WINDMILL IRRIGATION. 



NEARLY every farmer can find a few 

 acres on his farm with a water sup- 

 ply, either from well or creek, and a surface 

 suitable for irrigation. On sandy plains, 

 which are usually level, large tracts of 

 land are fitted for this system of farming, 

 being leveled down or filled up in order to 

 make the entire field, or set of fields, pre- 

 sent a proper surface for flooding. Wind- 

 mills, as now constructed for irrigation 

 purposes, can successfully compete with 

 irrigation canals, and they are more satis- 

 factory, as the first cost is the only one. 

 Each man owns bis own plant, and is not 

 subject to constant outlay of money to go 

 into the hands of the owners of large irri- 

 gation systems. 



In those regions called semi-arid, where 

 only an occasional watering is needed, 

 other than that given by nature, farmers 

 in general do not attempt to irrigate their 

 entire holdings, but only a small acreage 

 of garden, root crops, fruit trees, and 

 occasionally a grass plot. Such places 

 being isolated from any general irrigation 

 system, much economy must be looked for 

 in the use of water which usually must be 

 pumped up from small streams or wells of 

 varying depths. Whether the water be 

 obtained from either of these sources the 

 farmer can choose for himself, taking that 

 system which will be cheapest and most 

 suitable to his location and surroundings. 



INCREASE IN VALUE OF LAND. 



Thousands of acres of land which in the 

 past have been worth from 50c to $3 per 

 acre and have been considered practically 

 valueless for cultivation are suddenly in- 

 creased in value to $25 or $30 per acre by 

 the use of a windmill irrigation plant. 

 The soil in the semi-arid regions is the 

 most fertile in the world and it simply re- 

 quires water to make it produce abundant 

 crops of every nature. 



THE RESERVOIR. 



Too much importance cannot be given 

 to the necessity of sending over the ground 

 a large volume of water at one time. It 

 must be a flooding of the ground, not a 

 moistening. In some cases the greater 

 the depth of water that is put on the 

 ground at one time the better ; hence the 



no 



necessity of an ample reservoir. In no 

 case should one be less than 50 feet in di- 

 ameter with walls that will hold water four 

 or five feet deep, and a larger reservoir is 

 preferable. 



Where a small reservoir is used a cor- 

 respondingly small piece of ground must 

 be flooded each time and the flooding must 

 be done oftener. This has its advantages 

 iu this, that there is not so much water 

 lost by evaporation from the reservoir 

 while filling. The best form of reservoir 

 is round. A round reservoir exposes less 

 wall through which the water can seep, 

 and from which it can dry out, and is 

 easier to build. 



In a round reservoir 50 feet in diameter 

 and four feet deep there is 13 per cent, 

 less wall surface than in a reservoir of 

 equal capacity built up square, and if the 

 reservoir were built long and narrow the 

 amount of wall surface in proportion to 

 its holding capacity would be vastly in- 

 creased. However, in the opinion of some r 

 reservoirs should be built oblong, say 50 

 feet wide and 100 feet long, or 100 feet 

 wide and 200 feet long, etc., and extend- 

 ing at right angles to the prevailing wind, 

 as the momentum of the waves in travel- 

 ing a considerable distance will be likely 

 to injure the banks. A location should be 

 secured if possible, with hard pan or 

 tough clay subsoil. If posssible place it 

 on the highest part of the plot to be irri- 

 gated and as near as possible to the source 

 of the water. If there is any slope what- 

 ever let it be away from the reservoir. It 

 should be borne in mind that hillside as 

 well as level ground can be profitably 

 irrigated, if proper care is taken in the 

 location of the reservoir. Occasionally 

 good results are obtained by building a 

 dam across some depression thus necessi- 

 tating an artificial bank only on two sides 

 of the reservoir. Sometimes also a slop- 

 ing depression on a hillside is inclosed at 

 the lowest part by a substantial dam. 

 Most reservoirs are made by simply scrap- 

 ing up from the outside of the reservoir a 

 ridge of dirt sufficiently high to give, 4, 

 5 or 6 feet of water on the inside. No 

 dirt should be thrown up from the 



