THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



CORRESPONDENCE 



PERU, IND., February 3, 1903. 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL, Chicago, 111.: 



Gentlemen The city of Peru is going to receive, bids on 

 a 20-inch tile sewer of 3,000 feet in length, to run all the 

 way from 8 feet to 14 feet deep, at their council meeting on 

 the night of February 24, 1903. 



And, as a matter of news to you people, I thought I 

 would inform you of the same. Yours respectfully, 



WILLIAM O'HARA, City Clerk. 



BLOOMINGTON, ILL., February 2, 1903 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL, Chicago, 111. : 



Gentlemen Would you kindly give me the address of 

 some manufacturer of the old-fashioned or new-fashioned 

 "Mole Ditch Machine?" 



Find stamped envelope inclosed. Respectfully. 



B. M. KUHN. 



The mole ditcher was quite commonly used (hirty or 

 forty years ago on the prairie farms of Illinois' before tile 

 drains were thought of in the West, and at a time when they 

 were found upon but few farms in New York and Ohio. The 

 ditcher as then used consisted of a long beam mounted 

 on shoes, carrying a strong steel cutter upon the end of 

 which was the "mole" of conical shape. The rtiole was set 

 in the ground at the outlet of the proposed drain, and pulled 

 by a strong cable about 200 feet long by means of a capstan 

 operated by oxen. The mole was forced through the subsoil 

 clay, leaving an underdrain usually about five inches in 

 diameter. The depth of the drain could be regulated some- 

 what, though usually it followed the surface undulations of the 

 ground at a depth of from twenty-four to thirty inches. 



Where the surface grade was proper, and the clay was 

 compact and free from stones and roots, some excellent 

 results were obtained. In some instances the drains made in 

 this way lasted six or eight years, in others they were of 

 short duration. We do not know that the machines are 

 now manufactured. While the mole drain under favor- 

 able conditions will serve an excellent purpose it is at best 

 only temporary. 



Many tile ditching machines have been placed on the 

 market during the last twenty-five years, and have passed into 

 oblivion. They are of two types ; the repeater, which com- 

 pletes the ditch by successive passages over the line until 

 the required depth is reached, and the machine which com- 

 pletes the ditch to grade at one passage over the ground. 

 While the farmer has been partially successful, we do not 

 now know of any upon the market. 



The Plumb Steam Ditcher was a machine of the latter 

 type and performed excellent work, but on account of its 

 cost the demand for it was so small that its manufacture 

 was discontinued. 



The Buckeye Traction Ditcher has been in use for 

 nine years and more nearly meets the requirements of a 

 tile trenching machine than any that have been in the field. 

 It is operated by steam, is compact and easily handled and 

 completes a perfectly graded ditch at one passage over the 

 line. We understand that this machine is meeting with much 

 favor wherever it has been used, and that the number manu- 

 factured has been steadily increasing from year to year. 



GANADO, ARIZ., January 25, 1903. 

 MR. D. HL ANDERSON, ESQ., Chicago, 111.:. 



Dear Sir In June, of last year, an .ac,t was, passed by 

 Congress and signed by the president, which grants me a 

 title to the land which I now occupy. I suppose you have not 

 forgotten me. If you remember, we have had seme cor- 

 respondence on the subject. The survey has been ordered 

 by the surveyor general. Yet it seems to hang fire on account 

 of no surveyor wishing to take the work at the price offered 

 by the department. I had been waiting to have the lines fixed 

 to write you on the subject of nutting in an irrigating 

 plant. I have been reading several irrigation articles in your 

 valuable paper, have come to the conclusion that a gasoline 

 pump would be the best thinaf for me here. I have also con- 

 cluded to put in the plant this spring. I am very ignorant 



of the price of machinery of this kind, and also of the quality 

 of the same. I desire to trouble you, asking you for advice 

 on the subject. I desire to build, or, rather, dig, the well 

 close to the bank of the creek, so that when there is not 

 sufficient water in the well, which I doubt not there will be 

 at any time, I can turn the water of the creek into the well. 

