THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



137 



most of the ranches, but in order to make 

 those at the lower end of the creek sale- 

 able, and furnish them with an ample sup- 

 ply of water for irrigating purposes, the 

 company in 1897 decided to construct an 

 irrigating ditch, taking its water from Jef- 

 ferson river, and extending the ditch past 

 their ranches on lower Fish creek. In do- 

 in a; this they have permitted ranchmen 

 along the line of the ditch to join with 

 them, and a ditch company is to be formed 

 known as the Creeklyn Irrigation com- 

 pany. 



"The company is stocked in such a man- 

 ner that each share of stock represents 25 

 inches of water. The headgate of the ditch 

 is placed on the Jefferson river about 2,000 

 yards above the Iron Rod bridge, and winds 

 on a grade of 26-10 feet per mile for 13 

 miles, emptying into Fish creek. The 

 ditch is designed to carry in solid ground 

 1,000 inches of water, a liberal allowance 

 being made for evaporation and seepage. 

 The excavated earth from the ditch forms 

 an embankment on the lower side of the 

 ditch, which will be carefully built, and 

 which, in the course of a few years, wil 

 more than double the capacity of the ditch. 

 There are no peculiar features about the 

 construction of this ditch. It is necessary 

 to go through the town of Silver Star, which 

 is done by placing a covered flume along 

 the main street of that town. The total 

 length of the ditch is about 13 miles, and 

 there are about 40,000 feet of lumber re- 

 quired for bridges and flumes. The con- 

 tracts are let and the first mile of the ditch 

 is about completed. 



The contractors have until the 15th of 

 June in which to complete the work. The 

 head-gate is built of lumber supported by 

 concrete masonry and is 12 feet wide. The 

 bottom of the head-gate is placed at two 

 feet below the bottom of the river at the 

 point of diversion." 



The officers elected by the society for the 

 coming year, according to the Butte Miner 

 are: President, J. M. Page, Twin Bridges; 

 M. S. Parker, Great Falls, vice president; 

 F, J. Smith, Helena, second vice president; 



Albert Hovey, Helena, secretary and li- 

 brarian: James S. Keerl, Helena, treasurer 

 and trustee for the national association, of 

 which the state society is only a membe-, 

 E. R. McNeil was elected trustee. 



The meeting was well attended, excur- 

 sions being run Jan. 6 and 7, and appar- 

 ently well enjoyed. 



PRACTICAL IRRIGATION; THE RES- 

 ERVOIR. 



Under the above heading J. W. Stuben- 

 ranch, of Mexia, Texas, writes in the 

 Texas Farm and Ranch, as follows: Next 

 to a good soil, sunshine and rain in proper 

 proportions are indispensable in attaining 

 the best results on either the farm, orchard 

 or garden. The good soil we have in plen- 

 ty in Texas, and those who have not can 

 easily make it so. Of sunshine well, is 

 there a person living who thinks that we 

 have not enough of it? It is only a suffi- 

 ciency of moisture at the proper time that 

 is lacking, and which prevents us at some 

 seasons from growing the most enormous 

 crops year after year that the world ever 

 has seen. Our mean average rain-fall per 

 annum over Central Texas of over 40 inches 

 is more than am pie for growing the biggest 

 crops. Unfortunately, however, like in all 

 southern countries, the distribution of the 

 rain is very unequal. Drouths, often so 

 disastrous, are nearly always preceded by 

 floods. To save this surplus rain and storm 

 water, during a wet spell in a big storage 

 tank is the first requisite on most of our 

 farms to a beginning of a successful, eco- 

 nomical system of irrigation. The water 

 once safely stored, a higher piece of ground 

 from which water will run in different di- 

 rections, is often found close by. If a res- 

 ervoir is built at this high point, a wind- 

 mill is put up anywhere along the storage 

 tank, which will pump up the water into 

 the reservoir, a very effective mode of irri- 

 gation is made possible. The writer is fol- 

 lowing this plan exactly. The 12-foot I. 

 H. L. wind-mill operates the 5x20 inch 

 cylinder pump, and the pump fills the res- 

 ervoir from the storage tank 600 feet dis- 



