38 



William Kline, 3 miles north of Wessington Springs, on section 25, 

 township 108 north, range Go west, has a 3-inch well, 903 feet deep, 

 flowing 400 gallons per minute. Thus far Mr. Kline has irrigated 

 only a home garden, but this year he has built a large pond of 15 

 acres from which he intends to irrigate about 135 acres, putting part 

 of it into alfalfa. 



There was formerly another irrigated farm, 10 miles north of Wes- 

 sington Springs, worked by Charles Le Bau, but the well failed and 

 nothing has been done latel3\ Another well has been dug this year, 

 and operations will probably be resumed. 



KINGSBURY COUNTY. 



Only the western eight tiers of sections in Kingsbury County lie in 

 the artesian basin. A number of wells are found in the region, but 

 few of them are used for irrigation. 



K. Fingerson, 2 miles west of Esmond, has a 2-inch well, 850 feet 

 deep, flowing 80 gallons per minute. His well was just dug in 1902, but 

 he has irrigated about 35 acres of oats this season (1903) by flooding. 

 His crop, though hurt by a late frost, is still much better than that on 

 his fields that have had no water. He also irrigated a potato field, 

 and reports a fine yield from it. Mr. Fingerson intends to extend his 

 sj^stem further next year and bring about 70 acres under ditch, using 

 the water alternately on different portions during different years. 



C. L. Spear and E. Gulbronson, 3 miles south of Manchester, each 

 have sunk wells recently and intend to irrigate. 



SPINK COUNTY. 



The best and most systematic irrigation plant in the whole artesian 

 basin is that of A. J. Glidden, at Hitchcock, on section 33, township 

 114 north, range 63 west. Mr. Glidden's well is 44^ inches in diameter, 

 1,150 feet deep, and has a flow of 450 gallons per minute. The Avell 

 was dug in the winter of 1894-95, and irrigation was commenced the 

 next season. He irrigates from 00 to 80 acres, though he has water 

 enough for 200 acres if he could take care of it. Mr. Glidden supple- 

 ments his well with a reservoir of about 20 acres, which he can fill 5| 

 feet deep, and has his land arranged so he can use water direct from 

 the well on part and from the reservoir on the remainder. He has 2 

 miles of shelter belts, consisting of a double row of forest trees, run- 

 ning through his fields at intervals of about 60 rods. These break 

 the winds and protect his fields from early fall and late spring frosts, 

 which are prevalent in this section. His explanation of this fact is 

 that the moisture rising from the fields, if not blown away by the 

 winds, forms a blanket over the garden, which protects it from the 

 frosts. The shelter belts, breaking the wind, prevent this blanket 

 from blowing away and leaving the field unprotected. Mr. Glidden 

 took $8,000 worth of produce off his farm during the years 1901 and 

 1902. The year 1903 has been very favorable and will probably give as 



