192 THE IRRIGA T10A r AGE. 



Individual efforts have enabled many farmers to gain independent 

 water rights by tapping small mountain streams, diverting the flow of 

 springs, constructing small reservoirs, erecting windmills over wells or 

 streams, or by sinking wells to the sheet water of the plains, or the ar- 

 tesian basin of the mountains. When once obtained an independent 

 water supply is more valuable than the land it irrigates, and the farmer 

 has full control of his soil, which by proper cultivation and scientific ir- 

 rigation, yields all the fertility will produce. Instead of being depend- 

 ent upon rainfall the farmer with a water supply under his control fully 

 demonstrates the fact that the natural moisture of a humid land is at 

 best but a miserable substitute for irrigation. The water is applied to 

 growing crops at the moment plant life demands sustenance and the 

 growth continues to perfection; being more natural, the plants, cereals 

 and fruits are better flavored, yield more in quantity and are conse- 

 quently more profitable. The farmer is certain of his annual harvests 

 and does not fear the results of drouths, storms, cyclones or other de- 

 structive elements characteristic of the rainland of his fathers. When 

 he contemplates the possibilities of himself in controlling seedtime and 

 harvest he must exclaim: "Man is the monarch of his own kingdom." 



Irrigation channels when large enough to carry water for several 

 thousand acres are called canals, and of smaller dimensions are known 

 as ditches, but they are all constructed on the gravity principle, having 

 a fall from one quarter of an inch to six inches or more per rod, the 

 velocity varying with the nature of the soil and height of land where 

 water is delivered. Sometimes a stream may be divided by merely cut- 

 ting a side channel for a few yards and turning the canal away from the 

 banks, the flow can be taken many miles round the base of a mountain to 

 the land destined for irrigation. In other instances dams are thrown 

 across the streams to raise the water to the bottom of the canals. Where 

 reservoirs are tapped the canals or ditches are generally filled from 

 gates opening near the bottom, and closing when water is not needed. 

 If a mountain stream is used to fill a canal the surplus water entering 

 when a freshet or flood comes from above is disposed of by means of 

 floodgates, or overflow cuts, thus preventing breaks and destruction of 

 crops along the line of canal. Ditches are usually filled by throwing a 

 few stones in the main stream in such a way as to divert enough water 

 to form an independent channel. 



Artesian wells furnish large volumes of water for surface irrigation, 

 and more than thirteen thousand of these valuable undercurrent sources 

 have been opened, and are yielding soil moisture at the rate of from ten 

 gallons to five thousand per minute. The water is frequently held in 

 reservoirs and conveyed to the cultivated areas by small canals, when 

 necessary for assisting plant growth. In South Dakota where several 

 hundred wells tap the artesian basin of James River Valley, it is esti- 

 mated that a flow of four hundred and forty-eight gallons, equivalent to 

 one secocd foot, in a minute, will supply water for irrigating three hun- 



