PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



THE TEXAS CONVENTION. 



THE Texas Irrigation Convention, held in San 

 Antonio early in December, 1894, was a remark- 

 ably successful one. Delegates from every part 

 of the great state of Texas were in attendance, and 

 demonstrated by their words and actions that they 

 were broad and liberal-minded men, capable of giv- 

 ing the subject of irrigation the attention which it 

 deserves. One of the prominent features of the con- 

 vention was the urgent demand for state legislation 

 in favor of irrigation. In many of the counties of 

 western Texas canals and reservoirs have not been 

 built because the land is owned in alternate sections 

 by the state, school and university funds, and by rail- 

 roads or individuals. If the state would consent to 

 consolidate some of these holdings at the instance 

 of railroads or individuals, it would make possible 

 the installation of extensive irrigation systems. An- 

 other important feature was the demand for the 

 appointment of a state irrigation committee, and an 

 engineer to make a survey of the water supply and 

 geological conditions. A committee was appointed 

 to bring this matter before the state legislature at 

 the earliest possible moment. It was shown that the 

 present laws were inadequate, and new laws must be 

 enacted at once if Texas hoped to take her rightful 

 place among the leading states of Western America. 

 Resolutions were also adopted advocating an inter- 

 national treaty between the United States and Mexico, 

 in order that the water in the Rio Grande, which is 

 now practically going to waste, might be utilized. 

 Many good speeches were delivered and aroused 

 much enthusiasm. They covered the subject in all 

 its various phases. 



In his paper on "Some Sources of Water Supply 

 in Western Texas," Prof. Dumble showed that 

 Southwestern Texas is well supplied with drainage 

 channels and water courses. It contains parts of 

 four river systems: the Colorado, Guadalupe, Nueces 

 and Rio Grande, and that the water supply was suf- 

 ficient, if properly utilized, to irrigate the greater 

 portion of the territory. 



In a long and able address, Major C. E. Dutton of 

 the United States Army reviewed irrigation laws in 

 many of the Western States. He compared Texas 

 at the present time with California twenty-five years 

 ago. The rights of appropriators and the rights of 

 riparian owners were constantly clashing. In Cali- 

 fornia this had been overcome by the law of eminent 

 domain, which allowed the right of way for canals to 

 be condemned and the diverting of the water of 

 streams into them to be used by the public for irriga- 

 tion purposes. 



A long and interesting paper from Henry Scougall, 

 C. E., of Mexico, was read. He compared the fertil- 

 ity of the soil in the valley of the Rio Grande with 

 that of the valley of the Nile in Egypt and rivers in 

 India, in which countries he had tor many years been 

 engaged in irrigation work. He advocated the cul- 

 tivation of Egyptian cotton and Egyptian corn, re- 

 ferring to the latter as a "good and sure poor man's 

 crop." 



The water supply from artesian wells was touched 

 upon by J. D. Whelpley, who mentioned a well upon 



64 



the Kampmann estate, a few miles from San Antonio. 

 The well is 800 feet deep, and supplies one million 

 and a half gallons of water daily. The artesian 

 supply in some parts of the western portion of the 

 state is not considered sufficiently great to irrigate 

 any large bodies of land, although in nearly all cases 

 the wells would furnish enough water for use on the 

 small farms. 



A permanent organization was effected with the 

 title "Texas Irrigation Association," and General F. 

 M. Clarke of Fort Worth elected president. General 

 J. H. McLeary and Chas.C. Pierce were elected vice- 

 presidents at large, and Edwin Chamberlain of San 

 Antonio, and J. N. Brown were elected secretary and 

 treasurer, respectively. Vice-presidents from each 

 of the Congressional Districts were also elected. The 

 next annual convention will be held in San Antonio, 

 Tex., on the second Tuesday in November, 1895. 



NEBRASKA IRRIGATORS. 



ALIVE convention of earnest Nebraska farmers 

 organized at North Platte recently a big asso- 

 ciation for the salvation of their industry by irri- 

 gation. Some 1,800 names are now enrolled in the 

 membership lists. President Fort's address was the 

 leading feature, and we gladly quote some of its 

 salient points, regretting lack of space for it entire. 

 Irrigation, said Pres't Fort, has become a leading 

 topic of discussion, and as Nebraska must even 

 remain almost an exclusively agricultural state, the 

 industry must be supported with intelligence. A 

 state irrigation commission is demanded, and the 

 state experiment station must give irrigation most 

 careful study. Stoppage of prairie fires and promo- 

 tion of forestry are intimately connected with irriga- 

 tion. By comparison with Colorado, fully 60 per 

 per cent, of our lands may be irrigated, allowing for 

 all methods of irrigation the canal, the various 

 pumping systems and sub-irrigation, and fully five 

 million of acres may be economically irrigated within 

 the next ten years. In the streams and the available 

 underground water the supply is ample for all these 

 lands. A large proportion of Nebraska irrigation 

 will be by pumping. The cheapest form is the 

 Chinese system of " sliding water up hill '' in a trough 

 with paddles on an endless chain or rope. Horse, 

 wind, steam, or any other power may be used for this 

 home-made contrivance. 



Probably the cheapest power that can be obtained 

 will be the water itself, and hydraulic rams where a 

 light fall can be given so as to work these machines 

 will deliver water cheaper than any other class of 

 water lifting appliances. The bucket elevators are 

 claimed as cheap and efficient. 



The centrifugal and rotary pumps will lift large 

 quantities of water cheaply. They are not liable to 

 get out of repair provided a strainer prevents chunks 

 of wood or gravel from getting into the machine. 

 Either will lift sand, mud or fine grrvel, especially 

 the centrifugal. As they are not liable to get out of 

 order and have but few working parts, they are to be 

 recommended as good machines for lifting water. 

 They must, however, be worked at a high speed to 



