PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



IRRIGATION IN ILLINOIS. 



While irrigation is now acknowledged to 

 be the solution of the problem of "how to 

 reclaim the lands of the West," it has not 

 yet received the favor that it should as a 

 feature in increasing the crop prod act in 

 humid regions. In other words, while the 

 western farmer looks upon irrigation as his 

 salvation from want, the eastern agricul- 

 turist still regards it, in the majority of 

 cases, as a "fad," taken up by "experi- 

 mental" farmers, upon which they can 

 squander a vast amount of money. 



Even in the humid, or rain fall regions, 

 irrigation is beneficial, for there are apt to 

 be periods of droughts that ruin the crops, 

 and a few progressive men have tested the 

 merits of artificial watering in Illinois, 

 Wisconsin and other states, with the best 

 of results, and it is only a question of time 

 when small farms in Illinois and neighbor- 

 ing states will have their irrigating plants. 



One of the pioneers in this line of ex- 

 periment, is Dr. Clarke Grapin, formerly 

 with the Illinois State Insane Asylum at 

 Kankakee, and a gentleman well known to 

 irrigators through his interest and experi- 

 ments in this connection. At the Fifth 

 National Irrigation Congress, held at 

 Phoenix, Arizona, Dec. 16, 1896, Dr. Ga- 

 pen gave an address on ''Supplemental 

 Irrigation in Humid America," in which 

 were set forth some of the results of his 

 experiments in irrigation, while connected 

 with the institution at Kankakee. This 

 address was published some time ago in 

 tne National Advocate, and we are sorry 

 not to be able to quote it all, as it contains 

 much valuable information for the amateur 

 irrigator, who is tackling the subject for 

 the first time. 



Regarding the appliances necessary for 



raising the water Dr. Gapin says: ''Prob- 

 ably tne simplest and most inexpensive 

 of the appliances for raising water is the 

 windmill. A 16-foot windmill connected 

 with a storage reservoir will raise water 

 enough for the irrigation of about ten acres. 

 You will observe that I have said that 

 such a mill must be used in connection 

 with a storage reservoir. The windmill 

 would not have a sufficient capacity to de- 

 liver the amount of water needed if the 

 water was wholly used during the time the 

 pumping was going on. A reservoir with 

 a capacity of several million gallons may 

 be constructed at a comparatively small 

 expense, and into this reservoir the wind- 

 mill pumps throughout the year, filling it 

 up and affording a supply which will be 

 drawn off during the irrigation season. 

 For details of constructing such reservoir 

 see Wilcox's little work on "Irrigation 

 Farming." 



Probably, however, the most economical 

 method of delivering water is- by means of 

 the centrifugal pump. This pump will 

 raise water to a height not exceeding fifty 

 feet, at a cost of not to exceed 9 to 30 

 cents per million gallons. These centri- 

 fugal pumps are geared or constructed so 

 that they can be operated either by steam 

 or gasoline engines. The operation of the 

 gasoline engine is simpler and somewhat 

 more economical than the operation of a 

 steam engine, but, in my opinion, a steam 

 engine outfit would be more economical to 

 the average farmer or horticulturist, for 

 the reason that it can be used for other 

 purposes at other times of the year; espe- 

 cially can the boiler be used for heating in 

 the winter season and for the operation of 

 machinery. It has always been a matter 

 of surprise to me that the farmer and the 



