112 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



to properly irrigate a definite area of land in a humid 

 climate, such as that of the Central and Eastern States. 

 There are 0,272,640 square inches to an acre. One 

 inch of water or a stream one inch wide and one inch 

 deep, flowing at a rate of four miles an hour, will give 

 0,082,500 inches in twenty-four hours. Such a stream 

 will therefore cover nearly an acre one inch deep in 

 twenty-four hours. This would require about 25,920 

 gallons or 823 barrels of water. 



The California Standard. The most economic 

 users of water, in America at least, are the Calif ornians. 

 as their necessities are reduced on account of a limited 

 water supply. At Kiverside they use an inch of water 

 to five acres and some an inch to three acres. But this 

 is because they charge to the land all the waste on the 

 main ditch and because they use thirty per cent of the 

 water in July and August when it is the lowest. But 

 this is no test of the duty of water the amount actually 

 delivered on the land should be taken. What they actu- 

 ally use for ten acres at Eiverside, Redlands, etc, is a 

 twenty-inch head of three days' run five times in the 

 year, equal to 300 inches for one day, or one inch steady 

 run for 300 days. As an inch is the equivalent of 365 

 inches one day, or one inch for 365 days, 300 inches for 

 one day equals an inch to twelve acres. Many use even 

 less than this, running the water only two or two and 

 one-half days at a time. Others use more head, but it 

 rarely exceeds twenty-four inches for three days and five 

 times a year, which would be seventy-two multiplied by 

 five, or 360 inches, a little less than a full inch for a 

 year for ten acres. In summing up, we may say that the 

 duty of water in Southern California may be put at an 

 average of one inch to eight acres, and the cost of water 

 at a first charge of $35 to $60 an acre for the right, and 

 a further charge of $1.50 to $2.50 an acre per annum 

 for the water whether used or not. 



