76 



THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



Where manure must be stored for a considerable 

 length of time, larger pits or basins are required. 

 Such pits are seldom made over 5 feet deep (in the 

 clear at the deeper end) and are wide enough that the 

 manure may' be loaded on a spreader in the pit and 

 drawn up a roughened concrete incline or run. The 

 slope for such a run must not be steeper than 1 foot 

 up to 4 feet out. 



In building such a basin as planned in Fig. 2, 

 use a team with a plow and scraper to make an earthen 

 pit in which to build a concrete basin of the clear 

 dimensions shown. In laying out the earthen pit, 

 bear in mind that the concrete walls and floor are 8 

 inches thick and make due allowance for the same. 

 With a spade trim the sides and the deep end vertical. 



In order to form a sump hole from which the 

 liquid manure can be pumped, in one corner at the 

 deep end of the pit dig a hole 18 inches deep by 2J4 

 feet in diameter. To protect the concrete floor, at 

 the upper end of the driveway excavate a trench 8 

 inches wide and 2 feet deep for a concrete foundation 

 apron. Extend it around the corners and slope it 

 upward to meet the driveway incline. 



In general, the framing of the forms is similar 

 to that of shallow pits. If the earthen walls stand 

 firm, only an inside form will be needed. Otherwise, 

 build an outer form. For the forms use 1-inch siding 

 on 2 by 4-inch studding spaced 2 feet 8 inches. These 

 uprights need not be cut to exact lengths. Save lum- 

 ber by allowing them to extend above the siding. 

 Stiffen each section of the form by nailing a 2 by 4- 

 inch scantling to the uprights at top and bottom of 

 the forms. 



Erect the forms in the pit. Set them on 8-inch 

 concrete blocks or bricks, so that the floor may be 

 built under them. To prevent bulging, cross-brace 

 the forms with 2 by 4-inch timbers. Begin filling with 

 concrete, as for shallow manure pits, and do not stop 

 until the job is completed. 



Lay the floor for the bottom and the incline the 

 same as for shallow pits. To give teams a sure foot- 

 ing on the incline, embed in the concrete the turned-up 

 ends of iron cleats bent at right angles, similar to a 

 capital U. Old wagon tires, cut in lengths not greater 

 than 20 inches and turned up 4 inches at each end, 

 will do. Leave 1-inch clearance between the cleats 

 and the concrete, and set them so as not to obstruct 

 the wheelway. Space the cleats 14 to 16 inches. 

 Roughen or corrugate the bottom crosswise every 6 

 inches by using a 5-foot length of 2 by 4-inch scantling 

 beveled lengthwise to the shape of a carpenter's chisel. 

 To make the corrugations, set the timber with the 

 beveled face toward the incline. Strike the 2 by 4 

 with a heavy hammer, so as to indent the concrete to 

 the depth of an inch. 



If a shed roof is required, insert in the top of 

 the concrete walls while still soft, several J^-inch 

 bolts, which should project about 2^ inches above the 

 wall, to which the roof timbering or cover may be 

 fastened. 



TWO SERIOUS CASES UP. 



Send $1.00 for 1 year's subscription to the IRRIGA- 

 TION AGE and bound copy of THE PRIMER OF IRRIGA- 

 TION. If you desire a copy of The Primer of Hy- 

 draulics add $2.50 to above price. 



The Rocky Mountain News of Denver, Colorado, 

 in a late issue, has the following to say concerning a 

 serious condition which has arisen in connection with 

 other states. 



"The decision of the Supreme Court of Colorado, 

 which invalidates the $50,000 appropriation made by 

 the eighteenth general assembly for the defense of 

 the public waters of the state, is undoubtedly proper, 

 but it is very much to be regretted that the bill mak- 

 ing the appropriation was so drawn as to make this 

 decision necessary," said C. W. Comstock, state en- 

 gineer, who issued this statement yesterday. 



"The state of Colorado faces two vigorous at- 

 tacks on its rights to control and utilize the waters 

 in its streams. These attacks are not simply threat- 

 ened, they are actual. 



One is the suits filed by the state of Wyoming in 

 the Supreme Court of the United States, in which 

 the state of Colorado, the Laramie-Poudre Irriga- 

 tion Company and the Greeley-Poudre Irrigation dis- 

 trict are named as defendants. 



"The complaint in this suit attacks the right of 

 the state of Colorado or its citizens, or any one in it, 

 to divert the waters of the Laramie river out of the 

 watershed of that stream. The stake is approximately 

 100,000 acre-feet of water per annum, which is to 

 be diverted through the Laramie-Poudre tunnel for 

 use on the lands of the Greeley-Poudre Irrigation, 

 district. 



District Has Spent $3,000,000. 

 "This district has issued approximately $5.000,000 

 in bonds and up to date expended something like 

 $3,000,000 in construction work, including the Lar- 

 amie-Poudre tunnel, some two miles long. Should 

 the state of Wyoming prevail in this suit, the water 

 supply of the Greeley-Poudre district will be entirely 

 inadequate and the district bonds will be practically 

 worthless. 



"The irrigation and reclamation of these lands 

 would mean the addition of $100,000,000 to the tax- 

 able property in Colorado, and an increase of thous- 

 ands in its population. Is it fair to say that the state, 

 as a whole, is not interested in the defense of a suit 

 of this importance? 



Kansas Case Serious. 



"In the Circuit Court of the United States for 

 the District of Colorado, the United States Irrigating 

 Company, representing certain interests in Kansas, has 

 filed a suit against the state of Colorado, and a large 

 number of irrigation -companies in the Arkansas val- 

 ley, to require these defendants to permit something 

 like 350 cubic feet of water per second to flow con- 

 stantly across the Kansas line for the supply of ditches 

 in Kansas some sixty miles from the Colorado line. 



"The ditch companies named as defendants are 

 responsible for the irrigation of more than 300,000 

 acres of land in Colorado. To supply the 350 cubic 

 feet per second demanded by the complainants in this 

 case would, because of the heavy losses in transit, 

 deprive ditches in Colorado of fully three times this 

 amount. 



All Colorado Involved. 



"The result would be that fully 100,000 acres of 

 (Continued on page 88) 



