PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



269 



CONVENTION AT McCOOK, NEBRASKA. 



The irrigation convention at McCook, Nebraska, 

 closed lately. A permanent organization was effected 

 with L. Morse of Dundy as president; S. P. Hart of 

 McCook, vice-president; R. L. King of Culberston. 

 secretary and E. D. Willett of Harlan county, treas- 

 urer. The last day was profitably spent in discuss- 

 such topics as "Applied Irrigation," "Intensifying 

 ing and Aiding Horticulture," "Windmills and Othei 

 Methods of Raising Water," and hydraulic engineer- 

 ing as applied to irrigation and perfecting and draft- 

 ing suitable and needed changes to the present irri- 

 gation laws for presentation to the coming legislature, 

 and committees appointed to push the same. Among 

 the changes proposed is one giving farmers the right 

 to incorporate and condemn suitable land for reser- 

 voirs and storage basins. Much enthusiasm was 

 manifested and much good is looked for from the 

 meeting. 



SEWAGE IRRIGATION. 



Sewage as a fertilizer has been successful wherever 

 used. In some localities in Germany it stands in 

 high favor. A unique system of sewage irrigation 

 will be adopted for lands of the Los Angeles plains, 

 which lie between the city of Los Angeles and the 

 Pacific ocean. The outfall sewer of the Los Angeles 

 city extends a distance of fourteen miles from the 

 city limits to the sea ; 6,000 feet of this conduit 

 consist of a cemented brick tunnel six feet in 

 diameter; the remaining portion is 48-inch wooden 

 pipe. Numerous hydrants and water chambers have 

 been constructed along the line of this sewer from 

 which laterals will be extended. By the operation of 

 gates constructed in the main conduit the water flow- 

 ing in the sewer will be diverted and forced into 

 these chambers and through these hydrants, thence 

 through the laterals to the lands upon which it will be 

 utilized. 



IRRIGATING IN MEXICO. 



A large survey corps have been engaged for the 

 past three months in surveying the route for a canal 

 necessary .to irrigate 100,000 acres of land in the 

 neighborhood of Camargo, in the State of Tamau- 

 lipas, where the soil and crops are similar in every 

 respect to the soil and products of the Delta of the 

 Nile in Egypt, and for which the company hold a- 

 valuable concession from the Federal government. 

 The contemplated expenditure on this work is $750,- 

 000. What engineering difficulties have arisen are 

 all encountered on the first % kilometers from the 

 head-gates of the canal. A 1,500 foot tunnel and a 

 kilometer of open cut, some twenty-five feet at its 

 deepest part, together with 5,000 feet of fluming along 



the steep bank of the river San Juan, are the chief 

 works, in addition to the main dam and head works. 

 The balance of the undertaking is all plain sailing. 

 The canal will start out with a bottom width of 

 twenty-five feet and a depth of water of seven feet, 

 decreasing in size as the canal runs easterly and dis- 

 tribution goes on. Provision has been made for 40-50 

 kilometers of lateral or distributing canals, with regu 

 lating gates, to divert and measure out water from 

 the main canal. Ninety kilometers of telephone 

 wire and five instruments will form part of the under- 

 taking, and on looking over the plans and estimates 

 we doubt if any more complete and carefully con- 

 ceived engineering scheme has ever been put before 

 any company in Mexico. Irrigation is bound to play 

 a prominent part in the future of this country, and 

 the example of this company should do much to pro- 

 mote undertakings of this kind. We are of opinion 

 that there is no better investment at the present time 

 than irrigation, that is, if the enterprise is founded 

 on a sound engineering and financial basis. Mexi- 

 can Trader. 



TEXAS IRRIGATION SCHEME. 



There is an enterprise on foot to irrigate five hun- 

 dred thousand acres of the rich Prieta grant situated 

 in El Paso county, Texas, and bordering on the Rio 

 Grande river and extending east as far as the town 

 of Sierra Blanca. The proposed irrigation ditch will 

 originate in New Mexico, sixty miles north of El 

 Paso, and will receive its supply of water from the 

 Rio Grande river. The entire number of acres in the 

 grant is 2,647,042. The mother ditch will be one hun- 

 dred and thirty miles long, and will then branch out 

 into lateral ditches, covering the most available por- 

 tion of the grant. The syndicate which is to under- 

 take the enterprise is composed of a number of 

 wealthy people of Chicago, St. Paul and Europe. 



SAN SABA RIVER VALLEY. 



A large mass meeting of the citizens of San Saba, 

 Texas, was held during April, to listen to a proposi- 

 tion from parties representing a California and New 

 Mexico syndicate, proposing to put in a dam on the 

 San Saba river about seventeen miles above the town 

 for the purpose of irrigating the rich and fertile San 

 Saba river valley. The parties want 40,000 acres for 

 irrigation and a large part of this amount was sub- 

 scribed at the meeting, and no doubt the whole 

 amount will be subscribed as there are now several 

 farms being irrigated, bringing their owners large 

 returns, and this business is no experiment, but a 

 success. The people are enthusiastic over the mat- 

 ter, as this will insure railroads, factories, etc. 



