148 



THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



The contribution of irrigation to the value of the na- 

 tion's food products and thus to the wealth of the 

 country is steadily increasing. It is frankly ad- 

 mitted that mistakes have been made, which have 

 beclouded the real issue, and which have been re- 

 sponsible for considerable prejudice that should not 

 exist. Year by year achievements are gradually re- 

 vising opinion, while investors are more nearly ap- 

 plying the discernment that should be exercised in 

 the purchase of any security. Just as in buying 

 bonds in general, the investor must display confi- 

 dence in the issuing or distributing banking house. 

 Bankers should be like Caesar's wife above suspi- 

 cion. The great majority of bond houses enjoy this 

 distinction, acquired through prolonged experience 

 and years of honorable dealing with the public at 

 large. Investment losses would be much restricted 

 if this were indelibly impressed upon the minds of 

 people of small means, who are at least partly de- 

 pendent upon a fixed and regular income for a liveli- 

 hood. 



The primary security behind the acceptable irri- 

 gation bond is the land itself. Statistics show that 

 the great insurance companies have invested several 

 hundred millions of dollars in farm land mortgages 

 in the middle west, which, despite the ever-present 

 possibility of drouth and of other uncertainties un- 

 known in irrigated sections, have proved profitable 

 investments. Obligations against lands under irri- 

 gation are surely just as valuable. In addition to 

 the land, irrigation bonds are also an obligation 

 against the system, with all its dams, canals, 

 ditches, etc., and, also, covers all improvements on 

 the lands until the settler completes his contract. In 

 buying a farm, the settler makes an initial cash pay- 

 ment and gives a mortgage for the balance. The 

 terms imposed require a certain portion on the prin- 

 cipal annually, with the interest. These payments 

 provide for interest on the outstanding bonds and 

 also for retirement of the issue, which matures 

 serially over a period of years. Naturally, the secur- 

 ity is enhanced year by year (1) by the retirement 

 of the bonds and (2) by the increased value of the 

 land and improvements. No mortgage on any prop- 

 erty is releaed until the terms thereof are fully com- 

 plied with, and the total of the individual mortgages 

 always liberally exceeds the amount of the unma- 

 tured bonds. Of course, these deductions assume 

 that the proposition is basically governed by sound 

 business principles. 



The modus operandi of a well managed Idaho 

 irrigation company gives the uninitiated an idea of 

 what may be accomplished. The land and water 

 rights originally sold at $35.50 per acre and were 

 bonded at the rate of $25 per acre. The average 

 improvements on the tract are estimated at $45 per 

 acre, making an investment by the settler of $80.50 

 per acre. This would be an excellent security for a 

 bond maturing at a long distant period in the future. 

 But the retirement of the bonds as due has narrowed 

 the debt to $18.50 per acre, which affords an equity 

 nearly 4J/2 times the present obligation upon the 

 land. In other words, the original equity of $10.50 

 per acre has been increased to $62, or 298 per cent 

 of the loan, without any consideration being given 

 to the enhancement in value. When it is remem- 



( Continued on page 163) 



A NOVEL DRAIN. 



To provide proper drainage for irrigated lands 

 where an outlet for the surplus water has not been 

 made by nature, sometimes becomes a difficult prob- 

 lem, and.it may interest the many readers of the 

 IRRIGATION AGE to learn of one method by which 

 this was accomplished. 



Charles E. Opel has a ten-acre tract under the 

 Western Land and Irrigation Co.'s ditch, 2^2 miles 

 north and west of Hermiston, Oregon, on the west 

 side of the Umatilla River, set with apple trees of 

 standard varieties. 



The overflow from the higher adjoining tracts 

 finds its way upon a small portion of this tract. 

 There being no natural outlet for this surplus water, 

 at the suggestion of Mr. J. S. West, a skilled me- 

 chanic, a novel drainage system was installed by Mr. 

 Opel. 



The water is collected by under-surface drains 

 and conducted to a well or reservoir 7 feet deep. 

 From this reservoir a two-inch iron pipe line 1,250 

 feet long extends up and over a raise of land 17 feet 

 higher than the reservoir to a point sufficiently low 

 to utilize the principle of the siphon. After being 

 primed, this siphon produces a constant flow over 

 the hill so long as there is water in the reservoir. 



Provision has been made for reducing the flow 

 when the full capacity is not required and an air 

 trap has been constructed to avoid any trouble from 

 slight air leaks in the pipe. 



The system has been working for some time 

 and attracts considerable attention and favorable 

 comment from persons experienced in irrigation and 

 drainage. 



The principle of the siphon is not new and is 

 well understood, being frequently made use of in 

 an inverted form, in irrigation projects, but there is 

 not likely another system like this one, where the 

 siphon is used in its ordinary form, for practical use 

 for a similar purpose, in the Northwest. 



Working as it does night and day, without any 

 expense to the owner, it is probable that this system 

 will be investigated and installed by many having 

 similar conditions to overcome. 



HIGHEST AND LOWEST POINTS IN THE 

 WORLD. 



The maximum difference in elevation of land 

 in the United States is 14,777 feet, according to the 

 United States Geological Survey, Mount Whitney, 

 the highest point, is 14,501 feet above sea level, and 

 a point in Death Valley is 276 feet below sea level. 

 These two points, which are both in California, are 

 less than 90 miles apart. This difference is small, 

 however, as compared with the figures for Asia. 

 Mount Everest rises 29,002 feet above sea level, 

 whereas the shores of the Dead Sea are 1,290 feet 

 below sea level, a total difference in land heights of 

 30,292 feet. Mount Everest has never been climbed. 



The greatest ocean depth yet found is 32,088 

 feet, at a point about 40 miles north of the island of 

 Mindanao, in the Philippine Islands. The ocean 

 bottom at this point is therefore more than \\ l /> 

 miles below the summit of Mount Everest. 



The difference in the land heights in Europe is- 

 about 15,868 feet. 



