PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. g 



RRIGATION WITHOUT THE CANAL. 



Upon the subject of irrigation a Ne- 

 braska correspondent in the 0. J. Farmer 

 says: Insurance against drouth is so 

 cheap and so practical that it is a wonder 

 it has not been more generally practiced in 

 the central west, as well as in the middle 

 and eastern states. Plan to utilize all the 

 water which comes within your reach. By 

 selecting the lowest spot on the farm and 

 preparing a pond to which ditches may lead 

 a supply of water can be secured, and at 

 the proper season carried outside of the 

 pond by wind power to irrigate adjacent 

 land. I have such a pond, which, with 

 the ditches, was prepared at a compara- 

 tively small expense. I secured an old 

 pattern Moore road grader, to which I 

 hitched eight horses, four abreast. The 

 ditches were made with one round of the 

 machine. Make the pond circular, leav- 

 ing an island in the center. With the 

 grader I began plowing in a circle 20 rods 

 in circumference, gradually working out- 

 ward until the outside measurement was 

 50 rods. Then setting the grader so it 

 would throw the earth outward, I began 

 working toward the center until all the 

 loose dirt was removed. I then had a 

 smooth surface upon which to begin plow- 

 ing as before. Continue until the pond is 

 of the required depth. When completed 

 the bottom must be treated as follows, so 

 that it will hold water: Put in one inch 

 of fine manure and over it spread three 

 inches of black gumbo soil. Wet this 

 and puddle by dragging a two-inch board 

 over it, Similar ponds may be prepared, 

 and afterward filled by means of wind- 

 mills. 



On farms which have no basins the 

 water may be taken from draws or canons 

 previously dammed and prepared for hold- 



ing the supply. The water will then have 

 to be raised by windpumps and carried in 

 cheap board troughs to the land to be irri- 

 gated. The same power which carries the 

 water out of the pond might be utilized to 

 fill the pond from a well. In addition to 

 the benefits mentioned, this system drains 

 the land, increases the rainfall of a coun- 

 try, and if the ponds are deep enough 

 makes it possible to raise fish. 



MONTANA SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS. 



The Anaconda Standard contains a 

 lengthy account of the llth annual meet- 

 ing of the Montana Society of Engineers, 

 held at Butte, Jan. 6, 7 and 8, and gives 

 the papers read. ''The Anaconda Water 

 Works" was the subject of one paper. The 

 Anaconda Copper Mining Co. has acquired 

 and located rights to all the water in 

 Hearst gulch. The water comes from 

 Hearst Lake. The company intend rais- 

 in.ii' the banks of this lake and will give it 

 a capacity of 70.000.000 gallons, and this 

 will furnish Anaconda with water. The 

 following is from Mr. Eugene Carroll's pa- 

 per on Irrigation Project: 



"In the fa]l of 1895 the Butte City Wat- 

 er company diverted the head waters of Fish 

 creek across the Continental Divide to in- 

 crease their water supply in Butte City. 

 As this necessitated taking considerable 

 water from one valley and turning it into 

 another so that the water did not return to 

 the stream from which it was taken, it re- 

 quired the purchase by the company of a 

 large number of ranches which were loca- 

 ted along Fish creek between the moun 

 tains and its mouth. In this way the com- 

 pany acquired the title to about 3,000 acres 

 of cultivated land. There was sufficient 

 water left in Fish creek after taking out 

 the water from its head to take care of 



