PRACTICAL IRRIGATION. 



BY JOHN G. HALL. 



I have often looked through the columns of the AGE for articles 

 treating upon practical irrigation, but find they are very scarce, so I 

 shall endeavor, from time to time, to write upon this subject as prac- 

 ticed at Greeley, Colo. 



Greeley is a town of about 6,000 inhabitants founded by Horace 

 Greely in 1870 and is still governed by the original charter of nearly 

 thirty years ago. It was a temperance town from the beginning, and 

 doubtless will remain so, as the charter is renewed from tune to time 

 as it expires. On this account many people come here to rear and 

 educate their children. The state normal is located here: large pub- 

 lic schools in the various parts of town, making our school system 

 equal to the best. The town is wholly supported by agriculture. 

 The water for irrigation is taken from the Cache La Poudre, the 

 South Platte and the Big and Little Thompson rivers. The largest 

 proportion coming from the Cache La Poudre. The soil is a sandy 

 loam. Principal products are potatoes, small grain and alfalfa. 

 Greeley is considered to be (by those who have traveled extensively) 

 the garden spot of the United States, as the products raised by irri- 

 gation amount to several millions of dollars annually. Greeley pota- 

 toes are superior to any grown. The amount grown each year 

 averages eight to twelve thousand cars, and they are shipped to all 

 parts of the United States. In the fall and early winter solid train- 

 loads of potatoes leave every day by the U. P. and Gulf roads. Land 

 in this locality sells from forty to one hundred and twenty-five dollars 

 per acre: this includes water belonging to said land. The variation in 

 valuation depends on location, improvements and the ditch by which 

 the land is watered, as some ditches have priority of right. The 

 suow falling in the canons of the Rocky mountains thirty miles dis- 

 tant, help to supply the rivers, melting gradually, and when not 

 needed is stored in reservoirs until wanted. Surface leveling is a 

 most important factor in successful farming by irrigation. 



During the eighteen years of my experience here at Greeley, the 

 question of leveling the surface, so the water can be spread easily 

 evenly and uniformly, has been a grave one and one calling for the 

 constant care of the progressive farmer. Many devices have been 

 tried with more or less success. The most successful and now being 

 adopted pretty generally is one known as the Hall leveler, invented 

 by myself. 



This leveler used on freshly plowed land does its work to the en- 

 tire satisfaction of the user, as it loads itself from the elevations and 



