POSSIBILITIES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 



173 



estimate made in my prospectus, the capacity of the 

 four pumps to amount to 20,000,000 gallons per day 

 of twenty- four hours, delivered at an average height 

 of 410 feet and at a maximum height of 620 feet above 

 sea level. The Worthington people say this can be 

 done, with coal delivered at furnace at $7.50 per ton, 



at a cost of 200 per day for coal, or say $72,000 for 

 pumping every day in the year. If we allow nearly 

 50 per cent, advance upon these figures for other ex- 

 penses, including possible repairs, and call the whole 

 expense $100,000, it will then be $200,000 less than the 

 estimated cost given in my prospectus." 



POSSIBILITIES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 



BY G. C. CRIST. 



LAST year saw a great awakening ot the Western 

 mind to the transcendent importance of irriga- 

 tion. This was caused in a great measure by the 

 drought which afflicted the entire West, and whose 

 ravages the East did not entirely escape. Along with 

 the other Western States South Dakota has been 

 brought to appreciate more fully the character of ir- 

 rigation and the certain and lasting benefits that fol- 

 low its adoption. 



Eastern South Dakota being entirely within the 

 .humid belt does not require irrigation. - The average 

 rainfall is entirely adequate. But in any country 

 there will occur occasional years of drought, when 

 the damage to crops amount to a sum which would 

 more than pay for the cost of building ditches over 

 the entire area of irrigable land. Many men of East- 

 ern South Dakota realize this, and are going in for 

 the building of irrigation ditches where the topog- 

 raphy of the country, the supply of water and other 

 elements to be taken into consideration, are especi- 

 ally favorable. 



The central portion of the State is plentifully wa- 

 tered by the Missouri river and its tributary streams. 

 Being at about the western limit of the humid belt 

 the desire for irrigation is more keenly felt. The 

 iiext few years will see the rapid growth of irrigation 

 in that section. There is no finer land in the world 

 than it possesses, and though very productive now, 

 with irrigation it will be made trebly productive. 



The Black Hills, often called the richest mineral 

 region on earth, occupy the western portion of the 

 State. The energies of its people have been almost 

 exclusively devoted to the development of its wonder- 

 ful mineral resources, while agriculture has received 

 but little attention. During the last few years the 

 Hills country has had a great advance in population 

 and prosperity. Railroads have been built connect- 

 ing it with Omaha, Chicago and the East. The result 

 lias been an added impetus of growth. The Black 

 Hills now offer one of the best markets in the country 

 for the sale of agricultural products. The mining 

 towns consume a great deal, while their productions 

 are only gold and other minerals. 



Irrigation is not an entire necessity in this region. 

 A great deal of farming is done without its benefi- 

 cent aid. Nevertheless several energetic men, 

 aware of the great profit in agriculture through irri- 

 gation, commenced the construction of a canal at the 

 southern slope of the Black Hills. When completed 

 the canal would irrigate 10,000 acres of fertile land. 

 The starting point of the canal is the confluence of 



Beaver Creek with the Cheyenne river, 14 miles north- 

 west of Edgemont, a bright little city at the junction 

 point of the two lines of the C., B. & Q. system which 

 penetrate this region. Every foot of the 14 miles of 

 level land which lies between the large storage reser- 

 voir at the head of the canal and its termination at 

 Edgemont can be irrigated. There are also two 

 other reservoirs of considerable extent; one four 

 miles from Edgemont, the other on the high bluffs 

 back of the town. 



The Edgemont canal differs from most enterprises 

 of the kind in that it is intended to do double duty. 

 In addition to watering all the land along its course, 

 the canal carries a volume of water sufficient to de- 

 velop about 1,000 horse power to be utilized by 

 manufacturing establishments, and a fall of 72 feet 

 makes this possible. 



The canal was finished last autumn. Most of the 

 land has already been plowed up in preparation for 

 next season's planting. The settlers literally fell 

 over one another in their eagerness to file on this 

 land when it became known that the canal would be 

 built. The soil of the Cheyenne valley on analysis 

 was found to be very similar to that of the district 

 about Greeley, Colo., which leads the world in the 

 production of potatoes. Potatoes, alfalfa, sugar beets, 

 barley, rye, oats and flax will form the principal 

 crops, together with such vegetables as will find a 

 demand in the " Hills.'' 



Altogether the certainty of a prosperous future for 

 the Edgemont irrigated land offer tempting induce- 

 ments to the extension of irrigation in this section. 

 Not alone will it benefit the farmers themselves, but 

 the stimulating effects will be felt by the entire re- 

 gion. As an example, Edgemont has already doubled 

 in size as a result of the construction of the canal. 

 The following out of the policy of the extension of 

 irrigation, each individual district for itself, is what 

 will make the trans-Missouri region in course of time 

 the most important part of the nation, as it is already 

 the greatest in area and natural resources. Irrigation 

 is as Gen. Hancock said of the tariff largely a 

 " local issue." This, however, is not inconsistent with 

 the hearty support of such measure as may be taken 

 by the national or State government for the develop- 

 ment of irrigation and the reclamation of the arid 

 land of Western America. The people of South Da- 

 kota reverence " Water the God of the Harvest,' 1 

 and may always be depended upon to heartily sup- 

 port any plan for the extension of the blessings of 

 irrigation. 



