavworkint! Machinery 5999

The Improved Centennial Auger Machine

Bucyrus, Ohio
U. S. A.

The American Clay-Working
Machinery Company

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

189

for Brick, Tile and Sewer
Pipe Manufacturers

SEWER PIPE BARROW

TILE TRUCK

HEAVY FURNACE FRONT

These Trucks and Barrows are made of first-class material, and the workmanship is the
best. Special trucks and barrows to suit customers, made to order. Prices quoted on
receipt of specifications.

BAND TIGHTENERS AND DOOR CONNECTORS

CLASS B CLASS C

TUPPER STYLE GRATE

Sections 6 inches wide.

CAST IRON KILN COVERS

, 42, and 48 inches long

STRAIGHT GRATES

Any length. Sections 3 inches to 3j£ inches wide. Weight average about 1 pound
per inch in length.

VENTILATORS

We also make Kiln Bands complete with sections cut to length and rivet holes punched. Rivets fur-
nished and tighteners riveted on to end sections. Prices quoted for anything in this line upon application.

Address

The Arnold -Creager Co.

NEW LONDON, OHIO

or Cor. 6th and Vine Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio

190 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

;0«0«0«0€0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0€0€0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0€0«0»

Say, Mr. Tilemaker,

Does the machine you are now
using pug the clay sufficiently

If not, here is one that wilt. The best Tile
Machine made, combined with an eight*foot
double-shaft Pug Mill; and it is arranged to
make tile from 2 1/2* in. to 24* in. It will pay
you to investigate this machine and also Ben*
sing's Automatic Cutting Tables. Write us for
full information and prices

THE J. D. F^TE CO.

PLYMOUTH, OHIO

We make a full line of Clay Working Machinery

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

191

210 Kinds for 1 6c.

It Is a fact that SaJzer's seeds are found Inj
more gardens and on more farms thaoj
r\ny other In America, Tbf re is ^T
reason for this. We own and op-
erate over 50*>0 acres for the produc-
tion of our choice soecln. In order to j
^ induce you to try them we make
j the following unprecedented offer:

For 76 Cents Postpaid A

25 sorts wonderful onions,
25 KOrta eleprant cabbage,
l.'i -nris magnlfltrDtcarrotg,
*_T( pi'i-rlrss iHturr (iiriflici,
. 85 rare luscious r;n! !-ri,

20 splendid beet Bortn,
75 Blorfuut>ljr beaolirul flowerse^i
in all 210 kinds positively furnishing
buBlielsof eharininx llowersand lota
and lots of ctioice vegetables, togeth-
er with our preat ratal ot?ue tellingall t
about Macaroni Wheat, liilllon !»..!- 1
lar Grafts. Teosinte, Bromus, Speltz,'
etc., all for only 16e. in stamps and
this notice.

Oulon seed at but 6Oc. a pound.

JOHN A. SALZER SEED CO.,
La Crnsse, Wig.

'I6~LONG RANGE TELESCOPE.

FOR

Irrigators,
Farmers

and

Ditchers

Catalogue free.

Grade
Level Co.

Jackson, Mich.
No. 1, $27.00
Target and Rod
free with each.
Target and Rod alone $2.00.

Our Grade Levels are the only ones made with
a "Grade Bar" and with a "Scale" showing the
grade without figuring, and the only one with a
Telescope at so low a price.

No. 1 Improved Level (our latest}— $30. Has horiz-
ontal circle divided Into degrees; can run at any angle
without measuring.

EDGAR M. HEAFER
TILE COMPANY

MANUFACTURERS OF

Round Drain Tile

. Of Superior Potters' Clay.

ASLO DEALERS IN

SUPERIOR FIRE BRICK AND SEWER PIPE
BLOOHINQTON, ILL.

0O9O9O9O9O9O9O9O9O9O9O9O9OW^9O9O9O9O9O%O9Om^9O9C9O^

8 LANDS IN THE FAMOUS

Valley, of Mississippi

Along the lines of the Yazoo and Missis-
sippi Valley Railroad, are of the most
wonderful fertility for raising Cotton,
Corn, Cattle and Hogs.

'Write ±o*-

The clay will make the best of TILE and
Brick and manufacturers will find a great
field for TILE in that country, which is
so well adapted for Tile Drainage.

ji i »< I AI .- » | » —

EDWARD P. SKENE, Land Commissioner,

Central Station, Park Row, Room 506,
CHICAGO, ILL.

When writing to Advertisers, please mention THE IRRIGATION AGE.

0«0«0«0«0«0«O«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0€0«0«0€0€0«OtO«0«0«oi

The MARION

STEAM SHOVEL CO.

Mo. 632 W. Center Street, MARION, OHIO.

A COMPLETE LINE OF STEAM SHOVELS, DIPPER

AND CLAMSHELL DREDGES, ETC.

One.ya.rd Dltcrvlrvg Dredge.

constructing Drainage Ditches we have both
dry-land and floating Dredges, and we build
them to suit the requirements of your work. We
manufacture our own steel and grey iron castings,
and make our own chain.

When in the market write us for information and prices.

(When Writing Advertisers, Please Mention IRRIGATION AGE.)

192 THEIRKIGATIONAGE.

Great Irrigated
Valleys....

ARKANSAS VALLEY, COLORADO. Altitude 3,400 to 4,600 ft.; beet sugar factories,

i

thousands of acres of alfalfa, millions of cantaloupes, extensive orchards, flocks of sheep;
largest irrigated section in the U. S. Extensive cattle feeding and dairy interests, population
doubled in five years.

PECOS VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,000 to 4,000 feet. ; 175 miles long; on edge
of great plains' cattle pastures, affording profitable home market for alfalfa and grain; noted
for its large orchards and fine quality of fruits and vegetables; artesian belt with 300
flowing wells.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,700 105,300 ft.; 350 miles long;
great sheep raising section; mining in adjacent mountains; adapted to fruit raising and
small farms.

SALT RIVER VALLEY, ARIZONA. Altitude 1,000 ft.; 60 miles long and 20 miles wide;
special industries — early oranges, live stock, vegetables, small fruits, alfalfa, bee culture.

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Altitude 50 to 400 ft.; 250 miles long, 50 miles
wide; wheat raising, live stock, oil wells, alfalfa, raisin and wine grapes, olives, figs, citrus
"and deciduous fruits, almonds, walnuts, lumbering and mines in mountains.

ALL FIVE VALLEYS have never-failing water supply, extensive systems of irrigating
ditches and rich soil, insuring profitable crops. Pleasant climate, especially in winter.
Thriving towns, affording good markets. Directly reached by the SANTA FE.

For information about farm lands, manufactures and general business openings,
address

Gen. Pass. Office A. T. 4 S. F. Ry. System,
GREAT NORTHERN BLDG. £ CHICAGO.

Santa Fe

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

193

IN THE SPRING

The farmer's fancy turns to the .tillage of his
fields. A new plow will be the order of the day
on at least 1,000,000 farms this year. One fourth
of them will be Modern, Up-to-date, High Grade,
Standard

JOHN DEERE STEEL PLOWS

About 2000 car loads of which will go out between
January and May for

Enterprising, Progressive Farmers

Of the United States and Canada.

If you don't need a new plow, you may want a Deere Spike Tooth or
Disc Harrow, a Deere Corn Planter or Cultivator. In any event write
for the little booklet advertised in THE I K K IGATK >N AGE

DEERE & COMPANY, Moline, Ills.

IRRIGATION PLANTS!

WE BUILD THEM.

FURNISHING ENGINES, PUMPS, PIPE,
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RIAL COMPLETE FOR OPERATION.

TELL US YOUR REQUIREMENTS
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I WEN'S IMPROVED

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Extensively used in paper and pulp mills, dye houses, bleacheries,
tanneries, dry docks,

DRAINING AND IRRIGATION OF LAND.

Pond pumping, circulating water in surface condensers, pumping
sand, gravel or gritty water. In fact, adapted for raising any
liquid in large or small quantities. Write for catalogues.

BOLAND (SL GSCHWIND COMPANY, Ltd.,

Office and Works, Melpomene, Chippewa and St. Thomas streets - - New Orleans, La,

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194

THE IKRIGATION AGF

Myers Power Pumps

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Full information in regard to our
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Adapted especially for gas engines,
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FIG. 818.

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10-inch stroke.
No. 361. Bulldozer Working Head, 12, 16 and

20-inch stroke.

FIG 800.

Bulldozer Power Pump, sizes 3, 4, 5 and
6-inch cylinders', stroke ranging from 5 to
20-inch.

F. E. Myers * Bro., Ashland, o., u. s. A.

THE USE OF GASOLINE ENGINES in the pumping field is practically but just begun.
The demand on our Omaha and Chicago branches for pumping engines during the last year
has been greatly due to the deserved popularity of the " OTTO." The special attention we
have given to the building of this class of machinery is bringing its reward in increased trade.
We can serve buyers yet to come as satisfactorily as those that have already favored us.
Tell us your requirements and mention the " Age."

THE OTTO CAS ENGINE WORKS,

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is an object. Free catalogue describes and illustrates everything in balers. Wr

IHAY TRUTH.

Solid Compact Bales

that fill the car and cut down your freight

bills in hay shipping, is reason

enough for using the

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The double expanding condenser makes the
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Automatic block placing device saves labor.
It stands by itself for safety, for economy of
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ELI

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'S to 20 foot w

We do strictly :i
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description a . _

Leach Windmill* Tank Co. Joliet, 111 .
V. 8. A. Office & Factory Center a Monroe.

pri

Icln

Th

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Edward C. Craig.

g t.a\

James W. Craig, Jr.

James W. 4 Edward C. Craig,

ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
MATTOON, COLES COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

Special attention given to the Law Department
of Drainage Work.
Drainage Bonds Bought and Sold.

THE IKKIGATION AGE.

195

THE BUCKEYE TRACTION DITCHER

A winning proposition in a.ny kind of soil.

M
A
N
U

A
C

U
R

D
N

O
U
R

S

S

CUTTING

FROM

ELEVEN

AND

ONE=HALF
INCHES

TO

TWENTY-

FOUR

INCHES

IN

WIDTH

AND

FROM

FOUR

AND

ONE-HALF

TO

SIX

AND

ONE-HALF

FEET

IN

DEPTH

This cut shows The Buckeye just starting a trench with
grading targets out ahead. The BUCKEYE positively cuts
to a perfect grade, and to its full depth with one cut.

EVERY USER GIVES HIS ENTHUSIASTIC ENDORSEMENT.

The Van Buren, Heck & Marvin Co.

FINDLAY, OHIO, U. S. A.

190

•€£•«<

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

SUPERIOR SINGLE DISC DRILL

SUPERIOR

SINGLE DISC
DRILLS

are suitable
for use in any
kind of land.
They never
clog in trash.
Even sowing
guaranteed.
The best for
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ABSOLUTELY
GOOD.

A genuinely satis-
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every particular.

With Steel Wheels
and Seat.

SUPERIOR DRILLS successfully do the work.
They stand the wear, because they are made of
honest materials, by honest, skilled mechanics, who
know how, because of their wide experience.

Experience proves that our implements are peculiarly adapted to your locality.
They will stand the test. Better investigate. It is to your interest.

We guarantee them, and the Drills will back up the guarantee every time.
Write us today.

This cut shows
the SUPERIOR
GANG PRESS
WHEEL. A A
It can be at-
tached to any
Superior Disc
Drill. A A

You don't need a Sub-
Surface Packer when
you use the Superior
Gang Press Wheel
Attachment.

Write to
Superior Division,

AMERICAN

SEEDING
MACHINE

COMPANY,

This attachment reduce!
evaporation to the minimum.

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Please Mention THE IRRIGATION AGE when writing to Advertisers.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

VOL. XVIII.

CHICAGO, MAY, 1903.

-No. 7.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING CO.,

PUBLISHERS,

112 Dearborn Street, - CHICAGO

Entered at the Postoffice at Chicago, 111., as Second-Class Matter.

D. H. ANDERSON, Editor.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.

To United States Subscribers, Postage Paid $1.00

To Canada and Mexico; 1 00

All Other Foreign Countries 1.50

In forwarding remittances please do not send checks on local banks.
Send either postoffice or express money order or Chicago or New York
draft.

A monthly illustrated magazine recognized ihroughout the world as
the exponent of Irrigation >and its kindred industries. It is the pioneer
journal of its kind in the world, and has no rival in half a continent. It
advocates the mineral development and the industrial growth of the West.

Tn t^-TActi n rr tr» A rl TT^rf i <S^r« Ij may interest advertisers to knowthat The Irrigation Age is the only publication

a- in the world having an actual paid in advance circulation among individual

irrigators and large irrigation corporations. It is read regularly by all interested in this subject and has readers in all parts of the world.
The Irrigation Age is 18 years old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world.

Copyright 1903 by D. H. Anderson.

EDITORIAL

Strange reports come to us from Arizona
about the way prominent Government offi-
cials are "playing in" with Maxwell.
These reports are now being investigated
and the facts will be given publicity as soon as the nec-
essary information is in hand.

Strange
Reports.

We ask every candid reader to tell us
What is Your whether it be possible to give any more
Opinion ? useful, valuable and diverse information

than that contained in this number of the
AGE? If you think we are omitting anything drop us
a postal and we will remedy the defect.

THE IRRIGATION AGE has secured during
New Names, the past six months the names of over 70,-

000 people interested in irrigation, all of
whom will receive sample copies of this journal with
a view to securing them as regular subscribers. This
list has been carefully prepared at a heavy expense and
is so far as we know the only correct list of actual irri-
gators in existence. The above facts should be of direct
interest to all advertisers. Please remember that THE
AGE is the pioneer publication of its class in the world
and an advertisement in its columns will produce satis-
factory results.

We commend to our readers the article
Drainage by by Prof. C. G. Elliott, to be found on
the Sea. another page. The results attained by the

drainage of what may be termed "Sea
lands," are so unique, as well as surprising, that the
interior agriculturist who has less difficulties to over-
come may well take heart of hope.

Make No
Mistake.

The Primer of Irrigation, although treat-
ing of arid, semi-arid and irrigable lands
specially, treats generally of soils, plants
and general agriculture. The book will be
equally as valuable in the East as in the West, and the
man who lives in a swamp will find it as profitable as
the man in the desert. It leaves very little unsaid about
land and plants.

We are indebted to "Opportunity" of St.
The Redemp- Paul, Minn., for a copy of the special ar-
tion of a Hun- tide on the above subject written by
dred Millions. United States Senator H. C. Hansbrough,

of North Dakota, the father of the irriga-
tion law. In the article, Senator Hansbrough gives
opinions and advice it were well worth heeding. One
particular statement will appeal to the public generally :
"The law is thoroughly safeguarded so as to prevent
speculation." This seems too good to be true, and we
shall wait with bated breath for that enforcement of the
law which will bring on an anti-speculation millennium
in homes for the great mass of the people.

198

THE IREIGATION AGE.

In this issue appears a full report of the
Arkansas proceedings of the Irrigation Convention,
Valley held at Garden City, Kansas, April 16-17.

Awakens. The question involved and discussed by

practical men is somewhat novel — we refer
to the "underflow" of the Arkansas Eiver — and opens
up an immense vista in the horizon of irrigation. The
new Association purposes settling down to serious busi-
ness without delay.

Our Washington correspondent tells about
Hwge Irriga- five irrigation projects to be undertaken
tion Projects, by the government this summer. It is

claimed that the "desert is to be made to
blossom as the rose." We hope it will be, and we believe
it will be unless —

An inkling of what comes after the "unless," may
be gathered from the "Influences in the National Irri-
gation Program" on another page. It will be well not
to gather the "desert roses" until some of the thorns are
sliced off.

We are plowing deep into every source of
The Primer information, gleaning points from hun-
of Irrigation, dreds of personal experiences, and utiliz-
ing every plain, simple, scientific point to
make "The Primer of Irrigation" something worth pos-
sessing by every farmer, as a ready counselor in every-
thing pertaining to agriculture. The preliminary chap-
ters are gradually working up to the irrigation point
as our readers will perceive. Order a copy now with
your subscription at reduced rates. The next chapter
will be on Semi-Arid and Arid Lands, and contain facts
not generally known.

In Regard to THE AGE is in possession of some strange,
Salt River not to say "startling" information in re-
Valley, lation to matters with which Mr. George
H. Maxwell's connection with certain
dealings and transactions that will not look pleasant
when brought into the full light of an inquiry.

If those residents of Salt Eiver Valley, Arizona,
who are asking us to take this matter up and expose the-
methods of Mr. Maxwell and those practised by person's
whom he appears to control, will have a little patience,
THE AGE is certain they will be fully gratified 'with
the results we have in expectation.

Indeed, we may say, that the evidence is fast ac-
cumulating, and it will not be long ere the whole case
will be made up and placed before the readers of THE
AGE, as well as laid before authorities who will take some
more definite action than merely talking about it.

It must be apparent to even the casual reader that
to eliminate only one disturbing element would still
leave a strong leaven of others to continue operations.

Wherefore THE AGE deems it best to provide for a clean
sweep in the Irrigation Augean Stable, and our readers
may rely upon it that no one will be spared, and that
the pernicious influences combining against law, justice
and common decency will be swept away to afflict loyal
and true, hard working and energetic home seekers no-
more.

The Nation- This number of THE AGE contains another
al Irrigation installment of the editor's side lights
Association, on The National Irrigation Association.
The reader will observe by a perusal of
the article that Mr. George H. Maxwell, who, for some
inscrutable reason, seems to have been permitted to ab-
sorb the entire Association, is building for George H.
Maxwell, a very laudable enterprise generally, but rather
"scaly" to say the least, in a matter of so much public
interest as irrigation. It is using the skin of the ani-
mal for personal purposes and giving the public the tail.
This it refuses to accept, or any other "leavings."

The editor asks why Maxwell has departed from
his ardent admiration of state irrigation laws and the
leasing system? The conundrum is answered by giving
the "objects of the National Irrigation Association" as
set forth in its Constitution, following with the "Pub-
lication and Work of the Association."

There seems to be considerable of a clash between
Mr. Maxwell's views and the objects of the Association,
but when these objects conflict with Maxwell's "plans,"
which are purely personal, why, the constitution and
by-laws have to yield, sometimes even the government
of the United States. This means that George H. Max-
well and the grandiosely styled, "The National Irriga-
tion Association" are such close affinities that they can-
not be pulled apart. Indeed, we are surprised that
Maxwell did not include in his scheme the entire earth,
and the canals of the planet Mars. He was probably
prevented by the fact that they were beyond his reach.

The article- starts out with the statement "Probably
'the greatest deception that has- ever been-' worlteS-pn the
Irrigation Congress has been through 'the agent of the
so-called National Irrigation -Associataoir,". -and then
goes on to demonstrate the proposition. What are we
going to do about it?- -Well,- it-would pot be good gen-
..eralship to disclose plans in the presence of an enemy

'to the public welfare.

- . * ..,.._• . ....... . . ...

The public have, through sad experience, acquired
the impression that an expenditure of public money
means .a "steal" of some kind,' This betrays a lack of
confidence which every honest .official should make: an
exertion to restore. A grand opportunity is afforded
him inihe irrigation money. And not only the lost -con-
fidence of the public should be regained in money ex-
penditures, but sought strenuously in executing the law
for the public benefit — for legitimate homeseekers, and
not for the private gain of certain "carpet baggers," who

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

199

have no more settled local habitation or domicile than
carrion crows who follow the scent of their prey from
afar off.

If this is refused, or neglected, then there is a way
to call them to account, and give them short shrift. The
condition of unrest that prevails everywhere, in spite of
"an unexampled prosperity" portends an upheaval of the
people, and so far as thwarting the spirit of the national
irrigation laws is concerned, THE IRRIGATION AGE will
be the first to fire the match to explode the volcano.

The "Talisman" authored by Mr. George
Talisman-ic H. Maxwell, of Chicago, and also numer-
Bugle Notes, ous other localities where it is his peculiar
policy to be, contains in its April number,
some highly appropriate and valuable hints, the presence
of which in the columns of the Maxwell organ, we cannot
explain except by assuming that the executive chairman
of the National Irrigation Association was busy cen-
suring the Salt River Valley complaints.

Speaking of President Roosevelt's public land pol-
icy, and heaving a deep sigh because "me and Roosevelt
can not make the laws and have the power to enforce
them according to my sweet will," he says:

"Public sentiment is being awakened even in the
West, and the shocking frauds which have been perper
trated upon the people in carving out of the public
domain the immense number of great ranches now to be
found everywhere in the West, have startled the people
even in that region into a realization of the resulting
evils of land monopoly."

How shocking! And to think that "even in the
West," this has just been found out. Again the great
purifying filter passes this great thought through its
brain sand. It is the "Keynote," the harp of a thousand
strings, struck by Mr. Roosevelt in his message to Con-
gress :

"The one guiding purpose of the administration in
dealing with forestry, with pasturage, with irrigation,
with the land generally is to help and make easy the path
of the home-builder, the small ranchman or tiller of the
soil, and not to let the land be exploited and skinned by
those who have no permanent interest therein, and who
do not build homes, or remain actual residents."

These words should be hammered in the brazen
columns of the "organ" until the noise of the pounding
compels the editor to remember them in all his dealings
with irrigation matters.

The "bugle blast" in the Senate Report also finds its
way in the Talisman-ic instrument, inadvertently, per-
haps, and what covers the other designs of its editor with
plausibility as to purity of motives, is the fact that it is
printed in black face letters like this:

"There slum Id be but one act upon onr
statute books under which public lauds can be
acquired, and that one act should be a genuine
homestead act which imposes a residence of

five years and continuous cultivation of the soil
—an act having no commutation provision at-
tached to it."

There once lived a dramatic genius named William
Shakespeare, who knew and understood human nature
better than any man who ever lived, and his writings to
this day are mirrors to modern humanity.

In his Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene III, he
makes one of his characters say :

"The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy virtues
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek ;
A goodly apple rotten at the heart:
0, what a goodly outside falsehood hath !"
Ordinary people in Shakespeare's time, ran against
this sort of bluff, and did not know what to do about it ;
we, of modern times, call it.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

We are much pleased with not only the improved
appearance, but with the marked change for the better
in the editorial and reading matter of The Irrigation
Age and Drainage Journal since coming under, the man-
agement of its present editor, Mr. D. H. Anderson. We
are especially pleased to note that he is broad enough
to champion the best interests of the people who have
cast their lot and are now building for themselves
homes in the coming arid West Empire.

We have watched and read Irrigation Age from its
beginning, followed it through its trials and disappoint-
ments, and we now predict for it a brighter and more
successful and useful future than ever before in its
history. — Modern Irrigation.

NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS.

It is doubtful if at the coming meeting of the irri-
gation Congress, to be held at Ogden, Utah, this fall,
the question of merging the congress with the Trans-
Mississippi Congress will be brought before the congress
at all. The fact is, the people of the arid West have been
posting themselves and learning the true inwardness of
the great desire exhibited by a few at Colorado Springs
last year to merge. It has developed that it was a
smooth deal, sprung without notice on the convention
by Mr. Maxwell and his friends to place the Irrigation
Congress fully in control of one Mr. Maxwell and his
wealthy constituents — "yearly contributors" — repeating
the expression, of Mr. D. H. Anderson. He says :
"Maxwell's actions and seeming control of the congress
last season led me to wonder whether this was a national
irrigation association, controlled by the people, or a per-
sonal Maxwell association." — Modern Irrigation.

Hon. William Sturgis, in an article on "Coloniza-
tion and the Arid West," in the Wyoming Industrial
Journal, published at Cheyenne, makes this good point :

"The rainfall, beneficent as it is, brings to the soil
pure moisture only, while with every gallon of water
passing through our acequia comes its percentage of fer-
tilizing silt, to irrigate the farm land and to replace
its exhausted elements. An irrigated farm never wears
out."

200

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

INFLUENCES IN THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION
PROGRAM.

BY D. H. ANDERSON.

(Continued from April Number.)

THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION ASSOCIATION.

Probably the greatest deception that has ever been
worked on the Irrigation Congress has been through
the agent of the so-called National Irrigation Associa-
tion. This organization was formed to attract those
having an interest in national irrigation and to cover
up the real purpose of the organizer when advocating
policies which could not be openly indorsed by the in-
terests giving him employment.

The readers of THE AGE already know where we
stand relative to this organization. Any irrigation so-
ciety which has a purpose that can be commended in
any way we are ready and willing to indorse in so far
as it serves some good purpose, but so far we have been
unable to detect anything in the National Irrigation
Association which warrants the support of those who
desire to aid the irrigator. We have had some cor-
respondence with members of the association, and
wherever the organization has been unqualifiedly in-
dorsed we have found that those indorsing it are in the
employ of the same corporations that furnish the main
support to the association. We know that wherever
members have become fully acquainted with the pur-
poses of the association and have not received a pecuni-
ary inducement which leads them to favor it, they have
withdrawn their support. We can refer those who wish
to be satisfied as to the truth of this assertion to former
members of the association, upon whom we have de-
pended for much of the information set forth in this
paper.

The prime mover in the association is a lawyer
of the name of George H. Maxwell, a man who has
commendable convictions to which he once gave utter-
ance. His talents and even his personality, upon which
latter he largely depends, might be of some service to
the country in carrying out the program for the rec-
lamation of the West, but he has voluntarily arrayed
himself against the actual irrigator and homebuilder.
Some three or four years ago, Mr. Maxwell submitted
to the trans-continental railroads a plan for carrying
on a campaign favoring national aid. His first recom-
mendation was for the organization of the National Ir-
rigation Association. He realized that he must have
some kind of an association to work under, and hence
he resolved to conceal the real object of his mission and
at the same time secure support from those who were
being deceived. It is surprising that the association
has lived for three or four years. Those of its mem-
bers who desire to simply further the extension of
national aid through their influence and efforts deserve
the commendation of the western people for their good
intentions and for whatever wholesome influence they
may have had in the management of the association.
We do not wish to appear to criticise the trans-conti-
nental railroads in this connection, for we have re-
peatedly stated that they can be, and are, of great
service in the development of the West. What we do
say, and with understanding, is that their confidence has
in this case been misplaced. We do not believe that
it is to the interests of the railroads to secure the adop-
tion of all of the policies advocated by Mr. Maxwell.
In the plan referred to, Mr. Maxwell set fortn
the objects of the National Irrigation Association. He

has not adhered to these when he found it expedient
to depart from them in carrying out his campaign.
In the first section he recommends the construction of
irrigation works under the plans submitted by Colonel
H. M. Chittenden. He has gone far astray from the
advice of Colonel Chittenden. Section 2 relates to
public surveys. Section 3 recommends the leasing of
the grazing lands and the expenditure of the funds thus
collected in the construction of irrigation works. Mr.
Maxwell states that although he once openly favored
and worked for the leasing of the public grazing lands
at a nominal rental in limited areas to settlers farming
adjacent lands, he is now unequivocally opposed to any
such plan. He explains the change in his attitude by
saying that he never believed in leasing, but that he
supported it only as a part of a general compromise
measure. Is it not strange that he should commit him-
self as favoring a leasing system in setting forth the
objects of an independent association of his own crea-
tion ? Section 4 relates to the protection of the forests.
Section 5 advocates the adoption of a harmonious sys-
tem of irrigation laws throughout the West. Mr. Max-
well now believes that state irrigation laws are unneces-
sary, that a few court decisions will answer all pur-
poses, and that state engineers are a menace to the irri-
gation interests of the West. We have noticed that he
does not carry on an active campaign in those states
where state engineer's offices have been established and
where the irrigator is fully protected. A few years ago
Mr. Maxwell was an ardent admirer of the Wyoming
irrigation law. He advocated its adoption by other
states. He was an equally strong adherent of the leas-
ing system. Why has he departed from either?

OBJECTS OF THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION ASSOCIATION
AS SET FORTH IN THE CONSTITUTION.

OBJECTS OF THE ASSOCIATION

IN

i. The establishment of a
national policy for the con-
struction of storage reser-
voirs as internal improve-
ments by the Federal Gov-
ernment as recommended in
the Report of Colonel Hiram
Chittenden to the Chief of
Engineers, U. S. A.

2. The survey of the Fed-
eral Government of the ir-
rigable public lands so that
each tract of irrigable
land susceptible of rec-
lamation by irrigation from
a common source and by the
same system of works shall
be segregated and platted as
a whole and the water sup-
ply available and system of
works necessary for its rec-
lamation shown.

3. The reclamation of the
irrigable lands and utiliza-
tion of the grazing lands, leas-
ing of the grazing lands, and
the building of irrigation
works with the revenues and
the construction wherever
necessary by the Federal

OBJECTS OF THE ASSOCIATION
IN 1003.

1. The adoption by the
Federal Government of a
permanent policy for the rec-
lamation and settlement of
the public domain, under
which all the remaining pub-
lic lands shall be held and
administered as a trust for
the benefit of the whole peo-
ple of the United States, and
no grants of the title to any
of the public lands shall ever
hereafter be made to any but
actual settlers and home-
builders on the land.

2. The preservation and
development of our nationaf
resources by the construction
of storage reservoirs by the
Federal Government for flood
protection, and to save for
use in navigation and irriga-
tion the flood waters which
now run to waste and cause
overflow and destruction.

3. 1 he construction by the
Federal Government of stor-
age reservoirs and irrigation
works wherever necessary to
furnish water for the rec-
lamation and settlement of
the arid public lands.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

201

Government itself of the irri-
gation works for the reclama-
tion of the irrigable public
lands, the land reclaimed to
be sold to actual settlers only
in small tracts with a pro-
portional interest in the water
supply and irrigation system,
the ownership of which shall
be united to the land.

4. The preservation of the 4. The preservation of the
forests as the sources of forests and reforestation of
water supply, the conserva- denuded forest areas as
tion of existing supplies by sources of water supply, the
improved methods of irriga- conservation of existing sup-
tion and distribution, and the plies by approved methods of
development of the water re- irrigation and distribution,
sources of the arid region and the increase of the water
by the investigation of under- resources of the arid region
ground sources. by the investigation and de-
velopment of underground
supplies.

5. The adoption of a har- 5. The adoption of a har-
monious system of irrigation monious system of irrigation
laws in all the arid and semi- laws in all the arid and semi-
arid states and territories, arid states and territories un-
under which the right to the der which the right to the
use of water for irrigation use of water for irrigation
shall vest in the user and be- shall vest in the user and be-
come appurtenant to the land come appurtenant to the land
irrigated, and beneficial use irrigated, and beneficial use
be the measure of the right. be the basis and the measure

and limit of the right. '

6. To hold an annual Con- 6. The holding of an an-
gress, and to diffuse by pub- nual Irrigation Congress, and
lie meetings and through the the dissemination by public
press, information regarding meetings and through the
irrigation and the reclama- press of information regard-
tion and settlement of the ing irrigation, and the rec-
arid public domain, and the lamation and settlement of
possibilities of better agricul- the arid public domain, and
ture through intensive farm- the possibilities of better ag-
ing, riculture through irrigation

and intensive farming, and
the need for agricultural ed-
ucation and training, and the
creation of rural homes as
national safeguards, and the
encouragement of rural set-
tlement as a remedy for the
social and political evils
threatened by the congestion
of population in large cities.

PUBLICATIONS AND WORK OF THE ASSOCIATION.

Three or more periodicals have been published
wholly or in part by the association during the past two
or three years. The "National Advocate" has under-
gone numerous changes and it is now known by the
catching title of "The Homemaker," published in
Washington, D. C. ''Maxwell's Talisman," another
monthly, is published in Chicago and mailed from 1707
Fisher building. The third is a co-operative affair
known as "Forestry and Irrigation," also published in
Washington. It might be supposed that with all this
printed matter distributed to men of influence, the
program of the association would have but little op-
position. The trouble with the publications has been
that Mr. Maxwell has taken advantage of the liberty
given him to air his personal grievances and criticise
those who differed with him, rather than maintain such
a position as would appeal to the judgment of the
reader. He has also had some difficulty in explaining
satisfactorily his reasons for changing his attitude upon
several public questions and in accounting for the
means whereby his propaganda is able to carry on
such an expensive campaign. These questions would
not have arisen if his work had been carried on in the

open, as could have been done if Mr. Jiaxwell believed
that those who furnished the funds for his campaign
would indorse fully the policies of the association.

In addition to the publications, the association has
carried on work in various fields. Converting eastern
congressmen to the theories of the association has been
one of the duties to which Mr. Maxwell has assidu-
ously devoted himself. His methods for carrying on this
campaign have been interesting to the looker-on and
anything but pleasant from the standpoint of a dil-
atory congressman. Should a representative of the
people fail to at once fall in with the plans of Mr. Max-
well, the Washington end of the fight is not considered
and all efforts are directed towards securing an indorse-
ment from constituents. Commercial and labor organ-
izations of the various towns of the district receive
notice that the chairman of the executive committee of
the National Irrigation Association desires to speak
before the bodies and arrangements are generally made
for this purpose. Resolutions, always ready, are intro-
duced, and, as a rule, indorsed. These are not slow
in reaching the congressman, much to his dissatisfac-
tion.

Labor organizations, which have been
freely called upon for this service, have often
adopted resolutions at Mr. Maxwell's solicita-
tion when they are arrayed against the cor-
porations which furnish the fnnds for his
campaign.

Many letters have also been sent out from Wash-
ington and Chicago, having for their object the direc-
tion of sentiment in favor of the policies of the associa-
tion. Newspapers have been looked after, and early
in the campaign much of the material provided by
the press bureau was published. Of recent years, how-
ever, as the purpose of the organization has become more
widely known, this matter has been deposited in the
waste-basket. The articles thus gratuitously furnished
have varied greatly in character, but all have some
"moral" of value to the association or those benefiting
indirectly from its work. The papers of the east, where
irrigation is not generally understood, and where the
importance of the articles published has not been ap-
preciated, have fallen comparatively easy victims to this
press agency. None of the articles, as would "be!:sup-
posed, deal with the responsibility which Congress has
imposed on the states by the acts already referred to.
Cn the contrary, the states and territories have been
cautioned not to enact comprehensive irrigation laws
lest government construction might be interfered with.
No stress has been laid on the duty the states owe the
individual irrigator who is already on the ground.

MEMBERSHIP AND FUNDS.

THE AGE has already referred to the membership
of the association. Mr. Maxwell refuses to furnish a
list of the members, and as they are scattered over
the country, it is difficult to obtain it in any other way.
We have learned to our satisfaction that the membership
approximated 2,000 in the balmy days of the association
and each member" contributed $5.00 per year to the
treasury, over which Mr. Maxwell has been the watch-
dog. The president of the association has been a figure-
head, all business having been transacted by the chair-
man of the executive committee, Mr. Maxwell. The
funds have gone for various purposes, but chiefly to the
publication of the organs through which the association
has attempted to "educate the west" as to the proper
national irrigation policy. It has cost something to

202

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

secure members for the association, and commissions
have been given to persons who have been able and will-
ing to do this kind of work. We have talked with men
who have been so engaged and we believe that it would
bo almost impossible to add to the present list of mem-
bers even if greater inducements were to be held out.
We are confident that but few new members will ever
be secured in the west.

Besides the funds, derived from the membership,
the transcontinental railroads have placed $30,000 per
year at the disposal of Mr. Maxwell and his colleagues.
This has gone largely to support the Washington press
bureau and the publications sent out from that place.
Mr. Maxwell's expenses and salary are probably paid
from the same fund. We assume that an account of
the expenditures under this voluntary contribution from
the railroads is furnished them by Mr. Maxwell, but
this has nothing to do with the funds brought in by the
association. It has been impossible to learn what kind
of financial arrangements have been made by the associ-
ation, no statement as to receipts and expenditures hav-
ing been published. The members of the association,
as far as we have been able to discover, know as much
regarding this as does the public at large. The Irriga-
tion Congress and other organizations make all such
matters public and we see no reason why, if the Nation-
al Irrigation Association stands for anything that
should receive the indorsement of the people interested
in irrigation, it should not do the same.

The statement has been made, and in good faith,
that the National Irrigation Association is connected
with the Irrigation Congress, but we take the ground
that no relation exists. There would have been no oc-
casion for such a belief if the Congress had not accepted,
through Mr. Maxwell's influence, the members of the
association as accredited delegates. We believe that
the time has arrived when the Congress should be com-
posed of men other than those who may feel disposed
to pay $5.00 per year towards the support of Mr. Max-
well. The members of the association, if they so de-
sire, will have no trouble in securing other credentials
and thus lessen the possibility of confusing the two
organizations.

That Mr. Maxwell has used this large sum of
money to further selfish schemes to the detriment of the
irrigation interests of the country can not be doubted ;
that the transcontinental railways, have not, as yet,
been reimbursed for their outlay is evident. As long as
their present agent represents them we believe that
neither they nor the western farmer will be able to re-
ceive any direct benefit.

During the summer of 1901 it seemed that some-
thing would be done in the next Congress looking to-
ward the reclamation of the west. Those interested in
the matter in the various states of the arid region
naturally desired to see a plan drawn up at an early date
which might be indorsed generally. A meeting was
called therefore by the state engineers of a number of
the states and all congressmen who found it convenient
joined these officers at the time and place designated.
The argument of the engineers was that the people of
the states of the west were best informed as to the needs
of those states and that if the funds received from the
sale and rental of public lands could be devoted to the
construction of canals and reservoirs the state engineers
should be intrusted with the work. There are many
strong reasons why this would have been a good policy
and -we are not prepared to say that the government

can carry on construction work to as good advantage
as can the states where wise and comprehensive irriga-
tion laws have been provided. Water uelongs to or is
under control of the states. State engineers are ac-
quainted -with the needs of the various districts where
irrigation is practiced and would therefore be able to
locate works where the greatest good might be accom-
plished. These officers understand the water right
complications of the state and have an interest in the
welfare of their own commonwealth that cannot be
equalled by an officer of the general government. The
lands from which the funds arise are now located in the
states to be benefited and their disposal depends some-
what upon the character of the administration of any
reclamation service. Should the government require
that the states must first organize offices to supervise
the diversion and division of water before aid would be
extended, much of the injustice now being done the
irrigator would be ended and the state would be in a
position to prosecute construction work immediately
thereafter. Above all the policy of the reclamation
.service could not be dictated by one man as it is at
present.

While the meeting of the state engineers and con-
gressmen was in progress, Mr. Maxwell appeared and
condemned the policy in vigorous terms. He saw that
that if the work should be divided in this way his influ-
ence with those in charge would be diminished, if not
altogether destroyed. The object of the meeting was
primarily to enable those interested to exchange ideas,
but when adjournment was taken it was agreed that
western congressmen should be called for a conference
before Congress convened in December, 1901. This
conference was to be held in Washington. Mr. Maxwell
also appeared there and had a part in framing the bill
which was submitted to Congress. Because the bill dirt
not suit him in some respects he instituted an active
fight against its passage during the late winter and early
spring months of the following year. He was finally
called into line in a way that has not, as yet, been ex-
plained, and since the passage of the bill he has appeared
to indorse it in every particular.

[To be continued.]

"DISILLUSIONED."
A poet came from 'way back East

Unto the glorious West,
Whose charms, he claimed, had ne'er by pen

In fitting garb been dressed.

He wrote of mountains, mesa, butte;

He sang of azure skies,
Whose blue he likened to the blue

Of the western girl's bright eyes.

His noblest effort, so he thought,

Was on a murmuring stream
That rippled 'tween alfalfa banks,

A sweet, soft-slumbering dream.

He took this to his western maid.

She laughed — the little witch —
And cried: "That stream? Ha! ha! Why, that's

Dad's irrigating ditch!"

— Florence Ansley Perkins in Sunset Magazine.

THE IRRIGATION AGE for 1 year and The Primer
of Irrigation, a 300-page handsomely bound book for
$1.50. Send in subscription now.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

203

RECLAMATION OF ARID AMERICA.

Imperial Settlements.

BY o. M. M'KINNEY,

/

G. M. McKINXEV.

GENERAL IMMIGRATION AGENT SOUTHERN PACIFIC
RAILWAY.

During the month of September, 1902, I was called
upon to make an examination of a piece of territory
known as the Colorado Delta, lying some 80 miles from
Yuma, Arizona, known as the Imperial Settlements,
irrigated by the Imperial Canal. I had known this terri-
tory for years as a
great desert, and the
opinion of many who
claimed to be experts
along the lines of irri-
gation, regarded it as
, practically irreclaima-
Ible. This piece of ter-
1 ritory consists of 500,-
'000 acres of land in
San Diego county,
Cal., and 300,000
acres in Mexico, just
south of the California
line, or along the
United States bound-
ary line that divides
the United States from the Republic of Mexico.
Originally this piece of territory was the great set-
tling basin of the Colorado river, and for many cen-
turies has been constantly replenished by organic
matter and silt from the annual overflows of this
great river. For many years the scientific men of
our country have disagreed as to what use could
be best made of this great basin, which lies from sea
level to 350 feet below it. Some advised the construc-
tion of a canal from the Colorado river thus allowing it
to fill with fresh water for the benefit of commerce.
Others thought it best to cut a canal from the Gulf of
California to the Saltoun Basin, thus making an inland
sea, 50 miles in width and some hundred miles in length.
None of these ideas, however, materialized. It
was my province during the year 1890 to become
acquainted professionally with a gentleman who had
long been identified with the reclamation of the arid
lands of the West. The gentleman referred to is C.
B. Rockwood, who in recent years has accomplished
the niost wonderful results through his thorough knowl-
^dge of irrigation, his foresight, good judgment and
close application to business. The reclamation of arid
lands being the business of his life. I had not heard
from Mr. Rockwood for many years, except incidentally,
as he had been employed by our Government in Porto
Rico, and by indiivdual corporations throughout var-
ious points in the West, as consulting engineer. I was
agreeably surprised, however, to find Mr. Rockwood
located in the Colorado Delta with headquarters at
Calexico, a new town on the American side near the
Mexican border some 70 miles Southwest of Yuma
in full charge of the Imperial canal. Under him were
several large corps of engineers, grading outfits and
steam shovels and dredges, all fully equipped for the
prosecution of their work in estimating, surveying, and
constructing canals, laterals, and reservoirs for the rec-
lamation of this vast territory from the Colorado river
west to the Salton basin, a distance of 100 miles.

Mr. Rockwood conceived the idea of reclaiming this
vast territory early in '92 and worked unceasingly,
encountering untold difficulties and discouragements.
An occasional capitalist would become interested soon
to get discouraged and drop out of the proposition.
Believing, however, that the reclamation of this terri-
tory would prove one of the greatest acquisitions to
agriculture that had ever been developed in the known
world, he continued to prosecute his work with that
tenacity of purpose which has invariably crowned the

VIEW OF THE MAIN CANAL.

efforts of enterprising men, and today Mr. Rockwood
stands at the head of this great enterprise, the master
workman reaping the benefit and rewards of this great
effort through those years of discouragement.

I will say in this connection that A. H. Heber,
president of the Imperial Canal Co., stood by Mr. Rock-

FIRST CATLE RANCH IN IMPERIAL.

wood through all those years of discouragement, hav-
ing implicit faith in his judgment, and 1 can without
reservation say that these two gentlemen stand at the
head of one of the greatest and most successful enter-

204

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

prises that has ever been perfected in our country in
all its history. The Imperial canal is the largeest of
its kind in the known world. The headgate or intake
of this canal is located in the west bank of the Colo-
rado river, four miles west of Yuma. It is 125 feet on
its base, ten feet below the lowest water mark of the
Colorado river, with a solid stone foundation, all sub-

BARLEY CROP AT IMPERIAL.

stantially built of solid concrete. From the intake the
canal runs in a southerly direction along the west bank
of the Colorado river until it reaches what is known as
the old bed of the Salton. From this point the canal
takes a westerly direction to the Imperial Settlements.
Today the present canal with its laterals, reservoirs and
settling basins, is over 400 miles in length and com-
pleted at an expenditure of several millions of dollars.
There is no question as to the successful future of the
Imperial Settlements. In no place in the reclaimed
districts of the West where lands have been brought
under successful irrigation have I found such a variety
of agricultural products maturing perfectly. Vegetable
products of every character, wheat, barley, oats, rye, rice,
cotton, alfalfa, sugar beets, corn, kaffir corn, broom corn,
Egyptian corn, milo maze, millet, sorghum, tomatoes,

HEAD GATE OF CANAL NEAR YUMA.

melons, beans, okra, peppers, all reaching a perfect
growth and maturity. I speak authoritatively from the
fact that I went over the entire district and learned
that by actual producers it was estimated that as
much as 30 tons of sorghum, milo maze, and kaffir
corn was grown to the acre, while alfalfa was cut as
many as six times, yielding from a ton to a ton and

one-half per acre. So it is a foregone conclusion that,
as a forage producing territory, it will have no su-
perior in the United States. Hogs and cattle are be-
ing shipped into the Imperial country from Califor-
nia and Arizona in large quantities. And it is a fore-
gone conclusion that the Imperial country will in the
very near future become one of the greatest feeding
countries of the Southern Pacific coast.

The barley fields of the Imperial Settlements

VIEW OF MAIN CANAL, IMPERIAL.

yielded from 50 to 75 bushels per acre. Early vegetables
such as cantaloupes, melons, okra, peppers and tomatoes
making marvelous yields, and melon growers at the pres-
ent time can place their product on the market in
large quantities earlier than any other part of the United
States, and they can be shipped to any po'rtion of our

ALFALFA FIELD, IN IMPERIAL.

country without difficulty. Near the headgate of the
Imperial canal there are a nmnber of date palm trees,
and I had the pleasure of exhibiting the first bunch of
ripe dates ever shown in this country in our Chicago
office, and the date expert for the agricultural depart-
ment of the United States is authority for the state-
ment that this is the only place known in America
where the most delicate varieties of the date palm "the
Neglettnoor date," will perfect its fruit. This is a
desert date and is imported to the United States only
in small quantities and sells readily here at 50 cents

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

205

per pound. Same authority also states that a date
orchard can be brought into bearing in six years' time,
and at the end of that time will yield fruit that will
pay interest on the investment of $2,000 per acre.

CUTTING SORGHUM CROP AT IMPERIAL.

Sugar beet has been thoroughly tried. I had in my
office sugar beets grown in the Imperial Settlements
that weighed as high as 13 pounds each, and never
have I known sugar beets to thrive and mature as

BAILING HAY IN IMPERIAL.

they mature under the Imperial canal, and it is my
opinion that it will become one of the best sugar beet
sections in the United States. It has been estimated
by experts that this country can support ten or more

f

MILLET CROP HARVESTED. WITH SORGHUM IN
DISTANCE, IMPERIAL

sugar beet factories equal to the one at Oxnard, Cal.,
and the seasons are much longer for the production of
sugar beets in this territory than in any other part
of our country. Settlers are coming into this country

rapidly and the Imperial people have sold, water for
over 200,000 acres of this land up to the present writing.

The towns established along the new lines of rail-
way and in various parts of the territory are already
becoming business centers. Banks, stores, telephone
systems, telegraph systems, newspapers, ice and refrig-
erating plants and power plants of various kinds, schools
and churches, all have been established within the short
space of two years. The Southern Pacific Railroad has
completed a branch line from the town of Imperial to its
main line, leaving the same at Old Beach Station, 70
miles west of Yuma.

To give the reader an idea of the business-like
methods that the company has pursued that constructed
this great canal. Recognizing the fact that it was de-

CUTTING B \RLEY IN IMPERIAL SETTLEMENTS.

sirable that the owners of the land should own and con-
trol the irrigated systems and water rights, a system of
mutual water companies was incorporated, under the
laws of California, the stock of which company should

HOGS AT IMPERIAL.

be owned by the owners of the land to be irrigated on
the basis of one share to every acre of land. These com-
panies to obtain their supply of water from the Imperial
canal at a fixed price, which price enabled the irri-
gators to get the best water in arid America, consid-
ering the fact that an abundance of water could be
had every day in the year. These mutual water com-
panies were incorporated to furnish water to their stock-
holders only, so that those who locate on these lands
fully understand that to become a stockholder in these
mutual companies, it is absolutely necessary that they
become absolute owners of the water. These mutual
water companies were incorporated to furnish water to

206

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

their stockholders only, so that those who locate on
thes lands fully understand that to become a stockholder
in these mutual companies it is absolutely necessary that
they become absolute owners of the water. These mutual
companies were also put on an equal footing as regards
cost of stock and cost of water, so that there was no
cents per acre foot, which is equal to about 2 cents
per inch for 24 hours' flow. The owner of the land
is entitled to receive four acre feet for every acre of
land for which he owns water stock should he need
the same, but he is required to take at least one acre
foot of water per annum for each acre every year. Each
mutual water company owns its own distributing sys-

FLOODING THE LAND AT IMPERIAL.

terns of water and manages that system for distrib-
uting the water under its own control among its stock-
holders.

As these lands are all held by the Government and
subject to delivery under the Desert Land Law of the
United States, the individual can locate 40, 80, 160,
or 320 acres, as the case may be, by paying the United
States Government $1.25 per acre for the land, and
can purchase a perpetual water right for the same from

1

A FIELD. IX MILO MAIZE. .

the mutual water companies in the district that these
lands may be located in at $15:00 per acre on easy pay-
ments ; $2.50 a share at the time of purchase and $2.50
per share on the first day of January of each year until
possibility arising as to priority to right, as there is
more than water enough for all. Up to date there has
been six water companies incorporated, covering 360,000

acres of land. Each of these companies has a con-
tract with the Imperial Canal Company whereby it is
to receive perpetually from the main Imperial canal
water for as many acres of land each season as it has
outstanding sales of stock at the uniform price of 50
piid, with 5 per cent interest on the deferred payments.
There is no question as regards the water supply, as

SOK'JllUM FIELU NE\K l.VIIEKIAL

the Colorado river is a navigable stream, and after this
canal diverts water enough from the river to irrigate
800,000 acres of land the stream will still be navigable.
By actual analysis an acre foot of water taken from
this canal carries a value as a commercial fertilizer
worth $3.42 per acre. Consequently lands irrigated
by these waters must continue to be. fertilized indefi-
nitely.

The climatic conditions in this territory are much
like that of the Salt River Valley in Arizona or the
Sacramento Valley in California. The summers are

CANE GROWN NEAR CALEXICO.

hot and dry, the winters cool and pleasant, and for nine
months in the year 710 more enjoyable climate can be
found anywhere in the world. This fact alone will
eventually make it one of the most popular resorts on
the Pacific coast.

In conclusion I will say that it was the marvel
of the age and it only proves what I have long believed
— that in the near future the arid regions of the West
will become the most prosperous and most thickly popu-
lated districts in the United States, as the wealth pro-
ducing power of the average irrigated lands where the
'water supply is 'ample, is equal to that of any por-
tion of the Mississippi valley multiplied by five, where
natural moisture is relied upon.

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

207

WESTERN KANSAS IRRIGATION ASSOCIATION.

REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS OF IRRIGATION CONVENTION,
GARDEN CITY, KANSAS.

This is a new association organized "for the pro-
motion of practical irrigation." A convention of repre-
sentative farmers and business men of the Arkansas
valley met at Garden City, Kansas, April 16 and 17,
and the above organization was the result.

There was nothing "political" in the convention,
and its labors from beginning to end were actuated by
public-spirited motives, and the public welfare. I. L.
Diesem was chairman and the convention was addressed
by numerous practical men. The Eepublican and
Democratic candidates for congress addressed the con-
vention and other noted persons also spoke, among them
Senator Dumont Smith, Professor C. T. Johnson from
Wyoming, Captain Hall of Syracuse, W. B. Hopkins of
Garden City, Victor Murdock of Wichita, Thomas Lloyd
of Bocky Ford, Colo., General Booth-Tucker, and Cap-
tain Hoiland. Vandergriff Turner of Wichita, by means
of a chart illustrated his plan of using the underflow,
by means of a large well and pipes for two
or three miles, carrying water to the surface, to
be distributed over the lands. The persons in
attendance are very enthusiastic in their ideas of
the possibility of the underflow, and seem to be almost
unanimous in believing it is the only successful plan
for permanent irrigation, and it only remains to develop
some plan to bring it to the surface, at a reasonable
cost. One of the objects of the convention is to assist
in devising some plan to accomplish this purpose, also
to get the government interested in reservoirs where
there is no underflow.

General Booth-Tucker and Captain Holland were
not on the programme, but their addresses were of par-
ticular interest on account of the relation to their irri-
gation and colonization experiment. General Booth-
Tucker, before he took up Salvation Army work, was
lieutenant-governor of a British province in India, and
there became familiar with the crude methods and suc-
cess of irrigation in that country. He said if the same
industry and perseverance should be employed in the
Arkansas valley with the modern machinery obtain-
able here one million persons might be settled in the
Arkansas valley between Garden City and Eocky Ford.
This region, he declared, with proper energy and small
farming, ought to sustain a family on every acre. What
if, needed are men and money, live people and more
cash to settle these people. Colonization is the hand-
maid of irrigation. Four hundred persons have settled
at Amity since the colony was established five years ago.
They are good families and getting on well.

TWENTY-ACRE FARMS.

Every family, the general said, has twenty acres
and a home, and the head of every family possesses
from $4,000 to $5,000. All this was accomplished
within five years. The Salvation Army has spent $150,-
000 to establish this colony, but it will all come back.
It costs about $500 to settle a family in the colony,
and the colonists do the rest. One-half the colonists
are children and they are useful in weeding sugar beets.
The colony maintains an orphanage. If the army had
the money it could easily settle 50,000 persons in the
valley. The army bought 2,000 acres and divided it
into small farms.

General Booth-Tucker believes in small farms and
intense cultivation. The army sells the land at $40 an

acre. Town lots are put up at $300 to $700. This is
high, but the scheme is to keep the people on the farms
Captain Holland spoke of the methods of the col-
ony in detail and said the principal products are sugar
beets, cantaloupes and cucumber seeds.

OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION.

Following are the officers of the association until
the first annual meeting: President, I. L. Diesem, Gar-
den City; vice president, J. C. Starr, Scott City; sec-
retary, C. A. Loucks, Lakin; treasurer, John Hall,
Syracuse ; executive committee, E. M. Lawrence, Garden
City; W. 0. Bourne, Scott City; E. E. Thorp, Lakin;
J. T. Hastings, Cimarron ; I. H. Churchill, Dodge City ;
Paul Eich, Coolidge; A. A. Barlow, Santa Fe.

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED.

The convention adopted the following resolutions :

In view of the fact that the Dodge City land dis-
trict, of which Southwestern Kansas is a part, has con-
fund segregated and set apart by the Federal Govern-
fund segregated and set apart by the federal govern-
ment for irrigation purposes, we urge our senators and
members in Congress to use their united influence to
secure at an early date the appropriation of a part of
this fund for use in this territory for the building of
storage reservoirs or otherwise as may be determined to
the best interests of irrigation in this vicinity.

We call attention to the splendid results that have
so early been achieved in the Arkansas valley with sugar
beets as a result of the bounty generously granted by
the two preceding legislatures of. the state and hereby
express our gratitude to the members of those two bodies
who supported and voted for these appropriations. VVe
call attention to the fact that the foundation for a great
and growing industry has so cheaply been laid, diver-
sifying and extending our resources, enabling us to sup-
port- a larger population and to add to the wealth of the
state.

Believing that in the economical utilization of the
great Arkansas river underflow lie the greatest future
results to this valley, and realizing that it is impossible
to enlist private capital in any untried experiments
looking to that end ; and believing that with the expen-
diture of a limited sum it would be possible to demon-
strate the practicability of a plan to bring this underflow
to the surface by gravity or otherwise, thus insuring a
water supply for the whole valley, we urge the next
legislature to make an appropriation for that purpose
to be expended under the direction of competent engin-

eers.

THE KANSAS-COLORADO WATER CASE.

Senator Frederick Dumont Smith explained to the
convention the purpose of the suit of the state of Kan-
sas against the sate of Colorado over the right to use
the waters of the Arkansas river. The convention feared
that the suit might affect the farmers living in the
valley east of the state line, but Senator Smith relieved
them of this apprehension. He said :

"The suit of the state of Kansas against the state
or Colorado is a bill in equity for a permanent injunc-
tion against Colorado, restraining that state from grant-
ing any more charters or other rights to take water out
of the Arkansas river. The suit will not affect any
ditch now existing, appropriation of water now effected
or water rights now vested. It will not affect the rights
of any riparian owner. It is to prevent the taking of
water from now on, not for riparian lands, but for
lands back on the upland, wholly non-riparian in char-

208

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

acter, and many miles from the river, depriving true
riparian owners in Kansas of the water to which they
are entitled for the benefit of non-riparian owners in
Colorado. This is the whole gist of the suit."

The convention was attended by delegates repre-
senting a large number of counties, and the subject of
irrigation before it attracted a great audience of persons
interested in the matter personally.

The association's annual meeting will be in Gar-
den City in October, and all irrigation companies, cities,
commercial clubs and counties will be entitled to rep-
resentation.

WYOMING LANDS WITHDRAWN.

On April 25 the commissioner of the General Land
Office has issued orders temporarily withdrawing from
entry in connection with proposed irrigation enterprises
about 368,000 acres of public land located in the Buffalo
and Lander land office districts of Wyoming.

DECISION IN SALT RIVER VALLEY RESERVOIR
CASE.

The Secretary of the Interior, on April 24th, de-
cided the various points in the controversy among land
owners in the Salt river valley in Arizona, over the
terms on which thry may secure water from the big
reservoir the Government is to build above Phoenix.
The Government having decided that when the reservoir
shall be built, present owners shall have the preference
to water, a dispute arose among those affected as to
whether the Government should deal with them as in-
dividuals or as a community. The Secretary has de-
cided in favor of the community idea. He also holds
that there shall be no preference on account of the
age of accrued water rights, but directs that all land
holders shall stand on the same basis in securing water
from the reservoir. Expenses of maintaining the work
will be distributed in proportion to acreage, and mort-
gages must be given to secure the repayment to the
Government of the funds expended in the construction
of the works.

The ruling in this case establishes important prece-
dents. The proposed reservoir is expected to irrigate
200,000 acres of land available for growing citrus fruits.

We shall have something to say about this decision
in a future issue. — ED.

ACCLIMATIZING WHEAT.

Plants, like animals, may become accustomed to
certain peculiar environments and thrive fairly well.
Mr. Fred Bond, State Engineer of Wyoming, in his last
official report describes some experiments made in Colo-
rado and Wyoming to grow wheat without irrigation.

In 1886 Mr. Robert Gauss advanced the theory that
wheat could be acclimatized and made to thrive under
the arid conditions of Colorado, and some years later
began conducting experiments to test his theory. In
1896 he planted some improved Fife wheat, but secured
at harvesting time but little more than seed enough for
the following year. This seed was planted and the ex-
periment continued each year with better and better
results. In the spring of 1902 Mr. Bond obtained a
pint of this seed and planted one-half near Cheyenne at
an altitude of 6,050 feet above sea level, and the re-
mainder near Buffalo. Johnson county, at an altitude
of 4,700 feet. From' the harvest of the first lot Mr.
Bond obtained 9% pints, a yield of nineteen fold, and
from the second lot 2iy2 pints, or about forty-three fold,
although there had been no irrigation of either lot.
The effective precipitation at Cheyenne had been 6.38
inches and at Buffalo 4.90 inches. — Wyoming Industrial
Journal.

CAPTAIN PORTER'S SUB-IRRIGATION SCHEME.

A SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CAL.., EXPERIMENT.

"I have always cussed the gopher," remarked Cap-
tain Porter, while eating his lunch in Balcom's grocery,
"but I don't do it any more; the gopher is my friend,
and I am in hopes of training him to do systematic
work in a way I have discovered him to be useful. He
beats the band.

"That the gopher is a most indefatigable pest I
have had reason to know, for what that rat left un-
done to my young fig and orange trees, likewise to my
pet beet patch, was not worth mentioning.

"There was one particular one that multiplied him-
self into a regiment of sappers and miners, so it seemed
to me, and every morning an investigation disclosed
a fine tree lying over on its side, or a choice beet pulled
down to the top of its leaves

"I studied the habits of the rascal, and finally hit
upon a plan to utilize his extensive underground oper-
ations. I saw him several times, but as he could easily
dodge a bullet or a load of shot, I could not exter-
minate him by the weapons of war. Hence the idea
that occurred to me as the only way to get rid of him.
By running a ramrod into the ground here and there, I
found that there was not a spot of ground two feet
square that was riot crossed by a branch of the net work
of tunnels my gentleman had constructed for the pur-
pose of reaching succulent roots. 'So,' said I to myself,
'if I can find and stop up the outlets I will have him
sure.' They were found and hermetically sealed with
broken cobbles and earth. Then I turned the hose into
the upper end and emptied a three thousand-gallon
tank of water into the runways.

"I persevered for several days, to the great benefit
of the young trees and beets by a novel method of sub-
irrigation Mr. Gopher emigrated to a dry climate, I
presume; at least I have never had any more com-
plaints to make against him, but I hope he will come
back and do some more tunneling. This might not
work on a large scale, nor in a prairie dog village, for
there are some runways that would exhaust the Missis-
sippi river and a few of its branches before any appre-
ciable diminution of rats would be noticed. However,
the waste energies of nature are being utilized to so
great an extent, that I expect soon to hear of 'trained
gophers' for tunnel work in sub-irrigation schemes."

THE IKEIGATION AGE.

209

THE PRIMER OF IRRIGATION.

BY D. H. ANDERSON.

COPYRIGHT. 1903, BY D. H. ANDERSON.

CHAPTER II.

PARTICULAR SOILS, AND THEIR ADAPTATION
VARIETIES OF PLANTS.

TO

Although this book is intended to apply exclusively
to irrigation, that is, the artificial application of water
to lands deprived of a sufficient rain fall to raise a crop,
such as the arid and semi-arid lands, which constitute so
vast a portion of our western country, yet, as all arable
or fertile soils in whatever part of the world they may
be, must contain certain elements necessary to plant life,
an inquiry into the specific nature of soils will supply
whatever information may be needed to till irrig-
able lands, as successfully as those where a rain fall
may be depended upon to raise a crop. It is even pos-
sible that such information may be of greater practical
value, because the elements in the soil and the crop itself,
are under better control and management when the
ncessary water is in an irrigating ditch, than when it is
in a cloud beyond control.

As a matter of .fact, there is very little difference in
soils as such, wherever they may exist. All of them are
capable of producing some variety of plant life, unless
absolutely barren on account of the absence of plant
food, as the Desert of Sahara, for instance, or by reason
of an excess of the elements essential to plant life, as
our so-called "alkali lands." But, when it comes to the
comparative quantities of organic and inorganic ele-
ments to be found in all soils, there is a vast difference,
particularly when crops of a certain kind are to be suc-
cessfully raised.

It was stated in the last chapter that soil consists of
inorganic and organic elements. The inorganic ma-
terial being decomposed rocks and minerals ; to be more
precise, such as were never endowed with life, and the
organic material consisting of decomposed vegetable
matter, which once possessed some form of life, both of
which elements are absolutely necessary to grow any
kind of plant.

A little experiment, which any one can perform,
will make this clear to the reader. When any veget-
able substance is heated to redness in the open air, no
matter whether it be a peach or a potato, a strawberry or
a squash, a handful of straw or a beautiful rose, the
whole of the so-called organic elements, which are car-
bon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, are burned away
and disappear, but there remains behind an "ash" com-
posed of potash, soda, lime, magnesia, iron, etc., which
does not burn, and which, in most cases, does not under-
go any diminution when exposed to a much greater heat.
It is this "ash" which constitutes the inorganic portion
of plants.

The predominance of certain of these substances,
which, it was stated in the last chapter, are absorbed
from the soil by the operation of plant life, is what en-
ables agriculturists to give certain names to various
kinds of soils, which names, however, are of very little
practical importance, except to enable a farmer to specify
which of them are best adapted to the varieties of plants
he desires to raise.

So far as these inorganic substances are concerned,
they must exist in the soil in such quantities as easily to

yield to the plant, so much of each one as the kind of
plant specifically requires. If they be rare, the plant
sickens and dies just the same as does an animal when
deprived of its necessary food. The same thing will
happen if the organic food supplied the plant by the
vegetable matter in the soil be wholly withdrawn. It
should be noted, however, that a plant will sometimes
substitute one inorganic element for another, if it does
not find exactly what it requires, as soda for potash, the
tendency of every plant being to grow to perfection if it
possibly can do so. This matter will be treated at length
in the chapter on "Plant Foods."

The following table of the essential inorganic ele-
ments found in soils will prove useful and well worth
study. The first column gives the scientific, technical
name of the elementary bodies; the second column the
elements or substances they combine with, and the third
column contains the result of the combinations, that is,
the various substances ready to form salts which enter
into the life of the plant.

ELEMENTARY BODY
Chlorine.
Iodine
Sulphur
Sulphur
Sulphur
Phosphorus
Potassium
Potassium
Sodium
Sodium

Calcium

Calcium

Magnesium

Aluminum

Silicon

Iron and )

Manganese )

COMBINES WITH

FORMING

Metals Chlorides.

Metals Iodides.

Metals Sulphurets.

Hydrogen Sulphuretted Hydrogen.

Oxygen Sulphuric Acid.

Oxygen Phosphoric Acid.

Oxygen Potash.

Chlorine Chloride of Potassium.

Oxygen Soda.

Chlorine Chloride of Sodium,

Common salt.

Chlorine Chloride of Calcium.

Oxygen Lime.

Oxygen Magnesia.

Oxygen Alumina.

Oxygen Silica.

Oxygen < Oxides.

Sulphur ( Sulphurets.

or

All the above elementary substances, except sul-
phur, exist only in a state of combination with other sub-
stances, principally oxygen, and are found only in the
soil, in no combination are they generally diffused
through the atmosphere, so as to be capable of entering
into the life of the plant through the leaves, or those
portions above the ground. Hence, they must be taken
up by the roots of plants, for which reason they are said-
to be the necessary constituents of a soil in which plants
are expected to grow.

The enormous quantity of inorganic matter in soil
may be estimated by a simple calculation. Out of five
hundred samples of soil gathered from different parts
of the world, the average weight of a cubic foot, wet,
has been found to be 126.6 pounds. Now, let us ascer-
tain how many pounds of mineral, or metallic salts exist
in an acre of soil, say eight inches deep, the usual tilled
depth, or surface soil ; of the subsoil, we shall speak
later on. We shall give the chemical analysis of an ordi-
nary alluvial, or river bottom soil, such as is common in
the western lands. The first column gives the name of
the mineral, and the figures in the second column the
parts of the mineral in an agreed one hundred parts,
and the third column the weight of each substance in
the surface soil eight inches deep :

Elementary bodies and their combinations Percentage We'ght in pound

Silica and fine sand 87.143 3,203,781+

Alumina 5.666 208,308+

Oxides of Iron 2.220 81,617+

Oxide of Magnesia 0.360 13,235+

Lime 0.564 20,735+

Magnesia 0.312 1 1,470+

210

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Potash combined with Silica 0.120

Soda combined with Silica 0.025

Phosphoric Acid combined with Lime

and Oxide of Iron 0.060

Sulphuric Acid in Gypsum 0.027

Chlorine in common Salt 0.036

Carbonic Acid united to the Lime.... 0.080

Humic Acid 1.304

Insoluble Humus 1.072

Organic substances containing Nitro-
gen i.on

Total Inorganic and Organic sub-
stances ioo.

4,4" +
919+

2,205+

992+

1,323+

2,941 +

47,941+

39,4"+

37,i69+

3,676,464

It should be remembered that these immense quan-
tities are contained in only eight inches of top soil, and
that twelve inches, or one foot of soil, which is about
the depth before reaching the subsoil, woiild contain
a total of inorganic and organic matter equal to 5,514,-
696 pounds, or 2,757 and one-third tons.

The calculation is made by multiplying 43,560, the
number of square feet in an acre, by 126.6. pounds, the
estimated average weight of one cubic foot of wet soil,
which gives the weight of one acre twelve inches deep.
Then dividing by twelve, we get the weight of an acre
one inch deep. To ascertain the weight of eight inches,
we have only to multiply by eight inches, and again mul-
tiply by the number of parts of any organic or inorganic
matter to ascertain the exact weight of that particular
matter in the acre, thus :

43,560x126.6=5,514.696 pounds per acre one foot deep.

5,514,696+12=459,558 pounds per acre one inch deep.

459,558x0.120=551.46960 pounds of Potash in one inch
acre.

551.46960x8=4,411 pounds of Potash in acre eight inches
deep.

Five right hand figures must be cut off, three for
the decimal places and two more because the calculation
is based on a percentage of one hundred parts.

The average weight of a cubic foot of dry soil, ac-
cording to the foregoing estimate, based upon the tests
taken in the cases of five hundred soils collected from
various places on the globe, is 94.58 pounds, which will
make the dry soil acre eight inches deep weigh 2,715,792
pounds, a difference in weight between wet and dry soils
of 960,672 pounds per acre eight inches deep, which,
of course, represents the weight of water.

This information will prove of value in considering
the question of applying water to the soil. As a rule,
the proportions of inorganic and organic matter remain
about the same, except that the application of water by
irrigation adds to the quantity in soluble matter car-
ried to the soil, which is greater in the case of irrigation
than when rain is depended upon, humus and salts in
solution being carried in the ditch water.

ORGANIC MATTER IN THE SOIL.

By referring back to the test table of a specimen
soil, it will be noticed that the first twelve substances
are "inorganic," and the three last "organic." It will
also be noticed that the proportion of inorganic matter
is vastly greater than that of the organic. It is necessary
that this should be so, for the organic matter is the
"active" principle, the dynamic force, and the inorganic
matter the "passive" principle. If the proportions were
reversed, the inorganic matter would react upon and
destroy itself, and as it could not be replaced very well,
there would soon be an end to the growth of plants.
Hence, nature provides a store-house of raw material, so
to speak, to be utilized in the manufacture of plant food,
and it is practically inexhaustible, the subsoil, for an un-

limited depth, containing all the ingredients necessary to
restore the top soil should it become jaded and unre-
sponsive to the demands of cultivation and fertility, if
the farmer will take the trouble to dig down after them
and bring them to the surface.

Moreover, the inorganic elements in the soil are
permanent. They are insoluble except when acted upon
by the acids formed through the chemical action of the
organic matter, and the vital force exercised by the
growing plant.

