116 1HE IRRIGATION AGE. 



made available. It generally originates and is organized in the- 

 following manner: 



A body of lands suitable for farming purposes, and so situated 

 with reference to a river or other satisfactory source of supply that it 

 can be irrigated with a reasonable degree of economy, is located and 

 acquired by digerent individuals. If government land, it is secured 

 through the regular homestead or desert-land filings. If belonging 

 to the state or a railroad company, it is acquired through purchase. 

 Sometimes both State and Goverment lands are available, of which 

 the alternate sections belong to each, respectively. In the case of 

 Government lands, many of the filings may have been made long be- 

 fore the irrigation proposition in question had assumed definite form, 

 the same having been made upon the assumption that irrigation was 

 sposible and would sooner or later become an accomplished fact. 



For the purpose of specifically illustrating the method of organizing 

 and conducting the affairs of such a community irrigation enterprise, 

 it will be assumed that a number of individuals have made filings upon 

 different tracts of Government land, comprising in the aggregate an 

 area of 8,000 acres, or that they have acquired the same area through 

 purchase from the state or from a railroad company This land is, of 

 course, arid and unproductive without water, and before its irrigation 

 can be effected a canal or other conduit must be constructed for con- 

 veying thereto the waters of some adjacent stream. A meeting of the 

 owners of claimants is therefore held, and the necessary plant is agreed 

 upon; the amont of water required, the size of canal needed, and the 

 approximate cost of the undertaking are determined; and a board of 

 directors is elected, who appoint the executive officers for conducting 

 the affairs of the company. It will be assumed that the probable 

 cost of the works has been determined to be $5,000. The capital 

 stock is then fixed at this amount, and is divided into 500 shares at a 

 par value of $100 each. It will be assumed that the canal is to carry 

 100 cubic feet of water per second of time. Under this assumption 

 each proposed cubic foot of proposed capacity is represented by a 

 capitalization of $500, and, as there are 500 shares, each of the latter 

 would represent one fifth of a cubic foot of water. If 1 cubic foot be 

 considered as the amount required for 80 acres of land, each of those 

 who desires to irrigate this area should subscribe for five shares of 

 stock, and for larger areas in the same proportion. These would, 

 however, be no condition specifying the number of shares which any 

 purchaser must acquire, though it would be advisable that each land- 

 holder purchase the number necessary to accomplish the satisfactory 

 irrigation of the area proposed to be cultivated, since the number of 

 shares held will determine the amount of water which he will receive.. 

 Each land- owner or other person- desiring water shares now enters. 



