THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



The pumps lift the water about twenty- 

 five feet. A Blake pump, with a capacity 

 of 3,000, 000 gallons per day, and a Worth- 

 ington pump, with a capacity of 2,500,000 

 gallons per day, now furnish the supply 

 of water for 3,000 patients and the entire 

 institution, and also the water for irrigat- 

 ing 150 acres of land, 100 acres for garden 

 and 50 acres for orchard. A 10-inch 

 pipe that carries water to the hospital was 

 utilized for a distance. Then 1,200 feet 

 of 6-inch main was laid to the highest point 

 on the grounds of the asylum, about half a 

 mile west of the buildings. This point is 

 twenty-five feet above the average level of 

 the river. From the summit, 2,000 feet 

 of 4-inch and 800 feet of 3-inch pipe were 

 run to various parts of the garden. At 

 intervals hydrants were put in. A ditch- 

 ing plow was used to make the furrows 

 where water was to be turned on, and 

 these furrows were connected with the hy- 

 drants by short sections of hose. The 

 pumps are only run to their full capacity 

 when the irrigation work is being carried 

 on. They consume from twelve to fifteen 

 tons of coal per day when running at full 

 capacity. It was about the first of June 

 before the mains and ditches were ready. 

 Superintendent Gapen is confident that if 

 they had been finished a couple of weeks 

 earlier, the results would have been still 

 more remarkable. The land was given 

 but one thorough irrigation during the 

 season. After being pumped to the highest 

 point, the water is run in open ditches 

 over the greater area of the tract. About 

 a month was required to cover the 150 

 acres. Certain sections of the garden, 

 such as the onion bed, were flooded in- 

 stead of being ditched. By a system of 

 sheet-iron dams, the streams in the ditches 

 are kept under control and the water is 

 sent just where it is wanted. The ditches 

 are small, and when the pumps are work- 

 ing at full force, the depth of the water in 

 most of them is but two or three inches. 

 The superintendent estimates that 100,000 

 gallons of water to the acre are necessary 

 for the season. 



The visitors were astonished to learn 

 that seven crops of peas were raised. Of 

 radishes and other vegetables there were 

 also tremendous crops. Raspberry and 

 blackberry bushes which were set out in 

 the spring bore fruit. Of 1,000 cherry 

 trees planted this season not one died. 

 " Our potato patch," continued Superin- 



tendent Gapen, ''was the finest in Illi- 

 nois. In one patch we had 120,000 heads 

 of cabbage, every one of them huge, hard 

 and perfect. Last year we had to buy 

 100 carloads of vegetables; this year, 

 through irrigation, we have such a quantity 

 that we can hardly get rid of it." 



The superintendent added that he was 

 ably assisted in the practical irrigation 

 work by Mr. W. F. Harris, formerly of 

 Orange, Cal., who is familiar with irriga- 

 tion from a long experience in his native 

 State. 



The party were then escorted to the 

 office of Dr. Gapen, where they were shown 

 a tabulated list of the products grown on 

 these 100 acres of irrigated land in 1895, 

 and there was not only astonishment but 

 the greatest enthusiasm for irrigation. 

 The figures were : 



Acres. Barrels. 



Beets 4 1,960 



Cabbage 15 1,498 



Cauliflower 3 81 



Cucumber (bu.) % 184 



Lettuce v % 101 



Watermelons (No.) 7 13,055 



Muskmelons (No.) 7 2,940 



Onions 3 255 



Peas 5 259 



lladishes 3 304 



Tomatoes (bu.) 6 1,360 



Turnips (bu.) , 15 3,035 



Potatoes (bu.) 25 3,714 



Greens 2^ 500 



Rhubarb i| 261 



The value of these vegetables was 

 generally $15,000, and as the gardens 

 elsewhere were failui-es, on account of the 

 extended drought, it is practically a gain 

 of $150 an acre for the small outlay for 

 the irrigating plant. 



SPREADING LIKE WILDFIRE. 



When asked for his opinion as to the 

 future of irrigation, Superintendent Ga- 

 pen said it was bound to become general; 

 that the large number of letters that come 

 to him show that the irrigation movement 

 is spreading in the east like a prairie fire. 

 He believed that "THE IRRIGATION AGE, 

 the pioneer in this new field of an old 

 science, is destined to have a much larger 

 circulation east of the 100th meridian 

 than west of it, as there will be a larger 

 number of farms irrigated east of that 

 line." He added, "I can see no reason 

 why farmers should sit idly by and see 

 their crops ruined by droughts. In this 

 climate I should say that two irrigations 

 during the season would be necessary, 



