THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



109 



stitutioi* will permit will bo adopted and declared by 

 the expounders of our law. 



Irrigation in our State presents a most promising 

 outlook to the man who is ready to be reasonable, dili- 

 gent, studious and patient. The man who imdertakos 

 to irrigate too much land with too little water will al- 

 ways be disappointed. The man who undertakes to 

 irrigate his land with water which rightfully belongs 

 to his neighbor will ultimately come to grief. But he 

 who realizes the value of priority of appropriation, con- 

 summated and vested by beneficial application . of the 

 water to the soil, and who has the courage to go for- 

 ward until he has made a success of his undertaking, 

 will not know defeat. 



I cannot at this time discuss the various branches 

 and methods, but it has been demonstrated by William 

 A. Sharpnack, of Harlan County, during the past two 

 years that the cultivation of sugar beets by irrigation 

 will yield a net profit of over $90 to $110 per acre per 

 year. This he has demonstrated by two years' cultiva- 

 tion of thirteen acres of land irrigated from a small 

 private plant. A well known farmer in Scotts Bluff 

 County, in 1902, marketed $700 worth of potatoes from 

 two acres of irrigated land. A cattle rancher about 

 forty miles south of Brush, Colorado, produced on a 

 little truck patch containing less than one-half acre, 

 over $129 worth of miscellaneous garden vegetables by 

 irrigation from a windmill plant, the storage reservoir 

 of which did not cost him to exceed $23. 



Our people need to learn that on thousands of 

 farms there are opportunities to construct and put into 

 operation small irrigation plants, which would increase 

 the value of farm prodiicts over $100 to $300 per year 

 to the farmer putting in such plant, and in the aggre- 

 gate the increased value of agricultural production in 

 our State would amount to, at a safe estimate, over two 

 million dollars. 



Trusting and believing that this meeting will result 

 in reviving interest in this vital subiect, I cast the 

 burden of duty upon everyone present and invoke 

 your aid in placing our organization in its rightful 

 place at the head of the procession which is marching 

 steadily to the goal of success. 



Following Mr. Wolfenbarger's address, and in the 

 absence of Secretary Oberfelder, of Sidney, J. C. Ste- 

 vens, of Kearney, was chosen secretary protem. A 

 committee on credentials consisting of Mrs. Nellie M. 

 Richardson of Lincoln,, F. G. Hamer of Kearney, and 

 Frank Meagley of Lexington was appointed by the pres- 

 ident. This committee made immediate report, which 

 was adopted. 



The next order of business was to hold the annual 

 election of officers, which resulted as follows : Presi- 

 dent, A. G. Wolfenbarger, of Lincoln ; vice-president, W. 

 H. Wright, of Scotts Bluff; secretary, H. 0. Smith, of 

 Lexington; treasurer, W. H. Fanning, of Craw- 

 ford. An executive committee in addition to the 

 officers named were Hon. J. S. Hoa gland, North Platte ; 

 C. G. Crews, Culbertson ; Henry E. Lewis, Lincoln, and 

 F. G. Hamer, Kearney. The president gave notice that 

 the standing committee would be announced at a later 

 date. 



A committee on resolutions consisting of F. G. 

 Hamer, W. Z. Taylor and 0. P. V. Stout was appointed. 

 Pending the report of the committee on resolutions 

 Mr. J. C. Stevens read a paper on the subiect of the 

 water supplv of Nebraska, which is herewith given in 

 full. 



A siudy of the water supply of Nebraska and of the 

 uses to which this supply has been put leads one to 

 the conclusion that the development of this resource is 

 still in its primitive state. 



The lands drained by the North Platte River and 

 its tributaries have undoubtedly received the greatest 

 attention, and from an agricultural point of view has 

 reached the highest state of development of any within 

 the State. But there are yet large areas of arable lands 

 new used only for grazing, and some hardly fit for that, 

 that need only the application of water that yearly goes 

 to waste to make them immensely productive. 



This river, rising as it docs in the northern part of 

 the main range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, 

 and flowing in a northerly course across nearly half the 

 State of Wyoming, thence bending to the east and south, 

 is fed throughout its course by numerous mountain 

 streams, receiving their waters from the melting 

 snows. 



Whenever, as in the last two or three years, there 

 is a scarcity of winter snows in the mountains, a like 

 diminution in the flow of this stream is plainly evident. 

 Inspection of diagram published in the Fourth Bien- 

 nial Report of the State Board of Irrigation shows this 

 at a glance. During the present winter, if reports are 

 true, there has been abundant snows in the mountain 

 regions, so that for the coming summer we may safely 

 predict a large increase in the discharge of the North 

 Platte River. 



The next question that presents itself is the con- 

 servation of this supply. In the natural course of 

 things, this stream furnishes its greatest amount of 

 water before the crops in the valleys are ready for its 

 application. The greatest floods occur in May and 

 June, when water is in little demand, and there is plen- 

 ty and to spare for everyone, but in August and early 

 September, when the application of a little water would 

 aid so materially in the maturing of these valuable 

 crops, there is none to be had. What water may reach 

 Nebraska is soon lost in its transition through the sandy 

 river bed. Now, what is needed to equalize this flow 

 and make the supply available when most needed, are 

 impounding reservoirs in eastern Wyoming* of sufficient 

 capacity to hold the flood waters of the spring till such 

 times as they are most needed. A calculation of the 

 probable capacity of such a reservoir based on the re- 

 sults of the IT. S. G. S. reports of the daily flow of this 

 river for the six years previous to 1901, shows that in 

 order to utilize the entire supply, and make it avail- 

 able when needed, should have a storage capacity of 

 2,300,000 acre feet, or water enough to cover two entire 

 townships to a uniform depth of 50 feet. Such a 

 single reservoir site does not exist, but a series of sites 

 may be found that may be made available only by the 

 outlay of an immense amount of capital, and this the 

 Federal Government must take in hand in order to 

 insure success. 



The South Platte is in many respects similar to the 

 North Platte, except that it goes dry much earlier in 

 the season. The lands contiguous to this stream are 

 capable of excellent cultivation ; most of its waters, flood 

 waters and all, however, are appropriated for irrigation 

 purposes in Colorado, so that it is of little value to the 

 Nebraska irrigator. 



Similar in many respects to the two Plattes is the 

 Republican River, draining the southern portion of the 

 State, though the period during which the surface flow 

 is extinct is of much shorter duration, and it not infre- 



