24 



THE- IBBIGATION AGE. 



of which is 102.9 gallons per minute. The cost of the 

 one-horse power is about $210 complete, and the two- 

 horse power, $240. 



Some prefer the horse power outfit to the windmill, 

 because they do not consider themselves at the mercy 

 of the shifting and variable winds of heaven. On the 

 prairies and near the sea coast, however, the windmill 

 is preferred as the winds are nearly constant, at least 

 they blow with sufficient force and long enough to sup- 

 ply all the water needed. Wind at fifteen miles an hour 

 is strong enough to work a windmill up to its full 

 capacity. 



GASOLINE ENGINES. 



The gasoline engine for pumping purposes is grow- 

 ing in favor, owing to the cheapness of the fuel and the 

 capacity and simplicity of the engine. An engine that 

 costs about $100 will furnish about 1% horse power, 

 consume one gallon of gasoline in ten hours of steady 

 work and supply 4,000 gallons of water. Other gaso- 

 line engines ranging up to a water delivery of 10,000 

 gallons and more an hour may be purchased at reason- 

 able cost, and will do an enormous amount of work at a 

 trifling expense. These engines are suitable in the 

 barren regions where wood and coal can not be had for 

 fuel without great expense. 



OTHER PUMPING POWER. 



Where conditions will admit of them, steam, hot 

 air and even electricity are brought into requisition for 

 pumping water to be used in irrigating land. Coal, 

 wood and other fuel, however, must be at hand in un- 

 limited quantities, for all such power is a voracious 

 feeder the more power the more fuel. 



All the appliances and machinery for irrigation are 

 being reduced to simplicity and the. saving of water. 

 Open canals and ditches with their loss of 50 per cent 

 of water are becoming things of the past. Economy 

 of use is now the rule, and the farmer who understands 

 the needs of soil and plants makes a good profit out 

 of his farm, whereas he would cultivate it at a loss 

 without that knowledge. Raising crops for market for 

 profit has become a matter of dollars and cents, and a 

 penny saved is a penny earned in agriculture as well as 

 in the mercantile business. 



To save water is the great aim of irrigators, and 

 where there were once open leaky ditches and canals 

 there are now cemented water conveyances. On the 

 large farm, as well as on the small one, it is beginning 

 to be understood that gorging plants with water and 

 saturating the soil is not the proper system for growing 

 crops for profit. The lessons sought to be imparted in 

 this book, if well learned and followed, can not fail to 

 be of benefit to every farmer who reads it. The essen- 

 tial principles only are given; each farmer must apply 

 them for himself, for he can not have an apostle at his 

 elbow all the time to guide and direct him when he is 

 on the point of making a mistake. 



BROUGHT BY THE POSTMAN. 



Letters from Correspondents to The Irrigation Age. 



We are showing in this issue, in connection with 

 an article on the Hanover Canal, some views of the 

 Maginnis steel flume mentioned in the article. This 

 flume is in general use throughout the West and is 

 giving good satisfaction among irrigation companies 

 generally. Those who are interested in the subject can 

 secure full information, with illustrations and printed 

 matter, by addressing P. Maginnis, Kimball, Neb. 



ONTARIO, ORE., Oct. 19, 1904. 

 Editor THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. : 



Dear Sir I mailed you yesterday a blueprint map that 

 will explain a situation in the eastern part of Oregon relating 

 to the methods and operation of the United States Bureau of 

 Reclamation as it is being conducted according to the ideas 

 proclaimed by Mr. Newell, as shown in your September issue. 



Along the south side of Snake River, partiy in Idaho and 

 partly in Oregon, is situated an unusually fine body of irriga- 

 ble land. The exceptional character of this land is due partly 

 to the quality of the soil, but largely to the extremely favor- 

 able climatic conditions. The productiveness of the land is 

 remarkable, as may be shown by the results from one farm 

 of two hundred and ten acres, the crop of the present season, 

 2,380 tons of alfaifa, having just been sold for $11,900 $5.00 

 per ton. 



A portion of this area, some 16,000 acres, is already 

 supplied with water from the irrigation ditches taken from 

 the Owyhee River and the Malheur River, but the water 

 supply is hardly adequate for the area already under cultiva- 

 tion, especially during the latter part of the season. Dur- 

 ing the earlier part of the year both of these streams carry 

 an abundance of water, an ample supply for all the irrigable 

 land adjoining them, but after the 1st of July the supply is 

 problematical, and it is simply a question of the storage of 

 this surplus discharge to bring this entire area under cul- 

 tivation. 



Naturally, where profitable returns can be so clearly 

 shown and demonstrated there is an inviting field for the 

 investment of capital, and plans and investigations have 

 been under way now for several years by a number of cor- 

 porations organized for the purpose of reclaiming this body 

 of land. 



The Malheur Irrigation Company was the first in the 

 field and was planned chiefly to supply the lands comprising 

 the lower portion of the area mentioned, or what is locally 

 known as "Dead Ox Flat." This company has partially com- 

 pleted a system of storage reservoirs and some twenty 

 miles or more of their system of ditches at an expenditure 

 up to this time of probably $75,000. 



The Ontario High Line Canal Company was organized 

 on a more comprehensive plan several years ago, and con- 

 templated the reclamation of practically all of the land on 

 the south side of Snake River for a distance of seventy-five 

 or eighty miles of its course and they have been carrying on 

 during this time a very careful survey and investigation to 

 carry out the purposes of their organization and while, up to 

 this time, they have expended no money in construction work 

 they have expended a considerable sum in making these sur- 

 veys and making these investigations and perfecting their 

 plans. 



Last summer the Government Reclamation Bureau in- 

 vaded this field and began a vigorous crusade among the peo- 

 ple residing throughout this portion of Oregon to create a 

 popular support for a plan that they had for irrigating a por- 

 tion of this same territory. 



The methods resorted to for the purpose of creating 

 popular favor and support for this (Government) project and 

 to create disfavor and prejudice against the companies already 

 engaged in the effort to reclaim these lands were of the 

 hippodrome order, flaming posters, brass bands, scores of 

 hired claquers and boosters, etc., astonishing to those accus- 

 tomed to .considering the majesty and dignity of tne "Govern- 

 ment" that institution that we are taught to honor -and 

 respect instead of regarding it in the light of a scrambling 

 competitor not overscrupulous in its effort to get the best of it 



The area of land covered by the Ontario High Line Canal, 

 excluding all that is now under cultivation, is approximately 

 146,000 acres, and the Malheur Irrigation Company's system 

 will supply from 25,000 to 30,000 acres of additional land, 

 making a total of about 175,000 acres. The estimated cost 

 of these undertakings is $2,378,000 for the Ontario High Line 

 system of reservoirs and canals and $340,000 for the Malheur 

 Irrigation -Company's system. As you will see from the pros- 

 pectus issued by the Government Bureau relating to their 

 Malheur project a copy of which is herewith sent the area 

 that they propose to irrigate is 90,000 acres, which includes 

 the 16,000 already under cultivation, leaving practically 75,000 



