88 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



ODDS JND ENDS 



TO RECLAIM THE LAND OF GOSHEN. 



A consular report states that in the land of Goshen, 

 lying between the Nile and the Red sea, and famous 

 in Biblical history as the region to which the Israelites 

 were assigned by Pharaoh, the Egyptian government 

 is now engaged in a gigantic reclamation project. Prof- 

 iting by the example of enterprising private companies, 

 the authorities have determined to reclaim an im- 

 mense area which has long suffered from lack of suffi- 

 cient moisture and which was, it was supposed, rendered 

 utterly worthless by a canal dug by the engineers con- 

 structing the Suez canal for the purpose of supplying 

 fresh water to the large force of workmen engaged in 

 that undertaking. The canal was not carefully con- 

 structed and the seepage was of unusual proportions. 

 Reaching the alkaline deposits which underlie the en- 

 tire area, the water brought them to the surface in such 

 quantities as to make the soil absolutely arid. 



.The government is now constructing two canals ai 

 different altitudes. One will supply fresh water for 

 irrigation, and the other will carry away the alkali 

 drawn off by the drains, which will be placed about four 

 feet below the surface and 150 feet apart. During the 

 first year it will be necessary to keep the surface sat- 

 urated and no crop can be grown, but immense quanti- 

 ties of alkali will be washed out and into the Red sea. 

 The second year a forage crop can be raised, and after 

 that the usual crops of Egypt corn, wheat and cotton 

 can be grown in great abundance. In the course of 

 this work the surveyors discovered the well preserved 

 remains of an irrigation canal, constructed by one of 

 the Pharaohs, a description of which is to be found in 

 Herodotus. The officers in charge are now working 

 on the problem of restoring portions of the original 

 aqueduct for present use. 



HISTORY OF ALFALFA. 



So much is said now of the wonderful qualities of 

 the forage plant known as alfalfa that its history is 

 overlooked by the majority of farmers. 



Alfalfa is a native of Western Asia, according to 

 the report by the Maryland Experiment Station, whence 

 it was early taken to Southern Europe. The Spaniards 

 carried it with them to South America. From Chili 

 it was taken to California and thence spread through- 

 out the drier portions of the West. Everywhere it has 

 added immensely to the stock carrying capacity of 

 farm and ranch. Its great value as a feeding crop 

 becoming better recognized, an effort has been made to 

 extend the use of it and there is probably no state now 

 in which it is not growing, at least experimentally. 



Recently the Department of Agriculture has im- 

 ported from Turkestan a- variety which is remarkable 

 for its ability to resist great extremes of heat and cold, 

 and it is this variety which it is believed by the officials 

 will be extremely valuable for the states of the North- 

 west. 



Briefs have been filed by the Farmers' Irrigation 

 District and William Frank in the three-cornered con- 

 test over the right to tap the Platte river in Scotts 

 Bluffs county for the irrigation of a tract comprising 

 about 60,000 acres of land. The Farmers' Canal Com- 

 pany, which is the third party in interest, has not 

 yet filed its brief, although today was the date set 

 for all of them to be in. It is estimated that the land 

 which it is proposed to irrigate will be worth $2,000,000. 

 The scheme of William Frank contemplates watering 

 150,000 acres, and the development of power along his 

 canal for industrial purposes. He rests his claim wholly 

 on priority of application. The irrigation district ob- 

 jects to Frank's pretentions because, it is claimed, it 

 is speculative and will give him a monopoly of rights, 

 contrary to the terms of the Constitution and against 

 public policy. It is alleged that he proposes to exact 

 $20 an acre for water rights, and that the granting of 

 his application will deprive residents of the district 

 from watering their own lands. 



It is alleged that Mr. Frank has at heart not so 

 much the interest of the district as of his own bank 

 account. When the district came into the field it is- 

 sued $400,000 bonds, afterwards declared valid by the 

 supreme court. Mr. Frank undertook to negotiate 

 them. He failed to find a taker. Then he made the 

 district a proposition to construct the canal through 

 the agency of a syndicate, if the district would give 

 him a half of the land, amounting to 40,000 acres 

 and the $400.000 in bonds. For this reason the counsel 

 for the district assert, that Frank is in the business 

 for speculative purposes. Omaha Bee. 



In commenting on the late irrigation congress the 

 Denver Field and Farm has the following to say 

 in comparison with the National Farmers' Congress: 



"Our own beloved National Irrigation Congress is 

 built on much the same plan, the only difference be- 

 ing that it is run principally as a one-man show, al- 

 though it must be said in all truth that the one-man- 

 Maxwell was thrown down so good and hard at the 

 recent meeting in Colorado Springs that all the wind- 

 pudding was knocked out of him, and hereafter he will 

 be numbered among the nit crowd." 



DAILY AND PERSONALLY CONDUCTED EXCUR- 

 SIONS TO PACIFIC COAST. 



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 with agreeable company, in charge of experienced con- 

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 double berth. Maps and information free on appli- 

 cation to ticket a-gents or address, W. B. Kinskern, 22 

 Fifth avenue, Chicago, 111. 



Renew your subscriptions to the IRHIGATION AGE 

 for 1903. Send us in Post, Office or Express money 

 order for $1.00. 



The San Gabriel River Water Committee held its 

 monthly meeting Tuesday morning. It has just com- 

 pleted putting a submerged dam in the development 

 tunnel, which is confidently expected to result in a 

 heavy accumulation of water during the winter months, 

 and a correspondingly increased flow through the sum- 

 mer. Covina (Cal.) Argus. 



