THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



279 



BROUGHT BY THE POSTMAN. 



ARTESIA, N. M., June 11, 190-i. 

 The D. H. Anderson Publishing Co., Chicago, III, 



Gentlemen : Yours of May 30th at hand. I will endeavor 

 to send you some data concerning artesian wells. If not on 

 the subject of well measurement, will give you a few facts 

 concerning the advantage of artesian wells for irrigation. I 

 shall try to send the report in a week or so. Will you be 

 able to reproduce a picture from a picture of the well, or 

 should I send a wooden plate of the well? We have some 

 magnificent wells in this section. 



Yours respectfully, 



S. W. GILBERT. 



CHICAGO, ILL., June 15, 1904. 

 Mr. S. W. Gilbert, Artesia, N. M. 



Dear Sir : Replying to your favor of the llth in 

 which you express a willingness to send us data concerning 

 artesian wells, would say that we will appreciate your kind- 

 ness in the matter and hope you may get it on to us in time 

 for our July issue, which will go to press on the 5th of that 

 month. If not, we will use it in our August issue. 



Kindly send the wooden plate you have and also photo- 

 graph of any wells you may care to have us illustrate and 

 we will select from same cuts to accompany the article. 

 THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING Co., 



MONTGOMERY CITY, Mo., June, 1904. 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, III. 



Gentlemen : Enclosed you will find 10 cents in stamps 

 for which please send us a single copy of THE IRRIGATION AGE 

 with subscription rates and to pay for your answer to the 

 following questions, if you be so kind as to answer them : 



1. Between what dates should wheat be sown in the 

 Arkansas Valley? 



2. Does corn grow successfully in the Arkansas Valley? 

 What is about the average yield per acre? 



3. What are Arkansas Valley farmers paying experienced 

 irrigators and general farm hands working by the month? 



4. Which crop of alfalfa is usually cut for seed in cen- 

 tral New Mexico and when does it ripen? 



5. Which is cut for seed in Wyoming and whan does it 

 ripen? 



6. Which crop is cut for seed in the Arkansas Valley 

 and at Fort Collins, and when is it cut? 



7. What is a fair yield per acre of seed in Colorado? 



8. What price is paid per cwt. for it? 



9. Is hog raising a success in the Arkansas Valley? 

 Hoping you will answer the above questions and send us 



a copy of your paper, we remain, 



FUHR BROS., 



R. D. No. 2. 



The inquiry received from Fuhr Bros, was referred to 

 Philp K. Blinn. Field Agent of the Agricultural Experiment 

 Station of Colorado, who sends us the following reply: 



ROCKY FORD, COLO., June 23, 1904. 

 IRRIGATION AGE, 112 Dearborn St., Chicago, III. 



Dear Sirs : In answer to the enclosed questions referred 

 to me, I will submit the following as far as my experience 

 goes: 



1. For fall wheat, September 15 to October 15; spring 

 grain, March 1 to April 15 and possibly May 1. 



2. Corn grows successfully, but is not considered a 

 standard crop. Nights are too cool for good corn, yet it is not 

 uncommon for corn to yield forty to sixty bushels per acre 

 on good ground. 



3. Hands on farms are paid twenty-five to thirty dollars 

 per month and board. The latter price for experienced men 

 in Colorado farming. 



4. Do not know. 



5. Do not know. 



6. Usually the second crop, but sometimes the first if it 

 blooms satisfactorily. Same at Fort Collins usually, but in 

 September, depending on season. 



7. From two to eight bushels per acre ; four or five a 

 fair yield. 



8. Price varies from 5 to 12 cents, 6 to 8 cents per pound. 



9. Hog raising is in a measure a success ; pastured on 

 alfalfa, a cheap growth and in fall, cantaloupes, beets and 

 grain finish up a fair product. 



PHILO K. BLINN. 



IRRIGATION MAKVELS. 



