40 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



all the land under the system has taken 

 water rights the canal will be entirely 

 owned by the irrigators, who are the per- 

 sons most vitally interested in its efficient 

 and economical administration. This end 

 being reached by degrees will obviate one 

 source of trouble which has been felt under 

 the California law, where men in the dis 

 tricts have been called suddenly to handle 

 immense sums of money and large enter- 

 prises without previous experience or 

 training. 



At the same time the irrigator will ob- 

 tain his water from the start at actual 

 cost of maintenance. Under this system 

 the annual assessment is estimated at not 

 to exceed twenty cents pei acre. Water 

 stock sells at $10.( Oper acre. 



The above is given as an outline of a 

 conscientious attempt to give a community 

 the benefits of a district system in so far 

 as it lay in the power of private individuals 

 to-do so. 



IRRIGATION IN ALBERTA, 

 CANADA. 



THE following is a letter from Chas. O- 

 Card, of Cardstoue, Alberta, in reply 

 to inquiries regarding irrigation. 



You ask me in regard to my ideas of 

 duty of water. I believe in most instances 

 that fifty cents per acre will give a hand- 

 some return on capital invested. 



All this will naturally be governed by 

 the area that can be irrigated under the 

 canal and cost of the same. In Alberta 

 it seems to me that such a vast area can 

 be irrigated with each canal and the water 

 supply is so abundant in these large 

 streams. I have tested to some extent 

 by observation and levels and the water 

 can be put on the land more cheaply than 

 in the mountain valleys, because in the 

 latter locations the land is usually in 

 small strips that skirt the mountains here. 

 Several townships in many instances can 

 be irrigated from the same canal. You 

 mention the Calgary Irrigation Company's 

 canal covering about two townships. 

 The canal must pass over very rough 

 ground to cost $4.00 per acre; but I 

 presume you left a margin. I believe 

 the average cost of irrigation in Alberta 

 will not exceed $3.00 per acre. The 

 reservoir system in connection with these 

 canals will be of vast benefit not only to 



the investors, but to the consumers. My 

 knowledge of the reservoir system is that 

 crops thrive much better and give a 

 greater yield under water that has been 

 warmed in reservoirs, than so direct from 

 the coldwater that is chilled by the melt- 

 ing snow. 



I am confident that from the beginning 

 in this only partially arid country, we will 

 not require more than fifty per cent of the 

 water that they do in the mountainous 

 districts. We have an excellent strata of 

 clay under our soil, besides, we have more 

 rainfall and more dew. I am confident 

 that, in most instances, one thorough 

 irrigation will mature our grain crops. 

 Our vegetables will usually require more. 

 Probably two or three times. My ex- 

 perience this past Reason in irrigating 

 our gardens is that not to exceed one-half 

 is required to what I used on the same 

 crop in some of the Western States. 



GREAT STRIDES BEING MADE. 



THE admission of Utah to Statehood is 

 a great stride in the progress of West- 

 ern America; and Arizona, New Mexico and 

 Oklahoma are knocking. The general situ- 

 ation is well and briefly described by the 

 Industrial Reporter, under the caption, 

 " See Us Grow:" " The West has "never 

 had a brighter outlook than it has today. 

 The great activity in mining has set the 

 wheels of the commercial and financial 

 West in motion and each month encourag- 

 ing reports come from every section of the 

 Mountain West in confirmation of this 

 fact. There is probably more prospect- 

 ing going on to-day than ever before in 

 the history of the country, and this means 

 consumption of supplies and employment 

 for thousands of men. The rich dis- 

 coveries being made almost daily in the 

 mining camps of Colorado, Utah, Wyo- 

 ming, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana and 

 Nevada are at tracing capital from the 

 East and abroad, and there is now ample 

 means at hand for developing such mining 

 claims as present a favorable showing. 

 Land values, too, are constantly increas- 

 ing, despite the fact that thousands of 

 acres are being reclaimed every year and 

 millions of dollars expended in the con- 

 struction of irrigating ditches, pumping 

 plants, etc. The iron and coal industries 

 are also rapidly developing under the 



