MODES AND RESULTS OF IRRIGATION. 583 
than in places where rain is depended upon, because the yield of crops 
is increased, and because there must be large sections of land adja- 
cent which cannot be irrigated, and which, being devoted to stock-grow- 
ing, afford a good market fer the comparatively limited supply. 
The certainty and exactness which enter into the pursuit of farming 
by irrigation tend to make it more attractive than when floods and 
drought take away a heavy percentage from the labors of the year. _ 
One thing must be especially considered with reference to farming in 
Colorado, and also in the whole region of the immediate eastern slope 
of the Rocky Mountains; which is, that there are no fall rains as in 
Utah, California, and in all oriental countries. From September 24, 
1870, to March 24, 1871, not a drop of rain fell, and but a slight 
quantity of snow; although within a distance of thirty miles, among 
the mountains, there were frequent rains, and in many places, in full 
sight, snow fell day after day and month after month, which, when 
spring comes, will melt and fill to the banks the many rivers and 
mountain torrents pouring out into the plains, giving through all 
the summer season abundance of water for the irrigating canals. 
This absence of rain during the fall and winter leaves the grass 
‘of the vast plains to cure into hay; and, remarkable as the statement 
may seem, it is still true that here thousands of cattle live all winter 
and grow fat without any other feed whatever. 
Theirrigating canals of the Greeley colony are the most extensive in Colo- 
rado,and they make an aggregate length of about forty miles; while of lat- 
erals there must beas many more miles, which will supply water for at least 
30,000 acres. The cost has been about $45,000, but a considerable addi- 
tional outlay will be required in bringing the water in small ditches to 
the several farms. Some years, however, will be likely to pass before 
the whole of this land will be brought under cultivation, for in making 
canals it is always important that they should have greater capacity than 
is immediately required. The size of cutlying farms ranges from five 
to eighty acres. It is conceded that forty acres make a farm as large 
as one man can possibly cultivate, while it is granted that five acres will 
produce all the food that a common family can consume. 
In acountry so new and so rich in resources of every kind as Colorado, 
-only a part of its capabilities can be learned at atime. The future 
prospect is extremely promising, and the possibilities of tie country are 
likely to attract the attention of the American people for many years. 
IRRIGATION IN TEXAS. 
The following account of irrigation in the San Antonio Valley is 
given by Thomas H. Stribling, in a letter to the Commissioner of Agri- 
culture: 
The San Antonio Valley was first settled by the Spaniards about the year 1718. It 
was not until after 1740 that the principal works for irrigation were completed. They 
were projected and superintended by the missionaries of the (Jesuit) Dominican 
and Franciscan orders, the Indians of the missions established at various points in the 
valley doing the manual labor. 
The irrigable portion of the valley has au average width of about a mile, but Iand 
has been irrigated for a distance of fourteen miles. The soil of the valley is a rich 
black mold, and very deep. The river bursts fall grown from the base of a range of 
hills, abont four miles above the city of San Antonio. From the springs to the eity the 
fall is 34 feet; in the next ten miles about 40 feet. Two of the main irrigating canals, 
or ditches, as we call them, are taken ont a few hundred yards from the head of the 
river, one from each side, They skirt the outer edges of the valley. A third ditch is 
taken from the San Pedro, a small tributary coming from the west. Many branches 
run from the main ditches, reaching every part of the valley. 
The lands were granted with reference to irrigation. Indeed the grant of water (so 
many hours of water) was the prime object, and was in proportion to the amount of 
