104 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



to a maximum of 100 feet, with corresponding 

 velocities up to 64 feet per second. 



All of them passed through a fairly normal win- 

 ter and summer. The one that was used most was 

 operated nearly all the time with its valve only 

 partly open, which is a less favorable condition than 

 with the valve wide open. After this service, care- 

 ful inspection was made, and the tar coating was 

 found to be in excellent condition. In a few small 

 spots the outer coating had come off, but even there 

 the concrete surface was well filled with the tar and 

 was still well protected, apparently, against water 

 action. It is the opinion of the men familiar with 

 all conditions that the use of this tar coating gave 

 thoroughly satisfactory results. 



In obtaining material for work of this kind it is 

 very important that the water-gas tar be of very 

 thin consistency. The manufacturers can supply it 

 that way if it is made plain to them that this thin 

 consistency is important, otherwise it is likely to 

 come too thick. The manufacturers can also supply 

 an oil for thinning this water-gas tar, and it is ad- 

 visable to have some of this oil on the job in case 

 it is needed, but it is believed that the success of 

 the whole operation depends upon the very thin, 

 water-like consistency of the water-gas tar. Both 

 the water-gas tar and the coal tar should be refined. 



It is necessary to have the concrete thoroughly 

 dry at the time the first coat is applied. The 

 water-gas tar may be applied without heating, and 

 the second coat may follow the first immediately. 

 The first coat of coal tar may be applied as soon 

 as the water-gas tar has soaked in a little, but the 

 second coat of coal tar should not be applied until 

 after the first coat has set. Both coats of coal tar 

 should be applied hot and brushed out as thin as 

 possible, as a thick coating is much more likely to 

 peel and run. 



The following from a recent issue of The 

 Australian Fruit World is interesting in this con- 

 nection : 



To increase the water-tightness of concrete, 

 especially to (lean) mixtures, clay has been added. 

 The clay must be free from all vegetable matter, 

 and when added must be in a finely-powdered state. 

 The amount to be added must vary with the mix- 

 ture ; for ordinary farm work add about two to five 

 per cent of the weight of sand used in the mixture. 

 Mix dry with the cement. 



The addition of soap and alum to cement mor- 

 tar has been found to diminish the permeability, 

 and the following has been found to give good re- 

 sults: "Take one part cement and two and one-half 

 parts of clean, sharp sand, and to every cubic foot 

 of sand add three-quarters of a pound of powdered 

 alum. This should all be mixed dry. Now add 

 water in which has been dissolved three-quarters 

 of a pound of ordinary laundry soap to the gallon, 

 and thoroughly mix." If you find it difficult to 

 dissolve the soap, use hot water. The strength of 

 the mortar will, of course, be somewhat inferior to 

 that of the pure mixture. 



Alum and lye applied to the exterior surface 

 with a calcimining brush has been found effective. 

 "Use one pound of lye and three pounds of alum 

 dissolved in two gallons of water." 



COLORADO DEMANDS ADEQUATE 

 DRAINAGE 



BY ADELBERT A. WEILAND, STATE ENGINEER OF COLORADO. 



As regards the ultimate development of our 

 irrigation possibilities, we have hardly started, and 

 have, in fact, only scratched the surface. As an 

 example of this fact, take the Arkansas Valley from 

 Pueblo to the Colorado-Kansas line. There is now 

 irrigated, from the Arkansas river, between the 

 points mentioned, only 350,000 acres, with an aver- 

 age annual water supply actually diverted into the 

 canals of over 1,000,000 acre-feet. Compare this 

 with the irrigation from the Cache le Poudre river 

 in northern Colorado. With an average annual di- 

 version of little in excess of one-third that of the 

 Arkansas Valley, here is actually irrigated nearly 

 300,000 acres of land. One cannot but be led to 

 the inevitable conclusion that the acreage in the 

 Arkansas Valley must be doubled, and that, too, 

 within the next twenty years. This being true of 

 one section of the state, which has been farmed for 

 thirty years, how much more must it be true of 

 other sections of more recent development? 



In order to create more wealth, the large farms 

 must be divided into smaller holdings ; we must 

 have more farmers men, too, who are alive to the 

 duty incumbent upon them to make the most out 

 of the natural resources, land and water, placed in 

 their keeping. The duty of water must be doubled, 

 and it can be by intelligent cultivation and super- 

 vision. 



There is a crying demand in our state for ade- 

 quate drainage. Accompanying irrigation every- 

 where, there is the evil of water logging the soil 

 from over-irrigation or from physical conditions 

 due to the topography of the country. While no 

 accurate survey of the seepage lands has been made, 

 yet it has been quite accurately estimated as 2,000,- 

 000 acres. While some drainage development has 

 been undertaken in the various sections of the state, 

 yet hardly a beginning has been made in this work. 

 We have adequate drainage laws on our statute 

 books, but prospective investors in the bonds seem 

 to fear the validity of the law, and have desired a 

 Supreme court decision relative to the validity of 

 the bond issue. No case has yet been presented to 

 the court: 



There exists at the present time approximately 

 800,000 acres of land in the heart of the San Luis 

 Valley that needs only drainage to make it one of 

 the most productive portions of the state. Two 

 drainage projects, one near Center and one south- 

 west of Alamosa, have been developed, and the re- 

 sults obtained under both propositions amply attest 

 the success and feasibility of drainage, and the 

 crops produced on the drain lands are ample to con- 

 vince the most pessimistic purchaser of the bonds 

 of a drainage district, that the security is ample and 

 safe. All the help possible must be secured from all 

 sections toward financing the drainage propositions, 

 for it is only by this means that we can reach the 

 ultimate development so much desired. 



The development work on new projects has 



