THE IBRIGATION AGE. 



341 



BROUGHT BY THE POSTMAN. 



Letters From Correspondents to The Irrigation Age. 



PEORIA, ILL., Aug. 13, 1904. 

 D. H. Anderson, 



Editor THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. 



Dear Sir: Please allow me to contribute a few lines upon 

 the most important subject, irrigation, of which so much 

 has been said over and over again since the beginning of 

 ancient history, all efforts having failed to improve our ir- 

 rigating system thus far. Many of us can remember forty or 

 fifty years ago when corn rows were laid off with a plow and 

 dropped by hand. Wheat also was cut by a cradle and the 

 same was tramped or flailed out. Also stage coaches were 

 our modern conveyances and hundreds of other things might 

 be compared with today. One can hardly realize that such 

 a difference is possible, yet it is true. All along the line these 

 changes have been taking place during these years. 



How about our modern irrigation as compared with fifty 

 years ago, yes, say over two thousand years ago, where the 

 Bible speaks of the flooding and furrow system used in 

 Egypt by Pharaoh's people? With experiment stations in 

 every State and territory with ample funds to carry on such 

 work as they may desire toward the improvement of our ir- 

 rigating system, and in charge of men some of whom have 

 made a life study of irrigation with all this equipment in 

 the hands of our most learned men along this line, we fail 

 to deviate from the old way of irrigating of two thousand 

 years ago. Just as much water evaporates now as did then, 

 only we are worse off in regard to water than they were. 

 While they had plenty without pay, we have to depend upon 

 some water trust at high price to furnish water. 



In many parts of our country water is a very valuable 

 article. This being the case, why feed the sun fifty to seventy- 

 five per cent of the moisture when it can be saved by sub-ir- 

 rigation. Roots of whatever nature will always grow toward 

 moisture, the moisture being on top. By the flooding or 

 furrow system, naturally the roots will grow to the surface. 

 It being very necessary to plow the ground, or it will bake 

 and get hard, many roots are cut or torn from their hiding 

 places and thereby the health of the tree is impaired and to 

 a great extent, like an unhealthy man, breeds disease. This 

 being the case, the fruit is very largely affected both in 

 quantity and quality. The top being so wet, with the aid of 

 the sun, draws the alkali to the surface, which is injurious to 

 both soil and plant. In my estimation, the system which gives 

 the best results from the least amount of water, labor and 

 expense in the system that should be used. I think sub- 

 irrigation comes nearer fulfilling all these requirements than 

 any other system. By sub-irrigation one is not dependent 

 upon some water trust for water, but has his own system and 

 is independent, which means a great deal to him. By having 

 the system under pressure, one can irrigate uneven as well 

 as level land and place every drop of water where it is 

 most needed. Roots of trees grow deeper and make healthy 

 trees, less liable to disease, and bearing more and better 

 fruit. This saves plowing, as the ground does not bake and 

 get hard; saves fifty to seventy-five per cent of moisture 

 and same per cent in labor. And last, but not least, such a 

 system, if properly constructed, would be self draining. There 

 are times during the year when the soil is too wet, either 

 from rains or otherwise, and in such case it can be drained 

 off in a short time. 



Yours truly, 



W. A. LEE. 



Seistan Arbitration Commission via 

 Quetta, Baluchistan, June 25, 1904. 



THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago. 



Dear Sirs: I send you the second of exchange of a bill 

 for $3.00 that was sent you some time ago as my subscrip- 

 tion to THE IRRIGATION AGE. I am much obliged to you for 

 sending me THE AGE steadily, as it is very difficult to remit 

 from here and I am afraid the way this bank has done, it will 

 take a long time to reach you. When it does I hope you will 

 send me a copy of the Irrigation Primer, as it is the best 

 work of its kind I have seen and invaluable to people interested 

 in irrigation, the balance after paying for Primer to be put to 

 my credit as a subscription toward THE AGE. 



If there is anytihng on irrigation matters that you would 

 like to know about India, I will be glad to send it to you. 



Have you got the Irrigation Commissioner's report, four big 

 volumes of invaluable information? If the editor would like a 

 copy, I shall be glad to try and get one for him. It might 

 be worth while to send out sample copies of your paper to 

 some Indians interested in irrigation. I am very pleased to 

 see the circulation of THE AGE extend to India, as I have got 

 lots of good ideas from it and I am sure others could also. 

 The sending of the subscription is the difficulty. 



Wishing you success, I am, Yours sincerely, 



T. R. J. WARD. 



SOCORRO, N. M., July 10, 1-904. 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. 



Gentlemen: You may resume my subscription to THE 

 IRRIGATION AGE until further notice. Irrigation has been 

 practiced in this valley for ages, in fact, the only sure and 

 safe way to raise any kind of a crop almost anywhere in 

 New Mexico is through a wise application of water, the 

 rains here being an uncertain and out of season quantity. 

 In my native country I have learned the utility of water 

 for irrigation; both in France and Italy it has been a neces- 

 sity. In this valley but a very small percentage of farmers 

 use fertilizers, mostly barnyard stuff. The soil is rich and 

 when water is plentiful, there is an abundance of crops. 



This year, however, the source of water for irrigation 

 has failed us; the Rio Grande, which supplies water for all 

 community ditches, some of them ten or more miles in 

 length, has gone back on the farmers early in the season. 

 Some of the farmers got only one irrigation, others none. 

 The effect is that the wheat crop has been a total failure 

 and there is a loss of thousands of dollars in alfalfa and other 

 crops. The Rio Grande River has been in the habit of 

 going hack on the New Mexico farmers for some eight 

 or ten years. It has never happened before, though, to be 

 as dry as early as in the month of April. 



There is no other recourse left the Rio Grande agri- 

 culturist to make sure of his crops than to go to the expense 

 of putting in irrigating plants and to pump water from the 

 underflow, which is abundant anywhere in the valley at the 

 depth of from ten feet down. This is their only salvation; 

 it has come to this : either irrigation or emigrate to better 

 favored regions. Yours truly, 



P. A. MARCELLING. 



ST. CLOUD, MINN., August 31, 1904. 

 IRRIGATION AGE, 



112 Dearborn Street, Chicago, 111. : 



Dear Sir On September 28, at Litchfield, Minn., 

 bids will be received for the construction of about fifty 

 miles of open ditch. These ditches are too large to be 

 dug without the use of a dredging machine, and un- 

 less the owner of a machine shall bid on them it is 

 not probable that any bids will be received^ Later in 

 the fall other ditching jobs will be sold to the amount 

 of about 800,000 cubic yards in all. Anyone having a 

 machine to use on these ditches could probably secure 

 these contracts at from 13 cents to 20 cents per cubic 

 yard. The ditches have a slope of .one to one and a 

 depth varying from one to twenty-one feet. The con- 

 tracts must be completed by January, 1906. 



John N. Gaynor, of Litchfield, lets the jobs, and 

 Arthur E. Morgan, of St. Cloud, is the engineer. So 

 many ditches have been planned in central Minnesota 

 to be constructed during the season of 1905 that it is 

 going to be very hard to find contractors to handle all 

 the work. Perhaps 10,000,000 cubic yards of excava- 

 tion have been planned for the coming season within 

 100 miles of Minneapolis. 



Very truly yours, 



ARTHUR E. MORGAN, 



Per J. E. M. 



The Irrigation Age One Yea.r and The Primer 

 of Irrigation. $2.00 