AUSTIN, TEXAS, May 28. Archer Richardson, the pioneer 

 irrigator of Dimmitt County, was here today from his Oak- 

 grove ranch near Carrizo Springs, lie conies from the sec- 

 tion where irrigation is just proving to do such wonders, the 

 onion crop haying been a' small gold mine. Richardson's 

 accounts of irrigation in Dimmitt are simply marvelous. He 

 says he has two artesian wells, 215 yards apart, 650 feet 

 deep, which water 1,000 acres and grow the finest crops to 

 be seen anywhere. Onions, cotton, cabbage, corn, Irish pota- 

 toes, peaches, strawberries, dewberries and blackberries. He 

 says he is now securing the second crop of strawberries and 

 the most luscious fruit to be found. 



The cotton makes two bales to the acre, but is planted 

 only the first year to get the land ready for the truck and 

 fruit. He says the returns from the latter are from $300 to 

 $400 per acre, and that tobasco pepper can be grown there to 

 yield $1,800 to the acre. 



Figuring on onions he says 32,000 pounds to the acre are 

 easily grown, which at 2 cents per pound, bring net over cost 

 of cultivation, about $600, or $384,000 for one section of 640 

 acres. Richardson states that about four thousand acres were 

 in irrigation in Dimmitt County last year, though it is forty 

 miles from a railroad, and that great gangs of Mexicans are 

 now grubbing new land for next year, receiving $6.25 per 

 acre for the work. He says the price is to be increased in 

 order to get more land ready for irrigation next year. 



He says the irrigated peaches are large and finer flavored 

 than those of Maryland and Georgia, and other products the 

 same. He says the great returns from irrigation in Dimmitt 

 are due to rich soil, unceasing sunshine and an abundance of 

 good pure artesian water. 



Mr. Richardson is at the head of several large land owners 

 negotiating for a railroad to Carrizo Springs, but did not care 

 to make public any of the particulars, only saying that at this 

 time there are easily an average of sixty care per day for 

 300 days in the year, of truck, etc., not to mention cattle and 

 wool, and with the ever increasing acreage in irrigation the 

 tonnage would double. 



He says the coming of a railroad will make Dimmitt 

 County one of the best in the State and would develop a 

 great industry. 



ONLY LIVE FISH SWIM UPSTREAM. 



SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, June 14, 1904. 



Great excitement prevailed on Main street today, and 

 many conjectures, pertinent and otherwise, were hazarded by 

 the crowd which clustered about a gentleman of generous 

 proportions, who stood upon the curb holding in his hand a 

 large wriggling fish of the Redhorse variety. Vociferous 

 laughter greeted the amazement with which each newcomer 

 became enlightened as to the why and wherefore of this 

 unusual spectacle. It was evident that a catch had been 

 made under exceptional conditions. 



The writer did not learn what disposition was made of 

 the find, but it is to be hoped that it appeared upon some 

 hospitable board that evening, and was served up with all 

 due honors. 



From Utah Lake, where fish abound, to this newly dis- 

 covered resort for anglers on Main street, is a distance of 

 over thirty miles. The highway upon which the adventurous 

 truant of the deep must have followed is the Utah Lake Canal, 

 which winds for miles along the base of the Wasatch Range, 

 eventually feeding the ditch in question, among many others. 



In view of the undoubted veracity of the gentleman above 

 mentioned, as well as existing circumstances which refute 

 any other theory, it became the generally accepted opinion that 

 the plucky member of the finny tribe had bidden farewell to 

 the placid waters of Utah Lake, triumphantly passed the 

 dangerous currents of the canal, and having at last reached the 

 most congested portion of the city (with what purpose is 

 unknown), he had turned upon his course and was about to 

 retrace his steps (if the word can be used), when his doughty 

 career was brought to an untimely end. 



Had the fish been dead when found, his arrival in our 

 midst would have left little room for speculation. He was 

 however, very much alive, and was, at the time, struggling 

 bravely against the current in an uphill effort to pass the 

 shallow gutter, with a pertinacity which bore witness to many 

 perils successfully overcome in the past. By this time, it is 

 to be expected that the veteran is no more, and it seems fitting 

 that the obituary should appear in THE IRRIGATION AGE. which 

 still holds to its motto, that "Only Live Fish Swim Upstream." 



E. W. H. ' 



