152 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



water was increased, and on clay loam soils it prob- 

 ably will not be advisable to apply more than 2 or 

 2^2 feet per acre to the crop. 



The report also deals with the question of the 

 proper quantity of water to apply at each irrigation. 

 An unavoidable loss from evaporation invariably 

 occurs during and immediately after irrigation, and 

 it is therefore desirable to have no more applications 

 during the season than are required to maintain the 

 needed moisture content in the soil. Investigators 

 found that from 3 to 6 acre-inches at one applica- 

 tion is the correct quantity. Impervious soils 

 should be so manipulated that they will absorb the 

 smaller amount at least, while on the porous soils 

 large irrigation heads should be used. On these 

 porous soils very little can be accomplished with 

 small heads of water because the water is absorbed 

 so rapidly that it can not be forced over the field. 

 The average size of the irrigation head over the 

 greater part of Idaho seldom exceeds 1 to 2 second- 

 feed. On the porous soils, the use of heads three 



or four times this size, it is said, will give a much 

 higher efficiency. 



In conclusion, the report points out that the 

 determination of the proper supply of water for an 

 irrigation project is a very serious problem. If too 

 little water is allotted, the yields will be small and 

 the lands never will reach their highest possible 

 value. On the other hand, if too much is allotted, 

 the excess supply is almost invariably used and the 

 irrigated lands may deteriorate rapidly through 

 waterlogging. Moreover, the water is diverted from 

 use elsewhere and the ultimate area of irrigated 

 land thus reduced. In determining the amount of 

 water to be used, other factors than the maximum 

 yield must also be taken into consideration. The 

 cost of the land, the cost of the water, and the value 

 of the crops produced are all important considera- 

 tions. There are but few cases in which the in- 

 crease in yield is proportionate to the quantity of 

 water used. 



ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION FOR IRRIGATION DISTRICT 



L. M. Rice. C. E. 



The modern engineer is a public service institu- 

 tion. His abilities and genius should be exerted at 

 all times in such a way as to be of the greatest good 

 to the greatest number. In irrigation works he can 

 do this to a better advantage when working with 

 the district organization. The district organization 

 being a municipal one, in which he is serving the 

 people of the district. The mere planning and build- 

 ing the head gates, canals, ditches and flumes of an 

 irrigation plant, is not all the duties that should be 

 performed by the engineer under the district plan. 

 No plant is properly planned that does not provide 

 ways by means of which the capital invested re- 

 ceives a fair rate of interest, and that from the out- 

 put of the plant. He should go beyond the mere 

 building of structures through which water is trans- 

 mitted. He must look to the foundation upon which 

 the whole structure is builded. He must study and 

 understand every problem connected with the carry- 

 ing of an irrigation problem to a successful conclu- 

 sion. The problems of construction are not solved 

 until such time as he is able to lay the foundation 

 upon which to build a paying institution. In order 

 to do this, he must understand the human problem 

 involved. No one is in a better position to study 

 these problems than the engineer. It is, therefore, 

 up to him to see that the man on the land is firmly 

 rooted to the soil. This can only be done by making 

 him happy and contented ; through giving him loads 

 that he can bear easily. With a happy, contented 

 people on the land, the -foundation for a successful 

 irrigation project is laid. How best to plan and lay 

 this foundation is the principal problem to solve. 

 The irrigation district is designed to give to the 

 people the necessary irrigation works, at the least 

 possible cost, leaving no room for the promoter's 

 profits, or large banker's discounts. This will prove 

 to be a large burden taken from the shoulders of the 

 man on the land. There are instances where this 

 burden has been as much as the cost of the project. 

 The projects should be financed in such a way as to 

 give the man on the land a chance to pay for his 

 water rights and other charges through his returns 



received from the production of his land. It is fur- 

 ther necessary that we devise some scheme by 

 means of which we can induce men with compara- 

 tively small capital to go upon the land. The de- 

 velopment of wild lands, be it Puget forest or sage 

 brush in eastern Oregon, is the work of a hardy 

 earnest working man. It requires several years to 

 bring wild lands to the producing stage. Hereto- 

 fore, the impression has been that all that was neces- 

 sary in order to make an irrigation project success- 

 ful, was to get water upon the land ; that the profit 

 from irrigated lands was so great that immediately 

 people would come from every direction and pay 

 fabulous prices for same. Through experience, we 

 have discovered that this is not always true. How- 

 ever, almost any irrigation project will succeed, pro- 

 vided always your lands are properly settled. Each 

 man going -upon the land should have sufficient time 

 within which to put his land under cultivation be- 

 fore any large payments are asked of him. The en- 

 gineer should see that every detail of construction 

 has been carried out, that there is nothing left in 

 the shape of construction work for the man on the 

 land to do. In making his estimate he should not 

 only estimate the cost of the main canals and main 

 laterals, but he should estimate the cost of all laterals 

 that are necessary for the development of each piece 

 of land, as well as the cost necessary for the level- 

 ing of these lands so that they may be irrigated. 

 The clearing of the lands on an irrigation project, 

 removing the stones and the leveling of the same, 

 in order that water may be placed upon it, is just 

 as much construction work as the building of the 

 head works, and no project is complete until such 

 time as the man upon the land is able to produce 

 crops, and through the sale of same, is able to live 

 and pay the necessary charge levied against him. 

 Nothing should be left to him other than work in- 

 cidental to farm operation. All other costs should 

 be included in the bond issue and should be carried 

 as a construction charge the same as any other 

 portion of the work. 



In Washington we have a district law, which 



