252 



THE IREIGATION AGE. 



began irrigating in the spring of 1891 and 

 has increased his acreage every year since 

 then, He is an enthusiast in regard to the 

 prospects of the South Platte valley. 

 One of his ideas is that the state of Ne- 

 braska should offer a prize for the best 

 planned and operated 20- acre irrigated 

 farm. 



John Kortz settled on table land but 

 was obliged to abandon it and locate in 

 the valley. He has a few acres irrigated 

 by a windmill and grows plenty of garden 

 truck for home use. This spring Mr. 

 Kortz planted a nice orchard. Part of 

 Mr. Kortz' s land lies under the canal de- 

 scribed below. 



The Miller and Warren ditch starts 

 about seven miles west of Big Springs, is 

 seven miles long and covers about 4,000 

 acres of land. The ditch is sixteen feet 

 wide, at the bottom and two feet of water 

 at the head. It is practically completed and 

 water will be turned in by the time this ap- 

 pears in print. 



George Warren, an old settler and one 

 of the owners of the ditch, has a nice farm 

 and will irrigate it from the ditch. The 

 land of R. Beach is also under the ditch. 

 He has a promising crop waiting for the 

 water. Mr. Miller, also a stockholder in 

 the ditch company, has a large body of 

 land under the canal. 



Abbott and Kimball have a fine stock 

 ranch on which is a grove of trees grown 

 by means of pump irrigation. They are 

 large stockholders in the new ditch and 

 are the most enterprising business men of 

 Big Springs. 



Big Springs is a growing and thrifty 

 town of 200 inhabitants, with a church, 

 school, stores, hotels, livery and other in- 

 dustries. 



THE CONGRESS REPORT AGAIN. 



I notice in the May number of THE IRRI- 

 GATION AGE a letter from Fred L. Alles, 

 ex- secretary of the Irrigation Cougress, in 

 regard to the reports of the fourth con- 

 gress held in Albuquerque last September. 



It is due the members of the Fourth 

 National Irrigation Congress that an ex- 

 planation be made as to why this report 

 has not been sent out. The local commit- 

 tee and the territorial committee each had 

 a fund to draw on. The local committee 

 had the funds subscribed by the city of 

 Albuquerque, and the Territorial Commit- 



tee had the $2,500 appropriated by our 

 Legislature. The Territorial committee in 

 the division of work and expenses agreed 

 upon between the two committees, were to 

 publish the reports. I have had many 

 letters asking for these reports, which I 

 have referred to Col. Max Frost, presi- 

 dent of the Territorial committee, Santa 

 Fe. Some two months ago Col. Frost 

 wrote me that 500 copies would be ready 

 for distribution in " a few days," since 

 which time I have heard nothing. I think 

 if those wishing these reports will write 

 Col. Frost, he will accommodate them 

 with a copy. 



I make this explanation because I feel it 

 due to our own people, who responded so 

 nobly to the Committee's call for money 

 and help to entertain the Fourth National 

 Irrigation Congress, that no false or erro- 

 neous ideas get abroad as to why these 

 reports are not out. 



I may say that the death of Hon. Walter 

 C. Hadley, secretary and treasurer of the 

 Territorial committee has no doubt 

 delayed an earlier issue of the report. 



J. E. SAINT, 



Chairman Local Com. Fourth National Ir- 

 rigation Congress. Albuquerque, N. M. 



A GLANCE OVER THE FIELD. 



ARIZONA. 



Phoenix wants a packing house with 

 ample cold storage. 



The Highland canal has had plenty of 

 water this year, and farmers under it are 

 jubilant over their flattering prospects. 



The 700- foot tunnel on the Rio Verde 

 canal is completed, so that the twenty 

 miles of canal already finished can be 

 utilized. 



The proposed Hudson reservoir will have 

 a capacity of 900,000 acre^feet of water. 

 Some of it is needed now; all of it will be 

 needed in the future. 



The strawberry growers around Phoenix 

 have entered into an arrangement by which 

 all fruit is placed in the hands of a single 

 merchant, thereby controlling and regu- 

 lating the price. The berries are of supe- 

 rior quality; it is claimed they are much 

 finer than California fruit. 



A bill has recently passed Congress, and 

 has become a law, under which university 

 and school lands of Arizona may be leased 

 under such rules and regulations as may 



