376 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



EXPERT ENGINEER GIVES RULES FOR PRACTI- 

 CAL USE. 



The Twin Falls, Idaho News has the following to 



J'mfessor Rashbacher, who is making a study oi' 

 irrigation here for the benefit of settlers on the govern- 

 ment tracts, has spoken before a number of farmers' 

 associations recently on the method of measuring water, 

 to ascertain whether each irrigator is receiving hi? 

 proper allowance. Following is a condensed report oi 

 his address: 



There are three different units used in the measure- 

 ment of water, the unit used depending upon the 

 amount of water to be measured, the miners' inch 

 used to measure the smaller quantities. . According to 

 the laws of the state of Idaho a miners' inch consists 

 of the amount of water flowing through an orifice an 

 inch square under a constant head of four and one- 

 half inches over the center of the opening. 



If an irrigator wishes to measure the actual number 

 of inches of water flowing through he can do so very 

 easily by constructing a board dam across the ditch 

 and cutting a slot an inch high and extending nearly 

 across the dam. 



If a well fitting slide be put into the slot and 

 drawn out until enough of the' slot is left free to al- 

 low all of the water in the ditch to flow through with 

 the water level standing above the center line of the 

 slot four and one-half inches, then the length of the 

 slot in inches is the number of inches flowing through 

 the ditch. 



The cubic foot per second or second foot is used 

 for measuring both large and small quantities of water 

 and is being generally used in place of the miners' 

 inch. A second foot is simply the flow of water which 

 will fill a box a foot square and one foot deep in a 

 second of time. 



It is generally measured by means of a weir set 

 in the ditch with some sort of recording device for 

 registering the height of water flowing over the weir, 

 each different height corresponding to a flow of a cer- 

 tain number of second feet; this flow is computed with 

 tables which are worked out for weirs of different sizes. 



The acre foot is used for measuring extremely large 

 amounts of water. 



It is the amount of water required to cover an 

 acre one foot deep and is equal to 43,560 cubic feet. 

 This unit is mainly for determining the capacity of reser- 

 voirs and determining the amount of water applied to 

 tin' land during the irrigation season. 



By duty of water is meant the number of acres 

 irrigated by a second foot of water. Thus if an irri- 

 gator is allowed a second foot and irrigates eighty 

 acres with that amount the duty of water on his field 

 is 80. The higher the duty of water the more skillful 

 and intelligent the irrigating. The average duty in 

 the arid states is close to 80 at the present time. 



There are several easy ways for a farmer to meas- 

 ure the amount of water flowing down his ditch. About 

 the easiest way is to dig a hole about ten feet square 

 and a foot deep and notice the time it takes to fill. 

 Divide this time in seconds into 100 and the result 

 of tho number is the number of second feet of flow. 

 Multiply this result hy fifty and we have the number 

 of miners' inches. 



Another way is to measure some distance, say 

 fifly feet, 'in a straight stretch of ditch and notice the 



time required for a chip to float this distance. Get 

 the average width and depth of the ditch somewhere 

 on the fifty feet stretch. 



Multiply the average depth in feet by the average 

 width also in feet, and multiply the result by fifty. 

 Divide the result by the time taken to pass through 

 fifty feet and the final result is the number of second 

 feet flowing through the ditch. 



IRRIGATION BOOMING IN WYOMING. 



So Says Nebraskan. 



Irrigation is making great strides in Wyoming, ac- 

 cording to J. C. F. McKesson, of Lincoln, Neb., who 

 returned recently from a trip to Cody. The land 

 which is under ditch has a good market value, and 

 some within a few miles of Cody can not be purchased 

 for $100 an acre. Along the line of the Burlington 

 there is an area of 200,000 acres which will be watered 

 from the government project and a considerable por- 

 tion of it has not yet been homesteaded. The settlers 

 have taken the land close to the towns, but many tracts, 

 which will make productive farms when the govern- 

 ment project is completed, are open to entry. The 

 settler must sleep on the homestead, but at the present 

 time nothing is raised on the land, so that it is simply 

 a waiting game for the entrymen. The Shoshone dam 

 will make a reservoir which will hold more than enough 

 water to irrigate the land. Much of the area which is 

 susceptible to irrigation has been covered with private 

 projects which will utilize the flood waters of the 

 stream. Because of the necessity of residing on the 

 land to secure a homestead, acquisition by purchase 

 is preferred by some settlers, who calculate that the 

 completion of the canals will make the land valuable. 



Still another project will add to the irrigable area. 

 A large section of the Crow Indian reservation is to 

 be thrown open for entry under the provisions of the 

 reclamation act and will provide thousands of irri- 

 gated farms. This land is to be allotted to settlers in 

 small tracts. The water will be taken from the Yellow- 

 stone River about forty miles above the point where it 

 will be first turned on the land. 



Cody is enjoying a boom because of the develop- 

 ment of the surrounding country which is in pros- 

 pect. Many new buildings are being erected. 



McKesson says that the irrigated lands of western 

 Nebraska and Wyoming will find a market for their 

 products toward the Pacific coast, so that any difference 

 in the freight rates demanded by the eastern Nebraska 

 and Iowa farmers as compared with those of the irri- 

 gated country will not cut much figure. He believes 

 that it is the policy of J. J. Hill to encourage this 

 western traffic and that assistance is being given in 

 developing the irrigated region in the hope of building 

 up a great shipping business with the coast. Large 

 shipments of live hogs have been made recently to 

 Seattle from as far east as Aurora. The Seattle pack- 

 ing house is not associated with the trust. 



One great advantage which the settlers on the irri- 

 gated lands have compared with eastern Nebraska en- 

 trymen is the cheapness of coal and lumber. Coal can 

 be had at the railway mines for $1 a load and lumber 

 costs about one-half of the price demanded of eastern 

 Nebraska farmers, while slabs for fencing can be had 

 for a song. In many places throughout the northern 

 part of Wyoming there are outcroppings of coal, so that 



