22O 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



the U. S. Geological Survey. 576 pages, 93 plates, 190 figures. 

 (Reservoir sites, hydrography, and irrigation in India.) 



Fourth volume, published as Part 8, Irrigation, of the Thir- 

 teenth Annual Report of the U. S. Geographical Survey. 486 

 pages, 77 plates, 112 figures. This report contains an article upon 

 * Water Supply for Irrigation, a discussion of American Irrigation 

 Engineering, on Engineering Results of the Irrigation Survey, 

 and a Report upon the Construction of Topographic Maps and 

 the Selection of Reservoir Sites. 

 The reports of the census bureau are as follows: 

 Reports prepared by F. H. Newell: 



Bulletin No. 35, Irrigation in Arizona. 



60, " " New Mexico. 

 " 85, " " Utah. 

 " 107, " " Wyoming. 

 " 153. " " Montana. 

 " 157, " " Idaho. 

 " 163, " " Nevada. 

 " 178, " " Oregon. 

 " 193, Artesian Wells for Irrigation. 

 " " 198, Irrigation in Washington, 



Extra Bulletin No. 23. Irrigation in Western United States, 

 contains condensed statistics of areas, values, and water supply, 

 illustrated by four plates, being in size and general arrangement 

 the first part of the final report. 



Final report, now in the hands of the printer, to form a sepa- 

 rate monograph, and also to appear as part of the Eleventh Cen- 

 sus Report of Agriculture. This consists of about 300 quarto 

 pages, with numerous maps and illustrations, and contains a dis- 

 cussion of the systems of irrigation in each county of the States 

 and Territories forming the arid region. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Arizona. Artesian water has been struck in Cochise county, 

 A. T., by a man named McRae. The flow is 21,000 gallons in 24 

 hours. In addition to the value of the water, McRae will get 

 $2,000 reward offered by the Supervisors for a running well not 

 more than 500 feet deep. 



California. The new Lee lake dam has been inspected and 



pronounced good work The Santa Ysabel Water Company, 



of Nuevo, is about to incorporate The immense San Joaquin 



Rancho, in Orange county, is being carved up and sold in small 



quantities It is said that the Flume Company and the San 



Diego Water Company may consolidate into one corporation. 



Each company has a capital of about $1,000,000 An evidence 



of the rapid growth of Riverside county is to be found in the fact 

 that eight school districts are about to vote for bonds for the erec- 

 tion of larger school buildings Preliminary to being re- 

 organized upon an improved basis, the Ojai Valley Water Com- 

 pany has petitioned to be allowed to disincorporate A ranch 



in Pine Valley, San Diego county, has been sold to the Pine Val- 

 ley Consolidated Water and Land Company, together with the 

 well-known Pine Valley reservoir site and water rights. Surveys 

 have shown that a perfect site exists for a dam capable of holding 

 8,000,000,000 gallons of water, 2,000,000,000 more than the Sweet- 

 water reservoir I. E. Doty has been awarded contract for 



constructing an irrigation system at Escondido. 



Colorado. The Fort Morgan Reservoir and Irrigation Com- 

 pany has been incorporated with a capital stock of $150,000. 

 Twenty names appeared on the application as incorporators. 

 Morgan county is up to the standard in farming and is irrigated 

 fairly well, but we would suggest that the farmers there pay a 

 little more attention to the riddance of the grasshopper this sum- 

 mer and thus reap the entire benefits of their crops The Hal- 



lett Ditch Company, Glenwood Springs, owning 29 miles of canal, 

 will expend $25,000 in improvements. 



Idaho. The Ridenbaugh canal management have completed 

 the new headgate in the north lateral, nearly opposite Boise, 

 and are now engaged in putting a double headgate at the head of 

 the Nampa lateral, about three miles west of this city. Ninety 

 feet of the flume across Indian creek was wrecked by the flood. 



Carpenters are now at work preparing to replace it The 



Fruitdale colony at Mountain Home have a force of fifty men at 

 work, planting prune trees Prosser Falls has a unique adver- 

 tisement in the shape of a big sign board thirty feet long by ten 

 feet high, standing so that it can be seen from the railroad, and 

 upon it the following, in big black letters, appears: " Thus saith 

 the Lord: Make this valley full of ditches. Ye shall not see rain, 

 neither shall ye see mud; yet the valley shall be filled with water, 

 that ye, your animals and your beasts may drink. II Kings,, 

 iii, 16." 



Nebraska. The Culbertson canal, which was started in the 

 spring of 1890, is now nearing completion to the Blackwood creek. 

 It will cover, with the proposed extension, thirty thousand acres 

 of land. It belongs to the Culbertson Irrigating and Water 

 Power Company, which is composed of W. L. Matson, of the Se- 

 curity Company of Hartford, Banker Abbe, of that city, General 

 Manager Holdrege, of the B. and M. Railroad Company, and 

 Lawyer F. I. Foss, of Crete, Nebraska. No expense or pains 

 has been spared to make it one of the best ditches in the West, 

 and in this respect they have succeeded to an admirable degree. 

 Quite a large acreage will be irrigated this year. The canal does 

 not depend upon any underflow for water; the Frenchman river 

 supplies water of a volume of three hundred cubic feet per sec- 

 ond, which is perpetual and never-failing. The company enjoys a 

 first right to the water of this river. Every indication points 

 towards a great measure of success in this locality and results are 

 expected which will astonish the older irrigated communities. 

 Mr. C. C. Hubbard, the general manager, is pushing things and 

 proposes to have a canal second to none in the semi-arid region. 



The proposition to issue $60,000 worth of bonds to widen 



the Kearney canal and increase the water power, carried at the 

 election held recently at Kearney, Neb., by a majority of 984 



votes. The vote was practically unanimous "Buffalo Bill" 



Cody has commenced! work on his private irrigating ditch near 



North Platte Engineer Kittell has completed his work on 



the Nine Mile canal, which is now being pushed forward rapidly. 

 The company has ordered Blackhills lumber from Alliance, 

 which is now being hauled over. The headgate will require about 

 22,000 feet of lumber, besides a proportionate amount of piling. 

 Some of the people living in the counties of Deul, Chey- 

 enne, Banner, Kimball, Scott's Bluffs, Dover, Sioux, Box Butte 

 and Sheridan, in the western part of Nebraska, want to be an- 

 nexed to Wyoming in order that they may be able to take advan- 

 tage of our laws with regard to irrigation. The Nebraska terri- 

 tory mentioned is arid, and the farmers complain that the 

 authorities of that State do not look after their interests as they 

 should. 



South Dakota. South Dakota is going into irrigation on the 

 artesian well basis. There was held at Huron recently a conven 

 tion of artesian irrigators and the sentiment of the convention 

 was pronounced in favor of sinking more artesian wells. Al- 

 though irrigation is not absolutely essential to secure crops, it 

 has been demonstrated that irrigation insures a more abundant 

 yield and secures protection against loss by hot winds. A perma- 

 nent organization was perfected and a committee was appointed 

 to prepare an address to the people of South Dakota on the sub- 

 ject of artesian wells and irrigation. Plans were outlined to se- 

 cure State and National aid in perfecting a practical system of 

 irrigation for South Dakota and for filling low places, lake beds 

 and streams with water from artesian wells. 



Texas. The known length and width of the so-called ar- 

 tesian water belt of Texas is growing constantly, and the original 

 ideas which were held in regard to the area of this belt have been 

 materially changed. There now seems to be no absolute cer- 



