50 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



average as follows: Wheat, 404 bushels; 

 hard wheat, 34 bushels; oats, 57.96 bush- 

 els; hay, 1.48 tons; barley, 47. 24 bushels; 

 peas, 23 bushels; potatoes, 247.8 bushels. 



NEBRASKA. 



The favorable decision of the Supreme 

 Court establishing the validity of the dis- 

 trict irrigation law will have an astonish- 

 ing effect in reviving agriculture and com- 

 merce in Nebraska. Thousands of acres 

 of semi- arid lands will at once be re- 

 claimed and rendered as fruitful and pro- 

 ductive as the most favored agricultural 

 regions in any part of the United States, 

 and the assurance of the crops in the ir- 

 rigated portions will be made a matter of 

 certainty so that the owners of these lands 

 will be able to sow and reap regardless of 

 rains or hot winds. 



A proposition submitted to the Lincoln 

 and Dawson county irrigation district, com- 

 prising 40,000 acres of laud lying on the 

 north side of the Platte river in Lincoln 

 and Dawson counties, to vote 6 per cent 

 bonds to the' amount of $275,000 was 

 carried by a majority of 84 to 18. The 

 canal will be 62 miles long, with 115 

 miles of laterals and will be 100 feet wide 

 at its head. 



In Western Nebraska there are several 

 windmill plants from each of which thirty 

 to forty acres of ground are irrigated. It 

 seems that irrigation by windmills has 

 made very rapid strides in Nebraska dur- 

 ing 1895. 



The construction of an irrigation ditch 

 in Holt county is proposed. The ditch is 

 to draw water from the Niobrara and 

 Snake rivers in Cherry county. 



The artesian well drilled for S. W. 

 Davis on his farm in the Ponca valley is 

 completed. The depth is 770 feet and 

 water bearing rock 25 feet thick was 

 drilled through. A gusher was struck 

 that flows 6,OJOO gallons of water an hour 

 through a three inch pipe and has a 

 pressure of 30 pounds to the square inch, 

 throwing a stream 30 feet into the air. 



The owners of the gold-bearing lands 

 in the vicinity of Milford are going 

 steadily ahead with projects for develop- 

 ing their properties, and in a few weeks 

 it will be definitely known what the pros- 

 pects are for making Nebraska a gold- 

 producing state. Prof. Herbert Bartlett 

 compares the formation and quality at 



Milford with that of South America, Aus- 

 tralia and other gold fields explored by 

 himself. 



A correspondent at McCool Junction 

 writes: " While it is believed that gold 

 can be found here in the valley of the 

 Blue, the flowing wells are considered by 

 farmers as of much more value than the 

 prospective wealth of the gold fields. 

 The flowing wells are being found near 

 McCool. Two wells have been located in 

 this county and a number of farmers near 

 here are going to bore for the artesian 

 flow. One thing is peculiar about this 

 artesian flow. Men using common well 

 augers bore down to a depth of eighty to 

 125 feet and an abundance of water 

 gushes up about three to six feet above 

 the surface." 



State Engineer Howell and secretaries 

 Akers and Bacon of the state board of ir- 

 rigation are preparing to adjudicate 181 

 cases involving claims for water in the 

 Republican river watershed. Twelve of 

 the cases also involve contests for water 

 rights, but Engineer Howell believes that 

 he can dispose of the entire lot by the 

 middle of the present month. 



This is the truthful way the Culbertson 

 Era puts it: " Alfalfa vs. the Mortgage. 

 They will never stay long on the same 

 farm. Incompatability of their temper. 

 If the alfalfa stays, the mortgage must 

 go-" 



The trouble between the sugar beet 

 growers and the factory people at Nor- 

 folk, growing out of the refusal of the 

 factory to accept the beets under the con- 

 tract, has culminated in a big law suit 

 against the company. This will undoubt- 

 edly throw more light upon the question 

 as to the correctness of the findings of the 

 company's chemists in tests reported. 



Last month's disbursements at the 

 Table Rock creamery amounted to $16,537. 



Ten thousand fish have been distributed 

 in Cheyenne county by the state com- 

 mission. 



Fred Smith, a Buffalo county farmer 

 near Ravenna, raised thirty-five acres of 

 sugar cane and is now making sorghum 

 at the rate of 100 gallons per day. He 

 will have 2,000 gallons, which will net him 



At the recent meeting of the inter-state 

 association of state fair managers at Chi- 



