29 
feet of water per second <>i' very early priority, besides it- first 31.2 
cubic feet per second to supply domestic needs and Late crops. 
THE SOUTH SIDE DITCH. 
This is a small ditch beading jus! inside the canyon, with only the 
Handy and Home Supply ditches above it on the river. It covers 
about 2,000 acres and irrigates nearly that area: it bas a capacity of 
less than 35 cubic feet per second, though its decree calls for 50.3 
cubic feet per second. The acreage and capacity at the time of the 
flecree was about one-half of this amount, the enlargement being made 
in consequence of the purchase of water from the Big Thompson and 
Manufacturing Company's Ditch. The amount purchased was 6 cubic 
feet per second and the price $1,500. The ditch stock is divided into 
175 shares at £5<> per share, and a share is supposed to irrigate L0 
acres. The land under this ditch has an average value of $40 per acre. 
The cost of maintenance and of superintendence is about $100 per 
year each. 
THE HOME SUPPLY DITCH. 
This ditch, the second on the river, is likewise one of the largest and 
most important in the district. It, with the Handy, irrigates by far 
the greater part of the land on the south side. It is finely constructed, 
with a good masonry dam in the river (PI. II). The upper end is in 
a rock cut, and its rating Hume is the most permanent on the river. 
The canal with its laterals is some 32 miles long and covers 19,000 
acres, actually irrigating 18,000 acres. It has the best reservoir system 
in the district, running water from its reservoirs directly onto the land 
and exchanging with the river. Notwithstanding its very late priority, 
its lands are as well supplied as any. Under it are a relatively large 
percentage of the late crops; winter wheat, in particular, being raised, 
the acreage of which is increasing every year. The yield is in excess 
of 30 bushels of wheat per acre. There are 2,001 shares in the com- 
pany, each 15 shares equal to a 160-acre water right. The value per 
share is £150. practically $10 per acre. In 1881 this company acquired 
the Lone Tree Reservoir and in 1888 the Mariano Lake. It has pur- 
chased 24 cubic feet of water per second from the Big Thompson Man- 
, ufacturing Ditch, at a price said to be $1,000 per cubic foot per second. 
! Figuring the value of a foot from the value of the shares, it would 
be $2,250, As this, however, includes reservoir rights as well, it is 
hardly a fair estimate of the value of a cubic foot of water per second. 
i It is said by parties under the ditch that as much water is run in 
: September as in June. This is nearer the truth under the Home Sup- 
ply than under any other ditch or system of the district; at the same 
time its entire accuracy is open to question. 
The ditch has acquired by the transfer of the shares of live different 