In the table of specimen soil, given on another page,
the percentage of inorganic matter passes 95 per
centum, while the organic matter is about three and
one-half per cent. Yet that particular soil is a fertile
one, in which it is possible to produce a good crop of
any kind of plant. It is only an analysis, it is true, and
a chemical analysis is not always to be depended upon,
because there are so many unknown and mysterious ap-
plications of the laws of nature, but there are many
things to be said in favor of ascertaining what ingredi-
ents the soil does contain, approximately, if not with
rigorous exactitude. It gives the practical farmer valu-
able information in the form of suggestions for the im-
provement of the soil. It enables him to remedy the
defects in his land by the application of substances it
needs, and, what is equally of value, it enables him to
avoid adding to the soil what he knows it already con-
tains, and will put him upon the search for substances
it does need. Moreover, an analysis will indicate to the
farmer whether a certain soil is capable or not of pro-
ducing a good, profitable crop of certain plants, and
save him from losing his time, labor, and money by
planting a crop which can not grow to perfection be-
cause of some defect in plant food necessary to plant life.
In other words, the farmer will know what to do with
his land without guessing, or trying expensive experi-
ments. This is not "Book farming," it is common
sense.

The reader has already discovered that the inorganic
elements consist of decomposed rocks and minerals,
which have assumed a variety of forms by combining
with one another, and now he has reached a point which
is the foundation of plant life, being that other essential
in all soils, the organic elements, which must exist in a
greater or less proportion. This organic matter con-
sists of decayed animal and vegetable substances, some-
times in brown or black fibrous particles, many of which,
on close examination, show something of the original
structure of the objects from which they have been de-
rived ; sometimes forming only a brown powder inter-
mixed with the mineral matters of the soil, sometimes;
entirely void of color and soluble in water. In soils
which appear to consist of pure sand, clay, or chalk, or-
ganic matter in this latter form may often be detected
in considerable quantities.

In the table already given, the percentage of Humic
acid, Insoluble Humus, and organic substances contain-
ing Nitrogen, is given as 3.387 per centum, a very small
quantity apparently, but really amounting to 124,521
pounds or 62/4 tons, in a top layer of soil eight inches
deep, covering one acre of land. A quantity sufficient
to supply crops with essential matter for plant food dur-
ing many years without manuring.

This vegetable matter is the result of vegetable de-
composition, a decay which means fermentation ending
in putrefaction, a purely chemical process. Whence it
is said : Growth is a living process ; death, or decay, a

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

211

chemical process. Putrefaction is the silent and on-
ward march of decay, its goal being humic acid, which
in its turn produces life. The saying of that great physi-
cian of the past centuries, Paracelsus, may be aptly
quoted here: "Putrefaction is the first step to life."
Everything travels in a circle in the vegetable as well
as in the animal kingdom : The egg, or germ must
first putrefy to produce an animal, and the seed, or plant
germ, must first putrefy before there can be any living
plant.

It has been said that various names have been given
soils, according to the predominating mineral of which
.they are composed, but in reality, there are only three
great varieties of soil: sand, clay and loam, the latter
being a mixture of granite sand and clay. The great
distinctions in the scale of soils, may be said to be sand
and clay, all other varieties proceeding from mixtures
of these with each other. Now, the sand may be silice-
ous, or calcareous, that is, composed of silicates or lime.
By clay is meant the common clay abounding every-
where, and composed of about thirty-six parts of Ahim-
ina, 68 parts of Silica, Oxide of Iron, and Salts of Lime,
and Alkalies, 6 parts. A sandy clay soil is clay and
sand, equal parts; clay loam is three fourths clay and
one fourth sand; peat soil is nearly all humus, which
we have seen is vegetable matter decomposed, decayed
or putrefied; garden, or vegetable mold is eight per
cent humus, the rest being silica, and the other mineral
substances; arable land is three per cent humus. There
are, in addition to these varieties of soil, several special
varieties which are fortunately not general, and there-
fore, need not be more than referred to. They are those
peculiar conditions found in the "black waxy," "bad
lands," "hard pan," upon which, nothing short of dyna-
mite will make any impression so far as discovered, and
the "tules," which are common to California, but are
extraordinarily fertile when reclaimed, being similar to
peat bogs without the disadvantages of the latter, and
that are known as "swamp" or "marsh lands." When
it comes to "desert lands" in the sense of the Acts of
Congress, they lack only water to make them as fertile
as any lands in the world. They will be treated in the
chapter on Arid and Semi-Arid Lands.

Aside from the chemical composition of soils, what
equally concerns the farmer is their physical charac-
teristics. These may be enumerated under the terms
cold, hot, wet and dry land. And these are dependent
upon weight, color, consistency, and power to retain
water. The relation of the soil to consistency makes
it light or heavy; its relation to heat and moisture
makes it hot or cold, dry or wet.

Taking the varieties already specified, sand is al-
ways the heaviest part of soil, whether dry or wet; clay
is among the lightest parts, though humus has the least
absolute weight. . To calculate more closely : a cubic
•foot of sand weighs, in a common damp state, 141
pounds ; clay weighs 115 pounds, and humus, 81
pounds, and garden or vegetable mould and arable soil
weigh from 102 to 119 pounds. The more humus com-
pound soil contains, the lighter it is.

The power of a soil to retain heat is nearly in pro-
portion to the absolute weight. The greater the mass
in a given bulk, the greater is this power. Hence,
sand retains heat longest, three times longer than
humus, and half as long again as clay. This is the
reason for the dryness and heat of sandy plains. Sand,
clay and peat are to each other as 1, 2, 3 in their power
of retaining heat.

But while the capacity of soil to retain heat de-
pends on the absolute weight, the power to be warmed,
which is a very important physical characteristic, de-
pends upon four circumstances : color, dampness, mat-
erials, and fourth the angle at which the sun's rays fall
upon it.

The blacker the color, the easier warmed. In this
respect, white sand and gray differ almost fifty per cent
in the degree of heat acquired in a given time. As
peat and humus are of a black, or dark brown color,
they easily become warm soils when dry, for secondly,
dampness modifies the influence of color, so that a dry,
light-colored soil will become hotter sooner than a dark
wet one. As long as evaporation goes on, a difference
of ten or twelve degrees will be found between a dry
and a wet soil of the same color. Thirdly, the differ-
ent materials of which soils are composed exert but very
little influence on their power of being heated by the
sun's rays. Indeed, if sand, clay, peat, garden mould,
all equally dry, are sprinkled with chalk, making their
surfaces all of a color, and then exposed to the sun's
rays, the difference in their temperature will be found
to be inconsiderable.

Fourthly, the angle at which the sun's rays fall on
the land, has much to do with its heat. The more
perpendicular the rays, the greater the heat. The effect
is less in proportion as these rays, by falling more slant-
ing, spread their light out over a greater surface. This
point is so well understood that it is not necessary to
dwell any longer upon it, further than to add, that there
are localities where every degree of heat diminishes the
prospect of a good crop, particularly in hot regions,
and the circumstance should be taken advantage of to
obviate the danger of loss. A northern exposure or
an eastern exposure, or a crop on a slope may sometimes
realize more benefit than if this knowledge were dis-
regarded.

The relation of soil to moisture and gas, particul-
arly moisture, is of great importance in the case of
irrigation. All soil, except pure siliceous sand, absorbs
moisture, but in different degrees. Humus possesses
.the greatest powers of absorption, and no variety of
humus equals in its absorptive power, that from animal
manure, except those heavily charged arid and semi-
arid lands, in which fibrous roots and vegetable matter
form a large part of the elements they contain. The
others rank in the following order : Garden mould, clay,
loam, sandy clay, arable soil. They all become satur-
ated with moisture by a few days' exposure.

It is a very interesting question: Does soil give up
this absorbed water speedily and equally? Is its power
of retaining water equal? There is no more important
question to the irrigator. As a general fact, it may
be stated, that the soil which absorbs fastest and most,
evaporates slowest and least. Hnmus evaporates least
'in a given time. The power of evaporation is modified
by the consistency of the soil; by a different degree of
looseness and compactness of soil. Garden mould, for
instance, dries faster than clay. As it has already been
shown, that the power of being warmed is much modi-
fied by moisture, so the power of a soil to retain water
makes the. distinction of a hot or cold, wet or dry soil.

Connected with this power of absorbing moisture,
is the very important relation of soil to gas. All soils
absorb oxygen gas when damp, never when dry.
Humus has this power in the highest degree, however,
whether it be wet or dry. Clay comes next, frozen
earths not at all. A moderate temperature increases

212

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

the absorption. Here are the consequences of this ab-
sorptive power.

When earths absorb oxygen, they give it up un-
changed. But when humus absorbs oxygen, one por-
tion of that combines with its carbon, producing car-
bonic acid, which decomposes silicates, and a second
portion of the oxygen combines with the hydrogen of
the humus and produces water. Hence, in a dry
season well manured soils, or those abounding in humus,
suffer very little.

The evaporation from an acre -of fresh-ploughed
land is equal to 950 pounds per hour; this is the great-
est for the first and second days, ceases about the fifth
day, and begins again by hoeing, while, at the same
time, the unbroken ground affords no trace of moisture.
This evaporation is equal to that which follows after
copious rains. These are highly practical facts, and
teach the necessity of frequent stirring of the soil in
the dry season. Where manure or humus is lying in
the soil, the evaporation from an acre equals 5,000
pounds per hour. At 2,000 pounds of water per hour,
the evaporation would amount in 92 days, that is, a
growing season, to 2,208,000 pounds, an enormous
quantity of water, too much to be permitted, however
beneficial that evaporation may be. It is true that thi-
evaporation is charged with carbonic acid, and acts on
the silicates, eliminates alkalies, waters and feeds
plants, but where irrigation is practiced, the evapora-
tion is carried on with as good an effect beneath a mulch
of finely pulverized soil through which it penetrates, if
the land is properly prepared for and tilled after the
application of water. This is a subject which demands
careful study, so that the laws of nature may be as
rigorously enforced when man takes them under his con-
trol, otherwise, there will always be failure. How to
enforce those laws without doing violence to the prin-
ciples which underlie them, is matter which will be
fully treated in future chapters.

In concluding this chapter, it is deemed proper to
call the attention of the reader to this maxim which
should never be forgotten: It is not the plants grown
in a soil that exhaust it, but those removed from it.
It is an undeniable fact, that the growth of plants in
any soil is beneficial, inasmuch as it brings into play
the forces of nature which are in constant motion to-
ward increase through fertility. For ages, the great
prairies of the West, and also the so-called "arid, and
semi-arid" lands have been storing up humus which
now needs but the application of water to convert them
into lands that will laugh with rich harvests. Plant
life has, for centuries, sprung into existence, reached
maturity, and decayed, going back into the soil, with no
hand to remove it. The consequence is, all these lands
are rich in suits and humus, and it is left for the man
with the ditch to add moisture, open the soil and admit
oxygen to the seeds he plants, so that they shall be fed
up to perfection and enable him to reap a glorious har-
vest.

The laws of nature are the same in this regard as to
the man who looks to the heavens for his inconstant
rainfall. There is for him to consider in the lands un-
der ditch, that all soil has four important functions to
perform, which are:

First. — It upholds the plant, affording it a sure
and safe anchorage.

• Second. — It absorbs water, air and heat to promote
its growth. These are the mechanical and physical func-
tions of the soil.

Third. — It contains and supplies to the plant both
organic and inorganic food as its wants require; and

Fourth. — It is a workshop in which, by the aid of
air and moisture, chemical changes are continually going
on; by which changes these several kinds of foods are
prepared for admission into the living roots.

These are its chemical functions. They all are the
law and the gospel of agriculture, and all the operations
of the farmer are intended to aid the soil in the per-
formance of one or the other of these functions.

H. C. HANSBROUGH.
U. S. Senator.

THE REDEMPTION OF A HUNDRED MILLIONS.

BY U. S. SENATOR H. C. HANSBROUGH. OF NORTH DAKOTA,
THE FATHER OF THE IRRIGATION LAW.

Irrigation will play a great
part in settling the West, and
will bring much of its waste
lands and all of its waste water
into use.

Under the national irrigation
law, enacted justa year ago, I be-
lieve that fully 60^000,000 acres,
or about ten per cent of the pres-
ent public domain area, will be
reclaimed; but it will require at
least forty years' time in which
to do it. This means homes for
about two millions of people on
the farms, and half as many more
in the cities, villages and hamlets. During the same
time private enterprise will reclaim 40,000,000 acres,
which would afford homes and employment for an
additional two millions of people; or 100,000,000 acres
of reclamation and five millions of population in some-
thing less than half a century.

It is difficult to estimate the value of this new real
property, with its personalty, but it cannot be an ex-
aggeration to say that it would amount to at least
$5,000,000,000. The work thus far under the new law
has been wholly of a preliminary nature. It is expected
that the Secretary of the Interior will soon announce
the location and character of the first enterprises to
be entered upon. This announcement will be in the
nature of a proclamation withdrawing from entry the
lands to be irrigated, that is, withdrawing them from
entry under any of the land laws except the irrigation
act. Under this act the entryman must have all the
qualifications of a homesteader, and among other things
must contract to pay, in not less than ten installments,
his pro rata share of the cost of the works by which
he is to be supplied with water He must also live upon
and cultivate the land. The law is thoroughly safe-
guarded so as to prevent speculation.

In framing their constitutions nearly all the West-
ern States inserted the most stringent provisions as re-
spects the control of streams, and nobody expects the
Secretary of the Interior to have an easy time of it
adjusting disputes that must necessarily arise. Un-
doubtedly the federal Supreme Court must pass upon
many of the controversies before orderly progress is
assured. No doubt if some of the states were to amend
their organic laws they would be much more liberal.
Under the law all irrigation works are in time to be
turned over to the people. Thus will wealth be added
to the state, and the newly-created property pa=s event-
ually under the complete control of the state.

SAMSON DOUBLE GEAR

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

••••••IHHIHBHHHUBII

213

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It will be readily seen that this double gear im-
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double and the strain of work is equally divided
between the two gears, there is no side draft,
shake or wobble to cut out the gears. The gear-
ing, therefore, has four times the life and wearing
qualities of any single gear.

All interested in irrigation should write us for
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which will be sent free to all who mention THE IRRIGA-
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FREEPORT, ILL.

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214

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

The Drainage Journal Department

DRAINAGE BY THE SEA.

A DRAINAGE SYSTEM WHICH PROTECTS LAND FROM IN-
JURY BY TIDE WATER.

BY C. G. ELLIOTT.

So much interest is centered about the reclama-
tion of lands of the interior states and the settling up
and improvement of the newer parts of the country that
progress along this line in the older and especially the
coast states has passed unnoticed. The attention of
the writer has been recently called to the interest which
South Carolinians have manifested in the building up
of their agricultural interests. No state has such a
checkered history or one fraught with such distressing
vicissitudes of political life and industrial conditions
as the state of South Carolina. The people of no state
can boast of more brilliant statesmen. The spirit of
higher European social distinctions which took root\
at the time of its first settlement still bears fruit under
modified and continually changing conditions. The at-
tention of the people of this state, in common with
those of other states of the South, is now turning to
the necessity of developing the agricultural possibilities
of the soil. The attainment of this object is a work
attended with perplexing difficulties. The urgent de-
mand for highly intelligent management of lands can
not be met by the negroes who constitute so large a,
part of the cultivators of the soil, by reason of their
lack of information, previous training, and working cap-
ital. Enterprising white farmers must carry the bur-
den of this work alone and at the same time furnish
example and precept for less favored tillers of the soil.

CO \ST ENTRANCE TO FARM OF W. G. HINSON.

Enterprising farmers at the North who are public-spir-
ited enough to work in a disinterested way for the pro-
mulgation of improved methods of agriculture would
be do"ubly discouraged by the obstacles which continually
loom up before the Southern agriculturist.

.This is a digression from the object of this article,
which is a description of some drainage work on James
Island, opposite the city of Charleston. The appearance

of this island from the main shore is a fringe of green
rising above the sandy shore line beyond which is the
outline of farm buildings, suggesting to one just from
the center of the rustling city a restful quiet with
agreeable surroundings. The buildings which first meet
the view are those of Mr. W. G. Hinson, one of the
most progressive agriculturists of the State and who
is the pioneer in tile drainage in that part of the SoutK
His roomy residence and ample grounds bear marks of
taste and thrift in rural affairs, while the large range of
books found in the library indicate culture of a literary
character rarely found in farm homes of the North.
The original part of this residence was built by Mr.

RESIDENCE OF W. G. HINSON.

Hinson's ancestors in 1745. As an evidence of the
historic interest attached to the location it might be
mentioned that it is one of the three houses on the island
which was not destroyed during the Civil War. In
fact, the remains of coast battery defenses are still
in view at the rear of the premises. It may be added
that pottery ware with the British coat of arms which
was in use at the time of George II. has been unearthed
on the grounds, left there by the king's subjects when
this fertile island was a part of the province of Caro-
lina.

'•The islands of?' the coast of South Carolina have
long been noted for the production of Sea Island cotton,
the most valuable and highly prized species of the cot-
ton plant. The soil is a dark, sandy loam, containing
peculiar elements by reason of its formation as an island
in the sea, having this characteristic, however, that
the north coast line, with its numerous deep indenta-
tions, is bordered by a ridge of red sandy clay, fine in
its texture and quite retentive of water. Mr. Hinson,
in his interesting account of the condition of his land
before he attempted tile drainage, which, by the way,
was fully twenty years ago, says that his cultivated
fields were divided by various depressions which were
neglected by reason of their wet condition, and by
swales or low land into which tide water backed from
the arms of the sea or small bays, and submerged them,
thereby depriving him of the use of much otherwise

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

215

fertile land. The first attempts in underdrainage were
made for the purpose of reclaiming the low places or
natural degressions, and, though successful in every
way, demonstrated that in the loose soil of that island
tiles of small size should be used with great caution.
When a level field of considerable size was thoroughly
drained, laterals of 4-inch tile were used, but ponds
and swales were drained by single lines of such size as
former experience might dictate.

There are some features of this drainage which
are of peculiar interest to those unfamiliar with out-
lets which discharge into tide water. By the rise of
the tide, which is between five and six feet, all the low
land at the upper end of the creeks was daily sub-
merged and could be drained only during low tide. To
reclaim such land the tide water must be shut off and
provision made to drain away the excess of rainfall. A
bank is thrown across the upper end of the creek and
the low land above filled and the main drain laid, from
which laterals reach out into all accessible depressions.
At the outlet is placed an automatic gate which closes
during the rise of the tide and opens as the water re-
cedes and permits the accumulated drainage and soil
water of the land to flow out. The gate consists of an
iron pipe six feet long, having the outlet end cut slop-
ing at an angle of about 60 degrees with the bottom
line of the pipe. The flap or swinging gate hinged
on the upper outside diameter of the pipe hangs sus-
pended against the end. There are several outlets on
Mr. Hinson's drainage works, and he has adopted a
wooden gate which is made of plank 1.5 inches thick,
which, being lighter than iron, permits the outward flow
of drainage water more readily as the tide recedes. To
make the gate fit closely a groove is cut around the
periphery at the end of the pipe and a rubber washer
inserted. The wooden gate shuts against the rubber
and effectually excludes the sea water, and has been
found to be the most satisfactory gate thus far tried.

Another peculiarity met with here is the surface
inlet, which may be found at every point of distinctive

SEA-ISLAND COTTON FIELD OF LAST YEAR WITH GARDEN
PEAS GROWING IN THE ROWS.

surface depression. This is a square box extending
from one foot above the surface of the ground to the
drain, screened at the top, or in some cases, at the
side. The utility of these inlets arises from the fact
that the tile drains can discharge at their full capacity
only during low tide. Heavy showers frequently occur
which fill the depressions very rapidly, and at times

when the discharge of the drains is obstructed by tide
water. When they are in condition to discharge the
water coming to them, they must do so with the great-
est possible rapidity; and this is accomplished by the aid
of the open surface inlet. It has also been found well
to take a further precaution for this purpose by laying
lateral drains 25 or 30 feet apart through the basins
which gather surface water most rapidly. While the
soil seems friable, there are localities which retain water
with great tenacity. Mr. Hinson has observed that his
drains operate more freely and effectually three or
more years after they have been laid.

The grade upon which he usually lays his drains
is five inches to 100 feet. The lines are leveled with
an instrument in a preliminary way and the grades
from point to point computed, but the bottom of the
ditch is tested by the use of a board and spirt level.
A board ten feet long has a cleat one-half inch thick
across the end which is kept at the downstream end
and the surface of the board maintained in a level po-
sition as determined by a common spirit level. When
constructed in this way the ditch has a grade of five
inches per 100 feet. For inexperienced workmen he
has found this method of preparing the bottom of a
ditch the most practical one. It should be added that
it has been found usually necessary to lay the tile upon
boards on account of the unstable condition of the
ground which is often encountered.

A drive over the fields with Mr. Hinson is pleas-
ant and profitable to any one interested in advanced
soil culture. A glance into the surface inlets, which
in some instances consist of sewer pipe placed vertically,
is rewarded by a sight of clear soil water coursing
through the underdrains on its way to the sea outlet.
The fields are well cared for. Mr. Hinson has 500
acres which he has drained with greater or less thor-
oughness. His first tile were shipped from New Jer-
sey at large expense. Later a tile factory was built in
South Carolina which has supplied him in recent years,
and today is the only one in the State. He estimates
that he has fully doubled his production by drainage,
and no more earnest advocate of underdrainage can
be found than this southern gentleman. He does not
see how any agriculturist can afford to neglect so im-
portant an improvement if his lands suffer from over-
saturation from any cause. Concerning the method of
best promoting this practice among farmers, he said:
"If I can persuade one man in a neighborhood to drain
one acre I have presented the most forcible and effectual
argument upon the value of drainage." What the South
needs is a larger number of object lessons of this kind.

Of the methods of culture and management of
these lands much might be said, but at present it must
be given only a passing notice. The maintenance of
the'fertility of the land is one of the leading problems
in this State. This expense may be regarded almost as
a fixed charge. The purchase of commercial fertilizers,
the rotation of crops, and the use of green crops which
may be plowed under are an annual expense which
must be charged against each field. Mr. Hinson has
'a field of 50 acres in asparagus which he has planted
and cared for at great expense until now, the third
year, he expects to obtain his first cutting. One field
of garden peas attracted the writer's attention by the
novel plan of bushing employed. The peas are planted
in the rows of last year's cotton field, which furnish
strong, widely-spreading bushes which the vines will
later completely envelop.

216

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

This description should not omit a reference to
one of the most salutary effects of the drainage of these
lands and one which the cultivators of the low lands
of the South will be quick to appreciate. From earliest
times it has been the custom of the planters who culti-
vate low lands or those closely bordering them, to own
and keep up a winter and a summer residence. The
first was located on the land operated as a plantation
and occupied from September until May, while the
latter was located on some sandy ridge surrounded by
the long-leaf pine, which always indicated a more health-
ful climate. While the blacks do not appear to be
seriously troubled with malaria during the summer
months, white people can not endure the nights near
the overflowed lands. The custom _ still prevails and
the land owner or manager must make his daily trip
of from two to eight miles to attend to his farming.
This was the condition of things on Mr. Hinson's farm
on the island when he began the practice of underdrain-
age. After he had added to his drainage improvements
annually for about seven years it began to be noticed
that there were fewer cases of malaria and other forms
of sickness and that white men could remain on the
island much later in the summer than formerly. For
the last twelve years no attempt has been made to vacate
the farm during the summer months because of its
unhealthfulness. While this result of drainage is not
new to those who have watched its effect in other local-
ities, it should not be lost sight of in estimating the
benefits which may be derived from this kind of im-
provement in malarial climates.

On the whole, so many unique features are found
about this farm by the sea that the writer could have
spent many more hours upon it with pleasure and profit
to himself. No outer fence but the water-swept beach,
strewn with driftwood and dotted with boats for crossing
the bay; no public roads by means of which the produce
of the farm is conveyed to the city market. It illus-
trates the varied conditions under which our field prod-
ucts are grown and placed in the hands of the consumer.
Through all of these vicissitudes the producer, though
often commercially wronged, lives "near to Nature's
heart," and enjoys her gifts at first hand. Every move-
ment in the interest of healthful living, bountiful pro-
duction, and the amenities incident to a happy and
contented life may appropriately originate with the in-
telligent agriculturist of modern times.

CORRESPONDENCE

A correspondent at Fort Dodge, la., writing under
date of April 13, says the Jackson township ditch, which
has been awaiting the decision of the county board of
supervisors for some months past, will be constructed.
Early in April the board, after a careful discussion of
the pros and cons of the matter, granted the petition
and established the ditch.

The board did not take actioH until after a care-
ful investigation. At its last meeting it took up the
matter, and heard both the advocates of the ditch and
those who were opposed to it. In order to get still
more exact information in the matter the board went
to Jackson township and went over the ground to be
covered by the proposed ditch. The action establish-
ing the ditch followed.

The ditch in question is approximately five miles in
length and its constructcion will cost in the neighbor-
hood of $10,000. It starts in section 6, Jackson town-
ship and runs south by southeast to the south line of
section 21 draining considerable swampy land.

NORTH YAKIMA, WASH., April 16, 1903.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :

Dear Sir: I am very much interested in irrigation and
will ask you to kindly send me a copy of your paper. I would
send a year's subscription, but am not sure that it will reach
you. 'I understand there are concerns in your city that
make irrigating pumps a specialty and have several in op-
eration. I will take it as a great kindness if you can send
me their address. Yours very truly,

C. A. BRYANT.

We take pleasure in noting Mr. Bryant's letter and in
forwarding him copy of AGE as requested. There are cer-
tainly concerns in Chicago making a specialty of irrigating
pumps that are in great use. A glance at our advertising
columns will remove all doubt on that head. — ED.

NORTH YAKIMA, WASH., May 2, 1903.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :

Gentlemen : Many thanks for the copy of your paper,
also for your kindness in being instrumental in my receiv-
ing so many pump catalogues, Enclosed you will find $1.50,
for which please send me THE IRRIGATION AGE for one year;
also "The Primer of Irrigation," which please send at your
earliest convenience. Yours respectfully,

C. A. BRYANT,
North Yakima, Wash.

P. S.— Can you give me any information about sub-
merged water wheels? C. A. B.

A correspondent at Santa Fe, N. M., states that the
ranchers of the Mesilla valley are aroused to the subject of
securing a reservoir at or near the Elephant Butte, on the
Rio Grande. They have received information that the irri-
gation authorities in Washington are favorably impressed
with the condition along the Rio Grande for the construction
of a reservoir on the river, and that all the people have to do
to get an appropriation is to go after it.

They have seen with mortification that Arizona has al-
ready received over $2,500,000 from the national irrigation
fund for the purpose of constructing irrigation canals, and
that not a cent of it has been appropriated for the territory
of New Mexico. Wnen inquiry as to the cause of this has
been made, the people have learned that the principal reason
has been that the citizens of the territory have entirely
failed to lay before the irrigation authorities at Washington
the necessary data to pass upon the merits of any proposition
which they desire the government to take hold of.

They are going to supply that data. A large and enthusi-
astic meeting was held at the court house at Las Cruces not
long ago and a committee of five appointed for the purpose
of effecting the end desired, and protesting against the land
board leasing more of the irrigation grant to cattlemen. The
committee will collect funds and send the best men they can
to Washington with all data from the land office and the facts
and figures of the Elephant Butte country.

It is confidently believed here that the territory can get
a good appropriation for irrigation. It is also learned that
the government is to change its form of attack on the old
English company and endeavor to secure a decree annulling
the rights of the company on the ground that it has forfeited
its rights by the failure to construct its reservoir within the
time limit fixed by the statutes.

Our correspondent at Delta, Colo., writes under date of
April nth that at i o'clock on that morning the dam of the
Garnet reservoir burst and an immense flood of water rushed
down the valley at tremendous speed, floodin" the low lands.
A hasty telephone message was sent to this city, reporting
the state of affairs, and riders were sent out in haste to warn
the farmers in the path of the waters.

All of them were told in time, and as a result no lives
were lost as far as is known. But growing crops are washed
out and stock of all kinds has been drowned. It is known
that several hundred head of cattle have been carried away.

The Rio Grande tracks were washed out for about a
quarter of a mile. Workmen have been sent out and it is

THE IKEIGATION AGE.

217

believed that traffic can be resumed tomorrow. The house *X"

at the reservoir was almost entirely destroyed. The people *£

were aroused by the crash and hastily made their way to the «|<

hills, wading through a foot of water and carrying the J»

children on their shoulders. They got out in their night X

clothing, not having time to dress. •!<

The dam was built a year ago and finished just a year %

ago today. It was supposed to be remarkably firm. An in- X

vestigation this morning shows that the entire dam is not v

gone, only a narrow section in the center having given way *t|

before the weight of water. .;.

It was stated by the managers and owners of the reservoir •!•

that the break could be repaired in a short time and that the X

freshet in June would fill it so that the Garnet mesa could <•

be irrigated from it this summer, as usual, and no loss need »J

be experienced from that source. The dam is located fifteen X

miles from this city. .j

It is almost impossible to estimate the loss already, as v

few reports have been made in this city. However, one of X

the men, who has been over the ground, said it would run •*«

close to $100,000. The flood reached its maximum at 2 *j>

o'clock, and continued until 7. when it began to subside. X

At 10 o'clock it had gone down considerably. v

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IKKK.ATION AGE wtieu wntiug io advertisers.

218

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

M. H. DOWNEY.

E. J. WILCOX.

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Southwest

THE WESTERN TRAIL is the

name of a paper devoted to the devel-
opment of the great Southwest. It
contains letters from residents telling of
actual conditions, how they happened
to settle there and what their experiences
have been. It is printed on good paper
and is beautifully illustrated. Published
every month during the fall, winter and
spring months, and every two months
during the summer. It will interest
you, and may be the means of opening
your eyes to the unequaled opportuni-
ties .awaiting you in the great South-
west.

Send twenty-five cents TO-DAY
for one year's subscription. Stamps
will do. Address

"THE TRAIL/'
Room 42 5 Rialto Bldg., Chicago.

R. H. McWILLIAMS,

G E N E R. AL
DRAIN AGE
CONTRACTOR

Special attention paid to reclaiming
swamp lands with steam dredges.
Drainage bonds bought and sold.

OFFICE:
nYTTOON, - - ILLINOIS.

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 H i i i i.i 1 1 HI 1 1 i 1 1 i»i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1+

Grand
Canyon

of Arizona.

Earth's greatest wonder — the titan of
chasms, a mile deep, many miles wide

Pictures of it: For 25 cents will send

. . — .. the season's notelty —
a Grand Canyon photochrome view, uniquely
mounted to reproduce the Canyon tints. Or,
for same price, a set of four black-and-white
prints, ready tor framing.

Books about it: For .r)0 cents will send
- a Grand Canyon

book, 128 pages, 93 illustrations; cover in col-
ors; contains articles by noted authors, trav-
elers and scientists. Worthy a place in any
library. Or will mail free pamphlet, "Titan
of Chasms."

J. M. McCoNNELL, General Agent,

109 Adams St., Chicago.

Fe

PORTER •;
HAY
TOOLS

The largest and most
successful line of hay
tools in the market.
Hay carriers for steel,
wood and cable tracks.
Hay forks of all styles.
Hay slings of all
sizes, etc., etc., etc.

Send for Complete Catalogue. It is Free.

!iJ. E. PORTER CO., Ottawa, Illinois!

in i i

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I H 1 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

II VAN WIE PUMP I

LEADS, OTHERS FOLLOW

Therefore Buy the Original, and get the
Best Irrigating Pump in the World.

ADDRESS FOR CATALOGUE

IRVIN VAN WIE

711-723 W. Fayette Street

ii i M 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

inn 1 1 111 linn 1 1 1 1

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

219

1 1 1 1 !• 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

JEFFREY CONVEYORS

Will handle your product rapidly and economically

Also Manufacture

Screens, Elevator Buckets, Water Elevators

CrvisKers, Etc.

SEND FOR.
CATALOGUE

ADDRESS

SB Jeffrey Mfg. Co.

Columbus, Ohio.

, NEW YORK

DENVER

-.JEFFREY V

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 14

"TKe Irrigation Age," one year,
and "TKe Primer of Irrigation,"
a 300 page, finely bound book,
for $1.50. 5 } Subscribe Now.

ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA.

During 1902 South Dakota harvested 46,858,000 bushels of wheat,
value 826,239,000, and sold live stock to the value of $31,209,000.

There are splendid opportunities for success in South Dakota today.
One crop sometimes pays for a farm.

A book descriptive of South Dakota, its resources and opportunities,
has just been published by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway.
It will be sent to any address for two cents. F. A. Miller, general pas-
senger agent, Chicago.

220

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Built Right

Run Right

Unsurpassed for Tile, Hollow Ware. Brick ^nd a.11
Classes of Clay products. Write for Particulars
on this or other ClaLyworking Machinery ? ? 9 5

The Improved Centennial Auger Machine

Bucyrus, Ohio
U. S. A.

TKe American Clay- Working
Machinery Company

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

221

TILE TRUCK

for Brick, Tile and Sewer
pipe Manufacturers

SEWER PIPE BARR3W

HEAVY FURNACE FRONT

These Trucks and Barrows are made of first-class material, and the workmanship is the
best. Special trucks and barrows to suit customers, made to order. Prices quoted on
receipt of specifications.

BAND TIGHTENERS AND DOOR CONNECTORS

CLASS B CLASS C

TUPPER STYLE GRATE

CAST IRON KILN COVERS

Sections 6 inches wide.

36, 42, and 48 inches long

STRAIGHT GRATES

S •

4

VENTILATORS

Any length. Sections 3 inches to 3>£ inches wide. Weight average about 1 pound
per inch in length.

We also make Kiln Bands complete with sections cut to length and rivet holes punched. Rivets fur-
nished and tighteners riveted on to end sections. Prices quoted for anything in this line upon application.

The Arnold - Creager Co.

NEW LONDON, OHIO

or Cor. 6th and Vine Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio

222

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O€O«O«0«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O€O«O«O«O€O«O«O«O«O«O«

Say, Mr. Tile maker,

Does the machine you are now
using pug the clay sufficiently

If not, here is one that will. The best Tile
Machine made, combined with an eight-foot
double-shaft Pug Mill; and it is arranged to
make tile from 2 1/2* in. to 24* in. It will pay
you to investigate this machine and also Ben-
sing's Automatic Cutting Tables. Write us for
full information and prices

THE J. D. FATE CO

PLYMOUTH, OHIO

We make a full line of Clay Working Machinery

•0»0»0»0»0»0»0»0»0»0»0»0»0»0»0»0»0»0»0»C»'0»0»0»0«0»0»0»0»0»O:

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

223

The Simplification of
Water Records by
a Right Syste
Insures
J*

'I6"LONG RANGE TELESCOPE.

FOR

Irrigators,
Farmers

and

Ditchers

Catalogue free.

Grade
Level Co.

Jackson, Mich.

No. 1. $27.00

Target and Rod

free with each.

__

Target and Rod alone $2.00.

Our Grade Levels are the only ones made with
a "Gradu Bar" and with a "Scale" showing tne
grade without figuring, and the only one with a
Telescope at so low a price.

No. 1 Improved Level (our latest)— J3('. Has horiz-
ontal circle divided Into degrees; can run at any angle
without measuring.

EDGAR M. HEAFER
TILE COMPANY

MANUFACTURERS OF

Round Drain Tile

Of Superior Potters' Clay.

ASLO DEALERS IN

SUPERIOR FIRE BRICK AND SEWER PIPE
BLOOrilNQTON, ILL

LANDS IN THE FAMOUS

Valley, of Mississippi,

Along the lines of the Yazoo and Missis-
sippi Valley Railroad, are of the most
wonderful fertility for raising Cotton,
Corn, Cattle and Hogs.

The clay will make the best of TILE and
Brick and manufacturers will find a great
field for TILE in that country, which is
so well adapted for Tile Drainage.

"Wirite for

i i i »< I

I?» einta ft lile t s

EDWARD P. SKENE, Land Commissioner,

When writing to Advertisers, please mention THE IRRIGATION AGE.

o«o«o«o«oeo«ocoec«0f o«o«o«o«o«o«o«o«o«o«o«o»o«o»o«o«o«o«o«o«ot o«o« cx: Ot o: os o«oco«oi»

AI * I | »-4.

Central Station, Park Row, Room 506,
CHICAGO, ILL.

JVVj V

Q

The MARION

STEAM SHOVEL CO.

Mo. 632 W. Center Street, MARION, OHIO.

A COMPLETE LINE OF STEAM SHOVELS, DIPPER

AND CLAMSHELL DREDGES, ETC.

f*OR constructing Drainage Ditches we have both
drydand and floating Dredges, and we build
them to suit the requirements of your work. We
manufacture our own steel and grey iron castings,
and make our own chain]

One-yard Ditching Dredge.

When in the market write us for information and prices.

(When Writing Advertisers, Please Mention IRRIGATION AGE.)

224 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Great Irrigated
Valleys....

ARKANSAS VALLEY, COLORADO. Altitude 3,400 to 4,600 ft.; beet sugar factories,
thousands of acres of alfalfa, millions of cantaloupes, extensive orchards, flocks of sheep;
largest irrigated section in the U. S. Extensive cattle feeding and dairy interests, population
doubled in five years.

PECOS VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,000 to 4,000 feet. 5-175 miles long; on edge
of great plains' cattle pastures, affording profitable home market for alfalfa and grain; noted
for its large orchards and fine quality of fruits and vegetables; artesian belt with 300
flowing wells.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,700 to 5,300 ft.; 350 miles long;
great sheep raising section; mining in adjacent mountains; adapted to fruit raising and
small farms.

SALT RIVER VALLEY, ARIZONA. Altitude 1,000 ft.; 60 miles long and 20 miles wide;
special industries — early oranges, live stock, vegetables, small fruits, alfalfa, bee culture.

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Altitude 50 to 400 ft.; 250 miles long, 50 miles
wide; wheat raising, live stock, oil wells, alfalfa, raisin and wine grapes, olives, figs, citrus
and deciduous fruits, almonds, walnuts, lumbering and mines in mountains.

ALL FIVE VALLEYS have never-failing water supply, extensive systems of irrigating
ditches and rich soil, insuring profitable crops. Pleasant climate, especially in winter.
Thriving towns, affording good markets. Directly reached by the SANTA FE.

For information about farm lands, manufactures and general business openings,
address

Gen. Pass. Office A. T. 4 S. F. Ry. System,
GREAT NORTHERN BLDG. A CHICAGO.

Santa Fe

THE 111RI Q AT I ON AGE.

225

I

100,000 NEW DEERE SULKIES AND GANGS

I will be Pawing on the farms of the United States and Canada|
this spring. Will there be any on your farm?

are made by skilled workmen, in the largest Plow Shop in
America, of the best plow material the world can produce.
They have been the Standard for sixty-five years._ They
give satisfactory service for years after plows of inferior con-
struction have been cast in the scrap pile.

Send nix cents for a handfomo souvenir and ayear'm mubscrlp-
tlon to THE FURROW, a beautifully Illustrated farm quarterly.

DEERE & CO., Moline, Ills.

IRRIGATION PLANTS!

WE BUILD THEM.

FURNISHING ENGINES, PUMPS, PIPE,
BELTING AND ALL OTHER MATE-
RIAL COMPLETE FOR OPERATION.

TELL US YOUR REQUIREMENTS
WEBER CAS AND GASOLINE ENGINE CO., KANSAS'"

. I 5-O
CITY, MO.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••I

WEN'S IMPROVED

CENTRIFUGAL PUMPSi

Extensively used in paper and pulp mills, dye houses, bleacheries, j
tanneries, dry docks,

DRAINING AND IRRIGATION OF LAND.

Pond pumping, circulating water in surface condensors, pumping
sand, gravel or gritty water. In fact, adapted for raising any
liquid in large or small quantities. Write for catalogues.

BOLAND ®. GSCHWIND COMPANY, Ltd..

Office and Works, Melpomene, Clnppewa and St Thomas streets - - New Orleans, La.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••I

8

226

THE IRRIGATION AGF

Myers Power Pumps

"Without an equal on
the Globe"

Full information in regard to our
varied line on application

Adapted especially for gas engines,
motor and belt powers, in harmony
with present requirements.

FIG. 813.

No. 359. Bulldozer Working Head, 5, 7^ and

10-inch stroke.
No. 364. Bulldozer Working Head, 12, 16 and

20-inch stroke.

FIG 800.

Bulldozer Power Pump, sizes 8, 4, 5 and
6-iuch cylinders, stroke ranging from 5 to
20-inch.

F. E. Myers * Bro., Ashland, o., u. s. A,

THE USE OF GASOLINE ENGINES in the pumping field is practically but just begun.
The dema' d on our Omaha ard Chicago branches for pumping engines during the last year
has been greally due to the deserved popularity of the "OTTO." The special attention we
have given to the building of this class of machinery is bringing its reward in increased trade.
We can serve bu>ers yet to come as satisfactorily as those that have already favored us.
Tell us your requirements and mention the " Age."

THE OTTO GAS ENGINE WORKS,

CHICAGO. PHILADELPHIA. OMAHA.

4-0 TONS IN
TEN HOURS.

IHAY TRUTH.

Solid Compact Bales

that fill the car and cut down your freight

bills in hay shipping, is reason

enough for using the

ELI

Baling

DMA*-* «*

The douhle expanding condenser makes the
"ELI" the most greedy consumer of hay.
Automatic block placing device saves labor.
It stands by itself for safety, for economy of
time, labor and power. The staunchest,
most durable of all balers. 38 styles and sizes.
For horse or steam power. Indispensable to all hay balers where money making or saving
is an object. Free catalogue describes and illustrates everything m balers. Write for it.

COLLINS PLOW CO., 1203 Hampshire SI., OUINCY, ILL.

'$ to 20 foot wl

We do strictly a
i business. For v

description addr
Leach Windmill & Tank Co.-
V. S. A. Office & Factory Center <K Monroe.

James W.Craig. Edward C. Craig.

James W. Craig, Jr.

James W. 4 Edward C. Craig,

ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
MATTOON, COLES COUNTY. ILLINOIS.

Special attention given to the Law Department
^ of Drainage Work.

Drainage Bonds Bought and Sold.

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

22?

THE BUCKEYE TRACTION DITCHER

A winning proposition in a.ny kind of soil.

M
A

• P

A
C

U
R

D

N

O
U
R

S

s

CUTTING

FROM

ELEVEN

AND

ONE-HALF
INCHES

TO

TWENTY=

FOUR

INCHES

IN

WIDTH

AND

FROM

FOUR

AND

ONE=HALF

TO

SIX

AND

ONE-HALF

FEET

IN

DEPTH

w

!

This cut shows The Buckeye just starting a trench with
grading targets out ahead. The BUCKEYE positively cuts
to a perfect grade, and to its full depth with one cut.

EVERY USER GIVES HIS ENTHUSIASTIC ENDORSEMENT.

• • -

The Van Buren, Heck & Marvin Co.

*
FINDLAY, OHIO, U. S. A.

228

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

!•••••••€ ••«»••»••••»•••••»••»••»•• ••••••*»»»0

SUPERIOR SINGLE DISC DRILL

SUPERIOR

SINGLE DISC
DRILLS

are suitable
for use in any
kind of land.
They never
clog in trash.
Even sowing
guaranteed.
The best for
the great
Northwest.
ABSOLUTELY
GOOD.

A genuinely satis-
factory drill in
every particular.

With Steel Wheels
and Seat.

SUPERIOR DRILLS successfully do the work.
They stand the wear, because they are made of
honest materials, by honest, skilled mechanics, who
know how, because of their wide experience.

Experience proves that our implements are peculiarly adapted to your locality.
They will stand the test, Better investigate. It is to your interest.

We guarantee them, and the Drills will back up the guarantee every time.
Write us today.

This cut shows
the SUPERIOR
GANG PRESS
WHEEL. A A
It can be at-
tached to any
Superior Disc
Drill.

You don't need a Sub-
Surface Packer when
you use the Superior
Gang Press Wheel
Attachment.

Write for Catalogue A.

SUPERIOR
DIVISION,

American
Seeding
Machine
Company,

This attachment reduces
evaporation to the minimum.

Springfield, Ohio, U.S.A.

Pleise Mention THE IRRIGATION AGE when writing to Advertisers.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

VOL. XVIII.

CHICAGO, JUNE, 1903.

No. 8.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING CO.,

PUBLISHERS,
112 Dearborn Street, CHICAGO

Entered at the Postoffice at Chicago, 111., as Second-Class Matter.

D. H. ANDERSON, Editor.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.

To United States Subscribers, Postage Paid Jl.OO

To Canada and Mexico 1.00

All Other Foreign Countries 1.50

In forwarding remittances please do not send checks on local banks.
Send either postoffice or express money order or Chicago or New York
draft.

A monthly illustrated magazine recognized throughout the world as
the exponent of Irrigation and its kindred industries. It is the pioneer
journal of its kind in the world, and has no rival in half a continent. It
advocates the mineral development and the industrial growth of the West.

tr» A rl X7P»rfi «P>r« It may interest advertisers to know that The Irrigation Age is the only publication
s* in the world having an actual paid in advance circulation among individual

irrigators and large irrigation corporations. It is read regularly by all interested in this subject and has readers in all parts of the world.

The Irrigation Age is J8 years old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world.

Copyright 1003 by D. H. Anderson.

EDITORIAL

We wonder if President Eoosevelt is still
'"George." addressing Maxwell as "George." If so,

what will he call him when he is fully
posted on all his methods, aspirations, connections,
governmental and otherwise?

The position of Executive Chairman of
The National Irrigation Association must
be a good paying one when George H.
Maxwell [who fills it by the grace of his
friends in the Geological Survey and Inte-
rior Department] can pay eight to twelve thousand dol-
lars for a winter home in Arizona.

How about

this,

"George?"

Elwood Mead, E. E., M. S., holds the
Elwood important place of chief of irrigation in-

Mead's Book vestigations of the Department of Agri-
on Irrigation, culture in Washington ; is also the pro-
fessor of institutions and of the practice
of irrigation in the University of California, and spe-
cial lecturer in Harvard on irrigation engineering, so
if any one can speak with authority on this important
and interesting problem it is certainly Professor Mead.
He has had twenty years' experience in irrigated agri-
culture in the far West. He was assistant state engi-
neer in Wyoming and the state engineer in Colorado.

All phases of the question of hydraulic engineering have
passed under his practical administration.

With this experience to justify him, Mr. Mead has
published a book on Irrigation which is a clear cut re-
suim of everything pertaining to the subject. The
author is a strong advocate of the importance of irriga-
tion, and the early unification of the diverse laws upon
the subject so as to create a uniform system. He be-
lieves that far reaching changes in the irrigation sys-
tems of the West must occur in the near future. These
will involve new methods of social organization and
new forms of co-operation.

The De-
struction of
Forests.

It is a pity that this subject was not gone
into scientifically when it might have
been of some public utility. But it was
easier and less troublesome to cut down
the forests, and denude the land that solve
the problem. Now, that men's lives are not worth a
baubee, and tens of millions of dollars worth of property
destroyed, crops ruined, and lands washed out by sud-
den, unparalleled floods, the question again becomes
burning.

The old forests will not return by the whistling of
'them back, so what 'is there to be done about it ? Some
say plant new forests, and the magazines" are full of
illustrations of how beautiful barren lands will look,
ten, twenty, thirty and fifty years hence if everybody
begins planting forest trees now.

It is a good but dilatory scheme, for the country
cannot sit clown and wait half a centurv for trees to

230

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

grow, which would be cut down by government timber
thieves then as they have been in the past. Other plans
must be laid to protect our watersheds.

The ancients ditched and otherwise manipulated
their treeless watersheds, and when spring came with. its
melting snows and mountain rains, the water did not
come down with a* rush as it does with us, and disappear
after a few days' destruction, but the streams ran full
and free all the season.

Suggestions have been made to create a glacier
system which will appear in another column of this is-
sue. We refer to it as a suggestion, at a time when the
very air is full of suggestions, and an additional one
can do no harm.

In an interview with Congressman Frank
View of W. Mondell, of Wyoming, the future of

Congressman the arid region was fully discussed.
Mondell. Speaking of proposed land legislation be-
fore Congress, Mr. Mondell said:
"Some of the legislation will meet with determined
opposition. In the Congress just ended There was con-
siderable agitation to have repealed the commutation
clause of the homestead act and also the desert land
clause and the timber and stone clause. By the com-
mutation clause a settler may, after fourteen months
of residence on his 160 acres, obtain a full right and
title by paying $1.25 an acre; by the desert land act the
settler buys the land and reclaims it; by the timber
and stone act he obtains the land for $2.25 an acre.
If those clauses were repealed there would be no legisla-
tion to replace them and there would be no way to obtain
government land except under the general provisions of
the homestead act, requiring a residence of five years.
The people of Wyoming are opposed to the repeal of
these clauses for what they believe to be excellent rea-
sons. At the present time five-eighths of the revenue
obtained from the sale of public land is obtained under
these clauses, and, as under the recent irrigation act, this
money is to be used for the reclamation of arid lands,
it is a matter of much importance to Wyoming; for if
this source of revenue disappears there will be little
money with which to pursue the work of irrigation.

"Moreover, we believe in encouraging the settle-
ment of the land. It is the opinion of many that the
agitation for the repeal of these clauses comes from the
land grant railways, who have millions of acres to sell.
It is clear that if government land should be difficult to
obtain these companies would be able to dispose of much
of their land."

as we properly treat mining — that is, as material to be
used up and nothing left behind. We must recognize
the fact that we have passed the stage when we can
afford to tolerate the man whose object is simply to
skin the land and get out. That man is not an equit-
able citizen. We do not want the big proprietor. It is
not for him that we wish to develop irrigation. It i&
not for him that we must shape the grazing lands or
handle our forests. We must handle the water, the
wood, the grasses, so that we will hand them on to our
children and children's children in better and not worse
shape than we got them.

"Inasmuch as I myself passed a large portion of
my life in the mountains and on the plains of this
preat western country, I feel a peculiar pride that it
was given to me to sign and thereby make into law
the act of the National Government, to my mind one
of the most important acts ever made into law by the
national legislature, the national irrigation act of a
year ago. The Government, in my judgment, not only
should, but must, co-operate with the State Govern-
ments and with individual enterprises in seeing that we
utilize to the fullest advantage the waters of the Rocky
Mountain States by canals and great reservoirs which
shall conserve the waters that go to waste at one sea-
son so that they can be used at other seasons."

If President Roosevelt will see to it — he has the
power — that this glorious vista is not obscured by George
H. Maxwell and land grabbing syndicates, he will indeed
be President of the United States.

_. At Boise City, in his recent trip West, Mr.

President

Roosevelt gave utterance to some sound

T It W 11 ^a^' w^cn' ^ it could be followed up by
R ' some strenuous action on his part, would

create the impression that he means more
than talk.

"The forests and the grasses are not to be treated

* No man can read without a shudder the
The Western awful calamities that have fallen upon the
Floods. people of Kansas, Missouri and other sec-

tions, through the masses of flood water
that came down upon them without warning from the
upper country.

We know that the Government is aiming to put
a curb upon the Missouri and other streams that rage
like lions at certain periods, and are as peaceful a&
lambs at other times. The people of the arid and semi-
arid West know what cloudbursts are, but they can-
not conceive such a succession of them as will sweep
villages, towns, and even cities, out of existence.

How does it happen that this enormous mass of
water accumulates in sufficient proportions to become
the twin brother of the salt water tidal wave which
nothing can resist? There must be a reason some-
where— no, we will not say a fault — a lamentable de-
gree of recklessness in going on year after year with
this sword of Damocles hanging by a slender thread
over the heads of its victims. It is not ignorance, for
even the most ignorant do not take death into their cate-
gory of risks.

The trouble is higher up than the submissive, inno-
cent, confiding people who throng the banks of these
treacherous streams. They know that something is do-
ing to protect them and they fancy that the protection

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

231

is fully adequate. By and by they are swept into eter-
nity and then Providence is made the scapegoat of the
gross negligence, or dilatory action on the part of others.

The only cure for all these monstrous calamitous
floods is in providing outlets for sudden accumula-
tions. They did things better in ancient Babylon, over
four thousand years ago. They cut blind streams,
ditches, laterals, reservoirs, and when old father Eu-
phrates raged his worst he couldn't drown a fly.

It would cost a few million dollars to amend pres-
ent conditions and at the rate of human destruction
already accomplished, the aggregate value of human
lives on an insurable basis has reached a much larger
sum than their salvation and protection would have cost.

THE AGE gives elsewhere an excellent
Maxwell photograph of the Maxwell Place, one
Place, Phoe- and one-half miles northeast of Phoenix,
nix, Arizona Arizona, which will be of interest to those
in the neighborhood of the government
improvements, and in the shadow of the Tonto scheme.

THE AGE has reason to believe that the great major-
ity of the citizens and "actual" residents of the Salt
River Valley, are not the hail fellows well met when
he calls around and slaps them on the back, as he sup-
poses.

The fact is, the attempt to "muzzle the monkey"
has had the effect upon the fellow who tried the experi-
ment as it did upon the individual who monkeyed with
the buzz saw. The people down Salt River way are per-
suaded that there are land grabbing syndicates in their
district, as there are all over the arid west, and that
these same syndicates are attempting to obtain control
of the entire arid public domain.

It may be a good business proposition to work such
a scheme, as business schemes now go, but it is not
clearly understood why the government employes should
go into it, or join hands with private parties to de-
prive actual settlers of the benefit of the irrigation
act, and turn it to the profit of the members of the
syndicates.

Mr. George H. Maxwell is making himself alto-
gether too conspicuous in this irrigation matter not to
have caused wonder why he, a private person, should
presume to dictate, or even direct, officers selected by
the Government to do the work. It is not believed
that Maxwell is the originator, author, and creator of
the national irrigation law, and even if he were, it is
not clear why he should take upon himself the man-
agement of its execution and operation. He is too
close to the land grabbing syndicates for the comfort
of the plain, ordinary settler, and his efforts to annul
the operation of the irrigation law sub rosa for the per-
sonal benefit of himself and his associates is a curious
desertion by a parent of his offspring.

The AGE has Mr. Maxwell's gigantic scheme down
pat, and understands all its details and ramifications,

and when we allude to his organization of a so-called
"Water Users' Association," to put. the majority of 25,-
000 acres of land in the hands of a syndicate, we feel
sure that the time has come for an investigation and
an exposure of the same methods which have deprived
the Government of timber, grazing, and farming lands
of the Northwest without compensation and to the great
profit of the schemers.

The article on "Influences in the National
The Milk in Irrigation Program," in the last issue of
the Cocoanut.THE AGE made the following statement
alluding to Mr. George H. Maxwell:
"Because the bill (before Congress) did not suit HIM
in some respects he instituted an active fight against
its passage during the late winter and early spring
months of the following year. He was finally called
into line in a way that has not, as yet, been explained,
and since the passage of the bill he has 'appeared' to
indorse it in every particular."

The italics are intended to emphasize the fact
that the writer has since obtained some light on the
subject of -Mr. Maxwell's sudden conversion.

The bill as finally approved by the committee in
charge of it was not satisfactory to Mr. Maxwell, nor
to several members of the committee who reflected his
ideas, and after the bill was reported, it was attacked
most viciously by Mr. Maxwell, both in speeches be-
fore various commercial bodies in Nebraska, Colorado,
and elsewhere through the medium of his "Homede-
stroyer" — beg pardon — "Homemaker." His opposition
to the bill was constant, unfair and abusive. During
all the time it was being considered by the House com-
mittee his vials of wrath were being poured forth vn'th
particular vehemence against the bill, and against those
whom he assumed to be responsible for its provisions.
Finding, however, that he was not making much head-
way in the West in creating feeling against the meas-
ure, he transferred his field of personal operations to
Washington, where, during his absence in the West,
his henchmen had been publishing his tirades agaiiist
the measure. Arriving in Washington Maxwell put
forth every effort to stampede members of Congress in
opposition to the bill, which at that time had already
passed the Senate, 'and following his usual tactics his
opposition was always under the cloak of righteousness
and a burning desire to serve the dear people and the
"'actual settler."

Mr. Maxwell's efforts, however, were not particu-
• larly effective, largely by reason of their abusive char-
acter, which was resented by many members of Con-
gress, and he concluded as a final desperate resort to
endeavor to secure the President's opposition to the
bill. With this object in view he worked upon a mem-
ber of the House Committee on Irrigation, who, while
well meaning, had but little knowledge of irrigation,
practical or theoretical, and, through some friends of

232

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

his connected with Government bureaus, on several mem-
bers of Congress not members of the Irrigation Com-
mittee, and through these people and his friends in
the Government bureaus before mentioned, he finally
succeeded in reaching the President's ear, with the re-
sult that strangely enough the newspapers came O'jt
stating that some Western Congressmen and others had
been before the President and had reported to him
that the national irrigation bill was a very villainous
measure, and that the President had expre?sed himself
as in opposition to certain provisions of the bill. This
was Mr. Maxwell's trump card, and was expected to
be very effective, as in fact it seemed for a time that
it would be.

To block this nefarious opposition and attempt
to hoodwink the President himself, Mr. Roosevelt was
called upon by a committee who suggested a confer-
ence. This was called, and the President beii.'g a man
of good hard sense, it did 'not take him long to discover
the real motives for the animus displayed by the oppo-
sition. He found that the opposing element and the
whole opposing force was — Maxwell — just Maxwell—
a mountain in labor that brought forth a mouse. At
the end of the conference the President expressed him-
self as being satisfied that the bill had b?en cart-hilly
drawn.

With one or two slight changes in the phraseology
of the bill, one relative to state control which strengthens
the bill, and another with regard to the power of the
Secretary of the Interior to withdraw lands, Mr. Max-
well had either- to acknowledge himself for what he
really was, an enemy of the entire proposition for gov-
ernment aid, or else come into camp and support the
bill. He came into line, but not out of respect to the
President, the Congress of the United States, or for
common justice, but a little bird says that certain rail-
roads that were putting up for him had their eyes slight-
ly opened and ordered him to right-about-face. When
the bill was up for consideration it was found lhat
those most violently opposed to it were using Mr. Max-
well's arguments against it.

In the face of this Mr. George H. Maxwell is mov-
ing barrels of printers' ink, and the jackscrew of "you-
scratch-my-back-and-I'll-scratch-yours," to make the
people believe that he was the most .important factor in
securing the passage of the national irrigation bill !

Can duplicity reach any further, or is it possible
to believe that there are any persons honestly abject
enough to believe him? He would have killed it if he
had been able, and the Lord knows he tried hard enough.

He formerly strenuously advocated state control
over the distribution of water used in irrigation, and no
attempted to disguise his real objects under the cloak
of philanthropy and a disinterested desire to do a public
service. In his present attempt to secure the repeal
of certain provisions of the land laws he is following
his old tactics, using the name of the Irrigation A-^o-

ciation and showing the indorsement of the National
Business League of Chicago, and other well meaning but
entirely uninformed and deluded persons and associa-
tions.

It is time to make an effort to throw overboard
such a man, who for some inscrutable reason, is per-
mitted to meddle with national and private matters,
to such an extent that some people who cannot see a
pike staff ten feet distant, think he is I T.

Were Grover Cleveland politically alive and in the
proper position to make his words of national import,
he would say, "Who the h — 1 is George H. Maxwell?"
And nobodv but Maxwell could answer.

INFLUENCE IN THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION
PROGRAM.

(Continued from May number.)

BY D. H. ANDERSON.
CO-OPERATION WITH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.

Before the plan submitted to the railroads by Mr.
Maxwell was accepted he had the campaign fairly well
outlined in his mind. He saw that it would be neces-
sary for him to become intimate with Government offi-
cials who could bring him into contact with Congress-
men, members of the cabinet, and even the President.
He had already become acquainted with those who had
ambitions to direct the irrigation policy of the coun-
try, and through them he met heads of bureaus in
Washington who hoped, through his co-operation, to
broaden .the sphere of their influence and work. We
do not wish to bring these men into disrepute and do
not say that their ambitions are either to be commended
or condemne^. We do say that their methods are open
to criticism. That they have been working with Mr.
Maxwell for the past two or three years is an estab-
lished fact. The readers of "Forestry and Irrigation"
can easily inform themselves as to the bureaus which
are working with Mr. Maxwell to maintain that pub-
lication. Those who were at the Irrigation Congress
held in Chicago in 1900 have no doubt as to who the
gentlemen are, and they fully appreciate the support
which the National Irrigation Association has since re-
ceived. The arrangement made with Mr. Maxwell by
these officers is not known, but since 1900 the National
Irrigation Association has advertised these men and
their work in return for substantial support of another
kind. Mr. Maxwell has, through one of these men,
been able to confer with the President upon more than
one occasion. Through the favors extended by another
he has met Congressmen who have been particularly
active in the movement for national aid, and has thus
been brought into contact with the Secretary of the
Interior. He has had their support in meetings of the
Irrigation Congress or wherever their services have been
needed. He has been introduced into clubs at Wash-
ington, and has appeared before engineering and scien-
tific societies. Only a short time since both Mr. Max-
well and one of his Government assistants appeared be-
fore an economic society in Washington to promote
their mutual policies. Through the publications con-
trolled by Mr. Maxwell he has been able to repay his
debt to these gentlemen. Besides, he has flooded the
country with material sent to the daily newspapers, ad-
vertising those who have been of service to him. He
has realized that should the Government embark on a

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

233

plan whereby the West is to be reclaimed, it would be
to his advantage to have his friends maintained in
places where they would be valuable in carrying out
the policies of the National Irrigation Association. We
have a bale of newspaper clippings sent out by this
bureau relating to the thorough training and wide ex-
periences of the men with whom Mr. Maxwell has
found it advisable to work.

Mr. Maxwell has always been active in working for
specific appropriations for the construction of projects
which he has already selected. These projects need not
be mentioned here, as they are enumerated in the report
of the Secretary of the Interior for the year 1901 pub-
lished eight months prior to the passage of the irriga-
tion bill. No reliable preliminary surveys had been
made to determine the feasibility of these projects up
to that time and this work has not yet been completed.
Why should the Secretary of the Interior place himself
on record as favoring one or all of these projects unless
his subordinates had so recommended ? Through whose
influence were the subordinates induced to advocate
Government construction of these projects? It is not
our place to guess or surmise as to how the Secretary
of the Interior was thus led to commit himself. We
feel, however, that an explanation should be made as to
why, if the Secretary of the Interior should advise the
construction of these projects two years ago, the recla-
mation service has found it necessary to spend much
time since then making surveys as to their feasibility?

Mr. Maxwell has led the way in planning the work
of the Government during the past year. He goes here
and there promising what the reclamation service will
do for this or that community and formulating regula-
tions Tinder which the Act of June 17th can be carried
out without delay. He has been especially active along
the Salt River Valley in Arizona, where conditions are
rather unusual. Mr. Maxwell was hailed first as a
prophet, but his domineering tactics have robbed him
of much of his power and influence. Men with whom
he first co-operated have turned against him, and it
is extremely doubtful if any of the measures he has
advocated will be indorsed by a majority of the people
of the valley. In a number of states those chosen by
him to act as vice-presidents of his associations are now
using their influence to make known the character of
the organization and the man who dominates its policies.

The question as to who has given Mr. Maxwell per-
mission to represent the Government in irrigation mat-
ters is often asked. If you should ask him, he would
probably answer that he is acting as the chairman of the
executive committee of the National Irrigation Associa-
tion. Those who have read what has gone before know
what this means. He does not get his position from
the association, however, but from Government officials
who are willing that he should represent them. That
this places the national irrigation program in the hands
of those who furnish the financial support to the propa-
ganda is plain.

To show how Mr. Maxwell attempts to control the
reclamation service through his association a copy of a
letter sent out recently to the members of the organi-
zation is given. Attention is called to his demand for
the construction of "specific projects" and his refer-
ence to his "own work."

CHICAGO, ILL., Feb. 14. 1903.
DEAR SIR:

The National Irrigation Association is working for
results. We want to see the irrigation works built, and
the increased population and trade actually created.

Wl.i-ii completed the Tonto, or Salt River, reservoir
in Arizona, costing $'3,700,000, with a capacity of 1,500,-
000 acre-feet will rival the Nile dam as a great engi-
neering work. It will more than double the produc-
tiveness, population and trade of the Salt River Valley.

To make the influence of the National Irrigation
Association effective it must be concentrated on specific
projects which will demonstrate the benefits of national
irrigation to the entire country, and this Salt River
reservoir is such a project.

The Homema'ker for January contains in both the
illustrated section and the editorial section, articles giv-
ing in detail an account of this great project, and my
own work in connection with it. Read it carefully.

The enemies of the national irrigation movement,
our erstwhile opponents who wanted the states to con-
trol the great work of reclamation, though scotched are
still active and venomous. They are leaving no stone
unturned to undo the great work we have accomplished.

"By their fruits ye shall know them," is the rule
by which the friends of the national irrigation move-
ment who comprise the National Irrigation Association
must be measured. So far it is a record of things done.

Yours faithfully,
GEORGE H. MAXWELL.
To the Members of the National Irrigation Association.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST REFORM IN STATE IRRIGATION LAWS.

Mr. Maxwell has not only deemed it to be his place
to see to the enactment of a bill providing for the
extension of national aid in irrigation and to carry jts
provisions into effect, but he has also assumed the role
of the champion of the theory that "No state irrigation
laws are preferable to those that are comprehensive."
He has fought reform irrigation legislation in nearly
every western state. From favoring the Wyoming law
a few years ago, he has now gone to the other extreme
and advocates what he is pleased to call "home rule."
His objection to state control as expressed in his argu-
ment setting forth the advantages of the "home rule"
policy is that the states can not settle interstate com-
plications. We do not believe that this contention is
to be sustained in practice, but even if it should be,
would there not be far more difficulty in settling rights
with each district independent of those adjoining? We
believe that when the time comes for the settlement
of rights on the great interstate streams no special diffi-
culty will be encountered. The work of making a com-
plete adjudication will certainly be much reduced should
the states adopt a "harmonious system of irrigation laws"
providing for the settlement of rights.

Mr. Maxwell is peculiarly apt in the choice of his
phrases. He pleads for "home rule" in irrigation, yet
he is fully aware that, practically, the fullest measure
of home rule comes with some system of public super-
vision, which is the only possible way, as demonstrated
in this and foreign countries, of preventing appropri-
ators near the head waters of a stream from absorbing
the entire water supply without any regard whatever for
the rights of the appropriators farther down. The near-
est approach to home rule in irrigation that has ever
been attained was under the famous Wright district
law of California, by which irrigators and property own-
ers within a section capable of irrigation from a com-
mon source can unite to own and control the irrigation
resources of the section. Mr. Maxwell began his career
as an irrigation "reformer" by attempting to have that
law declared void by the courts, with the avowed pur-
pose of entirely freeing his clients — landowners and tax-
payers within several of the districts organized under

234

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

the law — from the burden of the bonds they themselves
had sold and then dishonestly sought to repudiate. He
did not succeed in having the district law annulled by
the courts, but he did succeed in so discrediting all dis-
trict securities that successful organization under the
law was for a time impossible. He is even now appeal-
ing to his former employers in one of the discredited
districts, promising in return that their land shall now
be irrigated by the National Government. This is no
secret, for it is fully known from Mr. Maxwell's own
letters sent to hundreds of farmers in the district.
There is not a single irrigation authority in California
who will say that had there been more of public super-
vision of the affairs of the various district organizations,
there would never have followed the calamitous results
that are a blot on the industrial history of the state.

It would seem that Mr. Maxwell either has an idea
that the Government is to ultimately control the water
of the streams or that he desires to leave the matter
undisturbed until he has the leisure to dictate the irri-
gation policies of those states which have not yet pro-
vided a legal method whereby claims to water may be
equitably and definitely settled. He visited New Or-
leans last fall and in talking to the Chamber of Com-
merce of that city congratulated the people that there
were no good laws governing the diversion and use of
water in the State of Louisiana. He goes to Montana
and advocates his system of "home rule" as against a
measure which has been prepared by an able student
of irrigation, a man who has some interest in the wel-
fare of the state. To bring his ideas before the public,
,he writes an open letter to Senator Paris Gibson, which
is sent broadcast to the papers of the state. This let-
ter cautions the people of Montana against the enact-
ment of any law which would be revolutionary in the
practice of the state. He speaks as though there were
no one within the borders of the state who could intel-
ligently frame a law suitable to the conditions prevail-
ing there. Lying between the Dominion of Canada and
Wyoming, it would seem that a compromise measure
incorporating a portion of the laws of both might not
go far astray. Behind all of the cautions urged by Mr.
Maxwell can be seen his desire to prevent the enact-
ment of any laws which might later interfere with the
prospects of a certain irrigation project lying within
the borders of Montana for the construction of which he
has failed to secure "specific appropriations" from Con-
gress.

In the same letter to Senator Gibson he referred
to a bill which he says would be presented to the Cali-
fornia legislature. He prophesied that it would meet
the same fate as did a bill in the Arizona legislature
two years ago. Mr. Maxwell's influence killed the latter
measure and he takes pride in pointing to its failure.
The bill before the California legislature also failed of
passage, largely through the influences represented by
Mr. Maxwell. It was framed by some of the best law-
yers, irrigationists and judges of California. The poorer
class of irrigators can not afford to be continually in
court in defense of their water titles. The more wealthy
are able to control the available water supply by threat-
ened law suits. How long this condition is to prevail
in California depends upon how soon the people are
aroused concerning the purpose of those who are furnish-
ing paid lobbyists in the California legislature.

Let us briefly consider the agencies which operated
to defeat the bill. At a meeting held at Riverside, on
the 29th day of last December to "consider" the merits
of the bill it was found that the program had been fully

arranged before the delegates appeared. But one friend
of the measure was present and he was not on the pro-
gram. Charges had been made by those opposing the
bill that it had been framed for the benefit of the large
corporations. That there was no truth in this asser-
tion is demonstrated by the character of the delegates at
this convention. It was composed almost wholly of
agents of the great water companies of Southern Cali-
fornia, who have the irrigator in their power and who,
t for this reason, do not favor state restrictions to their
influence, or any provisions which might bring relief to
the actual user of water. The call for the meeting was
signed as follows :

S. Armour, a director and officer of the Anaheim
Water Company, and others.

John G. North, attorney for the Riverside Water
Company.

F. C. Finkle, chief engineer of the Edison Electric
Company.

E. W. Freeman, attorney for the Temescal Water
Company.

George E. Otis, attorney for the Arrowhead Reser-
voir Company and others.

H. Clay Kellogg, chief engineer of the Santa Ana
Valley Water Company.

E. E. Keech, attorney for the same company.

W. E. Smythe, representing other companies.

Does this look as though the irrigator or the water
company opposed the bill? In this fight did Mr. Max-
well defend the interests of the irrigator, or did he array
himself with the corporations? The following quota-
tion from a statement made by one of the defenders
of the bill makes clear his position :

"And then comes George H. Maxwell, another re-
former, who protests, in an article just published in the
Los Angeles Times, that the bill is bad because it makes
that very provision, preserving to the state the control
of the waters of its own streams. And why ? Because it
will interfere with national irrigation."

