158 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



There has been much rejoicing 

 among the land-owners in the section 

 surrounding Santa Rita, Cal., because 

 of the large flow of water recently 

 discovered. The credit of the discov- 

 ery belongs to Duncan McKinnon, 

 who owns a large slice of the Nativi- 

 dad rancho. He had a small three- 

 inch well at his home ranch house, 

 put down thirty-five years ago. It 

 has never been considered for ex- 

 tensive service. 



McKinnon put a small engine on 

 the well in an endeavor to get more 

 water for his house. The first day 

 the well was pumped dry in a few 

 minutes, and the results were the 

 same on the second day, but on the 

 third the engine pumped all day and 

 night without reducing the water 

 level in the well. 



McKinnon immediately installed a 

 large engine, and it has been running 

 2,500 gallons a minute ever since. On 

 account of the small size of the well 

 only a small acreage can be put out 

 to alfalfa, but before the year is out 

 McKinnon expects to sink several 

 large wells and have at least 400 

 acres in alfalfa. 



The find of underground water in 

 such large quantities in the eastern 

 section of the Salinas valley will put 

 a different complexion on the 20,000 

 acres in the locality, for now, in- 

 stead, of being limited to barley and 

 oats, as in the past, the farmers can 

 plant alfalfa and other irrigated 

 crops. 



A syndicate of Boston capitalists 

 has begun active development work 

 on an irrigation system for an 8,000- 

 acre tract lying north of Montague, 

 Cal. The land will be subdivided into 

 farms, ranging from forty to sixty 

 acres in size. 



Two other projects, involving 

 28,000 acres, are under way in Shasta 

 Valley, and plans are being made for 

 the appropriation of 35,000 inches of 

 water from available sources for the 

 irrigation of an immense tract in the 

 southern part of the valley. 



The Byron and Bethany irrigation 

 project of California is making rapid 

 progress. Fourteen thousand acres 

 will be under ditch. 



Of utmost importance to the water 

 users of the west sides of Merced, 

 Stanislaus and Fresno counties, Cali- 

 fornia, is the settlement of the long 

 pending litigation between the San 

 Joaquin and Kings River Canal & 

 Irrigation Company and Merced, 

 Stanislaus and Fresno counties. The 

 company has agreed to put in force 

 the same rates as the irrigators have 

 signed up for this year, namely, $1.25 

 per acre for Fresno, $1.75 for Merced 

 and $2.25 for Stanislaus, and to waive 

 claims for unpaid amounts, being the 

 difference between their old rates and 

 the rates fixed by the Supervisors in 

 1910. 



The twenty-five-mile ditch of the 

 Tarr Mining Company, built at a 

 large cost to carry water from Wolf 

 creek to the Smartsville district for 

 use in a mining enterprise which 

 proved a failure, may be utilized for 



irrigation. It is claimed that about 

 20,000 acres in the Union Lime Kiln, 

 Pleasant Ridge and Indian Springs, 

 Cal., districts may be served from this 

 ditch. 



Nebraska 



The Nebraska Irrigation Associa- 

 tion has asked the legislature to ap- 

 propriate $25,000 to defray the ex- 

 penses of litigation to determine the 



priority right of appropriations in in- 

 terstate streams regardless of state 

 boundary lines. 



A great many pumping irrigation 

 plants are to be installed this year 

 around Kearney, Neb., in the Platte 

 Valley. This should make an ideal 

 pump irrigation district as the water 

 level is from 15 to 25 feet and the 

 water can be handled very econom- 

 ically at that depth. 



"One-Half the Alfalfa Seed ^ 

 Sown is Wasted Every Year" 



This statement has been made by many recognized 

 Alfalfa experts men who know what they are talking 

 about. 



They say that they secured better stands 

 of Alfalfa with 10 pounds of seed, drilled 

 with the Superior Special Alfalfa and Grass 

 Seed Drill than with =5| 20 pounds of seed 

 sown broadcast. 



THE SUPERIOR 20 X 4 SPECIAL ALFALFA AND GRASS SEED DRILL 



There are 20 discs on this machine set 4 inches apart. The con- 

 struction is such that all the seed is sown at an even depth, and 

 an equal amount of seed in every furrow. 



None of the seed is wasted, when drilled in the ground 

 with a Superior Alfalfa and Grass Seed Drill 



REJUVENATES OLD ALFALFA FIELDS 

 RENEWS OLD PASTURES AND MEADOWS 

 PRODUCES BEST STANDS OF MILLET 

 INCREASES YIELDS OF WINTER WHEAT BY 

 CULTIVATION and SOWS CLOVER AT SAME TIME 



Saves More Than Two Dollars an Acre on 

 Seed Alone 



Send for Superior Alfalfa Drill folder 

 and read the strong warranty 



Go to your local dealer and ask to see the Superior Special Alfalfa 

 and Grass Seed Drill. If he will not supply your needs, we will. 



THE AMERICAN SEEDING-MACHINE CO., Inc. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO 



FREE A copy of "Boyd's Fanners' Alfalfa Guide," price I Oc, will be mailed free to 

 any reader of Irrigation Age who will write for the book and mention Irrigation Age. 



