292 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



The preparation of land for irrigation with pipe and hose costs 

 about the same as for open ditches and varies from $2.50 to $10 per 

 acre, depending upon the conditions of the lands. While the ex- 

 pense of leveling a field is always money well spent, from the man- 

 ner of application lands irrigated with pipes require less leveling 

 than those to be irrigated by flooding from laterals. The cost of ir- 

 rigating alfalfa with pipes and hose may be summed up as follows: 

 With an average stream of 70 inches of water one man can irrigate 

 from 1^ to 2 acres per day of ten hours, in addition to tending the 

 pumping plant, where a gas engine is used. This area, of course, 

 will vary with the nature of the land also with the stage of growth 

 of the crop. The cost of labor for each irrigation, however, will not 

 exceed $1.25 per acre, and should in most cases fall below $1. On 

 the assumption that six irrigations are necessary during the dry 

 season, the annual cost for labor should come inside of $7.50 per 

 acre. When successfully grown alfalfa will yield from five to seven 

 crops each year where it grows continuously, and each crop will 

 yield from 1 to 2 tons per acre, according to local conditions. This 

 gives an annual yield of from 7 to 12 tons per acre, which, at the 

 current price of $8 and $9 per ton in the field, produces an annual 

 gross return of from $56 to $108 per acre. (Ex. S. Bui. 145.) 



Reservoirs and Pumping. In the older districts, where the 

 stream flow in summer has been appropriated, a supply can often be 

 obtained by building a storage reservoir or by installing a pumping 

 plant. Small enterprises of this character may be undertaken by 

 individuals, associations, or mutual companies. (F. B. 263.) 



Undoubtedly the most interesting and important phase of re- 

 cent progress in irrigation practice is found in the use of the pump 

 as a source of supply. W T onderful results have been achieved in in- 

 creasing the efficiency of pumps and motors and reducing their cost 

 of operation. Individual owners have often secured water by bor- 

 ing or digging wells and the use of a pump for much less than they 

 could buy it from ditch companies and thus are enabled to use more 

 water and at more convenient times with less outlay. For this home 

 supply all sorts of wells and all kinds of pumps and motors are be- 

 ing used, according to local conditions of subterranean water-bear- 

 ing strata and local power supplies. In irrigation by pumping several 

 things should be borne in mind, viz.: That the capacity of all 

 openings into underground water should 'be tested by pumping to 

 determine what is the available supply ; that, this being known, the 

 motor and pump should be adapted to the supply by a competent 

 expert and purchased under contract that they shall actually per- 

 form the service contemplated with the specified cost of fuel; that 

 there is such great difference in efficiency and working cost between 

 the modern pumping outfits and those of even a few years ago that 

 one can not afford to accept an old-style outfit even as a gin; that 

 makeshifts of discarded thrashing engines and second-hand pumps 

 are too great an extravagance to be indulged in. These suggestions 

 apply, of course, to all sources of pumped water, including wells, 

 lakes, and streams. 



