12 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



called a " border system " or a " plat sys- 

 tem" because the checks are made small, 

 or something called ''subirrigation" be- 

 cause the water soaks upward from under- 

 neath, either from general soaking of the 

 fiubsoil from big ditches on porous soil, or 

 from the upward seepage from small fur- 

 rows made very deep so that the plant 

 stands on a high ridge between them. .All 

 this multiplication of nonsensical distinc- 

 tions is confusing. Great numbers of 

 such distinctions have been made and 

 most of them are as valuable as the old 

 distinction between tweedle dum and 

 tweedle dee. When familiar with the 

 principles on which the value of all of 

 them depends you will see that systems 

 are very few in number and very simple. 

 And even then you will find that some are 



used, not because they are the best, but 

 because the cheapest. Alfalfa for instance 

 can be raised as well, and on some soils 

 better, by watering from many small fur- 

 rows. There is no better alfalfa in the 

 world than that raised in this way. If 

 the water supply allows you to flood it will 

 generally allow you to irrigate in this way. 

 If you are raising only an acre or so for 

 home use, for a milch cow and a few 

 chickens, etc., it will probably be cheaper 

 and easier to use the small furrows, as is 

 done on thousands of small patches in 

 Southern California. But if you are rais- 

 ing large crops in large fields, then the 

 economy is generally the other way, and 

 where the land is very flat it becomes by 

 far the cheaper method. 



(Copyright 1895, by T. S. Van Dyke.) 



THE CODY CANAL IN WYOMING. 



BY ELWOOD MEAD. 



AT the eastern base of the Shoshone 

 mountains, where the river of that 

 name emerges from the shadows of its- 

 canons to cross the plains of the Big Horn 

 Basin, is a series of terraces left by the 

 receding waters of some prehistoric lake. 



These lie one below the other along 

 this stream for forty miles, extending back 

 from it two to ten miles. So uniform is 

 the contour of these successive steps that 

 in many places water will follow a surface 

 furrow along section lines across an en- 

 tire township. The abundant water supply 

 of the river, the fertility of the soil, and 

 the ease with which water can be dis- 

 tributed, give these slopes a peculiar 

 fascination to the practical irrigator. 



Ever since the advent of the first emi- 

 grant this tract of land has been a source 

 of longing to the homeseeker. As the 

 possibilities of this region became better 

 understood its attractions have increased 

 until it has become generally known and 

 regarded as the most extensive and desir- 

 able body of irrigable land in the state. 



At present the entire tract is arid and 

 unoccupied. Even the speculative land 

 grabber, masquerading as a homesteader, 

 has not found it worth his attention. The 

 prospect of diverting the river which flows 

 through it has seemed so remote and the 

 obstacles so formidable that it has been 



considered a project for the next century 

 rather than the present. The Shoshone 

 river from where it leaves the mountains 

 nntil it passes the lowest terrace is hid 

 below the nearly vertical rock walls of a 

 canon almost as deep as it is wide. 



To surmount these rocky slopes with a 

 canal is out of the question. To reach 

 these lands in any manner is equally be- 

 yond the reach of the individual settler. 

 Nothing but aggregated capital and the 

 best engineering skill will answer. Neither 

 of these were available under the public 

 land laws which make canal building a 

 lottery in which the builders buy the 

 tickets and the settlers, on the land re- 

 claimed, draw the prizes; but with the 

 passage of the state law accepting super- 

 vision of one million acres of land for rec- 

 lamation the opportunity was open to 

 invite the joint efforts of the capitalist 

 and colonist to effect its transformation. 



This law came at an opportune season. 

 Increasing settlement has demonstrated 

 the wonderful fertility of this soil and has 

 shown that the shelter afforded by the 

 snow-clad mountains which surround the 

 Big Horn basin gives to this region a 

 local climate, milder and more uniform 

 than is enjoyed by any of the surrounding 

 country. The curative virtues of the 

 medicinal springs which gave this river its 



