34 BULLETIN 1026, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
turned out to the various laterals as ordered and the cards are tacked 
on the lateral gates to serve as a guide for distribution by the riders 
of the laterals. The system of distribution from the laterals is prac- 
tically the same as for the main canal, the water being measured 
over weirs except in a few cases where division boxes are used. 
The copy of the order sheet sent to the superintendent reaches him 
the same afternoon, thus giving him 36 hours to increase or decrease 
the supply in the canal to meet the demand. To assist him with this 
part of the work the canal employs an expert hydrographer who 
measures all the water received by the canal for carriage and keeps 
a record which shows the number of cubic feet delivered direct by 
each reservoir or its account by exchange and the number of rights 
of that reservoir delivered by the canal. At the end of the season 
these quantities must balance, but the economical and satisfactory 
operation of the canal requires that there be much " swapping * of 
credits during the season, as in 1916, when Douglass Reservoir rights 
had been supplied for over a month before any Douglass water was 
received by the canal. In general, the supplies in Curtis, Kluver, 
and Douglass Reservoirs are drawn at a uniform rate, while the 
fluctuation in demand is taken care of by increasing or decreasing 
the outflow of the others, chiefly Terry Lake. On Sundays and at 
other times when there is a short demand, instead of cutting off 
at its source the reservoir water being received through Dry Creek, 
it is turned into Terry Lake and, under proper credit, held there 
for later use. On account of the long inlet canal and the difficulty 
of filling, the greater part of the surplus reservoir water, at the end 
of the season, is usually left in Windsor Reservoir Xo. 8. The lands 
irrigated are shown in Plate X. 
LARIMER COUNTY CANAL. 
The Larimer County Canal was initiated in 1880, when the Lari- 
mer County Ditch Co. was incorporated to build a canal and sell 
water rights under it. Arrangements were made with the owners 
of the Smith Ditch by which the Larimer County Ditch Co. acquired 
their right of way and in the spring of 1881 actual construction work 
on the canal was begun. From the start it was realized that the 
water supply directly from the river would be insufficient, and the 
construction of reservoirs to increase the supply was begun soon after. 
The company did not prosper, and in 1892 the system was taken over 
by the Water Supply & Storage Co., which had been organized by 
holders of rights in the ditch. This is a cooperative company with 
a capital stock of $60,000 divided into 600 shares of a par value of 
$100. The present value is close to $6,000 per share. 
Expenses of this company are met by assessments levied on the 
capital stock. These assessments average about $100 per share, pro- 
