106 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



the appearance of a shallow lake. Nothing further is 

 required in maturing the' plant than keeping the fields 

 saturated until the appearance of the head indicates 

 that within ten days or two weeks the services of the 

 binder will be needed. The levees are then cut and 

 the water drained off. 



Water for rice irrigation is not confined to the sup- 

 ply contained in the bayous and rivers which empty 

 into the Gulf. In both Louisiana and Texas lands 

 which are too far removed from the large canal, or too 

 high to be covered from this source, are being reclaimed 

 by artesian water, which appears to underlie the entire 

 region at depths varying from 50 to 300 feet. Six, 

 tight, ten, and twelve-inch wells are put down into the 

 beds of gravel which supply this water and 'centrifugal 

 pumps lift it to the rice farms above. Some of these 

 wells flow freely, but in the great majority the water 

 must be lifted 1 a height varying between 4 and 20 feet. 

 Continuous pumping from these wells materially re- 

 duced the water level during the irrigation season, and 

 although the extent of development based upon this sup- 

 ply is conjectural, there is no doubt that it will be 

 much greater than the area which the unaided surface 

 water will supply. Small farms and large population 

 arc the dominant features of the artesian well districts, 

 and prosperity seems to prevail wherever wells are 

 bored. 



In conclusion it may be said that the irrigation of 

 rice in Louisiana and Texas is an infant industry. 

 There is a superabundance of land adapted to the re- 

 quirements of this crop and sufficient water to greatly 

 magnify the acreage now utilized. Successful rice 

 farming is being carried on in a territory 50 to 70 miles 

 wide and extending from the Vermillion River, in 

 Louisiana, on the east, to and beyond the Colorado 

 River, in Texas, on the west. The discouragements 

 along many streams due to the presence of salt water 

 under the pumps, which is the immediate effect of 

 prolonged drouth, will continue until some reasonable 

 settlement of the live question of water rights is under- 

 taken and the experience of other States turned to a 

 profit in Louisiana and Texas. In the former State, 

 diversion of a stream for any purpose is unlawful, and 

 there is, of course, no recognition of special or prior 

 rights. Provision for any division of the supply among 

 those who do not appropriate is not discoverable in the 

 laws of either State. 



Under the able direction of Prof. Elwood Mead, the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture is making a careful 

 study both of the water right problems and the physical 

 problems of irrigation which confront the rice grower. 

 As a result of this assistance wiser water laws and regu- 

 lations governing the diversion and distribution of 

 water in the States mentioned may be anticipated at an 

 early date. A settlement of these questions is of t'r > 

 greatest importance to the stability and prosper.! ':y 

 this important agricultural industry. 



THE ELEVENTH IRRIGATION CONGRESS. 



Ogden, Utah, 1903. 



The next session of the Irrigation Congress is to be 

 held in Ogden on the 8th, 9th, 10th and llth days of 

 September next. This congress had its inception in 

 the minds of Utah men, its first session was held in 

 this city, and now after ten years it comes back to Utah 

 to hold its eleventh annual session. It is not necessary 

 to dwell upon the importance of this body, says the 



Salt Lake Tribune of January 23, representing as it 

 does the life of the great agricultural processes of the 

 whole arid region; its importance cannot be overesti- 

 mated. The passage of the National Irrigation law 

 increases the importance of the functions of this con- 

 gress, arid as the benefits of that act become better 

 understood and its workings more applied, the great 

 irrigation question will grow in magnitude and bene- 

 ficial application. 



We note that a very proper move was made in the 

 House yesterday in support of this meeting of the 

 congress. A resolution of welcome, whose preamble 

 recited the origin in Utah and the benefits of irriga- 

 tion in this mountain country, was unanimously passed. 

 A bill was also introduced and referred to the House 

 Judiciary committee (of which an Ogden member is 

 chairman), which appropriates $6,000 to aid in defray- 

 ing the expenses of the executive committee of the 

 congress, on condition that $3,000 for the same purpose 

 be raised by the people of Ogden. This is not much 

 money to pay out for such a meritorious meeting as 

 this of the Irrigation congress will be, and it is not 

 probable that there will be any particular objection to 

 it, as the object is worthy and the purpose a public 

 purpose. We look to see the bill go through with ease. 



The Salt Lake Herald of January 23 has the fol- 

 lowing to say concerning the llth National Irrigation 

 Congress : 



A bill of particular merit was introduced in the 

 House by Dr. Condon of Weber county yesterday. It 

 provides for an appropriation of $6,000 to aid in de- 

 fraying the expenses of the executive committee of the 

 eleventh annual session of the National Irrigation Con- 

 gress, to be held in Ogden next September. A proviso 

 that the citizens of Ogden must raise at least $3,000 

 in addition is included in the bill. 



The importance to Utah of the National Irrigation 

 Congress is beyond estimation. The organization was 

 formed in Utah eleven years ago, and it is particularly 

 fitting that after so many years the irrigationists should 

 again assemble in the state. The next meeting will be 

 of special interest because by the time it assembles we 

 will have had at least the beginning of a practical test 

 of the new national irrigation law. 



The practical benefits of irrigation are neither 

 intangible nor indefinite. They are actual and concrete. 

 N'o argument is needed to convince Utah people of 

 the importance of the work; no argument should be 

 needed to convince the legislature that the Condon bill 

 should be passed as promptly as possible. The sum of 

 $6,000 is not a large one, as public appropriations are 

 measured. 



The money is not to be used for the benefit of any 

 individual or any single community. It will be used 

 in the furtherance of irrigation ideas and irrigation 

 work. Utah has been highly honored by the congress. 

 Colonel Edwin F. Holmes of Salt Lake is president 

 of the organization, and Fred J. Kiesel of Ogden is 

 chairman of the executive committee. The state is 

 pledged to entertain the congress in a fitting manner 

 and the legislature should do its part, 



The prompt passage by the legislature yesterday of 

 the joint resolution of welcome to the congress and of 

 endorsement of its purposes, indicates the temper of the 

 lawmakers. The Herald does not believe there will be 

 any trouble about the adoption of the Condon bill. 



