Vol. LVI. No. 2454. 
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 6, 1897. 
81.00 PER YEAR. 
AN IRRIGATION IDEA FROM IOWA. 
FISH AND FERTILITY FROM A POND. 
An Earthen Dam in a Ravine. 
In the summer of 1893, after a drought of seven 
years’ duration of more or less severity throughout 
the State, and particularly severe in this immediate 
vicinity, I naturally came to look towards a plan to 
irrigate a part of my vegetable garden. Through my 
farm of 80 acres, ran a ravine 
some 40 feet in depth, 125 feet in 
width and 1,700 feet in length. 
The rich, black soil so well shel¬ 
tered naturally, presented a very 
tempting field for an early vege¬ 
table garden. About 500 feet 
from the upper end, this ravine 
contracted to about 90 feet in 
width, thus naturally affording a 
tempting place for a dam. By 
consulting a civil engineer, I 
found that a safe rule in dam 
construction was to build the 
dam three times as thick at the 
base as the height of water. 
Before starting, a three-inch 
iron pipe with stopcock was laid 
across the space to be occupied 
by the dam. Part of the em¬ 
bankment was made of soil taken 
from the bottom of the ravine on 
the upper side of the dam, the 
rest from the hills on both sides, 
thus also constructing a road 
from one hill field to another, 
thereby bringing this field about 
1,000 feet closer than by the old 
road. A capacious and substan¬ 
tial oveiflow was dug through 
solid ground on one end of the 
dam. The water side was, also, 
lined with stone near the water¬ 
mark. We had then only to wait 
for rain. A number of showers 
came, but after donning boots 
and rubber coat, I found that it 
took considerable water to fill a 
large pond. Finally, abundant 
snow came, and as all things 
come to him who waits, I waited ; 
but in this case, nearly an hour 
too long, for, although the snow 
melted slowly, every pool be¬ 
came level full and then the rest 
came with a rush, and I found 
my dam nearly level full. I had 
not noticed that a large snow 
drift had settled in the overflow. 
However, a few vigorous strokes 
with a garden hoe converted the 
snow into slush, and now, “ Look 
out below ! ” I cried. The creek 
below the dam had been filled 
with brush, and as this water 
with other creeks brought leaves, 
rubbish and soil, it filled in to 
such an extent that it greatly 
facilitated the work of filling up this creek afterwards. 
The creek being filled, I thought the job done, when 
I noticed that the dam was leaking badly near the 
ground on the lower side. Investigation proved that 
there was a gravel vein about four to six feet below 
the surface on which the dam was built; this was 
responsible for the mischief. The water was accord¬ 
ingly drained out once more. It took about a week 
to drain it through a three-inch pipe, after which the 
wall was removed on the water side, a trench five 
feet wide dug from 5 to 11 feet through to blue clay ; 
this was in turn, filled with clay taken from adjoin¬ 
ing hills, and the wall was then replaced. Now this 
looks easy on paper, but it was a very costly mistake, 
and any one building a dam should see to construct¬ 
ing this ditch first, for, though this pond has been 
full about 18 months, it has not leaked perceptibly. 
The field was then graded, and the old creek bed 
filled. A tile should have first been run in this old 
IRRIGATION IN IOWA. THE POND ABOVE THE DAM. Fig. 40. 
IRRIGATION IN IOWA. BELOW THE DAM. Fig. 41. 
creek bed, as it would have cost less to lay it and 
would have given better satisfaction ; its being omit¬ 
ted increased the expense materially in the end. An 
open ditch was then dug on both sides (into which the 
overflow also flows) to catch water from the hills; 
these ditches are shallow and wide, and are used for 
head lands to turn on as the rows are run cross ways ; 
the rows are irrigated from the upper side, and the 
surplus water is run to the lower ditch. 
This system has proved very satisfactory, the only 
drawback being, when a lasting rain sets in shortly 
after irrigation has taken place. Considering the 
new soil coupled with mistakes made through inex¬ 
perience, I have been, on the whole, very successful, 
having obtained a little more compensation clear of 
expenses than my outlay amounted to. 
The following are some advantages that are not 
always counted in money : I now have an everflow- 
ing tile sufficient to water all my stock, and do not 
have to wait with three barrels 
on a sled for my turn at the old 
school-house well, as was form¬ 
erly the case. I have one acre of 
beautiful water which averages 
seven feet deep, nicely stocked 
with fish, a bathing place in 
summer and plenty of clear ice 
to put up and for all the neigh¬ 
bors to skate on. Competent 
gardeners have estimated that it 
increased my farm SI,000 in value. 
It has, also, perceptibly increased 
the birds in this vicinity. 
Here is the estimated expense 
account: 50 days with team build¬ 
ing dam, §125 ; stopping leak, 
S50; grading below, §125 ; 1,000 
feet of tile laid, §30 ; second-hand 
iron pipe and stopcock, §5.50; 
stone and miscellaneous, S14.50— 
total, S350. 
In writing of the expenses of 
constructing dam and grading 
land for garden, I figured what 
it would have cost had I hired 
teamsters or graders to do the 
work by the yard or day. The 
actual expense, however, was 
much less, as the work was most¬ 
ly done in leisure time by our 
own teams and hired men. In 
fact, the work was all done in 
fall and winter. 
The most favorable year for 
irrigation was 1895, when I had 
only about three-quarters of an 
acre to garden, and the income 
was more than in 1896 with two 
acres, for irrigation was not then 
needed. As seen in Fig. 41, there 
is still a large plot below to grade 
and finish, at which we are now 
working. The ground is also too 
new, and has been handled when 
wet frequently when grading. 
On this plot, all the ordinary 
garden vegetables were grown. 
In 1895, the total receipts were, 
§333.70 ; in 1896, §325.15—for the 
two years, §658.85. 
The expenses for 1895 and 1896, 
were for fertilizer, §21; manure, 
§17 ; labor and board of labor, 
§120 ; cost'of selling, §100 ; wear 
and tear wagons, implements, 
§20 ;>seeds, tax, rent, etc., §18— 
total, §296. This shows a profit 
of §362.85 for the two years, a very satisfactory 
showing. Besides the vegetable crops, some plants 
were grown for sale. We are now in a position, 
too, to be independent of the rainfall, and the more 
severe the drought, the greater the advantage we shall 
possess over the non-irrigated land. We don’t have to 
depend upon windmills, pumps, engines, horse power 
or any other mechanical contrivance, and the cost, 
now that the job is done, is very small. 
DesMoines County, Iowa. Walter walpin. 
