72 



The diag-rani (fig-. 10) illustrates the daily flow of the Big ditch in 

 1903, and the average (jiiantity of water w^hich was applied to the land 

 each month of the irrigating season. The ditch was closed for repairs 

 from June 14 to July 1 and from July 26 to August 17, which greatly 

 reduced the amounts of water applied to land in June and August. 



Considering that alfalfa and meadow lands, both of which rc(iuire 

 large amounts of water, were the principal crops, and that a large per- 

 centage of the water taken from the river was either lost in transit or 

 permitted to flow through waste ways unutilized, the conclusion is 



% 



I 



050 



Fig. 10.— Daily discharge of Big ditch, and depths of water received by lands thereunder, 1903. 



justified that one-half of a miner's inch per acre is a fair average tor 

 the duty of water in Yellowstone County. Yellowstone County in 

 climate, products, and physical characteristics is similar to much of 

 the land bordering on the Yellowstone River. One may, therefore, 

 go further and state that as an average one-half a miner's inch of water 

 per aci-Q will suffice for the counties of Park, Yellowstone, Sweet Grass, 

 Carbon, Rosebud, Custer, Dawson, and the Crow Reservation, or a 

 total of 2,925,000. 



