1903 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



already in use there, will, with the aid 

 of the run-off data, render ascertainable 

 the ratio of precipitation to run-off, and 

 thus enable engineers to compute, from 

 rainfall records, the run-off from adja- 

 cent auxiliary water-sheds. Evapora- 

 tion from the surface and fluctuations of 

 the surface level of some of the larger 

 lakes are being measured, and losses in- 

 cident to storage of large bodies of water 

 and losses from small bodies of running 

 -water are to be studied. During the 

 last season Mr. Taylor has been assisted 

 by Prof. E. C. Murphy, of Cornell Uni- 

 versity. 



One of the most important agricul- 

 tural problems in western Nevada is the 

 reclamation of the Carson River Valley. 

 'This portion of the state joins the 

 desert country of the Basin Ranges, 

 but the waters of the Carson River and 

 its tributaries permit of irrigation and 

 -save it from being wholly unproductive. 

 During the spring and early summer 

 the river is swollen by melting snows 



on the Sierra Nevadas, but later in the 

 season its volume becomes insignificant, 

 and no extensive reclamation through 

 irrigation is possible at its low-water 

 stages. Within the last few months, 

 however, it has become apparent, 

 through investigations made by the 

 Geological Survey, that with the 

 proper conservation of the wasted winter 

 and spring flow by the construction of 

 storage reservoirs, it would be possible 

 to obtain enough water to irrigate not 

 less than 120,000 acres of land now 

 lying arid, besides materially increasing 

 the reliability of the supply for lands 

 already under cultivation. With this 

 amount of land reclaimed for farming 

 purposes, it is estimated that an increase 

 in property values in the section re- 

 claimed would amount to several mil- 

 lion dollars. The estimated cost of this 

 storage is less than seven dollars for 

 each acre which can be irrigated, or 

 about $800,000 for the total acreage re- 

 claimed. 



PRIVATE IRRIGATION WORKS. 



PROJECTS WHICH GIVE PRACTICAL DEM- 

 ONSTRATIONS OF SUCCESS FROM DE- 

 VELOPMENTS ACTUALLY COMPLETED. 



WHILE the United States Govern- 

 ment is devoting the energies 

 of several of its commissions and bu- 

 reaus, with their corps of trained ex- 

 perts, to the study of the irrigation 

 problem, there are many private com- 

 panies which are doing practical work 

 of great value, not only in the de- 

 velopment of irrigable lands but in the 

 practical demonstration which they fur- 

 nish of the possibilities of irrigation. 

 It cannot be gainsaid that the knowl- 

 edge of actual results is convincing as to 

 the benefits to follow the application of 

 needed water to naturally fertile soils ; 

 and, in the campaign for the extension of 

 irrigation, examples are cogent argu- 

 ments. It is with something of this 

 thought that FORESTRY AND IRRIGA- 

 TION presents some of the salient fea- 

 tures of successful private irrigation 

 enterprises. 



Felix Irrigation Company. 



The Felix Irrigation Company, at 

 Roswell, New Mexico, has a canal 25 

 miles in length, which is now irrigat- 

 ing about 6,000 acres of land, and is 

 capable of irrigating more. Being fed 

 by springs and the overflow of artesian 

 wells, as well as by a river, it can hardly 

 run dry. The land under irrigation is 

 principally planted in alfalfa, which 

 produces four crops of hay per year, 

 yielding about one ton per acre for the 

 first three crops, and a little less for the 

 fourth. This, together with Kaffir and 

 Egyptian corn excellent feeds is used 

 for fattening cattle and hogs on a large 

 scale. On the Felix ranch, under the 

 canal system, there are 1,000 acres of 

 alfalfa, which cut last year about 4,000 

 tons. Owing to the nature of the land, 

 it can be handled very economically. 

 Not many years ago the country watered 



