THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



343 



There ae nine factories *in -course of 

 construction for operation in 1902, as fol- 

 lows: Sebewaing, Carrollton, Mount Clem- 

 ens and Crosswell, Mich.; Shelby, . Tnd.; 

 Oreely, Eaton and Fort Collins^Col., and 

 Phoenix, Ariz., ranging in capacity of 

 daily output from 500* tons to 1,000, the 

 latter figure being the capacity Cat the 

 Phoenix plant. 



Other companies have been organized 

 with a total capitalization of $49,000,000, 

 and would require annually a working 

 capital in addition of $9,080,000. Accord- 

 ing to Special Agent Saylor, they would 

 purchase from the farmer annually beets 



to the amount of $H,700,000, besides 

 many other crude materials. 



The number and aggregate capital of 

 these prospective plants, by states, in- 

 clude the following: Arizona, two, $1,- 

 500,000; California, five, $3,500,000; Col- 

 orado, seven, $5,000,000; Indiana, one, 

 $1,000,000; Iowa, six, $3,100,000; Idaho, 

 one, $500,000; Michigan, twenty-eight, 

 $14,900,000; Montana, one, $500,000; 

 North Dakota, two, $1,000,000; Oregon,' 

 one, $500,000; South Dakota, two, $1,000,- 

 000; Utah, three, $2,500,000; Wisconsin, 

 ten, $3,150,000; Wyoming, two, $1,500,- 

 000. 



IRRIGATION. 



IRRIGATION IN IDAHO. 



Prof. Elwood Mead, expert in charge of 

 irrigation investigation for the depart- 

 ment of agriculture, writes encouraging 

 letters to State Engineer Ross regarding 

 the future of irrigation work in Idaho. 

 Mr. Ross is a personal friend of Prof. 

 Mead and the Washington expert is kind- 

 ly disposed toward Idaho and its great fu- 

 ture as an irrigation state. Prof. Mead 

 has so expressed himself in numerous let- 

 ters. Prof. J. D. Stannard, one of Prof. 

 Mead's most accomplished assistants, is 

 now working under the direction of State 

 Engineer Ross in the Big Lost River val- 

 ley, says the Boise (Idaho) Statesman. 

 .GThe name of "Big Lost River Valley" 

 does not sound as though there would be 

 much water to irrigate with, but State En- 

 gineer Ross says it is a productive coun- 

 try. The river gets lost all right; and it 

 is lost several times throughout its course. 

 At one place for a distance of eight miles 

 it disappears entirely, only to reappear 

 again as the impervious strata approach 

 the surface. 



The valley of Big Lost River is long and 

 narrow, but the soil is of great richness. 

 It is the object of the present inquiry to 



determine upon the cost of building a 

 storage reservoir that will hold the water 

 of Big Lost river not far from its source. 

 The fact that the river sinks into the sub- 

 strata of gravel will make no difference. 

 The engineering problem does not deal 

 with the temporary disappearance of the 

 water, but the holding of it in reserve. It 

 will be allowed to run in its natural chan- 

 nel, as the loss from percolation or absorp- 

 tion is only slight. As a matter of fact, 

 the evaporation is reduced to a minimum 

 while the stream is below the surface. 



These problems are now engaging the 

 attention of Prof. Stannard in his work. 

 The town of Mackay is in the center of 

 the Big Lost river irrigation district, and 

 the people of that section are wide awake 

 to the proposed storage-reservoir enter- 

 prise. They have an active organization 

 among the irrigators and have raised 

 money to help along the project. The 

 people are students of the great problem 

 and have encouraged State Engineer Ross 

 to aid them in storing water. Lx. 



IRRIGATION BY WELLS. 

 An argument in favor of irrigation by 

 wells is found in the following article 



