248 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Reclamation Notes 



COLORADO. 



Electric power, at a cost of $1,130,000, to water 

 land, which will be worth, when it is irrigated, be- 

 tween $7,000,000 and $8,000,000, embracing 125,000 

 acres in Weld county, Colorado, is the plan of the 

 Greeley-Hydro-Electric Company, which has filed 

 condemnation suits in the district court of Weld 

 county, to secure sites for reservoirs in the moun- 

 tains west of Fort Collins, Colorado. 



Reports from Morgan county, Colorado, state 

 that the outlook for prosperity in that county this 

 year is the brighest in its history. There is an 

 abundance of water in every district, and the soil 

 is in the finest condition as a result of fall irrigation 

 and severe freezes and thaws during the winter. A 

 greater acreage is under cultivation than formerly, 

 and farmers are all busy and well pleased with the 

 outlook. 



It was recently stated at a meeting held in Den- 

 ver, to discuss the matter of the tunnel for the 

 Moffat Road, the new line which is at present run- 

 ning from Denver to Steamboat Springs, the in- 

 tention being to extend it to Salt Lake City, that the 

 opening of this line to Salt Lake City would give 

 Denver a direct outlet to the coast and bring 5,000,- 

 000 acres of irrigable land in Routt and Moffat 

 counties and in eastern Utah to the doors of Denver. 

 It was stated that there are now 16,000 settlers 

 along the survey who have 300,000 acres of land 

 under irrigation, and this land will immediately be- 

 come tributary to Denver. 



Irrigationists throughout the state of Colorado 

 are watching with interest the experiments being 

 carried on by the Irrigation Department of the 

 Agricultural College, at Fort Collins, with a new 

 kind of porous tile manufactured by a Colorado con- 

 cern for sub-surface irrigation. This tile is com- 

 posed of cinders, clay, sawdust and other materials, 

 so treated by chemicals as to make it very porous. 

 It is laid from 18 to 24 inches beneath the surface, 

 and is joined together with cement. Water is sent 

 through the tiling under pressure, and it slowly 

 filters out into the soil where it is drawn to the sur- 

 face by capillary action. This method is held by 

 many to be more efficient than surface irrigation. 



The burying of peach orchards for protection 

 against late spring frosts is a common practice, so 

 an eastern exchange states, in the intermountain 

 fruit valleys of eastern Colorado. In areas where 

 not more than one full crop in seven or eight years 

 has been previously harvested, annual yields are 

 now to be counted on, and our exchange states that 

 a net return of $25.00 from each peach tree is not 

 uncommon. Irrigation facilitates the work of bury- 

 ing the trees. Just before a hard freeze is due in the 

 late fall, the Colorado orchardist digs a trench to the 



peach tree which he expects to "lay down," and then 

 turns on the water, allowing it to run until the soil 

 about the roots is thoroughly soaked. He can 

 then undermine the trees, and bend them down with 

 little difficulty. They are held to the ground by a 

 heavy plank or by ropes until a covering of hay is 

 spread over them, and a layer of dirt is spread over 

 that. It is stated that two inches of dirt has been 

 found sufficient protection in thirty degrees below 

 zero weather. 



It is reported that the Antero Project in Colo- 

 rado will be completed June 15th if the present rate 

 of work is kept up. This project was financed by 

 the Dougherty Company, of New York, who are 

 also figuring and are having surveys made for the 

 Dolores Project in western Colorado. 



With the advance of $1,000,000 by the Franco- 

 American bank for the refinancing of the Denver 

 Reservoir Irrigation Company, the amount which 

 this great bank has represented in investments 

 tributary to Denver approaches $5,000,000. This 

 large sum, according to well founded reports, is the 

 beginning of the flow of French capital into Colo- 

 rado development projects of a solid character. 



Horace P. Bennett, financier and real estate 

 man, has turned gentleman farmer, and Wolhurst, 

 suburban home of Wolcott, and later of Thomas 

 Walsh, has become the model farm of the west. 

 This ranch is located south of Denver, and the 

 original 500 acres owned by Senator Wolcott has 

 been expanded into 5,000 acres, and has been 

 equipped with a flawless irrigation system. 



A contract was let recently to the Saylor Con- 

 struction Company of Lamar, Colorado, for the 

 completion of the Seledge extension of the Gunni- 

 son irrigation project that is under way by the gov- 

 ernment. The contract price is $100,000, and the 

 work will be started at once. It is expected to have 

 it completed by the late fall. 



This extension will bring water to about 10,000 

 acres in Delta county. 



California people are agitating a suit to prevent 

 the diversion of water from the western to the east- 

 ern slope in Colorado. 



Senator Shafrath, of Colorado, recently pleaded 

 with Secretary Lane at the Interior Department 

 Reclamation hearing,' in Washington, to sue the 

 people of his state. The Senator purposed in this 

 way to get a determination of the government's 

 right to use the waters of the Rio Grande to fill the 

 Engel Dam for the irrigation of 20,000 acres in 

 Mexico, and 160,000 acres in Texas and New Mex- 

 ico. Senator Shafrath contended the people of 

 Colorado had a right to construct reservoirs to store 

 the waters which otherwise would fall into the Rio 

 Grande, and that the government had no authority 

 to stop that for the benefit of the Rio Grande 

 Project in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Senator 

 Shafrath is supported by public opinion in Utah on 

 his stand. 



