10 
This Colorado Experiment Station 
Irrigating Scene* in the Grand Valley. 
areas in the Valley caused from over-irrigation and poor drainage. 
In many of these, it is impossible to grow anything, and some of 
them will mire a horse. Many once profitable orchards have been 
utterly ruined by seepage, and a good many more are doomed un¬ 
less the needless over-irrigation is discontinued. 
The water for irrigation is taken from the Grand River some 
distance above the main Valley. Naturally, the lower land or the 
land adjacent to the river was first developed, due to the cheapness 
in constructing irrigation canals. The upper lands closer to the 
foothills at Palisade and south of the river are irrigated by water 
from pumping plants, making the irrigation expensive. The new 
government project which was completed last year opens up an ex¬ 
tensive area of land above the old canals. This will have a con¬ 
siderable bearing upon the land under the old irrigation system. 
Water is abundant, and, with the exception of that supplied by 
pumping plants, is cheap. 
COVER CROPS 
The use of cover crops in the Grand Valley is of relatively re¬ 
cent date. Clean culture has been the universal practice through¬ 
out the district. With the appearance of the niter troubles and 
with the gradual burning out of vegetable matter in the soil in 
many orchards, the decline of trees has been very rapid. A num- 
