20 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



by four feet deep, raising the water twelve to fifteen 

 feet and irrigating ten to fifteen acres; the entire cost 

 of his plant was $140, with practically no outlay for 

 operating expenses. J. F. Monson, of Julesburg, 

 Colo., reports that he is irrigating eight to ten acres 

 with two wind-mills raising a 8-inch stream of water 

 twenty feet into a reservoir eighty feet in diameter 

 and four and one-half feet deep. The cost of his 

 plant was $225. J. L. Diesem, of Garden City, Kan., 

 is irrigating fifteen acres from a well thirteen feet 

 deep, by means of a pump throwing 6,000 gallons per 

 hour into a reservoir 140 feet by 153 feet and four and 

 one-half feet deep. His plant cost $350. Examples 

 of these results might be multiplied indefinitely; but 

 enough have been given to show that theory and prac- 

 tice bear one another out, and that, at a comparatively 

 moderate cost, it is eminently practicable to irrigate 

 ten to fifteen acres of land by means of a wind-mill 

 pump. 



DEPTH OF WELLS. 



Another important question to be considered in this 

 connection is the depth from which water can be suc- 

 cessfully pumped by wind-mills for irrigation. Theo- 

 retically a five-inch column of water can be raised 100 

 feet for each horse power developed by the wind-mill. 

 The Pump Company states that the practical limit of 

 raising water is about 200 or 250 feet. Among the 

 reports which I have received from the farmers I 

 have a number of instances where the water is being 

 pumped from considerable depths. Among them J. 

 C. Houser, of Grainfield, Kan., is pumping from a 

 well 56 feet deep. S. K. Wine, of Menlo, Kan., is 

 pumping from a well 130 feet deep. S. T. Percell, of 

 Grainfield, Kan., is pumping from a well 140 feet 

 deep. Four wells at Weskan, Kan., are respectively 

 135 feet, 153 feet, 160 feet and 140 feet in depth. This 

 shows that it is practicable to raise the water from 



a considerable depth below the surface of the 

 ground. 



INDEPENDENCE ON FEW ACRES. 



It is my opinion that the future irrigation of the 

 plains country is to be largely carried on by means of 

 wind-mill pumps. Each farmer can, independent of 

 his neighbors, or of any irrigation company, and at a 

 cost not exceeding $250, irrigate from ten to fifteen 

 acres of his quarter section, and ten to fifteen acres 

 properly irrigated and carefully cultivated is as much 

 as any man ought to undertake to cultivate under irri- 

 gation. On this irrigated ground he can rai.-e those 

 crops which will brin.: in the best financial returns, 

 and can thereby insure himself and his family suf- 

 ficient income to more than support them independ- 

 ent of the fluctuations of the natural raiui'all. On 

 the remaining portion of his 160 acres he cau raise, 

 by dry farming, the same crops in character and 

 amount as he is now getting, and two years out of 

 three he is bound to get magnificent crops from the 

 non-irrigated land. 



EFFECT UPON CLIMATE. 



I am further convinced that if ten acres out of each 

 quarter section of the plains country were irrigated 

 the resultant evaporation from the necessary reser- 

 voirs, and from the irrigated land, would so disturb the 

 existing climatic conditions that the long droughts 

 which are now liable to be experienced would be per- 

 manently broken up, and that the average annual 

 rainfall instead of coming at infrequent periods and 

 in heavy driving storms, always causing more or less 

 damage, would be obtained at frequent intervals and 

 in the shape of gentle rains which would do the great- 

 est amount of good. The result would be that from 

 the non-irrigated land would be obtained each and 

 every year fully as good crops as were obtained in 

 western Kansas and Nebraska in 1891 and 1892. 



OREGON'S PLEA FOR POPULATION. 



What rapid immigration could do for Oregon was 

 illustrated by Mr. F. J. Atwoo !, of Omaha, who was 

 interviewed by a Portland Telegram reporter re- 

 cently: 



"If you could only start such an influx of people to 

 Oregon as came to Nebraska between 1883 and 1888 

 you would soon have 1,400,000 people here instead of 

 400,000. I well remember when Nebraska did not 

 have over 250,000 inhabitants, and we thought we 

 were doing very well. Suddenly a wave of immigra- 

 tion seemed to roll in upon us, and our barren prairies 

 became subdivided into farms, villages were started 

 at every crossroad, small towns became cities, and 

 railroads were built in all directions. This kept up 

 until we reached and passed the million limit, and had 

 not drouths and hard times come on in another wave 

 we would now boast over 2,000,000 population. 



"My point is this: Oregon is way ahead of Nebraska 

 in resources, variety of products and diversity of cli- 

 mate. Where Nebraska supports one man in credita- 

 ble shape, Oregon can support two. The valley of 

 your big river, watered by abundant rains, and East- 

 ern Oregon, made to blossom by irrigation, have a 

 capacity of holding, without crowding, 5,000,010 peo- 

 ple. All you require is to get myriads of farmers in 

 the central West and East to appreciate the opportu 

 nity here, and they will come. But one thing more: 

 There should be ready an abundance of reliable infor- 

 mation, regulated by State statutes, telling them where 

 they can get good homes and make an honest living. 

 I speak frankly when I say that more injury has been 

 done by men coming back to Nebraska, Kansas and 

 Iowa, who were sadly disappointed, and inhospitably 

 received, than by any other influence." 