In a letter written from Chicago by Mr. Maxwell
on February 11, 1903, he says: "It is true that a bill
embodying the theories of state property in the control
of water has been introduced in the California legisla-
ture, but the actual irrigators who compose the co-op-
erative canal companies of the southern part of the state
are up in arms against it, and are making a vigorous
and determined effort to prevent such a law from be-
ing inflicted upon the State of California." Mr. Max-
well knows that the actual irrigators were not repre-
sented at Riverside on December 29th of last year.

Does Mr. Maxwell go to Nebraska, Colorado or
Wyoming legislatures and advocate his doctrines ? Does
he seek to outline the policies of those states relating
to irrigation or does he predict the outcome of any re-
form legislation there introduced? We have heard of
nothing of the kind. The irrigator is well represented
among the law makers of those states.

Mr. Maxwell refers to the State of Washington as
having model irrigation laws. Those who have given
the matter study know that the rights of the irrigators
have never been established on a single stream in the
state, and where a few irrigators have gone to court
and obtained a decree fixing their relative rights, the
state assumes no responsibility in protecting them
from later diversions. Does this indicate that Mr. Max-
well is working in the interest of the irrigator? Will
a few court decisions with no state administrative ma-
chinery to carry decrees into effect ever lead to a just
settlement of rights? Government by injunction, at

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

235

the best, is not popular in the United States, and if
the irrigation laws of the land are to be enforced in
this manner the farmer has anything but a bright pros-
pect for the future.

ATTITUDE TOWARD THE REPEAL OF LAND LAWS.

While the National Irrigation Association appar-
ently indorses the Act of June 17, 1902, and its organs
have repeatedly made the statement that a great fund
will accumulate from the sale • of public lands, to be
loaned by the Government in the construction of irri-
gation works without interest, yet during the past year
or two the same organization has advocated the repeal
of the desert land act, the timber and stone acts and
the commutation clause of the homestead act. Prom
whence will come the funds for the construction of
irrigation works after these laws have been repealed?
We can not believe that it is the intention of the parent
of the National Irrigation Association to bring about
the downfall of national irrigation at this time by cut-
ting off the source of revenue now provided. It does
not seem reasonable that the gentlemen should have
any other motive than that which would tend to ad-
vance national irrigation under the "compromise bill"
as he called it a year ago. There must be some reason,
therefore, which makes it advisable for him to advocate
the repeal of the land laws. It has been suggested that
he desires to cut off the revenue in order that "specific
appropriations" may again be asked for. His argu-
ments favoring the repeal of the land laws is that the
Government is being robbed by land sharks and he
charges the people of the West of being "land grabbers"
and "land pirates." We believe that any land law can
be so administered that steals may be possible imder
its operation. We do not believe that more land has
been illegally obtained under the timber and stone acts
than under the homestead act, even before the com-
mutation clause was added. We doubt whether more
land has been stolen under the desert land act than
under the homestead act. We are confident that fraud
is not as common as he seems to believe and that such
defects as exist can largely be corrected by a better
administration and perhaps some amendments. If the
homestead act were to be repealed the recent act of
Congress would be null and void as far as its prac-
tical application is concerned. If other land laws were
to be repealed no funds would revert to the treasury
for carrying on construction. Either course, therefore,
would lead to a termination of the reclamation work
now in progress.

As before stated, Mr. Maxwell and his association,
as controlled by him, do not stand for the people of
the West, but for the corporations that have interested
themselves in national irrigation. Should the above
enumerated land laws be repealed the large area belong-
ing to these companies woiild have a ready sale at ad-
vanced prices.. Of the 30,000,000 acres or less of
public land yet remaining, fully 85 per cent will always
be unsuited to irrigation farming. With the land laws
repealed this large area must remain an open range.
The government rightly prohibits fencing of the pub-
lic domain. A sentiment with which Mr. Maxwell sym-
pathizes at the present time, antagonizes any leasing
system that can be devised. What 3s to be done with
this land? It can not be reclaimed and disposed of
under the homestead act, it can not be controlled by
small or large ranchmen because it can not be fenced,
and under existing laws it can not be leased.

We do not know how far Mr. Maxwell proposes

to have the repeal of the land laws extend. If the laws
of 1866 and 1891 which give the states authority over
the water of the streams within their boundaries are
to be included in his program, we can see that he is
working to secure the same control of water that he
now has of construction under the act of last June.
If this should take place, the National Irrigation Asso-
ciation would then be able to deal with a few men at
Washington to control the water of western streams.
He can not affect the irrigation administration of many
of the western states at the present time, but should
the land laws which contain one of the provisions which
clothe the states with the responsibility of dividing
water among the claimants be repealed, his influence
would be greatly widened.

It may be that the land laws of the country should
be modified. If this is true THE AGE wishes to indorse
the movement. If they are so obviously defective that
all or nearly all should be repealed, we favor that;
but we do not believe that the statutes under which
the West has thus far been developed can be wholly
condemned. When repeal measures are advocated by
Mr. Maxwell we deem it necessary that the West take an
active interest in detecting his real motives and the logi-
cal results of such measures, and also that Congressmen
from the arid region be fully prepared to meet the issue.
The matter has already been called to the attention
of the land committees of both the Senate and the
House by the legislatures of a number of the western
states. The resolutions of one of these states reads
as follows:

REPEAL OF THE UNITED STATES LAND LAWS.

Senate Joint Resolution No. — .

A resolution relating to the public land laws :

Be it Resolved, by the Senate, the House of Repre-
sentatives concurring, that a campaign is now being
carried on in the eastern and southern states favoring
the repeal of all land laws except the homestead act,
which, if successful, will interfere with, and greatly re-
tard the development of the West; and

Whereas, This campaign is being conducted by the
National Irrigation Association so-called, for the pur-
pose of excluding from the market all lands which now
compete with the sale of railroad lands ; and

Whereas, It is believed that where the land laws
now on our statutes have been carried out in good faith,
they have operated successfully; therefore be it

Resolved, That it is believed that the land laws
under which the settlement of the West has thus far
been made possible are suited to the conditions that
prevail here and that no changes should be made therein
unless a most thorough and exhaustive investigation
shall demonstrate that such are advisable; and be it
further

Resolved, That a certified copy of these resolu-
tions be forwarded to each delegate in Congress from
this State and to Hon. H. C. Hansbrough, chairman of
the Committee on Public Lands in the United States
Semite, and to Hon. John F. Lacey, chairman of the
Committee on Public Lands in the House of Represent-
atives.

The question naturally arises, why does Mr. Max-
well secure his indorsements from the East and South
rather than from the West? If fraud under these
land laws is common the people of the West should be
aware of it and we believe that there are enough people
in that section of the country besides the "land sharks"
who have convictions of right and wrong sufficiently

236

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

strong that the defects in these acts will be reported
and a remedy found.

We do not believe that the West is indebted to Mr.
Maxwell in any way. He has been well paid for his
time and he has abused the privileges of his position.
We regard the irrigation bill as a measure over which
one should not become insanely enthusiastic. It rep-
resents a departure in the policy of the Government.
It is the first measure which has extended aid in any
manner towards the construction of irrigation works, and
it marks the first time in the history of the country
that public works have been provided for by a loan
from the treasury. If the law is not carried out by
an independent and fearless administration but little
will be accomplished under its provisions. Funds must
be provided, and those in charge of the reclamation
service must be capable of carrying on the construction
of meritorious projects without regard to the theories
or advice of such men as the leader of the National
Irrigation Association.

While we have admitted that the recent act of
Congress will bring about no revolution in the reclama-
tion of the arid region, yet we believe that, such as
it is, it merits the support of all who desire to see
the West ultimately become the great agricultural coun-
try that nature intended it should be. We stand for
the irrigator who has had the courage and stability
to bring about the existing extensive development. It

gator" we will keep abreast of the movement to reclaim
the West and continue to champion that which aims
to better his condition and to condemn that which tends
to steal from him his independence.

W. W. WOuLuRIDGE.
Industrial Agent Great Northern Ry , Hinsdale, Mont.

seems to us that he is the man who should be first aided
through Government construction of irrigation works.
He has labored for years to receive some such recog-
nition and he can not permit the work to be conducted
indirectly by a man who has advocated great issues "as
a part of a general compromise measure" ; who has
created an association and secured members therefor
by deceitful tactics in order that his real purposes
might be hidden; who has changed the "objects" of
this association, regardless of his own convictions of
right, whenever the necessities of intrigue have de-
manded; who has sought the courts to repeal laws
whereby valid bonds might be repudiated : who, failing
in this, has promised his clients that the Government
would build their irrigation works providing certain
support was advanced.

We simply ask. is Mr. Maxwell a safe man to be
intrusted with the responsibility he has sought and so
easily found?

THE AGE believes that it has performed its duty;
that any publication which remains silent when an
honest, truthful and fair statement of fact may result
in reform does not deserve the support or patronage of
the people ; that with the support of the "actual irri-

THE CRITICAL KANGAROO.

Twas a growly, spotted Leopard,

On the plains of Timbuctoo,
Who met one Sunday morning

With a happy Kangaroo.
"Your suit is really startling,"

Said the latter, with a smile,
"For polka-dots no longer

Are the proper style;
And though no criticism

On your tailor I would cast,
I have a strong suspicion that

The color isn't fast.
For — ' But here an interruption

Most sudden did occur,
Which filled the air around them

With what resembled fur;
And the Leopard some time later,

Much larger round the waist,
Mused long in pensive manner

On that Kangaroo's "good taste."

—St. Nicholas.

MAXWELL PUCE, PHCKN1X. ARIZ.

OWED TO MAXWELL.

A pin feather poet begged us to accept some of
his brain work, and as he needed the money, we paid
him in advance, expecting him to furnish something
worth while Instead, he handed in the following ode,
or "owed" as he had it, and, however, diffident we felt
about printing it, since we had paid for it we were
obliged to use it. Everybody who has bought a pig
in a poke will understand that it would have been
criminal waste to throw it away. — ED.

Oh, Maxwell, Maxwell, Well ! Well ! Well !
Salt Kiver Valley says you're swell,
While others say you're a d — d sell ;
That's how they put it, what they tell.
'Tis whispered in the shady dell,
Brought to our ears by "passing bell ;"
The waters rushing down pell mell,
Through ditches, streams, beneath your spell,
Strange stories gurgle, some so fell
That those who hear them give a yell,
And shout out, "Maxwell, you'll catch h — 1."

(Orchestra crash to cover confusion.)
Oh, Maxwell, Maxwell, Well ! Well ! Well !

THE IKEIGATION AGE.

237

IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS FOR 1902.

BY EL WOOD MEAD.

The essential features of the Eeview of Irrigation
Investigations for 1902, from the annual report of the
United States Department of Agriculture, Elwood Mead,
irrigation expert, in charge, present matters of so
great interest to our readers that it has been deemed
advisable to utilize it in this issue at the risk of
crowding out other matter of import-
ance, but not so immediate as this.
The report is down to June 30, 1902,
but is just published by the govern-
ment and therefore new.

The report in its introduction
points significantly to the rise in value
of irrigated land and water rights,
in many sections the price of farming
lands having doubled and nearly
trebled. This is due principally to
rise in value elsewhere, changes in
the methods of conducting the range
live stock business, growing trade with
Alaska and the Orient, and the pas-
sage of the national irrigation act,
which is a most potent factor in en-
hancing the price of land and water,
and increasing the area of cultivation.

Drainage is regarded as an im-
portant means of increasing this culti-
vated area, standing next to reservoirs
for storing water, strange as it may
seem. The cause, as explained, is due
largely to seepage, large areas having
been rendered unfit for cultivation by
an excess of water on that account.
All these lands will be restored to pro-
ductiveness by proper drainage. The
report says that the aggregate area
is surprisingly large and is being
rapidly extended, a fact which raises
the drainage problem from a local to
a general nature, involving, as it is
liable to do in time, all the older irri-
gated sections of the west, and the
valleys now being brought under cul-
tivation.

The government is now engaged in
making surveys to prepare for the
emergency of drainage, actively so in
California and Colorado, where drain-
age is most needed, the object being to
provide for a reclamation of these
"drowned" lands, and the protection
of others from the threatened effects
of seepage by simple methods of drain-
age.

In many parts of the west the
growing scarcity and greater value of
water is leading to the use of sources
of supply which were at first neg-
lected. The rise of soil water under
many irrigation canals has led to a
large increase in the number of wells
and pumping plants in the districts
watered. In other sections vigorous
search is being made for subterranean.

sources. In the Santa Clara valley in California over
1,500 pumps are now supplying water to irri gators, and
along many western rivers there are now more pumps
than ditches. Figure 1 will show one of the pumping
methods, and the supply of water obtained.

The water-right problems of the arid region con-
tinues to be a burning one. That there must be an ade-
quate settlement of this question is not denied, nay, it is
demanded. The statutes which govern the filing of

950,000
900,000
850,000
800,000
750,000
700,000
650,000
600,000
550,000
500,000
450,000
400,000
350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000

ANNUAL DISCHARGE
OF STREAM
4,202,013.
ACRE FEET

Fig. 2

ACRE FEET

AVAILABLE FOR

IRRIGATION BY DIRECT

DIVERSION

2,637,094.

55 PERCENT OF

ANNUAL FLOW

ACRE FEET

WHICH MUST

BE STORED

1,564,919.

45 PERCENT OF

ANNUAL FLOW

Courtesy U. S. Dept. Agriculture. (Mead.)

IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS — DIAGRAM SHOWING FLOW OF YAKIMA RIVER, WASHINGTON, ANI>
STORAGE REQUIRED FOR ITS COMPLETE USE IN IRRIGATION.

White areas represent amount of flow during nonirrigation period and unused flow during
April, May and June. Black areas represent amount of flow which could be used by direct
diversion. Hatched areas represent the volume which must be stored and the time of
its use.

238

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

claims to water in most of the arid states are so loosely
drawn that appropriations of excessive amounts have
been the rule rather than the exception.

The uncertainty lies in the failure to unify riparian
rights and those arising out of appropriations. In the
establishment of rights to water, each state has been a
law unto itself, and the only way in which the Federal
government can interfere, as matters now stand, is in
controlling interstate streams, many of which rise where
the riparian doctrine has been abrogated and flow into
states where the riparian rights are closely and rigidly

Fig. 3

1

475,000
450,000
425,000
400,000
375,000
350,000
325,000
300,000
275,000
250,000
SS5.000
200,000
175,000
150,000
125,000
100.000
75,000
50,000
25,000

ANNUAL DISCHARGE

OF STREAM

1,138,369.

ACRE FEET

Fig.

ACRE FEET
AVAILABLE FOR
IRRIGATION BYDIRECT
DIVERSION
747,292.
66 PERCENT OF
ANNUAL FLOW

Courtesy U. S. Dept. Agriculture. (Mead.)

IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS — DIAGRAM SHOWING FLOW OF GALLATIN RIVER, MONTANA, AND

STORAGE FOR ITS COMPLETE USE IN IRRIGATION.
White areas represent amount of flow during nonirrigation period. Black areas represent

amount of flow which could be used by direct diversion. Hitched areas represent the

volume which must be stored and the time of its use.

guarded. The report deems it of first importance to de-
cide what a water right is, and then determine the
amount of that right which an individual may possess
for his land. Because the appropriators of water could
not agree upon this simple question, Nebraska, Wyom-
ing and Colorado declared for state control of all the
water.

Although, as says the report, "the appropriation for
the irrigation investigations of the
Department of Agriculture, makes the
study of laws affecting irrigation and
riparian proprietors and institutions
relating to irrigation the leading feat-
ure of its work, its duties are wholly
educational, the responsibility for
legislation rests ultimately with the
people themselves. The facts, so far,
have succeeded in arousing public sen-
timent to the need of reform. What
is suggested is the passage of laws
which should include :

"1. A determination of the priority
and amount of all existing rights.

"2. The division of states into dis-
tricts based on drainage lines and the
creation of an authentic record of the
priorities and amounts of appropria-
tions of water in each of these dis-
tricts.

"3. The protection of rights to wa-
ter in times of scarcity by the division
of streams among appropriators by
some public official.

"4. Limitation of all rights to use
and the attachment of rights for irri-
gation to the land irrigated.

"5. The establishment of some sys-
tematic and orderly procedure for the
record of all future appropriations,
and the prompt establishment of prior-
ities and amounts of rights acquired
through beneficial use."

As to irrigation in the humid sec-
tions of the United States, the report
is of the opinion that it is not yet de-
termined whether it will pay, but the
question is of sufficient importance to
justify a thorough investigation. In
New Jersey it has been determined
that an irrigation plant will pay in
connection with trucking and fruit
growing, and that it will be of service
every year for one or more crops. In
Wisconsin irrigation has proved prac-
tically successful, notwithstanding a
total rainfall of 19.49 inches for five
months. In leachy soils where the
rainfall is not retained, irrigation gave
an increased yield. In Missouri it is
settled that irrigation will pay in the
case of vines, nursery stock, orchard
and small fruits.

The report contains a highly inter-
esting letter from Hamilton Yancey,
of Borne, Georgia, on the subject of
irrigation in the south, which will ap-
pear in full in the columns of the AGE.

ACRE FEET
WHICH MUSTT

BE STORED

391,077.

34 PERCENT OF

ANNUAL FLOW

THE IERIGATION AGE.

239

Rice irrigation forms an important portion of the
report, which says that the remarkable increase of the
production of that grain along the Gulf coast has made
it desirable that the irrigation problems of that section
be systematically studied, many farmers knowing nothing
of the methods of applying water to crops. Many un-
solved questions confront the manufacturers of pump-
ing machinery and those who buy and operate it. There
is need to know how much water is re-
quired, how it can be distributed with
the least loss, and used to the best
advantage.

Irrgation in our insular possessions
is also treated, and altogether, the re-
port is as complete as possible.

Accompanying the report are three
diagrams showing the flow of three
rivers largely used for irrigation pur-
poses, which merit attention "and
study. Also illustrations of irrigating
investigations in various parts of the
irrigated districts, all of which are
given in this number of the AGE.

gineering feats have been accomplished in America, and
when some of these are considered, the building of a
huge chimney by means of which land may be irrigated
seems no longer an impossibility.

The chimney, once constructed upon the plan sug-
gested by Dr. Woolridge, the tremendous current of
ocean air passing through it to the great height pf its
topmost point, by rarefaction, would be reduced to an
extremely low temperature, thus forming, according to
the inventor's theory, an immense glacier.

ARTIFICIAL GLACIERS NEXT.

A CALIFORNIA' SCHEME COINCIDENT

WITH A SIMILAR SUGGESTION FOR

COLORADO.

Dr. Woolridge proposes to render
the arid lands of Southern California
fertile by changing the climate by
means of artificial glaciers in the
San Bernardino mountains.

J.L.Herwick,of Glen wood Springs,
writes that irrigation in Colorado
may be vastly augmented by arti-i1
ficial glaciers, or "icebergs," created
in the winters in the mountains.

For many years vast sections of the
arid lands of Southern California have
been so much waste territory to the
country from the standpoint of farm-
ing. They have baffled every proposed
plan of irrigation. Systems used
with great success in other states have
failed here.

A scheme for irrigating this section
of the country, startling in its magni-
tude and originality, but possibly
plausible at the foundation, has just
been advanced by Dr. C.W. Woolridge,
of Cleveland, 0. It is to create by
scientific means an artificial glacier at
the top of the San Bernardino moun-
tains in California.

The first thing which the plan for
making this artificial glacier calls for
is an immense chimney on the Pacific
coast, miles in width at the base and
of an enormous height, so that the
ocean air could be carried to the top
of the San Bernardino mountains.

This scheme is not so impracticable
as it appears on the simple stating
of the plan. It must be remembered
that the most wonderful modern en-

800,000
760,000
720,000
080.000
640,000

600,000
560,000
520,000
480,000
440,000
400,000
360,000
320,000
280,000
240,000

h

W 200,000

H

g 160,000

W 120,000
K

80,000
^ 40,000

ANNUAL DISCHARGE
OF STREAM
2,900,202.
ACRE FEET

ACRE FEET
AVAILABLE FOR
IRRIGATION BY DIRECT
DIVERSION
1,706,892.
59 PERCENT OF
ANNUALFLOW

ACRE FEET

WHICH MUST

RESTORED

1,193,308.

41 PERCENT OF

ANNUALFLOW

Courtesy U. S. Dept. Agriculture. (Mead.)

IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS — DIAGRAM SHOWING FLOW OF BOISE RIVER, IDAHO, AND STOR-
AGE REQUIRED FOR ITS COMPLETE USE IN IRRIGATION.
White areas represent amount of flow during nonirrigation period. Black areas represent

amount of flow which could be used by direct diversion. Hatched areas represent the

volume which must be stored and the time of its use.

240

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The presence of this glacier would cause rainfalls
throughout the year in that section of the country, which
is now discouragingly arid on account of the upper strata
of atmosphere being too hot to permit of a sufficient fall
of rain to water the lands.

Dr. Woolridge explains his theory very clearly and
points out its usefulness and practicability.

"My theory of creating a glacier has only grown
from a close observation of the laws of nature/' he said
during a recent interview. "When warm air from the
ocean's surface is carried in large volumes to great
heights, clouds are formed and after an interval of time,
because of pressure, rain falls. This has been known
since the dawning intelligence of man first began to
note and understand the operations of nature. If, how-
ever, as has long since been discovered, the air from the
ocean's surface rises slowly and is diffused and warmed
as it rises the precipitation docs not occur.

day in the operation of the ammonia manufacturing
apparatus.

"If then, with the temperature at 80 degrees in the
shade and the barometer at 30 inches, a great volume
of air were carried directly from the ocean's surface off
Southern California to the height of 10,000 feet, where
the barometric pressure is about 20 inches, its tempera-
ture would register two-thirds of what it was at the sea
level, and the moisture it contained would be pre-
cipitated either on the mountain tops or before reaching
that height.

"But the true zero temperature for air is the va-
porizing point, or point of no pressure, which the ex-
periments with liquid air have proved to be at 312 de-
grees below zero. Hence the true and scientific state-
ment of the temperature at the sea level which we
call 80 in the shade is 80 plus 312, or 392 degrees, as
registered by the liquid air system.

Courtesy U. S. Dept. Agriculture. (Mead.)

IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS — IRRIGATED ORCHARDS IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.

"This is exactly what happens in the lands I pro-
pose to irrigate by means of the glacier. And to wage
a successful war against this law of nature, it will be
necessary to devise some scientific means of carrying
the air which is now diffused straight up to a great
height in a vast volume.

"Within the range of temperature and pressure to
which life is limited the volume of the air varies, it being
guided by the pressure. For instance, one cubic foot
of ait at the sea level with the barometer at thirty
inches, will, at such a height that the barometric pres-
sure is only fifteen inches, occupy two cubic feet.

"At the same time without any heat being added to
or taken from this air, its temperature is being reduced
as its volume increases, or decreases as its volume is
diminished by pressure, varying inversely, directly the
pressure changes. This is practically illustrated every

"The apparent loss of temperature that would occur
by carrying this air to the height proposed would be one-
third of the temperature, or 130 2-3 degrees, which
subtracted from its original temperature of 80 would
leave 50 2-3 degrees below zero, as the temperature of
this air at the height of 10,000 feet is changed from 80
degrees at the sea level by expansion only. This is a
degree of cold much greater than is usually found on
mountain Heights under twenty inches barometric pres-
sure corresponding to 80 in the shade at the sea level
with 30 inches pressure.

"This demonstrates that the commonly accepted
teaching that the effect of the sun on the upper strata
of the atmosphere is slight and that its heating power
is mostly exerted close to the earth's surface is a mis-
take. The sun's rays act on the ocean of atmosphere
exactly as they do on the ocean of water. In proportion

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

241

Courtesy U. S. Dept. Agriculture. (Mead.)

IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS — HEADGATES AND WATERWAY, SKALKAHO CREEK,
BITTER ROOT VALLEY, MONTANA.

to their mass the upper layers are heated most and
the air lying nearest the ocean's surface is the coolest.

"The application proposed by the foregoing scien-
tific truth is that a great flue will be built. The plan is
that the entrance to the flue over the ocean's border
should be twenty-one miles long, and under the deck
or roof of this flue, which is supported like a suspen-
sion bridge, the height is 250 feet. This gives a trifle
more than a square mile of area of cross-section at the
entrance of the flue. The same area of cross-section is
maintained throughout, the height increasing as the
width of the flue diminishes, until where the constant
width of the five miles is reached the height is one-
fifth of a mile or 1,056 feet plus the necessary allowance
for the slack of suspension cables.

"This is relatively but little higher
than the Eiffel tower, and the sup-
porting towers within the structure
may be trussed columns braced in
all directions by steel cables, rather
than towers. This structure should
be carried to the height of 10,000 feet
on the San Bernardino range. As
I have planned it it should be enclosed
in glass set in steel sash ; a large part
of which is arranged to act as gravity
valves to yield to storm pressure.

"Such a structure once built would
take in the sea breeze throughout the
whole breadth of its entrance. A)
larger volume of moist sea air than in
the course of nature is often con-
centrated on any mountain tract of
•equal area to the San Bernardino
heights, even where the heaviest pre-
cipitations on earth occur.

"When the air once starts to blow
through such a flue, as it must as
soon as enclosed, there is nothing in
nature that could reverse the current;
it would flow on forever as long as the
flue remained. The cold produced by

expansion would cause the moisture
contained to be precipitated, not as
rain, but in the form of powdery
snow to be distributed over the
heights, while the cold blast accom-
panying this snow would maintain
it there unmelted until a great glacier
would be formed.

"The water which the melting of
this glacier would supply," says Dr.
Woolridge in the Los Angeles Herald,
"could be collected by a canal encirc-
ling the mountain group near the
level of 3,000 feet, and in reservoirs
occupying the valleys above the line
of that canal. This water would be
amply sufficient to make a garden of
all the desert lands adjacent, includ-
ing the great Mojave desert, while the
chill imparted to the upper atmos-
phere at this governing point 'would,
I doubt not, greatly modify the cli-
mate and increase the precipitation
throughout the whole arid region
from Mexico to Montana."

PROPOSED COLORADO GLACIER.

Having been requested by W. L. Grubb, presi-
dent of the Colorado Cattle and Horse Growers' as-
sociation, and Senator Tomkins, of Chaffe coun-
ty, to write an article giving my views on the part the
timber plays in conserving the snow that falls during the
winter, I take pleasure in doing so, believing that it will
be interesting to the public.

The general accepted theory is that the cutting away
of the timber tends to lessen the flow of water in the
latter part of the irrigating season, while the exact op-
posite is the case.

Having had twenty years' .actual experience and
residence in the high altitudes of the mountains, I know
whereof I speak when I say that if every vestige of tim-

Courtesy U. S. Dept
IRRIGATION

Agriculture. (Mead.)

INVESTIGATIONS — ORCHARD IRRIGATION IN SANTA CLARA VALLEY,
CALIFORNIA. SUPPLY DERIVED FROM PUMPING.

242

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Courtesy U. S. Dept. Agriculture. (Mead.)

IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS — REPAIRING BRUSH AND ROCK DAM, YELLOWSTONE
RIVKR, MONTANA.

her was removed from the mountains we would then
have more water in July and August than we do now.
This is the season of the year to test the truth of what
I am saying. Go into the timber in the high altitudes,
take the measurements and you will find that the snow
is from one to two feet deeper in the dead timber than
it is in the green timber.

The reason for this is that when the snow falls, it
lodges on the boughs of the green timber and is held
in this position until the wind and the dry air carry it
away by evaporation, while in the dry timber the snow
falls to the ground and is not subject to the above action
of the elements. Again, if there were no timber on the
high timbered hills and plateaus the winds of winter
would drift the snow from those hills
and plateaus and pile it up in deep
gorges and behind the brows of hills
iij drifts so deep that the suns of sum-
mer would not be able to melt .them
iiway until late in August or -Sep-
tember, as is the case above timber
line.

I have seen, and many of you have
seen, huge drifts of snow lying under
the brow of some hill far down on the
mountain side long after the snow has
all disappeared out of the green tim-
ber ; and, again, you will find it is
true that long before the streams get
low the snow has all disappeared in
the green timber.

It is the big drifts at and above
timber line that make the water for
late irrigation.

I do not want any one to think
that I want to see the timber de-
stroyed for the sake of water to irri-
gate the land, for I do not; there
are other ways of procuring water
and the people need the timber for
mining and building purposes and
should be permitted to use it, so
long as they do not waste and destroy it.

There should be some way of regu-
lating the cutting of timber so that
the people may get what they need
and at the same time protect the young
and growing trees. Some people ad-
vocate buying the timber from the
government, and say that the mill
men should pay for the timber they
cut. I am not opposed to this plan
if it is deemed to be the best. It
would only result in the consumer
having to pay the additional price,,
and I am inclined to believe that it
would be the wisest plan.

I am opposed to the large and un-
called for timber reservations all over
the state for the above reasons.

Speaking of water supply, I was
favorably impressed with an idea ad-
vanced by Senator Tomkins at the
last meeting of the Cattle and Horse
Growers' Association, in regard to
building what he termed icebergs.
The plan was to take out water
through pipes at the heads of moun-
tain streams and conduct it to suitable places and there
spray it during the winter in such a way that it would
form a huge mountain of ice.

In this way very small streams of water could be
made to yield a vast amount of water and thereby in-
crease the annual yield many times in crop tonnage.

This system of reservoirs can be built at a trifling
expense and in localities where other reservoirs could
not be built at all. I believe that this theory is deserving
of a practical test.

THE IRRIGATION AGE for 1 year and The Primer
of Irrigation, a 300-page handsomely bound book for
$1.50. Send, in subscription now.

Courtesy U. S. Dept.
IRRIGATION I

Agriculture, (.\fcatt.)

NVESTIGATIONS — PUMPING FOR IRRIGATION IN A SANTA CLARA
VALLEY ORCHARD, CALIFORNIA.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

243

THE PRIMER OF IRRIGATION.

BY D. H. ANDERSON.

COPYRIGHTED, 1903, BY D. H ANDERSON.

Chapter III.

SJ:X'I-AKID AND ARID LANDS — THEIR ORIGIN AND PE-
CULIARITIES.

From a general chemical point of view there is
very little difference between the soils elsewhere on
the surface of the globe, and those in the vast empire
in the United States west of the 100th meridian. The
soil possesses the identical organic elements already spe-
cified in the table given in the second chapter ; the same
organic substances abound ; the processes of plant life
are similar, and the same plant foods are essential
to the welfare of crops. Still, -there is a difference ap-
parent to every man who thrusts a spade into the
ground, plants a seed, and attempts to coax the soil
to produce a harvest.

A bird's eye view of the entire region impresses
the observef with the appalling sense of a vast, barren
<le*ert, a few oases, here and there, where widely sepa-
rated streams and springs exist, but in the main it
is an illimitable ocean, a desolate plain, with occasional
straggling clumps of scant coarse grass, sage brush,
artemisia, chemisal. greasewood, scrub oak, cactus and
other sparse vegetation, kept alive by the scant snows
of winter followed by dreary, hot, rainless summers, or
by inadequate winter rains succeeded by a tropical dry
season. This is the general aspect of the semi-arid
lands.

Beyond them, except in the North, there is no win-
ter, no seasons, nothing but a pitiless cloudless sky,
tropical heat, unmitigated by moisture, with an atmos-
phere so dry and desiccating that animal matter exposed
to its oxygen dries, or oxidizes and becomes reduced to
an odorless powder, the toughest substance soon pre-
senting the appearance of a moth-eaten garment. This
is the aspect of the arid lands. Some say there are
a hundred millions of acres of both kinds of land west
of the 100th degree of longitude, others claim a hundred
and fifty millions of acres, but the author suspects a
still greater measurement.

Notwithstanding all these discouraging featiires,
there is no land in the world that possesses greater fer-
tility, greater capacity for plant growth, and that will
so amply and so richly repay the labor of him who
puts his hand to the plow and blinds his eyes to the
hideous scenic features, until he has created an oasis
of his own, in the midst of which he may sit in peace,
plenty and content, beneath his own vine and fig tree,
in a cooling breeze, sipping the pure cold water from
his own olla hanging in the shade, while over, beyond
him, sizzling in the hot sands of the so-called desert,
•eggs may poach in the intense heat, and not even an
insect find energy enough to emit a single buzz.

By and by, a neighbor comes, sees the oasis and
the near by sands, wonders if he can accomplish as
much, tries it, and is surprised to find how easily it
is done. Then comes another neighbor, and another,
and still more, who push the desert farther off, until
there is no desert as far as the eye can reach, nothing
visible but rich harvests, fat kine, and plenty. The
very atmosphere has changed; the rainfall is slightly
increased, where rain and moisture had been strangers
from a time far beyond the memory of man, the dews
of heaven begin to fall and restore to the parched soil
a portion of the moisture stolen from it by the greedy

sun. It is a desert reclaimed, semi-arid and arid lands
wrenched from the grasp of ages of, barrenness and in
the struggle forced to perspire plenty, comfort, and
wealth. Is the picture overdrawn ? The reader has but
to look around to perceive the truth of it; it is a mov-
ing picture constantly before the eyes of him who turns
them in the right direction.

There are men still living who remember when all
that vast domain was considered as a desert, and indi-
cated on the maps of long ago, as "The Great American
Desert," even the Government regarding it as a desert
not worth offering the public, or so poor and worthless
as not to be worthy of protecting against marauders.

It has been said that from a general chemical
standpoint, there is no difference in the soil which
offers so mournful and dreary a prospect as our semi-
arid and arid lands, and that found anywhere else on
the globe. In their physical characteristics, however, a
vast difference is presented to the eye, but that differ-
ence is not to the disadvantage of the desert, for when
we come to investigate, even carelessly, we discover a
greater richness of inorganic and organic matter than
in any other region* on the earth. For ages the land
has been exposed to the lixiviating action of rain water,
in greater or less quantities— for it must be taken as
true that at some period in the misty past all these
lands were exposed to the wash of rains — without los-
ing their fertility. As year after year and age after
age rolled away, greater or less vegetation grew to ma-
turity, and, unharvested, returned back into the soil to
further enrich it, and hence it became richer and richer,
for it must be remembered, that the fertility of the
ground is not diminished by plants growing therein;
it is not until they are removed from the ground that
the soil gradually loses its fertility. Neither was there
any impairment by their utilization as pasture grounds
for countless herds of wild and domesticated animals,
for those, during ages of pasturage, returned to the
soil the elements most suitable for plant life.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

Inasmuch as this book is devoted to irrigation, it
will be understood in all cases, that the lands and soils
referred to in it belong to that class known as "arid,"
or "semi-arid," or, as they are commonly called, "desert
lands," as contradistinguished from those soils which
produce crops through the instrumentality of rain. This
is often said to be raising crops by "natural means," but
it by no means follows that growing crops by irrigation
implies "unnatural" means, the latter method being
equally as natural as the former, the forces of nature
being equally at the command and disposal of the farmer.
Nature works along lines laid down by general laws,
and man makes a special application of them for his
own uses and purposes. He drains the land when the
rain fall is too abundant, and when it is insufficient, or
fails altogether, he irrigates it. He follows the laws
of nature in both cases, wthout altering, straining, or
violating them, indeed, he could not if he would.

Comparing the entire vast area of arable desert
lands of the great West with the lands within the rain
belt, the soil relations between the various localities
are substantially the same. There are good and there
are bad lands, lands that are fertile and others that are
sterile; here we find soils which will grow luxuriant
crops, there we see soils that are not worth even an
experiment.

To realize this properly the reader must divest
his mind of the idea of immensity that amazes, and

244

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

often disheartens him; this idea eliminated, the only
thought that should dominate his mind, if he con-
templates practical success, is, how to abolish the actual
differences and arrive at practical uniformity in agri-
cultural results. He thinks of the pioneers who went
into the forests with their axes and laboriously felled
trees and extracted stumps with infinite labor, to pre-
pare a clearing, in the soil of which he might plant
his sparse crops, and wait years before establishing
any sort of home. Perhaps he remembers how a bog
or marsh had to be drained, and the years it required
to "sweeten" the soil before it could be utilized. He
does not fully realize that in the desert his land is ready
for his muscles, for his seed, and for his crop ; he does
not dream that he does not have to grow old before
carving out a comfortable home as he had to do in
the old days, back in what he is pleased to call "God's
country," and that out in the desert he may have a
home and plenty while still young enough to enjoy them.

The climatic differences -are too much in favor of
the desert to desire alteration, but the diametrically op-
posite methods of controlling the soil are difficult to
be appreciated, though they are never baffling.' They
are no greater than elsewhere, but they are opposed bv
preconceived opinions, perhaps, rooted prejudices, and
are, therefore, apparetly more serious. There are illim-
itable treeless regions, covered or patched with stunted
vegetation, that receive little or no moisture at all
from the clouds, and a soil parched, even burned by
the hot sun. Yet the scientists have discovered and
classified 197 different species of plants that love the
desert soil and nourish in it. Many of them suitable
for animal food, all of them indicating sonie quality
in or under the soil as plainly as if they were labeled.

Thus, greasewood, or "creosote bush," indicates less
than 0.4 per cent of alkali in the soil ; salt grass and
foxtail mean that there is plenty of moisture at the
surface of the ground and consequently, the presence
of free ground water not far below the surface; shad
scale indicates dry land with less than 0.4 per cent
of salt: rabbit bush flourishes on sandy soil compar-
atively free from salts, and will seldom grow under any
other conditions; sweet clover and foxtail indicate wet
land and less than four per cent of salts, though sweet
clover will grow in six per cent alkali soil and produce
a fairly good crop for forage if harvested very early.

So it is with the color of the soil. Indications are
ever present of the dominant characteristics of the
ground. Red soils always indicate iron in the form of
an oxide; black soils mean carbonate of soda, an alkali
ruinous to vegetation; white soils or gray mean soda
in sulphate salt form, also deleterious to plants when
more than one or two per cent ; gray or brown and black
cracked or checked soil with vegetation, signifies adobe,
while barren, dark or light colored soil so hard that
dynamite is more suitable for its tillage than a plow,
is "hardpan," the former indicating a soil retentive of
moisture, the latter indicating that moisture is some-
where beneath.

Another peculiarity of desert land soils is the fre-
quent occurrence in the soil when plowed or dug up,
of innumerable small roots or rooty fibers. They are,
indeed, vegetable remains, but through lack of moisture,
they have not fermented into humus, though it may
be said that they have practically "oxydized" without
losing any of their nitrogenous elements. It is well
for the desert soil where this organic matter exists, that
these rooty fibers have not fermented, for the inorganic
matter, the alkalies and other mineral and metallic

salts would have speedily devoured the product and
left nothing for plants to feed upon. The reader has
already been informed that both organic and inorganic
elements are essential to plant life, and that the inor-
ganic elements — the substances given in the table in
the second chapter and their combinations into salts,
are largely in excess of the organic elements. The same
principle holds good in the case of desert soils— it is
not a theory but a practical fact — that organic matter
added to the inorganic means life ; their separation,
death. Hence, it is clear, that the addition or presence
of organic matter and nitrogen, added to the mass
of inorganic substances in the soil, tempers the latter
and lessens its natural tendency to do harm. In the
case of an alkali soil, vegetable matter and nitrogenous
substances lessen the deleterious effects of the alkali,
although it may not reduce the percentage of the salts.
Whence, also, the presence of masses of coarse or fine
vegetable fibers in the soil is evidence of either the
absence of an excess of alkali, or that it is under con-
trol and inocuous to vegetation. Perhaps the reader
may see in this a way to get rid of the alkali in soils
and render them fertile. If he does, he will not be
far wrong in his idea, as we shall see presently.

LACK OF WATEU.

There are two conditions which are the bane of
all desert lands, whether arid or semi-arid : Lack of
water and the presence, in excess, of alkalis. We shall
devote space here to some general remarks on both
conditions, leaving it to subsequent chapters to enter
more into details. The chapters on "Alkali Soils,"
"The Relations of Water to the Soil," and that on "Cul-
tivation," will give more particulars, though at this
point it may be necessary to include matter which will
be repeated elsewhere, or presented from a different
viewpoint. This, however, should not be deprecated
as a fault, but extolled as a benefit, for the subject is
of so much vital importance that it can not be repeated
too often, lest it be forgotten.

There must be a water table at some point below
every soil, at a less or greater depth. This may be
accepted as a fact without going into geology to prove
it. Such subsoil water originates in a variety of sources,
through percolations from above, underground streams
coming from great distances, from springs that have
their original sources in some nearby hill or mountain
land, by seepage from rivers, brooks, or streams, from an
irrigating ditch, or pond, and from the artificial sur-
face application, or through sub-irrigation. Although
the action of the earth's gravity pulls or draws water
downward as it does every other object heavier than
the atmosphere, the constant natural tendency of the
water beneath the surface is to rise to the surface and
evaporate.

It is this rise of the water table to the surface
that causes more alarm than any other process of nature
in the arid and semi-arid regions, particularly in the
arid regions where all water must be applied artificially.
The reason is obvious. The subsoil water contains in
solution whatever soluble salts it may come in contact
with, and reaching the surface, evaporates, leaving be-
hind a deposit of the salts as crystals. Constant deep
cultivation also has a tendency to bring up the water
table with alkaline solutions, for we have already seen
that the subsoil contains in reserve as much mineral
matter and salts as the surface soil. And this is so-
whether the land is in the arid regions or in the rain
belt, the disadvantage of the desert land being that the

THE 1REIGATION AGE.

245

proportion of organic matter is not high enough to
maintain an equilibrium of plant food consumption.
Still, this is not an incurable disadvantage, for when
the labor and expense of draining, mixing, tempering,
and reducing soils in the rain belt is compared with
the trifling care and attention devoted to desert land
soils to render them continuously fertile, the wonder
is that they produce any crops at all, so slight is the
effort to make them yield.

It is not uncommon to fill the subsoil with water
from irrigating ditches, by putting into it all the sup-
ply obtainable during the flood season, thus bringing
the water table sufficiently near the surface to supply
the crops by capillary action. This brings the ground
water within three or four feet of the surface, which
is well enough for alfalfa and gross feeding plants, but
is bad for trees, vines, and more delicate plants. In
arid regions where irrigation is the only means of bring-
ing moisture to the .soil the water table may be a hun-
dred or more feet below the surface and can not rise on
account of impenetrable strata of rock or hardpan. But
in that case the irrigation water creates a new water
table, the excess of the irrigating water sinking down
until it meets an impervious stratum of rock or hard-
pan, and there it accumulates, becomes stationary, dis-
solves out the . earth salts and when the surface soil
dries out or is deeply cultivated begins coming to the
surface by capillary action, every subsequent additional
saturation of the soil from the irrigating ditch increas-
ing the area and zone of the artificial water table.
When that happens, and it does happen in desert lands
sooner than it takes to clear the ground of trees and
stumps in the rain belt, drainage becomes of vital im-
portance, second to irrigation itself.

In semi-arid regions, where there is some rain fall,
though inadequate, the amount of rainfall, whatever
it may be, has washed the alkali out of the surface
soil down into the water table, and the surface soil
is freer from the deleterious material, which in the
arid soils even prevents the seeds from germinating
and obtaining a foothold strong enough to resist it,
for when a plant has outgrown its infancy, and devel-
oped its first true leaves, it will require a most extraor-
dinary quantity of deleterious material to destroy it.
It refuses to absorb what it does not need and does
not require, and unless wholly overpowered by the so-
lutions in the water that surrounds it, it will grow
up to be something more or less perfect.

_It is said that six or eight inches of rain will
mature a crop in the semi-arid region with proper cul-
tivation. It matters little whether it be wheat or bar-
ley if the grain be sown very thin to allow more room
for stooling. Six inches will grow it to fodder and eight
inches will cause it to head out fairly well. An instance
has been called to the attention of the author, where
ten inches produced two crops without irrigation.

A fair crop of potatoes was grown in and removed
from the fibrous, red clayey soil in April. The land
lay on a side hill, about in the center, the summit of
which had been roughly plowed to gather as much,
rain as possible so as to utilize the seepage for the po-
tatoes. Immediately after the removal of the potatoes
the land was plowed deep, and moisture still showing,
it was carefully cultivated. Corn, of the variety known
as "white Mexican," was then dibbled in and left to
its fate. From the time of its planting, until harvested,
not a drop of water was put on the land by way of
irrigation, and only about an inch of rain in "Scotch
mists" fell upon the surface. The corn came up in

four days and grew strong and vigorous. The soil
was plowed deep about every ten days, fully turned
over and followed with the cultivator and harrow, until
it became so soft and powdery that it was difficult to
walk in it. It was also hoed frequently, not a weed
being permitted to appear, and the soil stirred deep
and drawn well up over the roots. The land measured
about an acre. The corn grew to full maturity without
a single set back, or twisting of a leaf. The stalks
measured an average of nine- feet and each bore from
two to four perfect ears of plump kernels, and made
good roasting ears, and when harvested in "the. middle
of June, the ground still showed some moisture.

Instances of this particular kind are abundant in
every locality in the arid and semi-arid regions. They
are nothing but experiments, or rather accidents, and
prove nothing that can be of general utility. They
show, however, what may be done by careful cultivation
with a small amount of water husbanded to the last
drop. There was not a particle of alkali in the soil
above referred to, and it was very retentive of moisture.
It emphasizes what the author contends, and what sci-
entific investigation places beyond the pale of denial,
that cultivation and moisture are what may be con-
sidered essentials, and not water in its liquid form.
To borrow a word from another profession : we are
dealing with the homoeopathy of agriculture, and ad-
vocating water triturations provided they accomplish the
purpose of growing a profitable crop, where drastic
doses will ruin.

In every case, however, the supply of water dimin-
ished by evaporation must be restored either by irriga-
tion or by rain fall, and the requisite amount must be
continuous and not intermittent; that is, the plant
must be kept growing.

If it were not for the fact that water "is a solvent
of the salts necessary to plant life, and as a medium
for conveying them in a state of solution to the plants,
there would be no necessity for water, and plants could
grow in an absolutely dry and rainless region without
irrigation. •

It should be borne in mind that it is not so much
"wetness" that plants require, as a medium for dissolv-
ing the earthy salts and vegetable acids, so that the two
may find their affinities and form the various chemi-
cal combinations which are necessary to make the plant.
When that has been accomplished all the rest is sur-
plus, waste, useless expenditure of the forces of nature,
deleterious to plants by over feeding them, and injurious
to the soil by washing its reserve elements out alto-
gether, or driving them down into the subsoil beyond
the reach of the plant roots, or forcing them to com-
bine in excessive quantities which leach out, or crys-
tallize on the surface and accumulate in masses that
prevent the germination of seeds.

More will be said upon this important subject in
the chapter on "The Relations of Water to the Soil/'
the second hane of desert land, "alkali," being next in
order.

The Collins Plow Co., of Quincy, 111., recently
shipped to Europe one of their Jumbo Eli Haypresses,
the largest machine of its kind made in the world. This
press has a capacity of ten tons per .hour. This is the
second press shipped to the same purchaser. Another
press of this kind is being shipped to California, where
machines of large capacity are in demand. These
presses each weigh over five., tons, which will give some
idea of their massiveness.

246

S1

THEIRKIGATIONAGE.

SAMSON DOUBLE GEAR

GALVANIZED STEEL
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It will be readily seen that this double gear im-
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of any other mill of equal size. Since the gear is
double and the strain of work is equally divided
between the two gears, there is no side draft,
shake or wobble to cut out the gears. The gear-
ing, therefore, has four times the life and wearing
qualities of any single gear.

All interested in irrigation should write us for
our finely illustrated book on irrigation matters,
which will be sent free to all who mention THE IRRIGA-
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THE IRRIGATION AGE.

247

The Drainage Journal Department

DRAINAGE FOR ALKALI.

RESULTS AT NEW MEXICO EXPERIMENT STATION.

A detailed study of the water and alkali conditions
has been made by this station with the results herein-
after stated. The experiment was made on twenty acres
of land east of Roswell, N. M., the preparations for
the experiment having been completed by May 1st, 1900.
Now comes the sequel, as related in the Portales (N. M.)
Herald :

In the summer and autumn of 1900 the alkali
flat was given a number of heavy irrigations. It was
intended to break up the land adjacent to the drains in
the spring of 1901 and plant it in narrow plats, running
north and south, to various crops, continue the flooding
and study the effects of the varying depths of water
table and the alkali on the growth of these crops. It
was also desired at the same time to study the necessary
depths, distances apart and cost of the drains, and
they were arranged with this end in view. The land
selected for this experiment is a part of the Hondo
bottom. It extends from the Hondo river southward
to the foot of the slope which forms the south boundary
of the river bottom. The surface of the land rises from
the bottoms rather abruptly at first for about 300 feet,
and then more gradually off toward the south and south-
west.

The line for the central drain was selected at the
narrowest part of the bottom land, the width here be-
ing about one foot in the first 100 feet from the river
and of about half a foot in the remaining 500 feet.
There is also a slight fall toward the east. In addition
to the general slope to the south and east there are a
few well marked depressions in the surface. The Pierce,
Cunningham and Ballard irrigating canal is situated
about midway on the abrupt portion of the slope, at
this point about 150 feet from the end of the central
drain. The soil of this slope contains a large amount
of gypsum, is somewhat gravelly, and allows water to
pass through it quite readily, so that the seepage from
the canal is large.

About a quarter of a mile to the south, and on
higher ground, there is another canal, running from
west to east, through the adjacent 40 acres. The soil
through which this canal runs is loam, underlaid by
gravelly material derived from limestone conglomerate,
which extends down to the bottom land. The nature
of the soil makes it probable that this canal also loses
considerable water which finds its way down to the flat.

The greater portion of the flat was covered with
bunch grass, called salt grass, in which there were some
bare spots. The wettest portions were covered with
true salt grass, and where water stood on the surface,
in the depressions, with tule. The most important of
the plants going under the name of tule are there.
On the slope, from the ditch to the flat, the surface foot
is mainly a sandy loam, and the second foot is loam.
Below two feet the soil is lighter in texture and con-
tains a large proportion of gypsum with gravel. The
soil of the bottom land is the Hondo meadow type, con-
sisting principally of the sediment which has been de-
posited by floods. The texture of the first foot

varies from a heavy clay loam on the south side to a
light loam on the north side, next the river. The second
and third feet vary from clay on the south to clay
loam on the north side. Although the most of this soil
is quite heavy in texture, rt appears much lighter when
examined in the field. Its true texture is brought out
on attempting to mix it with water, when it is found
to be quite difficult to make into mud, for it acts like
a very pure clay. When wet lumps of the deeper layers
of the pete and muck were thrown out, in ditching, and
allowed to dry, instead of baking very hard, as does the
heavy soils of the Rio Grande valley, they soon crumbled
into soil of splendid tilth. The breaking down reminds
one of the slacking of lime. A practical application of
these observations lies in the fact that if such a soil
is cultivated when in proper moisture condition it is
easily gotteu into good tilth, but when worked too
wet it will puddle and become very heavy and difficult
to handle.

The drainage system consists of a main central
drain 610 feet long running from the foot of the slope
to the Hondo, its direction being about three degrees
west of north. This drain is laid on a grade of four
inches to the hundred feet. The first 100 feet from
the Hondo is open, the next 270 feet is laid with 8-inch
tile, and the upper 240 feet with 6-inch tile. At the
foot of the slope the central drain is extended 150 feet
southwest, somewhat parallel with the P. C. and B.
canal, and laid with 6-inch tile.

On the east side of the center there are 12 lateral
drains making an angle of about 18 degrees with the
main drain, parallel to each other and 155 feet long.
The first eight, from the south, are 30 feet apart, and
laid with 3-inch tile at depths between 2 and 3~y2 feet;
the next three are 40 feet apart, laid with 4-inch tile,
and their depths are from Zy2 to 4% feet, and their
greatest depth being where they join the main and the
least at their east ends, due both to their grade and
the slope of the land toward the east. The twelfth drain
is 100 feet from the eleventh, is laid with 5-inch tile
and has a mean depth of about 4% i^et.

On the west side of the main there are seven drains,
each 155 feet long, and these also make an angle of
about 18 degrees with the main. The first four are
laid with 3-inch tile at a depth of from 3 to 3y2 feet,
and 60 feet apart, the next two are laid with 4-inch tile
at a depth of from 3~y2 to 4 feet, and 60 feet apart.
The seventh is laid with 5-inch tile at a depth of about
4% feet, and is 100 feet from the sixth. The end of
the main drain, where it empties into the river, is about
63/2 feet deep.

The slope of the land was such as allowed the east
end of some of the drains to come within two feet of
the surface, while the greatest average depth of any
of them was about 5 feet. This gave an opportunity
for studying the effect of various depths of water table
on the rate of removal of alkali, and on the growth
of crops. It was our intention to plant a portion of
area to various crops in narrow plats running north
to south^ but unfortunately this portion of the experi-
ment could not be carried on. The drains were put in

248

THE IEEIGATION AGE.

of different sizes and at different distances apart in
order to test the effectiveness of different sizes of tile
and to obtain an idea of the distances through which
they would work. The work was begun on April 1st
and completed by May 1st, 1900. Water commenced
to flow in the ditches as soon as the water table was
reached and there has been a steady flow ever since
of seldom less than 75 gallons per minute. For the
first few months the average flow was about 100 'gallons
per minute. The drains worked thoroughly and the
soil cleaned of salts.

YOUR VACATION IN COLORADO.

Consider Colorado as a place to spend your summer
vacation and you will find that it meets the require-
ments. Colorado has been brought nearer the East by
our fast train service — only one night on the road from
Chicago or St. Louis to Denver.

The railroad fare is low during the summer — about
one-half the regular fare, and on certain days less than
half.

Colorado has hundreds of moderate-priced hotels
and boarding houses — more perhaps than any summer

GENERAL OFFICE AMERICAN SEEDING MACHINE COMPANY, SPRINGFIELD. OHIO.

American Seeding Machine Co.'s Office.

The above illustration will give our readers a very
good idea of the general offices of the American Seeding
Machine Company, which are located at Springfield.
Ohio. This structure was built especially for office pur-
poses. It is of pressed brick with slate roof. The in-
terior finish on the first floor is of hardwood, consisting
mostly of black walnut and quartered oak, while on the
second floor the wood finish is of sycamore.

The offices are equipped with all modern time-saving
systems, and the office furniture is of the most approved
pattern. The building occupies an imposing position on
a knoll at the corners of Galagher and Monroe streets
and Gillette avenue. Every convenience for the comfort
of the large office force and for the rapid and satisfactory
conduct of the business of the American Seeding Ma-
chine Company has been provided. It is certainly one
of the finest office building occupied by any company
engaged in the manufacture of agricultural implements.

resort country. The prices range from $8 per week up-
ward.

Nowhere can be found such a glorious combination
of climate and scenery as in Colorado. The air in-
vigorates, strengthens, revives — it is Nature's own tonic.
All the outdoor sports that can be enjoyed anywhere are
possible in Colorado. Plenty of golf courses and the
finest kind of trout fishing.

Just consider these facts for a minute and then
write me for a copy of the Burlington's "Handbook of
Colorado." It does not attempt a description of Colo-
rado's charms, but it does tell facts about 300 or more
hotels and boarding houses — shows the location, how
reached, name and address of proprietor, rates by the
week and month, principal attractions, etc. No charge
for a copy. Will be glad to send copies to your friends.

P. S. EUSTIS,

209 Adams street.

Chicago, 111.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

249

A Farm All Your Own !

There are at present exceptional opportunities for home*
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Write and tell us where you think of going. We will send you land
literature and information about good farm lands at low prices.

Values in certain portions of the Southwest sure to advance. Let us
tell you about it.

Atchison.
Topeka &

^^

M f±

J! e

General

Passenger

o»,.;.

BURNHAM ARTESIAN
... PUMP ...

John G. Hall,

GREELEY, COLO.

Twenty years' experience
farming under Irrigation.
Open for engagement to
superintend new Irrigation
project, foreman on large
Ranch or series of Ranches.

= RELIABLE REFERENCE =

Shuart Earth Graders

These machines rapidly
and cheaply reduce the
most uneven land to per-
fect surface for the appli-
cation of water. Made in
severaldifferentstiles. On
the No. 8 style the blade
can be woiked diagonally,
as well as straight across,
thus adapting it to throw-
ing up and distribut'ng
bordeis, ditches, etc. For
desciiptive ciiculars and
price, address

B. F. SHUAR.T, OBERLIN, O.

We have furn'shed a large
number of centrilugal pumps,
both belt driven and direct
connected, lor use in irriga-
tion. Where water is drawn
from wel's our vertical pump
is used with splendid success.

We also build our pumps
direct connected to engines,
which have been found ex-
ceedingly useful where the lilt
of water does not exceed 20
feet. Our line consists ol the
various types ai d sizes from
\1A in. to 12 in., inclusive.

Our dredgiug or sard
pumps have been found very
successful in the dredging of
canals; a large numoer of
these outfits having been used
in Colorado.

t

T

t

I

I

I
I

DEEP-WELL ENGINE

DEEP-WELL ENGINES ABE:

Cushion on End of Stroke, Economy
of Steam, Freeness from Short-
Stroke, and Quiet Running.

THE BURNHAM

RETAINS THESE FEATURES

t
Sizes suitable for a great range of work where a small £

area of irrigation is desired, are made. In-
formation given on application.

THESE STAND SUPREME IN AMERICl

Erie Pump and Engine Company, Erie, Pa.

Please mention Tup. IKKIGATION AGK wheu wntiug to advertisers.

UNION STEAM PUMP COMPANY |

Battle Creek, Mich., U. S. A.
M*1*^***************************^*****!

250

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

M. H. DOWNEY.

E. J. W1LCOX,

DOWNEY & WILCOX. Civil Engineers,

Drainage and Roads a Specialty.
Correspondence Solicited. Room 2, Court House, ANDERSON. IND

CENTS

INTRODUCTORY OFFER

CARBON PAPER

For the purpose of introducing pur CARBON
TISSUE we will, for a limited period, one order
only to the same address, send 25 sheets, size
8x12 inches, for 50 cents.

This paper is made by a new and secret pro-
cess; in colors purple, blue and black; will not
smut; perfect printing qualities ; very durable ;
will not dry out.

As good as any carbon paper on the market,
or your money back.

THEBUSINESSSYSTEMS(0.

• MODERN • METHODS • FOB • MODERN • PEOPLE •

THIRD FLOOR, SECURITY BUILDING

188 MADISON STREET CHICAGO

The Truth
about the
Southwest

THE WESTERN TRAIL is the

name of a paper devoted to the devel-
opment of the great Southwest. It
contains letters from residents telling of
actual conditions, how they happened
to settle there and what their experiences
have been. It is printed on good paper
and is beautifully illustrated. Published
every month during the fall, winter and
spring months, and every two months
during die summer. It will interest
you, and may be the means of opening
your eyes to the unequaled opportuni-
ties awaiting you in the great South-
west.

Send twenty-five cents TO-DAY
for one year's subscription. Stamps
will do. Address

"THE TRAIL,"

Room 42 5 Rialto Bldg., Chicago.

R. H. McWILLIAMS,

G E N E R. AL
D RAIN AGE
CONTRACTOR

Special attention paid to reclaiming
swamp lands with steam dredges.
Drainage bonds bought and sold.

OFFICE:
riATTOON, - - ILLINOIS.

Grand
Canyon

of Arizona.

Earth's greatest wonder— the tilan ol
chasms, a mile deep, many miles wide

Pictures of It: For 25 cents will send
- the season's no»elty—
a Grand Canyon photochrome view, uniquely
mounted to reproduce the Canyon tints. Or,
for same price, a set of four black-and-white
prints, ready lor training.

Books about it: For 50 cents will send
- a Grand Canyon

book, 128 pages, 93 illustrations; cover in col-
ors; contains articles by noted authors, trav-
ejers and scientists. Worthy a place in any
library. Or will mail free pamphlet, "Titan
of Chasms."

J. M. McCoNNELL, General Agent,
109 Adams St., Chicago.

Fe

++++•

PORTER

HAY

TOOLS

The largest and most
successful line of hay
tools in the market.
Hay carriers for steel,
wood and cable tracks.
Hay forks of all styles.
Hay slings of all
tizes, etc., etc., etc.

Send for Complete Catalogue. It is Free.

i J. E. PORTER CO., Ottawa, Illinois

+ 11 M I I I I H + l I I I I I I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I

iini M n-t-i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ii 1 1 ii-

4++ 1 I I I I I

VAN WIE PUMP

LEADS, OTHERS FOLLOW

Therefore Buy the Original. a.nd get the
Best Irrigating Pump in the World.

ADDRESS FOR CATALOGUE

! IRVIN VAN WIE i

711-723 W. Fayette Street

, IV. Y.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I t l-t-M I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

251

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I i M I I I II I I I

JEFFREY CONVEYORS

Will handle your product rapidly and economically

Also Manufacture

Screens, Elevator Buckets, Water Elevators

Crushers, Etc.

SEND FOR.
CATALOGUE

ADDRESS

Jeffrey Mfg. Co.

Columbvis, Ohio.

, NEW YORK

DENVER.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Mil I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I +

"TKe Irrigation Age," one year,
and "The Primer of Irrigation,"
a 300 page, finely bound book,
for $1.50. 3 } Subscribe Now.

ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA.

During 1902 South Dakota harvested 46,858,000 bushels of wheat,
value ^26,239,000, and sold live stock to the value of 831,209,000.

There are splendid opportunities for success in South Dakota today.
One crop sometimes pays for a farm.

A book descriptive of South Dakota, its resources and opportunities,
has just been published by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway.
It will be sent to any address for two cents. F. A. Miller, general pas-
senger agent, Chicago.

252

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

Built Right

R\m Right

Unsurpassed for Tile, Hollow Ware. Brick a.nd all
Classes of CIa.y products. Write for Pa.rticvila.rs
on this or other Clayworking Machinery 9959

The Improved Centennial A \iger Machine

Bucyrus. Ohio
U. S. A.

TKe American Clay-Working
Me^cninery Company

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

253

CJf 7r>r>¥ I IT Si for Brick, Tile and Sewer
0 v * * l^*i-rU Pipe Manufacturers

SEWER PIP£ BARROW

TILE TRUCK HEAVY FURNACE FRONT

These Trucks and Barrows are made of first-class material, and the workmanship is the
best. Special trucks and barrows to suit customers, made to order. Prices quoted on
receipt of specifications.

BAND TIGHTENERS AND DOOR CONNECTORS

CLASS B CLASS C

TUPPER STYLE GRATE

Sections 6 inches wide.

==

36, 42, and 48 inches long

STRAIGHT GRATES

Any length. Sections 8 inches to 3J4 inches wide. Weight average about 1 pound
per inch in length.

CAST IRON KILN COVERS

VENTILATORS

We also make Kiln Bands complete with sections cut to length and rivet holes punched. Rivets fur-
nished and tighteners riveted on to end sections. Prices quoted for anything in this line upon application.

Address

The Arnold -

er Co.

NEW LONDON, OHIO

or Cor. 6th and Vine Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio

254

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Say, Mr. Tilemaker,

Does the machine you are now €\
using pug the clay sufficiently £

If not, here is one that will. The best Tile
Machine made, combined with an eight-foot
double-shaft Pug Mill; and it is arranged to
make tile from 2 1/2* in. to 24* in. It will pay
you to investigate this machine and also Ben*
sing's Automatic Cutting Tables. Write us for
full information and prices. . .......

THE J. D. FATE CO.

PLYMOUTH, OHIO

We make a full line of Clay Working Machinery

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The Simplification of
Water Records by
a Right System
Insures

Not Only
Labor-Saving
but also Money-
Saving.

'i6" LONG RANGE: TELESCOPE.

FOR

Irrigators ,
Farmers

and

Ditchers

Catalogue free.

Grade
Level Co.

Jackson, Mich.
No. !, $27.00
Target and Rod
free with each.
Target and Rod alone $2.00.

Our Grade Levels are the only ones made with
a "Grad* Bar" arid with a "Scale" showing the
grade without figuring, and the only one with a
Telescope at so low a price.

No. 1 Improved Level (our latest)— |3K Has horiz-
ontal circle divided into degrees; can run at any angle
without measuring.

255

EDGAR M. HEAFER
TILE COMPANY

MANUFACTURERS OF

Round Drain Tile

Of Superior Potters' Clay.

ASLO DEALERS IN

SUPERIOR FIRE BRICK AND SEWER PIPE
BLOOniNGTON, ILL.

LANDS IN THE FAMOUS

Valley, of Mississippi,

Along the lines of the Yazoo and Missis-
sippi Valley Railroad, are of the most
wonderful fertility for raising Cotton,
Corn, Cattle and Hogs.

The clay will make the best of TILE and
Brick and manufacturers will find a great
field for TILE in that country, which is
so well adapted for Tile Drainage.

"Write for

> EDWARD P. SKENE, Land Commissioner,

When writing to Advertisers, please mention THE IRRIGATION AGE.
O«O€O«O«O«O«O«OCO«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«OCO«O»O«C*^

Central Station, Park Row, Room 506,
CHICAGO, ILL.

The MARION

STEAM SHOVEL CO.

Mo. 632 W. Center Street, MARION, OHIO.

A COMPLETE LINE OF STEAM SHOVELS, DIPPER

AND CLAMSHELL DREDGES, ETC.

One-yard Ditching Dredge.

constructing Drainage Ditches we have both
drydand and floating Dredges, and we build
them to suit the requirements of your work. We
manufacture our own steel and grey iron castings,
and make our own chain

When in the market write us for information and prices.

(When Writiug Advertisers, Please Mention IRRIGATION AGE.)

256 THEIEKIGATIONAGE.

Great Irrigated
Valleys....

*/

ARKANSAS VALLEY, COLORADO. Altitude 3,400 to 4,600 ft.; beet sugar factories,
thousands of acres of alfalfa, millions of cantaloupes, extensive orchards, flocks of sheep;
largest irrigated section in the U. S. Extensive cattle feeding and dairy interests, population
doubled in five years.

PECOS VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,000 to 4,000 feet. ; 175 miles long; on edge
of great plains' cattle pastures, affording proritable home market for alfalfa and grain; noted
for its large orchards and fine quality of fruits and vegetables; artesian belt with 300
flowing wells.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,700 105,300 ft.; 350 miles long;
great sheep raising section; mining in adjacent mountains; adapted to fruit raising and
small farms.

SALT RIVER VALLEY, ARIZONA. Altitude 1,000 ft.; 60 miles long and 20 miles wide;
special industries — early oranges, live stock, vegetables, small fruits, alfalfa, bee culture.

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Altitude 50 to 400 ft.; 250 miles long, 50 miles
wide; wheat raising, live stock, oil wells, alfalfa, raisin and wine grapes, olives, figs, citrus
and deciduous fruits, almonds, walnuts, lumbering and mines in mountains.

ALL FIVE VALLEYS have never-failing water supply, extensive systems of irrigating
ditches and rich soil, insuring profitable crops. Pleasant climate, especially in winter.
Thriving towns, affording good markets. Directly reached by the SANTA FE.

For information about farm lands, manufactures and general business openings,
address

Gen. Pass. Office A. T. 4 S. F. Ry. System,
GREAT NORTHERN BLDG. A CHICAGO.

Santa Fe

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

257

1837

1903

1OO,OOO NEW DEERE SULKIES AMD GANGS

I will be plowing on the farms of the United States and Canada"
this fall. Will there be any on your farm?

are made by skilled workmen, in the largest Plow Shop in
America, of the best plow material the world can produce.
They have been the Standard for sixty-five years. They
give satisfactory service for years after plows of inferior con-
struction have been cast in the scrap pile.

Sand mix cent* for * handfome souvenir anil * jrcar '« mubxcrlp-
tlon to THEfURROW, m beautifully Illustrated farm quarterly.

DEERE & CO., Moline, ills.

IRRIGATION PLANTS!

WE BUILD THEM.

FURNISHING ENGINES, PUMPS, PIPE,
BELTING AND ALL OTHER MATE-
RIAL COMPLETE FOR OPERATION.

TELL US YOUR REQUIREMENTS
WEBER GAS AND GASOLINE ENGINE CO., KANSBA°SX

MO.

WENS IMPROVED

CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS

Extensively used in paper and pulp mills, dye houses, bleacheries,
tanneries, dry docks,

DRAINING AND IRRIGATION OF LAND,

Pond pumping, circulating water in surface condensers, pumping
sand, gravel or gritty water. In fact, adapted for raising any
liquid in large or small quantities. Write for catalogues.

BOLAND <a GSCHWIND COMPANY, Ltd.,

Office and Works, Melpomene, Chippewa and St. Thomas streets

New Orleans, La.

258

THE IKRIGATION AGF

Myers Power Pumps

'Without an equal on
the Globe"

Full information in regard to our
varied line on application

Adapted especially for gas engines,
motor and belt powers, in harmony
with present requirements.

FIG. 813.

No. 359. Bulldozer Working Head, 5, 7^ and

10-inch stroke.
No. 364. Bulldozer Working Head. 12, 16 and

20-inch stroke.

FIG 800.

Bulldozer Power Pump, sizes 3, 4, 5 and
6-iuch cylinders, stroke ranging from 5 to
20-inch.

F. E. Myers * Bro., Ashland, o., u. s. A.

^*7 \7 ^i3 emblem has stood for ad-

// V A Cl t*C vanced design,1 best construction
J ; ' Wl*l. O and greatest efficiency in

GAS AND GASOLINE ENGINES.

The Otto Gas Engine Works,

Philadelphia, Pa.

AGENTS AS USUAL.

<K~H^~XK«<^KK~:~HK~XKKK~X^^^^

t t

I L. T. HARDING'S SONS

or VINCENNES, INDIANA

ARE

CONTRACTORS

For Digging La.rge Open Ditches with Dredges.
We have fine Dredges to keep at work. Parties interes-
ted in such ditches should let us know of any proposed

work.
CORRESPONDENCE SOLICITED.

L. T. HARDING'S SONS, j

*~X"XK«X~X^"XK~X~x~XK~XKKKKK^^^

< •

• >

< >

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

259

!<€««••«•••••••••••••••••«••••••••••••••

THE BUCKEYE TRACTION DITCHER

A winning proposition in a.ny kind of soil.

M
A
N
U

A
C

U
R

D

N

O
U
R

S
S

CUTTING

FROM

ELEVEN

AND

ONE-HALF
INCHES

TO

TWENTY-
FOUR
INCHES

IN

WIDTH

AND

FROM

FOUR

AND

ONE-HALF

TO

SIX

AND

ONE-HALF

FEET

IN

DEPTH

This cut shows The Buckeye just starting a trench with
grading targets out ahead. The BUCKEYE positively cuts
to a perfect grade, and to its full depth with one cut.

I EVERY USER GIVES HIS ENTHUSIASTIC ENDORSEMENT.

The Van Buren, Heck & Marvin Co.

FINDLAY, OHIO, U. S. A.

>•••••••••••••

260

THE IEEIGATION AGE.