 I will build a house over the engine and well. I would like, 

 if not too expensive, to have a feed grinder, or preferably a 

 mill, that would grind whole wheat and corn for the pur- 

 pose of meal. That is, what the Indians can use for the pur- 

 pose of making bread without bolting. 



Also, a circular saw attachment for the purpose of cut- 

 ting wood, and one attachment to turn a grindstone. The 

 water in tne creek is sufficient to irrigate over four hundred 

 acres of ground, except in very dry seasons. That is the 

 reason I desire a reservoir, as I can then pump water both 

 winter and summer, and let the Indians use the surplus. I 

 would like to get your advice as to what the flume should 

 be made of. I could make it out of pine trees, that are very 

 handy here, not being over eighteen miles, and I can get 

 the work done very cheaply. It may be possible that there 

 might be some steel flumes made that would be cheaper, and 

 would be equally permanent and substantial. I do not think 

 it would be a good idea to make them out of lumber. I would 

 like to have ,a plan of a house that would be necessary for 

 the above machinery. ' The cheapest and best buildings in 

 this country are adobe, with a good stone foundation, and 

 a dirt roof, which prevents all danger of fire. 



I would like to have information what the above articles 

 will cost'. Such as the gasoline engine, mill for grinding 

 meal, pump, and any other thing that may be necessary for the 

 plant. Would also like to get an estimate of what a steel 

 flume would cost for the 750 feet. My intention is to run 

 the engine day and night as long as the water supply is suf- 

 ficient. I will pay cash for every article bought. I want to 

 ask your advice as to the best that can be bought, as it will 

 not pay to get anything that will go to pieces in a short time. 

 Also would like to ask the parties that would sell this gaso- 

 line engine what they would charge for a man to come out 

 here ?nd set up the plant and put it in running shape. 



Dr. W. H. Knap will call on you, and he will give you a 

 description of the land ; he has been here and will tell you 

 that it will be the means of selling other engines in this 

 country, if successful. Yours respectfully, 



J. L. HUBBELL. 



The above letter has been referred to firms of known 

 standing, who will furnish the writer all necessary informa- 

 tion. 



IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. : 



Gentlemen I have just received a copy of your paper, 

 and it purports to treat upon a subject of vital interest to this 

 section of the country. I herewith inclose a draft for $1.00 

 for one year's subscription. 



In your issue of December last, on page 42, you gave a 

 view of a watering wheel for raising water for irrigation 

 purposes. I would like some data upon this subject, if con- 

 venient. I have a stream running across my property, which 

 is about twenty feet below its highest point. I wish to raise 

 the water to this point, and for so doing have constructed 

 a dam, forcing the water into a space of about six feet in 

 width, which is now about two feet in depth and flows at the 

 rate of approximately five to six miles an hour. During a 

 large portion of the season this water will be some three or 

 four feet in depth and running at a corresponding rate of 

 speed. I wish to construct a wheel which will deliver water 

 into a flume as before indicated, twenty feet from the present 

 level of the water.' Can you give me any data as to the 

 construction of such a wheel and its approximate lifting 

 power in gallons? Yours respectfully, 



B. J. MclNTIRE. 



The above inquiry was referred to Clarence T. Johnston, 

 Assistant Chief Irrigation Investigations, and his reply, with 

 illustration, is herewith presented. 



CHEYENNE. WYO., January, 31, 1903. 

 MR. D. H. ANDERSON, 112 Dearborn St., Chicago, 111.: 



Dear Sir I have your letter of the 27th, with the in- 

 closure from Mr. Mclntire. The current described by Mr. 

 Melntire. running two feet deep, which I believe is the mini- 

 mum, would furnish sufficient power to raise about one 

 cubic foot per second to a height of 20 feet. Figuring on a 

 wheel 26 feet wide, furnished with 24 vanes, the continuous 



