THE IRRIGATION AGE. 193 



dred and twenty acres one half section, or two individual homesteads. 

 The wells vary in depth from twenty feet to several hundred feet and 

 cost an average of about one dollar per foot of depth. Water thus ob- 

 tained is soft and of a higher temperature than that on the surface and 

 contains more or less mineral subtances in solution. Visitors to an ar- 

 tesian field where numerous wells are delivering great volumes of water 

 to the earth's surface make many curious remarks indicative of surprise, 

 ignorance or superstition. One time I was proudly exhibiting the great 

 wells near Salt Lake City to some eastern friends when one remarked: 

 "Well, 1 declare, if that isn't what I would call robbing the devil to pay 

 the saints." 



Water is lifted from underground channels by wind, steam and horse 

 power and stored in reservoirs or run in ditches to the land under culti- 

 vation. The windmill is a favorite cheap power especially on the Kansas 

 plains where wind is abundant at all seasons. An ordinary ten foot mill 

 will raise enough water from a depth of fifteen feet to irrigate ten acres 

 of orchard or small fruits. These products are worth .from five hundred 

 dollars to fifteen hundred dollars an acre, where scientifically irrigated, 

 when without irrigation the soil would not produce anything but cacti 

 and the sage bush. If a stream flows by an elevated valley too low to 

 admit of a gravity canal the water may be obtained by cutting a tunnel 

 from the stream bed to a well a few hundred feet away, from which it 

 can be lifted by wind, electric, steam or horse power. Those living in 

 the rainbed may think this method very expensive and express pity for 

 the poor irrigation farmer; but, in many instances, a windmill cost- 

 ing one hundred dollars, will deliver water worth ten to twenty times 

 that amount every year. 



The proper distribution of water to secure best results in fruit grow- 

 ing and general agriculture requires much careful, studious experiment- 

 ing, and while one man makes a successsful irrigation farmer, many fail 

 because of a lack of knowledge of soil moisture and the quantity of water 

 requisite for a given area. As a general rule all kinds of grain demand 

 artificial irrigation equal to about twenty four inches of rainfall during 

 the season from planting to maturity. This can be given in two to four 

 applications as the soil and climate conditions permit, but many farmers 

 use twice the volume needed and irrigate five to eight times in a season. 

 The grain receiving proper attention and the requisite moisture at the 

 proper time yields double that which is over irrigated and the quality is 

 much superior. An acre inch or enough water to cover an acre of land 

 one inch deep, applied twenty -four times in the growing season, of five 

 months, is not so valuable as six acre inches put upon the land four 

 times from planting to harvesting. Ten days to three weeks intervals 

 between periods of irrigation, with thorough cultivation produces the 

 most satisfactory results. 



Many methods are employed for perfect distribution of water, the 

 successes depending upon the soil, climate, crops and' cultivation. In. 



