264 



THE IKEIGATION AGE. 



Artesian Well Irrigation 



San Antonio, Texas 



Could the ancient and the modern irrigator of Texas 

 land gaze upon the other's achievement each must bow 

 in admiration and respect at the forces with which each 

 contended and the supreme knowledge each has displayed 

 in reaching the common end water for the parched land. 



Coronado, with his intrepid band of explorers, found 

 as early as the sixteenth century, that vast systems for 

 the carrying and distribution of water had been con- 

 structed in southwestern Texas and had already reached a 

 state of deterioration from long disuse. Everywhere there 

 were traces of a civilization of which he could find no 

 existing type of people. Remnants of artificial waterways 

 showed proof of rare engineering skill. Yet in their con- 

 struction work builders were confined to the use of the 

 most crude and bunglesome of implements. The methods 

 by which the ancients ran their levels and measured their 

 distances to secure adequate water supplies, must be as 



To Mr. F. F. Collins, a pioneer in the affairs of San 

 Antonio, and with whose name the irrigation development 

 of this section is closely interwoven, the Age is indebted 

 for a photograph of the "Collins Gardens," occupying the 

 center of these pages. Because of Mr. Collins' well 

 known ability as a successful irrigator a description of 

 conditions is of general interest. 



The Collins tract, comprising 172 acres located two and 

 one-half miles southwest of San Antonio, is irrigated from 

 a 12-inch artesian well, 700 feet deep, the natural flow of 

 the well being relied upon entirely for the supply, which 

 Mr. Collins states would furnish water enough for 400 

 acres if the flow were conserved in a reservoir of suf- 

 ficient size. The land has a fall of 10 feet to the mile 

 east and 8 feet to the mile south. The laterals run north 

 and south from the main canal every 300 feet. Each 

 lateral is 1,550 feet long (the width of the tract, which is 

 about a mile long) and about twelve rows, running east 

 and west, are watered at a time. The well cost $4,500, but 

 the canal and laterals were constructed very cheaply. 



The flow of the well is applied to each acre about 

 one day in every seven, and the rental is $15 per acre for 

 water, house, and barn, and $10 per acre for the land. The 

 estimated amount applied per acre per annum is two 

 acre-feet. 



The tract owned by Mr. Collins cost $50 per acre in 



interesting to moderns as the present day usages would 

 prove to the ancients. 



From the traditions of the Pueblo Indians comes the 

 information that irrigation systems of great extent were 

 built by the Yuma Indians centuries ago. Constant raids 

 of the Apaches and Comanches drove this race westward 

 again and again until at last they rested on the Colorado. 

 At Pecos, Grand Falls and various other points in south- 

 western Texas the remains of these prehistoric canals 

 are to be found. 



Early in the eighteenth century, under direction of 

 the Franciscan fathers in the vicinty of San Antonio, 

 began the history of a later day irrigation that has de- 

 veloped with wonderful strides and that promises eventu- 

 ally to reclaim to agriculture the almost countless millions of 

 arid acres in that state. After founding their mission at 

 San Antonio, the Fathers directed the work of construct- 

 ing ditches for irrigation purposes as early as 1716. Be- 

 fore 1774 considerable progress had been made in the 

 work and fairly comprehensive systems were finished. 



During the ensuing century this work was delayed and 

 often abandoned for considerable periods. Mot until 1884. 

 when the first artesian wells were utilized, did irrigation 

 become an important factor in the development of the 

 arid country near San Antonio. Between the years 1890 

 and 1900 many artesian wells were sunk and this method 

 of supplying water became dominant. It is found that at an 

 average depth of 1.500 feet a copious supply of water 

 suitable for agricultural purposes may be found. 



Famou's Collins Gardens, Near San Aii| 



1000 and the price was then considered high. Recently 

 $500 per acre has been paid for land near by. The land 

 is divided into 12-acre tracts and the cost of a house and 

 barn and hydrant water for each tract was about $1,000. 

 Mr. Collins has refused $1,000 per acre for his farm. 



It is stated that some renters clear as much as $200 

 per acre. One man with help can care for 12 acres and 

 each beginner should have $1,000. The entire tract of 

 172 acres was irrigated in 1908 and 1909. In the vicinity 

 it is estimated that 2,000 acres will be under irrigation in 

 1910 and 20,000 acres or more are available for irrigation 

 in that section. Mr. Collins states that the artesian belt is 

 limited, but that by conserving the flow in reservoirs a 

 large scope of country can be irrigated. He believes that 

 the slope of the land is so uniform that there will be no 

 difficulty in preparing it for irrigation. 



In a recent booklet on "Irrigation in Texas," J. C. 

 Nagle. Professor of Civil Engineering. Agricultural and 

 Mechanical College of Texas, makes the following ob- 

 servation as to the future of the San Antonio district, as 

 well as other parts of Texas: 



"Between San Antonio and the Rio Grande lie 25.- 

 000,000 acres of land, at least three-fourths of which will 

 produce good crops. Through the Trinity, Brazos, Col- 

 orado, Guadalupe, and Rio Grande. 20,000,000 acre-feet of 

 water annually flows to the Gulf, which is lost so far as 

 Texas land is concerned. Besides this there are several 

 small streams, as the San Antonio and Nueces rivers, 

 which carry quite a volume during the early portion of 



