52 



use manure for the checks in thi^ smaller laterals and canvas dams for 

 the larj^er laterals. 



In still other districts of the State wooden or steel portable checks 

 are used for the small ditches in the orain tields and canvas dams for 

 the supply ditches. 



AN IRRIGATION STREAM. 



It is the prevalent opinion among Montana irrigators that one 

 experienced man will handle 100 miner's inches in irrigating- grain 

 and a considerably larger stream in irrigating clover, alfalfa, or native 

 meadow land. This head of water, if applied on 6| acres, would cover 

 it to a depth of 9 inches in twenty-four hours; or, it would cover 2.75 

 acres to the same depth in ten hours. It is only in rare cases that 

 irrigators remain in the iield at night. The stream is controlled by 

 day, but before quitting time in the evening it is turned on some 

 meadow or hay field to run without attention until morning. The 

 results of such practice are to be seen in a low duty of Avater, dimin- 

 ished yields, and in time the water logging of soil and the creation of 

 marshes. As land increases in value and as irrigation methods im- 

 prove, the enormous waste of water caused by permitting an irrigation 

 stream to flow over a field for twelve hours without guidance will be 

 stopped. The division of the present large farms into smaller hold- 

 ings and the production of a larger variety of crops will tend to intro- 

 duce important changes in the use of water. 



COST OF APPLYING WATER. 



The cost of applying water depends on a number of conditions. In 

 the short season of Montana some grain crops are irrigated only once. 

 Other crops, such as alfalfa, clover, and native hay, may be irrigated 

 three and four times. The size of the stream used also makes a differ- 

 ence in the cost, smce the acreage watered in a day is usually in direct 

 ratio to the head used. In addition there are to be found all kinds of 

 surfaces. Some have been well prepared, and little difficulty is expe- 

 rienced in spreading water evenly. Others are uneven and poorly 

 graded, with faulty supply ditches. 



At the same time some idea of what it costs each season to irrigate 

 a crop is highly desirable, not only for the western farmer, but espe- 

 cially for those who intend to take up farms in irrigated portions of 

 the West. As far as Montana is concerned, it was thought that the 

 most reliable information on this subject might be o])tained from the 

 irrigators themselves. Inquiries were addressed to a few of the niost 

 prominent of each community, and it was hoped their replies would 

 apply in a general way to the entire connnunity. The figures given 

 in the following statement represent the average of 67 replies received 

 from irrigators in different parts of the State. 



