100 



"In northern Colorado, rotation of crops is practiced and alfalfa seed 

 is sown with a nurse crop, usually wheat or barley. The seed is drilled 

 early in the spring with a common force-feed press drill equipped with an 

 auxiliary seed box for alfalfa seed, which is scattered broadcast between 

 the grain rows and covered by the disk wheels of the press drill. From 12 

 to 20 pounds of alfalfa seed are sown. Irrigation before seeding is not 

 practiced. There is, as a rule, sufficient rainfall to furnish both crops with 

 moisture until the grain is ready to head out and the alfalfa is 4 to 6 

 inches high, when the field is irrigated. 



"At Wheatland, Wyoming, various methods of seeding alfalfa are in 

 use, but the one which gives the best results may be described as follows: 

 Drill in 1 bushel of barley to the acre; then in a week or ten days cross 

 drill the field, sowing 12 to 15 pounds of alfalfa, setting the press drill 

 so that the seed will be covered 0.75 inch to 1.5 inches deep." 



Information on the various agricultural questions involved in alfalfa 

 growing and its use can be obtained in the following bulletins: 



Alfalfa Growing, Farmers' Bulletin No. 215, U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, Washington, D. C. 



Alfalfa Bulletin No. 66, Agricultural Experiment Station, Moscow, 

 Idaho. 



VIII. THE USE OF SMALL PUMPING PLANTS 

 FOR IRRIGATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



While British Columbia is favored with a system of large rivers such 

 as the Thompson, the Fraser, the Kettle Valley and lakes such as the 

 Okanagan, these splendid large bodies of water are practically not avail- 

 able for gravity irrigation because of the topography of the irrigable land. 

 The irrigable land exists usually in separate small valleys formed on both 

 sides of smaller streams, or in small benches high above the rivers or 

 lakes, generally with considerable slope towards these bodies of water. 

 This position of the irrigable land combined with the flat grade of the 

 rivers makes diversion by gravity flow directly from these sources an 

 economical impossibility. These conditions have made it necessary to 

 utilize the smaller streams or creeks, the flow of which is irregular, being 

 abundant at the beginning of the irrigation season but in many cases de- 

 creasing to an insufficient volume before the close of the season. Most 

 of the watersheds of these streams are favored with reservoir sites which 

 can be utilized at a moderate cost to regulate the flow. Up to the present 

 the natural stream flow, supplemented in some cases with storage water, 

 has been the usual source of supply. Naturally the systems most easily 

 constructed were installed first and the best available sources have been 

 taken up. With the increasing demand for water to put new land under 

 irrigation, less favorable sources of water supply must be utilized and the 

 cost of development will become greater. There will s ill remain bodies 

 of land for which no gravity water is available or only available at a very 

 high cost, and which may be situated at a moderate elevation above the 

 large rivers or lakes. For these conditions the development of a water 

 supply by pumping may be the best solution. The information given below 

 applies to small pumping plants, irrigating from about 10 to 100 acres. 



CONSIDERATIONS CONTROLLING THE SELECTION OF A 

 PUMPING PLANT. 



The proper selection of a pumping plant depends upon many factors 

 which should be carefully considered by the intending purchasers. These 

 factors are: (1) capacity of plant and period of operation, (2) the kind 



