168 IRRIGATION. 



cost was, (in 1865), about $15,000. From its faulty con- 

 truction, it was dear, and will be costly to maintain. 

 The charge for water is $1.50 per inch, per year; equal 

 to about $1 per acre, yearly. 



The Farmers' Ditch, also near Golden City, is 11 miles 

 long, 8 to 12 feet wide on the surface, and 6 feet at the 

 bottom, and 18 inches deep. Its cost was $10,000 ; it 

 supplies nearly 40,000 acres, at a cost of about $1 per 

 acre, yearly. 



At Greeley, on the Cache la Poudre, there are two irri- 

 gating canals, one on the south side of the Cache la 

 Poudre river, 10 miles long, which supplies the town and 

 adjacent farming land, it is 15 feet wide on the bottom 

 for 8 miles, has a fall of 3 feet to the mile, and the water 

 is usually run 3 feet deep in the irrigating season. This 

 canal has cost about $15,000. The main canal is 32 miles 

 long, and is taken out of the Cache la Poudre river, 15 

 miles west of Greeley, on the north side of the river. 

 It waters over 20,000 acres of land, of which 10,000 have 

 been brought under cultivation. It is 25 feet wide on 

 the bottom for 3 miles, the next 5 miles it is 24 feet 

 wide, 20 feet wide at the end of the 20th mile, and gradu- 

 ally decreases to 10 feet at the 30th mile. It is 4 feet 

 deep to the 20th mile ; its fall is 3 feet to the mile, 

 velocity 3 miles per hour, or 4 and 40 | 100 feet per second, 

 slope of banks 1 to 1; total cost, including dam in river, 

 $60,000. The sectional area of the portion that is 24 

 feet wide on the bottom is 112 feet, or 16,128 square inches, 

 and having a velocity of 3 miles per hour, and it being 

 generally considered that one inch of water is sufficient 

 for each acre under cultivation, this canal is large enough 

 to water 16,000 acres. Each owner of an 80 acre lot 

 under this canal has now paid $250 for his water right, 

 which belongs to the land as a perpetual easement, and 

 smaller and larger lots have paid in proportion. The 

 canal is kept in repair, and a man paid for superintending 



