48 



THE IERIGATION AGE. 



in intermountain and Pacific coast territories, as com- 

 pared with States east of the Missouri Kiver, it is safe 

 to assume that the increase in values of farm lands 

 recently noticed in many western States will continue, 

 and as the farms increase, so will the values of city 

 property. 



"The development of the plains region is wonderful. 

 If improved farming methods are continued it is prob- 

 able that during the next two years 1,000 new families 

 each month can be placed upon the plains district east 

 of Denver. With proper laws regulating the distribu- 

 tion of public lands this number of settlers can be in- 

 creased materially. 



"All this development means much to the State of 

 Colorado as a land owner. The State now owns about 

 3,500,000 acres of land. The Campbell system of soil 

 culture and other improved farming methods will add 

 millions of dollars in the next few years to the value 

 of lands owned by the State. The land agents of Colo- 

 rado can now tell a good story and have every reason 

 to expect a good business during the coming year." 



OGDEN RIVER STORAGE RESERVOIR. 



FEEDING ALFALFA TO HORSES. 



BY I. D. ODONNELL, BILLINGS, MONT. 



Will Be of Great Benefit to That Part of Utah. 



The preliminary work of another storage reservoir 

 in Ogden canyon is nearing completion. It compre- 

 hends the storage of the flood waters for irrigation pur- 

 poses, and the installation of a power plant of 2,100 

 horse-power electric capacity. 



The new company will be known as the South Pork 

 Power and Jrrigation Company, and its organizers are 

 practically the owners of the Ogden Eapid Transit Com- 

 pany and allied companies. The site selected is in the 

 South Fork of Ogden canyon, where an immense dam 

 will be constructed to store the flood waters. This project 

 will be not in the least in conflict with that of the Pio- 

 neer Power Company further down the canyon. 



The new company has already spent $7,000 on pre- 

 liminary work. Two sites for a dam have been explored 

 and on the upper, which is at Cobble creek, much of the 

 preliminary work done will be available for construction, 

 if this site is selected. 



Here a dam 850 feet in length at top, 300 feet at 

 the river and 110 feet high is to be constructed on the 

 most approved modern plan. It will form a reservoir 

 two miles back through a region where the land is not 

 capable of cultivation, and will store about 1,000,000,- 

 000 gallons, or the equivalent of 20,000 acre feet, suffi- 

 cient to irrigate 30,000 acres, ordinarily. The area of 

 this reservoir will be something over 600 acres. 



The second proposition is for a dam about one and 

 one-fourth miles lower in the canyon and comprehends 

 a dam 160 feet high, 630 feet long on top, 100 feet at 

 the river bed, and having a storage capacity of 50,000 

 acre feet. 



In either proposition there are ample power possi- 

 bilities. It is expected to generate 2,100 horse-power, 

 and of this the street railway will be a market for 7,000, 

 leaving 1,400 horse-power for sale. Work on the project 

 has been progressing all summer, and will continue until 

 frost. 



This project, taken in connection with that of the 

 Pioneer Power Company, means the storage of sufficient 

 water to reclaim 90,000 acres of now uncultivated lands 

 north and west of Ogden. 



It seems to be the general opinion thai alfalfa 

 hay is not a good horse feed, and especially for horses 

 on the road or for fast work. Now I would like to 

 correct this, as alfalfa is too good a feed to be con- 

 demned for any purpose. The fact is nearly every 

 one who. feeds horses feeds them too much hay. The 

 same would apply to all kinds of hay. If you give a 

 horse about what alfalfa he should have, say twelve 

 to fifteen pounds per day for horses of 1,000 pounds, 

 and a fair grain ration, you will find he will travel 

 just as far and just as fast as with other kinds of 

 hay and be in better condition. 



But if you allow your horse to east thirty to 

 forty pounds per day, which they will of alfalfa if 

 you give it to them, you are sure to have a horse that 

 is short-winded and sloppy. One of the famous trot- 

 ting horses on the eastern turf, with record below 

 2 :03, is fed alfalfa as his only hay. 



A good ration for the horse of any kind of feed 

 is about one pound of grain and one and a half 

 pounds of hay to each one hundred pounds of horse. 

 And this would apply to alfalfa. In fact, the horse 

 should do better on the alfalfa- than with other hays, 

 and with less grain. 



This might be the opportune time to say that 

 the majority of farmers feed too much hay of all 

 kinds to their horses. In fact, the horse barn to my 

 notion is where one of the greatest wastes of the farm 

 can be found. Horses would travel better, stand more 

 work and be healthier if fed less hay, the most farmers 

 give them all they can eat and aim to have them waste 

 enough to make their bedding, when they have plenty 

 of good straw going to waste on the farm. 



The London cab horses, which are considered the 

 finest and best kept horses in the world, have but two 

 hours in the morning and two hours in the evening, 

 with noon hour, for feeding. At eight o'clock in the 

 evening every scrap of feed is taken away from them 

 and they are heeded for the night. The Montana farmer 

 would think his horses were being starved if he found 

 no feed in the manger after eight or nine o'clock in the 

 evening. 



The feeding of alfalfa to horses does away with the 

 old time brand mash once a week, which was considered 

 so necessary. 



A great many alfalfa feeders have from experience 

 decided that the first cutting of alfalfa is best for 

 horses, or alfalfa that is fairly coarse, or some that had 

 come to full bloom; the idea is (though they do not 

 know it) that in feeding that kind of alfalfa the horse 

 gets about the amount he should have. The horse picks 

 it over and takes the best of it and manages to get about 

 what he should have. If they were to give the horse 

 same amount of good, well made alfalfa hay he would 

 eat it all ; then he would have too much. 



An overworked horse, or one run down and thin, 

 will pick up and get fat and in good condition on 

 alfalfa pasture quicker than on any other pasture known. 

 And where a grain ration is added they have been known 

 to put on as high as six pounds per day. 



Horses will eat and do well on the refuse from sheep 

 feeding lots where alfalfa has been fed, while cattle will 

 not take to it. 



