312 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



THE Reclamation Service has blocked the organi- 

 zation of a Water Users' Association on the 

 Shoshone project in Wyoming. This action has been 

 taken despite the, Reclamation Act, which provides 

 that all settlers must join their project Water Users' 

 Association. 



"The Reclamation Commission apparently has 

 executed a genuine about-face on the question of 

 organizing a Water Users' Association, and after the 

 large amount of trouble incurred and time expended 

 in getting the matter in shape by the local men, not 

 little vexation is felt over this unexpected change 

 of front on the part of the Washington authorities," 

 says the Powell (Wyo.) Tribune. 



The facts are that the Reclamation Commission 

 had approved a constitution and by-laws for the as- 

 sociation ; these had been printed and distributed 

 among the water users, and a meeting to adopt them 

 had been called. 



"Definitely, the official board refuses to enter 



into contract with the association, but does not look 

 with disfavor on the formation of such a body," 

 continues the Powell Tribune. "Its preference is 

 for an 'irrigation district' as provided for in the 

 laws of several states, notably Montana, Colorado, 

 Nebraska, Oregon, California, Idaho. 



"We believe the main cause of dissatisfaction 

 locally with the Commission's attitude is the fact 

 that without this official status it will not be pos- 

 sible to secure the membership of every settler in 

 the association, a thing that has long been desired 

 and one which most of us were beginning to think 

 was impossible of fulfillment. 



"What we want is an all-embracing organiza- 

 tion which may treat officially with the government 

 with the feeling that every settler is standing back 

 of its actions and that the Reclamation officials will 

 consider it as officially representing the will of the 

 majority of those settlers." 



WATER USERS TO VOTE ON CO-OPERATION 



WATER USERS on the Klamath (Ore.) Federal 

 project will vote in October on a proposition 

 to begin a co-operative movement which may be 

 far-reaching. 



Co-operation has for years been a special study 

 of Abel Ady, president of the Water Users' Associa- 

 tion, who has always declared the time would come 

 when the farmers of this country would have their 

 own banks, stores, telephone and power systems, 

 elevators and, in fact, everything that goes to make 

 improved conditions in a rural community. The 

 farmers will be asked to vote bonds to cover what- 

 ever is saved to them from the present cost basis of 

 $30 an acre as the result of the revaluation of the 

 project. These bonds are to be sold to provide 

 funds to establish co-operative stores and various 

 other things, including even the publishing of a 

 newspaper, by the association. ^ 



Co-operative buying alone would save an enor- 

 mous sum to the farmers if the whole local member- 

 ship of the association secured their supplies through 

 a general store. A still greater gain would accrue 

 in co-operative marketing of products, and in the 

 matter of a co-operative bank many financial diffi- 



culties under which the farmers have struggled in 

 the past would disappear. 



SOME KENTUCKY IRRIGATION 



Only a Kentuckian could have devised the "tin 

 can" irrigation system. The inventor is Harry 

 Mitchell, of Bourbon, Ky. 



At each tomato plant he places a tin can filled 

 with water, into which he puts one end of a twine 

 string and ties the other end around the plant close 

 to the ground. The water seeping through the length 

 of the string keeps the ground moist for several 

 inches around the vine. At each cabbage plant Mr. 

 Mitchell buries a tin can with the top even with 

 the ground. A small hole is punched in the bottom 

 of the can, which is filled with water, and the 

 ground is kept damp around the plant. 



Every Federal water user should read The Irrigrtion Age. 

 It is lighting (or their righis. If your neighbors do not take the 

 Age, tell them about it, 