•€«««•«••••••••••••••••••••••••<

SUPERIOR SINGLE DISC DRILL

SUPERIOR

SINGLE DISC
DRILLS

are suitable
for use in any
kind of land.
They never
clog in trash.
Even sowing
guaranteed.
The best for
the great
Northwest.
ABSOLUTELY
GOOD.

A genuinely satis-
factory drill in
every particular.

With Steel Wheels
and Seat.

SUPERIOR DRILLS successfully do the work.
They stand the wear, because they are made of
honest materials, by honest, skilled- mechanics, who
know how, because of their wide experience.

Experience proves that our implements are peculiarly adapted to your locality.
They will stand the test. Better investigate. It is to your interest.

We guarantee them, and the Drills will back up the guarantee every time.
Write us today.

This cut shows
the SUPERIOR
GANG PRESS
WHEEL. A A
It can be at-
tached to any
Superior Disc
Drill.

You don't need a. Sub-
Surface Packer when
you use the Superior
Gang Press Wheel
Attachment.

Write for Catalogue A.

SUPERIOR
DIVISION,

American
Seeding
Machine
Company,

This attachment reduces
evaporation to the minimum.

Springfield, Ohio, U.S. A.

Please Mention THE IRRIGATION AGE when writing to Advertisers.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

VOL. XVIII.

CHICAGO, JULY, 1903.

No. 9.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING CO.,

PUBLISHERS,
112 Dearborn Street, - - CHICAGO

Entered at the Postoffice at Chicago, 111., as Second-Class Matter.

D. H. ANDERSON, Editor.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.

To United States Subscribers, Postage Paid 11.00

To Canada and Mexico, . 1 00

All Other Foreign Countries, 1.50

In forwarding remittances please do not send checks on local banks.
Send either postoffice or express money order or Chicago or New York
draft. %

A monthly illustrated ma^aiine recoenized throughout the world as
the exponent ot Irrigation and its kindred industries. It is the pioneer
journal of its kind in the world, and has no rival in half a continent. It
advocates the mineral development and the industrial growth of the West.

fr> A rKr^rH'«P>r<i I* may interest advertisers to know that The Irrigation Age is the only publication
i0' in the world having an actual paid in advance circulation among individual
irrigators and large irrigation corporations. It is read regularly by all interested in this subject and has readers in all parts of the world.
The Irrigation Age is 18 years old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world.

Copyright 1903 by D. H. Anderson.

EDITORIAL

The editor of The Irrigation Age visited Ogden,
Utah, recently and found the local committee engaged
in the details of an entertainment program that will
eclipse anything of the kind ever before offered a sim-
ilar gathering.

The JJth National Irrigation Congress promises
to have an attendance of from one thousand to twelve
hundred accredited delegates, and a large number of
those in attendance will be accompanied by members
of their families. The number of strangers in the city
will easily reach three or more thousand.

The August issue of The Irrigation Age will con-
tain a finely illustrated article setting forth the attrac-
tions of Ogden and Utah generally, and will also give
an outline of the entertainment program.

Remember the date, September 15-18, J903.

A California newspaper whose man has probably
been there, says : "Arizona is a region of striking indi-
viduality." We should say so, particularly in that part
of it where Eoosevelt's "George" is driving stakes.

The Arizona Blade and the Florence Tribune thus
defines a possibly well known humanitarian :

"George H. Maxwell, a gentleman who eats his
bread in the sweat of his jaw, is working a stupendous
bunko game on the National Irrigation Association, and
if successful, that success will, eventually, result in a

repeal of the national irrigation law, a calamity the
people of the west in particular, and the people of the
United States generally, should strenuously endeavor to
avert."

A Fair
Offer.

We have on hand a few copies of "Land
Drainage for Profit," which was pre-
pared by scientific men and experts. For
ten cents in postage stamps we will for-
ward a copy postpaid. Or, every new subscriber send-
ing $1, will receive a copy free with one year's sub-
scription to THE AGE. For $1.50 we will send THE
AGE for one year, a copy of "Drainage for Profit," and
a copy of "The Primer of Irrigation," which is now in
course of preparation.

Self preservation is the first law of nature.
Plain Logic. If you do not wake up and protect your

homes and farms against land and water
grabbers, how do you expect the government to do so?
This is a people's government, and you are the people.
The plain logic of this is, that farmers and irrigators
have it in their power to put a stop to the frauds and
abuses that have crept into the application of the land
and irrigation laws. If they spend their energies in
lying down and complaining, they are like the man in a
ditch waiting for the Lord to help him out — -the Lord
don't. Organize and fight for your rights with the
same force as those do who deprive you of them. Unite,
instead of trying to pull with a rope of sand.

262

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The

It is the proud boast of the press that it

_., stands for the interests of the dear people,

and exposes schemes detrimental to their

welfare. Trulv, a laudable purpose; but
Thing.

sometimes the press is worked by the

smooth, oily, and slick promoter in applauding, in edi-
torials and general articles, schemes that will not bear
the light in the regular advertising columns.

As a sample of the slick manipulation of the press,
we find in the Capital, of Topeka, Kan.. June 14, ult., a
glowing telegram, or special correspondence, direct from
Phoenix. Ariz., anent the Tonto Basin reservoir. The
sensational headlines are: "Plans for Irrigation — Great
Canal for Arid Lands in Arizona — Enormous Enter-
prise— A Three Million Dollar Reservoir Is Only the
Corner Stone of a Gigantic Scheme of Development."

We feel inclined to say : "Phew !" at this appalling
enormity, but when we investigate and find that the
"Special" to the Topeka paper was a clipping from the
St. Louis Globe-Democrat, we say: "Pshaw! another ad-
vertising dodge of the lively George." It reads like a
patent medicine ad. that fools the reader by its interest-
ing, perhaps sensational, beginning, and falls flat when
he discovers it to be nothing but an ad.

To learn something new about the Great
Rip Van Bounding, Pulsating West, something
Winkle positively new and unique, one must scan

Wakes Up. the columns of the eastern newspapers.

The Brooklyn Citizen, in a recent is-
sue, ventured to express an opinion upon the subject of
irrigation, which is charmingly ingenuous, withal non-
committal.

After mentioning the fact that the government is
taking steps to carry out the promises of the National
irrigation Act. and is about to redeem 600,000 acres of
arid lands at a cost of about $7,000,000, the Citizen
turns on its psychological calcium light thus :

"What may be grown on these lands remains to. be
seen ; but as the only thing they lack to make them pro-
ductive of something in the way of vegetation is a suf-
ficiency of water, it is not unlikely that when that is
supplied they will yield crops far greater in value in a
single year than all the money spent on them for irriga-
tion by the government, added to what the farmers who
work them will expend for cultivation."

We should say. To estimate that antediluvian re-
searches are limited to the great west, when there are
mastodons to be had right on the surface in Brooklyn !
The humor of this appears in a paragraph immediately
following the above :

"This calculation is based on the results of irriga-
tion elsewhere. For instance, the cost of the irrigation
works already in operation in eleven states, including
those above named, with California, Idaho, New Mexico,
Oregon, Utah and Washington, was $64,289,601, and the

yield in 1900 of hay, cereals, vegetables and fruits on
the lands treated, aggregated $84,433,438 ; and this on
an area of about 7,260,000 acres."

With 550,000,000 acres more to be redeemed, the
market garden prospects in and about Brooklyn seem to
be in a fair way of being overshadowed, or run out of
the game entirely.

The reader will find in another column the
Light first chapter of "An Expose," in the mat-

in a ter of The San Carlos vs. The Tonto Res-

Dark Place, ervoir, prepared by Hon. Thos. F.
Weedin, of Florence, Ariz., editor of the
Arizona Blade.

Mr. Weedin's article will prove interesting reading
to those who ha-ve heard heretofore mere muttering
thunder, and perhaps open the eyes of many to an as-
tonishing condition of things connected with the manip-
ulating the irrigation act of Congress for private pur-
poses.

History demonstrates that few government enter-
prises intended for the benefit of the people, have ever
been carried on for the purposes intended, until some
syndicate headed by a few private parties, operating
through facile government agents, have sufficiently
crammed their pockets, and then the general public, the
people, have been kindly permitted to come in and take
the leavings.

The country has grown too big, become too thickly
settled for the old successful land schemes to attain suc-
cess, because by the simple method of organization, they
can be either nipped in the bud by publicity or the gov-
ernment forced to take a hand in their suppression. The
political pull of an organization composed of 75,000
actual settlers demanding an honest application of the
land and irrigation laws of the United States, and of
the small states, is too strong to be general, for it could
make itself felt in local, state, and national affairs to
some purpose.

After the dust of the first Oklahoma boom had set-
tled, it was discovered that more land locations had been
sold than there were locations mapped out, and that the
money received by somebody in excess of that lawfully
allowed to be collected, amounted to about one hundred
and twenty-five thousand dollars. Of course, those
who paid the government their money on fictitious loca-
tions, had only to demand it back and the beneficent
government would return it. But it did not. The
"government" happened to be vested in certain officials
who raised the question that the money was a voluntary
payment and therefore could not be recovered ; that ig-
norance of the fact was no protection, and that a gov-
ernment official acting as such was the government and
could do no wrong. These points have been sustained
by the courts, and the defrauded got their moneys'
worth in experience and the government — that is, the
official understrappers — kept the money.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

263

The people have grown somewhat wiser, as the
recent postoffice investigation has demonstrated that
official honesty is not a self-evident virtue, because pecu-
lations, swindles, frauds and schemes of robbery may be
ripped open by the executive knife and the foul contents
of the ulcer exposed to the public nostrils.

It is presumable that the same slogan of the presi-
dent "Let no guilty man escape," will be dinned into
the ears of the schemers who are setting at naught the
will of Congress for private gain, and that if they can-
not be shamed into honesty, they will keep their grasp-
ing hands off through fear of punishment.

The investigations now going on in the
Organize Postoffice Department — and soon to be be-
for Self- gun in the other department of the gov-
Protection. ernment unless political pull prevents
them — ought to be a lesson to the people
in the arid and semi-arid regions who are dependent
upon the recent irrigation act of Congress for the per-
manency of their homes or for the establishment of new
ones.

We have the word of the President of the United
States (moreover it was the object and purpose of that
act) that it was intended for actual settlers, American
citizens in pursuit of homes, and not to enrich certain
government officials and private parties organized into
syndicates to grab the best and most available lands and
hold them against actual settlers at a high, even an
unconscionable price.

That these perverters of the public law are at work
to destroy the objects of the irrigation act has been dem-
onstrated by the most conclusive evidence, and that they
are pursuing their work without molestation is painfully
evident. Time and again have the sufferers from their
frauds complained, but their complaints are derided or
treated with sublime indifference. It is now time to
take active steps to scotch this venomous serpent in its
infancy and before it develops fangs dangerous even to
the government. Under the circumstances, it would
not be wise to leave to some future administration an
investigation into frauds originating under that of The-
odore Roosevelt.

Had the powers that were in charge of the govern-
ment listened to the complaints made against the post-
office and other departments for fraud, there would not
now be any fraud to investigate. The people are only
affected indirectly by department stealing, but in the
land frauds now on the eve of being perpetrated, with-
out any attempt at concealment, they are directly made
to suffer. Will the people stand for this governmental
apathy, particularly where the home hopes and aims are
to be ruthlessly destroyed?

The article of Alfred Sears, on another page, gives
some insight into the manner in which the government
is made a party to land-grabbing schemes, at least,

enough to put the people of other portions of the United
States on their guard against the same conspiracy. The
fact is, it is useless to appeal to certain government
agents whose duty it is to investigate, for they are parties
to the wrong, or are induced by certain promises to wink
at the shady transactions. In plain language, so far
as the individual sufferer is concerned, the government
is engaged in a scheme to rob or, at least, to deprive
him of his rights under the laws enacted for his benefit.
To him, the government officer is the government, and
that portion of the government which he sees and with
which he is in immediate contact, is corrupt.

It is a curious condition of things in a people's
government, as there is no way of reaching the execu-
tive power, who alone can apply a remedy, except by a
powerful organization that will manifest enough politi-
cal pull or influence to stir it into action. This govern-
ment has changed hands more than once on issues of
less importance than land stealing, and now, to the great
body of home-seekers and home-defenders of the great
west, it is the paramount issue.

THE AGE is pleased to learn that an organization
of irrigators is about to be perfected for the purpose of
protection against tho public and private land frauds
that are springing up everywhere, apparently under the
domination and control of a gang which assumes vari-
ous names in different localities, but which has always
the same individuals back of them.

Such an organization cannot fail to obtain the ear
of the executive power, at least, proportionate to its
size and influence. Our advice is to organize at once in
every district, in every locality, and prepare for a na-
tional convention at the earliest possible date.

THE AGE will gladly give all the information in
its possession concerning this organization and, as a
pointer, it desires to say, that its members will be only
actual homeseekers and settlers; none of them will be
connected with any syndicate, interested in any land-
grabbing scheme, or connected with any official of the
government in diverting the irrigation act from its true
purpose. On the contrary, it purposes to be an organi-
zation for protection against the defrauders of the peo-
ple, whoever they may be, and whatever public or priv-
ate position they may occupy.

THE AGE, moreover, purposes to lay before this
organization the most convincing evidence of a con-
spiracy to defraud, not only the government, but the
people, and enable it to strike at the right time and hit
the proper parties.

There is every reason to believe that President
Roosevelt will listen to the voice of this organization —
he has given every evidence of being averse to fraud on
the part of government officials and their private part-
ners— but even if he will not, then some other executive
will, the matter having reached such a pernicious stage
that something must be done, and that very soon.

264

THE IRRIGATION1 AGE.

THE SAN CARLOS vs. THE TONTO RESERVOIR.

AN EXPOSE OF A SCHEME TO CONVERT THE NATIONAL
IRRIGATION FUNDS TO PRIVATE USE.

BY HON. THOS. F. WEEDIN,

Editor Arizona Blade.

The San Carlos reservoir was the breastwork behind
which the national irrigation forces successfully fought
. the battle for government aid in the reclamation of the
arid public domain of the west.

It was the one slogan that could enthuse alike the
practical business and the religious and philanthropic
elements of the country, because it was the only possible
water-storage project that could be made to serve the
dual purpose of giving permanent relief to and making
self-sustaining eight thousand industrious but starving
Pima Indians, and at the same time effectually demon-
strated the feasibil-
ity and beneficent

results of national , —

irrigation by re-
claiming one hun-
dred thousand acres
of the arid public
domain in a local-
ity where the soil
and climatic condi-
tions combine to
produce the greatest
results that are
possible under the
best-regulated irri-
gating system.

It had received
the unqualified en-
dorsement of the
leading hydro-
graphic, reservoir
and irrigation en-
gineers of the
United States.

The Geological
Survey had, after
two years' careful
investigation of its
engineering and
hydrographic fea-
tures, etc., made a
most elaborate re-
port on this reser-
voir, in which it was
shown that there

were neither engineering nor legal difficulties in the way
of the construction and operation of this reservoir and
the irrigation system to be connected with it. Also that
the unappropriated water supply was sufficient, in years
of minimum flow, to fill a reservoir of the capacity pro-
posed, namely, two hundred and forty-one thousand
acre-feet and fully irrigate one hundred thousand acres
of government land in addition to the Indian lands.
This report had received the official approval of Sec-
retary Hitchcock, of the Interior Department, who
earnestly prcsesd Congress for an appropriation provid-
ing for the immediate construction of the reservoir.
This was prior to the passage of the irrigation act.

HON. THOS.

Editor Art:

The continual discussion of this San Carlos reser-
voir, both in and out of Congress, did more than any
other one thing to enlighten the public on the subject
(if national irrigation and crystallize public sentiment in
favor of that movement. When the final struggle came
on the Newlands-Hansbrough bill it was the unanswera-
ble facts and figures that the Geological Survey had
compiled in support of the San Carlos storage proposi-
tion that broke down the opposition and carried the bill
through Congress.

But the moment the bill became a law the rich land
owners and speculators of the Salt river valley, who
had been pronounced and persistent opponents of this
beneficent measure and equally as pronounced advocates
of cession of the arid lands to the states and territories,
inaugurated a scheme to gather the first fruits of the
national irrigation victory and divert the reclamation
fund from the legitimate purpose for which it was cre-
ated. The most exasperating feature of this diabolical

scheme, and the
only thing that
makes its consum-
mation possible, is
the fact that Direc-
tor Walcott and
Chief Hydrogra-
pher Newell,
through George H.
Maxwell, seem to
be aiding and abet-
ting it. While the
evidence of this
truth is only cir-
cumstantial, it is
sufficiently clear
and convincing to
carry conviction to
the mind of a dis-
interested and un-
prejudiced person.
It is as follows :

As soon" as the
National Irrigation
Act passed. Colonel
Christy, one of the
leading bankers
and landowners of
the Salt .river val-
ley, wrote Chief
Hydrogra pher
Newell, asking if
there was any way
l)v which the Salt
river vnll«v roviM

be made a beneficiary of the national irrigation fund.
Mr. Newell replied that he had no control in the matter
of selecting reservoir sites beyond passing upon their
feasibility from an engineering standpoint, but that he
would refer the writer to his friend, George II. Max-
well, for the information desired. This letter was pub-
lished in the Phoenix papers, hence there can be no
question of doubt on this point. It is quite evident
that Mr. Maxwell pointed out "a way" to the satisfac-
tion of the land barons, for a few weeks later he ar-
rived in Phoenix, as he now states, on an invitation sent
him by Mr. Fowler and other "friends" of the valley.
He has remained there since, almost continuously, for

F. WEEDIN.,

ona Blade.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

265

a period covering eight or nine months. In truth, he
has become a resident of the valley and the owner of a
farm there. And I desire to remark here, parentheti-
cally, that in selecting his ranch Mr. Maxwell exhibited
characteristic business shrewdness. Knowing the Tonto
scheme would be a failure as a storage proposition, he
selected a ranch under the Maricopa canal, one of the
two oldest canals in the valley, and, therefore certain of
water for irrigation purposes, when there may be water
in the river, because of its adjudicated prior right
thereto.

The first work performed by Mr. Maxwell, after his
arrival in Phoenix, was to organize and incorporate
the "Salt River Valley Water Users Association/' and
have that organization levy a $35,000 assessment to
meet "expenses." This association is composed, to a
large extent, of holders of idle and speculative lands, ac-
quired by capitalists during the early boom days and be-
fore the limit to the water supply in the Salt and Verde
rivers had been definitely ascertained by a long series
of official measurements.

In discussing the articles of incorporation of this
association in the Phoenix Enterprise of June 3, 1903,
Mr. D. B. Heard, of the Bartlett-Heard Land and Cattle
Company, of the Salt river valley, says: "There is no
question in the world that these articles, if operated un-
der by the government, will be greatly to the advantage
of the idle, spculative lands and not to the advantage of
the farmer who desires to retain and cultivate his land."
He terms it "a speculative unloading proposition," and
states that "Maxwell's Speculative Plan" would be a ,
more appropriate title for the organization. Of the one
hundred thousand acres of patented land controlled by
this Maxwell organization, 28,760 acres are under the
Mesa consolidated canal, one of the "boom" creations
having such a belated water appropriation that only
1,320 of the 28,760 acres under the canal are now cul-
tivated, the remaining 27,440 acres being held for spec-
ulative purposes. The syndicate owning this canal also
owns forty sections, or 25,600 acres, of the land under
the canal. And this is the kind of a "water users' asso-
ciation" Messrs. Maxwell, Walcott and Newell would
have the government build the Tonto dam for out of the
National Irrigation Fund. "A speculative unloading
proposition," as Mr. Heard terms it. Or, in other
words, a scheme to enable a lot of land speculators to
unload on unsuspecting strangers, while a government
reservoir, that will have no water to store, is in course
of construction, a lot of waterless land with which they
loaded themselves during the early "boom" period in
Salt river valley. This is the "Water Users' Associa-
tion" whose articles of incorporation and plan of pro-
cedure for the evasion of the provisions of the National
Irrigation Act and larceny of the national irrigation
'fund has been approved by the Secretary of the Inte-
rior, through the very efficient efforts of Messrs. Max-
well, Walcott and Newell.

In last April Director Walcott, of the Geological
Survey, arrived in Phoenix. He announced that the
purpose of his visit was to personally investigate condi-
tions in both the Salt and Gila river valleys with refer-
ence to the advantages they offered for the reclamation
of public lands through the instrumentality of the San
Carlos and Tonto reservoirs. He remained in Phoenix
three weeks under the chaperonage of George H. Max-
well, whose guest he was, investigating land conditions
within the walls of the cosy office of the genial but jug-

gling Mr. Maxwell and the luxuriant 'environment of
the Hotel Adams. After enjoying the lavish hospitality
of the Phoenecians for three weeks he was speeded, under
the pilotage of the discreet Mr. B. A. Fowler, across the
Pima reservation in a Pullman, in the dense darkness
of the night, lest he should note the desolation that
marks the lands of the deserving and starving Pimas
and the sight should touch a chord of pity in his heart
and move him to make an investigation of conditions
in this val'ey in accordance with his announced original
intentions. Passing directly on to Tucson the discreet
Mr. Fowler stopped over there a day with his official
protege to have him interviewed by the newspapers and
announce in those interviews that the San Carlos dam
was "'not feasible because of its great depth to bed rock,"
a deliberate falsehood that I shall fully expose further
on in this article. From Tucson Mr. Fowler escorted
his official protege, by rail, around through Cochise and
Graham counties, then down to the San Carlos dam site,
to make sure that he would not get a glimpse of any of
the land or conditions under the proposed San Carlos
reservoir. They remained at the San Carlos dam, site
less than one-half day, then passed on to the Hudson
Reservoir Company's Tonto dam site, the dam site
recommended to the government by Messrs. Maxwell,
Fowler, Walcott, Newell & Company, and for which the
government must pay $250,000 if it desires to build
the Tonto reservoir. Among the several, this is one of
the Ethiopians in the Tonto woodpile. The Hudson
Reservoir Company has held legal title to this Tonto
reservoir site for over eighteen years. The company is
made up, prncipally, by large owners of the idle and
speculative lands in Salt river valley, and for all these
years they have been trying to induce outside capital to
undertake the construction of this dam so that they
could unload their idle and speculative lands during the
progress of construction work. But capitalists would
insist on investigating the water supply before investing
their money in so gigantic an undertaking, and investi-
gating they would discover that the entire water re-
sources of the valley had been appropriated and were be-
ing fully utilized in irrigating the patented lands of the
valley, and that there was no surplus to store. With
these facts before them they would decline to give the
Tonto project further consideration. The syndicates
owning large blocks of this idle and speculative land
were financially able to build the dam, but the cost of
building it from bed rock to the surface of the stream,
which they would have to do in order to create a boom
that would enable them to unload their land at a very
great advance over the cost of it, would more than con-
sume any profit they could derive from the sale of the
land and leave them nothing but a valueless, but costly,
piece of dam work.

Having "investigated" at the Tonto dam site to his
heart's content, Mr. Walcott returned to Phoenix for a
few days, then left for home. The citizens of this valley
sent a committee to Phoenix to interview him and lay
the facts of the land and water conditions under the San
Carlos reservoir before him. He admitted that this
committee had presented .a very strong case, but no
amount of persuasion would induce him to visit this val-
ley and investigate for himself.

There seems to be a hypnotic power in the ozone
of the Salt river valley, especially when the lungs of a
government geological engineer or employe become filled
with it.

266

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

This fact is amply attested by the course and con-
duct of Messrs. Walcott and Newell of the Geological
Survey.

The moment those distinguished gentlemen got a
few whiffs of that peculiar ozone they forgot that they
had ever recommended the San Carlos reservoir and sup-
ported that recommendation with facts, figures and ar-
guments that are positively unanswerable. In truth,
forgot everything except that they had suddenly become
enamored of the Tonto reservoir project and the man-
agers of the private land syndicates who are endeavoring
to turn a beneficent public measure to private account.

To what peculiar quality in this ozone is its hyp-
notic power due ? • A curious public would like to know.
Has it in it merely a sort of love gas that enchants and
enchains, or other seductive quality that captivates ?

'But whatever the cause, the effect is painfully ap-
parent. It has caused these geological gentlemen to
repudiate all their reports and recommendations relative
to the feasibility of, and necessity for, the San Carlos
dam, and placed them in the unenviable position of hav-
ing discredited themselves in the estimation of all fair-
minded people.

From 1889 up to the time when the breathing of
thi's Phoenix hypnotic ozone began to work a reversal
of their opinions as to the feasibility of the San Carlos
project, these geological gentlemen widely proclaimed
the San Carlos reservoir as the only feasible storage
proposition in Arizona that could be taken up by the
government with justice to itself and to the people.
After devoting two years' time to the work of surveying,
sounding, testing the bed-rock borings, making contour
and other maps, making estimates, studying conditions,
etc., and expending about $30,000 in the work, they
recommended the construction of the San Carlos dam, in
reports to the Secretary of the Interior, in such strong
terms, and supported this recommendation by such an
array of alluring figures, as to cause the .secretary to
earnestly press Congress for an appropriation for its
immediate construction.

These recommendations are still on file in the de-
partment, together with all the official map?, data, etc.,
and in view of the present attitude of these gentlemen
toward the San Carlos dam they will make very inter-
esting reading. I cannot quote them in full, as they
would fill an hundred columns of THE AGE. On the
recommendation of Mr. Walcott they were printed by
the government in pamphlet form as document "No.
33, Irrigation Papers of the U. S. Geological Survey."
Any one can obtain a copy by writing a request for it to
the department of the Geological Survey.

In transmitting the reports to the Secretary of the
Interior, Mr. Walcott states that the investigations upon
which they were based were originally entrusted to
Arthur P. Davis, assisted by J. B. Lippincott ; that be-
fore they were completed Mr. Davis was called away and
the work was completed under the direction of Mr. Lip-
pincott. Mr. Walcott also stated in the letter of trans-
mittal that the conclusions of Mr. Lippincott had been
verified by Mr. James D. Schuyler, one of the greatest
engineering authorities on dams and reservoirs in the
United States. Mr. Schuyler submitted a separate and
detailed report from which we quote only a few of his
conclusions and recommendations as follows:

That the Gila river is the only available source of
permanent supply for the Pima Indians.

That feasible reservoir and dam sites exist on the
Gila at the Buttes, Riverside and San Carlos.

That it is feasible to construct a masonry dam at
Riverside at a cost of $1,898,605, including damages for
right of way and diversion dam at the head of the Flor-
ence canal, forming a reservoir with a capacity of 221,-
134 acre-feet.

That it is feasible to increase the height of the dam
at the Riverside dam at least 70 feet higher than the one
estimated upon, giving an ultimate reservoir capacity
of about 650,000 acre-feet, which would not be filled
with solid matter short of sixty-seven years.

That it is feasible to construct a masonry dam at
San Carlos at a cost of $1,038,926, including damages
for right of way and diversion dam at the head of the
Florence canal, forming a reservoir of 241,396 acre-feet
capacity and that the water supply is ample to fill such
a reservoir in the years of minimum flow, and that the
volume of storage will irrigate at least 100,000 acres in
addition to the irrigation of the lands of the Indians.

That it is feasible to construct a dam at San Carlos
at least 70 feet higher than that contemplaed in the es-
timates, forming a reservoir whose ultimate capacity
would be approximately 550,000 acre-feet and whose
probable life of usefulness would be sixty-three years
before being filled with silt.

That provision should be made in the working
plans for these ultimate extensions suggested and the
right of way reserved in the reservoir basin for the ad-
ditional area that may ultimately be flooded.

That the working plans for the San Carlos dam
should be drawn to permit of the complete utilization
of all power which may be developed from the head of
the water issuing from the reservoir and steps be taken
for realizing upon the full commercial value of the
power.

From Mr. Lippincott's report we make the follow-
ing extracts:

"The information concerning the bed rock is
meager, but it is considered fair to estimate the maxi-
mum depth of bed rock at 74 feet. The bed rock itself
is a very close grained; hard limestone and all that could
be desired for foundation purposes."

Estimated cost of San Carlos dam on a basis of 74
feet to bed rock :

Rubble masonry, laid in concrete, 94,730

cubic yards, at $6 $ 568,380

NOTE. — With sand cement at $4.63 per
barrel, or $4.28 per cubic yard. (See
Duryee's report.) This figure is based
on half of the mass being large rock and
half concrete.

Excavation, foundation, pumping, etc 150,000

1 semi-circular tower of concrete, 13,632
cubic feet, at 50 cents 6,816

1 tower, same diameter inside, 60 feet high,

4,388 cubic feet, at 50 cents 2,119

2 tower houses, including the semi-circular

base of concrete, at $750 each 1,500

10 inlets for towers, at $500 each 5,000

2 balance valves, at $1,000 each 2,000

2 balance valves, at $750 each 1,500

610 linear feet of footbridge, at $10 6,100

5 miles of railway, moved, at $10,000 per

mile 50,000

New irrigation system above the Indian

agency 20,000

Damage to agency and post buildings 60,000

Low water diversion tunnel 10,000

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

267

Wooden crib diversion dam at head of irri-
gation canal 20,000

$ 903,415

Contingencies, 10 per cent 90,341

Engineering, 5 per cent 45,170

Total $1,038,926

Total number of acre-feet stored is 241,396, at a
rate of $4.30 per acre-foot.

It will be observed that Mr. Walcott, in an inter-
view published in the Tucson Star, April 18, 1903,
said:

"Boring operations are now going on at the site of
the proposed San Carlos dam. The best borings so far
made finds bed rock at a depth of sixty-five feet. Ow-
ing to the great expense occasioned by so great a depth,
unless better borings are found, that depth would be
practically prohibitive."

If this statement is true how is it that the fact only
"dawned" on Mr. Walcott after he had been breathing
that hypnotic ozone of Phoenix ? It is evident that Mr.
Walcott, in casting about for an excuse for his sudden
hostility to the San Carlos dam and surprising conver-
sion to a scheme that will make private land syndicates
the chief beneficiaries of the National Irrigation fund,
evidently forgot that all the geological and consulting
engineers who have been recommending the feasibility
of the San Carlos dam have based all their conclusions
and estimates on a depth of 74 feet to led rock, as will
be seen by their official reports. These facts alone are
sufficient to discredit Mr. Walcott.

But I am pleased to learn from Mr. Walcott even if
his statement was intended to injure instead of benefit
the San Carlos project, that the later borings have lo-
cated bed rock at a depth of sixty-five instead of seventy-
four feet. This discovery will call for a reduction of
nearly one-fifth in the estimates of the cost of the dam
and bring the total considerably below the million mark.

I am pleased to be able in this connection, to call
Mr. Walcott's attention to what the government engi-
neers are finding at San Carlos at present. The Globe
Times, published within eighteen miles of the San Car-
los dam site, published the following information in its
edition of May 27, 1903 :

"The hydrographical branch of the United States
Geological Survey is employing ten men on the Gila
river at the site of San Carlos dam under charge of W.
G. Stewart. They have been making soundings for bed
rock and have covered a distance in the river about 175
ieet, comencing at the mouth of the box, six miles below
San Carlos, and working up stream. They employ a
Peirce well-driving machine to drive the casing or outer
pipe to bed rock, and a steam diamond drill does the
Test. The average depth of bed rock at this point is
forty feet and the width of the canyon is about one hun-
dred feet, with walls five hundred feet high The rock
is said to be the hardest ever encountered by the survey,
giving evidence of permanence. In fact, the result of
ihe survey so far demonstrates that every requisite for a
dam site exist ; almost perpendicular walls, a phenomen-
ally narrow box and bed rock at the depth of only forty
feet.

"The party expect to complete their labors by
July 1st."

In the light of this additional information as to the
unsurpassed natural advantages offered by the San Car-
los site for the csonstruction of a great dam at a very

small cost, Mr. Walcott will be compelled to offer some
new excuse for his curious conduct.

This further investigation of the San Carlos dam
site demonstrates that it is the greatest dam site yet dis-
covered by the geological survey. Because of the great
vertical height of the canyon's walls and the narrow-
ness of the canyon, a dam could be constructed here to
a height of five hundred feet, at one-third the cost of
the Tonto dam, and create a reservoir of equal capacity
in acre-feet to that of the Tonto. The proposed Tonto
dam will be 830 feet in length at the top while a five-
hundred-foot dam at San Carlos would not be over
three hundred feet long at the top and one hundred
feet in length at the river bed level. According to
official measurements the annual inflow at the San
Carlos dam site would be amply sufficient to irrigate
200,000 acres of land. Less than three per cent of this
annual flow of the Gila at the San Carlos site has been
appropriated for the lands lying under the San Carlos
dam, (see page 94, report of J. B, Lippincott,
geological engineer, 1900), hence the remaining 97 per
cent could be stored for the reclamation of public land
without interfering with legal vested rights, while the
entire annual flow of the river at the Tonto site has been
appropriated by the farmers whose lands lie below the
dam site, and they have acquired an adjudicated vested
right to it that cannot be disturbed by the Government
or others. These farmers use this entire annual flow
as fast as it comes into the river, consequently there is
no surplus there to store.

In discussing in his report on the San Carlos dam,
the lands that would be watered by it, Mr. Lippincott
said:

"An examination was made of the records of the
United States Land Office at Tucson to determine what
portion of this area outside of the reservation remains
public domain. Nineteen townships were examined
and it was found that 389,211 acres therein are still
public domain and that 52,162 acres, lying mostly under
the Florence canal — which canal has a very deficient
water right — is held in private ownership."

In compliance with Mr. Lippincott's recommenda-
tions all this Government land was withdrawn from
entry and remained withdrawn till about three months
ago, when it was again opened to homestead entries,
subject to the provisions of the National Irrigation Act
and subject to reduction to an eightv or forty-acre tract
if the Secretary of the Interior should decide, after the
completion of the San Carlos dam, that the land under
it can be entered only in tracts of that size.

Of the 52,000 acres reported as entered land, by
Mr. Lippincott, title to only 45,000 acres was perfected
and the remainder reverted back to the public domain,
hence we have only 45,000 acres of patented land under
the San Carlos reservoir site, and only 25,000 acres of
this land have water rights in the Casa Grande Valley
canal, the only canal under the San Carlos reservoir.
But owing to the present condition of this canal only
about 6,000 acres of the 25,000 with water rights, are
cultivated.

Speaking further of this land, Mr. Lippincott says :

"It is high-grade agricultural land, suitable for
irrigation. The climate is adapted to the raising of
diversified crops, the grade of the country is uniform
and suitable for the application of water, and the soil
is exceedingly fertile. The river which carries a large
amount of sediment containing many fertilizing mate-

268

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

rials, will keep these lands in a state of continuous pro-
ductiveness. Without water this land is a desert and
has no value. That it is of no tangible value in its
present condition is proved by the fact that many thou-
sand acres which have been taken up at previous times
under the desert and homestead land laws have been
permitted to revert to the government before title was
perfected by the settler even afer expenditures had been
made on the land. In the event of the construction of
a large dam (at San Carlos) there will be built up in
the valley of the Gila river, where a desert now exists.
a community of fully 40,000 souls, and the creation of
many million dollars of taxable wealth without perma-
nent outlay on the part of the Government."

Do any such possibilities exist under the Tonto
reservoir site? No. According to the estimates of the
geological engineers that reservoir, at best, can only
provide water to irrigate 50,000 acres less than the num-
ber of acres now owned and actually occupied by indi-
viduals and land speculators. Not a single acre of
public domain can be reclaimed by the Tonto dam.
Not a single new home can be made by the construction
of that costly pile. Of this truth the Geological Survey
is well advised, yet, for reasons best known to them-
selves, several prominent members of that branch of
the government are moving heaven and earth to divert
the attention of the public from the San Carlos reser-
voir and to enlist the government in the construction
of the Tonto. Strange, is it not ?

There is another thing in Walcott's interview I
have to thank him for. He mentions that a high line
canal will be constructed along the side of the Tonto
reservoir and that this canal will develop three thou-
sand horse-power. He neglected to state, however, that
this canal involves the construction of twenty thousand
feet of costly tunnel. Mr. Lippincott, in his report on
the San Carlos, on page 41, suggests a high-line canal
along the margin of the San Carlos reservoir and states
that this canal would develop "over 8,475 horse-power"
and no tunneling would be necessary in the construction
of this canal. This power is in addition to the fifteen or
twenty thousand horse-power the dam itself would de-
velop. Then Mr. Lippincott goes on to say :

"The section of Arizona in the neighborhood of San
Carlos is highly mineralized. Copper mines of great
value are found at Globe and Riverside. New and
effective processes have been discovered for reducing
copper matte electrically. Fuel is high priced. On the
above basis it is reasonable to presume that when the
time arrives for the building of this canal around the
reservoir, sufficient revenue can be obtained from power
to pay the interest on the cost of construction. This
power could also be used in cleaning out the reservoir
with dredges."

Mr. Lippincott's investigations of the San Carlos
reservoir project were completed and his report filed
in December, 1889. Since that date there has been
great activity in the mineral districts immediately sur-
rounding San Carlos, especially to the west of the
reservoir site. Within a radius of thirty-five miles
around the site lies Globe, Troy, Kelvin, Riverside, Ray,
Mammoth, Dudleyville, Saddle Mountain, Phelps,
Dodge & Co. camp, Oracle, the camps on the eastern
slopes of the Santa Catalina mountains, the Gold Fields
and other mining camps. Millions of dollars have been
invested in these camps since Mr. Lippincott's report
was filed, and a number of great mines have been de-

veloped. If the San Carlos dam was in a completed
state today, there is not, in my judgment, the shadow
of a doubt that the government could sell its power
privileges for more than the cost of the dam and sell
the 200,000 acres of fertile domain reclaimed at $10.00
per acre, in 80-acre tracts, in less than three years from
the date of the completion of the dam and thus make a
clean, clear profit of $2,000,000, or more than 200 per
cent on the original investment. Not only that, but,
as Mr. Lippincott has stated, would make "new homes
for forty thousand souls," and at the same time relieve
itself of the responsibility and expense of caring for
over eight thousand Indians. On this latter subject
we will again quote from Mr. Lippincott's report, as
follows :

"The Government has expended large sums of
money for the introduction of irrigation on the Indian
reservations where it is desired to educate the Indian
into agricultural habits as a means of his civilization.
This is a well-established and wise policy, and has al-
ready been productive of much good, but is always in
the nature of an experiment, and more or less difficulty
and uncertainty is attendant upon the attempt to in-
duce the Indians to accept this mode of livelihood. In
the present case we have a tribe of Indians who have for
centuries been engaged in agriculture by irrigation, and
who were until recently the only successful irrigators in
Arizona. These Indians have been deprived of their
water supply through the agency of the white man,
directly encouraged by the United States Government.
It is an imperative obligation of honor that their sup-
ply should be restored to them, and the only practical
means of this restoration is by storage on the Gila river.
In addition to this there is held out the certainty that
unless this is done these Indians will retrograde from a
condition of industry and prosperity to one of mendi-
cancy and vice. Instead of an uncertain possibility of
elevating a savage tribe, we are confronted with the
necessity of preventing the destruction of a civilization
already attained.

"The Government being the owner of more land
under the canal than can ever be watered by it, can en-
tirely control the appropriation of the values which will
be created by the construction of a reservoir and can
entirely recoup itself for all expenses incurred, and
thus discharge its obligations of honor with no expendi-
ture except the utilization of its own natural resources.
It is not a proposition for the Government to expend
money for the benefit of private individuals nor of any
particular section, and hence is not comparable with
river and harbor improvements, although the general
benefits are so comparable, as homes will be furnished
at low rates to thousands of industrious people, who
will come from all parts of the country, and a for-
bidding desert will be transformed into a rich oasis,
and a large community will be j;hus practically added to
the domain of the United States."

(To Be Continued.)

The irrigation expert sent to Oklahoma to survey
the territory for irrigation purposes reports to the Gov-
ernment at Washington that Oklahoma is so muddy
that he is unable to proceed with his work.

THE IRRIGATION AGE for 1 year and The Primer
of Irrigation, a 300- page handsomely bound book for
$1.50. Send in subscription now.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

269

CAN ADO.

THE ARIZONA HOME OF J. L. HUBBELL.

Nestled among the mountains of northern Arizona
is a namesake of that famous Spanish city, Ganado.
The new Ganado excites a wonderful interest in the
traveler who may stop there and enjoy the hospitality
of its principal citizen, Mr. J. L. Hubbell.

Mr. Hubbell established the post for the purpose
of trading with the Indians, and his fair dealings with
them, his understanding of their labors,, trials and diffi-
culties and his sympathy for them has endeared him to
the heart of every tribe within two hundred miles of
Ganado. Long before the setting apart of that large
plot of land in Arizona known as the Navajo reserva-
tion Mr. Hubbell was at Ganado doing business with
the Indians. His heart is in his work. For forty years
he has been the Indian trader of northern Arizona, and
for forty years, strange as it may seem, the Indian has
always found him to be a staunch, true friend. Never
has he Lad any trouble with the tribes that knew him.
He has always given them more for their produce, and

J. L. HUBBEL, Ganado, Ariz.
I As he appears at his trading post.]

when sickness came he visited their homes, soothing and
encouraging with words of comfort and supplying,
when needed, more substantial comfort for the body.
Take a trip with Mr. Hubbell fifty miles or so from his
home and you will appreciate his character and under-
stand why the Indians trade with him and love him as a
friend and benefactor. It was my good fortune to make
such a trip with Mr. Hubbell in 1901. When we met
an Indian we stopped, hands were shaken and inquiries
made (in the Indian language, which Mr. Hubbell
speaks fluently) regarding the health, prosperity and
happiness of the Indian, his family, his father and
mother. The simplicity and kindliness of the greet-
ings, the light of friendship in the stoical eyes, all pro-
claimed most eloquently the fact that these men were
friends. Not merely friends of barter and exchange,
but friends of heart and soul, each understanding the
other, each sympathetic and kindly, always ready to
lend a helping hand. When we parted a short word or
so was spoken and away would fly the Indian on his

pony to tell his family that Mr. Hubbell was coming.
Within a mile or so we would find a group of women
hurrying across the sage brush plain toward the road,
or already waiting there for us. Mr. Hubbell would
alight, greet them, encourage them, entering their
sphere of life so completely that to him they brought
their cares, their troubles and their happiness. Some
old woman who had not seen Mr. Hubbell for a long
time would put her arms around his neck and cry and
croon, as if- he were her' first-born returned, recalling
to his mind things that had long been forgotten. "Do

HUBBELL STORE AND WAREROOM. GANAUO. ARIZONA.

you remember the dismal winter when our food was
gone? We were sick and could not pay, and you
brought us the flour. God bless you, my friend. God
bless you." More than once the pathos of these scenes
brought a tear to my eye. Year after year has he been
the Indian's friend, and year after year will he be. The
Indian appreciates him more than we can imagine.
Beneath his stoical surface you cannot read except you
know him as Mr. Hubbell knows him. It is only in
Mr. HubbelPs store that you can appreciate the Indian's

GANADO, ARIZONA, LOOKING ACROSS STREAM.

love for Mr. Hubbell. There you find the choicest of
the Indians' produce. The finest blankets in the oldest
patterns and rarest colorings, the choicest jewelry,
strings of wampum that would adorn the modern belle,
amulets, stones and pottery that Mr. Hubbell alone
could buy. Year after year has he encouraged them to
better work, more conscientious effort. He preserves

270

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

for them and for his own pleasure many of the oldest
and rarest patterns and colorations of the famed Navajo
blanket. He contracts for all the blankets a family
can make and supplies them with pattern blankets or
with water-color reproductions when the sample is un-
usually valuable. When the work comes in, if of ex-
ceptionally fine quality, he gives the weaver from one
to ten dollars more than the contract price, depending

for travelers, and satisfactory arrangements at reason-
able rates can be made for the round trip. The scenery

VIEW OF LORENZO HUBBELL'S HOME
KEAM'S CANYON, ARIZONA.

upon the size and cost of the blanket. If the work is
poor another chance is given. Then if the weaver does
not improve, the best known market for blankets in all
the west is closed to her and she must sell the product
of her loom to the railroad blanket shark for a mere
pittance.

Ganado is on the least known, but by far the
best road to the Indian snake dance at Walpi. The
route is a little longer, but the roadway is level and well
packed by the passage of Mr. Hubbell's many freight
wagons. Forty or fifty miles a day can easily be made
with comfort to traveler and team. In taking this route

OXEOF ]. L, HUBBEIL'S 'BLANKET FACTORIES'1
ARIZONA.

along the route is always interesting and in some places
grand. The air is delightful and the shady places cool
and refreshing even on the hottest days. The light

EXHIBIT AND EXAMINATION OF PRODUCT OF "HUBBELL'S
BLANKET FAClORItS'1 GANADO, ARIZONA.

wagon is bowled along over the hard, smooth roads at
a rapid rate, and many miles are covered before lunch-
con. At the crest of some ridge the stop is usually

GAVADO TRADING POST SHO\VIN(3( STREAM FROM WHICH
WATER FOR IRRIGATION IS ,T,O BE TA'KE.N.

to Ganado and Walpi the Sania ]^e train is left at
Gallup, in the extreme northwestern part of New
Mexico. This little town, of two thousand people boasts
a number of industries/* enough ajf lea|t to keep its made. The driver turns out of the road into the deep
inhabitants busy, contented - and peaceful! TBere are a cool shade of a pecan tree and with a cheery "Whoa!
number of livery stables iiiat 'mak^Jt a btisinlss to care All out for dinner," bounds from the wagon to attend
V f

OLD HUBBELL HOUSE, GANADO. THE FIRST-BUILDING
ERECTED IN 1876 STILL STANDS.

i

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

271

to his team. Luncheon is spread on a table of velvety
softness, the thick carpeting of pine needles on the dry
earth. Two hours pass quickly and the journey is con-
tinued. The pictured rocks and fantastic shapes of the
next twenty miles entertain the traveler. The Indians,
father and son, carved high on the jagged face of an
immense granite cliff, the cow's head, the battleship and
the combat, a novel picture made by shadows, and ever-
changing, so engross the attention that the evening
camp is reached without weariness. This stop is about
forty miles from Gallup and is at a Jesuit mission in
a valley where there is water all the year. The priests
of the mission take the best care of the unknown guest.
Food and lodging are free, but a donation is a pleasure
to the traveler after he has been there a few hours and
observed the result of their labors. Early the next
morning the journey is continued. All the forenoon
is spent in climbing to the top of the divide between
Gallup and Ganado. There is an ever-changing pano-
rama behind one as successive heights are reached. The
morning sun sending long lance-like beams of light

TRADING STORE OWNED BY LORENZO HUBBKLL.
KEAM'S CANYOM, ARIZONA.

into the canyons brilliantly illuminating bold cliffs that
stand out in strong relief. At the summit the long
stretches of the descent come into view. The winding
way of the stream of living water that flows by Ganado
is seen as if but a few miles away, though thirty miles
distant. Many flocks of sheep and goats, the property
of the thrifty Navajo, are passed. The hogans (homes)
of the Indians and their summer villages are frequent.
Here much interest is excited, especially among the
children, who look for candy and stray coins of silver.
Toward evening Ganado comes into view. The large,
low, one-story store building of Mr. Hubbell, the ad-
joining buildings, the public well with its old-fashioned
bucket 8,nd pulley, the river and the ford make an im-
pressive scene that is not soon forgotten.

However far you may travel you will never have
extended a more hearty welcome than at Ganado.
Whether friend or stranger, Mr. Hubbell will meet you
with the characteristic hospitality of the West, putting
at your disposal the best the place affords. You are at
home at once to enjoy the strangeness of the surround-
ings. In the evening the sun, slowly setting, lights up
the sky with a wealth of splendor unknown in lower
altitudes and denser air. The brilliant colors disappear

as the night comes on with its entrancing charm, the
cool pure air, the brilliant moonshine.

Ganado is famous for its Navajo products. Rugs,
blankets, portieres, sashes, kilts in the woven line, and
baskets, plaques, jewelry, Moqui and ancient pottery
comprise the stock in general. It is in the blanket
rooms that the visitor is delighted. The richness,
beauty and durability of the genuine Navajo blanket
have never been equaled by a native people anywhere in
the world. It is here only that the old native patterns
of these blankets can be seen, and here only that perfect
reproductions of them in weave, pattern and color,
woven and finished by the best native weavers, can be
bought. There are only a few weavers now living that
have sufficient skill to weave portieres in pairs where
design, color and proportion must be the same in each.
The passing of this skilled craft, one formerly very
necessary for the comfort of the tribe, adds an interest
to the strange beauty of the goods.

Ganado is more than half way to the Mesa at
Walpi, where every other year that most peculiar of
all religious ceremonies, the snake dance, is held. The
way is pleasant, though a rather hard day's drive. At
Keams Canyon on the main road to Walpi", Mr. Hubbell
has a branch store dealing largely in Moqui goods.
Farther on the government schools and military post is
passed and late in the evening the Mesa at Walpi comes
into view.

One who visits the snake dance at Walpi feels well
repaid for the long drive through the mountains. The
stops at the priests', Ganado and Keams Canyon, each
at the end of a day's drive, rests and refreshes one with
the comforts of civilization.

After the return trip is finished and you are home
again it is to Ganado, the trading post in the heart of
the Navajo reservation, that your mind will oftenest
revert. You will never forget Mr. J. L. Hubbell, the
Indian trader, the greatest blanket man in all the West.

RUFUS ELEY.

IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN UTAH.

The office of experiment stations of the United
States Department of Agriculture has just issued Bul-
letin No. 124, a report on the laws and customs under
which water is diverted, controlled, and used in irriga-
tion in Utah, prepared under the direction of Elwood
Mead, chief of irrigation investigations. The object
of the investigation is set out by Mr. R. P. Teele in the
opening paragraph of the report, as follows:

"All the studies of irrigation lead to one conclu-
sion— that some public control of the water supply is
necessary to the best use of the resources of an arid
country. In the very nature of things conflicts will
arise, and when they do arise some power beyond the
conflicting parties must come in to define their re-
spective rights. The most important question in irriga-
tion in this country is, Who shall be the arbiter when
such conflicts over water rights arise? Or, is it not
possible to create a system of water administration
which will anticipate such conflicts and render them
impossible? This report is a study of these questions
in the state of Utah. This state is not a new field, giv-
ing free opportunity for the creation of an ideal, but
one in which rights have become vested, customs have
grown up, and legal principles have become established.
It is, therefore, necessary to study the history of the
state in its dealings with water, both within and with-

272

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

out the law, to see wherein the laws and customs have
produced good results and wherein they have failed; to
see what principles have become established with which
new laws must conform or be declared void. Such a
study has two objects. The first is to help the people
of Utah in the establishment of an irrigation system
which will bring about the largest use of their water
supply; the second is to present to other states having
like conditions the lessons of Utali's experience."

The plan for this investigation was to select typical
streams in various parts of the state and describe the
actual conditions created by the appropriation and use
of their waters. Thus the Virgin and Sevier were se-
lected in the southern part of the state, the Weber and
Logan in the northern part, and the Jordan and its trib-
utaries in the central part. In this way practically
every feature of the state's irrigation system, many of
them having a curious as well as economic interest, are
described. Three of the reports were prepared by resi-
dents of the state, two of whom have had official as well
as personal opportunities of becoming fully informed
regarding existing conditions, one being Hon. A. P.
Doremus, state engineer, and the other Prof. G. L.
Swendsen, professor of irrigation engineering in the
State Agricultural College. • The other reports were
prepared by the regular agents of the department who
had carried on similar studies in other parts of the
West and were, therefore, able to compare the institu-
tions of Utah with those of other states. This makes
the report especially valuable, since the conditions are
discussed by those who have a deep personal interest in
the state,, and also by those who are, in a measure, dis-
interested students of the questions involved.

For the people of Utah, probably the most valuable
features of the report are the view it gives them of the
conditions which demanded a change in the laws of the
state, and the explanation of the law passed in 1903,
showing that it does not create an entirely new system,
but is a natural outgrowth of the former system of water
control.

The distinctive features of Utah's economic life is
cooperation, and the reports give an interesting view of
the organization and operation of cooperative canal
companies, showing the cost of water rights, the annual
cost of water, and the returns obtained from the use of
water. These cooperative companies furnish water to
farmers cheaper than any other companies, since the
farmers pay no profits to anyone, the assessments being
just large enough to cover the cost of keeping their
canals in order, and distributing the water. The aver-
age annual cost of water is about $1.25 per acre irri-
gated.

The point in which Utah irrigators excel those of
other states is in their distribution of water from ditches
Instead of dividing the water supplied by a canal in pro-
portion to the interest of each stockholder, each is given
a good-sized stream, the time which each is allowed the
use of a stream being proportioned to his interest in the
canal. These methods can well be studied by the people
of the other arid states, while the people of Utah can
Study with profit the administrative laws of the neigh-
boring states.

Economists and others who wish to study the sub-
ject of irrigation in its broader respects, will find in
them much valuable data as to laws and forms of organ-
izations, and their effects, while the irrigation farmers
will find them full of suggestions as to methods and
crops. This bulletin is the second of a series of reports.

THE PRIMER OE IRRIGATION.

BY D. H. ANDERSON.

COPYRIGHTED, 1903, BY D. H. ANDERSON.

CHAPTER IV.

ALKALI SOILS; THEIR NATURE, TREATME-NT AND
RECLAMATION.

The "alkalis," as they are called, are common to all
soils wherever they may be found on the globe; they
belong to earth and are part of its essential constituents.

Originally, they were brought or carried into the
soil along with the other elements which form its in-
organic bulk (as has been explained in Chapter II),
by the pulverization of rocks and minerals, the deposi-
tion of inorganic sediment held in solution by water,
by glacial action, by seepage from rivers, and numerous
other ways.

These elements, if unacted upon, would forever
remain in an insoluble, inert condition, incapable of
exerting any influence upon each other, or of perform-
ing any functions whatever; in which case, however,
there could not be any plant life of any kind. But
nature comes in and begins action upon these elements
and changes their form so that they may become capable
of aiding in the production of plants by furnishing
them with the food to make them grow and ripen their
fruit or seed.

First, we have the atmosphere, or air, which, how-
ever arid the region, contains oxygen in a very large
proportion, and this oxygen attacks the inorganic ele-
ments, transforming them into various substances, or
rather fits them to be acted upon by other substances so
that they may become useful or otherwise. Thus,
oxygen acts upon potash, soda, lime and magnesia to
form what are known as "alkaline bases," that is, the
foundations for the "salts," which are beneficial in mod-
erate quantities but injurious in excess. The forces of
nature are always at 'work, regardless of the quantity
of the product; certain laws are followed, and these
laws keep on operating in certain unvarying ways, ac-
cording to a fixed program, which is never changed un-
less man comes in and compels a change. The follow-
ing table will enable the reader to understand in a gen-
eral way how nature works upon the elements in the
soil through oxygen :

OXYGEN

Unites with Potassium and forms Potash.

Unites with Sodium and forms Soda.

Unites with Calcium and forms Lime.

Unites with Magnesium and forms Magnesia.

The oxygen acts upon the above four metals just
as it does on iron exposed to the air, when it forms the
familiarly known "rust," which is technically called
"oxide of iron." So the potash, soda, lime and mag-
nesia are really the earth oxides, the .four of them
being "alkaline bases," that is, the foundations upon
which to compound all the various kinds of alkalis.

These "oxides," or "bases," in themselves, would
be of very little use or harm while in that state, but the
oxygen in the air and everywhere else attacks the other
essential elements in the soil as well as the potash,
soda, lime and magnesia, that is, the silicon, carbon,
sulphur and phosphorus, but instead of converting them
into oxides, or alkaline bases, turns them into "acids."
The following table will explain:

THE IERIGATION AGE.

273

OXYGEN

Unites with Silicon and forms Silicic Acid.
Unites with Carbon and forms Carbonic Acid.
Unites with Sulphur and forms Sulphuric Acid.
Unites with Phosphorus and forms Phosphoric Acid.

Here is where the whole trouble about alkali soils
begins, for these acids mentioned in the last table,
which may be called mineral, or metalic, acids, have a
great affinity for the alkaline bases mentioned in the
first table, and greedily seize upon them, forming
"salts," as they are commonly called. When these min-
eral acids attack the alkaline bases, this is what happens :
Silicic Acid froms Silicate of Potash, Soda, Lime and

Magnesia.
Carbonic Acid forms Carbonate of Potash, Soda, Lime

and Magnesia.
Sulphuric Acid forms Sulphate of Potash, Soda, Lime

and Magnesia.
Phosphoric Acid forms Phosphate of Potash, Soda,

Lime and Magnesia.

It is the carbonate of soda, or what is commonly
called "sal soda," which makes "black alkali land," and
sulphate of soda, or "Glauber salt," which constitutes
"white alkali land." There are numerous other salts
formed by combining the alkaline bases and the min-
eral acids, but sufficient are given here to make the
principle clear; to enumerate the others would require
a volume, and complicate too much the idea sought to
be conveyed in this book. Moreover, their action is the
same as the sodas, though in a much less harmful de-
gree.

So far, water has been kept in the background, as
unnecessary to the formation of these salts, but when
water is brought in the distribution of these alkaline
salts is largely aided, for the alkalis are extremely
soluble in water, the latter taking up nearly its own
weight of the salts. When this happens, the alkalis
are carried wherever the water penetrates, and when
it comes to the surface it evaporates into the atmos-
phere, but leaves the alkali salts behind to accumulate,
until the soil is ruined for purposes of vegetation un-
less they are removed, or got rid of in some way and
the soil thus "reclaimed," as it is called.

In this inorganic matter, plant life is impossible.
As has already been said, organic matter in combination
with the inorganic matter, is essential to plants of any
kind, and here originates a phenomenon as common as
the continual process of the formation of alkalis by
combinations with the mineral, or metallic, acids, as
above specified. Organic matter also combines to form
acids which are called "vegetable acids," and they also
readily combine with the alkaline 'bases, the result of
which is mutual destruction. This will be understood
from a simple experiment that any reader can try.

Vinegar is the most commonly known vegetable
acid, the technical name of which is "acetic acid," it
being formed during the germination of seeds in the
ground, as will be explained in the chapter on Plant
Foods. The plant forms it within its tissues and then
rejects it for the purpose of permitting it to continue
dissolving .the earthy substances with which it is in
contact. It is also formed artificially for domestic use.
Now this vinegar is the natural enemy of the alkalis.
When poured upon any of the alkalis of potash, soda,
or magnesia, it causes a hissing or effervescence. When
this ceases, there is left neither an alkali nor acid, both
have disappeared, and their substances are totally
changed into something else, a new salt called an

"acetate," which is neither one thing or the other ; they
have mutually destroyed each other.

These acetates are not noxious to plants, and ap-
pear to be freely created by the plant itself during the
process of developing acetic acid, which is essential for
the purpose of transforming starch into sugar, whether
of the cane or grape variety, and for laying the founda-
tion of woody fiber and cellular tissues, all of which,
alkali tends to prevent if in excess. It is well known
from actual experience that sugar bearing plants, such
as sorghum, sugar beets, and trees of abundant starch
and woody fiber will flourish luxuriantly in alkali soils
that will not even permit the germination of cereals, or
alfalfa. The reason why this is so is not far to seek,
and when well understood the partial reclamation of
alkali lands, even under adverse conditions, may be at-
tained, and wholly so where the conditions are opposed
to the accumulations of alkali from artificial sources.

DANGEROUS PERCENTAGE OF ALKALI.

There is much controversy about the dangerous
amount of alkalis in arable soils, but the entire ques-
tion may be resolved into four divisions :

First — Soils naturally so heavily charged with
alkali as to be worthless.

Second — Soils in which the alkali is increased by
fortuitous or artificial means.

Third — Alkali soils suitable for general crops.

Fourth — Alkali soils adapted only to certain special
classes of plants.

The sodas are the most dangerous of the alkalis,
both the carbonate, or "sal soda," which is the cause
of "black alkali land," and the sulphate, or "Glauber
salts," which is the deposit on most of the "white alkali
lands," because they are so very easily soluble in water,
whereas the sulphate of lime, or "gypsum," and all the
other sulphates, and the phosphates, are very much less
soluble in water. The consequence is, the soda alkalis
are always shifting their location, always following the
water, because the latter takes them up greedily when-
ever they are brought in contact, whether on the sur-
face or in the subsoil, or under the influence of seepage
which carries the alkalis from a higher to a lower level.
The tendency of water when in motion, or flowing, is
first downward, it leaches, or percolates through the
soil, but after it has become stationary, that is, when
it does not find an outlet through drainage, either nat-
ural or artificial, it begins an upward movement toward
the surface through capillary action, and carries with it
the alkalis it contains in solution, evaporates and leaves
the salts on the surface. It is not difficult to under-
stand how the alkalis accumulate in the soil, the diffi-
culty begins when the attempt is made to remove them
and fit the soil for plant life.

As the amount of alkali deposited in the soil in-
creases, the number of species or varieties of plants de-
creases. Where soils are charged with an excess of
alkalis by fortuitous or artificial means, the reader will
understand that the excess has been added to the natural
supply by the flooding or rains, or by irrigation. The
alkali has not been washed out of the soil by the water,
it has been carried into it by water charged with the
soluble salts, directly, or by seepage from irrigating
ditches. In either case, deep cultivation, surface, or
sub-drainage, will tend to restore the soil to its normal
condition. Moreover, it is not difficult to wash out of
the soil the elements necessary to plant life through the
application of water, and, inasmuch as the alkalis are
more soluble than any of the plant foods, it should be

274

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

less difficult to eliminate the former by the same process
that carried them into the soil, intelligently applied.

One per cent of alkali salts in an average soil one
foot deep equals 40,946 pounds dry, and 55,146 pounds
wet, too great a quantity for the successful growth of
cereals, although the soil may be very rich in all the
other plant foods, which is generally the case in all
alkali soils, and this percentage will prevent the growth
of trees, bushes, vines and root crops in general. Some-
times the alkali is near the surface, in the first two
inches of it ; indeed, ttie tendency of the alkalis is
toward the surface, in this case the one per cent of
alkali would mean a weight of the salts in a foot deep
acre of only about 6,824 pounds dry, or 9,191 pounds
wet, a quantity not in excess if distributed uniformly
through the soil. But lying at the immediate surface,
the cereal grains cannot germinate, or if they do the
young and tender plants perish from thirst, literally,
the alkalis absorbing all the water around them, al-
though there may be plenty of untainted water in the
subsoil, in which case deep plowing and turning the
soil over will furnish a top soil in which the seeds may
germinate and reach a growth able to resist the alkali
turned under. In fact, the roots of the plants will
reach beyond the alkali, for the latter will then have
again sought the surface, where it can do no harm.

Alfalfa, for instance, will grow in a moderately
alkaline soil, because the long tap roots penetrate to the
subsoil depths, where there is less alkali. Moreover, the
thick growth and luxuriant foliage shade the ground
and prevent evaporation, which is the handmaid of
alkali deposits.

All soils showing less than one-fifth of one per
cent of alkali salts, that is, less than 9,000 pounds to
the foot acre dry, or 12,000 pounds wet, may be consid-
ered safe for all kinds of crops, and there will never
be any danger from excess of alkalis, so long as good
water is used and the land well drained and cultivated.
When the alkali goes beyond one-fifth to two-fifths per
cent, general crops fail, as a rule, and spots begin to
show when cultivated. And when the alkali reaches
four-tenths and six-tenths of .one per cent, while gen-
eral crops will not grow, sweet clover and the common
run of fleshy, scented and sugary plants will grow and
produce large crops, but must be harvested early in the
case of forage plants, as has already been said, else they
will become bitter and uneatable.

There are, as has been said, about 197 species of
plants which possess a great affinity for alkali and will
luxuriate in masses of it where all other vegetation fails
to gain a foothold. Thus, greasewood. or creosote bush,
will flourish in a soil containing 194,760 pounds of
alkali salts per acre one foot deep, which is more than
four per cent of alkali. Scrub salt bush will grow in
soil containing 78,240 pounds per acre, equal t& .about
one and one-half per cent. Samphire luxuriates in soil
containing 306,000 pounds of alkali per acre, or about
six per cent. Wheat, however, will not grow where the
soil contains a total of 20,520 pounds of the sulphates,
carbonates, chlorides and nitrates of soda and potash
per acre one foot deep, which is less than one-half of one
per cent of the weight of the soil.

ATTEMPTS AT RECLAMATION.

It is impossible to establish any rule or set of rules
for the adaptation of alkali lands to profitable crops.
The natural growth of numerous varieties and species
of plants on strong alkalis is of very little moment to

the farmer, his main inquiry being: How shall I get
rid of the excess of alkali ? The whole object of culti-
vating the soil is to compel it to produce something
useful as well as profitable, otherwise it is labor lost to
put a plow in the ground. But in the arid and semi-
arid lands the soil may be exceedingly fertile for general
crops, and after cultivation and irrigation may become
so impregnated with alkali as to lose that fertility in
spite of the quantities of essential plant food still in
the soil.

Where this calamity overtakes the farmer he can
not very well wander about and take up a new location
on fresh land and again go through the same experi-
ence. He must remain rooted to the soil, so to speak,
and use all the information he can gather to restore his
land to its normal condition, or so much of it as haa
gone wrong. It is a well-known saying: "All signs
fail in dry weather," and there are several others equally
as apt. Some say: "It is useless to pray for rain with
the wind from the wrong quarter," or, "It is a dry
moon, and the horns up won't let the water out." In
the case of alkali soils there are no apt sayings, but
there ought to be one, and a very good one seems to be :
"Alkali laughs at the established methods of cultivating
the soil."

When crops begin to look "sick," and black or
white patches appear here and there, the reason is not
far to seek: alkali is at work. The subsoil may be
alkaline; there may be a stratum of hard pan which
prevents the water with its solution of alkalis from
leaching down through beyond the reach of the roots;
the irrigation water may contain a large percentage of
alkali in solution, and, coming to the surface, carry its
alkali along with it; there may be an irrigation ditch
above and beyond, or a stream, or reservoir, from which
the water seeps and comes up wherever it can find an
outlet. In all these cases, and there are manv others,
except where the soil is naturally strongly alkaline, he
looks for the cause, and he finds it in fortuitous or acci-
dental additions of alkali. Excess of alkali has been
carried mto the soil, and he first stops any further ar-
rivals. The beginning of a remedy is the same in the
case of a thousand or more acres as in the case of but
one, there is merely a difference in extent of operations.
Then the alkali having got into the soil, he quite nat-
urally thinks that it may be got out in the same way it
got in. This is true as to methods. It drains or seeps
in; let it drain and seep out. It came to the surface
with the water through capillary action, therefore let
that capillary action be stopped or impeded. The water
from the subsoil evaporating at the surface left the
alkalis behind to interfere with plant life, hence, if that
evaporation be prevented or reduced, there will be no
more, or, at least, less surface deposits.

Without stopping to consider drainage, which re-
quires a chapter of its own, there are two conditions or
processes which are keys that nearly fit the situation:
cultivation and rotation of crops.

Cultivation serves a double purpose ; that of break-
ing up the uniform capillary spaces in the soil and pre-
venting the rise of the water from the subsoil to the
surface, and that of covering the ground with a layer
of dry soil, or a mulch, that prevents evaporation. In-
deed, there are cases where frequent cultivation, or
stirring up of the soil, have reduced the accumulations
of alkali to one-third the amount on uncultivated land.
As to its preventing evaporation, every farmer is too
well acquainted with the effect of cultivation as a con-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

275

servative of the moisture in the soil not to know this
thoroughly.

The incorporation of organic matter in the soil,
such as stable manure, leaves, straw, plowing under a
crop of weeds, or green manure, tends to break up the
capillary pores in the soil and retard the upward move-
ment of the subsoil water. But this retarding process
is much greater if this organic matter is spread over the
ground in a uniform layer or mulch. This method
alone has saved many an orchard when an adjoining one
in the same kind of soil was perishing from an excess
of alkali.

It should not be forgotten that it is water that dis-
solves the alkalis, not moisture. For which reason th'e
water in the subsoil must be kept below the surface at
least three, four, five and six feet, according to the soil
and the crops. It is the standing water below the sur-
face which soaks up the salts, and they must be drained
away until the water table will not send up water, but
moisture only, a sort of subsoil evaporation, to coin an
•expression, the water coming up as wet vapor, or merely
wetness, leaving its salts behind, they being unable to
follow unless held in solution.

As soon as water from rain or irriigation begins to
fill the soil, the standing water below with its alkalis in
solution commences to rise, but by keeping this subsoil
water at a depth of five or six feet, and thus allowing
an easy movement of moisture through the land, the
work of reclamation is easily attained. Here is where
the rotation of crops may be called upon to aid. The
farmer has been growing wheat, barley, small fruits,
corn, etc., and the soil has become so impregnated with
alkali as to prevent the growth of any more similar
crops. Now when he is leaching the alkalis out of the
soil he plants gross feeders, plants that have an affinity
for alkali. Sorghum and sugar beets are recommended
for correctives of alkali soils, but there are many other
plants that may be used for the same purpose, such as
asparagus, onions, sweet clover, and among the fruits,
pears, figs, pomegranates and date palms, all of which
withstand the action of alkalis when they would kill
cereals and small fruits.

The reason is that all sugar-producing plants re-
quire large quantities of alkali, particularly the carbon-
ates, for starch is produced by the decomposition of
•carbonic acid, which the plant breathes in through its
leaves, and takes up from the soil through its roots.
Now, taking the carbon out of the alkalis renders them
innocous, just the same as does vinegar or acetic acid,
which is also always forming in plants that produce
sugar. Not to be misunderstood, it may be well to say
here that this starch is transformed into sugar, woody
fiber and cellular tissue. When it comes to raising 20
to 40 tons of sugar beets per acre, carrying 17 to 22 per
cent of sugar, and reflect that 100 parts of the green
•syrup of sugar beets carbonated show 9.18 per cent of
alkali ashes, and that the leaves and root fibers will
show nearly as much more, it is a simple sum in arith-
metic to demonstrate that it will not take many such
crops to remove the alkalis, and make it necessary to add '
more voluntarily as a fertilizer. Indeed, in non-alkali
•soils it is necessary to add alkalis as fertilizers in culti-
vating beets. Within two or three years the alkali-
devouring plants will have removed so much of the
alkali from the soil that barley and wheat can be intro-
duced, and afterward a good stand of alfalfa secured.
All of these attempts at reclamation are, in the opinion
.of the author, equivalent to a rotation of crops, since

they benefit and strengthen the soil by taking away
elements that certain plants do not require, as well as
add those which they need.

The following general rules to follow in reclaiming
alkali soil may be considered as a recapitulation of what
has been said in this chapter, and in all the authorities
on the subject:

First — Insure good and rapid drainage to a depth
of three or four feet, in which case flooding the land
with water is a simple and sure method of washing out
the alkali.

Second — Plow deep ; say, twelve inches.

Third — Furrow land and plant sorghum in the bot-
tom of the furrows. Irrigate heavily, and gradually
cultivate down the ridges to uniformity.

