150 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



The grade will be 1.32 and the capacity 633 cubic feet a 

 second. The estimated cost is: Eight of way, $2,000; 

 dam and headgates, $10,000; fluming, $6,000, and grad- 

 ing, $183,500. Total, $201,500. 



The surveying for the flume and power house for 

 the Shoshone Water Power and Irrigation Company will 

 be completed in a week, and plans, for this immense 

 work drawn up. Mr. DeRemer, the instigator, says this 

 plant will eventually supply power for irrigation on land 

 immediately above a river or stream. He says nearly all 

 the mesa land between Glenwood and Grand Junction 

 can be watered by means of the power supplied from 

 this plant, at a nominal expense. Glenwood (Colo.) 

 Avalanche. 



ONION CULTURE.- Part II. 



The following bulletin on Onion Culture has 

 reached us from the New Mexico College of Agriculture 

 at Mesilla Park : 



The "new method" of onion culture, which is the 

 growing of onions from plants started in a seed-bed 

 and transplanted to the field, is becoming more popular 

 and is quite extensively practiced in other sections of 

 the country. The operation of transplanting onions is 

 slow, and usually considered an expensive one, and the 

 inexperienced onion-grower is liable to think it is too 

 laborious and not a paying proposition. But as a matter 

 of fact, it is no more expensive than the thinning out 

 and transplanting in the vacant spots of onions started 

 in the field. It is slow work to thin out the small 

 onions and leave in place, at the proper distance in the 

 row, the plants that are to be left without disturbing 

 them. If the onions are quite thick, or have come up 

 in bunches, and if the soil is at all hard or sticky, the 

 thinning is still slower and more expensive. The 

 onions, which are transplanted in the vacant spots in 

 the rows, make the fields look uneven. This is due to 

 the transplanted onions not recovering for some time 

 from the operation, while the plants left intact in the 

 rows continue to grow and consequently their growth 

 is larger. This unevenness of growth, while not a 

 serious drawback, does not occur in a field where all 

 the onions have been transplanted. 



As stated in Press Bulletin No. 69, the results of 

 last year's work with onions at the Station show that 

 it was cheaper to transplant from the seed-bed than to 

 thin the onions grown in the field and transplant in the 

 vacant spots. A plat of one-tenth of an acre was 

 transplanted with onions grown in a cold-frame. The 

 rows were 300 feet long by 15 inches wide, with the 

 onions 4 inches apart in the row, making 900 onions 

 to the row or 9,000 to the plat. The onions were irri- 

 gated immediately after transplanting. The cost of 

 transplanting this plat of the 9,000 onions amounted 

 to $2.95. This included the cost of the first irrigation, 

 bringing the onions from the cold-frame to the field, 

 and the dropping of them about the proper distance 

 in the row. It was observed that better time could be 

 made by having a man drop the onions a little in ad- 

 vance of the man setting them. At this rate it would 

 cost $29.50 to transplant an acre, or 90,000 onions. 

 The thinning and transplanting in the vacant spots of 

 a similar plat cost $4.10. The estimated cost of thin- 

 ning an acre would be $41, practically one-fourth more 

 than in the former case. 



The distance to plant onions varies, but the most 



common one (when hand culture is practiced) seems 

 to be from 12 to 15 inches between the rows and from 

 4 to 4| in the row. Many of the authorities on onion- 

 growing give 100,000 to 160,000 onions to the acre. 

 Onions are very expensive to grow, but, as a rule, 

 they are one of the best paying crops. The following 

 is the cost of growing one-tenth of an acre of onions 

 at the Station last year : 



Plowing and leveling land $ .30 



Marking and bordering land 20 



Transplanting 2.95 



Cultivating and irrigating 2.90 



Harvesting, topping and hauling. . . 2.95 



Seed 35 



Growing seedlings, or sets, about.. 1.05 



Total cost of plat $10.70 



Estimated cost of one acre. .$107.00 

 This plat produced 1,185 pounds, which was quite 

 low. The low yield was largely due to the crop being 

 set out so late in the season and partially to the hard 

 adobe soil in which the onions grew. It is believed 

 that by starting the crop earlier the yield can be very 

 materially increased, and the cost of production can 

 also be reduced. The onions were sold in the local 

 market at 2% cents per pound. The crop sold for 

 $27.65, which, after deducting the cost of production, 

 gave $16.95 profit. At this price the estimated profit 

 per acre would be $169.50. 



Fabian Garcia. 



CORRESPONDENCE 



7644 EMERALD AVE., CHICAGO, ILL., Feb. 15, 1903. 

 Tlie Irrigation Age, Chicago, III. 



GENTLEMEN : Below is a short article on surface drain- 

 age that you may care to publish ; it was written from my 

 personal observation while passing to and tro through the 

 farmers' country of the middle states. 

 Yours very truly, 



C. N. SOUTH UP. 



SURFACE DRAINAGE. 



It should certainly be encouraging to the promoters 

 and upholders of surface drainage to note the rapid advance- 

 ment that has taken place in that line during the past three 

 years. The farmers of the middle states are at last begin- 

 ning to realize the necessity and advantages of surface drain- 

 age. As my business has carried me through the farmer's 

 territory of the middle states time and time again, I have 

 each year noted with satisfaction the changes that have 

 taken place simply by a few ditches being run in the right 

 places, transforming farms that heretofore had been prac- 

 tically swamps during the winter and spring months into 

 comparatively dry lands. 



CHICAGO, February 6, 1903. 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111.: 



Gentlemen We have an inquiry from Mr. Milton S. 

 Dewey, Mazon, 111., who asks for information in regard to the 

 manufacturers of tile ditching machinery. We beg you will 

 advise him in regard to this if you have the information at 

 hand. Very truly yours, 



WINDSOR & KENFIELD PUB. Co., 



DANIEL ROYSE, Editor. 



One can arrive at a better understanding of one's 

 self through an hour of self-disgust than through years 

 of satisfaction. 



