THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



71 



SOME KANSAS RESULTS OF PUMP IRRIGATION 



Some very interesting figures 

 have been compiled by irrigation re- 

 ports covering the results of experi- 

 enced farmers, by means of pump 

 irrigation, in Kansas. 



Electricity is the most satisfac- 

 tory power for pumping water for 

 irrigation. Motors cost about $10 

 'per horsepower, and it requires from 

 25 to 50 horsepower on an average 

 farm of a quarter section. The 

 maximum lift in the first bottom is 

 25 feet and this costs about $1.50 

 per acre-foot of water. As you go 

 back from the river the lift in- 

 creases, but some of the best net re- 

 sults obtained by the farmers have 

 been on lands with deepest lift, as 

 they have richer soils. 



The Garden City district is the 

 home of the sweet clover king. E. G. 

 Finnup. Only a few years ago 

 sweet clover was thought by most 

 farmers to be a pest. Mr. Finnup 

 was one of the first to be impressed 

 with its value. The seed commands a good price, 

 and he shipped from Garden City the first carload 

 ever moved. Today he devotes 5,000 acres of the 

 immense Finnup farm to sweet clover. 



It is a leguminous plant and the best of them 

 for gathering nitrogen. It is also rich in humus, 

 and tests have been made which show that sweet 

 clover grown on one acre will furnish as much 

 nitrogen and humus as twenty-five tons of average 

 manure. It is especially good as a fertilizer crop 



rom the underground flow near Garden City, Kansas. 



for orchards and is equally good for cattle, horses 

 and mules. The average farmer can properly farm 

 150 acres here if he diversifies and conducts on 

 same plan as the big farm. He will, of course, have 

 to have help during the busy seasons. 



Well located improved land in the bottom with 

 ditch right, also pumping plant and buildings, sells 

 for $85 to $150 per acre. In the higher sections 

 no developed lands are for sale, undeveloped lands 

 selling for $25 to $35 per acre. 



CALIFORNIA'S IRRIGATION LAW 

 ANALYZED 



A very interesting analysis of the California 

 Irrigation law has just been prepared by W. P. 

 Boone, of Berkeley. It will be remembered that 

 the act was passed at the last session of the Cali- 

 fornia legislature and became effective in August, 

 1915. It provides for a commission of three mem- 

 bers, to be appointed by the governor. The com- 

 missioners receive $10 per day for the time actually 

 employed, to be paid out of the proceeds raised 

 from the district for which they may be employed 

 at the time. 



"Such a commission serves all the districts that 

 may be formed under the said act within the state, 

 and this was adopted to permit such areas as the 

 Kings river and the Iron canyon project in the 

 Sacramento valley to work under. To form such 

 a district requires a petition signed by land owners 

 representing a majority of the acreage and also pro- 

 vides for sub-districts within the main district. 

 After the district is formed there is to be an as- 

 sessor appointed by the commissioners, who shall 

 have no financial interest within the district, and 

 he shall assess to each tract of land in accordance 

 with the benefits it is to receive, and which assess- 

 ment becomes a lien and a charge against such land 



with the usual methods of enforcing payment there- 

 of, and also provides that land that may be re- 

 claimed from a swamp or overflow condition by 

 means of dams and other works shall pay its just 

 portion of the charge, to be ascertained by the as- 

 sessor. 



"It also provides that the water stored for irri- 

 gation shall be allotted to the various subdivisions 

 in accordance with their needs and the total charge 

 against such sub-divisions will be fixed by the pro- 

 portion allotted to it that it bears to the whole costs. 



"The irrigation districts now in existence may 

 become a subdivision of a district and remain and 

 operate as an irrigation district. The question 

 whether or not an irrigation district shall become 

 a part of such district will be determined by an 

 election held for that purpose. 



"This law also provides for bond issues upon 

 a land owner's vote and it further provides for co- 

 operation by the state and national government and 

 contemplates aid therefrom in construction of such 

 works as would be required on Kings river and the 

 Iron Canyon project on the upper Sacramento. 



"The usual rights of the individual land owner 

 to have his 'day in court' are provided for, but 

 thereafter the acts of the commissioners are final 

 and valid under the terms and wording of the act." 