Fourth — After two years in sorghum (or sugar
beets, etc.) — deeply plowed each year and cultivated
frequently — plant barley. Have the surface of the
ground well leveled, and flood heavily before planting.

Fifth — Seed to any desired crop, for if the land is
at all porous a stand of any ordinary crop can be se-
cured, except in the worst spots.

What has been said with reference to the black and
white alkalis, is applicable to the other alkali salts, the
chlorides (common salt, etc.), nitrates, muriates, etc.,
most of which are beneficial and necessary to plants in
reasonable quantities, but deleterious and destructive in
excess, but, we repeat, not so dangerous as the sodas.

The processes of chemical transformations are al-
ways going on in nature, and every soil, together with
the plants or crops growing upon it, constitute a vast
laboratory, in which materials of an almost infinite
variety are in a constant state of manufacture, and by
acquiring even a superficial knowledge of what nature
is doing and trying to do, man will be better able to di-
rect nature in his direction to his profit. Nature is
perfectly willing that this should be done, and if she is
diverted from her purposes and does too much or too
little, it is because the man behind the plow is looking
the other way.

Adobe soils and the hardpans have been reserved
for another chapter, as having a closer relation to drain-
age, water, and cultivation, than to arid lands. Adobe
is a peculiar kind of clay of several varieties, and the
hardpans, though sometimes arable, in general resemble
the cement plaster which has been found unimpaired in
the pyramids and temples of Egypt after thousands of
years' exposure to the elements.

It is reasonable to suppose that plants which will
grow in heavily charged alkali soils, do so because they
have an affinity for the alkaline salts, and take up largo
quantities of them. Whence it is clear that, by con-
tinually growing, cutting and removing this "alkali
vegetation," the excess salts in the soil will be gradually
eliminated, and thus the soil be fitted for the growth of
other desired plants. This is the law and the gospel in
the case of the commonly known "salt meadows," of
which there are estimated to be in the United States
over one hundred thousand square miles. The attempt
to reclaim these lands in this manner has proved suc-
cessful in Germany and Holland, and has passed beyond
the mere experimental stage in the United States.
Wherefore the query : Is not the same law applicable to
the overcharged alkali lands of the arid and semi-arid
regions ?

The Primer of Irrigation, a 300-page book, and THE
IRRIGATION AGE one year $1.50.

276

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

CAN AMERICAN LAW PREVENT LAND GRAB-
BING?

BY ALFRED F. SEARS, C. E.

M. Am. Soc. C. E. M. Nat. Soc. C. E. of "Peru, S. A. Cor. M. Geographi-
cal Soc., Lima, Peru.

Does there exist, within the limits of any human
brain, the ability to devise 'a law that, being in accord
with the principles of the American constitution, will
prevent "land grabbing," i. e., the acquisition of more
than 160 acres of the public domain by a single owner,
one man, or corporation?

Why, certainly ! Make it criminal for the indi-
vidual to be caught with more than the proper amount
of acres in his pouch.

Concerning which, two observations occur. One,
the query: Has law been able to prevent crime? Has
it even prevented the pursuit of crime as a profession?
And second : Such a law cannot be sustained under the
American system, which not only permits, but dares not
forbid, the commercial exchange of property of any
class. Whatever a man wants and can pay for he may
buy, provided he can find a seller ; and every man may
sell that of which he is lawfully possessed. The most
the law can do is to regulate transfer by taxation.

The United States government, for the encourage-
ment of settlement on the unoccupied lands of its terri-
tory, has enacted that no one man shall become possessed
as an original settler of more than 160 acres of those
lands; and yet, in sections of the country, vast areas
comprising thousands upon thousands of acres have
come under the ownership of a single individual, a man.
or corporation, for purposes that positively repel fami-
lies and prohibit settlement. In this state of Oregon,
18 per cent of all the farms are cultivated by tenants
hiring from absentee landlords, owners of the soil and
not its settlers.

I invite notice to a few typical instances of "land
grabbing" in legitimate ownership and in control of
territory without ownership, in this state; and, what is
more remarkable, in a part of the state which has been
especially under the gaze of the distinguished Mr. Wil-
liamson, who has been so alert to expose the machina-
tions of corporations acting under the Carey act, with
the intention of appropriating vast sections to the dam-
age of his pals, the land pirates of the region, who have,
thus far, prevented the settlement of the finest inhabit-
able portion of southern Oregon, by its occupancy with
enormous herds and flocks. I shall make use of ficti-
tious names .in designating the parties to whom refer-
ence is made.

Several years ago John Doe went into the upper
valley of the River Des Chutes with a stock of merchan-
dise, entered a homestead claim and opened a store to
sell his goods. Presently came Richard Roe and
Thomas Brown, who entered claims and bought Doe's
goods for their daily subsistence upon arid land. All
three of these -men had tracts that lay upon both sides of
the stream, but "the narrow productive strip failed to
support the families of Richard and Thomas who, dis-
couraged, having proved up their claims, received their
patents and surrendered their estates to John Doe, in
settlement of their debts for his goods.. John Doe is
today the owner of three homestead tracts along the
river, all fenced in with fair houses and a river bank
five miles long, on which he is raising a family and a
flock of sheep, with a kitchen garden.

, Who may dispute the right of this "land grabber" ?

Farther up the valley is another case ; that of two
men, father and son, who are the terror of all the re-
gion, where, having proved up on two homestead claims,
and established a home ranch for their cattle, have with
shotguns and all manner of mischievous devices driven
off several settlers, who had built fences and cabins,
before being put in fear of their lives. As a result, two
pirates have a valuable and extensive private cattle range
by intimidating men who wished to be settlers, raise
crops and families. These two men have undertaken to
drive all enterprise from that part of the valley, and
had thus far succeeded, until they threatened the lives
of an irrigation engineering party engaged in a survey,
when the neighborhood magistrate took them, somewhat
timidly, in hand. Still, they command all that fine
range, which has not cost them a cent, but has been
stolen from the sweat of hard and honest labor. What
can be done to dislodge them? I say there is no law
that can reach them, so far as their past conduct is
concerned, for there is no man to prosecute them; the
oppressed have left the region ; the neighbors fear them.

Still another example, for proof of which see Cen-
sus Bulletin No. 237. Crook county, with an area of
4,963,000 acres, contains a population of only 5,000
souls, who live upon 783,485 acres, divided among 576
farms, being an average of 1,330 acres to the farm!
In all this vast tract of nearly 800,000 acres only 56,-
000 are improved and but 14,000 are under irrigation.

Still one more and a last example of "land grab-
bing" in Crook county. Of the 4,000,000 acres not yet
absorbed by "settlers," it has been stated that 3,000,000
are susceptible of cultivation if irrigated, for which
there is abundant means within reach. At the present
time all this region is under the feet of a wealthy cor-
poration of sheep and cattlemen who occupy the entire
territory with their stock, for which it furnishes pas-
turage, costing the stockmen not one cent. Now, every
citizen recognizes the value of the stock business to the
state, but not the right of these men to make use of the
public property without making due compensation.
They object to leasing and their instrument, William-
son, has made it appear to the people that leasing the pub-
lic pasture lands, though under provisions that would re-
lease them to settlers, would be to deliver them into the
hands of a corporation. Which is true enough, but
which, in the present instance, means that the men who
are now using and will continue to use them as free
pasturage, shall pay the country just compensation for
what they get, as every man in every other condition of
life must do or die.

These men have had the audacity to advertise to the
world their opposition to irrigation by which the terri-
tory would be brought into the market and filled up
with settlers. They have made this opposition in face
of the demand of the farmers, merchants and hotel
men of the country, all of whom pray for irrigation.
Here, then, are four cases of "land grabbing" existing
right under the nose of the Hon. Mr. Williamson, who
came to the State Irrigation Congress with the intention
of killing the Carey act for Oregon and brought 50
claquers to howl and heel him into acceptance. This
man was the author of the state law devised to aid
irrigation and prevent the inordinate acquisition of land
under the Carey act. He has seen the failure of his law
as the sheep men have instructed him to see it; he has
passed two years in thoughtful mourning and severe
meditation on the possibility that a Carey company
may appear and introduce the hated settler, and when,

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

277

after this long season of reflection, he finds himself
again in the state legislature and at the head of the
same committee, under a promise to so amend the law
he had constructed that it shall be utterly impossible
to the companies to improperly acquire land, he funks,
and ends the struggle in his ponderous brain by asking
that a commission be appointed to do what he prom-
ised the irrigation convention he would do as soon as
the legislature gave him the opportunity.

It should be understood by the people that med-
dling with the laws as they stand will bear very close
watching. The speculator is abroad in the land and
never had such tremendous influence in the United
States Senate as he has today. All the law can do is
to punish violators of its provisions and evaders of its
enactments, which must be discovered by a thoroughly
rigorous inspection conducted by honest trustees.

Punish fraud, that is duty; dishonest schemes
against the public welfare will be found as possible un-
der the government system as under any other. No
system has yet been devised for the government of the
human family, whether by Divine or human lawgiver,
that has not recognized the inevitable and unpreventable
presence of sin and crime.

A RUSH TO THE RESCUE.

The recent floods in the West called for some rush
orders for pumps for drainage purposes. One received
by Henion & Hubbell, of Chicago, was filled in so short
a time that it deserves special notice.

The entire outfit was shipped by express. The or-
der was received in Chicago about half past ten, and
within spvpn Tirvnrs fhp pumping plant, complete, dis-
mantled for express shipment, ready for connection to
steam, left the warehouse. Within twenty-four hours the
outfit was at its destination. The pump was a No. 12
Centrifugal, directly connected to Vertical Stationary
Engine. A six million gallon pumping plant, furnished
in seven hours from receipt of order, with piping and
connection, is, indeed, establishing a "a record for quick
service."

THE AGE has been making some inquiry about a
"packing" plow, one that will "pack" the bottom of the
furrow and practically convert it into a water runway.
Among others, Deere & Company, of Moline, answer :

"In reply wish to say that the nearest we- could
come to filling this want would be our regular subsoil
plow. There is no special device in connection with it
for packing the earth at the bottom of the furrow, but
we would consider the shovel pressure of the subsoil shoe
to be all sufficient for this work."

"but,"' says the Reedley Exponent, there is such a thing
as having too much of it." This is the cold storage
truth, also. Why not have our pumps and irrigation
ditches labeled: "Touch not, taste not, handle not?"
Kentucky is a State that may be relied upon to adopt
the suggestion.

However, joking aside, the Fresno paper tells some
sad truths.

"There are," he continues, "so few irrigationists
who can tell when the land has had plenty of water
that it invariably happens, in. giving it plenty, it gets
too much, and the result is that some of the lands that
were made to 'blossom as the rose/ in their early stages
of cultivation, are now suffering from an over supply of
water. The West Park, for instance, a district four
miles west of Fresno, which at one time was the
garden spot of the county, is now in such a condition
from the use of too much water that the owners are
compelled to inaugurate a drainage system. In Utah
thousands of acres of excellent land were ruined by the
rise of the water table driving the alkali to the surface.
Near Fresno the United States government is experi-
menting with tile drains for the purpose of draining the
land and washing out the alkali. This condition would
never have been brought about had irrigators used less
water and more intelligence in cultivating their land.
There are thousands of acres in this district today that
would be greatly benefited if they received less water
than they are now getting."

TOO MUCH WATER.

"To reclaim our arid lands all that is needed is
plenty of water,", is an old saying, and a true one;

DEEP WELLS IN OKLAHOMA.

Professor Charles A. Long, connected with the
University of Oklahoma, has made some investigations
in Oklahoma deep wells, which present some interesting,
not to say curious features. In an article upon the
above subject, the professor says :

"In almost every county in Oklahoma wells of over
200 feet have been drilled. A few have been put down
for prospective purposes, more, however, were drilled in
search of water. In general, no water of any practical
value is found below a depth of four hundred feet. In
many places a strong flow is found at a depth of from
two hundred to three hundred feet. As a rule water be-
low this depth is salty. Near the base of the Redbeds
sandstones are found. Above the sandstones there is a
large mass of clays and shales, then the horizon of the

gypsum Ipdjjpfi OOTTIPS in anrl above this horizon is

another sandstone member."

The results, which Professor Long collected from
records sent in to Professor Charles N. Gould, resident
hydrographer, U. S. G. S., Norman, Oklahoma, do not
appear to be very satisfactory along the line of deep
wells.

Perhaps the investigations now being made for the
Division of Irrigation of the United States Geological
Survey, by Professor Gould and a corps of students from
the Oklahoma University, will bear belter fruit. They
are working west, carrying on two lines of reconnois-
sance along Beaver Creek and the Cimarron river as far
as Northern New Mexico, then they will cross to the head
waters of the South Canadian and follow that stream
down across the Panhandle to Oklahoma, completing the
work about the middle of September. The investigation
will include a study of the water problems of the plains,
streams, springs, wells, reservoir sites, chances for ar-
tesian water and the like.

278

THE IEKIGATION AGE.

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THE IKRIGATION AGE.

279

CORRESPONDENCE

EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE:

Hon. W. A. Clark, who has kindly consented to. act in
the capacity of president of the Eleventh National Irrigation
Congress, which is to be held at Ogden, Sept. loth to 18th
inst., 1903, is a pioneer of Montana, a practical irrigationist,
a banker, a miner, a railroad man, and a first class states-
man, whose high intellectual endowments will illuminate its
deliberations. Thus it is that the National Irrigation Congress
from day to day, from year to year, grows more important and
it is a happy omen when men of Senator Clark's calibre will
consider it an honor to preside, forever precluding the idea of
merging, a paramount issue, which means the creation and
development of our inland empire, to a sectional organization.

I hold that the law passed for the reclamation of the
desert in its effect will be even more far reaching than the
Homestead Act, which President Roosevelt says is first, in
that the Homestead Act but applies a principle to favorable
conditions already existing, whilst the Irrigation Law creates
the conditions and promotes intensive and diversified farming
on small holdings — it eventually will solve economical, educa-
tional, race, tariff and financial questions, it will keep the
people on the land, in the county, make them independent
and self supporting, teaches them to work and diffuses
wealth generally, as in France, the most recuperative country
in the world, the result of small proprietorship and close
cultivation of the 'soil. Respectfully,

FRED J. KIESEL.
Chairman Executive Committee, Eleventh National Irrigation

Congress, Ogden, Utah.

DES MOINES, IOWA, June 6, 1903.
THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL, Chicago:

Dear Sirs: — I 'just received a copy of Drainage Profit,
published by you. Do you put out a periodical on land drain-
age ; if so, send me a sample copy. I am somewhat interested
in land draining and may be a great deal more so soon, for I
am now figuring on buying some ditch machinery. I wish yon
would tell me if you know where there is dredge machinery
made for cutting a ditch, say, 12 to 16 feet wide and 4 to 10
feet deep. If you know where such machinery is made please
enclose their addresses to me in the enclosed envelope and
oblige. Yours truly,

G. WALDO GRINSTEAD.

COLONY, KAN., June 16, 1903.
EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :

Dear Sir: We are desirous of posting up on the subject
of steam ditching machines. Will you do us a favor by giv-
ing us the addresses of the builders of such machinery?
Would like a machine that we can use with our 8 H. P.
traction engine.

Thanking you in advance for the favor, we are

Yours,

L. M. WHITE.

A correspondent, writing from Meridan, Idaho, under
date of May 19, says : There was a large and enthusiastic
meeting of the farmers held at the Woodman hall yesterday
for the purpose of taking steps toward the organization of
an irrigating district. Those present were representative men
and are deeply in earnest to do something for the bettering
of the water question. The following gentlemen were here
from Nampa: J. M. Bray, J. M. Crill, John Griffith, H. A.
Partridge, R. Meador and Attorney Van Duyn. A. R.
Stalker, of Meridian, was made chairman. An organization
committee was appointed, consisting of L. P. • Corcoran, A.
R. Stalker and C. Hedges, of Meridian, to represent Ada
county, and A. H. Partridge, J. M. Bray and John Griffith,
of Nampa, for Canyon county. It was almost unanimously
agreed that it was best to organize an irrigation district. Mr.
Greer, of the Ridenbaugh Canal Company, has expressed
himself as favoring the plan and promises to put in his
private holdings, about 600 acres, as a part of the district.

MCMILLAN, N. MEX., June llth, 1903.
D. H. ANDERSON, EDITOR, Chicago, 111. :

Dear Sir: Your correspondent. Mr. W. H. Boothroyd,
from Tacoma, Wash., under date of April 1st last, and in your
April issue, makes reference to a statement concerning a
"machine" for lifting water from the channel of a stream to
the surface of adjoining land for irrigation purposes, which
appears quite remarkable.

Not only remarkable because of the stupendous results
accomplished, but also because he neither definitely describes
the '"machine" and the mechanical principles involved in its
operation, nor names it, its inventors or manufacturers. If
it is capable of accomplishing the results he claims for it
a great many persons would wish further information concern-
ing it.

If Mr. Boothroyd has withheld the information desired
from the knowledge of the public to the end that he might
be compensated for imparting it, I, for one, would cheerfully
pay liberally for the information and in proportion to the
substantial value of same.

My plant contains one thousand acres of choice alfalfa
lands situated fifteen miles north of Carlsbad, N. Mex., in
the Pecos valley and two miles from the P. V. & S. W. R. R.

The tecos runs through the eastern portion where the
lands are lowest, and its waters are appropriated. Seven
Rivers enters my inclosure at the northwest corner and emp-
ties into the Pecos within my inclosure. At the entrance
the lands are the highest, just twenty feet above the surface
of the water, and water thereon would flow to any part over
a smooth surface with gentle slope. Nature has admirably
adapted it for irrigation purposes, and no grading is anywhere
needed. Seven Rivers, under my appropriation, has a mini-
mum flow of not less than one hundred and twenty-five
miner's inches of water, and usually much more. To hoist
that water to the surface of the land in a manner both
economical and effectual is a problem in which I am greatly
interested and Mr. Boothroyd's machine might be of great
value to me.

I wish to know more about it. I own and use now two-
thirds the flow of a spring, the minimum yield of which is one
hundred miner's inches. With the water from Seven Rivers
I could bring nearly all my land under irrigation.

Yours truly,

W. V. JOHNSON.

JUNCTION CITY, TEX., June 6, 1903.
EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :

Dear Sir: Can you give me any information or put me
in the way of finding out where I can get moulds for making
i8-inch cement pipes to carry water, and the manner of
making such ? I believe tht y are used in Colorado and Cali-
fornia.

Am desirous of making 1.500 feet to irrigate my field,
the present wooden flume haying rotted out. Freight rates
are against my buying the pipe, as I am 70 miles from a
railroad and have to pay 50 cent per 100 pounds from the
nearest depot. Hauled a carload of lo-inch pipes a year
ago and had more than one-third broken in transit.

Hoping you may be able to help me in the matter, and
thanking you for the trouble. Yours truly,

G. K. GORDON.

NEW WILMINGTON, PA., July 1, 1903.
THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL :
Chicago, 111.

Dear Sirs: — Drainage has never been practiced much in
this section, mainly on account of scarcity and high price
of tile. Some farmers are putting in glazed tile or sewer
pipe, where it is practicable. This is a heavy clay country,
flat and wet, except on the border of streams. Plenty of
railroads here, and a big demand for drain tile if it could
be got at a fair price. Will not some tile maker come here and
start a plant? This is a virgin field for a tile-maker, and
the people are waking up to the benefit of drainage.
Yours respectfully,

J. C. M. JOHNSTON.

OCEAN PARK, CAL., June 19. 1903.
D. H. ANDERSON PUB. Co., 112 Dearborn Street, Chicago: '

Gentlemen — Enclosed please find P. O. money order for
$1.00 for IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL, which I
desire to continue. Hoping to enjoy your paper in the coming
year as much as in the past, and wishing you every success
in your enterprise, I remain,

Yours respectfully, H. ROWLAND LEE.

280

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

STEVENSON, ALA., June 20, 1903.
THE IRRIGATION ACE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL :

Gentlemen — Enclosed find check for $2.00 to pay for
THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL.

I want a good and competent 'man to put up a tile and
bricK plant at this place. It is a fine location for the busi-
ness; the clay is good. The people want the tile and brick,
and there is no plant of the kind near us.

A fine opening for an enterprising man ; railway and water
transportation good, and this county is now building $250,-
ooo worth of pike roads — about eighty miles already built.

Help me in this matter. Respectfully,

I. P. RUSSELL.

NEW CASTLE, COLO., June 17, 1903.
EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. :

Your favor of May 14 at hand. Will say my invention
is of that class of irrigating machinery that takes the water out
of a river, well or pond. It is an elevator that runs on a
track. Each bucket runs on two wheels, just like a car. Is
so constructed that it can be made to any size. The smallest
plan I have made has buckets that hold two gallons each ;
the largest size holds 88 gallons and is large enough to
irrigate three thousand acres of land in one body. This
elevator is designed to reclaim lands along rivers where water
power can easily be had or take water out of wells, where
the underflow is of sufficient capacity to supply water to irri-
gate a larger quantity of land and these conditions I find
in many places on our western prairies and deserts ; for in-
stance, in the large prairies of the eastern part of Colorado,
also Kansas and Nebraska and throughout the extreme west-
ern states, especially California and Arizona.

My experience for twenty-two years in these countries
has led me to this invention and those that have seen it
work agree with me that it is the most successful plan for
irrigation yet known. It is not altogether tuw, but an old
plan improved. I claim I can raise water as high as any
machine and in as large quantities with one-half the expense
and one-half the power and that this machine will last longer
and does not require a machinist to look after any part of
its construction. I shall be pleased to receive a copy of your
valuable paper and subscribe for it. Yours truly,

W. A. CONNOR.

SHOULD IRRIGATING CANALS BE BUILT CONTOUR.
JOHN G. HALL, GREELEY, COLO.

Nine out of ten civil engineers who have had no practical
knowledge of irrigation will recommend building the canal
upon a contour basis. With twenty years' experience, I
will try and show up the' good and the bad side of contour
canals : First, in running a canal on a contour basis, makes
a nice, even embankment on the lower side of canal. It is
easy to estimate the amount of earth to be removed ; again,
it is not so difficult to follow a given fall per mile, what-
ever has been assigned to give it. But on the other hand,
and what becomes detrimental in practice, is the cutting
away of the banks, which must take place, because there are
always elevations and depressions in the land that must be
followed to make a contour canal. Following these eleva-
tions and depressions gives short crooks to the canal and
every time the water goes around one ot these crooks throws
the main current to the outside. The force of this current
is constantly cutting away the outside bank which causes
much expense in rip-raping to prevent the bank from wash-
ing completely away. This endangers the safety of canal,
besides making the owners liable for the damage caused by
said break; not only this but the water must be turned out
to repair the break, which generally takes from one to five
days and the loss of water for this time to those who could
use it is again a big loss which on large canals runs into
thousands of dollars. Again, the soil or bank of canal that
has been cutting away and before the break comes must
stop somewhere and will lodge and make a big sandbar, or
against some flume check, that must be taken out with slips,
dredges or by some other means. This entails a cost to stock-
holders year after year. As we at Greedy, Colo., have grown
up with irrigation, we can look back on our mistakes, as everyone
can, and I should recommend to anyone or company taking
out a new canal for the saving in future years of expense,
not to build exactly upon a contour basis ; do a reasonable
amount of cutting and filling to get the canal reasonably
straight, or with long curves to prevent this cutting and
washing.

THE IRRIGATION AGE one year and The Primer of Irri-
gation. $1.50. Subscribe now.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

II I I I I I III I I I I Mil I III I I Illlll HIM

JEFFREY CONVEYORS

Will handle your product rapidly and economically

Also Manufacture

Screens, Elevator Buckets, Water Elevators

CrxisKers, Etc.

SEND FOR.
CATALOGUE

ADDRESS

* IS Jeffrey Mfg. Co.

Columbus, Ohio.

. , NEW YOR.K

"lllllll I III 1 1

DENVER.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I H

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

281

A Farm All Your Own !

THere are at present exceptional opportunities for Kome-
seekers in the Great Southwest and California. V* V>

Low-rale round-trip homeseekers' and one-way settlers'
tickets, fir^t and third Tuesdays each month, over the
Santa Fe to Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Ok-
lahoma and Texas.

Very low round-trip excursion rales to California in July
and August.

Write and tell us where you think of going. We will send you land
literature and infoimation about good (arm lands at low prices.

Values in certain portions of the Southwest sure to advance. Let us
tell you about it. ,

Atchison,
Topeka &
Santa Fe
Railway

Santa Fe

General

Passenger
Office.
Chicago

BURNHAM ARTESIAN
... PUMP...

John G. Hall,

GREELEY, COLO.

Twenty years' experience
farming under Irrigation.
Open for engagement to
superintend new Irrigation
project, foreman on large
Ranch or series of Ranches.

= RELIABLE REFERENCE =

15he Shuart Earth Graders

Style No. 2

These machines rapidly
and cheaply reduce the
most uneven land to per-
fect surface for the appli-
cation of water. Made in
severaldifferentst^les. On
the No. 3 style the blade
can be worked diagonally,
as well as straight across,
thus adapting it to throw-
ing up and distributing
borders, ditches, etc. For
descriptive circulars and
price, address

B. F. SHUAR.T, OBERLIN, O.

We have funrshed a large
number of centrilugal pumps,
b'tth belt driven and direct
connected, lor use in irriga-
tion. Where water is drawn
from wel s our vertical pump
is used with splendid success.

We also build our pumps
direct connected to engines,
which have been found ex-
ceeding'y useful where the lilt
of water does not exceed 20
feet. Our line consists ot the
various tvpes aid sizes from
V/T, in. to 12 in., inclusive.

Our dred^iug or sand
pumps have been found very
successlul in the dredging of
canals ; a large iiumoer of
these outfits having been used
in Colorado.

Erie Pump and Engine Company, Erie, Pa.

Please mention THK IKKIUATION AGE wneu wining to advertisers.

DEEP-WELL ENGINE

THE IMPORTANT FEATURES OF
DEEP-WELL ENGINES ARE:

Cushion on End of Stroke, Economy •:•
of Steam, Freeness from Short-
Stroke, and Quiet Running. X

THE BURNHAM

RETAINS THESE FEATURES

Sizes suitable for a great range of work where a small *t*
area of irrigation is desired, are made. In-
formation given on application.

THESE STAND SUPREME IN AMERICA

UNION STEAM PUMP COMPANY

Battle Creek, Mich., U. S. A.

282

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

M. H. DOWNEV.

E. J. WILCOX.

DOWNEY & WILCOX. Civil Engineers,

Drainage and. Roads a Specialty.

Correspondence Solicited. Room 2. Court House, ANDERSON. IND

CENTS

INTRODUCTORY OFFER

CARBON PAPER

For the purpose of introducing pur CARBON
TISSUE we will, for a limited period, one order
only to the same address, send 15 sheets, size
8x12 inches, for 50 cents.

This paper is made by a new and secret pro-
cess ; in colors purple, blue and black ; will not
smut; perfect printing qualities ; very durable ;
will not dry out.

As good as any carbon paper on the market,
or your money back.

SUPPLY DEPARTMENT OF

• MODERN • M1THOOS • FOB • MODERN • PEOPLC •
THIRD FLOOR, SECURITY BUILDING

188 MADISON STREET CHICAGO

The Truth
about the
Southwest

THE WESTERN TRAIL is the
name of a paper devoted to the devel-
opment of the great Southwest. It
contains letters from residents telling of
actual conditions, how they happened
to settle there and what their experiences
have been. It is printed on good paper
and is beautifully illustrated. Published
every month during the fall, winter and
spring months, and every two months
during the summer. It will interest
you, and may be the means of opening
your eyes to the unequaled opportuni-
ties awaiting you in the great South-
west.

Send twenty-five cents TO-DAY
for one year's subscription. Stamps
will do. Address

.•THE TRAIL,"
Room 425 Rialto Bldg., Chicago.

R. H. McWILLIAMS,

GENERAL
D R.AIN AGE
CONTRACTOR

Special attention paid to reclaiming
swamp lands with steam dredges.
Drainage bonds bought and sold.

OFFICE:

riATTOON.

ILLINOIS.

Grand
Canyon

of Arizona.

Earth's greatest wonder — the titan of
chasms, a mile deep, many miles wide

Pictures of it:

For 25 cents will send
the season's no»elty—

a Grand Canyon photochrorne view, uniquely
mounted to reproduce the Canyon tints. Or,
for same price, a set of four black-and-white
prints, ready tor framing.

Books about it:

For 50 cents will send
Grand Canyon

book, 128 pages, 93 illustrations; cover in col
ors; contains articles by noted authors, trav-
elers and scientists. Worthy a place in any
library. Or will mail free pamphlet, "Titan
of Chasms."

J. M. McCoNNBLL, General Agent,
109 Adams St., Chicago.

Fe

VAN WIE CENTRIFUGAL

the best in the market. Why? Because

Handles More Water Than

Any Other Pump with

Same Fue'.

PROOF. Read following from result of
test made by New Mexico College of Ag-
riculture and Mechanic Arts, Mesilla
Park, New Mexico:

Cost of fuel per acre for irrigation three
inches deep, using dry .TornilTo Wood at
S2.25 per cord.
Name of Pump.
VanWie .................... . ......... $.512

Wood's ............................... 647

Kingsford ............. 597

Byron Jackson ........ 614

Fifth Pump ............ 617

1903 Irriffator.

FOR SALE.

Brick and Tile Factory in Newaygo County, Michigan, consisting of a
forty-acre farm, all Improved No. 1 land, good buildings, in fine country,
one mile from railroad, 6 miles from county seat yard is fitted with Little
Wonder machines. 45 H. P. boiler, 25 H. P. engine; Warner system of open
air sheds, and trucking system; Stewart patent kiln, three sheds each 25x
115 feet. Cannot half supply demand for ware at yard. Have run this sea-
son entirely on tile and are away behind on orders now. Wood can be
bought very reasonable within three to five miles of yard. Reason for sell-
ing, are not brick makers and are going into the mercantile business, have
an opening for 80 days from date, so will quote astonishing low price on out-
fit for cash; we reserve the right to finish season's run. This is a bargain,
and if whoever comes to see it and does not find things better than we rep.
resent, his trip will not cost him one cent, as we mean business. Address

BAKTLETT BROS., Grant, Mich.

R. F. D. No. 1. Newaygo Co.

For catalogue, address

IRVIN VAN WIE,

713-723 West Fayette St.,
SYRACUSE, N Y.

I

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THEIKKIGATIONAGE. 283

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South Dakota

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CHICAGO.

That is the place to go if you have made

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| I up your mind to stop paying rent and

start on the highway to independence.

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| Today is the time to secure farm lands. J J

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Recent extensions of the

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St. Paul Railway

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open the way to new fields, where | $

splendid opportunities for success are

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offered. South Dakota book — 1903 edition

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—sent for 2 cents' postage.
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284

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Built Right

R\m Right

Unsurpassed for Tile, Hollow Ware, Brick .\r\i\ -<\11
Classes of Cla.y products. Write for Particulars
on this or other Clayworkinf" Machinery ? ? 5 ?

The Improved Centennial Aviger Machine

Bucyrus, Ohio
U. S. A.

The American Clay-Working
Machinery Company

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

285

for Brick, Tile and Sewer
Pipe Manufacturers

SEWER PIPE BARROW

TILE TRUCK

HEAVY FURNACE FRONT

These Trucks and Barrows are made of first-class material, and the workmanship is the
best. Special trucks and barrows to suit customers, made to order. Prices quoted on
receipt of specifications.

BAND TIGHTENERS AND DOOR CONNECTORS
CLASS B CLASS C

TUPPER STYLE GRATE
JUULU££MU£^^fJlUU^

CAST IRON KILN COVERS

Sections 6 inches wide.

36, 42, and 48 inches long

STRAIGHT GRATES

Any length. Sections 3 inches to 3% inches wide. Weight average about 1 pound
per inch in length.

VENTILATORS

We also make Kiln Bands complete with sections cut to length and rivet holes punched. Rivets fur-
nished and tighteners riveted on to end sections. Prices quoted for anything in this line upon application.

Address

The Arnold -Creager Co.

NEW LONDON, OHIO

or Cor. 6th and Vine Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio

286

THE IERIGATION AGE.
O«O«C*C»C*CttO«C*C»C* C»O«C»C»O«C*C*O«C*O«CttO«C»C*O«

Say, Mr. Tilemaker,

Does the machine you are now €\
using pug the clay sufficiently £

If not, here is one that will. The best Tile
Machine made, combined with an eight-foot
double*shaft Pug Mill; and it is arranged to
make tile from 2 1/2* in. to 24 'in. It will pay
you to investigate this machine and also Ben*
sing's Automatic Cutting Tables. Write us for
full information and prices

THE J. D. FJtTE CO.

PLYMOUTH, OHIO

8
8
8
8
8

We make a full line of Clay Working Machinery

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

287

The Simplification of
Water Records by
a Right System

Insures

jt

Not Only
Labor-Saving
but also Money-
Saving.

'16" LONG RANGE TELESCOPE.

FOR

Irrigators,
Farmers

and
Ditchers

Catalogue free.

Grade
Level Co.

Jackson. Mich.
No. 1. $27.00
Target and Rod
free with each.
Target and Rod alone $2.00.

Our Grade Levels are the only ones made with
a "Qradn Bar" and with a "Scale" showing the
grade without figuring, and the only one with a
Telescope at so low a price.

No. 1 Improved Level (our latest)— $3*'. Has horiz-
ontal circle divided Into degrees; can run at any angle
without measuring.

EDGAR M. HEAFER
TILE COMPANY

MANUFACTURERS OF

Round Drain Tile

Of Superior Potters' Clay.

ASLO DEALERS IN

SUPERIOR FIRE BRICK AND SEWER PIPE
BLOOniNQTON, ILL.

LANDS IN THE FAMOUS

Valley, of Mississippi,

Along the lines of the Yazoo and Missis-
sippi Valley Railroad, are of the most
wonderful fertility for raising Cotton,
Corn, Cattle and Hogs.

The clay will make the best of TILE and
Brick and manufacturers will find a great
field for TILE in that country, which is
so well adapted for Tile Drainage.

W'i-M i- fox* I »; i I i i | >l i It-t .-i .-ii i< I Al.ii|>~..

EDWARD P. SKENE, Land Commissioner,

Central Station, Park Row, Room 506,
CHICAGO. ILL.

When writing to Advertisers, please mention THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The MARION

STEAM SHOVEL CO.

Wo. 632 W. Center Street, MARION, OHIO.

A COMPLETE LINE OF STEAM SHOVELS, DIPPER

AND CLAMSHELL DREDGES, ETC.

One-ye^rd Ditching Dredge.

constructing Drainage Ditches we have both
drydand and floating Dredges, and we build
them to suit the requirements of your work. We
manufacture our own steel and grey iron castings,
and make our own chain

When in the market write us for information and prices.

(When Writing Advertisers, Please Mention IRRIGATION AGE.)

288 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Great Irrigated
Valleys....

ARKANSAS VALLEY, COLORADO. Altitude 3,400 to 4,600 ft.; beet sugar factories,
thousands of acres of alfalfa, millions of cantaloupes, extensive orchards, flocks of sheep;
largest irrigated section in the U. S. Extensive cattle feeding and dairy interests, population
doubled in five years.

PECOS VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,000 to 4,000 feet. ; 175 miles long; on edge
of great plains' cattle pastures, affording profitable home market for alfalfa and grain; noted
for its large orchards and fine quality of fruits and vegetables; artesian belt with 300
flowing wells.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,700 to 5,300 ft.; 350 miles long;
great sheep raising section; mining in adjacent mountains; adapted to fruit raising and
small farms.

SALT RIVER VALLEY, ARIZONA. Altitude 1,000 ft.; 60 miles long and 20 miles wide;
special industries — early oranges, live stock, vegetables, small fruits, alfalfa, bee culture.

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Altitude 50 to 400 ft.; 250 miles long, 50 miles
wide; wheat raising, live stock, oil wells, alfalfa, raisin and wine grapes, olives, figs, citrus
and deciduous fruits, almonds, walnuts, lumbering and mines in mountains.

ALL FIVE VALLEYS have never-failing water supply, extensive systems of irrigating
ditches and rich soil, insuring profitable crops. Pleasant climate, especially in winter/
Thriving towns, affording good markets. Directly reached by the SANTA FE.

For information about farm lands, manufactures and general business openings,
address

Gen. Pass. Office A. T. 4 S. F. Ry. System,
GREAT NORTHERN BLDG. A CHICAGO.

Santa Fe

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

289

1337

*» vX<-*

. .mr* _<^\_ Jf5^

I

1903

100,000 HEW DEERE SULKIES AND GAHGS

will be plowing on the farms of the United States and Canada

this fall. Will there be any on your farm?

PI

JS !U

are made by skilled workmen, in the largest Plow Shop in
America, of the best plow material the world can produce.
They have been the Standard for sixty-five years. They
give satisfactory service for years after plows of inferior con-
struction have been cast in the scrap pile.
Send six cents for a handsome souvenir and a year's subscrip-
tion to THE FURROW, a beautifully Illustrated farm quarterly.

DEERE & CO., Moline, ills.

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THE IERIGATION AGF

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THE IRRIGATION AGE.

291

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THE IEBIGATION AGE.

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THE IRRIGATION AGE

VOL. XVIII.

CHICAGO, AUGUST, 1903.

No. 10.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING CO.,

112 Dearborn Stre'et,

PUBLISHERS,

Entered at the Postuffice at Chicago, 111., as Second-Class Matter.

D. H. ANDERSON, Editor.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.
To United States Subscribers, Postage Paid,
To Canada and Mexico, ......

$1.00
. 100

CHICAGO draft.

AH Other Foreign Countries .......... 1.50

In forwarding remittances please do not send checks on local banks.
Send either postoffice or express money order or Chicago or New York

A monthly illustrated magazine recognized throughout the world as
the exponent ot Irrigation and its kindred industries. It is the pioneer
journal of its kind in the world, and has no rival in half a continent. It
advocates the mineral development and the industrial growth of the West.

fr» A rUrP>rf-i«lP>r<l It may interest advertisers to know that The Irrigation Age is the only publication
10- in the world having an actual paid in advance circulation among individual
irrigators and large irrigation corporations. It is read regularly by all interested in this subject and has readers in all parts of the world.
The Irrigation Age is 18 years old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world.

Copyright 1903 by D. H. Anderson.

EDITORIAL

Have you noticed how the newspapers in
The "God's country," that is the Atlantic

Campaign of coast, are beginning to talk about irri-
Education. gation? Some of them have actually got

beyond the idea of a tin sprinkling pot
as the sole machinery necessary in the business.

One Fare
for Round
Trip.

Get ready to start for Ogden. One fare
round-trip tickets to the Congress from
all points between Chicago, St. Louis and
the Pacific ocean. President Eoosevelt
said: "I want to see the National Irri-
gation Congress at Ogden a thorough success in the
interest of the Union." Go and make it a success
and you will see something you never dreamed would
come to pass. What that something is you must find
out for yourselves; we should like to tell you in ad-
vance but a solemn promise prevents us. much to
our regret.

We feel regretful, not to say remorseful,
A Source that the artist who provided the beau-
of Regret. tiful views and portraits connected with

the city of Ogden, should have been so
forgetful as to omit the fair members of Ogden's scen-
ery. A few of the numerous beautiful women would

have enlivened the tout ensemble, and made this issue
of the IRRIGATION AGE something to be indeed proud
of. As it is — well, the least said the soonest mended,
and we promise that on another occasion we shall in-
sist upon portraying the rose gardens of Ogden as
well as its alfalfa patches.

The Chicago Record-Herald has adver-
No Reason tised the name of Mr. George H. Max-
Why He well as a candidate for Vice-President.
Shouldn't Be. There is no reason why there should be
objection to this, inasmuch as it is the
right and privilege of every American citizen to run for
anything. The only surprising part of this is that Mr.
Maxwell should content himself with the Vice-Presi-
dency when he might run for President.

There was once a man who shot at the moon and
missed. He blamed his fate, but another man came
along and told him why he missed :

"Friend," said he, "there is nothing the matter
with your aim; that is all right, and you would have
made a center shot if the target had not been out of
your reach."

Owing to the great importance of the
Eleventh National Irrigation Congress
some exceedingly interesting matter has
been unavoidably omitted. The beautiful
half-tones of views in the city of Ogden,
Utah, with the descriptive matter therewith connected,
and the general features of what the Eleventh Con-

Valuable
Matter
Crowded
Out.

294

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

gress has laid out to do will relieve us. from the neces-
sity of making an apology for omissions. The kindness
of our subscribers on all occasions of this nature leads
us to so believe, and, in compensation, we desire to
say that THE IRRIGATION AGE is endeavoring to faith-
fully carry out its promise to be the only true and
disinterested medium for irrigation in the great west
— disinterested in the sense that it is laboring for the
interests of all irrigators without distinction, and with-
out regard to its own advantages.

The citizens of the city of Ogden, and
A Few the people of Utah generally, merit the

Words of highest praise for their energetic action
Praise. with reference to the sessions of the Elev-

enth National Irrigation Congress. They
hare not hesitated to display an open-handed generosity,
liberality, and an expectant hospitality that deserves
more than mere verbal commendation. The people of
Utah see in their state the making of a vast empire of
productiveness, and they are bound to make it come
up to the spirit of their intention to make it so. This
will necessarily create a great city of Odgen, which
already shows more than a beginning in that direction.

Their energy is not limited to themselves, but
spreads out over the entire arid and semi-arid West,
injecting energy into the veins of the pioneers of irri-
gation, and nerving them up by an example which men
regard as the only one to be followed if success is to
be attained.

With her dynamic force affecting the entire West
there is no reason why Utah should not become, in
the near future, the center, the entrepot, the great
mart of the teeming millions bound to come, and
why Ogden should not become the gigantic metropolis
of the empire of which she is almost the parent.

The unanimous, hearty welcome of Utah and Og-
den, spontaneous, let it be said, betokens hearty co-
operation by the delegates in whatever may be offered
for them to consider. THE IRRIGATION AGE believes
that the delegates will be as pleased with Ogden and
with Utah, as the latter will be pleased with the dele-
gates. The coming together of them will be productive
of mutual benefit, and that benefit, we sincerely hope,
will be far reaching, and be the beginning of the dawn
of a bright, glorious day for irrigation. This carries
with it everything else in the way of material prospects.

. On September 15, 16, 17 and 18, at the
Eleventh city of Ogden, Utah, will be held a Con-
National gress of an important part of the peo-
Irrigation pie of the nation of as great a signifi-
Congress. cance and importance as any that has
ever been held since the memorable Con-
gress that sounded the tocsin of American independence.
Its proceedings will relate to an extent of terri-

tory of vaster dimensions than the original thirteen
states, and its deliberations must cover a possible pop-
ulation running into the millions. The brawn and
muscle of the nation, toiling millions seeking homes,
comfort and comparative ease, look to that Congress
to blaze for them an unobstructed path to plenty. Our
cities are crowded with millions of helpless infancy
who, when they shall have reached maturity, will have
no other haven to seek but the vast plains of the West.
There are other millions yet unborn whose future must
be provided for in the vast area which is looming up
as the jewel of the nation, the feeding ground of the
world.

It will not be an easy thing for this National
Irrigation Congress to acquit itself of its task without
the most bitter and determined opposition from in-
terested persons who care as little for the interests
of millions of people as the Tories of the Revolution
cared for American Independence. Its delegates will
be buttonholed, cajoled, threatened, flattered, and even
their bribery attempted for the purpose of seducing
them from their great purpose of protecting the arid
and semi-arid world from the horde of land and water
grabbers who have already set the machinery in mo-
tion to pervert the act of Congress and destroy the in-
tent and purpose of the Government to create an em-
pire for the benefit of the people — the home seekers.

But THE IRRIGATION AGE believes that the petty
triflers with the rights of the people are too small and
insignificant to be regarded as of any more importance
than mere disturbers of the peace, blood suckers on a
vigorous corpse, gnats that do not require sledge ham-
mers to be crushed. It believes that all these small
people, whether they be private individuals or pettj
officials working schemes through private individuals,
will all be brushed off the main question, which is:
"Shall the irrigation of the arid and semi-arid lands
of the West be controlled for the benefit of a few land
and water grabbers, or for the benefit of the people
of the nation?"

It seems ridiculous to think that a few persons
can subvert the designs of the legislative and executive
branches of this great nation, and pervert, as well as
set at naught, the objects for which beneficent laws
are enacted. But so it is. The Government is so great
that it overlooks the gnats penetrating its armor, fails
to see the rats gnawing into its wealth of grain. Its
machinery is too cumbersome to crush its petty offi-
cials who are robbing it of a little oil here and there
and making it creak and run awry, but there are those
interested who will clear away the obstacles to its
beneficent purpose, and do it so effectually that their
memory will be nothing but that of a passing nightmare.

The delegates of the Eleventh National Irrigation
Congress will be men of experience and will work with
a will over the numerous vexing problems that have
confronted every irrigator for years. There are prac-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

295

tical benefits to be achieved, progress to be made, and
in bringing that about, conflicting interests, diverse laws,
vexatious controversies must be smoothed over, settled,
provided against, or put beyond the possibility of doing
harm. It is no small labor to weld conflicting irriga-
tion interests into a homogeneous mass that will work
smoothly. But it must be done, otherwise the work
will be of small avail, of little profit, and the gnats.
the rats, and the petty disturbers of the peace of the
home seekers will continue their underhand, nefarious
work, and render inoperative (except for themselves)
laws that are passed for the benefit of the people at,
large.

The

In one of our articles on the influences

"W t " affecting the national irrigation program,
- , we had occasion to refer to the defeat of

p... the reform irrigation bill presented to

the Legislature of California last winter
by the California Water and Forest Association, and
in this connection disclosed the purpose of a meeting
held at Riverside, Cal., on December 29, to create a
sentiment against the bill. Our words were :

"The Riverside convention was composed almost
wholly of the great water companies of Southern Cali-
fornia, who have the irrigator in their power, and
who, for this reason, do not favor state restrictions to
their influence, or any provisions which might bring
relief to the actual user of water."

Now conies the Riverside (Cal.) Press with an
abortive attempt to show that the bill was defeated
by the will of the great body of water users of Cali-
fornia and not by corporate and greedy influences.
It says :

"We wonder where this man Anderson has been
slumbering for the last six months. As a matter of
fact the Riverside convention was composed almost en-
tirely of irrigators, of actual users of water; and the
water companies that Mr. Anderson inveighs against
are mutual organizations composed of irrigators. They
do not sell water, in the ordinary sense of the term, but
supply it to their stockholders. The idea of their
having 'the irrigators in their power' is entirely absurd.
How could a man oppress himself?

"Somebody ought to kindly wake Mr. Anderson
from his trance, 'and after playing the hose on him
to fully arouse him, give him an opportunity to read
the files of the California papers for last winter. At
present he evidently hasn't even a remote conception
of what he is talking about."

It will be somewhat astonishing if the people of
California permit themselves to be deprived of reform
irrigation legislation by any such statement as that
contained above. It is true that the Riverside meet-
ing was composed largely of representatives of mutual

water companies, but the idea that water companies
who "supply water to their stockholders" can not be
oppressive is as ridiculous as the idea, that California
can reach its full agricultural development without
so defining and establishing water titles that they will
be beyond the reach of periodical attacks in court. It
has been contended that farmers, when effectively unit-
ed, make the most unreasonable of monopolists. The
truth of the contention seems well illustrated by the
attitude of the "mutual" water companies of southern
California. There is no more reason why an incor-
porated body of farmers and wealthy landowners should
be allowed to control more water than they need, or
to blackmail the unprotected irrigator into relinquish-
ing that which is rightfully his, than there is that this
should be done by a company organized wholly for
making profit from the sale of water; if anything, the
former is the more reprehensible.

Our contemporary suggests that we read the files
of the California papers for last winter. Wishing to
be accommodating we have taken down some of them
and find the following, in an editorial comment on
the opposition to the bill in question, in perhaps the
most influential daily newspaper of California and of
the Pacific coast:

"Some idea of the bill can be gathered from the
character of its enemies. These, in a word, consist
of every man in California who has or hopes to ob-
tain the control of any quantity of water, more or
less, of which he may hope to make merchandise.
These are headed by the transcontinental railroads,
whose unavowed but effective agent has been in con-
stant telegraphic correspondence with the opponents of
the bill at Sacramento, whose movements he has as-
sumed to direct, and it is believed that they have all
taken his orders. The open fight has been made in
the name of certain 'co-operative' water companies of
Southern California. These are all moved by the same
considerations which control others in possession of
water. They wish to get all they can and to keep
all they get. If they have grabbed more than they
need they want to sell it. They have made common
cause with the railroad and other water monopolists
and will continue to do so. The alignment for and
against the bill may now be very plainly seen. Those
opposed to the bill are those in possession of the water.
Those for it will be the rest of the people as fast as
they become educated to a knowledge of the situation."

We trust that the great mass of irrigators of Cali-
fornia, and the business men who have at heart the
agricultural welfare of the state, will persist in their
effort to seek out and expose the enemies of irriga-
tion development among their supposed friends. We
understand that the "Works" bill is to be again pre-
sented to the Legislature of California two years hence,
and that in the interval the progressive people of Cali-
fornia are proceeding with their campaign of education.

29G

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

ELEVENTH NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS.

ITS SCOPE AND PURPOSE.

Origin of the "Congress" and What It Has Accomplished,

ITS FUTURE WORK.

Something over twelve years ago, at Salt Lake City,
Utah, there was held a "First National Irrigation Con-
gress," the object of

which was to agi- • — ^-

tate the reclama-
tion of arid lands
through nat i o n a 1
aid. The states and
territories which re-
quired and demand-
ed reclamation of
their useless, unpro-
ductive lands to
convert them into
happy, productive
homes, fit for the
habitations of mil-
lions of people,
were:

Arizona, Califor-
nia, Colorado, Ida-
ho, Kansas Monta-
na, Nebraska. Neva-
da, New Mexico,
North Dakota, Ok-
lahoma, Oregon,
South Dakota, Utah,
W a s h i n gton and
Wyoming. Texas
may very properly
be included for its
western extremity
lies far within the
arid region, altho'
the greater part of
the state is what is
known as "subhu-
mid," a condition
common to North
Dakota, South Da-
k o t a, Nebraska.
Kansas and Okla-
homa.

At the time of
the first session of
the National Irriga-
tion Congress, as
above mentioned,
there were only 66,-
9C5 acres of irrigat-
ed land in the
states classed as
"subhumid," a very
small proportion of
the total surface
acreage of those
states, which

amounts to 392,220,800 acres. At the same period
the total irrigated area in all of the states classed as
"arid," was only 3,5(>4,416 acres, out of 17,199,925

OFFICERS OF ELEVENTH NATIONAL IRRIGATION
CONGRESS.

Hon. W. A. CLARK. Butte. Montana,

President.
Hon. L. BRADFORD PRINCE, Santa Fe, N.

First Vice-President.
E. H. LIBBY. Clarkson, Wash.,
Third Vice-President.

acres of farm or agricultural holdings, or 20.72 per
cent of the total area of the farms which were par-
ti ully irrigated. But, in these eleven states and ter-
ritories, less than one-half of the farms contained irri-
gated areas, the total farm area being 40,278,844 acres,
the percentage of irrigated acres therefore being only
8.85 per cent of the land owned by farmers. The total
area of these eleven arid states being 715,187 200 acres,
it will be perceived that not only the irrigated acre-
age, but the entire amount of farm holdings, when

the National Irri-
gation Congress be-
gan its work, were
very small spots on
the landscape.

The Congress un-
dertook the work of
empire building ;
that is what it
must be credited
with, and it fore-
saw that the time
would soon come
when water for ir-
rigation purposes
would be an im-
perative necessity
or else the coloniza-
tion of the arid
states would cease.
It was a significant
fact, so declared by
Government offi-
cials who made a
detailed examina-
tion of all the irri-
gated localities,
that, as a rule, the
greater part, if not
all, of the easily
available wtor sup-
ply had been util-
ized, which meant,
practically, that
private capital was
inadequate to sup-
ply the deficiency,
although there were
oceans of water to
be had for the
ditching of it, or by
storing it in reser-
voirs. The time
had arrived when
the aid of the Na-
tional Government
was necessary to
solve the difficulty,
and provide means
for reclaiming the
vast territory that
needed only water
to make it blossom
like a rose garden,
and provide homes
for millions. It was impossible for State Legislatures
to accomplish any results beyond the several State
boundaries, and an irrepressible conflict of irrigation

Hon. F. J. KIESEL, Ogd. n. Utah,

Chairman Executive Committee.

ADDI-ON J. McCUNE Colorado,

Second Vice-President.

H. B. MAXSON, Reno. Nevada,
Secretary.

THE IREIGATION AGE.

297

laws prevented any uniform legislation on the subject.
The states were hampered by their constitutional in-
hibitions from raising money for private purposes or
benefits, and, moreover, there were Federal lands ex-
clusively subject to the sovereignty of the National
Government, and over these lands any state law would
be absolutely inoperative without the consent of the
Congress of the United States. Hence the National
Irrigation Congress began its agitation of the great
question of irrigation for the reclamation of the arid
lands belonging to the Government. The United States
had on hand unsold about seven hundred millions of
acres of land of every variety, of which it was estimated
that from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty mil-
lions of acres were susceptible of reclamation by the
application of water.

All this meant ditches, dams, enormous reservoirs.

refused to permit a tree to grow of its own accord.

But the National Irrigation Congress never stopped
boring, mole-like, through this uncongenial, incom-
patible mental soil, until President Eoosevelt came, and
in his message to Congress in December, 1901, he
placed the cause of national irrigation in a position
where it could not be denied. That message marked
a new epoch in the history of Western America. His
words carried conviction to the minds of many of
those who were still fancying that far-off possessions
were the adjuncts of power and national greatness,
and opened their eyes to the enormous possibilities of
the arid and semi-arid lands of the great West, com-
pared with which our so-called "Island Empire" would
make a small garden patch in Montana. Mr. Eoose-
velt had lived in the Great West, he loved it, it had
given him life and robust health; he knew its possi-

- 1

J

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o ' >» -o

T ..'.. .-. . •• .

): - "' ^ . ... ^f

BOARD OF CONTROL, ELEVENTH NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS, OGDEN, UTAH.

artesian wells, and gigantic engineering works beyond
the resources of any amount of private capital. Small
beginnings had been made toward enlisting the Gov-
ernment in this vast enterprise, or rather series of en-
terprises, long prior to the period referred to, but
they came to naught because the time was not yet
ripe, and the occupants of the Presidential chair could
not comprehend the greatness of the undertaking and
the enormous benefits to be reaped from it by the
whole nation. Moreover, there was bitter antagon-
ism at whatever would build up the West, intelli-
gent men still regarding the idea of watering the soil
of the "Great American Desert" as an act of stu-
pendous folly, one prominent Senator who made the
trip through the arid region publicly declaring that
it would be a sin and a crime for the Government to
expend any money to irrigate land where God Almighty

bilities and its greatness, and by a stroke of his pen
he conquered an empire that had been ignored by
those of limited vision, or who saw nothing that was
not gauged by New England spectacles, or seen through
cannon smoke.

Time crept on with stealthy feet; the little green
patches, once microscopical in a vast ocean of desert,
grew and spread until they began to touch one an-
other. What Senator Broadhead declared were the
"pitch burned pastures of Hell" became covered with
nodding grain and began to supply the Orient with
breadstuffs; the spot where Governor Brown of Geor-
gia lay down and wept for the fiery furnace of Shad-
rach, Mesach, and Abednigo to cool off in, hangs
heavy with golden and purple fruit, and the hot siroc-
co-like winds, blowing over moist, green, grassy fields;
are changed to the balmy zephyrs of Spring. The Con-

298

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

gress kept on boring into the granitic intellects of the
powers that cast obstacles in their way, until, on June
17, 1902, President Eoosevelt signed the first national
irrigation law.

Standing upon the same soil in which the first
National Irrigation Congress had planted the seed, wat-
ered it, and husbanded its growth until it produced a
glorious fruit, that is to say, at Ogden, on May 29,
1903, President Roosevelt thus addressed the citizens
of Utah and the whole nation, in the following momen-
tous language :

"Mr. Mayor, Senator Smoot, and you, my fellow citi-
zens, men and women of Ogden, Utah — It is a great pleas-
ure to come before you this afternoon, and if I needed,
which I do not, a vindication of what was done in irrigation,
I would appeal to the experience of the people who. have
made so marvelous a success of irrigation in this beautiful
valley.

"What you have succeeded in doing with sugar beets
alone is sufficient to show the wisdom of trying to de-
velop in every way the irrigated agriculture of the country;
and I was more pleased than I can say to have been able
to render any aid whatsoever in putting upon the national
statute books a law which I consider second in beneficence
to none connected with our internal development since the
homestead law was passed.

IRRIGATION PARAMOUNT QUESTION.

"I am delighted that the National Irrigation Congress
is to be held here next fall, and I congratulate the state of
Utah upon the fact that its legislature was the first ever to
pass an appropriation for such a congress. There can be
nothing of greater importance to the welfare and growth
of our country d_uring the half-century that is opening than
this question of irrigation. It is of vital consequence to the
growth of all of the states of the Rocky Mountains and im-
mediately to either side; and anything that is of such conse-
quence to one portion of our country is necessarily of conse-
quence to all. I can not with top much emphasis say that
every wise and patriotic man will favor anv scheme for
the betterment of a part of the country, whether it is in his
own section or not, because whatever helps a part of us in
the long run helps all.

ALL STAND TOGETHER.

"Fundamentally, we go up or down together. Prosperity
does not stop at state lines, and neither does adversity.
When prosperity comes, while it may come unequally, yet it
comes somewhat to all ; and when adversity comes, while
some will suffer more than others, yet all must suffer
somewhat. The greatest lesson which the American body
politic need to take to heart at the beginning of the twentieth
century is that it is out of the question permanently for our
people to progress save on lines that tell for the progression
of all ; that you can not raise permanently one section by
depressing another, one class by depressing another, and the
man is recreant to the principles of our Government no
less than to the welfare of our people who seeks to arouse
any feeling among Americans against his fellow Americans,
whether he makes his appeal in the fancied interest of a sec-
tion or in the fancied interest of a class. We can go up —
as we shall go up— only by each of us keeping in mind not
merely his own rights, but his duties to his neighbors ;
meaning by neighbor every man living in this broad land.
The safe motto on which to act is the motto : Not of 'some
men down,' but of 'all men;' and therefore I feel that
it was not merely my privilege but my duty to ask the
National Government — the Government representing the peo-
ple of the entire nation — to do all in its power for the fur-
therance of the interest of those states whose success is
largely dependent upon the application of the principles of
irrigation.

MUST HELP YOURSELF.

"And now you know the proverb 'The Lord helps
those who help themselves.' If you throw all the duty of
helping you on the Lord, He will throw it back on you.
Now, it is the same way with your fellow-men. Providence
is not going to do everything for you and the National
Government can not. All that the National Government
can do is to try to give you a fair show to help you
to the chance of doing your work under favorable conditions,
and then the work has pot to be done by you yourselves.

SUCCESS OF THE CONGRESS.

"And as one step toward doing that work, I hope most
earnestly that you and all the other states in interest will
push forward and will in every way endeavor to make the
meeting of the Irrigation Congress here in Ogden a thor-
ough success. And I say that, not merely in the interest of
Ogden, not merely in the interest of the states which are
to be benefited by irrigation, but in the interest of the
Union, I want to see that Congress a success ; I want to see
the work of irrigation made the greatest possible success."

THE FUTURE OF THE CONGRESS.

When the Revolutionary Fathers in Congress as-
sembled, announced to the world the Declaration of
Independence, they did not stop at that and dissolve
and disband; they remained in session and continued
on with the work of building up the nation, and see-
ing to it that the great principles they had adopted!
were properly and effectually carried out and enforced,
and they are still in session; that is why we have a
great nation. Had they stopped their work and left
the nation to the mercy of chance or designing persons,
we should now have been saddled with a king in whose
nostrils freedom would have been a stench, and irri-
gable lands would have been crown preserves to dis-
tribute among favorites.

It follows for similar reasons that the National
Irrigation Congress may not dissolve and disband with
honor to itself. It is the bulwark of a vast empire,
the interests of which demand constant watchfulness
lest they be prejudiced through being absorbed by a
few designing individuals. It is its work, its busi-
ness to see that the provisions of the national irriga-
tion law are properly, honestly, and faithfully carried
out and applied for the purposes intended, and to
the persons intended. It must now inaugurate a sys-
tem of government, establish a protective power and
tribunal, which, by virtue of its organization will see
that the just demands of the people it governs are
heeded, and that its equitable, reasonable decrees are
enforced. It must be prepared to say to this or that
legislator: "You are betraying the interests of the
people you represent and you shall meet with a polit-
ical death." It must warn the state legislator that
his hands must be kept clean of jobs, and it must set
traps for the rats and mice gnawing at the public crib.
It must unify con-
flicting irrigation
laws, see that the
present land laws
of the nation, which
were good enough
to build up the
West, be preserved,
or so amended as to
conform to the na-
t i o n a 1 irrigation
laws. There is a
vast amount of
work for the Con-
gress to do. and it
is all within its
scope and province,
indeed, there is no
other trustworthy
body of men who
can do it.

HOW TO PERPETU-
ATE IT.

.It is certain that GILBERT MCCLURG,

a Simple plan for Gen'l Representatire Executive Committee.

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

299

perpetuating the National Irrigation Congress will be
presented at Ogden, one so simple in fact/that it will be
accepted as not only advisable but necessary to avoid
the evils that will surely follow upon any dissolution of
its organization. More than this, THE IRRIGATION AGE
is not at liberty to state. When the proper time comes,
however, the plan will be so vigorously pressed, and
such substantial reasons given for its adoption, that the
only opponents will be those who have personal reasons
for establishing a scheme of their own, one which will
certainly not be for the best interests of the great army .
of irrigators.

OGDEN CITY, UTAH,

WHERE THE CONGRESS WILL BE HELD.

Ogden City, Utah, where the Eleventh National
Irrigation Congress will be held, is one of the most
beautiful cities between the Mississippi river and the
Pacific ocean. The altitude of the city is 4,301 feet
above the level of the sea. No city in the West is better
located. It is situated on the foot hills of the Wasatch
range, mountains that rise majestically and form a
beautiful background to the city. Ten miles to the west
is the Great Dead Sea of America — Great Salt Lake.
Between this lake and Ogden City is Great Salt Lake
valley with its productive fields of grain, vegetables and
fruits. The entire valley is dotted with trees that have
been planted since the arrival of Brigham Young in
Utah.

It is the great railroad center between Denver and
San Francisco, being the center of the Harriman system
of 30,000 miles of railroad and the end of the Gould sys-
tem. The Union Pacific, the Central Pacific, the Rio
Grande, Western, the Oregon Short Line and the Ogden
and Great Western railroads have their termini there.
A large union depot is used by all the roads. The Cen-
tral Pacific railroad now runs north from Ogden around
Great Salt Lake, but at present the railroad is building
a cut-off across the north arm of Great Salt Lake,
•which will reduce the distance forty-five miles, thirty-five
miles of trestle work being built over the Great Dead
Sea of America, which will be filled in on each side with
•dirt and rock 100 feet wide, with only a bridge in the
center for the water to pass through as well as to
accommodate the boats on Great Salt Lake. Over 2,000
men are today busily engaged in this greatest of modern
engineering feats.

The railroad facilities naturally make Ogden a job-
bing point, and the large wholesale interests of the
intermountain country are located there.

The climate and sanitary features are first-class.
The city is reported to have the finest sewerage system
in the entire West, being a gravity system, and the cli-
mate is such that the reports show that Ogden has less
than ten deaths out of each 1,000 population, and this
rate includes the deaths of those who go to Ogden in
the hope of gaining health, who have been given up by
their physicians in the East and whose last hope was the
invigorating Utah climate.

The city has a splendid electric street car system,
electric lighting plant, as well as gas plants for heating
and illumination.

It is a natural location for beautiful homes, the city
being located at the junction of the Ogden and Weber
rivers which flow between the mountains on each side
•of the city through two great canyons, thus forming air
currents through the mountains directly over the city,

making it cool and healthful during the warm summer
months.

Accompanying this article will be found a few illus-
trations of the many beautiful residences in the city as
well as a few of the substantial business structures. A
glance at the illustrations will show that the buildings
in Ogden City are erected for permanency, thus indicat-
ing the confidence the people of Ogden have in her
future. The city is growing, not with boom methods,
but in a substantial and permanent manner. The 1900
census gives the city a population of 16,350. Since then
there has been a growth of over 3,000 population per
year, and it is now estimated the city has a population
of over 25,000 people. The completion of the cut-off
across Great Salt Lake, which is a most important fac-
tor in locating the termini of all the railroads at Ogden,
alone, is a guarantee of the continued growth of the city.
The Central Pacific Railroad Company has had for sev-
eral years past their shops in operation here. At the
present time, however, the joint Harriman systems are
constructing shops of gigantic proportions, which will
be the greatest combination of railroad shops west of
Omaha, and will employ all told, over 1,000 men.

Ogden City has an electric power plant, said to have
possibilities second only to the great electric power plant
at Niagara Falls. The street car system of Salt Lake is
furnished with power from Ogden's power plant. Salt
Lake City is also lighted by the electric current from the
Ogden plant sent over wires forty miles away. This
great power plant, which has not yet furnished one-half
the power the owners of the plant contemplate develop-
ing, indicates what prospects there are in store for the
city in the shape of manufacturing enterprises on
account of the cheap electric power.

Already Ogden City has a few manufacturing
plants established. The Ogden Beet Sugar Company
plant, costing over $500,000, slicing 400 tons of sugar
beets daily ; the Ogden Broom Factory, employing forty
people; the Ogden Box Factory, turning out 500,000
boxes annually; large vinegar and pickling works; two
steam laundries; a large woolen mill; four creameries;
three kniting factories; four flour mills; a pressed brick
m a n u f acturing
plant ; a sewer pipe
and tile works ;
eleven canning fac-
tories and two foun-
dries and machine
shops, all located in
the immediate vi-
cinity of the city.
Such manufactur-
ing establishments
as will require coal
and coke can easily
b e accommodated
with coal only forty
miles from the city,
and with coke of
the very finest class
within 200 miles of
the city.

Great deposits
of iron have been
discovered just west

of Great Salt Lake WILLIS T. BEARDSLEY.

within a few miles

. ,, f-< L ^ F;rst Assistant Secretary Eleventh Nations!

Of the new Central irrigation Congress and Secretary

Pacific Cllt-off. This Board of Contro'.

300

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

iron ore runs from forty to fifty per cent metallic iron,
and parties have now under consideration the erection
of a blast furnace for the manufacture of pig iron in
Ogden City, which will only be the beginning of numer-
ous other manufacturing plants. The Wasatch moun-
tains which run north and south of Ogden City are dotted
with mining camps. Park City, one of the greatest
silver producers of the world, is only forty miles across
the mountains from Ogden. Other mining camps lo-
cated nearer and farther away are all connected by rail-
roads which, to a great extent, make Ogden City their
base of supplies.

A word as to the numerous canning factories will
not be out of place. The vicinity of Ogden has more
canning factories than the whole interinonntain country
combined. The famous Utah tomato, which is canned
in Ogden and shipped all over the globe, finds its home
in the county of which Ogden City is the capital. Vege-
tables of all kinds, peas, beans, etc., together with the
various kinds of
fruit, are all canned
by these numerous
canning factories, all
of which make the
farmer prosperous
because he is guaran-
teed a cash price for
his product and his
entire output is con-
tracted for before he
puts the seed in 'the
ground.

In the arid states
water is the great
need of the hour. No
city in the West is so
abundantly blessed
with water as is
Ogden City and the
immediate vicinity.
Two rivers, the Og-
den and the Weber,
coming from the
snow capped moun-
tains of the Wa-
satch range and me-
andering through
giant canyons, meet
at Ogden City, af-
fording water suffi-
cient for a half million people.

In Ogden canyon five miles from the center of
Ogden City is one of the pleasantest summer resorts on
the continent. The summer days do not get very warm
at Ogden City, but, owing to the nearness of this cool
summer resort, thousands of people avail themselves of
the refreshing and exhilarating climate in Ogden
canyon.

Ogden City is blessed with educational institutions.
In addition to what is said to be the best public school
system in the West, the Catholic church has a school for
girls and one for boys. The Mormon church has a
theological seminary, and there is also located at Ogden
City the Intel-mountain business college, also the Ogden
high school, which latter institution is recognized by all
the best colleges of the East as one of the best prepara-
tory institutions in the country; all together forming
educational advantages which can only be excelled in
the Rocky Mountain country by Denver City. The

24.

Carnegie Free Library has just been completed, costing
$30,000.

In addition to the five Mormon churches and
Tabernacle, the Presbyterians have two churches, and
the Methodist, Catholic, Congregational, Baptist, Episco-
pal, Lutheran and Christian Science, each have one
church. Practically all of the secret societies are repre-
sented in Ogden City, including the degrees for ladies.
Financially the city is strong. It has three national
banks, one state and two savings banks. In addition to
the beautiful school and church structures, there are
also located in Ogden the State School for the Deaf,
Dumb and Blind and the State Industrial School.

The foregoing gives a brief idea of what Ogden
City is. There are many other advantages, too numer-
ous, in fact, to enumerate in so short an article as the
present one.

It can plainly be seen that the last Irrigation Con-
gress made no mistake in selecting Ogden City as the

place for the Elev-
enth National Irriga-
tion Congress to hold
forth. This beauti-
ful city of enterpris-
ing citizens has se-
cured from the state
of Utah $6,000, and
will raise $9 000
more, making a total
of $15,000, all of
which is to be used
toward defraying the
expenses of the Con-
gress and in enter-
taining the delegates.
When the Eleventh
Irrigation Congress
shall have adjourned,
there is no doubt
whatever but that the
delegates will, with
one acclaim, declare
that Ogden City
makes an estimable
host and that her
people are most gen-
erous entertainers.
Among the fea-
tures of entertain-
ment which will be

tendered the delegates of the Congress by the people of
Ogdon, free of charge, will be an excursion to the
northern part of the state, passing through the great
Bear River canyon and inspecting one of the greatest
irrigation systems of the West; then on toward Logan,
where is situated the government experimental station.
Also a moonlight trip over the great trestle now being
erected on Great Salt Lake. A scene of the moon rising
or setting over Great Salt Lake is said to be one of the
beauty wonders of the world. A trip np Ogden canyon
(said to be only second to the grand canyons of the
Yellowstone and Colorado) which lies at the threshold
of Ogden City. A trip to the Ogden Sugar Factory
where the delegates will witness the 'slicing of 400 tons
of beets and see them converted into sugar 'while they
wait, will be one of the interesting sights of the session.
A bathing trip to Great Salt Lake as well as a visit to
the great Mormon tabernacle and temple in Salt Lake
City will form a part of the. hospitality that will be ten-

STREET SCENES, OGDEN. UTAH.
. Washington Avenue, Looking North.
Twenty-Fourth Street, Looking West.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

301

dered by the people of Ogden and Utah, which alone
presents sights well worth traveling across the continent
to see.

