42 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



PUMPING IRRIGATION IN KANSAS 

 (By F. B. Nichols in the Mail & Breeze of Topeka) 



Pumping irrigation in western Kansas is de- 

 veloping rapidly. The business has definitely passed 

 the pioneering stage, and this rapid growth has 

 come as a result of the big profits. Especially good 

 returns have been obtained on the shallow lifts, 

 where the depth of water is 50 feet or less. Along 

 with this, however, has come very encouraging suc- 

 cess on the uplands, and it seems that water may be 

 lifted profitably from greater depths than was for- 

 merly thought possible. Very encouraging success 

 on high lifts has been obtained by the Garden City 

 Sugar and Land Company, which has twelve plants 

 where the lift is from 150 to 165 feet, and on the 

 Garden City Experiment station, where the draw 

 down is 130 feet. 



Most of the pumping plants have been installed 

 as drouth insurance, to supply the water needed for 

 plant growth during the dry periods when the yield 

 would otherwise be reduced greatly. As a general 

 rule the larger part of the moisture is supplied by 

 the rainfall, but a small amount applied by irriga- 

 tion at the right time frequently has a very bene- 

 ficial effect in increasing crop yields and profits. 

 According to E. E. Frizell of Larned, the president 

 of the Kansas State Irrigation Congress for 1916, 

 there were but two seasons in the forty-two years 

 he has lived in Pawnee county in which irrigation 

 was not needed, and 1915 was one of these. 



The average rainfall in Kansas, when taken 

 over a series of years, is not increasing, and there is 

 nothing to indicate that it will increase. Farmers 

 are learning to use the water supply more effi- 

 ciently, however, and this has resulted in a great 

 increase in the yields. That is why the future of 

 farming in western Kansas is decidedly bright 

 there is going to be a greater growth in the agri- 

 culture in the western third of the state than is gen- 

 erally appreciated now. Much of this, however, is 

 coming because of irrigation from the use of the 

 limitless supplies of water which the wise Creator 

 has placed under this wonderfully fertile soil. Did 

 you ever consider some of the excellent yields which 

 have been produced under irrigation in Kansas? Do 

 you know that J. W. Lough of Scott City and E. E. 

 Frizell of Larned have grown more than seven tons 

 of alfalfa to the acre as a season's yield, that the 

 Garden City Sugar and Land Company frequently 

 has produced more than fifty bushels of wheat to 

 the acre, that yields of more than twenty tons of 

 sugar beets are obtained, and that A. L. Stockwell 

 of Larned has grown more than twenty tons of 

 kafir silage an acre ? Do you know that' last year 

 on the Garden City Experiment station, where the 

 rainfall was but ten inches, the kafir which had re- 

 ceived twelve inches of water by irrigation gave a 

 yield of forty bushels of grain and 6,600 pounds of 

 stover? The production cost was $13.20, which in- 

 cluded an excessive cost for the water from the 130- 

 foot lift, and the profit was $16. These yields are 

 above the average, it is true, but they would not 

 have to be nearly this large to show that the irriga- 

 tion paid well. It is true that there are irrigation 

 plants in western Kansas which have not paid, but 

 it also is true that many of these were not installed 



and managed efficiently. Good farming is required 

 along with the water, of course the fact that the 

 average yield of sugar beets on the fields of the 

 Garden City Sugar and Land Company is fourteen 

 tons, while the average for the district is but eleven 

 tons, indicates this. 



Every farmer in Kansas ought to watch the 

 development of irrigation carefully this is true in 

 the eastern part just as well as farther west, for you 

 will see considerable pumping along the streams 

 there in the next few years, especially for the more 

 valuable crops. The dry years will come again, and 

 the water is going to be needed greatly. Farmers 

 who expect to install plants should visit some of 

 the leading irrigation centers, such as Garden City, 

 Scott City and Larned, and talk to the men who are 

 actually doing things in irrigation. Expert help 

 can be obtained from J. W. Lough of Scott City, 

 state irrigation commissioner ; H. B. Walker of 

 Manhattan, the head of the irrigation work of the 

 Kansas State Agricultural College and secretary of 

 the Kansas State Irrigation Congress ; and George 

 S. Knapp of Garden City, an engineer in the gov- 

 ernment service. 



(Continued from page 41) 



water and an irrigation at intervals of from three to 

 five weeks will be sufficient ; but in the long hot 

 days of midsummer it grows rapidly and uses up 

 water very quickly, and in some soils an irrigation 

 every ten or twelve days will then be necessary to 

 get the maximum results. Some growers advocate 

 even more frequent irrigation, giving lucerne two 

 light waterings to one cut; some irrigate just be- 

 fore cutting in order that fresh growth may not be 

 delayed while hay is being made and carted ; others 

 prefer the delay to the inconvenience of making 

 hay on wet ground. 



Lucerne hardly grows at all above ground in 

 the winter, and consequently requires little water at 

 that time. Where lucerne is irrigated by flooding 

 by means of check banks, it is advisable, in most 

 cases, to avoid night watering if possible ; a farmer 

 who grows both fruit and lucerne (separately) may 

 turn the water into his orchard or vineyard at night 

 and irrigate his lucerne beds by day. Where the 

 modification of the furrow system described in Part 

 III is used, there should be no difficulty in irrigating 

 at night. 



Vegetables may be irrigated by the furrow 

 system, applied, of course, on a smaller scale than 

 in the case of fruit trees or vines, but they require 

 more frequent -water in smaller quantities. Some 

 kinds, like pumpkins, melons, etc., are very easy to 

 water, and may almost be said to look after them- 

 selves. Root vegetables like carrots and turnips 

 are more trouble, but the hardest vegetable to grow 

 in this way is the potato, which needs very careful 

 watching because if the earth round the tubers lacks 

 sufficient moisture even for a day or two they will 

 inevitably start a fresh growth when they get the 

 water, and a crop of diminutive and ill-formed 

 tubers will be the result. Too much water will spoil 

 potatoes by making them soapy and musty- 

 flavored. 



