316 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



natural lakes, and then you have only grasped one of 

 four of these great artificial ponds. The total shore line 

 is sixty-four miles, and if all the water were put in a canal 

 a foot deep and a mile wide the canal would be over four 

 hundred miles long. 



One of the most important things to be considered by 

 the settler on western irrigated land, where the water is 

 taken from a river, especially, is the question of perma- 

 nency of water supply. The Amity and Buffalo canals are 

 among the earliest priorities on the Arkansas River. The 

 Arkansas Valley Sugar Beet and Irrigated Land Company 

 has spent millions of dollars in building and strengthening 

 these canals, and placing at all points of danger indestruc- 



VIEW ON AMITY CANAL NEAR HOLLY, COLORADO. 



tible concrete structures, reinforced by steel, and finally 

 in creating and maintaining the great system of reservoirs 

 outlined above. 



Twenty-four inches of water are guaranteed to every 

 land purchaser. 



As a result of this reclamation of the desert, there 

 are now about fifty thousand acres under cultivation this 

 year and prosperous farms with regulated running water 

 greet the eye on every side. Alfalfa, the famous netted 

 Rocky Ford cantaloupes, and fruits are making millions 

 for the small land owners, where nothing but waste and 

 sagebrush ruled a few years back. 



The writer has again and again passed from these 

 luxuriant gardens over a simple ditch into the old dry 

 hardness of the plains and always stood aghast at the 

 transformation brought by that magic little stream. 



Naturally, money-making farmers need markets, and 

 several towns have sprung up, the most important of 

 which is Holly, although Hartman, Bristol and Wiley are 

 growing as rapidly as towns in any irrigation district in 

 the West. 



Holly is located on the Santa Fe Railroad and is a 

 considerable town, with live banks, business houses of all 

 sorts, good hotels, etc. A magnificent new hotel is now 

 being constructed and one will note evidences of prosper 

 ity, new building, and preparation for a greater little city 

 on every hand. 



It is at Holly that the sugar company has located 

 one of its factories, the other at Swink, eighty-five miles 



up the valley. The Holly and Swink, or better known as 

 the Arkansas Valley Railroad, connects the two towns 

 and reaches the other main market places under the irri- 

 gation system. 



The beet factory at Holly sliced an average of 618 

 tons of beets each day during the entire season or "cam- 

 paign" last year. Thus the farmer has a ready market for 

 all the beets he may choose to raise. He can get five 

 dollars a ton, and frequently raises twenty tons to the 

 acre, or receives gross $100 per acre per year. 



The sugar factory, the great opportunity to raise big 

 crops, the business chances in such a rapidly growing 

 town, have attracted not only the speculator, but the solid, 

 substantial business man, the farmer who has come to 

 stay, and finally a group of live young men, some from 

 the great eastern cities, many from the leading colleges 

 of the country, and these young men have their shoulder 

 to the wheel, are investing their money right where they 



NEE NOSHE RESERVOIR. 



The four reservoirs Nee Noshe, Nee Gronda, Nee Sopah and 

 Queen cover 12,936 acres, and have a capacity of 183,360 acre feet 

 of water. One cannot see across Nee Sopah. These, in the aggregate, 

 are the largest body of water, in surface area, between the Great Lakes 

 and Great Salt Lake, and greatest in available capacity, except the 

 Government Pathfinder Dam. Over 100,000 acre feet of water is now 

 on hand before the spring rains. 



are making it, have confidence in the future of their home 

 and are building to last and remain. 



There are so many points of interest about this great' 

 system that other phases of interest will be considered in 

 subsequent articles. 



WE would like to hear from a young 

 practical irrigation engineer who 

 understands the use, measurement, de- 

 veloping and storage of water for irriga- 

 tion purposes. Communicate at once 

 giving age, experience, references and 

 salary wanted. 



Work will be in the saddle part of the time 

 and prefer an unmarried man. Address, 



Alamogordo Improvement Co., Alamogordo, N. M. 



