64 



DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



Pumping Plants. 



I come now to pumping plants. When water has to be pumped from 

 deep wells or when a considerable area of land has to be irrigated, some 

 kind of engine or motor is to be preferred to a windmill. Pumping water 

 for irrigation purposes has reached its highest development in southern 

 California, where about four-fifths of the water used in the irrigation of 

 citrus orchards is pumped from wells. The gross revenue from this crop 

 was estimated at $30,000,000 for the past year. In 1906 in that region it 

 was something like $36,000,000. This will show you what water pumped 

 from wells in that climate will do. 



Lemons and oranges cannot be grown on the dry farms of the Rockj; 

 Mountain states, nor is crude oil or gasoline so cheap or abundant, but this 

 region possesses other advantages. There is an abundant supply of good 

 coal, scarcely any limit to the electric energy that may be created from 

 the torrential streams and an opportunity to raise a large variety of crops 

 which may prove in the end nearly as profitable as the orange. A few 

 years ago my friend, Mr. T. T. Black, of Whitehall, Montana, raised 

 27,000 quarts of strawberries on three acres and after shipping them to a 

 commission house in Vermont, received a net return of $900 an acre. This 

 reference to a commercial berry patch in Montana is only one of hundreds 

 that might be given of the profitable crops that might be grown all over 

 the Rocky Mountain region. It is well to note, however, that such crops 

 and such profits can only be obtained as a result of irrigation. No amount 

 of scientific seed breeding or culture can ever take the place of a little 

 water applied at the right time. 



In this belief the irrigation division of the U. S. Office of Experiment 

 Stations began some time ago the investigation of practical means of sup- 

 plying the dry farms with a limited amount of water. These investigations 

 include storage reservoirs, winter irrigation, windmills, pumping plants 

 and a comparison between the yields and profits on both irrigated and 

 non-irrigated land under similar climatic and soil conditions. Before this 

 Congress convenes again we hope to have ready for publication a practical 

 treatise on the windmill, another on the small storage reservoir and a 

 third on pumping plants. The purpose of these manuals is to furnish such 

 information as the settler desires. 



In the prosecution of these studies we would like to have the advice 

 and helpful criticisms of this body. If the investigation of small water 

 supplies, such as are derived from wells, springs, dry ravines and other 

 sources, with a view to their utilization by the dry farmer, is not likely 

 to prove valuable we wish to know it. On the other hand, if the storage 

 reservoir, the windmill, the pumping plant and the application of waste 

 water in the late fall or early spring months are certain to become well 

 nigh essential features in the establishment of permanent homes on the 

 dry western prairies and mountain slopes we would like you to voice your 

 approval and pledge your support. 



In this connection I have to suggest that the President of this Congress 

 appoint a standing committee of five members whose duty it shall be to 