THE PRIMER OF IRRIGATION.

BY D. H. ANDERSON.

COPYRIGHTED, 1903, BY D. H. ANDERSON.

CHAPTER V.

RELATIONS OF WATER TO THE SOIL.

When a small portion of soil is thoroughly dried
and then spread out on a sheet of paper in the open air
it will gradually drink in watery vapor from the atmos-
phere and thus increase its weight to a perceptible de-
gree. In hot climates and during dry seasons this prop-
erty of absorption in the soil is of great importance re-

ing quantity of water when the weight of it on an acre
of ground is calculated. The weight of dry and wet
soils has already been given, and the difference between
the two will, of course, show the quantity in weight of
the moisture or water absorbed. The average weight
of dry soils is about 94 pounds, the average ordinary
wet weight is 126 pounds, the difference, being 32
pounds, represents the average weight of water per cubic
foot. Now, multiplying 43,560 square feet in the acre
by 32, gives 1,393,920 pounds to the acre one foot deep,
and dividing by 12 to ascertain the weight of one inch,
we have 116,160 pounds, or about 58 tons of water
falling on an acre of ground in the shape of dew in a
single night. Of course that quantity represents the
highest possible absorptive quality in a heavily charged
vegetable soil. Other soils would receive a less quantity
as will be readily understood, but there is enough to

2'. The Idan-ha.
28. The Brown.

THE HOTELS IN OGDEN, UTAH.
27. The Reed.

28. The Healy.

29. The European.

storing, as it does, to the thirsty ground, and bringing
within reach of plants, a part of the moisture they
have so copiously exhaled during the day. Different
soils possess this property in unequal degrees. During a
night of twelve hours, for it is at night that watery vapor
is deposited on the ground (evaporation from the soil
occurring during the day), 1,000 pounds of perfectly
dry soil will absorb the following quantities of moisture
in pounds.

Quartz sand 0

Calcareous sand 2

Loamy soil 21

Clay loams 25

Pure clay 27

Peaty soils and those rich in vegetable matters will
absorb a much larger quantity from the atmosphere,
sometimes becoming "wet" two inches deep, a snrpris-

be equivalent to quite a smart shower and worth en-
couraging.

In what are known as "dry" climates there is
always some moisture in the atmosphere which is de-
posited upon the soil, for wherever there are oxygen
and hydrogen there must be moisture. But the quan-
tities vary in climates as much as they do in soils.
Where there is evaporation from the soil moisture dur-
ing the day there is also a re-absorption of moisture by
the soil at night and, with this fact in mind, it may be
laid down as an axiom: The tendency of water is to
evaporate from the soil into the atmosphere during the
day and to fall back upon the soil during the night. To
reduce the idea to an axiom : A dry soil has an affinity
for a moist atmosphere, and a dry atmosphere loves a
moist soil.

SATURATION AND POWER TO RETAIN MOISTURE.

The rain falls and is_drunk in by the thirsty soil;

302

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

the dew descends and is absorbed, and the waters of
irrigation poured upon the ground quickly disappear.
But after much water falls upon the earth the latter be-
comes saturated, can hold no more, and the surplus
runs off the surface or sinks down through until it
reaches the water table. This happens more speedily
in some soils than in others. Thus, 100 pounds of dry
•soils, as here specified, will hold the quantity of water
set opposite their respective names without dripping or
running off.

Quartz sand 25 pounds

Calcareous sand 29 pounds

Loamy soil 40 pounds

Clay loam 50 pounds

Pure clay 70 pounds

But dry. peaty soils and adobe will absorb a much

evaporation of ammonia under pressure. Ether, chloro-
form, alcohol, and numerous other substances, produce
a sensation of cold when Tubbed on the skin, which is
not due to anything in those substances, but wholly to
their rapid evaporation or volatility. The presence of a
saturation of water in the soil, however, excludes the
air in a great degree and thus is injurious to plants,
whose roots must have air as well as moisture, hence
the necesity for drainage where there is a liability to
saturation.

Unless rain or dew is falling or the air is saturated
with moisture, watery vapor is constantly arising from
the surface of the earth. The fields, after the heaviest
rains and floods gradually become dry, and this takes
place more rapidly in some fields or parts of fields than
in others, in fact, wet and dry patches of ground may be

PUBLIC BUILDINGS, OGDEN. UTAH.

18. Sacred Heart Academy.

16. State School of Deaf, Dumb and Blind.

larger proportion before becoming saturated to the drip-
ping point; sometimes such soils will absorb their own
weight of water. Arable soils generally will hold from
forty to seventy per cent of their weight of water.

This power of retaining water renders such a soil
valuable in dry climates. But the more water the soil
contains in its pores the greater the evaporation and
the colder it is likely to be. Indeed, evaporation is a
source of cold, sometimes to so great a degree that ice
will be formed. In very hot regions in India where
ice is inacessible it is customary to place small, shallow
saucers filled with water on the ground after nightfall,
and they are gathered in the morning before sunrise,
the water being converted into ice by the rapid evapora-
tion from the soil during the night. Our modern ice
machines owe their efficacy for making ice to the rapid

15. Industrial Building of State School, for
U. City Hall. .Deaf, Dumb and Blind.

17. State Industrial School.

seen on the same field, indicating a heavy or light soil.
Generally speaking, those soils capable of containing
the largest portion of the rain that falls also retains it
with greater obstinacy and require a longer time to
dry. The same thing happens when the land is irri-
gated. Thus, sand will become as dry in one hour as
pure clay in three, or peat in four hours.

There is one fact every irrigator should constantly
bear in mind and that is: Water saturation of the soil
is never necessary to plant life; it is, in fact, positively
injurious except in the case of acquatic plants. A long
time ago men, seeing rice growing luxuriantly in
swamps, imagined that plant would not grow anywhere
else, and, accordingly, rice culture meant a swamp. But
it was discovered that rice would grow better and pro-
duce a larger and richer crop in arable soil generally,

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

80S

and now it is cultivated with astonishing success the
same as wheat, barley, or any other cereal.

Nature, through heavy rains and other water
sources, converts the soil into a storage reservoir by
establishing a water table beneath the surface from
which the water vaporizing up constantly moistens the
growing stratum of the soil, decomposes and dissolves
the salts which are necessary to plant life, and is itself
decomposed by the principle of life in the plant and
its elements, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, utilized
in the interior of the plant itself. Where there is no
natural supply of water for this storage purpose irriga-
tion must copy nature and provide one, or at least
furnish an adequate supply of moisture for solvent pur-
poses. When that has been done everything has been
done that should be done.

cuit. Whru the sap reaches the leaves it parts with a
portion of its water, and in some plants the quantity is
very considerable. An experiment with a sunflower,
three and one-half feet high, disclosed the fact that its
leaves lost during twelve hours of one day, 30, and of
another, 20 ounces of water, while during a warm night,,
without dew, it lost only three ounces, and, on a dewy
night, lost none.

All this evaporation or exhalation of water from
the leaves of plants is supplied by the moisture in the
soil, for plants generally do not drink in water through
their leaves but through their roots, and when the
escape of water from the leaves is more rapid than the
supply from the roots the leaves droop, dry and wither,
because then they are drawing from their sap, living,
so to speak, upon their own blood. This evaporation

1. Catholic.

4. Church of the Good Shepherd.

6. Presbyterian.

A familiar illustration of the action of moisture
may be witnessed in the slaking of lime in the open air
without the direct application of water. The same
transformation takes place in the case of all the other
soluble mineral salts when in the presence of moisture.
This transformation effected, the plant thrives, and, to
give it an excess of dissolving liquid is to float off the
material needed by the plant and thus deprive it of. its
nourishment. It is like feeding an infant on thin,
weak soup instead of nourishing bouillon and expecting
it to thrive.

EVAPORATION FROM PLANTS.

The tendency of plants is to exhale or perspire
moisture as well as the soil. The flow of the sap is con-
stant from the roots to the leaves to receive oxygen and
carbonic acid and back again to the roots; like the
circulation of the blood in animals it travels in a cir-

SOME CHURCHES OF OGDEN, UTAH.
2. Congregational.

3. Mormon Tabernacle.
5. M. E. Church.
7. Baptist.

in the plant is similar to the perspiration constantly
exuding from the skins of healthy animals and it has
added to it the mechanical evaporation which takes
place on the surface of all moist bodies when exposed to
hot or dry air. There can be no growth or health
without it, hence, it is often beneficial to wash or spray
the leaves of plants and trees to remove the dust or
other clogging material that has accumulated upon the
leaves and "stopped perspiration." To stop this leaf
evaporation is to kill the plant as surely as was killed
the boy in the Roman pageant. His entire body was
gilded with gold leaf, the intention being to have him
pose as a golden statue. His entire body was covered
with gum on which was laid the gold leaf. He died in
a few hours and it was not until the cause of his sudden
death was investigated by scientific men that it was
discovered that the closing of the pores of the skin,

304

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

thereby preventing evaporation from its surface, was
the cause. On dry, dusty soils, where there is none, or
very little rainfall, the accumulation of dew during the
night is generally sufficient to "trickle" along the leaves
and carry down the dust and other accumulations on
the leaves which interfere with evaporation. Some-
times the plant, as if aware that there is a stoppage
in its circulation, will throw out fresh, new leaves to
cure the defect, but this is done at the expense of the
root, tuber, or fruit.

The amount of loss due to natural and mechanical
evaporation from plants, of course, differs very greatly
in the various species of plants depending, in a great
measure, on the special structure of the leaf, whether
fine or coarse meshed, large or small, lean or fleshy,
the natural perspiration, however, always exceeding the
mechanical. Both processes, moreover, are more rapid

31,000 pounds. During ninety-two twelve-hour days,
the life of the maple leaf, the evaporation would amount
to 2,852,000 pounds. During that period the rainfall
was 8.333 inches or 43.8 pounds to every square foot
of surface, equal, per acre of 43,560 square feet, to
1,890,504 pounds. The evaporation from the leaves
of the trees, therefore, exceeded that of the actual fall
of rain by nearly one million pounds. Whence did the
surplus come? Evidently from the water stored in
the water table and drawn up by the action of the roots
of the trees. Where there is no water table or ground
water and the soil is dry "all the way down," it is
necessary to create one by irrigation and this is not so
difficult as might be imagined, for we must consider
that in the case of maple trees the roots may reach
down into the subsoil for fifty feet, and in the case of
ordinary fruits, vegetables, and cereals, a water table

SOME BUSINESS BLOCKS, OGDEN. UTAH.

35. First National Bank Building.
38. Eccles Building.

37. Union Depot.

38. John Scowcroft & Sons Co.

39. Z. C. M. I.

under the influence of a warm, dry atmosphere aided
by the direct rays of the sun.

As showing the quantity of evaporation an experi-
ment was tried with an acre of maple trees containing
640 trees. The calculation is not positively exact, but
it is worth accepting as a basis for other experiments
on crops of all kinds and may come somewhere near
enabling the irrigator to determine the quantity of
water to be applied to the soil, whether there is a water
table within the reach of the surface or none at all.

The evaporation was assumed to take place only
during a day of twelve hours and each of the 640 trees
were estimated as carrying 21,192 leaves. From an esti-
mate based on the quantity of evaporation from one tree
containing the number of leaves above specified, which
were carefully counted, the 640 trees evaporated from
their leaves in twelve hours 3,875 gallons of water, or

at that depth would be wholly unnecessary even if gen-
erally impracticable. Soil saturation at any depth
beyond four feet with unlimited surface cultivation is
sufficient, although in the case of vines and trees it
should be much deeper.

The above experiment with the maple trees al-
though, perhaps, of no practical value on account of
its uncertainty, being more or less guess, demonstrates
two things, when there is also taken into consideration
the quantity of sap in plants and the amount of salts
held in solution in it.

First — How easily a soil may be exhausted by cut-
ting and removing plants and crops therefrom.

Second — As a direct corollary, through its diametric
opposite, it shows how easily alkaline salts may be re-
moved from the soil by cutting and removing the plants
and crops. These alkali-consuming plants hold large

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

305

quantities of the earth salts in their sap in solution, the
carbonates, sulphates, the sodas, and potash, literally
taken up out of the soil. Of course, when removed a
certain amount of alkali is removed with them. This
has been the experience with the "salt meadows" in
Germany and Holland, and in the United States, as has
been already noted, and, in a small way, with the alkali
lands of the West where the experiment has been made.

CAPILLARY POWER OF SOIL.

When water is poured into the saucer or sole of a
flower-pot filled with earth the soil gradually sucks it up
and becomes moist even to the surface. This is what
is known as "capillary action," and exists in all porous
bodies to a greater or less extent. A sponge is a well-
known instance of this power, and if the small end of a
piece of hard chalk be held in water the entire mass
soon becomes saturated. The experiment with the

This suspension of capillary action in winter, or
cold weather, furnishes a strong point in favor of winter
irrigation, which really takes the place of the autumn
and spring rains, and of the snow that slowly melts
and its waters carried down into the soil to the water
table ready to begin an upward movement when the
weather becomes warm and the surface soil dry.

The dryer the soil and the hotter the atmosphere,
the more rapid is the rising of the water to the surface
by capillary attraction, and, as the water ascends, it car-
ries along with it the saline matters dissolved by it and,
reaching the surface, evaporates, leaving the salts it
carried behind. It is this capillary action which has in-
crusted our own lands with alkalis of all kinds; it is the
same in India, Egypt, South Africa, and elsewhere.
On the arid plains of Peru, and on extensive tracts in
South Africa, alkali deposits, several feet in thickness,

SOME BUILDINGS IN OGDEN, UTAH.

18. Carnegie Library.

20. Daily Standard Building.

22. Ogden Sugar Factory.

19. W. H. Wright & Son Co. Dry Goods House.
21. Weber County Court House.

flower-pot, however, represents the action in the soil,
the water from beneath — that contained in the sub-soil
— is gradually sucked up to the surface. It is one of
the operations of the laws of nature which maintains
all things in constant motion to preserve their life and
vitality, for, if permitted to remain at rest without
motion, they sicken and die, afterward putrefying as
happens even with water which becomes stagnant, that
is, ceases to be in motion.

In climates where there is winter, or even a moder-
ate degree of cold weather, this capillary action ceases
and the tendency of the water is to "soak" downward,
and it is not until warm weather that capillary action
begins and the water commences "soaking" upward
toward the surface. In a warm, or hot climate, this
action is constant and it also takes place whenever the
soil is parched or dry.

are sometimes met with, all of which are caused by the
capillary action of water bringing up to the surface
the salts in the subsoil. So it is that the enormous beds
of nitrate of soda in Peru and those of the carbonate of
soda in Colombia were created; and in our own black
and white alkali and sodium bad lands capillary action
may be blamed for their condition. It must not be for-
gotten that wherever there is seepage there is also cap-
illary action, for that power is exercised in every direc-
tion. It does not matter which end of the sponge or
piece of chalk is held to the water, both become sat-
urated. It may be said that capillary action is a viola-
tion of the law of gravity, or, rather, is a law of itself
acting independently.

This tendency of water to ascend to the surface of
the earth is not the same in all soils. It is less rapid
in stiff clays and more rapid in sandy and open, porous

306

THE IK RIG ATI ON AGE.

soils generally, and it is of especial importance in rela-
tion to the position of the water table in the soil when
considered as a source of water supply or shallow root-
ing plants. Gravity draws the water downward toward
a water table, and in a dry subsoil it is capillary attrac-
tion that impels it down. But when the water in the
surface soil is less than that below an upward movement
begins as though nature were desirous of maintaining
an equilibrium which, scientifically speaking, it always
does, or attempts to do. However, there is a zone of
capillary action, a
space between the
water table and the '
surface, in which
moisture rises and
with it carries food
substances to the
roots of plants.
Where the water
itself rises it means
more than capil-
lary attraction, . it
means a rise of the
water table through
addi tionsfrom
some new water
supply or satura-
tion of the soil, in
which case plants
are injured vitally
and drainage must
come to the rescue.
It is the rise of the
water table that i?
to be feared in irri-
gation. The rea-
son is because 1he
rise of alkaline so-
lutions is greater
than in the case of
pure water. Thus,
a fifty per cent so-
lution of sodium
chloride (common
salt) and sodium
sulphate will rise
faster than pure
water, and a much
stronger concentra-
tion of soda car-
bonate will rise still
faster. Hence the
necessity of pre-
venting soil satura-
tion and the main-
taining of a zone of
capillary action, in
which the roots of
plants may be fed
by material furnished through that action when they
would be killed if saturation were permitted to over-
come it.

A few practical ideas may be gathered from the
foregoing which are worth considering:

First — It is evident that deep plowing will enable
the rainfall or the irrigation water to penetrate deeper
into the soil, in which case it will remain longer and the
effects of a small quantity of rain may extend over a

SOME PUBLIC SCHOOLS, OGDEN, UTAH.

40. Five Points.

41. Grant.

period long enough to mature a crop where half as
much iigain would show nothing.

Second — To be effective and beneficial to vegeta-
tion the water in the subsoil must be in constant motion.
When water ceases to flow in the subsoil streams, or
when capillary action is entirely suspended, the water
becomes stagnant, ceases to imbibe oxygen, nitrogen and
carbonic acid, and practically rots, causing vegetation
within its influence also to decay. .Running water com-
ing from the clouds or irrigating ditch enters the soil

charged with gase-
ous matters above
specified, mixed in
their proper propor-
tions, and carries
along with it various
dissolved inorganic
.^ubstunces which
are not permitted
to be deposited out
of it while it is in
motion Hence, to
derive tire 1'nll bene-
fit of the water, the
land must bd
drained py^n where
irrigation is prac-
ticed so that the
surplus water, after
irrigation is stop-
ped, may find a
ready outlet. If
there should be no
t-urphi-s no harm is
dore by drainage
faclities; on the
contrary, the ten- •
dency of all drain-
age is to <''pen the
soil below and
"draw" the mois-
ture, from above as
well ac to carry oil
the surplus water
in n soaked subsoil
if there be one.
Drainage does not
carry off moisture,
but unly the sur-
plus water; capil-
lary- attraction will
always hold the
moisture.

Third — When-
ever sufficient water
is added to the soil
to compensate for
loss by evaporation
from soil and plant
the business of the irrigator is accomplished. To
keep on adding, to soak the soil continually, would be to
injure vegetation as much as by furnishing too little
water, as it is only by keeping the surface soil loose and
finely pulverized — the deeper the better — that evapora-
tion from the soil may be retarded.

As to the quality of the water the more impure it
is, particularly in organic matter, the better it is for
vegetation. There is no more impure water in the world

42. Central.

43. Madison.

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

307

than that of the river Nile, yet it gives fertility and pro-
duces luxuriant vegetation where there would be barren-
ness and sterility were it pure. The exception in the
case of .'.rrigating alkali lands would be water heavily
charged with alkali salts, this kind of water being one
of the causes of deleterious alkali deposits.

THE SOIL AND THE ATMOSPHERE.

The oxygen of the atmosphere is essential to the
germination of the seed and to the growth of the plant.
The whole plant must have air, the roots as well as
the leaves, therefore it is of consequence that this oxy-
gen should have access to every part of the soil and
thus to all the roots. This can only be effected by
working the land and rendering it sufficiently porous.

Some soils absorb oxygen faster and in greater
quantities than others. Clays absorb more than sandy

and the descent of dew, or the application of irriga-
tion water, favors this absorption in dry seasons and
in dry climates; it will also be greatest in those soils
which have the power of most readily extracting wa-
tery vapor from the air during the absence of the sun.
It must be clear from this that the influence of dews
and gentle showers reaches much farther than the
surface of the soil, watery vapor following the atmos-
phere down deep into the soil, penetrating as deep as
the porous nature of the soil will permit it. Some say
that, under proper conditions as to cultivation, the
soil will gain in dew at night nearly as much as it
loses by evaporation during the day. It appears rea-
sonable enough to suppose that the atmosphere, under
a pressure of fifteen pounds to the square inch, will
penetrate to any depth and carry with it whatever of
moisture and gases it contains.

30. Ex-Mayor Peery.
33. Ex-Mayor Kiesel.

HOMES OF OGDEN MAYORS.
31. Ex-Mayor Eccles.

82. Present Mayor Wm. Glasmann.
34. Ex-Mayor Browning.

soils, and vegetable molds or peats more than clay.
It depends, however, upon their condition as to por-
osity, and also upon their chemical constitution. If the
clay contains iron or manganese in the state of oxides
these latter Will naturally absorb oxygen in large quan-
tities for the purpose of combining with it, having
a great affinity therefor, while a soil containing much
decaying vegetable matter will also drink in large quan-
tities of oxygen to aid the natural decomposition con-
stantly going on.

In addition to absorbing oxygen and nitrogen, of
which the air principally consists, the soil also absorbs
carbonic acid and portions of other vapors floating in
it whether ammonia or nitric acid. This absorption of
atmospheric elements and gases of every kind occurs
most easily and in greater abundance when the soil
is in a moist state. Hence it is that the fall of rains

THE SOIL AND THE SUN.

In addition to the chemical effect of sunlight upon
plants the rays of the sun beating down upon the earth
impart to the soil a degree of heat much higher than
that of the surrounding atmosphere. Sometimes this
soil heat rises from 110 degrees to 150 and more, while
the air in the shade is between 70 and 80 degrees, a
quantity of heat most favorable to rapid growth. The
relations between the heat of the sun and the color of
the soil is of little importance where sunlight abounds,
although in some locations it is of considerable import-
ance. This has already been alluded to and all that
need be said here is that the dark-colored soils, the
black and the brownish reds, absorb the heat of the
sun more rapidly "than the light-colored, for which rea-
son, as to warmth, the dark soils more rapidly pro-
mote vegetation than the others.

308

THE IKEIGATION AGE.

As to the power of retaining heat it is interest-
ing to note that sandy soils cool more slowly than clay,
and clay more slowly than peaty soils, or those rich
in vegetable matter. Vegetable mold will cool as much
in one hour as a clay in two, or a sandy soil in three
hours. That is, after the sun sets the sandy soil will
be three hours in cooling; the clay two, and the soil
rich in vegetable matter, one hour. It is also inter-
esting to note that on those soils which cool the soon-
est dew will first begin to be deposited.

Man possesses very little power over the relations
between the soil and heat other than growing plants
whose abundance of leaves and luxuriant growth will
shade the ground, prevent, or retard evaporation,
and enable the soil to maintain a uniform heat, or
mixing sand with less heat-retaining soils. These mat-
ters are of more importance in kitchen garden culture

OUR AIM.

We are striving to reach the seventy and more thou-
sands of irrigators in the great west, believing that
they will appreciate our efforts and give THE IRRIGA-
TION AGE such support as it is entitled to claim. We
have always said, and we repeat, that we are honestly
laboring for the homeseekers in the arid and semi-
arid regions of this country, and have no object in
view other than their welfare. Moreover, we purpose
to make this paper one for the family — one that will
be always acceptable. It will be the organ of all irri-
gators, and if any one has anything on his mind that
will be for the benefit of himself or of his neighbors^
let him write us. and the mere subscription price will

8. William Driver.
11. John Browning.

SOME RESIDENCES OF OGDEN, UTAH.
H. Judge L. W. Shurtliff.

10. A. T. Wright.
12. Joseph Scowcroft.

than in the fields; but there are deep valleys among
the mountains where the sun rises about 9 a. m. and
sets about 3 p. m., and in these, there being so little
scope for the sun's rays and the soil being cool for a
much longer period than it is warmed by the sun, the
power of retaining heat would render one soil more
valuable and favorable to plant growth than a soil
less retentive.

The following trlegram will explain itself:

Utah, Aug. .?-<»:i. Irrigation Age. Chicago.
Senator dark gives live hundred dollar loving cup best
fruit display, and Pabst Milwaukee cup like value best
barley at arid states fruit exhibit of Irrigation Congress,
gold medals and cash prizes also all exhibits grown un-
der Irrigation arid states and territories.

"Xafl Irrigation Congress Headquarters."

be nothing to the services we shall at all times be
ready and willing to render him.

Our October issue will be one of monster propor-
tions and well worth preserving, as it ^will contain,
among other valuable matter, a full report of the pro-
ceedings of the Eleventh National Irrigation Congress,
the importance of which can not be over estimated.
Subscriptions should be sent in without delay to in-
sure possessing a copy for which there will be so great
a demand that the supply will soon be exhausted.

THE IRRIGATION AGE for 1 year and The Primer
of Irrigation, a 300-page handsomely bound book for
$1.50. Send in subscription now.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

30'J

THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS.

'OFFICIAL CALL ELEVENTH NA HO.VAL IRRIGATION CCK-
GRESS.

The Eleventh' National Irrigation Congress will
be held at OgSen, Utah, September 15 to 18, inclusive,
1903:

A convention, of vital concern to the American
nation; to those who would make two blades of grass
grow where one grew before; to all who realize that
water is the Midas touch which turns the desert sands
to gold; a convention of specific significance to the
states and territories whose arid lands are to be re-
claimed by the Federal Government 'under the pro-
visions of the National Irrigation Act, namely, Arizona,
California, Colorado. Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebras-
ka, North Dakota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma,
Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyom-
ing-
Government and leading irrigation experts, prac-
tical farmers, irrigationists, fruit growers, representa-
tives from state agricultural institutions, state engineers,
Government and noted foresters, as well as press rep-
resentatives, business men, officials and law makers,
will be in attendance and participate in the discussion.
The program will include :

Practical Irrigation and Forestry Lessons.
Reports of Experts.

Application of Provisions of the Reclamation Act.
State Progress under the National Act.
Views on Settlement of Legal Complications.
And the Pertinent and Important Theme of Colo-
nization.

Utah being the pioneer state in irrigation science
proffers special opportunities for the study of -its his-
tory and progress. Railroad and other excursions cov-
ering this field will be arranged for delegates by local
committees.

For the first time in the history of the irrigation
congresses, the eleventh convention has been liberally
fostered by state appropriation — which sum has been
doubled by private subscription from officers of the
Congress and the citizens of Ogden and Utah — so that
a large fund guarantees the successful conduct of the
program and hospitable entertainment of all visiting
delegates.

Business men will be interested to meet here with
electrical and irrigation engineers to discuss the dual-
values in storage of torrential streams.

"In the far eastern and southern states of the
humid region irrigation methods are being studied and
put into practice to save crops in seasons of drought
and to increase the value of natural resources. Flood
sufferers in southern states should confer at this Con-
gress with those requiring reservoirs at the head waters
of the great rivers. It may be said, therefore, that the
East and the South can here learn from the West, and
delegates should attend this Congress, not alone from
the sixteen specially interested far western states, but
from every state in the Union.

President Roosevelt, throughout his recent western
tour, frequently gave utterance to his belief that Na-
tional aid for the reclamation of the arid West is of
paramount importance in our National policy; and
to foster this policy is the work of this Congress — "To
Save the Forests and Store the Floods." .

The program for the Congress will be carefully
arranged with the view of achieving practical benefits

and progress. Specially favorable 'railroad rates have
been secured, details of which will soon be published.
Arrangements for the entertainment of delegates in
the attractive city of Ogden will be complete and sat-
isfactory, and reception committees will meet all trains;"
The citizens of Ogden have appointed a board of con-
trol to entertain all delegates in co-operation with offi-
cers of the Congress. There will be no advance in
hotel rates.

Newspapers everywhere are earnestly requested to
give publicity to this official call and to inform their
readers of the importance of this Congress.

Governors of the states and mayors of cities and
officers of organizations entitled to appoint delegates
are respectfully requested to select men sincerely in-
terested in the work of— and likely to attend — the
Congress.

The basis of representation in the Congress will be :

Delegates

The Governor of each State and Territory to appoint .20
The Mayor of each City of less than 25,000 popu-

ulation 2

The Mayor of each City, of more than 25,000 pop-
ulation 4

Each Board of County Commissioners 2

Each Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trade, Com-
mercial Club, or Real Estate Exchange 2

Each organized Irrigation, Agricultural or Live Stock

Association 2

Each Society of Engineers 2

Each Irrigation Company. Emigration Society or
Agricultural College, and each College or Uni-
versity having chairs of hydraulic engineering
or forestry 2

The following are delegates by virtue of their re-
spective offices :

The President and members of his cabinet.

The duly accredited representatives of any foreign
nation or colony.

The Governor of any State or Territory.

Any member of the United States Senate or House
of Representatives.

Member of any State or Territorial Commission.

W. A. CLARK, President.
F. J. KIESEL,

Chairman Executive Committee.
L. W. SHURTLIFF,

Chairman Board of Control.
H. B. MAXSON, Secretary.
By WILLIS T. BEARDSLEY,

- First Assistant Secretary.

WHERE WE STAND.

The, following letter from William !•:. Smytlie. author
of ••Tin- Conquest of Arid America." :\>-A founder of the
••Irrigation Age.'' tells Home liome truths about us, which
w i- purpose using to good advantage :

••!». H. Anderson. Esq.. Chicago. III. My Dear Sir— I beg
to acknowledge receipt of your favors of July 14th and
•ivlli. the latter including pamphlet (Influences in the
National Irrigation Program).

•'In your acc.ouut of the beginnings of national irriga-
tion you deprive your own magazine of ihe credit to
which It is entitled. 'The Irrigation Age' was ihe instru-
ment of those who founded the nrgmiixed irrigation
movement, stood by its cradle, fought its battles estub-
liHhed it a« a force in the life of our times.— and all with-
out money and without price. We had a» idea. We be-
lieved It wu« big and righteous. We fought for it for all
we were worth.

"WM. B. SMYTHE."

'Father of the National Irrigation Congress, anil one
of its li r»t presidents.)

310

THE IKKIGATION AGE.

SAMSON DOUBLE GEAR

The Samson I

GALVANIZED STEEL
WIND HILL

It is a double -geared mill and is the latest great
advance in wind-mill construction.

The capacity of our new wind-mill factory is
75,000 mills a year — the greatest capacity of any
factory of its kind on earth.

...THE SAMSON...

is a double- geared mill and is the latest great ad-
vance in wind-mill construction.

It will be readily seen that this double gear im-
parts double the strength to the Samson over that
of any other mill of equal size. Since the gear is
double and the strain of work is equally divided
between the two gears, there is no side draft,
shake or wobble to cut out the gears. The gear-
ing, therefore, has four times the life and wearing
qualities of any single gear.

All interested in irrigation should write us for
our finely illustrated book on irrigation matters,
which will be sent free to all who mention THE IRRIGA-
TION AGE. This work contains all necessary informa-
tion for establishing an irrigation plant by wind power.

Remember We Guarantee the Samson

The Stover Manf 'g Co.

617 River Street FREEPORT, ILL.

m

The Strongest and Best [
Mill on Earth

*

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THE IRRIGATION AGE.

311

CORRESPONDENCE

GREELEY, COLO., July 12, 1903.
EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE, CHICAGO, ILL,

Dear Sir: I send you a few hints on "practical irri-
gation" which may be of value to some of your readers.

Some of the necessary conditions to make irrigation a
success, are a good supply of water that will continue through
the months of July and August; land with a smooth
surface, that has a gradual fall of about six feet to the
mile; land prepared in a thorough manner for the seed —
and one of the most essential conditions is the best seed
obtainable — thorough cultivation and careful irrigation.'

At the proper stage of development, as a general rule,
I will say the time to apply the water is when the crop is
making that which the crop was planted for. To illustrate :
Wheat, while it is making the head; corn, when the ears are
setting in; fruit while in blossom. In the case of root
crops, care must be taken not to soak too much while the
weather is extremely hot. Put a good stream in each al-
ternate row, and hurry through and shut out, as this will
be sufficient the first time over. In about a week water the
other rows in same way. Next time over if weather is get-
ting cooler, irrigate every row.

Third Irrigation — Every row may be watered, raising
in each row a small stream whereby it will take longer to
go through, consequently soaking the ground more thor-
oughly. JNO G. HALL.

EMMETSBURG, IOWA, Aug. 5, 1903.
IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL, CHICAGO, ILL.

Mr. Editor: Could you kindly put us in correspondence
with some parties who operate a dredging machine, and
oblige. Yours truly,

NEARY & MENZIES.

NEW CASTLE, COLO., Aug. 3, 1903.
EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE, CHICAGO.

Dear Sir: When I wrote you in regard to my water
elevator I did not think very ' much about it, but as you
asked for an explanation of my invention, I answered your
request in rather a crude manner. My experience for the
past twenty-six years in the west and twelve years in
Arizona taught me that water is king and seeing so many
acres of the best of lands that could not be reached by canals,
I have constructed this very valuable machine. I can operate
it in wells where plenty of water can be obtained. It is so
built that it can be run by any kind of power, as the buckets
only run at their greatest speed 150 feet per minute. They
are built in sizes from one miners' inch to (1200) twelve hun-
dred or larger if desired. They are the best machine .known
for windmill power, as in case it should run slow and take ail
day to raise a bucket and it starts from the bottom full in
the morning and reaches the top at night it is a bucket
full just the same, when in a rotary or cylinder pump there
will not be a drop of water raised. Sand or muddy, makes
no difference with the elevator. No chains to break; no
hooks to give out and no wheels to break; not a cog in it;
one bucket just firmly bolted to another and would remind
one of a railroad running at an angle of forty-five degrees.
It is strong, durable and light draft. Since my short de-
scription in your May number, I have had a great number
of communications, all of which mention their seeing it in
THE IRRIGATION AGE, so I take this way to answer them.
Please find within one dollar for one year. There are a
number of more that I will send in a few days. Send mine
from May last to me at "New Castle, Colo.

W. A. CONNER.

17 RUTLAND SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS., July 30, 1903.
THE IRRIGATION AGE, 112 DEARBORN STREET, CHICAGO, ILL.
Gentlemen: Referring to the article in your June issue,
entitled "The Western Floods," I herewith enclose a pub-
lished letter which I wrote upon reading an article along
the same line, published in the Daily Live Stock Reporter,
and in addition to same I would like to suggest, inasmuch
as your paper is published in the interest of irrigation, that
it might be possible in large arid districts along rivers, which

have their outlet into the Mississippi, to utilize underground
sand beds as reservoirs for irrigation water — that is, from
sections having an abundance of winter snow or early spring
rains, the water could be sent underground, and during the
hot summer months be pumped to the surface for either irri-
gation or the purpose of watering stock on the western
ranges. On the other hand, this underground water might of
itself create never-ceasing springs which would not be af-
fected by the heat during the summer.

I do not assert the feasibility of any of the suggestions,
but it seems reasonable enough to receive consideration by
those who are working to solve the flood problem.
Very respectifully yours,

J. N. SWANSON.

The following is the article referred to in Mr. Swanson's
letter :

"Upon reading an article in a recent issue of your paper
entitled 'Rainfall and the Floods,' I am again reminded of
a thought that has come to me several times during the
last few years — an idea which might be of interest to those
who are giving this problem serious consideration. I believe
it is worthy of investigation.

"My suggestion is this: If the United States would
ascertain along rivers, brooks and feeders of the great Mis-
sissippi where there may be found deep underground sand
veins, containing little or no water, and sink to this sand
innumerable wells, setting them with large sewer tile, ar-
ranging it in such a way that any overflow or rise of water
in these small streams would find its way into these wells,
affording an underground outlet into these sand veins, many
of which would doubtless drink in an endless amount of
water, the great flood disasters would be partially obviated.

"It is at once apparent that it would involve a heavy
expenditure of money to perfect such a system of wells to
produce any effect at the time of a heavy rainfall such as
recently visited Kansas, yet I believe there are enough
water-dry sand beds underground, were the wells numerous
enough, to drink in a great portion of this overflow. Any-
way it should greatly lessen the danger by diverting a part
of the water.

"By thus diverting the water underground, it would also
afford an inexhaustible supply of water to the farmers living
in the districts having these drainage wells, as they could
sink their own supply wells to the same sand veins and
secure clear filtered water, obviating the necessity (which has
been the cry of late years) of making new and deeper wells
every year, the surface water having entirely disappeared. An
arrangement could also be made whereby these farmers could
use the same wells sunk for drainage purposes.

"I submit the above for what it may be worth to those
who are interested in this problem."

IT IS A SHAME.

It is a shame to allow the fakirs to spring up and gull
the public every time an opportunity presents itself. Just
as soon as it became known that the government was going
to lend a hand in reclaiming the arid lands, so-called asso-
ciations sprang up advertising by circulars and otherwise
to direct homeseekers to vacant public land under the proposed
projects. These associations pretend that they are formed
to represent homeseekers and claim to possess inside informa-
tion. As a matter of fact these fellows are rank swindlers
and do not have any inside information. They do not
know what lands the government intends to irrigate, for
no one knows this, not even the department. They simply
defraud susceptible people and are taking fees ranging from
$50 to $100 for valueless service. They are sending people
onto lands that will never be irrigated either by the govern-
ment or by private enterprise and we know instances where
these sharks have pointed out to victims lands on hillsides
which could not possibly be irrigated. We are having too
much burlesque of the Maxwellesque order and it is time
for Uncle Sam to shut these scamps out of the mails. The
Field and Farm has refused to handle the advertising of
these fellows and therefore they do not like us a little bit.—
Denver Field and Farm.

312

THEIKBIGATIONAGE.

J. L. HUBBELL

Indian Trader

Dealer in

Navajo
Blankets

OLD STYLE WEAVINQS AND
PATTERNS A SPECIALTY.

Silverware, Baskets,

Curios,
Prehistoric Pottery.

Products of Navajo

and other Indian

tribes.

AGENTS WANTED THROUGHOUT
THE UNITED STATES.

Write for particulars, mentioning
The Irrigation Age.

J. L. HUBBELL

Arizona

BRANCH STORE: Ream's Canon, Ariz.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

313

A Farm All Your Own !

There are at present exceptional opportunities for Kome-
seekers in the Gree.t Southwest and California. V V>

Low-rate round-trip homesetkers' and one-way settlers'
tickets, first and third Tuesdays each month, over the
Santa Fe to Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Ok-
lahoma and Texas.

Very low round-trip excursion rates to California in July
and August.

Write and tell us where you think of going. We will send you land
literature and information about good farm lands at low prices.

Values in certain portions of the Southwest sure to advance. Let us
tell you about it.

Atchison.
Topeka <H
Santa Fe
Railway

Santa Fe

General

Passenger

Office,

h i c a g o

John G. Hall,

GREELEY, COLO.

Twenty years' experience
farming under Irrigation.
Open for engagement to
superintend new Irrigation
project, foreman on large
Ranch or series of Ranches.

= RELIABLE REFERENCE =

15he Shuart Earth Graders

Style No. 2

These machines rapidly
and cheaply reduce- the
most uneven land to per-
fect surface for .the appJi-
.cation of water. Made in
severaldifferentst>le?. On
the No. 8 style the blade
can be worked diagonally,
as well as straight across,
thus adapting it to throw-
• ing up and distributing
t bordeis, ditches, etc. For
descriptive ciiculars and
price, address

B. F. SHUAR.T, OBERLIN, O.

We have furnished a large
number of centrifugal pumps.
both belt driven and direct
connected, .for use in irriga-
tion. Where water is drawn
from wells our vertical" pump
is used with splendid success.

We also b.uild our pumps
direct connected to engines,
which have been found ex-
ceedingly useful where the lift
of water does not exceed 20
feet. Our line consists ot the
various types ard sizes from
V/3 in. to 12 in., inclusive.

Our dredging or sacd
pumps have been found very
successful in the dredging of
canals; a large number of
these outfits having been used
in Colorado.

Erie Pump and Engine Company, Erie, Pa.

Fiease mention iHn IRRIGATION AGE wner, wntiug to advertisers.

BURNHAM ARTESIAN
... PUMP ...

•

DEEP-WELL ENGINE

1
I

I

I

1

Cushion on End of Stroke, Economy
of Steam, Freeness from Short-
Stroke, and Qiiht Running.

T

|
T

.*.

••

I
I

1

THE BURNHAM

RETAtNS THESE FEATURES

Sizes suitable for a great range of work where a small

area of irrigation is desired, are made. In-

formation given on application.

THESE STAND SUPREME IN AMERICA

UNION STEAM PUMP COMPANY |

Battle Creek, Mich., U. S. A.

314

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

M. H. DOWNEY. E. J. WILCOX.

DOWNEY & WILCOX. Civil Engineers,

Drainage and Roads a Specialty.

Correspondence Solicited. . Room 2. Court House. ANDERSON, IND

CENTS

INTRODUCTORY OFFER

CARBON PAPER

For the purpose of introducing pur CARBON
TISSUE we will, for a limited period, one order
only to the same address, send 15 sheets, size
8x12 inches, for 50 cents.

This paper is made by a new and secret pro-
cess ; in colors purple, blue and black ; will not
smut; perfect prii.ting qualities ; very durable ;
will not dry out.

As good as any carbon paper on the market,
or your money back.

SUPPLY DEPORTMENT OF

MODERN -METHODS -FOB -MODERN 'PEOPLE

THIRD FLOOR, SECURITY BUILDING
188 MADISON STREET CHICAGO

The Truth
about the
Southwest

THE WESTERN TRAIL k the
name of a paper devoted to the devel-
opment of the great Southwest. It
contains letters from residents telling of
actual conditions, how they happened
to settle there and what their experiences
have been. It is printed on good paper
and is beautifully illustrated. Published
every month during the fall, winter and
spring months, and every two months
during the summer. It will interest
you, and may be the means of opening
your eyes to the unequaled opportuni-
ties awaiting you in the great South-
west.

Send twenty-five cents TO-DAY
for one year's subscription. Stamps
will do. Address

"THE TRAIL,"

Room 4x5 Rialto Bldg., Chicago.

R. H. McWILLIAMS,

GENERAL
D RAIN AGE
CONTRACTOR

Special attention paid to reclaiming
swamp lands with steam dredges.
Drainage bonds bought and sold.

:OFFICE:
H VTTOON, - - ILLINOIS.

Grand
Canyon

of Arizona.

Earth's greatest wonder— the titan o!
chasms, a mile deep, many miles wide

Pictures of it: For ffi cents wi" send

- the season's no>elty —
a Grand Canyon photochrome view, uniquely
mounted to reproduce the Canyon tints. Or,
for same price, a set of four black-and-white
prints, ready lor framing.

Books about it: For 50 cents will send

- a Grand Canyon
book, 128 pages, 93 illustrations; cover in col-
ors; contains articles by nottd authors, trav-
elers and scientists. Worthy a place in any
library. Or will mail free pamphlet, "Titan
of Chasms."

J. M. McCoNHKLL, General Agent,
109 Adams St., Chicago.

Fe

VAN WIE CENTRIFUGAL

the best in the market. Why? Because

Handles More Water Than

Any Other Pump with

Same Fue .

PROOFi Read following from result of
test made by New Mexico College of Ag-
riculture and Mechanic Arts, Mesilla
Park. New Mexico:

Cost of fuel per acre for irrigation three
inches deep, using dry Tornillo Wood at
S2.25per cord.
Name of Pump.
Van Wie ................. ............. $512

Wood's ............................. 647

Kingsford ............. 697

Byron Jackson ........ 614

Fifth Pump ............ 617

For catalogue, address

IRVIN VAN WIE,

7I3-7Z3 West Fayetle St.
SYRACUSE, N Y.

1903 Irrifratiir.

EXAS

OBACCO

RACTS

So says Secretary
Wilson, U. S.
Department of
Agriculture. . .

Exhaustive Tests Prove
that the Finest Grade of

Filler and Wrapper can be grown in East Texas on the line of the

S& o ti t li e m. I?*aoifio

Soils and ClimaU similar to Famous Vuelta Abajo District of Plnar Del Rio, Cuba.
Write f r full information to

T. J. ANDERSON, Gen. Pass. Agent,
HOUSTON, TEXAS.

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 315

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South Dakota

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That is the place to go if you have made

I* 1* * •••
up your mind to stop paying rent and

«!• •!• y .*.

^ | start on the highway to independence. | J

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Today is the time to secure farm lands.

Recent extensions of the
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I Chicago. Milwaukee

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jj St. Paul Railway •

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x '?f open the way to new fields, where Y :j:

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splendid opportunities for success are

•;• •*.

offered. South Dakota book— 1903 edition

Y Y Y ***

$ v- — sent for 2 cents' postage. y. X

A .? r & y A

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A A A A

A A A A

A A A A

II F. A. MILLER, General Passenger Agent,

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ft CHICAGO. ||

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A A A A

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-•••••''"""••••••••••••••*•••••••• ^»*^%#%**»*%**.«%*%**^«#v«%*%**«**««*««*«**«*%«*^*«*%»*«#%*\*%#*«»*«#*«»%»*»»%»%»%*%«**vw%A A

>x~x~x~x~x~x~x~:">

316

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

Built Right

Rxirv Right

Unsurpassed for Tile, Hollow Ware, Brick and all
Classes of Clay products. Write for Particulars
on this or other Clayworkirvj; Machinery ? 9 9 5

The Improved Centennial Aviger Machine

Bucyrus. Ohio
U. S. A.

The American Clay-Working
Machinery Company

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

317

CJf TDD f I IT Q for Brick, Tile and Sewer
^ v * * 1^1 J^CJ pipe Manvifacturers

SEWER PIPE BARRoW

TILE TRUCK HEAVY FuNNACE FrtONT

These Trucks and Barrows are made of first-class material, and the workmanship is the
best. Special trucks and barrows to suit customers, made to order. Prices quoted on
receipt of specifications.

BAND TIGHTENERS AND DOOR CONNECTORS

CLASS B CLASS C

TUPPER STYLE GRATE

Sections 6 inches wide.

86,42, and 48 inches long

STRAIGHT GRATES

=i

Any length. Sections 3 inches to 3)4 inches wide. Weight average about 1 pound
per inch in length.

CAST IRON KILN COVERS

VENTILATORS

We also make Kiln Bands complete with sections cut to length and rivet holes punched. Rivets fur-
nished and tighteners riveted on to end sections. Prices quoted for anything in this line upon application.

Address

The Arnold -Creager Co.

NEW LONDON, OHIO

or Cor. 6th and Vine Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio

318

THE IRRIGATION AGE.
O«C*CttC*C*C»O«C*C»OC 0«O«0«0«0«C*0«0«0«0«0€ 0«O«C*0«0«0«0«0«0«0»

1 XV 41

Say, Mr. Tilemaker,

Does the machine you are now
using pug the clay sufficiently

If not, here is one that will. The best Tile
Machine made, combined with an eight'foot
double*shaft Pug Mill; and it is arranged to
make tile from 2 1/2 'in. to 24* in. It will pay
you to investigate this machine and also Ben*
sing's Automatic Cutting Tables. Write us for
full information and prices

THE J. D. FA TE C O

PLYMOUTH, OHIO

We make a full line of Clay Working Machinery

>»O«O«O«0>O«O»O»O»O»O«O*O>O«CttO«O»O»O«O«O»O«O*O*O>0«O»O»O«0*O«Oi

THE IRRIGATION, AGE.

319

The Simplification of
Water Records by
a Right System
Insures

Not Only

Labor-Saving
also Money-
Saving.

Write us for Information.

"16" LONG RANGE TELESCOPE.

FOR

Irrigators,
Farmers

and

Ditchers

Catalcgue free.

Grade
Level Co.

Jackson. Mich.

No. 1. $27.00

Target and Rod

free wilh each.

Target and Bod alone $2.00.

Our Grade Levels are tlw onlj ones made with
a -Mir;ul'' Bar" and with a "Scale" showing tne
grade without figuring, aim the only one with a
Telescope at so low a price.

No. 1 Improved Level (our latest)— $3('. Has horiz-
ontal circle divided into degrees; can run at auj angle
without measuring.

EDGAR M. HEAFER
TILE COMPANY

MANUFACTURERS OF

Round Drain Tile

Of Superior Potters' Clay.

ASLO DEALERS IN

SUPERIOR FIRE BRICK AND SEWER PIPE
BLOOniNQTON, ILL.

LANDS IN THE FAMOUS

Valley, of Mississippi,

Along the lines of the Yazoo and Missis-
sippi Valley Railroad, are of the most
wonderful fertility for raising Cotton,
Corn, Cattle and Hogs.

The clay will make the best of TILE and
Brick and manufacturers will find a great
field for TlLE in that country, which is
so well adapted for Tile Drainage.

for

J i I i< I

EDWARD P. SKENE, Land Commissioner,

Central Station, Park Row, Room 506,
CHICAGO. ILL.

When writing to Advertisers, please mention THE IRRIGATION AGE.

IO«0«0«0«0«0«O«O€O«0«0«O«0€O«O«0«0«0«0«C)«0«0«0«OCO«(XOCO*OtO«0*0€C

»p9raP9V9W9**** — ~-~~

The MARION

STEAM SHOVEL

Mo. 632 W. Center Street, MARION, OHIO.

A COMPLETE LINE OF STEAM SHOVELS, DIPPER

AND CLAMSHELL DREDGES, ETC.

One-yard Ditching Dredge.

constructing Drainage Ditches we have both
drydand and floating Dredges, and we build
them to suit the requirements of your work. We
manufacture our own steel and grey iron castings,
and make our own chain

When in the market write us for information and prices.

(When Writing Advertisers, Please Mention IRRIGATION AGE.)

320 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Great Irrigated
Valleys....

ARKANSAS VALLEY, COLORADO. Altitude 3,400 to 4,600. ft.; beet sugar fairies,
thousands of acres of alfalfa, millions of cantaloupes, extensive orchards, flocks of sheep;
largest irrigated section in the U. S. Extensive cattle feeding and dairy interests, population
doubled in five years.

PECOS VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,000 to 4,000 feet. ; 175 miles long; on edge
of great plains' cattle pastures, affording profitable home market for alfalfa and grain; noted
for its large orchards and fine quality of fruits and vegetables; artesian belt with 300
flowing wells.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,700 105,300 ft.; 350 miles long;
great sheep raising section; mining in adjacent mountains; adapted to fruit raising and
small farms.

SALT RIVER VALLEY, ARIZONA. Altitude 1,000 ft.; 60 miles long and 20 miles wide;
special industries — early oranges, live stock, vegetables, small fruits, alfalfa, bee culture.

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Altitude 50 to 400 ft.; 250 miles long, 50 miles
wide; wheat raising, live stock, oil wells, alfalfa, raisin and wine grapes, olives, figs, citrus
and deciduous fruits, almonds, walnuts, lumbering and mines in mountains.

ALL FIVE VALLEYS have never-failing water supply, extensive systems of irrigating
ditches and rich soil, insuring profitable crops. Pleasant climate, especially in winter.
Thriving towns, affording "good markets.-" Directly reached by the SANTA FE.

For information about farm lands, manufactures and general business openings,
address

Gen. Pass. Office A. T. 4 S. F. Ry. System,
GREAT NORTHERN BLDG. A CHICAGO.

Santa Fe

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

321

1903

100,000 HEW DEERE SULKIES AND GANGS

I will be plowing on the farms of the United States and Canada]
Tfiis fall. Will there be any on vour farm?

are made by, skilled workmen, in the largest Plow Shop in
America, of the best plow material -the world can produce.
They have been the Standard for sixty-five years. They
give satisfactory service for years after plows of inferior con-
struction have been cast in the scrap pile.

Sent/*fx cent* for a hantfmome souvenir and a year'* mubxcrlp-
tlon to THE FURROW, * beautifully illustrated farm quarterly.

DEERE & CO., Moline, Ills.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••I

WEN'S IMPROVED

CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS

S

Extensively used in paper and pulp mills, dye houses, bleacheries,
tanneries, dry docks,

DRAINING AND IRRIGATION OF LAND.

Pond pumping, circulating water in surface condensers, pumping
sand, gravel or gritty water. In fact, adapted for raising any
liquid in large or small quantities. Write for catalogues.

BOLAND <a GSCHWIND COMPANY, Ltd..

Office and Works. Melpomene, Chippewa and St Thomas streets • • - New Orleans, La.

In the

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

KK-X~XK~X~X~XK"X~XK~X~X~X~XK^^^

People read and believe in Fa.rm a.rvd Ranch — the home- •!•
builders' guide.

It tells all about soil, climate, crops, live stock — how to grow .*.

and market alfalfa, cotton, corn, fruit, melons, vegetables, rice y

and everything that can be profitably produced in field or garden. *»*

It shows hovy to make money out of cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, A

horses, mules,' be'es and poultry. Feeding and dairying are <•
special features.

Its editorial writers are trained experts. They do not theorize .*.

— they KNOW. Over 100 practical farmers and breeders con- y
tribute to its columns.

Handsomely illustrated, printed on fine paper — weekly — clean, •••
interesting and instructive — f 1 per year. Sample Copy free.

Prosperous

i

i

SoutHwCSt FARM AND RANCH

Da. 11 as, Texas

322

THE IRRIGATION AGF

Myers Power Pumps

''Without an equal on
the Globe"

Full information in regard to our
varied line on application

Adapted especially for gas engines,
motor and belt powers, in harmony
with present requirements.

FIG. 813.

No. 859. Bulldozer Working Head, 5, 7J4 and

10-Inch stroke.
No. 364. Bulldozer Working Head, 12. 16 and

20-inch stroke.

FIG 800.

Bulldozer Power Pump, sizes 3. 4, 5 and
6-iuch cylinders, stroke ranging from 5 to
20-inch.

F. E. Myers * Bro., Ashland, o., u. s. A

GOOD INTENTIONS alone can not produce good machinery. Mos^ all manufacturers
are honest, hut lack the experience and equipment necessary to turn out a thoroughly
first-class engine. We are the founders of the gas engine industry in the United States,
have been buillding OTTO engines for twenty-seven years, and operate the largest and
most complete plant in the country devoted exclusively to the building of Gas and Gasoline
Engines. Which will you buy, Otto Experience or others' Experiments?

THE OTTO CAS ENGINE WORKS

CHICAGO PHILADELPHIA OMAHA

V

t

2

I

K~HKKKKKK~H~H~:~H~^^^^

L. T. HARDING'S SONS

OF VINCENNES, INDIANA

ARE

CONTRACTORS

For Digging La.rge Open Ditches with Dredges.
We have fine Dredges to keep at work. Parties interes-
ted in such ditches should let us know of any proposed

work.
CORRESPONDENCE SOLICITED.

L. T. HARDING'S SONS.

THE IKKIGATION AGE.

323

THE BUCKEYE TRACTION DITCHER

A winning proposition in a^ny kind of soil.

A
N
U

A
C

U
R

D

I

O

U
R

S

s

CUTTING

FROM

ELEVEN

AND

ONE-HALF
INCHES

TO

TWENTY-
FOUR
INCHES

IN

WIDTH

AND

FROM

FOUR

AND

ONE-HALF

TO

SIX

AND

ONE-HALF

FEET

IN

DEPTH

This cut shows The Buckeye just starting a trench with
grading targets out ahead. The BUCKEYE positively cuts
to a perfect grade, and to its full depth with one cut.

EVERY USER GIVES HIS ENTHUSIASTIC ENDORSEMENT.

The Van Buren, Heck & Marvin Co.

FINDLAY, OHIO, U. S. A.

324

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

SUPERIOR SINGLE DISC DRILL

SUPERIOR

SINGLE DISC
DRILLS

are suitable
for use in any
kind of land.
They never
clog in trash.
Even sowing
guaranteed.
The best for
the great
Northwest.
ABSOLUTELY
GOOD.

A genuinely satis-
factory drill in
every particular.

With Steel Wheels
and Seat.

SUPERIOR DRILLS successfully do the work.
They stand the wear, because they are made of
honest materials, by honest, skilled mechanics, who
know how, because of their wide experience.

Experience proves that our implements are peculiarly adapted to your locality.
, They will stand the test. Better investigate. It is to your interest.

We guarantee them, and the Drills will back up the guarantee every time.
- Write us today.

This cut shows
the SUPERIOR
GANG PRESS
WHEEL. A A
It can be at-
tached to any
Superior Disc
Drill.

You don't need a Sub-
Surface Packer when
you use the Superior
Gang Press Wheel
Attachment.

Write for Catalogue A.

SUPERIOR
DIVISION,

American
Seeding
Machine
Company,

This attachment reduces
evaporation to the minimum.

Springfield, Ohio, U.S.A.

Please Mention THE IRRIGATION AGB when writing to Advertisers.

••••••••••I

THE IRRIGATION AGE

VOL. XVIII.

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER, 1903.

No.

1 1.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING CO.,

PUBLISHERS,
112 Dearborn Street, CHICAGO

Entered at the Postoffice at Chicago, 111., as Second-Class Matter.

D. H. ANDERSON, Editor.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.

To United States Subscribers, Postage Paid $1.00

To Canada and Mexico, . 1.00

All Other Foreign Countries 1.50

In forwarding remittances please do not send checks on local banks.
Send either postomce or express money order or Chicago or New York
draft.

A monthly illustrated magazine recognized throughout the world as
the exponent ol Irrigation and its kindred industries. It is the pioneer
journal of its kind in the world, and has no rival in half a continent. It
advocates the mineral development and the industrial growth of the West.

fr\ A rl TT-Arti
LU .TVU. VC1 Ll

Ij may interest advertisers to know that The Irrigation Age is the only publication
^ thg worfd having an actoal paid in ad-vance circulation among individual

irrigators and large irrigation corporations. It is read regularly by all interested in this subject and has readers in all parts of the world.

The Irrigation Age is (8 years old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world.

Copyright 1908 by D. H. Anderson.

EDITORIAL

It is impossible to believe that the Elev-
Fiat enth National Irrigation Congress will

Justicia prove so weak an organization that it

Ruat will succumb to the blandishments and

Coelum. become a catspaw for any specific class
of persons who aim to realize enormous
fortunes out of the expenditures of the government
in carrying out the provisions of the national irrigation
law, and out of private land and water schemes a la
Dawes Indian land commission.

There is no man in this country great enough
to dictate what that Congress shall or must do, no
man is too insignificant that lie may not make a
suggestion worth consideration.

The organization of the Congress is complete, and
to save time, anxiety, put an end to the machinations
to destroy its organization, the first business under-
taken after coming to order, should be the adoption
of a resolution making the National Irrigation Con-
gress a perpetual and independent organization, the
main object of which at this stage of the irrigation
problem shall be governmental and protective, to the
extent of seeing to it that the national irrigation law
be honestly and justly enforced for the direct benefit
of actual homeseekers.

It is a sorrowful fact that must be admitted that

the Government is not strong enough to protect its
citizens in their home rights under any land or water
law that was or ever will be enacted. A middleman,
practically a "sooner," springs from somewhere ajid
wards off the Government with one hand and the
homeseeker with the other until his ambitions are
realized, and when he lets go there is little left but
husks.

The universal demand is for an honest and just
enforcement of the national irrigation law, but who is
there to see that it is honestly and justly enforced?
We know by the Indian land revelations that where
there is a dollar and a helpless citizen or individual,
the latter loses that dollar. We know also from the
pages of the United States court reports that a man
with land at stake finds no friend in a government
agent if he stands alone without a protective influ-
ence behind him. And will it be any better with
water, and tens of millions to be expended by the
Government, perhaps hundreds of millions before the
entire matter is fully adjusted?

There is already deprecatory talk in the newspa-
pers, a haunting fear lest the irrigation law be di-
verted from its purpose into the hands of schemers.
Thart is as sure to come as fate in the shape of in-
terest, taxes, death. It is human nature and until
the leopard can change his spots land grabbing and
now water grabbing will go on merrily.

The National Irrigation Congress stands as the
representative body of the very men who are to be
helped by the irrigation law, the constituents of the

326

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

members of that Congress are the homeseekers who
are to benefit by the honest and just enforcement of
that law. Shall they be ignored and their Congress
turned over to any voluntary organization with pri-
vate objects in view, an absolutely irresponsible and
therefore unreliable organization? The homeseekers
of sixteen arid and sub-humid states ask their repre-
sentatives for bread and they are given a stone.

The national irrigation law is passed, but the work
of this Congress is still before it. To pause now is
to belie their past efforts, to throw down their badge
of office, for another to pick up and sway for his
own benefit, is to commit an act of cowardice that
deserves eternal obloquy.

We do not believe the Congress will surrender
its prerogatives; we do believe that it will continue
on and settle all the conflicting problems connected
with irrigation ; reconcile conflicts of laws ; interest
itself in the location of reservoirs, wells, ditches, canals,
and everything pertaining to or belonging to irriga-
tion for a multitude of homeseekers and the building
up of a vast irrigated empire. There is colonization
to be considered, for the day of small farms has
arrived, complaints are to be heard, wrongs righted,
the rights of the helpless farmer protected, and numer-
ous duties and obligations resting upon this Congress
of the people of sixteen states which they can not
lightly cast aside, or delegate to middlemen.

. Their labors will not pass unrequited, for there
is not an irrigation farmer in the West who will not
help hold up its hands, and assist in carrying out
the provisions of the irrigation laws to their fullest
extent. If the law does not work to advantage, it must
be amended, not by those who want a law through
which they can drive a wagon load of fraud, but by
those who will suffer if not adequate to their needs.
and whose little homes will be all the wealth they
desire if it goes well with them.

There is a great principle at the bottom of the
problems of irrigation in the great West, a principle
of right and justice, it means also the public welfare,
the greatest good to the greatest number, the strik-
ing from the limbs of the farmer slave of land monop-
oly the chains that have been fretting them for years,
it means the taking away from private, unreliable,
irresponsible schemers the right to dominate land and
water, and the privilege of enriching themselves at the
expense of the Government and the small farmer.

What this Congress may do is to issue a procla-
mation of emancipation from the slavery of land and
water monopolies, and declare to the people of this
nation and of the world, that they are invited to aid
in building up a great empire and that they may
come to it without fear that they will be driven out
and lose their homes by any perversion of the irri-
gation and land laws.

Whenever two organizations posses idcn-
Merging, tical objects, adopt similar methods to
Fusing carry them out, it sometimes happens that

and Amal- strength is acquired by what is known
gamation. as merging, fusing, or amalgamating.
It is the community of interest which
makes our great industrial combines so powerful.

But where the objects are not identical and the
methods are diverse, a merger, or a fusion, is fatal
to one or the other, which must go to the wall, and
the party who succumbs is generally the better and
cleaner one of the two. It is a house divided against
itself, a combine that is contrary to good business
principles, unphilosophical, unethical.

On August 21, ult., the Transmississippi Congress
ended its 14th annual session at Seattle, Wash., after
passing resolutions to the following effect: Favoring
statehood for Oklahoma and Indian Territory com-
bined ; a territorial government for Alaska, and plac-
ing the consular service under civil service. It will
be perceived that the objects of the Transmississippi
concern are far-reaching and purely political, and of
the quality known as "intermeddling" politics. They
may be considered legitimate, however, under our sys-
tem of government that admits all kinds of bedfellows
under its blanket, but they concern business interests
of every kind and complexion, even into boodling if
deemed requisite to further those interests. For what
other purpose do outsiders mix in local matters?

On September 15, 1C, 1? and 18. thf Eleventh
National Irrigation Congress will meet at Ogden, Utah.
The sole great object of this organization has always
been and must be irrigation. Its members have fought
a good fight for the homeseekers of the country and
they have advanced the building up of the empire of
the West many decades. Moreover, they have laid the
foundation of the only true solution of the problem
of irrigation, that it be kept out of private, uncontrol-
lable, irresponsible hands.

It is said that this single minded, specifically
created Congress will be asked to merge with the Trans-
mississippi concern and become an appendage, a mere
tail to its kite. Why?

The National Irrigation Congress can certainly
die a natural death without going through the wretched
agony of being asphyxiated with a combination of
incompatible objects, and have its vitality sapped by
the introduction of an incongruous, unassimilable
serum.

With what wasting disease is the Transmississippi
Congress, or the National Irrigation Association, for
that matter, afflicted that it needs a transfusion of
the blood of the National Irrigation Congress? Is it
not a confession of a moribund condition to even ask
a merger? Are annual subscriptions falling off, or
contributions lessening ?

If the National Irrigation Congress has expended

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

327

all its force, its power and authority by securing the pas-
sage of the national irrigation law, it is defunctus officio
and can not merge with anything. The Transmissis-
sippi and the National Irrigation Association concerns
do not want to take :i corpse to their arms, do they?
Perhaps it is the machinery of the National Irrigation
Congress the two outside organizations aje after, and
need in their business. This hath a lean and hungry
look. If that machinery is to be used for the same
purpose as it has already been used by the National
Irrigation Congress, wherefore should the latter not
keep on with the working of it? Suspicion grows
apace. If, however, there is to be a transformation
that transformation can be no other than its con-
version into a personal machine, to be operated by
personal combined interests for personal profit. What
else can it be turned into when the objects for which
it was organized can not be altered, amended, or bet-
tered? Why? — but pshaw! It is bad policy to swap
horses while crossing a stream.

THE IRRIGATION AGB is at a loss to ac-

Good count for the misgivings expressed by so

Cause to many present ardent supporters of the

Rejoice. national irrigation law, that the same will

not be honestly carried out.

It is quite true that our public land laws are not
ideal, and it is also true that they never will reach
a state of perfection. Every law enacted for the pub-
lic benefit has a flaw in it big enough to drive through
a coach and six of fraud. Witness the exemption and
homestead laws, the Pacific railroads, and now the In-
dian lands. Think also of the army contracts, postal
diabolics, river and harbor bill — every governmental
scheme has tied to it a string that is positively sticky
with fraud and corruption.

Yet, somehow, the nation lias flourished, and is
now at such a prosperous height that the people are
actually growing dizzy. Why is it, and how does such
an anomaly come about? Can right come out of
wrong? Is it good theology that men may do evil
that good shall come of it? It may be remarked in-
cidentally that there is no code of laws so "badly broken
into as the Ten Commandments, yet it is said we
are more piously inclined than when men's heads were
removed for disobeying a single precept.

In the midst of the boundless sea of fraud and
corruption, with so many stealing for the benefit of
the nation generally and for themselves particularly, it
makes our hearts glad to perceive a gentle glimmer
of honest, determined piety. Quoth the stuff that
has been deluging the mails and the columns of the
country press for the past several weeks: "Land
Speculation and Stealing Must be Stopped (for use
not before Monday, August 17)."

We rejoice that this is so. for after about fifty
years of attempts on the part of the Government, with

the aid of the courts, and an army of officials, that
unpleasant condition of land affairs lias not even
been scratched on the surface. Can it be that we are
to be blessed with the mighty aid of some supernatural
power to do that which the weak arm of mortal man
has been powerless to do?

It must be so, for in connection with the gratis
stuff aforesaid, come columns of assurances from the
same central supply press bureau, that the "national
irrigation law shall be honestly and justly carried out
for the benefit of the homeseekers," and contributions
are called for. The grandeur of the idea grows by
thinking, and it looks as if some one really intended
to take charge of the entire business and manage it
as it should be. We are glad that this is so, and
in the full realization of its meaning according to the
canons of interpretation in such cases, we sing in uni-
son with the pious gentlemen who are repeating the
refrain from one end of the nation to the other, for
the plain purpose of earning a testimonial of good
conduct from the Eleventh National Irrigation Con-
gress : "Land speculation and stealing will be stopped
when there is not enough of it left for speculative
purposes or worth stealing."

A certain Man of very exalted Proclivities was
one Day walking along a Highway, with his Eyes
turned up toward Heaven, which he had concluded to
make his future abiding Place.

While so occupied in gazing upward he did not
notice a Ditch across his path and he accordingly fell
into it.

As he floundered about in the mud and water
at the bottom, he angrily charged the Ditch with
gross Negligence in not keeping out of his way.

"You saw me coming," he exclaimed in a fine
Rage, "and it was your Duty and Biisiness to keep
out of the way."

"It is true I saw you coming," admitted the Ditch
politely, "but as I noticed that your Eyes were looking
up toward Heaven. I thought you were going in that

Direction."

The Board of Control of the Eleventh
Honor to National Irrigation Congress, together
Whom with the citizens of Ogden, Utah, gen-

Honor erally, deserve the highest praise and

is Due. credit for the energy they have displayed

in preparing for the great event of the
15-18. Such energy deserves success and will attain
a full measure of it. There has nothing been left
undone to make the visit of outsiders one to be re-
membered by them, and that they will remember it
whenever the name of Ogden, Utah, is mentioned is
as certain as sunrise. If the great Congress shall
be in successful accord in working out the vast im-
portant problems under their charge and auspices, it
will be due in a great measure to the spirit of broth-
erly love and abiding friendship \\.it Ui »..iu.iUl the

328

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

THE PIONEERS OF NATIONAL IRRIGATION.

LAND AND WATER FOR THE PEOPLE.

The Reclamation of a Desert; The Creation of an Empire.
TO WHOM SHALL IT BELONG?

There are men still in the enjoyment of vigorous
health, sound minds, and faithful memories, who re-
member when the vast region, now represented by
sixteen bright stars in the shining firmament of a
great nation, was a nameless waste, a dreary, incon-
ceivable desert. All they knew about it in their school
days was its name across the map : "The Great Amer-
ican Desert." Many who attempted to traverse its
horizonless expanse left their bones to bleach upon
its sun baked soil, and those who escaped were regarded
as heroes worthy of as high a niche in the Hall of
Fame as they who sought to break through the icy
barriers of the polar ocean to find the great north pole.

The magnetic attraction of yellow gold drew a
host from the world's haunts of civilization, and the
California miners, with their little cradles, and their
petty inch of mountain water, washed the soil for
their hearts' ideal, gold, and still gold, and more gold
after that. Soil, climate, the perfume laden atmos-
phere, the bright blue vault of heaven, the songs of
birds presented no visions of a terrestrial paradise to
their distorted, yellow, fevered brain. The demands
of the stomach, however, created a diversion in their
thoughts, and turning the petty miner's inch of water
upon the thirsty, fertile soil, food grew at their beck,
and more plentiful and luxuriant than they had ever
conceived. The discovery was greater, and more far
reaching than the discovery at Sutter's mill, and from
that trifling miner's inch of water, out of that little
patch of corn, planted as a last resort by gold-rich
but food-poor starvelings, grew a paradise, which in
yellow grain surpassed the yellow gold ten to one,
and soon began to feed the world.

Over beyond the range, toward the rising of the
sun, in the very midst of sand and alkali, where to
dig or to plow meant a blinding, suffocating, burning
dust, an expatriated man and his followers poured a
little water, and behold ! the earth laughed with a rich
harvest. They poured more water upon the arid soil
and again the earth smiled, but more broadly, and
from that little patch of corn an inter-mountain em-
pire was created. By and by the outer edge's of the
two empires touched and they melted into one mighty
one, the fame of which spread over the earth and
brought a myriad who established homes and lived in
comfort beneath their own vine and fig tree.

