THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



21 



IRRIGATION PROGRESS IN SAN SABA COUNTY, 

 TEXAS. 



Judge Allison and E. L. Rector, Esq., returned last 

 Friday from Austin where, on Thursday, they secured a 

 charter for the San Saba Valley Irrigation Company. 

 The capital stock is $360,000. The directors are John 

 Kelly, president; Joe A. Williams, vice president; N. 

 D. Lidstone, treasurer ; John Cunningham, W. R. Doran 

 and T. A. Murray, of San Saba, and Stephen F. Dem- 

 mon, of Chicago. R. W. Burleson is the secretary, and 

 Wm. Allison and E. L. Rector, the attorneys. The 

 charter and franchise fee for fifty years was $250. 



Attorneys Allison and Rector said after examining 

 the charters of some other irrigation companies, they 

 decided the charter formulated for our company was the 

 best of all and so filed it without making any changes 

 from that agreed upon in the directors' meeting at home. 



The work on the abstracts is long and tedious and 

 is being rapidly pushed. 



Engineer Duvall. came in last Friday and is look- 

 - ing after some preliminary work. He very kindly fur- 

 nished the News the following data on the actual plant : 



"The dam for the San Sa-ba Irrigation system will 

 have an extreme height of 50 feet. At its greatest depth 

 the base will be 37% feet; its top width will be 10 

 feet; its length at bottom of creek will be 300 feet; 

 length on top, 800 feet. Available storage 15,000 acre 

 feet of water. 



"On the main ditch it is intended to construct two 

 other storage reservoirs, one of 5,000 acre feet and one 

 6,000 acre feet, to be held by earthen dams. The main 

 ditch will be 57 miles long. At the head the bottom 

 will be 14 feet. Slopes of sides, 2 horizontal to 1 verti- 

 cal. Depth of water in ditch at maximum flow, 6 feet. 

 As laterals are taken out the main will be reduced 

 until the lower section will have a bottom width of 

 but five feet with a depth of only 2% feet. 



"There will be 150 miles of laterals and sub- 

 laterals from 6 feet bottom" width down to 11/2 feet 

 and a depth of from 3 feet water down to 6 inches."- 

 San Saba County (Texas) News. 



Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE 

 for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money 

 order for $1.00. 



GASOLINE ENGINES IN IRRIGATING REGION. 



J. STONEY rORCHEI!, TEXAS, IN ORANGE JUDD FARMER. 



Be sure to have a good engine. Everyone who has 

 handled gasoline engines knows that some will start 

 every time, and others require much persuasion. This 

 defect is eliminated now by some recent makers. An 

 engine that will start and stop easily must have a 

 mixture of air and gasoline before reaching cylinder. 

 The air and gasoline must be mixed before reaching 

 cylinder, the longer the better. 



Now, having a reliable engine, to what use can 

 a farmer put it ? In this arid region pumping for 

 irrigation is the most important. This I consider is 

 the severest test that an engine can be put to, as there 

 is no let up, and the demand for power is constant. We 

 start the engine and pump and then go a half mile, 

 perhaps, to sec that the water is properly distributed; 

 or when running day and night, go to bed for three 

 hours, get up and see if engine and water are behaving 

 properly, and go to bed again. ' The engine might stop, 



but this would .be the worst that could happen. There 

 is no danger from fire. If the belt runs off, the governor 

 will hold it. If we need ever so little water, say for 

 hotbed, it is often cheaper to run the engine than .haul 

 water, say 50 yards. 



Having formerly been an eastern farmer I know 

 the value of securing water, even for gardens, while 

 waiting for rain. An irrigation pump there would be 

 of great benefit. To have an engine in or near the barn 

 would be most convenient. The farmer could cut his 

 feed, if only for one day, or one feeding, grind feed or 

 grain, run separator or grindstone, and saw his own 

 wood. 



Pumping for irrigation requires the greatest econ- 

 omy. For some crops it is hardly profitable, as it takes 

 so much water in this dry region to wet an acre. We 

 must use the cheapest power possible and we find it in 

 the gasoline engine, even when gasoline costs from 16 

 to 18 cents per gallon. The power needed for farm 

 work, such as grinding, cutting hay for ensilage, etc., the 

 farmer would hardly feel it. Of course pumping for 

 irrigation takes more gasoline than for any other work, 

 as it is constant. My five-horse engine pumps from 400 

 to 450 gallons every minute, with 25 feet lift, costing 

 about 10 cents per hour, or from 50 cents to $1 per 

 acre, according to crop, land, and time of year. I am 

 using a five-horse engine with an Edison-Lcland 

 battery, have on another farm a; ten-horse engine, ex- 

 ploded by a dynamo. Also a five-horse motor for pump- 

 ing out the sand in making new wells. 



It is the most economical power, especially when 

 you take in the cost 'of attendance. A farmer must 

 1 learn to run his own engine, but it will take less atten- 

 tion than in looking after the water and fuel in a 

 steam engine, and as I said before, there is no risk of 

 fire or of being blown up. Since the advent of cheap 

 Texas oil, some claim that a steam engine, run with 

 crude oil, will be cheaper than a gasoline engine. This 

 may be so for large engines and manufactories but for 

 the farmer the care and risk from, fire will still be there. 

 The cost of an engineer and fireman for a 50-horse 

 engine may not count, but for a five or ten-horse 

 engine it would amount to as much or more as the cost 

 of fuel. 



Manufactories are experimenting with crude Texas 

 oil, and if they succeed the cost of fuel will be wonder- 

 fully lessened. However, the success so far is only par- 

 tial, as the heavy oil is apt to get into the cylinder and 

 gum it. I believe they do very well with some light 

 crude oil. The battery, if used, is cheaper than the 

 burner, but the latter is simpler. By all means do not 

 accept a cheap battery. Keep your temper when she 

 won't go, for it is apt to be your fault. If everything 

 is right and screws set tight, there should be no trouble. 

 I would advise a farmer who wishes to buy an engine 

 to make an agreement with the agent, if there is one in 

 his town, to come to him whenever he is in difficulty, 

 until he learns thoroughly how to run it, and is complete 

 master of the situation. It will take some practice, 

 as one must not only know what to do, but get used 

 to it. I know of 14 gasoline engines in this valley and 

 about the same number on cattle ranches. 



Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AOE 

 for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money 

 order for $1.00. 



