THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



199 



porary reservoirs are inexpensive and feas- 

 ible. 



Most of the canals and ditches in Ne- 

 braska are of primitive construction. 

 Seepage has been the principal thing to 

 guard against, as most of the carrying 

 channels are mere ditches through the land 

 and but a small number of sluices. In 

 some localities there are artesian wells and 

 in other sections deep wells with working 

 pumps, but these form no actual part of 

 the irrigation system. 



Mr. Dobson igures that at least $10,- 

 000, 000 yearly has been added to the pro- 

 ducts of the state. Much of the irrigated 

 land is surrounded by an immense grazing 

 country and the hay and feed raised there- 

 on find a ready market, as well as adding 

 to the value of the pastures by reason of 

 the possibility of winter feeding of the 

 stock. This value can be multiplied sev- 

 eral times by intensive farming. 



The one drawback to the spreading of 

 irrigation has been the holding of the Su- 

 preme Court that the old common law ri- 

 parian rights hold good in this state. This 

 decrees that the owner of land adjacent to 

 a stream has the right to the use of the 

 running water there "undiluted, unpollu- 

 ted and undiminished in quantity." As 

 the mills were established long before the 

 irrigation era, this gives to the mill-owner 

 the right to prevent a farmer from divert- 

 ing the water in any considerable quantity 

 and restricts him to the ordinary usage 

 of it. Farm Machinery. 



WATER-MADE DAMS. 

 Some of the old-time operations of the 

 miners for placer gold and the use of the 

 hydraulic "giant" have suggested an in- 

 genious method of constructing dams for 

 reservoirs in the West. The hydraulic 

 giant was found to be a most effective and 

 powerful agent in removing even compact 

 bodies of earthern material. A stream of 

 water brought from an elevation under 

 great pressure and directed against the 



face of a hill in which gold was supposed 

 to be tore its way into the mass with tre- 

 mendous force, cutting out large amounts 

 of the material and washing them away, 

 the waste water assorting the fine from the 

 coarse particles. The sand and gravel 

 thus washed away was carefully examined 

 for the precious metal. 



Of recent years hydraulic power has 

 been employed to almost reverse this pro- 

 cess. Engineers, appreciating the great 

 transporting and assorting power of water 

 used in this way, have availed themselves 

 of it to build up instead of tear down the 

 land, and by carefully guiding the mate- 

 rial loosened by the force of the water they 

 have been able to accumulate and arrange 

 it almost at will. The process has been 

 found especially useful in the construction 

 of dams. For example, if an earth dam 

 is to be built, the material rolled along by 

 the water is carried in flumes to the se- 

 lected spot. On leaving the fiume small 

 boulders and coarse gravel are at once de- 

 posited. The sand flows on farther, and 

 the fine mud is carried in suspension for 

 considerable distances. It is thus possible 

 to deposit the gravel on the outer slope of 

 the dam and the finer material in the cen- 

 ter, thus making a central impervious clay 

 wall and heavy coating of coarser gravel on 

 the upper and lower faces of the dam. 

 The material being deposited under water 

 is thoroughly compacted, and there is less 

 danger of settlemant or of porous layers 

 being formed than in the case of dirt 

 placed by carts or scrapers. A number of 

 dams, notably in Southern California and 

 in Texas, have been built with extraordi- 

 nary speed and small expense in fchis way, 

 and even high railroad embankments have 

 been constructed in like manner. 



This method of construction of dams is 

 being made the subject of study by the 

 Division of Hydrography of the U. S. 

 Geological Survey, in connection with in- 

 vestigations as to the feasibility of re- 

 claiming the arid lands of the West. 