So it came about that "The Great American Des-
ert" was expunged from the map, and one after an-
other vast areas of it became stars in the firmament
of this great nation, this great world power, one des-
tined to become the recognized arbiter for the nations
of the world, and the inexhaustible purveyor of the
main portion of the food of the inhabitants of the
earth.

But the vast empire still grew and it is still grow-
ing; it has grown beyond the scope and control of
those who set it on its course, its limitless possibilities
are no longer within the reach of the dribbling miner's
inch' of water. Every pioneer of the early days came
to a point in his labors where new blood was needed
to take up his burden and it became a pioneer in his

stead in a new, unbroken field. And a third class of
pioneers took up the burden of the second one when
he came to a stop, and went on with the work of
empire building. This third class of pioneers will
meet at Ogden, Utah, on September 15, 16, 17 and 18.
Make a note of this date.

So it went on and so it has been going on for
two generations, a short period in which to build so
magnificent 'a work as that which every man young
or old may see and wonder how it was done, for two
generations, be it repeated, and at the end of the
second there sprang up a third, a necessary third, for
the second had reached its limit and could go no
farther.

This third generation, speaking not according to
time but according to work, found the field widening
instead of narrowing, and that the power of individual
effort had reached a halting place, hence they com-
bined, the true successors of the first apostles of irri-
gation, new apostles upon whose shoulders falls the
mantle of all the others who saw empire in water and
soil and not in gold.

Individual effort waxed weaker in making an im-
pression upon the surface of this great empire of the
West, and so the states, the new stars, came to its
aid and the desert .began to bloom. But new questions
arose, intricate questions. State lines were an impasse
to their solution, and so there was a reaching out for
something beyond, some outside power to aid and
further the work of empire building. Then it was that
the new irrigation apostles, the successors of the origi-
nal Pacific and Intermountain pioneers, thought of
the general government, and its hundreds of millions
of fertile but waterless acres, and. to make a long
story short, the National Irrigation Congress, the new
pioneers, took up the problem. It required years of
struggle against strong opposition before success ap-
peared in sight, but success did come, and in 1902
Congress passed the National Irrigation law, and the
Federal Government bad put its shoulder to the wheel
of empire building, and is in it to stay.

The sixteen states of the great arid and .semi-arid
empire of the West, are upon the threshold of a new
problem, one greater than any that has ever before
come up for solution. It means the continuation of the
great work begun by the early users of the miner's
inch the planters of the first field of corn, the men
who set the Pacific and the Intermountain Empires-
on the road to greatness. The men who are to solve
that problem are and must be pioneers, for it springs
out of new conditions, covers a new field. To say
that anybody, else, any other organization than the Na-
tional Irrigation Congress can go on with the work, is
to destroy the efficacy of its members' work take from
them the laurels that belong to them and to them
alone, and turn back the process of continuous em-
pire building to an incomplete past, a past in which
others might have done as well as the man who first
thought of using his' miner's inch to raise corn, others
beside Brigham Young who might have poured water
on the ashy soil of the Intermountain empire, but in
which no other did what they did. no other thought
of it.

This work of irrigation is in its infancy, and every
man who advocates it and fosters it for the good of
the people, for the extension of the empire of the irri-
gated West, is a pioneer. He who has been half hearted
in his interest, aimed to make use of it for his per-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

329

•sonal gain, or who has put aside the interests of the
people, the home seekers, the real empire builders, is
not a pioneer ; he is an obstacle in the way of progress,
a, drag upon the proper solution of the problems that
are bound to arise. His counsel is not beyond sus-
picion, his piety is a mere garment, familiar old clothes.

A very long time ago the Greeks and the Trojans
were at war. The former were beseiging the capital
•city of Troy but did not make much headway in an
open fight, so they thought of a plan to overcome
the unsuspicious, confiding Trojans. They pretended
to give up the fight as too arduous an undertaking,
•so they packed up their baggage and moved away
apparently, and the Trojans rejoiced because they
thought their ene-
mies were defeated.

But the pious
-Greeks left behind
them a nice gift for
the Trojans, and, af-
ter quite a parley
with the principal
Greek land grabbers,
the Trojans accepted
the gift. It was a
monster horse, in the
belly of which was
hid a strong force of
armed men. When
the horse had been
dragged into the re-
joicing city and
night had fallen, the
armed Greeks issued
out of the belly of
the horse, put the
Trojans to death,
and burned up their
city. Ever since this
historical event a
similar attempt to
beguile honesty and
confiding simplicity
by pious ejaculations
and a great show of
goodness has at-
tached to it the say-
ing of a wise Trojan
who objected to the
acceptance of the
monster horse, but
whose wise counsel
was unheeded : "I
fear the Greeks bear-
ing gifts."

There need be
no fear of anything

happening adverse to the interests and right? of the
actual homeseekers in -the carrying out of the objects
of the national irrigation law, if the pioneers of it,
the National Irrigation Congress, that brought about
that legislation, continue to keep guard over its cradle
until it is weaned and has cut its eye teeth and can
draw upon its own vitality. The danger that is al-
ready apprehended by those timid souls who seem
to be anxious to wet nurse the infant, will surely
happen if its own parent abandons it to the suspicious
mercies of strangers.

Some indiivdual members of the Congress may

BRIGHAM YOUNG, FOUNDER..OF THE INTER-MCU/NTAIN EMPIRE.

be afflicted with an influenced dissatisfaction and with-
draw their support, preferring to pay membership fees
in other less high aimed, but perhaps more lucrative
organizations, and if so, what of ii? Their places
will be quickly filled by others less finicky, and so
will be obviated the fulfillment of the Scriptural fiat:
"A house divided against itself shall surely fall." If
there be any who take such action they will but make
clear the line between the vanguard of the hardy pio-
neers and the mere camp followers.

We have reached the cross roads in the irriga-
tion problem and the land question, where it must be
decided whether the people of sixteen great states of
overmastering productive powers, shall be the owners

of their own soil, or
become the eternal
mortgagees of insati-
'able grasping schem-
ers of the same ilk
as those who have
been squeezing them
like sponges for so
many years.

Never, since the
Declaration of Inde-
pendence was rung
out to the world has
there been so great
and pressing a neces-
sity for freedom —
not that foreign ene-
mies are crushing us,
but our home Tories
are more dangerous
than open foes be-
cause they are more
insinuating, and they
are protected by cer-
tain business policies
which discountenance
their exposure, and
they are garbed in
robes of light by lib-
eral applications of
printer's ink.

The liberty to
be rung out to the
people of this nation
and to the world, is
the liberty of the
homeseeker, the toil-
ing builder of the
western empire, to
select his own home
and the water to
cultivate it, free from
interference, and the

liberty to possess and enjoy it in peace, comfort, and
happiness in his own fashion, and to his own profit,
without being disturbed by conflicting laws, or dis-
criminating interpretations put upon them by grasping,
envious outsiders, who see in a prosperous farmer good
game to be plucked, hampered, harassed, and even
ruined.

With these objects to be attained, who can aid
in their attainment better than those who are imbued
with the spirit of the pioneers, and who aim to further
and perfect their work — the new apostles of irrigation
— the successors of the old — the National Irrigation

330

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

THE PRIMER OF IRRIGATION.

BV D. H. ANDERSON.

DR. A. C. TRUE.

DIRECTOR OFFICE EXPERIMENT STATIONS,
U. S. DEFT. OF AGRICULTURE.

Congress? Let the others cease their machinations,
stand aside until they have amply demonstrated the
purity of the faith they profess with their lips:
"Why are you halting in the path of man?

Is it your shoulder bears the human load?

Do you draw down the rains of the sweet heaven,

And keep the green things growing?"

WHERE WE STAND.

The follow ina letter from William K. Smythe, author
of -'The Conquest of Arid America," and founder of the
"Irrigation Age," tells some borne truths about us, which
we purpose using to good advantage:

'•D. H. Anderson, K»II.. Chicago. 111. Sty Dear Sir— I beg
to acknowledge receipt of your favors of July 14th and
27th, the latter including pamphlet (Influences in the
National Irrigation Program).

"In your account of the beginnings of national irriga-
tion yon deprive your own magazine or ihe credit to
which It is entitled. 'The Irrigation Age' was Ihe instru-
ment of those who founded the organized Irrigation
movement, stood by its cradle, fought its battles, estab-
lished It as a force In the life of our times,— and all with-
out money and without price. We had an idea. We be-
lieved it was big and righteous. We fought for it for all
we were worth.

"WM. E. SM*THE."

(Father of the National Irrigation
of Its flr*t presidents.)

Congress, and one

One dollar and fifty cents will secure for you one year's subscrip-
tion to THE IRRIGATION AGE and a finely bound volume of the
Primer of Irrigation which will be sent postpaid In a few months,
when volume Is completed. The Primer of Irrigation will be finely
Illustrated and will contain about 300 pages. Send post office or
express money order for $1.50 and secure copy of first edition.

We have received a long article on the subject of
"Irrigation on the Planet Mars," which we are averse
to publish lest some one start an organization and col-
lect subscriptions for the benefit of the Martian suf-
ferers from land grabbing and water barons.

COPYRIGHTKD, 1908, BY D. H. ANUEKSON.

PLANT FOOIIS-

CHAPTER VI.

-THEIR NATURE — UISTHI lU'TIOX AXD
EFFECTS IN GENERAL.

There are four substances which are essential to
all plant food; without them few plants could live,
and what is surprising, they form a very large portion
of every plant in one form or another. These
substances are: Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen and Nitro-
gen. We shall take them up in rotation and briefly ex-
plain their origin, nature and action.

CARBON.

Carbon is generally known under the form of
coal, any kind of coal, but for experimental pur-
poses it is xisually wood charcoal that is consid-
ered the nearest approach to pure carbon, there
being none except the diamond which can be. called
actually pure or crystallized carbon. As, wood
charcoal, it is derived from willow, pine, box, and sevr
eral other woods, burned under cover so as to prevent
free access of air, and its manufacture is of great com-
mercial importance, kilns for its creation existing in
thousands of places throughout the United States,
where forests abound and wood is in plenty. It should
be borne in mind that this carbon, or wood charcoal,
is an essential element of the jplant, inasmuch as it
comes out of it by burning. Moreover it is all manu-
factured in the plant, extracted as part of its food
from the soil, or the air.

Heated in air, charcoal, or carbon, as we shall
call it hereafter, burns with little flame, and is slowly

ELMWOOD MEAD,

CHIEF OF IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPT.
OF AGRICULTURE.

Til K I I? IN G ATI ON AGE.

331

HON. ANGUS M. CARMEN,
SALT LAKE CITY, (FATHER UTAH LAKE PROJECT.)

consumed, leaving only a white ash, the rest of the
carbon disappearing in the air. It is not lost, how-
ever, for by the burning it is converted into a gas
which goes by the name of "carbonic acid," which
ascends and mingles with the atmosphere, to be again
absorbed by plants to manufacture more carbon, or
rather a fresh supply of charcoal. This carbonic acid
gas is deadly, speedily causing death if breathed.

Carbon is light and porous and floats on.water, but
plumbago, or black lead, and the diamond, which are
only other forms of carbon, are heavy-, and dense. Botli
black lead and the diamond when blirried in the air at
a high temperature, leave only a very little white ash.
the rest being converted into carbonic acid and disap-
pearing in the air like the common charcoal.

Of this carbon, all vegetable substances contain a
very large proportion. It forms from 40 to 50 per
centum by weight of all parts of dried plants cultivated
for the food of animals or man, and the part it per-
forms in the economy of nature is therefore very im-
portant.

Light, porous charcoals possess several notable
properties in plant culture:

First — they absorb into their pores large quan-
tities of gaseous substances and vapors which exist
in the atmosphere. Thus : They absorb over ninety
times their bulk of ammonia; fifty-five times their bulk
of sulphuretted hydrogen; nine times their bulk of
oxygen; nearly twice their bulk of hydrogen, and
absorb sufficient aqueous vapor to increase their weight
from ten to twenty per centum.

Second — -They separate from water, decayed ani-
mal matters and coloring substances which it may
hold in solution. In the soil they absorb from rain,
or flowing water, organized matters of various kinds,
and yield them up to the plants growing near to
contribute to their growth.

Third — They absorb disagreeable odors and keep
animal and vegetable matter sweet when in contact
with it. For which reason vegetable substances con-
taining much water, like potatoes, turnips, etc., are
better preserved by the aid of a quantity of charcoal.

Fourth — They extract from water a portion of the
saline substances, or salts, it may happen to have in
solution, and allow it to escape in a' less impure form.
The decayed (half carbonized) roots of grass, which
have been long subjected to irrigation, may act in
one or all of these ways, on the more or less impure
water with which they are irrigated, and thus gradu-
ally arrest and collect the materials fitted to promote
the growth of the coming crop.

OXYGEN.

We know oxygen only in its gaseous or aeriform
state, although it may be liquefied, and even converted
into a solid form under the name of "liquid air." As
a gas it is invisible and possesses neither color, taste,
nor smell. When inhaled in a pure state it is stim-
ulating and exciting to the vital functions, but xised
in excess it causes death. Plants refuse to grow in
pure oxygen gas and speedily perish.

It exists in the atmosphere in the proportion of
21 per centum of the bulk of the latter, and in this
state and proportion it is necessary to the existence
of animals and plants, and to permit combustion every-
where on the globe. The amount of it in water will
surprise many readers, for every nine pounds of water
contains eight pounds of oxygen. A knowledge of this
fact will cause the full value of water as an essential to
plant growth to be appreciated; moreover, water pos-
sesses the power of absorbing still more oxygen from
the atmosphere than it contains naturally. Thus, water
will absorb from three and one-half to six and one-half
parts of oxygen to one hundred parts of water. Rain,
spring and river waters always contain an additional
proportion of oxygen which they have absorbed from
the atmosphere. This is' taken up in the soil, for, as the

A. G. WOI.FENBERG, LINCOLN NEli.

332

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

water trickles through the soil it surrenders the oxygen
to the plants with which it comes in contact, and min-
isters to their growth and nourishment in various ways
to be hereafter explained.

But the quantitiy of oxygen stored in solid rocks
is still more remarkable. Nearly one-half of the rocks
which compose the crust of the earth, of every solid sub-
stance we see around us, of the soils which are daily
cultivated, and much more than one-half of the weight
of living plants and animals, consist of this elementary
body, oxygen, known to us only as an invisible, im-
ponderable, unperceivable gas.

HYDROGEN.

Hydrogen is also known to us in the stale of gas,
and like oxygen is without color, taste, or smell. It is
unknown in a free or simple state, although chemists
have succeeded in obtaining it in small quantities, and
is not so abundant as either carbon or oxygen. It forms a
small percentage of the weight of animal and vegetable
substances, and constitutes only one-ninth of the weight
of water. With the exception of coal and mineral oils
known as "hydro-carbons," it is not a constituent of
any of the large mineral masses of the globe.

It does not support life, and animals and plants
introduced into it speedily die. It is the lightest of
all known substances, being fourteen and one-half times
lighter than air. Water absorbs it in very small quan-
tities, one hundred gallons of water taking up no more
than one and one-half gallons of it.

NITROGEN.

This substance is likewise known only in a state
of gas. It exists in the atmosphere in the proportion
of seventy-nine per centum of its entire bulk, and
is without color, taste, or smell. It is lighter than
atmospheric air in the proportion of ninety-seven and
one-half to one hundred, and is deadly in its pure state
to both animals and plants. It is essential in the at-
mosphere we breathe, moderating the combustion which
would ensue if the air were pure oxygen, and forms a
part of many animal and some vegetable substances,
but does not enter, except in small proportions, into
mineral masses. It is less abundant than any of the
so-called organic elements, but it performs certain
most important functions in reference to the growth
of plants. Spring and rain water absorb it as they
do oxygen, from the atmosphere, and bear it in solu-
tion to the roots of plants, one hundred parts of water

HON. JOHN HENRY SMITH. SALT LAKE CITY.

dissolving about one and one-half to four per centum
of the gas.

PROPORTIONS OF THE FOREGOING ELEMENTS IN PLANTS.

Although the substances of plants are composed1
mainly of the above organic elements, they exist in
very different proportions. This will appear from the
following table of "dried" plants, taking one thousand
parts by weight as the standard :

Clover Grass, Pota-

Oats. seed. hay. Peas. Wheat, toes.

Carbon 507

Hydrogen ... 64

Oxygen 367

Nitrogen .... 22
Ash 40

494

458

465

455

441

58

50

61

57

58

350

387

401

431

439

70

15

42

34

12

28

90

31

23

50

T. C. NYE, LAREDO, TEXAS.

1,000 1,000 i;ooo 1,000 1,000 1,000

The above proportions are slightly variable, but
the figures given represent nearly the relative weights
in which these elementary elements enter into forms
of vegetable matter. Herbaceous plants generally leave
more ash. that is, inorganic matter, the wood of trees
and the different parts of plants yielding unequal quan-
tities.

HOW ORGANIC ELEMENTS COMBINE TO FORM PLANT?
FOODS.

Carbon being a solid, and insoluble in water, can
not be taken up through the pores of the roots of
plants, the only parts with which it can come in con--

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

333

HON. FRED KIESEL, CHAIRMAN EX. COMMITTEE
llth NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS, OGDEN, UTAH.

tact. Hydrogen, in its simple state, forms no part
of the food of plants because it does not exist in the
atmosphere or in the soil in any appreciable quan-
tities. Oxygen exists in the atmosphere in the gaseous
state and may be inhaled by the leaves of plants.
Nitrogen may be absorbed by the leaves of living plants,
but in a . quantity so small as to escape detection.
Horeover, oxygen and nitrogen being soluble in water
to a slight degree, may also be absorbed in small quan-
tities along with the water taken in through the pores
of the roots.

But this absorption by the plant is insufficient to
maintain its life and growth. It must have a liberal
supply of food in which the four elements specified
form a large percentage. Now, this food can only
be obtained, or manufactured, by the four organic ele-
ments entering into mutual combinations to .form what
are known as "chemical compounds." It is these chem-
ical compounds which find their way into the interior

of the plant, into its very substance, and then the
plant grows and reaches maturity, provided these chem-
ical combinations are continued during its period of
existence.

It must be borne in mind that the atmosphere
diffuses itself everywhere. It makes its way into every
pore of the soil, carrying with it its oxygen, carbonic
acid and other substances it may be charged with, to
the dead vegetable matter and to every living root. Its
action is double: Playing among the leaves and
branches, and fondling the roots by mingling with the
soil. It is the workman, and its tools are its gases,
and with them it manufactures out of the raw material
it finds in the soil — that is, the silica, the- sulphur, and
other inorganic substances, and the decayed organic
matter — chemical combinations which the plant seizes,
appropriates and digests.

CHEMICAL. COMBINATIONS.

When common table salt and water are mixed the
salt dissolves and disappears. By evaporating the wa-
ter it is possible to' recover the salt in the same form
and condition as it was at first. This is called a
"mechanical combination," with which chemistry has
nothing to do, and which would not, in the economy
of nature, be sufficient aS a plant food, although such
combinations and solutions are absorbed by the plant —
they do not feed it!

But when limestone is put into a kiln and burned
it is changed into an entirely different substance, which
is called "quicklime." The limestone is decomposed by
the burning, "the carbonic acid mixed with lime is
driven off by the heat, and lime remains.

So when svilphur is burned in the air it is all
converted into a white vapor of an unpleasant odor,
which is finally absorbed by the "atmosphere and dis-
appears. This is also a chemical decomposition, in
which the sulphur is combined with the oxygen of
the atmosphere.

To cite another illustration, it may be said that
water itself is a chemical compound of the two ele-
mentary bodies, oxygen and hydrogen.

None of these latter are mixtures like the mix-
ture of salt and water, but elementary bodies united
to form new substances, which, as has been said, are
called "chemical compounds," and it is through these
chemical combinations that all plants and fruits pos-
sess their various peculiarities.

The number of compounds which the four organic
elements form with each other is practically unlim-
ited, but of them, a very few only minister to the
grow-th and nourishment of plants. Of these water,

ADD1SON J. McCUNE,
^ STATE ENGINEER, DENVER. COL.

MR. FRANK BOND, WASHINGTON, D. C.

334

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

HON. JOHN E. FROST. TOPEKA. KANSAS.

carbonic acid, ammonia, and nitric acid are the most
important. These compounds we shall take up in their
order, a knowledge of all of them being of essential
importance in agriculture.

WATER.

The following are the three qualities of water im-
portant to plant life :

First — A solvent power.

Second — An affinity for certain solid substances.

Third — An affinity for its own elements.

First— Water possesses the power of absorbing the
several gases of which the atmosphere is composed, and
carries them to the roots of plants whence they are
taken into the circulation.

It dissolves many solid inorganic substances, earthy
and saline, and conveys them in a fluid form to the
roots of plants, which enables them to ascend with the
sap. It also takes up substances of organic origin,
such as portions of decayed animal and vegetable mat-
ter, and likewise brings them within reach of the roots.

When warm the solvent powers of water over solid
substances is very much increased, a fact which ac-
counts for the luxuriant vegetation in the tropical and
semi-tropical regions, and in what are known as "warm
soils."

Second — Water exhibits a remarkable affinity for
solid substances. A familiar instance is mixing water
with quick lime. The lime heats, cracks, swells, and
finally becomes a white powder. This is familiarly
known as "slaking" lime. When thoroughly slaked, the
lime will be found to be one-third heavier than before.
Every three tons of lime, therefore, absorb one ton
of water; hence, if four tons of slaked lime is put
upon land one ton of water is also mixed in the soil.

Water has an affinity for clay, the hottest sum-
mer seldom robbing the clay of its water, enough be-
ing retained to keep wheat green and flourishing when
plants on lighter soils are drooping and burning up.

An affinity for water causes vegetable matter to
combine chemically with it, but in the case of a porous
soil the water is merely "drunk in" mechanically and
it is retained unchanged in the pores of the soil, whence
it may be evaporated out, as related in the last chapter,
but not where there has been a chemical transforma-
tion. This is a fact that should be remembered in
applying mixtures of vegetable matter to the soil by
way of fertilization. A mere mechanical mixture is of
little effect; there must be a chemical transformation
provided for. And it should also not be forgotten that
water itself is capable of a chemical change whereby its
qualities are preserved and retained much longer, in-
deed, than if merely poured upon the soil as a mechan-
ical attempt to assist plant growth.

Third — Water possesses an affinity for its own ele-
ments, and this fact exercises a material influence on
the growth and production of all vegetable substances.
In the interior of plants, as in animals, water undergoes

GEO. L. McDONAUGH.
COLON1XATION AGENT, UNION PACIFIC RAILWAY.

1*ROF. CHAS. W. HALL
FARGO, N. D.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

335

continual decomposition and re-composition. In its
fluid state it finds its way into every vessel and every
tissue. In this situation the water yields its oxygen to
one portion of the plant and its hydrogen to another
portion, wherever either is needed, and, in like manner,
the oxygen and the hydrogen resume their combination
as water and cling together until a new chemical change
is needed. To comprehend this better the reader ha^
only to observe the effects of water on his own system,
for, as between plants and animals, the transmutations
of oxygen and hydrogen, conveyed into the system by
means of water, are practically identical.

We shall have more to say upon this subject in the
chapter on the advantages of irrigation.

' CARBONIC ACID.

Carbonic acid, as has been said, is the gas
from burned charcoal, or carbon. It has an acid
taste and smell, is soluble in water, and reddens vege-
table blues. Water dissolves more than its own bulk
of this gas. It is one-half heavier than atmospheric
air, and is deadly in its effects. Yet it is the principal
food of plants, being absorbed by the leaves and roots
in large quantities, hence its presence in the atmos-
phere is necessary to plant growth, though the pro-
portion is small.

Carbonic acid unites with potash, soda and lime,,
forming compounds known as "carbonates." Thus
pearlash is carbonate of potash; the common soda of
the shops is carbonate of soda, and limestone, or chalk,
is carbonate of lime. The common carbonate of lime,
in its various forms of chalk, limestone, or marble, is
insoluble in pure water, but it dissolves readily in
water containing carbonic acid. We know that water
absorbs a quantity of carbonic acid from the atmos-
phere, and hence as it trickles through the soils con-
taining limestone, etc., it dissolves a portion of the
earth and carries it in its progress to the roots of the
plants, where the earthy solution is used directly or in-
directly to promote vegetable growth.

As to its absorption by water, a reference to a
common glass of soda water will be sufficient to make
this clear.

Some plants manufacture their own acids out of
the carbonic acid — distinctive acids — for instance, ox-
alic acid, which is found in the leaves and stems of the
common sorrel (oxalis). It is an acid not found in the
soil and may be obtained from sugar, starch and even
from wood by various chemical processes, principally
by the use of nitric acid. To detail all the uses to which
carbonic acid may be put would be going deep into
chemistry, which is beyond the scope of this book.
However, vegetable acids will be referred to in the next
chapter.

AMMONIA.

Ammonia is a compound of hydrogen and nitrogen,
and performs a very important part in the process of
vegetation. It promotes not only the rapidity and lux-
uriance of vegetation, but exercises a powerful control
over the functions of vegetable life. It possesses sev-
eral special properties which bear upon the preparation
of plant food.

First — It has a powerful affinity for acid sub-
stances, and unites with them in the soil, forming saline
compounds or "salts," which are more or less essential
to vegetable life.

Second — It possesses a very strong affinity for

RODNEY H. YALE, BEATRICE, NEB.

the acids of potash, soda, lime and magnesia. When
mixed with these acids the acid in the salt of am-
monia (sal ammoniac) for instance, is taken up by
the potash, etc., and the ammonia is set free in a
gaseous state. This is the effect of lime dressing on
a soil rich in animal and vegetable matter; it de-
composes the salts, particularly those of ammonia.

Third — The salts which ammonia forms with the
acids are all very soluble in water, and thus ammonia
is brought down to the roots of plants for their use.

Fourth. — In the state of carbonate it decomposes
gypsum, forming carbonate of lime (chalk) and sul-
phate of ammonia, both of which are peculiarly favor-
able to vegetation.

Fifth — The presence of ammonia in a soil con-
taining animal and vegetable matter in a decaying
state causes this matter to attract oxygen from the
air with great rapidity and in abundance, the result
being that organic acid compounds are formed which
combine with the ammonia to form ammoniacal salts.
On the decomposition of these latter salts by the action
of lime or other of the affinities above mentioned, the
organic acids separated from them are always further
advanced toward the state in which they become fit
for plant foods.

Sixth — The most important property of ammonia
is the ease with which its salts undergo decomposition,

336

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

parts of the plant it passes off in the form of new com-
pounds, in the insensible form of perspiration, or in
perfumed exhalations of the plant.

NITRIC ACID.

This acid consists of nitrogen combined with oxy-
gen, and never occurs in nature in a free state, but is
found in many semi-tropical regions in combination
with potash, soda and lime, in what are known as "ni- .
trates." They are all, like the salts of ammonia, very
soluble in water, those of soda, lime and magnesia at-
tracting moisture from the air, and in a damp atmos-
phere gradually assume a liquid form. Saltpeter is a
compound of nitric acid with potash (nitrate of potash),
and it may sometimes be used as an influential agent
in promoting vegetation. Like the acid itself, these
nitrates, when present in large quantities, are destruc-
tive of vegetation, and are frequently the cause, in arid
and semi-arid regions, of utter barrenness, the nitrous
incrustations accumulating upon the surface of the soil.
In small quantities, however, they exercise an important
and salutary influence on the rapidity of growth.

An
Apology.

Owing to lack of space in preparing for
the all important session of the Eleventh
National Irrigation Congress, we have
been compelled to omit from the August
and September numbers of THE IRRIGATION AGE the
second chapter of Hon. Thomas F. Weedin's revelations
entitled, "The San Carlos vs. The Tonto Reservoir."
The matter is too important to be lost to the public,
and it will appear in the October number without fail.

HON. JOSEhH M. CAKEV, CHEYENNE, WYOMING.

cither in the air, in the soil, or in the interior of
plants, a peculiarity which is possessed by water, as
lias been said. In the interior of the plant ammonia
separates into its constituent elements as freely as
water. The hydrogen it contains in so largo a quan-

SAN SABA VALLEY, TEXAS.

Arrangements have been completed for the con-
struction of the contemplated big irrigation works on
the San Saba river. The plant will include two large
storage reservoirs and 176 miles of canals and laterals.
This will water about 40,000 acres in the valley. By
and by "San Saba" will be the legend on numerous boxes
and crates in our great markets of the North.

UTAH DELEGATION. 10th NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS,
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.

tity is always ready to separate itself from the nitrogen,
and so, in concert with the other organic elements in-
troduced into the plant through the roots or the leaves,
it aids in producing the different solid bodies of which
the several parts of the plant are made up. The nitro-
gen also becomes fixed, that is "permanent" in the col-
ored petals of the flowers, in the seeds, and in other

THE IRRIGATION AGE has the utmost confidence in
the delegates to this great and important Congress;
it does not believe that any one man, or set of men,
can or will manage it for personal interests, and that
if they, or any of them dare to attempt it, they will
quickly disappear and be heard of no more.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

337

(3
O

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O

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O
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£

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338

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

THE DRAINAGE JOURNAL DEPARTMENT.

The Flow of Water Through Pipes.

SOME FACTS ABOUT LAYING TILES.

BY J. ARNETT,
Surveyor and Civil Engineer.

All rules for the formation of tables to show the
cubic feet per second of the flow of water through
pipes of various diameters and cross section areas are
arbitrary. If the reader does not already know that,
he will soon see why when he considers that in open
ditches, creeks and rivers the water flow on the sur-
face at the center where there is no friction, is much
faster than in the bed and sides of ditch, creek or
river. The same holds good in tile drains. The great-
est velocity is at the center of the tile, and the fric-
tion at its circumference surface. -This circumference
surface friction depends upon whether the tile are
smooth inside, of equal internal diameter, laid on firm
surface, without horizontal or vertical shouldering.
Eeader, you know that the practical work of burning
and laying tile, forbid us to expect these last con-
ditions. Hence any rule is a mere approximation and
approaches the truth, as the last conditions and others
not mentioned, approach perfection.

J. ARNETT. C. E.. LONDON, OHIO.

The writer will give two formulas, taken from
John C. Troutwine's Engineers Pocketbook, for the
velocity in feet per second of the flow of water in tile
drains, and the cubic feet of water discharge per second.

Now what is a formula?

If you will permit the writer to coin a definition,
permit him to say that it is a rule tied in a double
bow knot, and when this double bow knot is untied
by expanding it into words, it becomes a rule. Here
are the formulae and their rules.

The velocity of flow in feet per second :

Velocity in ft. per sec. =48 Vd "me""1" "• x't""'"1 head '" ft~

total length in ft. :-54 diameter in It.

Now for the rule: Multiply the diameter of the
tile in feet (the diameters of all tile less than a foot
would be the fraction of a foot) by the total head jn
feet; the product is the numerator of a fraction, for
denominator of which, to the total length of the tile
drain in feet add 54 times the diameter of the tile

in feet. Divide the numerator by its denominator
and extract the square root of the quotient, and mul-
tiply by the square root thus found by the coefficient
or constant, 48.

Let us apply this rule : Suppose we have a 6-inch
tile drain a half mile or 2,640 feet long, with a total
head (or fall) of 12 feet, what is the velocity in
feet per second of the flow of water in the tile? In
our drain the tile is 6 inches — half a foot. This mul-
tiplied by total head, 12 feet, gives a product of 6
feet for the numerator of our fraction, and to get the
denominator of our fraction to the length of the drain,
2,640 feet, we must add 54 times the diameter of the
6-inch tile, which is 27 feet. This added to 2,640 feet
give 2,667 feet for the denominator of our fraction,
and we now write it thus:

The flow in feet per second=48v'^r7

2,667 will go into 6, 0.0022497187 of a time. Pointing
this last quantity off into periods of two figures each
thus: 0.00'22'49'71'87' and extracting the square root
ghvs us 0.04743, and this multiplied by the co-efficient
or constant, 48, gives 2.27664 feet for the velocity of
flow in feet per second.

Now for the discharge of our 6-inch drain in cubic
feet per second. Our' formula is
Discharge in cub. ft. per sec. =37.6 v'sth power of head.

diameter in ft. X in ft.

length in ft. + 54 diam. in ft.

The fifth power of our 6-inch drain=0.5X0.5
X0.5X0.5X0.5=0.03125 of a foot and this multiplied
by 12, the head in feet, gives 0.37500 for the numer-
ator of our fraction, and to get the denominator of our
fraction we must add to 2,640 feet, the length of our
drain, 54 times the diameter of the 6-inch tile in feet,
which is 27 feet, giving us for the denominator of our
fraction 2,667 feet, and we can now write our for-
mula thus:

Discharge in cubic ft. per second = 37. 6 v

Dividing 0.37500 of a foot by 2,667 gives us for
a quotient 0.00014060742 of a foot and we can now
write our formula in this shape : The discharge of our
6-inch tile in cubic feet of water per second=37.6
V0.00014060742=the square root of the quantity un-
der the radical multiplied by the coefficient of con-
stant 37.6. The square root of 0.00014060742 is
0.011859 of a cubic foot and this multiplied by the
coefficient 37.6 give 0.4458984 of a cubic foot discharge
per second for our 6-inch tile drain= 16$^ enSlc '.V P?rhT'
The algebraist can see through and apply the fore-
going formulas' instantly, and all farmers and oth-
ers interested, familiar with the principles of arith-
metic and who are in possession of two grains of
common, kinetic, working sense can compute by the
foregoing rules whatever he wants. Any one desir-
ing to examine the subject further the writer refers
him to the subject "Hydraulics," in John C. Traut-
wine's engineer's pocket book, page 538 of issue of
1876, and page 236 of issue of 1888. There he will
find formulae, rules and tables to his heart's content.
The writer feels that he should not cease this squib
without referring to an important matter in the con-
struction of tile drains. If you want a doctor, get
one. If you need a carpenter, get one. If you desire
a tile drain laid to a uniform gradient, get a com-
petent engineer to level it and' give you the cuttings
every 100 feet or oftener, measured from the tops
of the stakes driven even with the surface of ground.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

330

Then yon take charge of the work and see to it that
the trench is cut to the gradient, made smooth and
even in the bottom, tile laid true without shouldering,
turning tile this or that way to make the closest joint
possible, and in refilling trench hold tile in place un-
til earth is compacted on both sides to half their height
so that there may be no danger of bad shouldering. by
the ends of the tile being pushed this way and that
way, or by the unequal settling of loose earth. The
cost of the drain will be more but remember you are
doing work not for today only, but for all coming
time.

A tile drain should be of sufficient capacity to
carry away one-half of an ordinary rainfall, the soil
being supposed to absorb the other half. No land
holder can afford to tile drain against a cloud burst or
down pour of rain of two or more inches of water
per hour. Whatever mistakes you may make, do not
let the putting in of tile too small to do the work
be one of them. Our mothers used to sweeten goose-
berry pies by putting in sugar, pound for pound, then
shut their eyes and put in more sugar to be sure to
have pies sweet. . Be liberal in determining the size
of tile for. any drain, and then add an inch or two
to the diameter to be sure to have the tile large
enough to do the work expected of it. The writer be-
gan in 1858 to level for box drains to carry the water
of the historic gopher ditcher to an outlet ; then leveled
for box drains in their own right, then he leveled
for crude, high priced tile with the apathy of the
farmer against him. It is enough to say that the
writer, on account of the high price of tile and poor
at that, the apathy and ignorance of the farmer of
the utility of tile drainage, and other troubles over
which he had no control, looks back to county ditches,
the construction of which he superintended, where the
tile should have been once and a half or twice as large.
Today tile are every way better made, much larger
sizes, from three to forty-two inches internal diameters,
of two, two and a half and three feet lengths. This
being so, the farmers are taking up about all the tile
in some of my first ditches, moving the tile up the
ditch to points where the capacity of tile can do the
work, and putting in larger tile in its stead. Say a
15 or 18-inch instead of a 12-inch. You can get splen-
did 15-inch tile now for $1.90 per rod. At first we
paid $2.00, $2.25 and $2.50 for 12-inch tile of foot
lengths, of every mathematical shape of cross section,
and some shapes that mathematics knows nothing of.

Put in tile large enough and you will not regret
it. Any one desiring to supply himself with an ex-
haustless store of information to draw upon, let him
make John C. Trautwine's engineer's pocket book a
member of his library.

Once more — while laying tile lay it deep, deep.
All costs are the same except deeper digging and more
back filling. Remember, if you put your tile down
two and a half feet you have your field drained to a
certain extent, but if you put it down five feet deep
you drain another field underlying the first, so the
roots and rootlets of your crops have two fields, one
above the other, from which to elaborate their plant
food.

An exchange says : "All the human race is yet
in the rudimentary stage of moral development." How
that can be when the editor has advanced far enough
to find it out is one of our social mysteries.

IN MEMORIAM.

Fred Bond, state engineer of Wyoming, departed
this life on August 14, last, after an illness of seven
weeks of typhoid fever, at his home in Cheyenne.

Mr. Bond's death came as a public calamity, and in
the words of the governor of Wyoming, "his loss will
be felt by the entire state, and it will be difficult, in-
deed, to replace him."

Quiet and unassuming, he possessed those unusual
qualities which endear one to hearts of all, and he was
one of the most generally beloved men in the entire
state. Kind and indulgent, courteous, and, withal, a

FRED BOND, LATE STATE ENGINEER,
• CHEYENNE, \VYO.

true gentleman, he counted his friends by scores and
had no enemies. To meet him was to be his friend, and
his death will be mourned throughout the length and
breadth of the commonwealth.

The deceased leaves a widow and three children,
Warwick, Kenneth and Fred Bond, Jr. His brothers,
Frank and H. L. Bond, are here. A mother is still liv-
ing at Iowa City, Iowa.

We knew Mr. Bond personally and well, and
join with his friends in deploring his loss and extending
sympathy to his family.

Mr. Clarence T. Johnston, recently assistant chief
irrigation investigations, United States Department of
Agriculture, has just been appointed state engineer of
"Wyoming, to fill the position made vacant bv the demise
of Mr. Fred Bond.

We notice in some of our agricultural exchanges
that "apples" are recommended in the manufacture of
cider. It is believed that this fruit will add "body"
to the usual pine wood shavings, liquorice, and pond
water decoction commonly sold under the name of
"cider."

340

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

MR. SILAS THORNAPPLE'S OPINIONS CON-
SARNIN' IRRIGATION.

'Taint because thar ain't water enough on this airth
to go around thet thar is so much difficulty in gittin'
any when it is wanted the wust, thar bein' a sufficient
quantity uv it to obleege the large part uv the inhabi-
tants to go into the ark-buildin' occupation to save
themselves gittin' drowned ef it sh'd all come onto
them to oncet — but it is because thar is so many ob-
stacles in the way uv gittin' it.

Lookin' at the situation from a birdseye pint uv
view, I calkerlate thet it would take the sarvices uv
a arbitration tribunal composed uv Solomons to make
anv satisfactory impressions on the difficulties, an' then
the arbitrators would hev to. be encased in suits uv
boiler plate while attendin' thar meetin's, 'on account
uv the strenuous pressure thet would be brought to
:bear on them by the army of contractors, water barons,
land sharks, an' other friends, uv humanity anxious
to procure homes for the suffering pervided them ez
suffer hev the cash to back up thar aspirations. The
•others don't git any homes wuth mentionin'.

On the surface, thet is, on the side turned to the
ardent gaze uv the public, this irrigation business 'pears
to me to be in the follerin' condition: It is divided into
,two classes, each one uv which is a holdin' on to the
end uv a rope an' a-pullin' fur all they're wuth in
: contrary directions. So fur ez the surface looks, neither
: uv 'em hain't got a hair weight uv unanimity or sur-
render, but I guess I know a few things an' I don't
hev to pry my opinions out with a boot jack.

One- side hez all the land, or it hez made contracts
to git all thefs* wuth surveyin'; or pourin' water on,
an' the other side hez all the Water which hez not been
set aside fur drinkin' purposes in the State uv Ken-
tucky, or hez contracted to git it.

I wuz talkin' to Priscilly — thet's my wife — about
the condition, uv the irrigating problem, an' I allowed
a few rays uv light to be shed onto the idee I hev jest
suggested.

"Wall," says she nateral like, "I sh'd think them
ez hezv all the land, an' the fellers ez hez all the water
would git together, as Deacon Plum wants everybody
to do, an' then they could git along without so much
rampagin' about an' squealin' like pigs under a gate."

"Sh-h-h," says I, peerin' about keerfully, fur the
very walls hev ears when the irrigation question is
teched, an' approachin' nigher to Priscilly, "thefs
what they are a doin' now, an' they don't w-ant any-
body to know it; thet's why thar is so much tarnal
squealin' to make folks think thar's somethin' else ails
'em."

"I don't keer what they do," remarked Prfscilly,
resumin' her knittin'. "so long ez they leave me enough
water to bring the milk up to the standard required by
them knolledgeous scientific fellers ez don't know the
difference between fresh milk an' a pail uv whitewash."

"Priscilly," says I, laughin' in my sleeve, "you hev
hit the whole batch in the solarum plexum without
meanin' to do it."

"Whar might thet be?" asked Priscilly, in her
simple innocence.

"Tain't wuth while explainin," says I, "so long
ez it is did." Then addin' by way uv explanation:
"The fellers ez hev charge uv the irrigating cow are
gittin' milk out uv her from her horns to her tail,
an' they are a-skimmin' off the cream an' a-waterin'

the milk up to a standard ez high ez the sky. Thet's
what they keep the cow fur, an' it's the consumers ez
git bilious when they pay cream prices fur skim milk
an' water."

"I sh'd think the unfort'nit' consumers would not
like that," pursued Priscilly, in a sympathetic tone uv
voice.

"They don't know anything about it," says I.
"They only hev their suspicions, so they swaller their
milk an' water jest like spring lambs. It's a case uv
the people be gol darned."

"Silas !" exclaimed Priscilly, reproachingly, "you're
swearin' again."

"Thet ain't swearin'," explained I ; "thet's the busi-
ness motto ez hez took the place uv 'God bless our
home' in the syndicated homes uv the farmers uv the
irrigated west."

Allus irrigate immediately previous to a rain storm.
It saves water fur the combine, an' enables him to
charge you jest ez if you had used the whole allow-
ance— thet is if you stop when the rain comes down
hard. Somebody hez to pay fur the water an' why not
you?

Allus git your land cheap and then agitate the
government to put in waterworks cluss by. You will
then git a good price fur your land without any expense.
N". B. — Buy all the land you can, but git it any how.

Some uv our water canals hev been dammed so
often thet there is a projec' on foot to concentrate all
the dams in the Tonto deestrick. It begins to look
ez if they hed already begun the work.

In buildin' a reservoir, it don't make no difference
if thar aint no water to fill it or not. The main thing
is to git the reservoir. Let the other fellers worry
about the water.

Thar are certain deestricks in the bloomin' West
whar, ef you can't take your ditches in over night you
hed better nail them down.

A great number uv people raise fine crops by usin'
the watered stock uv the irrigation combines without
actually usin' a drop uv the real water. They are gen-
'rally the promoters.

Some folks insist thet water allus runs up hill.
But tain't so. I've seen it run up out uv a pump
many a time, and I hev seen times when it wouldn't
run at all.

Thar is allus more money made by a contractor
out uv a job than the feller who pays for the job
ever receives out uv the profits. The truth of this
surprisin' fac' will appear later on if irrigation is
carried on accordin' to the ideas uv some folks.

A scientific investigator comes forward with the
statement that "cow peas" are not peas but beans.
Aside from the fact that a rose by any other name
will smell as sweet, we are reminded of the poem :
"Tell me not in mournful numbers
Life is but a mournful dream,
For the soul is dead that slumbers
And things are not what they seem."

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

341

PRACTICAL IRRIGATION.

JNO. G. HALL, GREELEY, COLO.

In treating various subjects under the head of
practical irrigation, I am requested to speak of the
failures as well as the successes of our Greeley farmers,
as failures teach success as well as success itself, so I
will take for my subject, "Growing of Trees."

Thirty-three years ago, when the colony was first
established by Horace Greeley, and the first ditches were
taken out, and irrigation beginning to prove a suc-
cess, thought and energy were of course turned to the
planting of trees. This in a measure is all right, espe-

aid of artificial watering, ranging in price from fifty
to two hundred and fifty, the trees become an expensive
luxury, and farmers are cutting them out as fast as
possible to render the land productive, as a single row
of trees will render unproductive a tract equal to
eighty acres, that would produce from $100 to $200.

When a new canal is taken out it is generally sug-
gested that trees be planted on the banks to beautify
and be self-watering. This is a mistaken idea, as
trees along canal banks as well as laterals are a very
expensive luxury, because there must be labor done
on canal banks as well as laterals, and it is slow,
expensive work chopping through and dealing with
green trees along your ditches. So in an irrigated
country plant trees around your buildings only for
best results.

C. G. ELLIOTT, C. E.,

EXPERT IN DRAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS.
U: S. DEFT. OF AGRICULTURE.

cially around dwellings and out-buildings, and there
they are a necessity for comfort and ornamentation.

Land was then cheap and water plenty. Very
few ditches and plenty of snow to furnish late water.
Trees were planted on both sides of laterals, running
through farms and along fences, the cottonwood variety
being in the majority of cases planted. Thirty years
passed and these twigs or cuttings stand today from
fifty to one hundred feet high, rendering unproductive
on each side of them the ground equal to the height
of the trees.

. Now that the land becomes so valuable by. the

CONTRIBUTIONS THANKFULLY RECEIVED.

A friend of THE IRRIGATION AGE who received
the following letter permits its to publish a copy. We
do so without comment:

GEORGE H. MAXWELL/
Executive Chairman
The National Irrigation Association,

1707 Fisher Bldg., Chicago.

August 18th, 1903.

DEAR SIRS : Last month I sent you a reprint from
the Arizona Republican giving account of our final
success in the organization of the Salt River Water
Users' Association, thus adjusting local complications
enabling the Government to build the great Tonto
Basin Reservoir.

That work done I have returned east to take up
the campaign for the repeal of the Desert Land Act,
the commuta'tion clause of the Homestead Act and
the Timber and Stone Act, under which the public
lands are being absorbed by speculators, to the exclusion
of actual settlers, at the rate of over £5,000,000 acres «.
year.

Funds are urgently needed for our correspondence
and press bureau in this campaign. Public sentiment
must be awakened. The commercial interests of the
country who want a dense population in the West can
not afford to be apathetic. May we not have prompt
remittance of your dues? Yours very truly,

GEORGE H. MAXWELL,

Executive Chairman.

Farming in Colorado, Utah and
New Mexico.

The farmer who contemplates changing his loca-
tion should look well into the subject of irrigation.
Before making a trip of investigation there is no
better way to secure advance information than by
writing to those most interested in the settlement of
unoccupied lands. Several publications, giving val-
uable information in regard to the agricultural, hor-
ticultural and live stock interests of this great west-
ern section have been prepared by the Denver &
Rio Grande and the Rio Grande Western, which
should be in the hands of all who desire to become
acquainted with the merits of the various localities.
Write S. K. Hooper, G. P. & T. A., Denver, Colo..

342

THEIREIGATIONAGE.

SAMSON DOUBLE GEAR

The Samson

GALVANIZED STEEL
WIND HILL

The Strongest and Best
Mill on Earth

It is a double-geared mill and is the latest great
advance in wind-mill construction.

The capacity of our new wind-mill factory is
75,000 mills a year — the greatest capacity of any
factory of its kind on earth.

...THE SAMSON...

is a double- geared mill and is the ktest great ad-
vance in wind-mill construction.

It will be readily seen that this double gear im-
parts double the strength to the Samson over that
of any other mill of equal size. Since the gear is
double and the strain of work is equally divided
between the two gears, there is no side draft,
shake or wobble to cut out the gears. The gear-
ing, therefore, has four times the life and wearing
qualities of any single gear.

All interested in irrigation should write us for
our finely illustrated book on irrigation matters,
which will be sent free to all who mention THE IRRIGA-
TION AGE. This work contains all necessary informa-
tion for establishing an irrigation plant by. wind power.

Remember We Guarantee the Samson

The Stover Alanf 'g Co.

617 Riv«r Street FREEPORT, ILL.

»

|

•

THE IKEIQATION AGE.

343

HENRY W. PEABODY & Co.,
SHIPPING AND EXPORT COMMISSION MERCHANTS.

NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 1903.
THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL:

Gentlemen — Some of our South African friends have re-
cently formed a land syndicate and propose 'adopting on a
large scale the best irrigation methods now in vogue. They
are anxious to have full detail as to the method practiced
in this country and have requested that we furnish them with
catalogues, text books and full information on the subject.
We will be glad to have a sample copy of your publication and
also any information with which you can furnish us relative
to the best manufacturers of machinery now in use.

Any detail you can give us under this heading will be
appreciated. Yours very truly,

HENRY W. PEABODY & Co.
Mark your reply: For South African Department.

LADYSMITH, Wis., Aug. 2, 1903.
D. H. ANDERSON PUB. Co., CHICAGO, ILL. :

Gentlemen— Please send me a sample copy of THE IRRIGA-
TION AGE AND* DRAINAGE JOURNAL, as I want to buy a brick
and tile machine and would like to get the ad. of some
responsible company. Yours truly,

GEO. B. GOOTHER.

MEADOW VALLEY, Wis., Aug. 14, 1903.
THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL:

Dear Sir — I write to ask if you know whether there is
such a thing as a sand tile manufactured. I understand it is
made somewhere in northwestern Illinois. It is the common
tile with a collar tile about eight inches long that is made to
fit and slip over the joint of the common tile. Please write
me. Would like to get them as near the central part of
Wisconsin as possible. Any information in regard to the
above will be greatly appreciated.

Thanking you in advance, I remain,

Yours respectfully,

XAVIER F. GEHANT.

A Bath

for
Beauty

and
Health.

The Allen Fountain Brush
and Bath Outfit

Friction, Shower and Massage Combined. The

only Sanitary Bath Brush that at one operation thoroughly
clean** the skin, imparting a hi-althy tone and glow, and puU
one in a condition to reni«t colds, la^rippe and all contagious
and infectious dineancs. Furninht-d either for bath tub connec-
tion, or with our fountain and Safety Portable Floor Mat, en-
abling one to take a perfect spray and frictional bath in any
room. "With this outfit one is independent of the bath room,
as a better bath can be taken with two quarts of wafcr, than
with a tub-full the old way. Injure* aclear complexion, bnght
eves, ixisy cheeks, cheerful spirits, sound "leep. Should be m
every home, and every tr-vrler's trunk or grip. Full outfit No. £,
confuting of Fountain Bniahj open mouth rubber water bag;
bath fountain and aafety mat. Price (5.00.

are malting from $2.5 to f".5 peT week selling
th«w outfits. Send for FREK booklet, "The
•nee of the Bath," prices and terms.

THE ALLEN MANUFACTURING CO., 447 Erie St., Toledo, 0,

PRIMER OF IRRIGATION.

Soon to be out. Price $1.00. With IRRIGATION AGE, 1 year,
81.60.

25,000
NEW WORDS

are added in the last edition of
Webster's .International Diction-
ary. The International is kept
always abreast of the times. It
takes constant work, expensive
work and worry, but it is the only
way to keep the dictionary the

STANDARD
AUTHORITY

of tbe English-speaking world.
Other dictionaries follow. Web-
ster leads.

It is the favorite with Judges,
Scholars, Educators, Printers, etc. ,
in this and foreign countries.

A postal card will bring you
interesting specimen pages, etc.

G. & C. IfEBBIAM COMPANY

SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

PUBLISHERS OF

WEBSTER'S

INTERNATIONAL

DICTIONARY.

WONDERFUL REPORTS

UNION
PACIFIC

At present Colo-

the attention of

sugar men, some

soon all the beet

rado is attracting
capitalists and
predicting that
sugar consumed

in the United States will be manufactured in
a radius of too to 200 miles of Denver.

In the South Platte Valley on Union Pacific farmers'

crop of 15 to 25 tons per acre is paid at the rate of $67.50

to $112.50, which, after deducting all expenses (about $35

at the most) leaves him a net profit per acre of $32.50 to

$77.50, or in many cases much more than the value of the ground.

From beets averaging 17 per cent the farmer can
extract 14 percent in granulated sugar, or 280 pounds
to the ton of beets. The working expenses are about
the same as in the rain belt; coal is even cheaper.

Full information furnished on application to

E. L. LOMAX, C. P. & T. A.

OMAHA, NEB.

344 THEIKRIGATIONAGE.

•••••••••••••••••••••••«••••••••«•••••€ •«•€••«•••«•«»«••••••••••••••••••••••••«

~ J. L. HUBBELL

Indian Trader

Dealer in

Navajo
Blankets

OLD STYLE WEAVINQS AND
PATTERNS A SPECIALTY.

Silverware, Baskets,

Curios,
Prehistoric Pottery.

Products of Navajo

and other Indian

tribes.

AGENTS WANTED THROUGHOUT
THE UNITED STATES.

Write for particulars, mentioning
The Irrigation Age.

J. L. HUBBELL

Arizona

BRANCH STORE: Ream's Canon, Ariz.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

345

We have furnished a large
number of centrifugal pump*,
both belt driven and direct
connected, for use in irriga-
tion. Where water is drawn
from wells our vertical pump
is used with splendid success.

We also build our pumps
direct connected to engines,
which have been found ex-
ceedingly useful where the lift
of water does not exceed 20
feet. Our line consists of the
various types and sizes from
1% in. to 12 in., inclusive.

Our dredging or sacd
pumps have Been found very
-•uccesslul in the dredging of
canals; a large number of
• hese outfits having been used
in Colorado.

Erie Pump and Engine Company, Erie, Pa.

VAN WIE CENTRIFUGAL

the best in the market. Why? Because

Handles More Water Than

Any Other Pump with

Same Fue .

PROOF. Read following from result of
test made by New Mexico College of Ag-
riculture and Mechanic Arts, Mesilla
Park, New Mexico:

Cost of fuel per acre for irrigation three
inches deep, using dry Tornilio Wood at
S2.25 per cord.
Name of Pump.

VanWie $.512

Wood's 6«

Kingsford 597

Byron Jackson 614

Fifth Pump 617

For catalogue, address

IRVIN VAN WIE,

713-723 West Fayette St.
SYRACUSE, N Y.

1903 Irrigator.

"Millions for Farmers."

So says Secretary Wilson, U. S. Department of Agriculture.

Texas Tobacco Tracts!

Exhaustive Tests Prove that the Finest Grade of

..O XJ B A W I* E> A 1^..

Filler and Wrapper can be grown in East Texas on the line of the

Soils and Climate similar to Famous Vuelta Abajo District of Pinar Del Rio,
Cuba. Write for* full information to

T. J. ANDERSON, Gen. Pass. Agent,
HOUSTON, TEXAS.

M. H. DOWNEY. E. J. W1LCOX .

DOWNEY <a WILCOX. Civil Engineers.

DRAINAGE AND ROADS A SPECIALTY,

Correspondence Solicited. Room 2. Court House, ANDERSON, IND.

R.. H. McWILLIAMS,
General Drainage Contractor.

Special attention pa'd to reclaiming swamp lands with steam dredges.

Drainage bonds bought and sold.

MATTOO1V,

BURNHAM ARTESIAN

..

. PUMP

DEEP-WELL ENGINE

THE IMPORTANT FEATURES OF

Cushion on End of Stroke, Economy •:•
of Steam, Freeness from Short-
Stroke, and Quiet Running.

THE BURNHAM

RETAINS THESE FEATURES

Sizes suitable for a great range of work where a small
area of irrigation is desired, are made. In-
formation given on application.

THESE STAND SUPREME IN AMERICA

UNION STEAM PUMP COMPANY

Battle Creek, Mich., U. S. A.

Please mention THR IRRIGATION AGE wnei. wiit ng to advertisers.

346 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Great Irrigated
Valleys....

ARKANSAS VALLEY, COLORADO. Altitude 3,400 to 4,600 ft.; beet sugar factories,
thousands of acres of alfalfa, millions of cantaloupes, extensive orchards, flocks of sheep;
largest irrigated section in the U. S. Extensive cattle feeding and dairy interests, population
doubled in five years.

PECOS VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,000 to 4,000 feet.; 175 miles long; on edge
of great plains' cattle pastures, affording profitable home market for alfalfa and grain ; noted
for its large orchards and fine quality of fruits and vegetables; artesian belt with 300
flowing wells.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. Altitude 3,700 to 5,300 ft.; 350 miles long;
great sheep raising section; mining in adjacent mountains; adapted to fruit raising and
small farms.

SALT RIVER VALLEY, ARIZONA. Altitude 1,000 ft.; 60 miles long and 20 miles wide;
special industries— early oranges, live stock, vegetables, small fruits, alfalfa, bee culture.

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Altitude 50 to 400 ft.; 250 miles long, 50 miles
wide; wheat raising, live stock, oil wells, alfalfa, raisin and wine grapes, olives, figs, citrus
and deciduous fruits, almonds, walnuts, lumbering and mines in mountains.

ALL FIVE VALLEYS have never-failing water supply, extensive systems of irrigating
ditches and rich soil, insuring profitable crops. Pleasant climate, especially in winter.
Thriving towns, affording good markets. Directly reached by the SANTA FE.

For information about farm lands, manufactures and general business openings,
address

Gen. Pass. Office A. T. 4 S. F. Ry. System,
GREAT NORTHERN BLDG. £ CHICAGO.

Santa Fe

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 347

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South Dakota

That is the place to go if you have made
up your mind to stop paying rent and
start on the highway to independence.

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Today is the time to secure farm lands.

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Recent extensions of the jf |

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splendid opportunities for success are

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'4 x oifered. South Dakota book— IQO^ edition t x

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$ x —sent for 2 cents' postage. * \

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F. A. MILLER, General Passenger Agent, |

CHICAGO. y

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THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Built Right

Run Right

Unsurpassed for Tile, Hollow Ware, Brick a.nd a.11
Classes of Cla,y products. Write for Pa.rticula.rs
on this or other Cla.yworking Machinery 9 ^ ? ?

The Improved Centennial Auger Machine

Bucyrus. Ohio
U. S. A.

The American Clay-Working
Machinery Company

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

349

for Brick, Tile and Sewer
Pipe Manufacturers

SEW£R PIPcl MARROW

TtLE TRUCK HEAVY FURNACE FRONT

These Trucks and Barrows are made of first-class material, and the workmanship is the
best. Special- trucks and barrows to suit customers, made to order. Prices quoted on
receipt of specifications.

BAND TIGHTENERS AND DOOR CONNECTORS

CLASS B CLASS C

TUPPER STYLE GRATE

CAST IRON KILN COVERS

Sections 6 inches wide. 36, 42, and 48 inches long

STRAIGHT GRATES

VENTILATORS

Anyjength. Sections 3 inches to Z% inches wide. Weight average about 1 pound
HiL™, per inch in length.

We also make Kiln Bands complete with sections cut to length and rivet holes punched. Rivets fur-
nished and tighteners riveted on to end sections. Prices quoted for anything in this line upon application.

Address

The Arnold -Creager Co.

NEW LONDON. OHIO

or Cor. 6th and Vine Sts.. Cincinnati, Ohio

350

THEIERIGATIONAGE.

Say, Mr. Tilemaker,

Does the machine you are now
using pug the clay sufficiently

If not, here is one that will. The best Tile
Machine made, combined with an eight-foot
double-shaft Pug Mill; and it is arranged to
make tile from 2 ]/2*in. to 24* in. It will pay
you to investigate this machine and also Ben*
sing's Automatic Cutting Tables. Write us for
full information and prices .........

THE J. D.

TE C O.

PLYMOUTH, OHIO

We make a full line of Clay Working Machinery

The Simplification of
Water Records by
a Right Syste
Insures

Only

Labor-Saving
but also Money-
Saving.

Write us for Information.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

'16" LONG RANGE TELESCOPE.

. FOR

Irrigators,
Farmers

and

Ditchers

Catalogue free.

Grade
Level Co.

Jackson. Mich.
No. 1. $27.00
Target and Rod
free with each.

Target and Rod alone $2.00.

Our Qrade Levels are the onli ones made with
a "Grade Bar" and with ft "Scale" showing the
grade without figuring, and the only one with a
Telescope at so low a price.

No. 1 Improved Level (our latest)— (30. Has horiz-
ontal-circle divided Into degrees; can run at any angle
without measuring.

351

EDGAR M. HEAFER
TILE COMPANY

MANUFACTURERS OF

Round Drain Tile

Of Superior Potters' Clay.

ASLO DEALERS IN

SUPERIOR FIRE BRICK AND SEWER PIPE
BLOOniNQTON, ILL.

LANDS IN THE FAMOUS

Valley, of Mississippi,

Along the lines of the Yazoo and Missis-
sippi Valley Railroad, are of the most
wonderful fertility for raising Cotton,
Corn, Cattle and Hogs.

The clay will make the best of TILE and
Brick and manufacturers will find a great
field for TILE in that country, which is
so well adapted for Tile Drainage.

'\ZVri-t& tor- Paim.pln.l.e'tci j»n< I

EDWARD P. SKENE, Land Commissioner,

Central Station, Park Row, Room 506,
CHICAGO. ILL.

When writing to Advertisers, please mention THE IRRIGATION AGE.

0«0«0«0€0«0«0«0«0«0«O€0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«O«0«0«0«O«0«0«0«0€0«0«0€OtOIO€0«0«0«C

The MARION

STEAM SHOVEL CO.

j

Mo. 652 W. Center Street, MARION, OHIO.

A COMPLETE LINE OF STEAM SHOVELS, DIPPER

AND CLAMSHELL DREDGES, ETC.

One-yard Ditching Dredge.

constructing Drainage Ditches we have both
dry-land and floating Dredges, and we build
them to suit the requirements of your work. We
manufacture our own steel and grey iron castings,
and make our own chain

When in the market write us for information and prices.

(When Writing Advertisers. Please Mention IRRIGATION AGE.)

352

THE IRRIGATION AGE.
~X'*<^^^^

II is none too early to begin to think of Christmas. Better
send for our Catalogue at once. With it before you,
you can tell us exactly what you would like,— do it,
. then leave the rest to us under our written guaran-

tee and you will be well satisfied.

LOFTIS

Diamonds • Watches -

92 to 98 State ft

CHICAGO

I

t

I
1

!

I

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

1837

1OO,OOO HEW DEERE SULKIES AND GANGS

I will be plowing on the farms of the United States and Canada)
this fall. Will there be any on your farm?

are made by skilled workmen, in the largest Plow Shop in
America, of the best plow material the world can produce.
They have been the Standard for sixty-five years. They
give satisfactory service for years after plows of inferior con-
struction have been cast in the scrap pile.

Scnd*lx cent* for * handmome souvenir and a year'* mubxcrlp-
tlon to THE FURROW, a beautifully Illustrated farm quarterly.

DEERE & CO., Moline, ills.

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354

THE IRRIGATION AGF

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THE IRRIGATION AGE.

355

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356

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

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THE IRRIGATION AGE

VOL. XVIII.

CHICAGO, OCTOBER, 1903.

No. 12.

THE IRRIGATION AGE

THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING CO.,
PUBLISHERS.

112 Dearborn Street, - - CHICAGO

Entered at the Postoffice at Chicago, 111., as Second-Class Matter.

D. H. ANDERSON, Editor.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.

To United States Subscribers, Postage Paid, Jl.OO

To Canada and Mexico 1.00

All Other Foreign Countries, 1.50

In forwarding remittances please do not send checks on local banks.
Send either postomce or express money order or Chicago or New York
dralt.

A monthly illustrated magazine recognized throughout the world as
the exponent ot Irrigation and its kindred industries. It is the pioneer
journal of its kind in the world, and has no rival in half a continent. It
advocates the mineral development and the industrial growth of the West.

n A rKr^rfic^rsi It may interest advertisers to know that The Irrigation Age is the only publication
U n.U.VCl U1SC10. jjj the worW foxing an ^^ paid in a(jvance circulation among individual

irrigators and large irrigation corporations. It is read regularly by all interested in this subject and has readers in all parts of the world.

The Irrigation Age is 18 years old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world.

D. H. Anderson of the IRRIGATION AGE has purchased a half interest in Modern Irrigation, Denver, Colo.

EDITORIAL

Congressman Keeder, of Kansas, speaking
The Schemes in favor of the Maxwell scheme to aid
Behind the the dear people by taking all the public-
Opponents land away from them for fear it will be
of Repeal. stolen, said before the Ogden Congress
with marked bitterness : "The foes of
repeal must have some private schemes to further or
they would not be angered over the prospect of doing
away with these laws."

They did have private schemes, one of which was
to prevent the destruction of homes by the repeal of the
land laws. Another scheme was to defeat the design
of turning over 100,000,000 acres of public lands to
syndicates and land grabbers, sooners, squatters, and
bogus entry men, who would have the homeseekers at
their mercy. If under the present land laws these
gentlemen can steal 25,000,000 acres of public land
per annum, as is charged by Mr. George H. Maxwell,
how much would they steal if there was nothing to
hinder them?

The opponents of repeal were not only angry, they
were mad all the way through to think that such a
bare faced proposition could be broached by apparently
intelligent men. When Congressman Reeder and the
others can show that they are in this thing for ths
sake of humanity and not for a fee, their vitupera-
tions may be entitled to more respect.

The party holding down the safety valve
Something of the Arizona Republican, fell off the
of a other day and let the "thing blow off."

Nightmare. Either that, or, afflicted with a night-
mare through over cramming on Max-
well delicatessen, he imagined the editor of THE IRRI-
GATION AGE camping on his epigastrium. He was so
mad he slapped his wrist to think that we contemplated
running the Ogden congress all by ourself. Well, we
might have done better than his friend Maxwell with
one hand tied behind our back.

We have a collection of interesting valu-
Valuable able, practical and scientific articles on
Matter the subjects of Drainage and Irrigation

to Come. for the columns of THE IRRIGATION AGE

during the coming year. They have been
specially prepared for our columns by the greatest
living experts and practical men of the age in all coun-
tries. On account of the pressure of matter connected
with the Eleventh Irrigation Congress, they have been
necessarily omitted, but they will appear from now
on. Our readers can scarcely attribute their omission
as a, fault if they will stop to consider the importance
of the Congress held last month at Ogden. The lat-
ter has reiterated its intention to preserve the homes
of the irrigation farmers of sixteen states and terri-
tories, and with that esablished as a fact, THE IRRI-
GATION AGE feels at liberty to devote more space to
the manner of utilizing and making those homes pro-
ductive and profitable.

358

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The National Irrigation Congress is not
Broad Scope alone concerned about the reclamation of
of the arid lands in certain states enumerated

Congress. in the national irrigation law. To limit

its objects to sixteen states and terri-
tories and to public lands, is to make it at every
session the battlefield of corporation lawyers from Chi-
cago and elsewhere. Its scope and objects are broad
enough to cover the whole nation; they are of more
importance than battleships, river and harbor bills;
they are vast enough to become a political issue whether
local or national; they pertain to the preservation of
the home, the creation and maintenance of a vast
productive empire, the very idea of which has suc-
ceeded in building up a great nation, a world power,
in spite of the drawbacks and obstacles thrown in its
way by land grabbers. They extend to the guardian-
ship of the millions in the reclamation fund which
the rats and the mice of schemers are already busily
preparing to gnaw into for the benefit of their own
pockets. Its selection of El Paso, Tex., outside the
reclamation area, is proof of the genuineness of its
diversified objects and its determination to carry them
out.

The wisdom of selecting El Paso. Tex.,
El Paso as as the place for holding the Twelfth Na-
an Object tional Irrigation Congress, can not be
Lesson. questioned. The location is an object les-

son on the subject of irrigation. Could
the Congress be transported to the ancient irrigating
works of the Euphrates and the Tigris, visit the Nile
valley to study the stupendous cause of its fertility
and the gigantic engineering plans that are near com-
pletion, or travel through the irrigated portions of
India and see the productive character of soil that
has been irrigated for unknown ages, every one would
admit the value of the information to be gathered and
its usefulness as an object lesson for us who are prac-
tically babes on the subject.

The equivalent of these foreign lands we have at
El Paso, and the lessons to be learned by the dele-
gates, and through them imparted to the irrigation
farmers of the country, will prove equally as valuable.
There, the beardless irrigator from the new lands of
the North and West may look upon and over 300
years of an irrigation system as perfect and productive
now as when it was first inaugurated. He will see
150,000 square miles of irrigable land, 96,000,000 of
fertile acres ready to be converted into a productive
empire on the application of water. He will see the
reasons for many failures,, the causes that will in-
sure success, and he will return home and apply the
lesson to his own home ranch and realize success where
otherwise he would be working in the dark and ex-
perimenting all his life.

El Paso was an inspiration.

A Crocodile whose recent meal of an
The unwary traveler had disagreed with his

Crocodile refined stomach, thus addressed a crowd
Syndicate. of fat, juicy children who stood on tho
river bank watching his writhing, while
the big tears were coursing down his cheeks :

"Dear children, I weep because I feel sorry for
you. It has come to my knowledge that you are to
meet with a horrible fate unless you let me save you.
There are a lot of wicked crocodiles that want you
badly. You can see their villainous eyes bulging out
of the surface of the water all around. They are wait-
ing to gobble you up, but I will save you, dear chil-
dren. Come up close and I will tell you how I am
going to do it."

Just as the guileless infants with one accord
were about to gather around the weeping crocodile,
one of their number with more sense than the rest,
and less confidence in crocodiles generally, leaped in
front and waved them back vehemently.

"Keek back, fellow boys, if you value your lives
and your belongings. Do not be deceived by the tears
of this fellow. He is fooling you. He is the head
of the Crocodile Syndicate, he is the Corporation
Lawyer of the whole bunch, and if he gets you in his
power, the whole crowd will jump on you and gobble
you all up without leaving so much, as a brass button
by which your sorrowing friends can identify you."

Then the children ran away home and remained
there safe, while the angry crocodiles of the syndicate
chewed off the tail of their weeping corporation lawyer
and refused to divide up their spoils with him any
longer,

It was declared positively upon the floor
Investigate of the Ogden Congress, that the Govern-
the Land ment of the United States is losing
Stealing. 25,000,000 acres of land per annum

through fraudulent entries, and by vari-
ous methods of stealing. This matter should be in-
vestigated, for THE IRRIGATION AGE does not believe
that Theodore Roosevelt, in view of his repeated public
utterances to th« effect that the public lands are in-
tended for the homes of the American people, ought to
rest under the suspicion that the acts of his officials
belie his words.

