274 



THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



FIBST COST OF PUMPING PLANTS. 



At almost any point in the river valleys of the west- 

 ern plains complete pumping plants, including wells, 

 machinery and buildings, can be constructed for about 

 $100 per horse power required. In some exceptional 

 cases the cost may run as low as $60 per horse power. 



Tests of a number of pumping plants in the Eio 

 Grande Kiver Valley are reported on in Water Supply 

 and Irrigation Paper No. 141. On page 34 of that 

 paper will be found a table giving the fuel cost, interest 

 and labor cost, estimated for each acre foot of water 

 recovered. 



The pumping plant of Mrs. M. Richter, near Gar- 

 den City, Kan., uses a Menge pump, which is run by a 

 ten-horse power Otto gasoline engine. The area of the 

 strainer and the bottom of the well is 266.5 square feet. 

 The specific capacity per foot of percolating surface is 

 .341 gallons per minute. The cost of operation with 

 gasoline at 20 cents per gallon amounted to 21 cents 

 per hour, .89 cents per thousand gallons, $2.90 per acre 

 foot, and 1-17 cents per thousand foot-gallons. 



The pumping plant of Nathan Fulmer, near 

 Lakin, Kan., utilizes a chain and bucket pump. The 

 power is supplied by a Howe gasoline engine, which 

 develops about seven horse power at 285 revolutions per 

 minute. The cost of gasoline was 21 cents per gallon 

 and the expense of running the engine was 13.65 cents 

 per hour. The cost of water was $1.37 per acre-foot, 

 .22 cents per thousand gallons, and 1-40 cents per thou- 

 sand foot-gallons. 



The pumping outfit of J. H. Logan, near Garden 

 City, Kan., consists of a six-horse power horizontal gaso- 

 line engine connected by a belt to a No. 3 centrifugal 

 pump. The specific capacity of the well is 422 gallons 

 per minute, or 3.94 gallons for each square foot of well 

 strainer. The fuel cost of pumping was .9 cents per 

 thousand gallons, $2.93 per acre-foot, or 1-25 cent per 

 thousand foot-gallons. 



The cost of pumping at twelve plants in the Ar- 

 kansas Valley in western Kansas ranged from 85 cents 

 to $3.75 acre-foot. Additional data are given in Water 

 Supply and Irrigation Paper of the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey No. 153. On page 82 of that paper is 

 an account of a test of a producer gas pumping plant at 

 Rocky Ford, Colo. 



INCORPORATED. 



Gulf Coast Irrigation Company of Kingsville, 

 Texas; $500,000. Incorporators, R. A. Jackson, Ben- 

 jamin S. Cabel, H. I. Miller, S. T. Pulton, C. E. Craig, 

 N. H. Lassaiter and R. W. Harrison. 



HAWAIIAN BULLETINS. 



Two instructive bulletins have been issued by the 

 Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station. One by Ed- 

 mund C. Shorey, chemist of the station, is entitled "The 

 Composition of Some Hawaiian Feeding Stuffs," and 

 the other by Jared G. Smith, special agent in charge of 

 the station, is entitled "The Black Wattle in Hawaii." 



THE STEENERSON DRAINAGE BILL. 



IN THE HOUSE OF EEPRESENTATIVES. 



June 6, 1906. 



Mr. Steenerson introduced the following bill ; which was 

 referred to the Committee on Agriculture and 

 ordered to be printed. 



A BILL 



Authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to investigate 



the subject of drainage. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 

 tives of the United States of America in Congress 



assembled. 



That the Secretary of Agriculture be, and he is 

 hereby, authorized and required to investigate the sub- 

 jects hereinafter specified and to report to Congress 

 the results of such investigation. 



First The location and area of lands in the 

 United States that are swamp and overflowed and sus- 

 ceptible of being drained and made fit for agriculture. 



Second The value and effect of drainage on such 

 land and on the public health and upon agriculture. 



Third Existing legislation of the different States 

 and localities on the subject of drainage and operations 

 thereunder. 



Fourth Foreign drainage policies and their result, 

 and the relation of the Federal Government to local 

 authorities and legislation on said subject. 



Sec. 2. That the sum of twenty-five thousand dol- 

 lars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be, and 

 the same is hereby, appropriated out of any money in 

 the treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose 

 of enabling the Secretary of Agriculture to carry the 

 foregoing provisions into effect. 



CAPITALISTS PLAN RESERVOIR. 



Send $2.50 lor The Irrigation Age 

 r, and the Primer of Irrigation 



A project is now on foot for the construction of a 

 huge reservoir near Bloomfield, in Boulder county, 

 Colo., for the purpose of irrigating about 200,000 acres 

 of land lying east of Denver. An option was secured 

 recently by Holland and Denver capitalists on 14,000 

 acres as a site for the reservoir, which will cost about 

 $2,000,000. 



It is proposed to build a reservoir capable of hold- 

 ing back between 7,000,000,000 and 8,000,000,000 cubic 

 feet of water, covering 1,600 acres to a depth of 100 

 feet. A series of subsidiary reservoirs will also be con- 

 structed at Erie, Brighton, Platteville, La Salle and 

 Boulder canon. Water will be secured from South 

 Boulder creek, the water rights to which have been 

 secured, and by a tunnel through the continental divide 

 for two and a half miles to bring water from Grand 

 county. The men in the project own the High Line 

 ditch, which will be utilized to carry water from the 

 reservoir to the Platte river. From there it will be 

 taken down the Burlington ditch and distributed to the 

 dry lands near Brighton and Henderson. 



Joseph Stanley, who made a fortune in mining 

 in Colorado, is one of the Denver investors at the head 

 of the project, and a representative has been sent to 

 Holland to consult with investors, who have already 

 shown an interest in the proposition. E. T. Hargrove, 

 of Denver, is also interested in the project. 



