IO 
BULLETIN 59. 
or its tributaries, water their trees and gardens from ditches. 
Among the most successful of these are G. B. Kukand Wm. 
P. Baily near Newton, and C. Waline who lives about five 
miles southwest of Jaqua. Mr. Waline uses a storage reser¬ 
voir in connection with his ditch. He also uses a well to 
help out in times of scarcity. 
Those who are using windmill power to pump water for 
the irrigation of vegetables are too numerous to mention, but 
the really successful plants are few. The main trouble is 
that they usually attempt to do too much—spread over such 
a large area that when crops are most in need of water the 
supply is insufficient. 
I saw one place where a man had built a reservoir and 
planned to irrigate five acres of very sandy land from one 
well. When the supply of water is sufficient we sometimes 
find that insufficient reservoir space is another weak point. 
The wind may refuse to blow during the dryest weather of 
the summer, and when it does blow, the water is often ap¬ 
plied to the crops just as it comes from the well. This chills 
the roots and checks growth. 
But the cause of the abandonment of many successful 
small irrigation plants has been the increase of the herd of ♦ 
cattle kept to be watered from the same well upon which the 
garden was dependent for its supply. 
Storm Water from the Prairies —Mr. W. V. Erickson, 
who lives three miles southeast of Burlington, is one of the 
most successful of those who have watered gardens frofn 
wells. He has planned to catch the storm water from sev¬ 
eral hundred acres of prairie in a reservoir which he was 
making when I visited him. We shall watch the result of 
his work with interest. Mr. James Howell, near Flagler, 
who was mentioned before in the discussion of trees, has the 
only storm-water reservoir which we saw in operation. His 
main reservoir would be likely to benefit his trees mainly by 
the seepage of water down the old creek bed, thus furnishing 
natural sub-irrigation. 
IRRIGATION DITCHES. 
There are two ditches in the valley of the South fork of 
the Republican river. These were planned to supply water 
to large areas; but they seem to be failures. Small ditches 
water considerable areas planted to alfalfa near Tuttle, 
Landsman and Newton. A few small private ditches are 
successfully operated on the lower part of the Arickaree. 
One very successful ditch is operated in the valley of the 
North fork of the Republican. 
