110 



THE IK RIO ATI ON AGE. 



IRRIGATION IN NORTH PLATTE VALLEY. 



Progress of the Work in Nebraska During the Past Twelve Years. 



BY w. H. WEIGHT. 



[Read before the Nebraska Irrigation Association at Lincoln, 

 January 21, 1U04.J 



My home has been in the Platte Valley since the 

 spring of 1891, in the county of Scotts Bluff. Prior 

 to this time most of the desirable lands in this and ad- 

 joining counties were filed on by a hardy and hopeful 

 class of pioneers who made a strenuous struggle in 

 keeping the wolf from the door, only to be defeated 

 by the adverse elements, long continued droughts and 

 occasional hot winds. 



The first attempt at constructing an irrigation 

 canal was in the season of 1887. In 1891 there were 

 several small canals completed or under construction. 

 Those completed gave very indifferent service, from 

 lack of experience and knowledge in preventing sand 

 from accumulating in 

 the canals near the 

 head-gates. These ca- 

 nals were constructed 

 by the settlers under 

 great difficulties, as 

 the settlers were prac- 

 tically without capital 

 or credit: but they 

 had muscle, a limited 

 supply of "bronchos" 

 and an abundance of 

 grit. What they ac- 

 complished under these 

 difficulties, which 

 would have appalled a 

 less hardy class of per- 

 sons, redounds to their 

 everlasting credit. 



As for my experi- 

 ence in raising crops 

 under irrigation. Com- 

 ing to Scotts Bluff 

 County first in the in- 

 terest of the promoters 

 of the Farmers' canal, I found myself stranded in the 

 year 1894, and forced to try my hand at farming under 

 irrigation as a means of existence. That I am here is 

 evidence of at least partial success. I have never suf- 

 fered for lack of something to eat, but have always had 

 an abundant supply of the finest vegetables raised any- 

 where in the United States; potatoes, onions, beets, 

 squash, melons, asparagus, etc. For six years most of 

 my income came from crops raised on less than ten 

 acres. I have raised as much as 400 bushels of potatoes 

 from an acre of ground; 800 bushels of onions, and 

 1,200 bushels of stock beets. I have raised melons which 

 would rival those of Eocky Ford. I have also been en- 

 gaged in raising stock hogs by running them on alfalfa 

 pasture, and will say that this promises to become a 

 leading industry in the valley, as the hogs raised there 

 are exceedingly healthy. I have never known of a case 

 of cholera in the country and it has been my experience 

 that we can raise a hog to 250 or 300 pounds, 75 per 

 cent of which can be credited to alfalfa. The best re- 

 sults can be obtained by feeding a small amount of 

 grain with the alfalfa, which gives a balanced ration. 



VIEW OF MORRIS PUMP AT WORK, MISILLA PARK EXPERIMENTAL 

 STATION, NEW MEXICO. 



I can hardly conceive of a better location for dairy- 

 ing enterprises than our irrigated districts afford; we 

 grow a better quality of alfalfa hay than is grown in the 

 rain belt; besides, we have a better climate for curing 

 the hay. Well cured alfalfa hay supplemented with 

 some kind of ground feed is a perfect ration for dairy 

 cattle. 



I do not remember of seeing any alfalfa fields 

 during the first year of my residence in Scotts Bluff 

 County, though several fields were seeded to alfalfa that 

 season, since which it has come to be the main crop 

 of the county. I esteem it the cheapest food crop on 

 earth, yielding under good management from four to 

 six tons of hay per acre per season. Added to its value 

 as a feed crop is that of a fertilizer, of which I know 

 no equal ; it roots very deeply, acting as a sub-soil. 



In the last few years I have noticed a great increase 

 in the yields of small grains upon land broken up after 

 having been seeded to alfalfa. The crop of oats after 

 alfalfa has been from 60 to 100 bushels to the acre ; 

 wheat from 25 to 50 bushels, and other crops yield 



correspondingly. We 

 raise some very good 

 crops of corn after al- 

 falfa, although the 

 altitude is too high 

 and the nights too 

 cool for an ideal corn 

 country. 



Irrigated hay, 

 known as wheat grass 

 from its resemblance 

 to bald wheat, is prov- 

 ing a profitable crop ; 

 this hay is much 

 sought for work horses 

 and has been shipped 

 as far east as Boston. 

 It requires only two- 

 thirds as many cubic 

 feet to make a ton as 

 ordinary hay. 



The development of 

 agriculture in the 

 semi-arid district by 

 irrigation in our 

 country is in its infancy. An irrigated country is es- 

 pecially adapted to intensive agriculture. Trie time 

 is near at hand when the attractive agricultural dis- 

 trict will be where the desert has been reclaimed by 

 irrigation, and land will be more valuable there than 

 anywhere else, largely from the outlay of capital and 

 labor in developing its latent productive power. 



And by the way, the intrinsic value of land is less 

 than many people think. In a recent trip through Ver- 

 mont, New York and Ohio, my attention was called 

 to the immense expense the farmers were put to in 

 securing fertilizers for their worn out soil. Eastern 

 farmers have long been robbers of the soil. When a 

 farm in the east is sold, the land enters very little into 

 the consideration, as the farm seldom brings a price 

 above the improvements, and often less. There is no 

 reason why irrigated districts should ever be taxed to 

 the extent the farmers in the east are in keeping up the 

 fertility of the soil. 



IRRIGATION AGE, 1 year $1.00. 

 The Primer of Irrigation, $1.00. 



