THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



377 



the prospect for a continuance of the cheap fuel supply 

 is considered good. The much higher prices demanded 

 from Nebraska purchasers of coal is due to the cost of 

 transportation, he says. 



The gold boom at Kerwin, south of the national 

 park, appears to be gaining strength, according to Mc- 

 Kesson. A lively camp has been established and it is 

 claimed that pay ore has been found. The development 

 is awaiting railway construction. The outlook for a 

 considerable copper production is said to be satisfying. 



The Lancaster county man saw several farms 

 owned by Crow Indians. The wheat crop appeared to 

 be very good. In one place he saw two brand new up- 

 to-date threshing machine outfits in operation in charge 

 of Indians. A peculiar thing about these workmen 

 was the fact that they kept their coats on, although 

 they appeared to feel the heat. Some of the men wore 

 high-heeled cowboy boots and appeared very awkward. 

 Tied to nearby fences were the cayuses ridden by the 

 bucks to the scene of their activities. 



WILD HORSE ROUND-UP. 



Montana's Prairie Ponies Give Indian Cowboys an Exciting 



Race. 



IRRIGATION MACHINERY NOW NEEDED. 



For Development In South Africa. 



Among the many agencies now being employed for 

 the development of South Africa, one of the most im- 

 portant is irrigation, which is absolutely indispensable 

 in many regions for the proper and profitable cultiva- 

 tion of the land. In this connection it is interesting to 

 note that the irrigation department of the Transvaal 

 has recently completed a ten-mile irrigation canal on 

 the White river, in the northern part of the Barberton 

 district. The irrigation settlement is between 3,000 

 and 3,200 feet above sea level, and is about fifteen miles 

 north of Nelspruit Station, on the Delagoa Bay line, 

 which is 222 miles by rail from Pretoria. 



The canal, when running to its full capacity, will 

 carry twenty-five cubic feet of water per second, or 

 13,456,800 gallons per twenty-four hours, which at a 

 low estimate should be sufficient for the irrigation of 

 2,500 acres. The original canal, ten and one-eighth 

 miles long, has just been completed and the contractor 

 ha* entered into another agreement with the Irrigation 

 Department to construct an extension about four miles 

 in length. The total amount of land commanded by 

 the canal will be about 2,500 acres. 



Should this scheme prove a financial success, the 

 irrigated area can be very considerably extended. The 

 expenditure on the ten miles already constructed works 

 out at about 9 14s per acre, which is considered an 

 extremely moderate price for the Transvaal. It is 

 hoped that the government will extend their operations 

 and construct many other small works canals and 

 reservoirs in various parts of the colony. 



Increasing attention is now being given to the 

 subject both by the government and big private conces- 

 sionaire companies, the benefits to be derived being 

 considerable. For instance, unirrigated land valued at 

 1 per acre will command from 30 to 80 per acre 

 when irrigated a margin of betterment profit which 

 is sufficiently large to attract and reward the keenest 

 enterprise. There is every probability that the further 

 extension of irrigation works throughout the country 

 will provide manufacturers with increasing opportuni- 

 ties for supplying pumping machinery, excavators, 

 dredges, piping, fittings, gutters, connections and other 

 appliances. 



ON THE CROW RESERVATION. 



The Intrepid Red Men Are Anything But Lazy When Rounding Up The 

 Ponies From The Corral. 



Once a year, when the rain's of spring have turned 

 the brown plains of the Crow reservation into a vast 

 carpet of green, the great round-up of wild ponies is 

 held. 



There are round-ups and round-ups in the great 

 range country of the Absaraka, but the wild horse 

 round-up is not to be confounded with any other. Noth- 

 ing like it is to be found anywhere in the West, for the 

 reason that one can look in vain for wild ponies on al- 

 most any other Indian reservation. The Crows from 

 time immemorial were the great horse owners among 

 the Indian tribes. No tribesmen were their equals at 

 stealing ponies, and no Indians could equal the Crows 

 in keeping ponies when once they had been stolen. In 

 the days of its glory, when the tribe boasted 30,000 war- 

 riors, the Crow nation numbered its tens of thousands 

 of ponies. Today this slender nation of 1,500 people 

 owns more ponies than any other western tribe, but un- 

 der the encouragement of the government the Crows 

 are selling their stock and turning to agriculture. Car- 

 loads of Indian ponies are shipped from the reservation 

 every month, in the spring and fall, most of them going 

 to St. Louis and other southern points, and it is for 

 purposes of sale that the Indians round up the wild 

 horses that roam the great ranges in Montana. 



The ranges on the Crow reservation are for the most 

 part just as innocent of fence as in the days of old 

 Arapooish, the greatest chief of the Crows, who lived in 

 the time of Lewis and Clark. For miles and miles one 

 can travel across rolling prairies, which for generations 

 have been ideal feeding grounds for ponies. Here the 

 wild horses roam small-boned, shaggy-coated creatures, 

 with long flowing manes and tails, and with deep lungs 

 and sound forelegs that would make the eyes of a polo 

 player light up with joy. The brand of the cowboy they 

 have never known, nor have they felt the touch of the 

 lariat. Whole bands of these maverick ponies sweep 

 across the level stretches, plunge into the arroyas, and 

 clamber up the heights with the agility of mountain 

 goats. There is always a stallion with a herd, exercis- 

 ing a patriarchal watch over the mares and colts in his 

 care. Sharp-cut against the sky this sentinel can be 

 seen constantly on the watch for danger. 



Wolves are the especial terror of the wild horses. 

 Let a wolf appear in sight and instantly the band is 

 called together and stands in a circle, hind legs outward. 

 Mr. Wolf is too wise to approach within kicking distance, 

 and he merely circles the bunch at a safe distance, lick- 

 ing his chops at the sight of the tender little colts in 

 the center of the squealing, snorting bunch of ponies. 

 The Indian pony is as free with his heels today as he 

 was before the white man cut up the great ranges. 

 Those hind hoofs have always been his only means of 

 defense, and terrible ones they have ever proved to be 

 in time of danger. 



To capture strong, fleet animals such as this would 

 seem to be an impossibility, but your Indian cowboy 

 does not regard it so. In fact, nothing is impossible 

 to an Indian when he has made up his mind to accom- 