If anybody steals a postage stamp from the Gov-
ernment he is speedily put where he will do so no
more. Why, or how, men can steal 25,000,000 of
acres of land every year, or one acre and the Gov-
ernment look on with apathy, is something every citi-
zen would like to know. There was a call for proofs
made at the convention, but the attempt to repeal all
the land laws to enable the public domain to be
grabbed by wholesale, obscured the retail stealing go-
ing on at the above rate per annum. The question
demands an investigation and THE IRRIGATION AGE re-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

359

quests those who have any evidence or information
leading to the exposure of such frauds, to prepare it,
ready to present to the Twelfth Congress at El Paso,
where the matter will be inquired into seriously un-
less the corporation lawyers run the Congress, which
borders on insult even to intimate, but they have been
defying the power and authority of the Government
itself so long and to such a monstrous extent, that
it is difficult to say what they will not do or attempt
to do with a voluntary organization.

We have received a letter from a distiu-
Drainage guished surveyor and civil engineer, Mr.
and J. Arnett, of London, Ohio, whose ablo

Irrigation. article on "Laying Drain Tiles" appeared
in the September issue of THE IRRIGA-
TION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL, intimating that we
had sounded the death knell of the DRAINAGE JOURNAL
by attaching so much importance to the subject of
irrigation. Mr. Arnett says among other things:

"In some of their bearings the AGE AND JOURNAL
are identical. They both deal with water. They both
must have canals", ditches and laterals. But the use
made of the water by the two systems differ diametri-
cally. Irrigation wants to carry water into the soil;
drainage wants to carry the superabundant water out
of the soil. Barren, arid land will not produce with-
out irrigation, neither will flooded land produce without
drainage.

"The perusal of THE AGE shows that its editor is
a pioneer and at home in its field. But where, 0
where, is the champion for drainage?"

THE IRRIGATION AGE does not deserve this impu-
tation, and it has spoken very little to the purpose if
its readers fail to understand that it is the pioneer
and champion of both drainage and, irrigation. Both
are essential to advanced, scientific .agriculture, not
as mere temporary makeshifts, but combined mechan-
ical essentials whether on flooded . lands or on arid
lands. There are times of drought in the humid
regions when irrigation is essential, and it is now
extensively practiced in Illinois and elsewhere, and
it is also of vital importance in the arid/regions where
the land will not produce without irrigation;, that there
must be a perfect system of drainage to produ'ce any
sort of a crop.

Professor Aruett himself solves the whole problem
when he confesses "that drainage wants to carry off
the superabundant water out of the soil," a fact we
admit without reservation, and that "barren, arid land
will not produce without irrigation," a fact which is
also admitted. Experience has demonstrated with
costly emphasis that the arid lands must possess as
perfect a system of drainage as flooded lands, for the
constant pouring of water "into the soil" without
drainage is as detrimental to the growth of plants

as flooded lands in the humid regions without drain-
age. There is always ''superabundant water" to be got
rid of, and it makes no difference whether that super-
abundant water comes from the rains of heaven or an
irrigation ditch. Every housewife who keeps growing
her pots of flowers in the winter time understands that
the pots must be perforated at the bottom to carry off
the surplus water she sprinkles on the top.

It is time for the advocates of drainage and those
of irrigation to join hands in the common cause of
scientific agriculture. Both have been practiced since
the flourishing days of Babylon the Great, and the
combination of the two systems is as old as the Nile
of Egypt. In the Primer of Irrigation, in course of
preparation by the editor of this journal, the whole
subject is treated fully and at large, and the cause of
its preparation was the demand for a combined system
of drainage and irrigation. We maintain that this
journal is a true journl of drainage and irrigation,
the only one in the country, and from our correspond-
ents and subscribers in India, Australia and South
America, we feel at liberty to claim that it is the
only one in the world. To separate the subjects would
be impracticable, unwise, unscientific, and to repudiate
all our progress in the art of agriculture.

The National Irrigation Congress that
The Ogden ended its eleventh annual session at Og-
Congress. den, Utah, on the 18th of September,
demonstrated that it is a living, working
actuality, and announced to the world that it is not
and will not be the mere personal instrument of any
schemer or combination of schemers for personal gain.
The effort to destroy it ignobly . failed, and if there is
a'grain of intelligence left to those who hope to trans-
form it into a private land syndicate, they will cease
their efforts from now on and either join with it in
its great aim to benefit the, 'public, or step out of it
and employ their own agencies to accomplish their
underhand work. If they refuse to do either, then
they -must expect to receive liberal doses of purgative
medicines during the coming year, so that the Twelfth
Congress to be held at El Paso will be free from
their pernicious influences. They are hereby notified
that the doses administered them will not be gentle
triturations, but in good, old fashioned Allopathic
quantities.

The National Irrigation Congress peremptorily re-
fused to turn over its prerogatives to any man or set
of men, and when that certain man who attempted to
compel them to surrender -their objects to him says:
"I am too busy attending to irrigation matters to run
for the Vice-Presidency," we wonder whose irrigation
matters he is attending to?

Begin to prepare now for the Twelfth National
Irrigation Congress.

360

THE I IRRIGATION AGE.

ELEVENTH NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS.

Inauguration of an Empire of Productiveness— The Man Behind the Irrigation Ditch
will Rule the World— The Deserts Made to Bloom as a Rose Garden, and a Phoenix
of Fruit and Grain Springs from the Barren Ashes of Ages of Desolation Hope for
the Future through the Downfall of Scheming Home-Destroyers The Canker Worm
of Land Stealing Crushed, and the Hypocritical Coddling Moth Scattering its Per-
nicious Germs in the Heart of a Fair Domain, Asphyxiated.

For twelve years a body of energetic men. patriotic,
wise, intelligent and insistent, have been endeavoring
to interest the world in the wealth of soil within the
boundaries of the United States west of the 100th de-
gree of longitude.
"Pooh ! you have
nothing but a bar-
ren desert," was
the sneering reply
of the humid and
swamp land man of
the East. "You
can't compete with
the God's country
of the rising sun."
"Come and see."
quoth the Irrigator.
And the\ did come,
dribbled in ; they
were dragged in,
figuratively speak-
ing, until, the fame
of the great west-
ern empire spread-
ing, they came of
their own accord-
nay, rushed in — an
army of them to
see what the Ogden
Congress had to
show in the way of
wealth. Well, they
found that the loud
trumpetings of the
man behind the ir-
rigation ditch, his
boasts and hilarity
over the success he
had reached were
not idle vapor, not
dreains, but stu-
pendous realities,
and the men who
came and saw were
conquered, and
they wanted some
of the wealth.
They shall have
some of it, for
there is abundance
to spare, but they shall not have all of it.

When successful endeavor appeared in sight, the
influences that had been steadily at work to destroy,
by undermining, the efforts of the pioneers of irriga-
tion and reclamation, the land gophers gnawing at the
root of every growing plant, the coddling moths boring
into the heart of the fair and noble fruit, the canker
worms eating out its soul and vitality ; when national
irrigation became an accomplished fact in spite of their
efforts to prevent it, when there appeared millions of

U. S. SENATOR WM. A. CLARK.
President 12th National rrigation Congress.

money in the reclamation fund and more millions in
sight, all these destructive agents threw up their hats
with a "Whoop ! Hurrah !" and boldly announced
themselves as the only, the true apostles of irrigation.
And they said : "You have done well, you are indeed
brave men, but your work is done; you have reached a
point where you, can no longer continue your work.
We will come in and manage this good tiling hereafter,
we know how to do it and you do not. The money
in the reclamation fund must be carefully watched lest
it be misapplied. We are the fellows who know how to
handle the people's money ; you are letting dishonest men

steal millions of
acres per annum ;
the government can
not stop them,
neither can you,
but we can."

But the Ogden
Congress laughed ;
they knew what
was beneath these
crocodile profes-
sions, this Uriah
Heap anxiety, and
they took the
mourners, the ca-
lamity howlers, the
self- constituted
apostles of every-
thing that dis-
played a dollar or a
rich acre of ground
in sight — took them
at their word, we
say, and said to
them in so many
words : "Inasmuch
as you claim that
land stealing has
grown into such
monstrous propor-
tions and you also
claim that you have
had charge of this
entire business for
years, that you are
the apostles of it
we deem you un-
faithful to your
principles, recreant
to your duty, and
we sincerely believe
that with you in
control the public
domain and the re-
clamation fund will
have a poor pros-

spect of fulfilling the prophecies, accomplishing the
desires and aims of our great and good president,
Theodore Roosevelt, with whom you insultingly pro-
fess to be hand and glove, and we will turn you down
hard, so hard that the bump of your coming down
will be heard in Washington, and mildly intimate
to the powers that are so anxious to preserve the pub-
lic domain for the people, that you are the cause why
it is diverted from that great object. It is time to re-
move your tin halo and put you under guard in a soli-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

361

WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENTS.

tary cell, where you can meditate upon the fact that
you can not fool all of the people all of the time."

So the foes of honest irrigators, the obstacles in
the way of homes for the people, the friends of land

Utah, welcomed the delegates to the state, and Mayor
Glasmann, of Ogden, turned over to them the keys of
the city. Mayor Glasmann sounded the keynote of the
deliberations which were to follow. His language is
here reproduced to enable the reader to comprehend
the situation, and to explain many things that have only
been hinted at in this issue of THE IRRIGATION AGE.
Said he:

•'A prominent eastern newspaper has asked the
question, what is the need of any more irrigation con-
gresses now that the government has set aside the re-
ceipts of the public land's for the reclamation of the
arid West? I want to say there is more need for
an irrigation congress today and in the future than
there ever was. True, you have the money appropriated
by the government, but it will be the privilege and the
duty of this congress to see that this money is properly
used and not misapplied or wasted. You have a greater
work before you at this session than at any time during
the eleven years' history of the irrigation congress. You
must be able to provide a plan for the expenditure of
the millions of dollars set aside for our cause, which

SOME OF DKLEG \TF.S ON SITE OF PROPOSED RESERVOIR.

syndicates the corporation lawyers with fat fees to se-
cure control of western progress or ruin it, the little
would-be Napoleons who saw a revolution and attempted
to ride it into imperial power, were all routed, thrown
off from the periphery of the great wheel of progress,
flattened, smashed, and it is to be hoped that they will
understand that they are a detriment and not a benefit
to the cause of irrigation and reclamation.

This much was, of itself, a great master stroke,
and the Ogden Congress is to be congratulated that it
stood so sturdily against the land greedy, who fancied
they could transform it into a personal graft. It was
too big, its aims too grand, and the results it had accom-
plished against all obstacles too important to be thrown
away out of sympathy for the tears shed by those who
were well paid to shed them. It went on, however, and
did more; what that more is will appear from the fol-
lowing necessarily concise account of its proceedings :

At 10 :50 o'clock a. m., the gavel of Senator Wil-
liam A. Clark, its president, came down sharply, and
the Eleventh National Irrigation Congress fell into line
for the business before it amid great enthusiasm and
surrounded by unique decorations representing desert
and irrigated land. Hon. Heber M. Wells, governor of

must meet the approval of the Secretary of the Interior
and the National Congress. It will be your privilege
to adopt a system for the sale of reclaimed lands that
will meet the approval of the American people, a system
that will be a blessing to the genuine settlers. It must

PROF DOREMUS LECTURING TO DELEG \TF.S

363

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

be as meritorious, if not excel, the famous homestead
law signed by that greatest of modern Americans,
Abraham Lincoln."

President Clark, in response to the address of
welcome, reviewed the work that had been accom-
plished by the National Congress, prophesied an illim-
itable future for the western irrigated empire, and con-
cluded as follows:

"I share with you the inexpressible enjoyment of
the cordial hospitality of the good people of Ogden, as
well as the pleasure of participation in the discussion
of the fascinating subject which we are all striving to
promote. From the very inception of the movement,
it has invoked the noblest impulses and the highest as-

to the irrigation congress my hearty congratulations
upon what has been accomplished in the year that has
just passed, especially because I regard this as opening
a new era in the treatment of irrigation from the na-
tional standpoint. None of- our internal policies will
be more consequent to the future of the country during
the next few decades than this matter of irrigation. It
is 'of vital consequence to the intermountain states and
to the entire semi-arid region, and what is of vital con-
sequence .to one portion of the country is of vital conse-
quence to the whole country;"

• .(Signed) THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
A telegram of greeting from Secretary Hitchcock
was also read, and after the singing of the Irrigation

EL PASO. TEXAS, DELEGATES TO HTH NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS, OGDEN. SEPTEMBER 15 18, 1903.

Read from left to right.

FIRST Row, Top— I.John W. Fisher; 2 H. G.Crowe; 3. Jo_hn P. Ramsey ; 4, H. D Slater, Editor Herald ; 5, Thomas Powers ; 6, W. O.

s.
. M. Millspaugh ; 5, Francisco Mallen, Mexican Consul ; 6. John L.

31 IXWYV, L ui — x. ifuim v». riBuoi , ft n. u. v*iuwc; u.juiiu i . ivititiac1

Millican; 7, John S. Aikin : 8. C. E. Keilrgi? ; 9, Juan S. Hart, Editor Times!

SECOND Row-1, C. E. Kelly ; 2, Bert Orndorff ; 3, W. A. Gifford ; 4, P. :
Dyer ; 7, E. C Pew ; 8, W. Grandover ; 9, j F. Williams.

THIRD Row— 1, Park W. Pittman; 2. Judge James Harper; 8, J. A. Smith, Chairman Delegation; 4, Felix Martinez, Editor News;
5. A. Courschene ; 6. W. H.Winn; 7. J. J. Mundy.

pirations of all who desire to make the earth more
fruitful and enjoyable and the people who dwell thereon
better and more happy. Its fulfillment is the goal to
which we will devote our best energies, and which shall
be the inspiration of our fondest hopes for the welfare
of the generations that are to follow."

After which came the reading of a telegram from
President Roosevelt, in the words following:
"MR. FRED J. KIESEL, Chairman Executive Committee,
the National Irrigation Congress, Ogden, Utah :
"My Dear Sir — Permit me to express through you

Ode, expressly written for the congress, an adjournment
was had until 2 p. m., at which time the congress ex-
pected to get down to business.

The afternoon session of the loth was taken up
largely with the settlement of the number of delegates
entitled to vote. While the constitution of the congress
in express terms limited the number of delegates to
twenty from each of the United States, it happened
that through an error this membership was nearly
trebled, and there were 583 delegates more than the
constitution allowed. The congress, however, upheld

THE IRRIGATION A 0 E.

363

the constitution and almost unanimously reduced the
number of voting delegates to 363. Then came the
naming of committees, which consumed the rest of the
time of the first session, but the work was finally com-
pleted and the congress adjourned until Wednesday,
and the delegates prepared for the issues likely to arise.

The first act of the organized Eleventh National
Irrigation Congress was the practically unanimous re-
fusal to merge with any other organization. The Na-
tional Irrigation Association, run by George H. Max-
well, and the Trans-Mississippi Congress had both been
flirting with the merger idea, and had set at work every
possible influence possessed by them and their backers
to force a merger at the tenth congress, held in 1902
at Colorado Springs, Colo. The question was referred
to a committee to report to the eleventh congress, to be
held at Ogden in 1903, and upon .that report, which
was adverse to any merger on the ground principally
that the National Irrigation Congress was a distinctive
movement for certain specified purposes, the congress
maintained its autonomy, declining to become the
tool of any private association.

In spite of this warning of the temper of the

EL PASO-MEXICAN BAND.

congress to maintain the objects for which it was orig-
inally organized there followed upon it almost imme-
mediately an attempt to force through a resolution
favoring a repeal of the timber and stone act, the desert
land law and the commutation clause of the homestead
law. The scheme of the resolution originated with
George H. Maxwell, a delegate hailing from California,
with a residence in Chicago and a home in Arizona,
and a man who, it is alleged, is working in the interests
of himself and land-grabbing corporations.

It will appear strange to the reader that the com-
mittee to whom the Maxwell resolution was referred,
after much discussion, reported in its favor, twelve to
nine, and yet the resolution was thrown out by the great
body of the congress. Mr. Maxwell was so confident
that he went around and boasted of victory. Said he :
"I have assurances from the delegates that the resolu-
tion in favor of repealing the desert land law will be
adopted, and I believe similar action will be taken re-
garding the timber and stone act."

But the congress entirely ignored the Maxwell
resolution, leaving that gentleman up in the clouds
with nothing to stand on. Instead, the congress passed
a resolution, offered by Congressman J. C. Needham,

of Modesto, Cal., calling upon Congress to modify the
land laws so as to save the remaining public lands for
actual settlers, who will found homes and live upon
said lands. It is reported that Maxwell declined to
vote on this resolution.

O3DEN TABERNACLE— EXTERIOR.

There are some who insist that the design in
securing several hundred more delegates than the con-
stitution permitted was calculated to help Maxwell
"pack" the congress. This idea is intensified by the
bitter accusations hurled at the friends of the people
who opposed the designs of land grabbers to repeal
all the land laws and seize upon the whole public do-
main. These denunciations came principally from the
allies and co-workers with Maxwell, Congressman
Beeder, of Kansas, and Attorney-General Donovan, of
Montana. Even the president, Senator Clark, was de-
ceived by their specious presentations of the case and
fancied them to be real friends of the homeless instead
of mere corporation lawyers, as G. L. Miller, of Kansas,
designated Maxwell.

OGDEN TABERNACLE— INTERIOR.

Be that as it may, if Maxwell undertook the job
of packing the congress, it was too much for him, and
he was hoist by his own petard.

The last official act of the congress on Friday,
September 18, was the selection of El Paso, Tex., as the
place of holding the Twelfth National Congress, in

364

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

1904. This selection was made unanimous after the
claims of Idaho and other states were duly considered,
the fact being that the opportunity of showing the
world the various systems of ancient and modern irri-
gation was too valuable, too much of an object lesson
to be neglected .

one of colonization of the arid and semi-arid lands,
were discussed by the most expert men in the world,
and their -views either presented to the congress orally
or specially prepared to be inserted in the official report
and given to the world as a text-book well worth the
careful study of every farmer, whether he practices irri-

B1KDS-EVE VIEW— PART OF CGDEN CI1Y.

In all there were eight sessions of the congress,
two — a morning and afternoon — on each of the four
days* of its deliberations. The meager results of these
sessions, so far as official action is concerned, should

gation or not. Limited space forbids us to give even
a list of the valuable papers read and offered the con-
gress, or to supply at this time a list of the names of
the authors, but it is the intention of TIIIO IKHKJATION

VIEW IN OGDEN CANYON SHOWING OGDEN RIVER.
Its waters have redeemed a desert area as large as Rhode Island; also furnish electric power for Salt Lake and Ogden.

not be regarded as all the work done by this congress. AGE to print in its columns during the coming year

Whatever there is of new, advanced thought on the the greater part of the matter that was laid before the

subjects of irrigation, forestry, and their cognate sub- congress.

jects of water storage, reclamation of desert lands, tree There are some — their number is few, but they <ire

culture and crop raising, together with the important noisy — who contend that this Eleventh Xational Irri-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

gation Congress failed to accomplish anything of per-
manent value or importance. But THE IRRIGATION
AGE, while far from agreeing with such a proposition,
feels in duty bound to say that there should have been
regular committees appointed to investigate the various
questions connected with irrigation, the operation of

we are upon the border of a great era of small farms.
All these details are within the power and scope of
the objects of the Xational Irrigation Congress, for wo
do not consider that when it adjourned on Friday, Sep-
tember 18, that adjournment was final, sine die, but
its members remained a living force, an influential

•AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING.1
Vast tracts of such land, growing sage i rush, cactus and grease wood, still exist a 1 over the West.

the national irrigation law, frauds upon the public land
laws generally, the location of reservoirs, well and water
storage basins, forestry and the renewal of forests and
maintenance of watersheds. Moreover, a committee to

organization until the twelfth congress at El Paso
in 190-t should be regularly organized, ready to receive
the report of the committees appointed by the eleventh
congress. THE IRRIGATION' AGE can not accept the

AS IT is NOW.

Transformation from desert shown above wrought by irrigation.

inquire into profitable irrigation, the most productive
crops, systems of irrigation and the unification or
codification of our diverse laws upon the ownership,
appropriation and use of water. A committee on col-
onization would have proved of incalculable value, for

proposition that the only thing accomplished officially
by the eleventh congress at Ogden was the selection
of an executive board of management, who have full
power and authority to arrange a twelfth congress
without let or hindrance, and who may or may not re-

3GG

THE HUM G ATI ON AGE.

pudiate whatever counsel shall be given them by those
who are so deeply interested in its vigorous action as
the irrigators of the country.

The National Irrigation Congress is something
more than a mere name, and it has reached its present
condition by hard struggling against the obstacles

gress will assume its proper place as a perfected work-
ing organization ; if not, then there must be one ready •
that will.

IKIiKJATIOX AND" THE NEWSPAPEK MEN.

The most far-reaching consequence of the Ogden
congress, one that will leave its impress for all time

LOGAN UTAH.

PROPHECY FULFILLED: "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice,

and blossom as the rose."— Isaiah 35: 1.

thrown in the way of its very existence. It has been
menaced, browbeaten and wheedled by those within
its own organization ; it has been obliged to fight against
the attempts to transform it into a private land scheme
by land grabbers and by those who have a greedy eye on

on tVe minds of the people of the country, was its at-
tractive power to draw from the capital of the nation,
Washington, about a score of men, the brightest and
best material representing the greatest and most influ-
ential newspapers of the nation.

"THEY WERE FED ON GOOD ALFALFA."
Work Horses about to be shipped to Southern Utah for Construction Work on Irrigation Cana's.

the millions in the reclamation fund. All of these
it has had to combat, and it has now defeated them, but
has not yet rooted them out, perhaps "smoked out"
would better express the idea, but at El Paso the con-

Said Major Carson, of the New York Times, the
dean of the Washington newspaper corps, in a speech
before the Eleventh National Irrigation Congress, allud-
ing to this trip : "We were offered an opportunity to

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

367

see a large portion of the arid lands of the West, to see
what was being done and what has been already accom-
plished through the agency of irrigation in the work of
irrigation. * * * The money value of the results
has reached figures that would stagger persons who have
not given this subject study and investigation."

Coming from men accustomed to deal with hard
facts, divested of all sentiment, the opinions of these
newspaper men possess an intrinsic value no other set
of men could give the question of irrigation. The sub-
ject was somewhat cloudy to them, but seeing with their
own eyes tl-e magnificence of the great West, their pen-

READY FOR THE REAPER.
Wheat field near Salt Lake City, Utah.

Evidences multiplied as the newspaper men ad- cils moved with a common impulse to impart the truth

vanced into the arid and reclaimed region, until Major to the world, and it will be many days before their

Carson, speaking for his brethren, declared, referring to amazement and admiration will be spent. They dis-

the national irrigation act : "In my judgment no act covered a new world, a vast fruitful empire, and they

.T-1 ^

"AND THE TASSELS ON THE CORN."
Snap shot near Agricultural College, Cache Valley, Utah.

has ever been passed by Congress that will be so far- never tire of depicting its glories. They are advertising
reaching in its results, so beneficial to the nation and land schemes, for their impulses are patriotic, and they
which will do more to increase the astonishment of the
world at the power, the greatness and the resourceful-

ness of the American people."

rejoice at having seen the marvelous greatness of a
hitherto undreamed of empire, one unknown hitherto
to the people of the East.

368

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

PRACTICAL SIDE OF THE CONGRESS.

It will be a long time before the smoke of the
Eleventh National Irrigation Congress, held at Ogden,
Utah, in the year 1903, shall have been sufficiently
cleared away to perceive the real work that was done by
it. Its direct benefit is not small, but its indirect

It was the fruit and produce exhibit of the Elev-
enth National Irrigation Congress which constitutes
the cap sheaf of its wise forethought in making a
showing that would express more than volumes of talk
and print. The display was one that the world entire
can not rival and to the stranger to the irrigated manor

READY FOR THE MARKET.
A bunch of spring lambs, on the way to the stock yards.

service to the cause of irrigation will prove incalcula-
ble. It was earnest enough to preserve the integrity
of its organization, strong enough to draw from the
great center of the nation's government the most en-

born it was small wonder that he stood amazed at the
sight of produces that are never seen outside of the
domain of the farmer of reclaimed desert land. Words
were inadequate to express his astonishment, exclama-

A CORNER IN SUGAR.
Small section of beet sheds at one of the Western sugar factories.

lightened men of the country who could not resist the
desire to personally see what all "this palaver is about,"
and it added to its work a practical illustration of the
value and profit of irrigation, and the enormous possi-
bilities of reclaimed desert lands.

tions only relieving him from the idea that he was
dreaming. The wonderful showing demonstrates with-
out need of further argument the enormous and un-
limited resources of the arid West, when reclaimed by
irrigation, and it docs it in a more convincing and

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

369

forcible manner than oratory or statistics. The im-
pressions made are ineffaceable, and those who saw will
never tire of relating their experiences.

There were four loving cups, valued at $500
each, offered as grand prizes. That offered by Senator
W. A. Clark, of Montana, for the best general collection
of fresh fruits, open to all, was won by the state of
Idaho. A cup of similar kind and value, offered by
H. C. Havemeyer on behalf of the American Sugar He-
fining Company for the best sugar beets grown under
irrigation, was awarded to Mr. A. Rhodes, a farmer of
Garland, Box Elder county, Utah, whose samples av-
eraged 93. The similar kind of cup offered by the
Pabst Brewing Company, of Milwaukee, for the best
barley exhibit from irrigated lands, was awarded to the
Manhattan Malting Company, of Manhattan, Mont.
The similar prize cup offered by the Anheuser Brew-
ing Company, of St. Louis, for the best hops exhibit,
was awarded to McNeff Bros., of North Yakima, Wash.
Other prizes in the shape of gold medals and cash were
offered for individuals and firms, and one of a gold
medal and fifty dollars in cash for the best display
of commercially packed fruits. All of these prizes,
when awarded, received the applause of those who were
disappointed, the merits of the award being fully and
heartily recognized. THE IRRIGATION AGE will take
pleasure in referring to them specially when space per-
mits. All of the arid and semi-arid states covered by
the national irrigation law, and some that are not, vied
with one another to make this exhibition of fruit and
produce from whilom desert lands, the greatest and
most remarkable ever held in the world.

STATES REPRESENTED AT THE CONGRESS.

The following is a list, as near as can be determined
without an official report, which will appear in a short
time of the states represented and the voting strength,
limiting the representation to twenty for each state,
as provided in the constitution :

Alabama 1 New Mexico 14

Arizona 20 New York 2

Arkansas 4 North Dakota 6

California 20 Oklahoma 4

Colorado , . . . . 20 Oregon 20

District of Columbia 2 Pennsylvania 1

Idaho 20 South Dakota 10

Illinois 14 Texas 20

Iowa 9 Utah 20

Kansas 20 Virginia 2

Michigan 1 Washington 20

Minnesota 20 Wisconsin 8

Missouri 4 Wyoming 20

Montana 20

Nebraska 20 Total 362

Nevada ' 19

To this list should be added the state of Vermont,
which came in after the report of the committee was
presented. It will appear from this list that thirty of
the United States are interested in the question of
irrigation, and it may fairly be predicted that every
state in the Union will be represented at El Paso in
1904, when the Twelfth National Irrigation Congress
meets.

NEW OFFICERS CHOSEN.

The following is a list of the new officers of the
Twelfth National Irrigation Congress to meet at El
Paso in 1904:

President — Senator W. A. Clark, Montana.

First Vice-President— L. W. Shurtliff, Utah.

Second Vice-President — W. C. Johnson, Colorado.

Third Vice-President—John Hall, Texas.

Secretary — H. B. Maxson, Nevada.

State Vice-Presidents — Arizona, A. J. Chandler ;
Arkansas, William S. Mitchell ; California, Scipio
Craig; Colorado, B. F. Rockafellow; Iowa, W. C. How-
ell; Idaho, J. H. Brady; Illinois, W. A. Marrifield;
Louisiana, W. W. Doson; Kansas, J. C. Starr; Minne-
sota, Jesse E. Northrup; Missouri, Thomas Knight;
Montana, Henry Altenbrand; Nevada, J. E. Stubbs;
Nebraska; T. C. Paterson; New Mexico, L. Bradford
Prince; New York, Wilber F. Wakeman; North Da-
kota, N. G. Larrimore ; Oklahoma, W. T. Little ; Ore-
gon, Thomas G. Hailey; Pennsylvania, J. H. Kurtz;
South Dakota, A. W. Ewart ; Texas, John B. Goodhue ;
Utah, John Henry Smith; Virginia, H. B. Chermside;
Washington, W. L. Benham; Wisconsin, Delbert Utter;
Wyoming, Fenimore Chatterton.

Executive Committee — Arizona, D. A. Fowler ;
Arkansas, J. A./ Van Etten; California, C. B. Booth;
Colorado, C. E. Wantland ; Idaho, F. R. Reed ; Illinois,
F. C. Tapping; Iowa, H. C. Wallace; Louisiana, Tom
Richardson; Kansas, C. A. Schneider; Minnesota,
Thomas Shaw; Missouri, J. W. Gregory; Montana,
Herbert Strain; Nevada, P. A. McCarren; Nebraska,
F. V. Meagley; New York, Freeman G. Palmer; New
Mexico, G. A. Richardson; North Dakota, D. E. Wil-
lard ; Oregon, Malcolm A. Moody ; Oklahoma, Joseph
B. Thoburn; Pennsylvania, James M. Lightner; South
Dakota, Wesley A. Stewart ; Texas, J. A. Smith ; Utah,
Fred J. Kiesel; Virginia, W. H. Beal; Washington,
0. A. Fletcher; Wisconsin, Clark Gapen; Wyoming,
Clarence T. Johnston.

CONVENTION OF ENGINEERS.

The meeting of the engineers of the reclamation
service of the United States government was simul-
taneous with the meeting of the Eleventh National Ir-
rigation Congress, of which body the engineers are
members and enthusiastic delegates. Their meetings
were held early and late, so as to enable the members
to attend the congress, and their work was highly prac-
tical, being the comparison and discussion of actual
results in the field, and the working of the national ir-
rigation law.

There were gathered in Ogden twenty-nine of the
leading men in the department who met to compile
the results of their labors for report to the govern-
ment and for an interchange of ideas. It is customary
for the members of the corps to report singly to the
department at Washington, but on account of the im-
portance of the National Irrigation Congress they were
ordered to attend. This meeting was of all the greater
importance, as it was the first time the government
engineers have had an opportunity for a joint meeting
and a general presentation of their work.

Their discussions extended over every possible de-
tail of the working of the national irrigation law, the
reclamation of desert lands, the preservation and
utilization of forests, artesian wells, reservoirs, methods
of storing and saving water, and all these discussions
were illustrated by practical experiences, a resume of
which could not be given here with justice to the sub-
jects, but it is the design of THE IRRIGATION AGE to
give them to its readers at the earliest possible oppor-
tunity, as practical information of the highest value to
irrigators. The meeting of these most prominent en-
gineers in the service of the government was well-timed,
and it brought the government of Washington in direct
contact with the mass of western irrigators ; indeed, the
engineers invited the co-operation of the irrigators.

370

THE IKRIGATION AGE.

REMINISCENCES OF THE Xlth CONGRESS.

THE CODDLING MOTH AND THE PRONOUN "I."

The Coddling Moth ip a dangerous bird,

He's as bad as the pronoun "I" ;
And the outside of the home he steals

Is fair, but inside — Oh, my !
Beware of the Coddling Moth in the heart

Of the outside fair-looking fruit;
Beware of the pronoun "I" that takes

The heart and the home to boot.
Spray both of them well with killing stuff,

Asphyxiate them both till they die,
For nothing destroys the farms of the West

So quick as that moth and that "I."

The only irrigation some of the eastern delegates
knew anything about was that procured at the bar.

Last words of the president of the Congress:
"Let's irrigate." Eesolution unanimously adopted.

"What's a sombrero?" asked a Dakota delegate
of an El Paso man. "It means next Congress at El
Paso," was all the answer he could make.

Definition — What is an apostle of irrigation?
Answer — The man who was opposed to national irri-
gation but now finds money in changing his religion.

The delegate who offered a resolution denouncing
the outrages in Bulgaria was appointed a committee of
one to go there and stop them.

California is keeping mum, but one of the Fresno
delegates let out the fact that they were going to beat
Utah or bust.

The new officers of the National Irrigation Con-
gress were elected by acclamation. President Clark and
Secretary Maxon being re-elected.

The Dawson county (Neb.) delegation was a good
one and Brother Meagley is entitled to credit for his
work in inducing so many to come.

Secretary Maxson's duties heretofore were per-
formed to the satisfaction of every delegate, and, al-
though arduous and many, he never faltered.

The only fault found with the Model Irrigation
Farm was, it wasn't big enough for all the delegates
to send for their families and settle down on it.

Eleven carloads of delegates and visitors visited
the granary of Utah, the great Cache valley, and took
notes of the amazing productiveness they did not be-
lieve possible until they saw it under their own eyes.

Judge L. W. Shurtliff, first vice-president, is
known to every one as a man of the most sterling
ability and enthusiasm in the cause of irrigation, and
brings to his office that experience which will lend suc-
cess to the twelfth congress.

Query — If there were no money in the reclama-
tion fund, would the corporation lawyers labor so hard
to have the land laws 'repealed?

Answer — Well, sixteen millions now and more to
come are worth trying to get — not?

Mr. John Hall, third vice-president, formerly of
Syracuse, Kans., but now of Lampasas, Tex., was a
happy choice and brings to his office experience and
ability. Moreover, he is from Texas, which means
much, the congress to be held at El Paso.

Dr. T. S. Wadsworth, of Morgan City, Utah, was
the oldest delegate. He confesses to eighty-three years,
but looks to be only sixty, and can jump nine feet from
a standing start. One of the results of irrigation, so
he says.

Senator Clark's devotion to his duties as presiding
officer of the eleventh congress, and the facility and
justice with which he handled the mass of questions
coming up before him was as marked as the fact that
he was always in his place, ready to serve the congress.

Washington correspondent, attempting to be funny
at expense of Idaho man, poking at big prize pumpkin :
"I say, they raise bigger apples than that where I came
from." Idaho man, with contempt.: "Apples, is it?
Them's not apples, them's huckleberries."

Mr. Jabez Short, of Montana, expressed astonish-
ment that forty inches of water on one acre of grapes
would produce enough wine to irrigate successfully one
hundred men. each five feet ten in height. "Thar's
somethin' in this irrigation business I don't ketch on
to," was his remark.

New York delegate talking with Governor Prince:
"You say, Governor, that you can make anything grow
with irrigation?"

Governor Prince: "I do most emphatically."
New Yorker: "Then why don't you use it as a
hair wash?"

An eastern agricultural writer was moved to say,
"I can look forward and see the time when scientific
irrigation will become a necessity in the East. It will
be a necessity where it is a profit in the West, and with
it the eastern farmer can not only double his crops, but
guarantee a productive yield every year."

"Best cigar I ever smoked," said the man from
Virginia. The Oregon man snickered. "What you
laughing about?" demanded the Virginian. "Oh,
nothing, but that cigar is made of fresh cured Oregon
beet leaf." Virginian puffs away for a while, then:
"Well, it goes to show what irrigation will do."

At the Banquet and Ball. Cowboy delegate to silk-
hatter from Boston: "Do you dance, pardner?" Silk-
hatter moves away haughtily. Cowboy delegate draws
and shoots off boot heels. "I asked you, pardner, do
you dance?" Silk-hatter responds by jumping about
to avoid the bullets: "There are circumstances under
which I feel disposed to practice the art of terpsichore."
Cowboy to friend later on: "I couldn't git the cuss to
say whether he danced or not."

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

371

Dawson county? Why, Dawson county came sail-
ing into Ogden by the carload, with banners flying
and cheers for everything and everybody. Hurrah for
Dawson county ! They talk about two carloads for El
Paso. If there is any place on earth where a man
can live and be happy it is in Dawson county, Neb.

Mr. E. S. Carroll, city editor of the Ogden Daily
Standard, deserves credit for materially aiding in mak-
ing the Ogden congress a success by his contributions
to the press during the year previous. In addition to
that, he managed to handle all the matter rushed at
him for the columns of his paper and to supply the
Associated Press with a large volume of it.

W. C. Johnson, of Denver, second vice-president, is
a man of strong personality and is active in all irriga-
tion questions. His selection ^s very fortunate, from
the fact that he will be in a position to keep an eye on
the maneuvering of Mr. George H. Maxwell and be
able to defeat his schemes.

Everything seemed to "pour" at Ogden, if the
newspaper accounts are any guide. The delegates
"poured" into the city. They "poured" out of the
city. They "poured" into the halls, and "poured" and
'"poured" into and out of everything. There is not the
slightest mention of their "pouring" anything into
themselves. That would have been a regular "down-
pour."

Man from Colorado to Vermont delegate : "Pooh,
what do you know about irrigation?"

Man from Vermont: "Enough to know that
when a thing is dry it has to be moistened before it's
good for anything."

Colorado delegate: "Come along then and nomi-
nate your liquid."

Argument continued at the bar reservoir.

The El Paso-Mexican band probably did the busi-
ness for that city. They captured the city as soon as
they arrived. With the band playing "Hiawatha" and
the whole Texas delegation forming a background of
yells and cow-punching war whoops, there was nothing
that could be done but surrender. A delegate declared
that he would not care so much about the noise if any
other tune than "Hiawatha" had been played. "That,"
quoth he. "is worse than trying to raise a crop without
irrigation — an awful strain on the mind."

Many comments have been heard recently on the
manner in which George H. Maxwell advertises himself
and his own association through his personal press
bureau, and, as an illustration of his short-sightedness,
we may mention a synopsis of the speech Mr. Max-
well delivered at the congress at Ogden. Interspersed
in the printed outline of this speech, which was mailed
to the leading papers throughout the country three
weeks before it was delivered, were lines of this char-
acter: "He stirred his hearers," "applause," etc., etc.
How Maxwell could stir his hearers or elicit applause
from an audience three weeks prior to the delivery of his
speech is more than many of us may understand and
causes us to wonder if the man's vanity will lead him
to more ridiculous situations than those in which he
has already posed. George, George! We did not note
any sign of tumultuous disorder during the time you
were speaking.

Mr. Gifford Pinchot, chief forester of the United
States, stated to the editor of IRRIGATION AGE that
this journal had published something about him which
was not true, and, in view of the fact that we have no
recollection of ever having published the name of this
gentleman, we are at a loss to understand his position.
Mr. Pinchot may as well understand, however, that
THE AGE will publish his name whenever its editor sees
fit, whether it be in the form of a compliment on good
work done, or a criticism on mistakes made in the past,
or those which may possibly develop in the future.

ED. S. RALPH.

Some time ago the editor of IRRIGATION AGE was
looking over a lot of half-tones in the office of a leading
publishers' magazine, and among them found one of
Mr. Ed. S. Ralph, which had been used in that journal
when Mr. Ralph was an ordinary "printer, artist, critic,"
and before he had started his well known advertising
agency in Springfield, Ohio. Those who read peri-
odicals printed in the interest of newspaper makers
and printers already know Ed. Ralph by reputation, but

ED. S. RALPH,

Manager Advertising Department American Seeding-Machine Co.,
Springfield.

to those who have not known him, we will say that it
would be difficult to find a brighter man in the whole
field of general advertising.

When Frank Johnson, of the American Seeding
Machine Company, became general sales manager of
that mammoth organization, he looked around to locate
a man to fill the important position of advertising man-
ager, and found him in the person whose likeness is
herewith shown, Mr. Ed. S. Ralph.

The readers of IRRIGATION AGE have an opportu-
nity of securing the finest almanac in the world by
spending one cent for a postal card. This book of
seventy-six pages contains breeding tables, veterinary
recipes, grain table whereby a farmer may keep a rec-
ord of all grain raised and sold. The housewife and
children will also be interested as it contains valuable
cooking recipes and household hints, weather forecasts
and all games are explained. You can secure all this
by sending a postal card to The American Seeding
Machine Company, Springfield, Ohio, mentioning the
offer in IRRIGATION AGE. No attention will be paid
to your request unless you mention IRRIGATION AGE, as
this is a special offer.

372

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

SILAS THORNAPPLE'S OPINIONS.

CONSARNIN' "OZONE GEORGE."

"I says to Priscilly — thet's my wife — last night,
after hevin' greased my boots fur an airly start to cut
the corn, 'Priscilly,' says I, 'we're a-goin to hev good
times in this country in a few weeks.
The rascals is a-goin' to be turned
out, ever gol durned one of 'em.
Thar ain't a-goin' to be any more
swindling not any more land steal-
in'. Everybody ez wants a home in
the great sunburned West is a-goin'
to git one an' not be chouseled out
of it by any syndicate, or land grab-
ber ez hez alus been the custom here-
untofore. We're all a-goin' to jine
in a enormous Sabbath school, with gals ez hev frizzled
bangs, an' fellers with smooth, oiled locks ez expound-
ers uv the Scriptures uv the new dispensation, an' a
head deacon to take up the collections fur the be-
nighted heathen uv Arizony, Californy, Utah, New
Mexico, Texas, an' other unconvarted lands ez arc
obfusticated in darkness an' don't even know how to ir-
rigate.'

"'Will' thet interfere with our farmin', Silas?'
asked Priscilly, anxious like, her flustrated appearance
givin' me the impression thet she hed been a-saltin'
the butter again pound fur pound.

' 'No, I guess not,' said I, without lookin' at her
fur fear she would betray herself, 'not unless they find
out what you've ben a-doin', but ez fur ez the farm is
concarned, it will hev to depend upon the size uv the
mortgage I shell hev to put on it to pay my share uv
the contributions to the holy crusade.'

"'Good land!' exclaimed Priscilly, 'a crusade? Do
you mean to tell me thet they're a-goin' to drive the
Turks out uv Arizony, an' them other places?"

" 'Wuss'n thet,' says I. 'They're a-goin' to purify
a dishonest government, sweep off uv the face uv the
earth a horde uv scoundrelly officials ez is lettin' the
sharks steal twenty-five millions uv acres uv good ricli
land from the government, repeal all the pernicious an'
outrageous land laws an' restore the entire public do-
main to the fellers ez is in on the game.

" 'Silas Thornapple, can you look me in the eye
an' say that this great an' glorius government about
which Theodore Roosevelt, our noble president, sheds
tears every time lie mentions it needs purifyin', an'
thet it is composed of sich a lot uv rascals ez will permit
anybody to squander twenty-five millions uv acres of its
dearly bought land without their a-doin' anythin' to 'em
to stop it?' An' Priscilly leant back in her rocker an'
heaved a deep sigh ez she wiped the gatherin' tears
from her eyes with the stockin' she was a-knittin'.

" 'It grieves 7ne to say thet it is the gospel truth.
Priscilly, uttered by a man who would not lie, a man
who hevin' been in the inside is calkerlated to know
more about it than anybody else. It is too true, Pris-
cilly, fur I read it in print, in a speech delivered by
Ozone George, published in the newspapers several
weeks before he actually spoke it in public out uv his
own mouth. I also received a letter from him, beggin'
me in the name uv humanity to send in my contribu-
tion so thet he might put a stop to it an' save the coun-
try. Do you suppose such a man could be deceived
about the sufferin' uv the people uv this great nation?

No, why, Priscilly, he hed his name up fur vice-presi-
dent. He is a real, genuine, cheery-tree George Wash-
ington ; ain't his name George ?

" 'Says Ozone George, in his fervent philanthropic
appeal : "Friends, Romans. Countrymen. Rise up an'
resoom your long since deceased rights through me.
This rotten government is no longer able to protect you
an' your homes. Your noble forests are a-goin' up into
smoke with no man to stop it; my friends Theodore is
too busy reducin' his fat for the next campaign to help
you; he is permittin' several kinds of villyans to steal
an' otherwise conceal about their persons twenty-five
millions uv acres uv land per annum. Ten years ago
when I began this crusade against this villanous robbery
thar wuz only one hundred millions uv acres uv the
great public domain remainin' fur homes, and at the
rate uv twenty-five millions unlawfully taken away, it
will not last much longer. I appeal to you as patriotic
citizens, friends uv humanity, etcetery, to rise up an'
help me to stop this desecration. I am the only man
who can stop it, an', by lightnin', I will stop it, per-
vided you send in your contributions at an early date.
Christmas is comin' an' I must have the money or all
will be lost.

" "Do you want to be saved, friends, Romans,
countrymen, country Jakes? All you thet is weary an'
heavy laden with land grabbin' concerns, come unto
me an' I — I will give you rest. Come an' rest on my
noble buzzom, an' while you are a-reposin' thar, let
me git my hands into your pockets fur the wherewith
to carry on this glorious job and make you eternally
happy. I will stop these wrongs, I will wipe away your
every tear, I will relieve you of your spare change,
I will take a mortgage on your ranch if you haven't
got the cash. Better a mortgage to me than to let the
land sharks get your ranch without leavin 'you so much
ez an equity uv redemption.'

" 'Is he succeedin ?' asked Priscilly.

" 'Succeedin' in what ?' I retorted. 'Ef you mean
succeedin' in stoppin' the land stealin', I am obleeged to
confess that after several years of determined collec-
tion of contributions he hezn't made ez much impres-
sion on it ez I do on a presidential election. But ef
you mean succeedin' in gittin' mortgages an' contribu-
tions, my answer is the savin' uv Lawyer Goodwin in
the boss trade, where Deacon Jones put a chestnut burr
under his old crowbait's tail to make him prance around
like a three-year-old, an' then traded him even for Mr.
Timmin's thoroughbred pacer ; says Lawyer Goodwin :
"Your honor, with all due courtesy to this court, permit
me to say that all the suckers are not yet dead." '

" 'Who is this Ozone George, an' where does he
live?' inquired Priscilly.

" 'Nobody don't seem to know exactly,' said I. 'It
is my private opinion tjiet he is an ancient gold brick
like the one I got in Chicago when I bought the Masonic
Temple at a bargain from a friendly feller I met thar,
only this one has been scoured an' shined up with a new
kind uv polishin' powder —

" 'Yes, I've noticed thet every little while thar is
a new brand on the market, but it is the same old one
under a new name,' remarked Priscilly.'

" 'Ez to whar he lives,' I continued, without no-
ticin' the interruption, 'I dunno, I don't guess he knows
himself, thar's so many states callin' him "distinguished
son." It is believed by • some thet he hez the super-

THE IRKIGATION AGE.

373

natural power uv livin' in several different places to
oncet — he gits his hooks in wherever he finds an
openin'.'

" 'Silas, I tremble fur our little ranch,' said Pris-
cilly, with a womanly whimper.

" 'You may well be skeered,' said I, gloomily, 'fur
he'll git a mortgage on 'it without our knowin' it ef
he comes around here fur contributions. He must
hi'v 'em, Priscilly, fur the expenses uv savin' the land
fur the homeless is enormous, almost ez much-ez the
land is wuth, but he says it is a question of principle
an' that settles all doubts. I think, myself, that his
pussonal magnetism amounts to hypnotism. Why, Pris-
cilly, a short time ago he came within several miles uv
bein' unanimously nominated for vice-president, an'
the only things that pervented him wuz the fac' thet
there wuzn't any nominatin' convention in progress,
an' thet he wuz a resident uv so many different states
thet it was impossible to tell whether he wuz the favor-
ite son uv any uv them. He can go on collectin'
contributions, an' get a bigger pile, fur he hez only to
present his card with "Ex-Candidate for the Vice-
Presidency of the United States" on it an' every feller
will git obfusticated an' reach fur his pocket-book. The
vice-president ain't it alongside of this job.' "

A LESSON FROM ITALY.

The following letter from Elwood Mead to Mr.
Fred J. Kiesel, chairman of the Executive Committee
Eleventh National Irrigation Congress, and which
THE IRRIGATION AGE is permitted to publish, contains
some very useful and entertaining information on the
subject of irrigation in Italy. Mr. Mead is an inval-
uable ally in the cause of irrigation, and his absence
from the Ogden Congress was regretted by all who
know his expert value. — ED.

MILAN, ITALY, August 24, 1903.
Mr. Fred J. Kiesel, Chairman Executive Committee,
National Irrigation Congress, Ogden, Utah.
DEAR SIR:

I regret very much that I am compelled to write
this letter instead of meeting in person with my old
friends and neighbors of Ogden and Utah and the
friends of irrigation gathered in your city. I have,
however, been unable, since the receipt of your cable,
to get a berth in any ship which would land me in
America in time. The large number of Americans
in Europe hurrying home early in September has more
than equaled the capacity of the ships leaving this sido.
My disappointment is made the keener because I feel
sure your efforts and the importance of the interests
to be considered are certain to bring together one of
the largest gatherings of men interested in the reclam-
ation of the West ever assembled and result in dis-
cussions to which I should enjoy listening.

The purpose of my visit to Europe is to study
its irrigation methods, and laws from the standpoint of
the West ; to endeavor, in the light of my twenty years'
experience in the United States, to gather some facts
and learn some lessons which would help solve the
questions already created by our use of streams in
irrigation and promote the extension of irrigation in
the future. Thanks to the aid of our representatives
abroad and the courtesy of every one with whom I
have come in contact here, I have been able to learn
much not heretofore published and which has had for

me an absorbing interest. I do not think I can do
better in this letter than outline some of its lessons. •

The growth in value of rivers and water courses
is one of the most significant economic facts of .the
past quarter of a century. It arises from three causes :
The extension of irrigation in both humid and arid
districts, the growing demand of cities and towns for
water for domestic and industrial uses, and last, but
not least, the generation of power. The ability to trans-
mit power long distances cheaply and effectively by
.electricity is revolutionizing industrial methods in many
parts of the world. Especially is this true in Switzer-
land and Italy, where every cataract has a market or
potential value not dreamed of forty or even twenty
years ago. Streams are coming to have a definite com-
mercial value just as mines of coal or iron. Water is
ceasing to be regarded like air, free to everybody, be-
cause there is not enough for everybody.

In Europe two things have become manifest from
these changes. The first is the importance of prevent-
ing waste and loss. The second is the overshadowing
importance of having definite and stable titles to water.
In Italy, old crooked, leaky canals are being straight-
ened and cemented at enormous cost. Waste and seep-
age water is being gathered into drainage canals aiTd
sold to other irrigators. The Government is aiding in
this by offering large prizes for the best completed works
and by subsidies to some of large cost. Farmers are
economizing by using water in rotation so that the
actual duty of water in Italy today is in many cases
double that of any reports published in America.

The need of just and stable titles to water and
the importance of protecting them in times of drouth
is shown as strikingly in the older countries of Europe
as it is with' us. Some of the cantons of Switzerland
hundreds of years ago gave away rights to streams in
a lavish fashion. Now the Government is buying them
back to prevent their being absorbed for speculative
purposes. A new code of water laws has just been
framed by some of the leading experts of the country.
In Italy no more perpetual rights are given ; all new
ones are limited in time, usually to ninety years.
Commissions are settling the status of old rights^ both
to prevent controversies and to give a safe basis for
future investments. This is slow, laborious, difficult
work, as everyone who has had to do with the right
settlement of water titles in America knows. What it
means to irrigators to have this well done was shown
to me this summer by two examples. On one river
where rights have been defined for a quarter of a
century, I did not meet a farmer or talk to an irri-
gation officer who had a complaint or a fear that he
would not have his proper share of the common sup-
ply, yet 27,000 cubic feet of water per second was
being used by irrigators and 13,000 farmers were be-
ing supplied from one canal. On another river where
the settlement of rights is- now going on, the books
of a co-operative irrigation society show that for many
years their expenses for litigation have been greater
than for all their other expenses combined. Water has
cost these farmers just twice as much as it ought to
and as it will when their rights are defined. They
were ready to agree to the German proverb that "A
lawsuit over water is worse than a lawsuit over a horse."

I am coming home strengthened in my belief that
irrigation has a wide field of usefulness in the eastern
part of the United States and that it will be adopted

374

THE IEKIGATION AGE.

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SAMSON DOUBLE GEAR

The Samson

GALVANIZED STEEL
WIND HILL

The Strongest and Best
Mill on Earth

It is a double-geared mill and is the latest great
advance in wind-mill construction.

The capacity of our new wind-mill factory is
75,000 mills a year — the greatest capacity of any
factory of its kind on earth.

...THE SAMSON...

is a double- geared mill and is the latest great ad-
vance in wind-mill construction.

It will be readily seen that this double gear im-
parts double the strength to the Samson over that
of any other mill of equal size. Since the gear is
double and the strain of work is equally divided
between the two gears, there is no side draft,
shake or wobble to cut out the gears. The gear-
ing, therefore, has four times the life and wearing
qualities of any single gear.

All interested in irrigation should write us for
our finely illustrated book on irrigation matters,
which will be sent free to all who mention THE IRRIGA-
TION AGE. This work contains all necessary informa-
tion for establishing an irrigation plant by wind power.

Remember We Guarantee the Samson

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THE IRKIGATION AGE.

375

wherever water can be had and distributed at reason-
able cost. Especially i is this true of the Southern
States with their long, .Iwk summers. In Italy $6,000,-
000 has been spent on one canal system to water a
country where the unirrigated fields 'are as green and
luxuriant today as the prairies of Iowa and Illinois,
but they are not nearly so opulent in vegetation as
the irrigated fields near by. The crops grown are corn,
wheat,- hay and mulberry leaves, all except the last
product of our Middle State farms. It pays. The irri-
gated farm is far more valuable than the unirrigated
one.

I shall come home believing as fully as when I left
in the rapid development of the great possibilities of
the West through private enterprise and through na-
tional aid, in the need and value of the investigations
of the United States Geological Survey, the Office of
Experiment Stations of the Agricultural Department,
and the experiment stations of the several states, and
with a renewed respect for the. work of the state irri-
gation bureau, the significance and value of which will
be far more apparent fifty years hence. Utah, like
Venice and Panama, owes everything to water, and is
fortunate in having an excellent code of laws and a
painstaking and capable administrator.
Sincerely yours,

ELWOOD MEAD.

Farming in Colorado, Utah and
New Mexico.

The farmer who contemplates changing his loca-
tion should look well into the subject of irrigation.
Before making a trip of investigation there is no
better way to secure advance information than by
writing to those most interested in the settlement of
unoccupied lands. Several publications, giving val-
uable information in regard to the agricultural, hor-
ticultural and live stock interests of this great west-
ern section have been prepared by the Denver &
Rio Grande and the Rio Grande Western, which
should be in the hands of all who desire to become
acquainted with the merits of the various localities.
Write S. K. Hooper, G. P. & T. A., Denver, Colo.

One dollar and fifty cents will secure for you one year's subscrip-
tion to Till: IRRIGATION AQB and a finely bound volume of the
Primer of Irrigation which will be sent postpaid in a few months,
when volume Is completed. The Primer of Irrigation will be finely
Illustrated and will contain about 300 pages. 5end post office or
express money order for $1.50 and secure copy of first edition.

PROPOSALS FOR DREDGING, ETC.

CEALED PROPOSALS FOR THE DREDGING
>J and other work to be in the construction of the
ditches for the Blue Joint Special Drainage District in
Henry County, Illinois, will be received by the under-
signed until twelve o'clock, noon, of Saturday, October
3d, 1903. Plans and specifications of the work may be
had from either the undersigned or Henry Waterman in
Geneso, Illinois. Each bid must be accompanied by a
certified check or draft for One Hundred Dollars, and
may be left with the Commissioners or Henry Water-
man. The right is reserved to reject any and all bids.

BYRON BEERS, ) Commissioners of the Blue Joint
CHARLES SAND, [-Special Drainaee District of
) Henry County, I

J.T. MILLER,

, Illinois.

25,000
NEW WORDS

are added in the last edition of
Webster's International Diction-
ary. The International is kept
always ahreast of the times. It
takes constant work, expensive
work and worry, but it is the only
way to keep the dictionary the

STANDARD
AUTHORITY

of the English-speaking world.
Other dictionaries follow. Web-
ster leads.

It is the favorite with Judges,
Scholars, Ed ucators, Prin ters, etc. ,
in this and foreign countries.

A postal card will bring you
interesting specimen pages, etc.

Q. & C. MERRIAM COMPANY

SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

PUBLISHERS OF

WEBSTER'S

INTERNATIONAL

DICTIONARY.

Burlin
Thro'

*ton Lines

ileven Great States

Burlington lines traverse eleven of the greatest states in the
Union — Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska,
Kansas, Colorado, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana.

Nearly 7,000 of the Burlington's 8,500 miles of road are located
entirely within the Louisiana Purchase. Within this territory are the
corn belt, the wheat belt, the widest live-stock areas, the greatest
scenic wonders, the richest mineral regions of the United States.

The Burlington has been built through the heart of the Louisiana
Purchase and is conceded to be the greatest and best railroad within
its limits.

If you want to know more about the resources and wonders of this
great region, send two cents for a copy of "Nebraska"; two cents for
"The North Platte Valley"; ten cents for "Colorado"; four cents for
the "Hand Book of Colorado;" two cents for "Estes Park"; two cents
for "Little Journeys in the Black Hills"; six cents for "Mines and
Mining in the Black Hills"; two cents for "Custer Battlefield"; two
cents for "The Big Horn Basin of Wyoming"; four cents for "The
Yellowstone National Park."

Burlington

P. S. EUSTIS,

Passenger Traffic Manager,
CHICAGO.

871

376

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 1 1

The Cook Well Company

ST. LOUI5, MO.

15 South Fourth Street,

EXHAUST

STEAM

Contractors

Supply.

Well

Supplies

of

every

description

The Undersigned together with many others are using our System :

Water Works Amsterdam, Holland.

Waterworks Rotterdam. Holland.

Water Works Lowell, Mass.

Water Works Albuquerque, N. M.

Water Works Union City.Tenn.

Waterworks Akron, Ohio.

Waterworks South Haven, Mich.

Water Works Helena, Ark.

Water Works Galesburg, 111.

Granite City Mfg. Co Granite City, III.

Armour & Co East St. Louis. 111.

City of Camden Camden, N. J.

Bohlen-Huse Ice Co Memphis. Tenn.

Kinpan & Co., Packers .. Armourdale, Kan.
Jacob Dold & Son, Packers, Kansas City. Mo.

IJold Packing Co Wichita, Kan.

Artificial Ice Co Jackson, Tenn.

WfUow Springs Distilling Co ... Omaha, Neb.

Water Works Greenville, Miss.

Water Works Memphis, Tenn.

Water Works Jackson, Tenn.

Water Works Greenville. 111.

Water Works Ellsworth, Kan .

Waterworks Mattoon, III.

Water Works Atlantic. Iowa.

Waterworks Kent. Ohio.

Water Works Natchez, Miss.

Ferd Heim Brewing Co Kansas City, Mo.

Heim Brewing Co East St. Louis, 111.

Poplar Grove Plantation Port Allen, La.

Cinclare Plantation.. .Brusley's Landing, La.

Baton Rouge Ice Co.' Baton Rouge. La.

Allcutt Packing Co Kansas City, Mo.

Tudor Iron Works St. Louis, Mo.

Armour Packing Co Kansas City, Mo.

Waterworks St. Paul, Mion.

Water Works Fail bury, Ntb.

Water Works FUe Bluff, Ark.

Waterworks York, Neb.

Water Works Central City, Neb.

Water Worki Beardstqwn. 111.

Water Works , Concordia, Kan.

Water Works Junction City, Kan.

Water Works Crete, Neb.

East St. Louis Packing & Provision Co..

East St. Louis, 111.

Tennessee Ice & Co'd Storage Co..

Jackson, l>nn.

Geo. Fowler & Son, Packers, Kansas, City.Mo.
Kansas City Packing; Co.. .Kansas City. Mo.
Swift & Co. Kansas City, M •., and S Omaha.

Nelson-Moriis & Co East St. Louis. 111.

AnheUser-Busch Hrewtng Ass'n.St. Louis. Mo.

I II I II Mill I Ill MM Illlll III I I Mil I III I I Mil Mill Mil I I I I II Mill

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

377

We have furnished a large
number of centrifugal pumps,
both belt driven and direct
c-innected, for use in irriga-
tion. Where water is drawn
from wells our vertical pump
is used with splendid success.

We also build our pumps
direct connected to engines,
which have been found ex-
ceeding y useful where the lift
of water does not exceed 20
feet. Our line consists ot the
various tvpes aid sizes from
1M in. to 12 in., inclusive.

Our dredging or sand
pumps have been found very
successful in the dredging of
canals ; a large number of
thrse outfits having been used
in Colorado,

Erie Pump and Engine Company, Erie, Pa.

VAN WIE CENTRIFUGAL

the best in the market. Why? Because

Handles More Water Than

Any Other Pump with

Same Fue'.

PROOF. Read following from result of
test made by New Mexico College of Ag-
riculture and Mechanic Arts, Mesilla
Park. New Mexico:

Cost of fuel per acre for irrigation three
inches deep, using dry Tornilio Wood at
S2.25 rer cord.
Name of Pump.

Van Wie ' $.512

Wood's 647

Kingsford 597

Byron Jackson 614

Fifth Pump 617

1903 Irrigator.

For catalogue, address

IRVIN VAN WIE,

713-723 West Fayetle St.
SYRACUSE, N. Y.

The Shuart Earth Grader No. 3

An Ideal, all-round Grader for
Irrigators. This Machine, rapidly
and cheaply, does a quality ot
grading possible with ordinary

appliances only at a virtually pro-
'bitory expense. The blade
n be worked straight across

for cutting, conveying and
spreading the earth ; or it
can be worked diagonally
for throwing up borders:
and it can be tilted for run*
ninglaterals. Forillustrated
circular and price, address

B. F. SHUART, OBER.LIN, o.

M.H.DOWNEY. E. J. WILCOX.

DOWNEY (in WILCOX. Civil Engineers.

DRAINAGE AND ROADS A SPECIALTY,

Correspondence Solicited. Room 2, Court House. ANDERSON, IND.

R. H. McWILLIAMS.
General Drainage Contractor.

Special attention pa'd to reclaiming swamp lands with steam dredges.
Drainage bonds bought and sold.

MA.TTOOIW,

BURNHAM ARTESIAN
... PUMP ...

DEEP-WELL ENGINE

ME IMPORTANT FCATUHES OF

DEEP-WELL ENGINES «RE:

•I* 4 •

•:• Cushion on End of Stroke, Economy •;•

of Steam, Freeness from Short*
X Stroke, and Quiet Running.

THE BURIMHAM

RETAINS THESE FEATURES

*>* Sizes suitable for a great range of work where a small
area of irrigation is desired, are made. In-
formation given on application.

THESE STAND SUPREME IN AMERICA

UNION STEAM PUMP COMPANY

Battle Creek, Mich., U. S. A.

Please mention THE IRRIGATION AGE wneu writing to advertisers.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I i I I I i I I H-+++++++ 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

EVANS POTATO PLANTER

Acknowledged to be the best and simplest
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Made in both Plain and
Fertilizer Styles

So simple that a boy can
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DIVISION

AMERICAN SEEDING-MACHINE CO., SPRINGFIELD, OHIO

Please mention Irrigation Age.

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THE IK KIG AT ION AGE. 379

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KENTUCKY DRILLS

Used with success where Wheat
is most grown

KENTUCKY INTERCHANGEABLE DISK PRESS DRILL

'As good as Wheat in the Mill"

SEND FOR CATALOGUES

AMERICAN SEEDING-MACHINE CO., SPRINGFIELD, OHIO

Please mention Irrigation Age.

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M++

380

THE IKRIQATION AGE.

Built Right

Run Right

Unsurpassed for Tile, Hollow Ware, Brick and all
Classes of Clay products. Write for Particulars
on this or other Clayworkinj" Machinery 9999

.

The Improved Cervtenrvial Auger Machine

Bucyrus, Ohio
U. S. A.

The American Clay-Working
Machinery Company

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

381

CJI T DDT TIT Q for B"ck» Tile and Sewer
ovf * * 1-fAJ-rtJ Pipe Manufacturers

SEWER PIPE BARROW

TILE TRUCK

HEAVY FURNACE FRONT

These Trucks and Barrows are made of first-class material, and the workmanship is the
best. Special trucks and barrows to suit customers, made to order. Prices quoted on
receipt of specifications.

BAND TIGHTENERS AND DOOR CONNECTORS

CLASS B CLASS C

TUPPER STYLE GRATE

CAST IRON KILN COVERS

Sections 6 inches wide. 36, 42, and 48 inches long

STRAIGHT GRATES

Any length. Sections 3 inches to 3^ inches wide. Weight average about 1 pound VENTILATORS

per inch in length.

We also make Kiln Bands complete with sections cut to length and rivet holes punched. Rivets fur-
nished and tighteners riveted on to end sections. Prices quoted for anything in this line upon application.

Address

The Arnold -Creager Co.

NEW LONDON, OHIO

or COT. 6th and Vine Sts.. Cincinnati, Ohio

382

THE IRRIGATION AGE.
0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0«0t 09C*Om090909C*C*090909

Say, Mr. Tilemaker,

Does the machine you are now €\
using pug the clay sufficiently £

If not, here is one that will. The best Tile
Machine made, combined with an eight-foot
double*shaft Pug Mill; and it is arranged to
make tile from 2 1/2 'in. to 24 'in. It will pay
you to investigate this machine and also Ben*
sing's Automatic Cutting Tables. Write us for
full information and prices

THE J. D. FJtTE CO.

PLYMOUTH, OHIO

We make a full line of Clay Working Machinery

Tbe Simplification of
Water Records by
a Right Syst
Insures

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

'16" LONG RANGE TELESCOPE.

FOR

Irrigators,
Farmers

and

Ditchers

Catalogue free.

Grade
Level Co.

Jackson, Mich.
No. 1, $27.00
Target and Rod
_ free with each.
Target and Rod alone $2.00.

Our Grade Levels are tbe only ones made with
a "Grade Bar" and with a "Scale" showing the
grade without figuring, and the only one with a
Telescope at so low a price.

No. 1 Improved Level (our latest)— $3<». Has horiz-
ontal circle divided Into degrees; can run at any angle
without measuring.

383

EDGAR M. HEAFER
TILE COMPANY

MANUFACTUKERS OF

Round Drain Tile

Of Superior Potters' Clay.

ASLO DEALERS IN

SUPERIOR FIRE BRICK AND SEWER PIPE

BLOOniNQTON, ILL.

LANDS IN THE FAMOUS

Valley, of Mississippi,

Along the lines of the Yazoo and Missis-
sippi Valley Railroad, are of the most
wonderful fertility for raising Cotton,
Corn, Cattle and Hogs.

The clay will make the best of TILE and
Brick and manufacturers will find a great
field for TILE in that country, which is
so well adapted for Tile Drainage.

EDWARD P. SKENE, Land Commissioner,

Central Station, Park Row, Room 506,
CHICAGO. ILL.

When writing to Advertisers, please mention THE IRRIGATION AGE.
IO«O«O«O«O«O«C^O«O«O«O«O«O«O«O«0«0«0«0«0«OCO«O«O«O«OCO«C

The MARION

STEAM SHOVEL CO.

Mo. 632 W. Center Street, MARION, OHIO.

A COMPLETE LINE OF STEAM SHOVELS, DIPPER

AND CLAMSHELL DREDGES, ETC.

One-yard Ditching Dredge.

constructing Drainage Ditches we have both
:u- dryland and floating Dredges, and we build
them to suit the requirements of your work. We
manufacture our own steel and grey iron castings,
and make our own chain

When in the market write us for information and prices.

(When Writing Advertisers, Please Mention IRRIGATION AGE.)

384

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

DIAMOND/

ON CREDIT

IN THIS GAME OF
HEARTS DIAMONDS
WIN

Dear to the Heart

of every "Daughter of Eve" are the scintillating hues of liquid
fire hidden in the depths of a Diamond. Whether as an emblem
of plighted troth, or as a Christmas anniversary or birthday gift
to wife, sweetheart, mother, sister or daughter, it is always a
seasonable and prized gift. It is no longer necessary that the
purchaser of a Diamond be the possessor of property or wealth,
or undergo pinching economies to procure one Under the
Loitis System any person of honest intentions may open a Con-
fidential Charge Account and purchase a Diamond, Watch or
other valuable piece of jewelry, and pay the cash price in a
series of easy monthly payments.

HOW TO DO IT: Write today for our beautifully illustrated
Catalogue which will be mailed to you on the day your request
is received. We will also, at the same time, send you a copy of
the LOFT is BLUE BOOK which has attained a national reputation
for its reliable and valuable information to Diamond buyers.
Select the article which you would like to inspect and we will
at once send it to your home place of busi less or express office,
where you may examine it as freely and leisurely as you wish.
If it is all that you anticipated and pleases you in every way, you
pay one-fifth of the price and keep the article. 1 he balance you
send us in a series of easy monthly payments, specially arranged
to suit your earnings, income or convenience.

ON THE OTHER HAND, If you decide not to buy, you return
the article to us entirely at our expense. Whether you buy or uot,
we pay all expense and charges. W« submit our goods on their
merits and it their quality, our low prices and easy termi can-
not win your favor, we expect to have them returned and to
pay all the expense Involved. We ask only one opportunity ior
adding your name to the largest list of satisfied customers with
which a house in our line of business was ever honored.

WE are the largest house in the Diamond and Watch business,
and one of the oldest— established in 1858. We refer to any
bank in America. For instance, step into your local bank and
ask how we stand in the business world. They will refer to their
Commercial Agency records and tell you that we stand very high
and that our representations may be accepted without question.
We give the broadest and strongest Guaranty Certificate with
every Diamond sold, that a house of unquestioned responsibility
ever Issued. Every transaction with us is guaranteed to be sat-
isfactory to our patrons. We refer with pride to thousands of
well-pleased customers in every state of the Union and in almost
every foreign country.

TO CASH BUYERS: We make an offer to cash buyers that is
thoroughly characteristic of our house. It is nothing less than an
offer to refund the full amount paid for any Diamond — less ten
per cent, at any time within one year that they wish to return it.
Thus, one might wear a Fifty Dollar Diamond for a year, then
send it back to us and get $45. They might, in fact, wear * Fifty
Dollar Diamond for a whole year, at an expense of less than ten
cents per week. The enormous volume of our business makes it
possible for us to be satisfied with a profit of ten per cent.

YOUR CHRISTMAS PLANS: They will not be complete until
you have looked through our catalogue and considered what you
can do under the LOFTIS SYSTEM. The five »r ten dollars which Vou
might spend for something cheap and trashy, would make the first
payment on a splendid Diamond or Watch. You can thus make
a gift commensurate with and appropriate to the circumstances
without the necessity for any considerable initial expenditure.

WRITE TO-DAY: There can be no more favorable time than
the present for a Diamond purchase. Prices are advancing
steadily and a profit of twenty per cent, within a year seems
assured, dealers generally are agreed upon that point.

WRITE TO-DAY FOR CATALOGUE

Loftis Bros. <& Company

Diamonds Watches — Jewelry

Dept. L 134 92 to 98 State St., CHICAGO. ILL.