THE IERIGATION AGE. '21 5 



the Dakota sandstone supply, which comes near the surface in the 

 centre of Kansas, and from there, extends at a depth of 200 to 1,000 

 feet below the surface, towards the north and west, underlying a 

 region 1,500 by 500 miles to the "Hogback" ridge of the Rockies. 

 The supply is an inexhaustible ocean, and lies between a layer of shole 

 rock, both below and above it. It can of course only be reached by 

 artesian wells, many of which are already in active use in both of the 

 Dakotas. With these two vast sources of water supply, known to 

 exist underneath this large area of now arid soil, what shall be the 

 means, within the reach of the farmer, whereby they may be utilized? 

 Why not harness the war moving wind, that without limit constantly 

 blows across this whole region? By applying it properly to pumps 

 and wells at needed points, it can be done with no cost whatever for 

 the motive power itself. 



Here is a field for the inventive genius of our people, and he who 

 best solves the problem, will not only become rich, but will at the 

 same time benefit the most important class of humanity. Some of the 

 farmers in Nebraska have proceeded fartherest in this direction in 

 their crude way, and manufactured, from materials they could find 

 about them, windmills and pumps at the very low cost of 6.00 to 

 $8.00 each which now are indeed very common in some parts of that 

 state. Perhaps the most remarkable of these is one at Kearney 

 which cost only 1.50 and is six feet high, nine feet long and three 

 feet wide and has eight fans. Another one at Lincoln nine feet wide, 

 thirteen feet long and thirteen feet high cost only $8.00. This 

 irrigates five acres of garden land. 



The largest and best known "Jumbo" mill, is owned by John 

 Tannahill, a market gardener at Columbus, Neb., and it not only fully 

 irrigates ten acres of garden, but has made a large growth of fine 

 trees all about his place, some of which are a foot through and sixty 

 feet or more in height. In the plan of irrigation by diverting the 

 running streams, Nebraska leads, and its laws are liberal to the 

 farmer. Over 2,500,000 acres are now reclaimed by this means, at a 

 cost of less than $2.50 per acre, and it has already resulted in an 

 increase of value to the land, of over 9.00 per acre, a net gain of 

 $6.90 per acre, to say nothing of the gain in the crops besides. By 

 this means sixty-five bushels of corn per acre is raised when adjoin- 

 ing fields not irrigated yields only thirty bushels. H. J. Hendryx, 

 of Platte Co. has twenty-five acres of celery which netted him $125.00 

 per acre. Another farmer raised 1,365 bushels of onions from one 

 acre irrigated, the largest of which weighed nineteen ounces. His 

 neighbors raised only 100 bushels per acre without irrigation. Mr- 

 Sailing of Cozad, irrigated his wheat, only applying water twice, 

 which gave him a yield averaging 40 bushels to the acre, while all 

 about him land not irrigated, produced only twenty to twenty-three 

 bushels per acre. 



