206 



THE IREIGATION AGE. 



TABLE IV. IRRIGATING WATER RECEIVED AT FARM. 



Amount received Amount received Total 



from from amount 



1900. Grand canal. Maricopa canal. Received. 



Acre feet. Acre feet. Acre feet. 



June 3.15 



July 2.80 



August ., 11.85 



September 6.10 



October 5.40 



November 3 . 20 



December 4.35 



Total 37.85 



1901. 



January 12'. 50 



February 13.20 



March 13.10 



April 10.20 



May 8.05 



June 3.85 



July 6.45 



August 7 . 65 



September 3.00 



October 4.50 



November 3 . 55 



December 3.20 



6.10 

 6.25 

 6.75 

 8.15 

 2.90 

 6.1(1 

 4.05 



38.30 



5.10 

 9.80 

 8.90 

 10.00 

 5.55 

 4.45 

 2.50 

 9.95 

 3.40 

 3.66 

 2.60 

 3.30 



9.25 



10.05 



18.60 



14.25 



8.30 



9.30 



8.40 



76.15 



17.60 



23.00 



22.00 



20.20 



13.60 



8.30 



8.95 



17.60 



6.40 



8.10 



6.15 



6.50 



Total 



89. 25 a. ft. 69. 15 a. ft. 158.40 a.ft. 



A comparison of the above amounts of water re- 

 ceived from month to month at the farm with the rain- 

 fall record and the river flow during the period will 

 show that there is a more or less close relationship be- 

 tween the three. In the main the flow of water in the 

 ditch fluctuated with the flow of the river, as modified 

 by the storms in its watershed. No rain falling during 

 December, 1900, the amount of water available for irri- 

 gation was unusually small. The rains of January, 

 1901, increased the flow of the river and of the amount 

 of water in the canals. During February, owing to 

 heavy rains in the watershed of the river, the maximum 

 amount that the canals and irrigating ditches would 

 carry was distributed to the farmers. The amount re- 

 ceived at and used upon the farm during that month 

 was, according to the water register, 23.0 acre feet, suf- 

 ficient to cover the entire twenty-eight acres with water 

 .82 feet, or nearly ten inches deep. A large part of 

 this was used upon the orchards, which were irrigated 

 heavily during the winter. During the succeeding two 

 months, owing to the melting of snow in the mountain? 

 and to light rains, the amount delivered at the farm 

 continued high, the amount received during the first 

 four months of the calendar year 1901 being over one- 

 half of the total amount received during the year. Dur- 

 ing May, June and the most of July, 1901, the amount 

 received gradually decreased. The rains of the latter 

 part of July and of August increased the flow in the 

 canals, the amount received during the latter month 

 equally that of January. During the remainder of the 

 year, with the exception of a brief period following the 

 October rain, the flow remained low. The times of the 

 year when the small amount received affected field oper- 

 ations most was during the latter part of May, during 

 June, July, and again during September and October. 

 The weather being warm and dry during these months, 

 an increased rather than a diminished supply of irri- 

 gating was needed, emphasizing the importance of hav- 

 ing stored for summer use the water that flowed down 

 the river to the ocean during winter. 



The total amount received at the station farm was 

 only a small portion of that contracted for with the 

 canal company. Experience having shown that only a 



amall proportion of the amount contracted for is de- 

 livered, farmers have adopted the custom of contracting 

 for and paying for the delivery of much more than they 

 could possibly use, if the amount contracted for were 

 actually delivered to them. The times of making these 

 contracts with the canal company is September 15 and 

 May 15. It being especially important that operations 

 at the station farm be not interrupted by a shortage of 

 irrigating water, the aim has been to contract for enough 

 to as nearly meet the requirements as practicable. 

 Hence, during September, 1900, the delivery of forty- 

 three and one-third inches, or a little over one second 

 foot, was paid for by the station in advance at $2.25 per 

 inch, a total of $97.50 for the twenty-eight acres, or 

 $3.48 per acre. The payment of $53.35 for so-called 

 water-rights makes a total of $4.67 per acre per year 

 for the irrigating water used. The total amount re- 

 ceived from September, 1900, to August, 1901, inclu- 

 sive, equalled an average of 14.25 acres feet per month, 

 or a continuous flow of approximately 9.6 inches, in- 

 stead of the forty-three and one-third inches contracted 

 for. Even during February, 1901, the month of great- 

 est flow, when all canals and ditches were carrying the 

 maximum quantity that their capacity enabled them to 

 carry, only an equivalent of fifteen and one-third inches 

 continuous flow was received at the farm, indicating 

 that it would not have been possible under any circum- 

 stances to have delivered to all consumers the water for 

 the delivery of which each had contracted and paid, 

 through the canals the company were operating. 



The total amount used upon the station farm 

 equalled an average of 6.0 acre feet per acre for the 

 year. This amount is somewhat larger than would be 

 necessary to produce the same yields during an average 

 year, as the weather conditions of the period were some- 

 what trying. It is also to be understood that upon sev- 

 eral fields, two crops were grown during -the year, in 

 one field melons and corn following potatoes, and in 

 another corn following melons. Furthermore, to part 

 of the orchard more water than was essential was ap- 

 plied during the winter when the supply was in excess 

 of the immediate demands of the growing crops. The 

 fluctuation of the water supply causes a much smaller 

 crop return than would be obtained from the same an- 

 nual amount delivered as needed during the year. Or, 

 to state it another way, the same results as those ob- 

 tained during the year might have been obtained with a 

 considerably smaller water supply, had it been delivered 

 as the crops needed it. Six of the twenty-eight acres 

 lay idle from May to November because of the water 

 supply being insufficient during these months to culti- 

 vate all the farm ; and the yield of several crops would 

 have been greater, had it been always possible to apply 

 water at the most advantageous time. 

 (CONTINUED.) 



$2.00 will pay for the Irrigation Age for 

 one year and a Copy of the Primer of 

 Irrigation, 300 -page, finely illustrated, 

 cloth bound book on Irrigation. 



