THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



343 



So it is throughout the state. No matter where one 

 goes he finds the same enthusiasm, the same interest 

 and the same natural wealth. Undoubtedly Colorado 

 bas unequaled assets in her mineral and manufacturing 

 resources, but one fact is a certainty in her agricul- 

 tural possibilities the state has an 'asset which cannot be 

 shaken by either financial or political upheaval. There 

 are 2,500.000 acres of land in the state now under irri- 

 gation, 2,000,000 acres of which are under cultivation. 

 There are ten times as many arable acres in the com- 

 monwealth, which it will take many years to open. The 

 agricultural output of the state for 1906 was $115,000,- 

 000. of which $12,500,000 was in sugar beets and $15,- 

 000,000 in alfalfa, both of which crops were unknown 

 to the United States twenty years ago. Colorado citi- 

 zens make a feature of their agricultural products, in- 

 dividual communities celebrating as their crop ripens. 

 Rocky Ford, to the southeast, has its "Melon Day"; 

 Longmont immortalizes its pumpkins in "Pumpkin Pie 

 Dav"; Loveland has an annual corn roast; Glenwood 

 Springs a yearly strawberries and cream sociable; and 

 Grand Junction celebrates for its peaches. 



What may be done by the careful and con- 

 servative use of water can be no better illustrated than 

 has been clone on the property of what is now the Den- 

 ver Suburban Homes & Water Company. The property 

 of the company lies in the southwestern part of Arapa- 

 hoe and the northern part of Douglas counties, and the 

 company is the owner of more than thirty-five square 

 miles, or some 25,000 acres. The tract slopes gradually 

 in a northeasterly direction, the main ditch, known as 

 the Arapahoe Canal, having a fall of about three feet 

 every mile. At no one place is the width of the tract 

 over seven miles and its length does not exceed twelve 

 miles, extending to the east to Cherry Creek and the 

 north as far as what is known as the "High Line 

 Canal," the latter being the property of a Denver irri- 

 gation corporation. The southern boundary of the 

 property is the range which divides the flow of water 

 to the tributaries of the Arkansas River and to the 

 South Platte River. The main reservoir is Castlewood 

 Dam, situated in Douglas County, township 8 south, 

 range 66 west. The dam is fed by the flow of the fa- 

 mous Cherry Creek, the stream where gold was first dis- 

 covered in Colorado and which brought the rush of for- 

 tune seekers to the state in 1859 and 1860. The stream 

 drains a territory twenty miles in length and its flow 

 varies from one cubic foot per second in the dry seasons 

 to many hundreds of cubic feet during the spring and 

 fall floods. There are two other gulches which bring 

 into the lake the water drained from 10,000 acres of 

 rough hill land. The reservoir or Castlewood Lake has 

 a capacity of 229,000,000 cubic feet, or 1,720,000,000 

 gallons of water. This is equal to about 5,250 acre feet 

 that is, water sufficient to cover 5,250 acres of ground 

 a foot deep. From Castlewood Lake the water is let 

 into a gorge, which incidentally might well be included 

 in the list of picturesque and beautiful places in the 

 state of Colorado. With its high, rocky walls, covered 

 with a growth of white pine and scrub oak, it presents 

 a view rarely equaled. For a mile and a half down 

 this gorge the water flows in the channel of least re- 

 sistance, and then near the end of the gorge it is turned ' 

 into the main ditch by a diverting dam, known as the 

 Arapahoe Canal. Thence it winds its tortuous way 

 around hills, through four pipe lines under ravines, 

 gulches and creeks and several flumes for a distance of 



nearly thirty-five miles to Clark Reservoir, on sections 

 11, 13 and 14, township 6 south, range 67 west, Doug- 

 las County. From Clark Reservoir the application of 

 water is directed. One mile above Clark Reservoir is 

 a head-gate, where the water from the main ditch can be 

 diverted to flow into the Springer Ditch and thence into 

 Springer Reservoir in section 19, township 6 south, 

 range 67 west. The Denver Suburban Homes & Water 

 Company has a contract with Mr. John W. Springer, 

 the owner of this reservoir, to furnish water for this 

 lake, so that it can not properly be taken as a part of 

 the property of the company. From Clark Reservoir 

 water is diverted again into the Arapahoe Ditch, and 

 about 200 yards from the reservoir is begun the turning 

 of water into laterals by means of head-gates. From 

 these the water is taken by laterals to the settlers of 

 Clark colony. 



It is at this point that the preservation of water 

 is begun. In most, colonies the water, after being ap- 

 plied to the land to be irrigated would be turned into 

 a waste ditch or a gulch, going thence into some stream 

 or river. But rather than have this water go to waste, 

 the Denver Suburban Homes Company has built reser- 

 voirs which act as catch basins, into which this water 

 flows when it has done its work on certain farms. There 

 are three of these "catch basins," and from these the 

 water is again let out by means of head-gates and lat- 

 erals to irrigate other farms and tracts. Naturally, 

 there is some little waste, as there must be an end of 

 reservoirs, but it is so insignificant as to amount to 

 very little, the last farmers on the ditch applying prac- 

 tically all that reaches them. 



The method employed in the application of water 

 by this company is unique in its way, this being the 

 only company in the world, so far as we know, that has 

 this practice. Results show that the method is a wise 

 one and that by it many thousands of feet of water are 

 saved from waste. The practice is to give consumers 

 water as they need it, and during the day only, no 

 water being run in the ditches at night or on Sundays. 

 The economy of the method can easily be seen. And 

 the practice has demonstrated the fallacy of the theory 

 that between two and four acre feet are needed to ma- 

 ture a crop. The superintendent of irrigation for the 

 company is Mr. B. W. Jones, who has a beautiful 

 home on a sightly hill on section 16, township 5 south, 

 range 67 west. Mr. Jones has been a student of irri- 

 gation for many years and is thoroughly versed in 

 all its branches. What has been done in the way of 

 saving of water in Clark colony may best be demon- 

 strated by what Mr. Jones says of the results he has 

 obtained. We quote him : 



"According to authority quoted in works on irriga- 

 tion, the quantity of water required to mature a general 

 crop in Colorado is from two to four acre feet per acre 

 irrigated. Experiments conducted by eminent irriga- 

 tion engineers give a depth of not less than two and a 

 half acre feet for a general crop. This amount is con- 

 siderable more than is needed by actual measurements 

 and experience. According to measurements made on 

 this canal over weirs with complete end contractions, 

 using Francis formula, we delivered water into a lateral 

 ditch, covering forty acres of oats, alfalfa, sugar beets 

 and vegetables twenty-seven days during the season of 

 1905, amounting to a total of sixty-eight one-hundredths 

 acre foot per acre irrigated. Water was delivered from 

 6 a. m. to 6 p. m. whenever the consumer found that 

 the condition of his crops needed an application of 



