Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 71 Series I, Irrigation, 13 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

CHARLEt: D. WALCOTT, DIRECTOR 

IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS 

BY 

THOMAS U~ TAYLOR 

WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1902 
I 

A 
...J. 

CONTENTS. 

Letter of transmittal 

Introduction _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____________________ --- _ 

Page. 

9 

11 

Trans-Pecos systems_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 13 

El Paso Valley_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 13 

Toyah Creek_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 15 

Fort Stockton _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 17 

Santa Lucia _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ________ _ 

Big Bend ____ _ 

- Pecos Valley systems ___________ _ 

Margueretta canal ________________ _ 

Pecos River Irrigation Company_ 

Grand Falls ______________ _ 

Edwards Plateau systems_ 

Del Rio_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______ _ 

Cienagas Creek ____ _ 

Mud Creek _______ _ 

Las Moras Creek _____ _ 

San Saba Valley _ _ __ 

Upper N ueces _ 

Kerr County _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Kimble and Edwards counties __ _ 

Johnson Fork of Llano River 

Cedar Creek _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Bailey Creek _______ _ 

Kyac ( Cajac) Creek _ 

Flemming Branch _ 

Little Paint Creek _ 

South Llano River __________ _ 

Bear Creek _______________ _ 

Systems at San Antonio and vicinity __ _ 

Mission and neighboring ditches _ 

Upper Labor ditch _______________ _ 

Alamo Madre ditch _ 

San Pedro ditch ________________ _ 

Concepcion ditch _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _____________ . ________ _ 

San Jose ditch _ ~ _____________________________________________ .... __ 

19 

19 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

25 

27 

27 

28 

30 

39 

42 

42 

43 

45 

46 

46 

47 

47 

48 

49 

51 

51 

52 

52 

62 

52 

53 

San J nan ditch _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______________________ ~ _ _ _ 53 

Espada ditch _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 5a 

Truehartditch_ _ _ ·--------------------------------------- 54 

Artesian-wells __ 

Sewage farm __________ _ 

Miscellaneous systems ____________________ _ 

3 

54 

56 

57 
4 CONTENTS. 

Systems along Lower Nueces River, Lower Rio Grande and Leona River__ 

Lower N ueces River _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___________ _ 

Cotulla and vicinity ________________________ _ 

Uvalde _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______ _ 

Idlewild _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____________________________ _ 

Carrizo Springs and vicinity 

Leona River __________________ _ 

Upper ditch 

Lower ditch _ 

Comanche Irrigation Company's ditch ______________________ _ 

Lower Rio Grand~_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______ _ 

Eagle Pass _ _ _ ______________ _ 

North Laredo_ _ _ _ _____________________ _ 

Hidalgo _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __________________ _ 

Brownsville and vicinity_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ________________________ _ 

Colorado Valley systems _ _ _ _ _ _ ________________________________ _ 

Sterling County _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___________________________ _ 

Irion County _ _ _ _ _ ____________________ . ------ ----

Tom Green County _ _ _ _ _ _ __________________________________________ _ 

Brown County ______ ~ _ _ _ _ _ ________________________________________ _ 

Mills County _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _________ - __ - _- -- - - --- - - -

Lampasas County____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ______ ----

Travis County ______________________________________________ -___ - __ 

Systems north of Colorado River ________________________________________ _ 

Bell County _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _________________________________ _ 

Burnet County _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ______________ _ 

Williamson County__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _________ _ 

Milam County______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _________________ ---- ----- -

Staked Plains _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _________ _ 

Systems north of Texas Pacific Railroad _____________________________ _ 

Limestone and Comanche counties __________________________________ _ 

Waco and vicinity ___________ . _______________________________________ _ 

Rice irrigation systems _______________________________________ --- --

General features_____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___________________ _ 

Beaumont section____ _ _ _ _ ______________________________________ _ 

Jefferson County_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______________________________ _ 

Taylors Bayou _ _ _____ . _________________________ _ 

Hillebrandt Bayou ______________________________________ _ 

Pine Island Bayou ________________________________________ _ 

Neches River____ _ _ _ _ _______________________________ _ 

Wells _ _ _ _ __________________________________________________ _ 

Orange County _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___________ _ 

Cow Bayou _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _____________________ _ 

Adams Bayou _______________________________________________ _ 

Chambers County______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ______ _ 

Turtle Bayou_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ________________ _ 

Liberty County _________________________ . _______________________ _ 

Trinity River _________________ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _________ _ 

Wells _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____________________________ _ 

Harris County_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - -_ - _ -- _ ------ -- --- _ -

Galveston County .•....•••••••.•....• _. __ .... _ .••.•....• __ .... __ _ 

Page. -loo!t 

62 

63 

63 

64 

64 

64 

65 

66 

66 

67 

68 

68 

68 

69 

69 

70 

70 

71 

71 

74 

75 

75 

75 

76 

76 

76 

76 

77 

78 

78 

79 

80 

82 

82 

86 

87 

88 

92 

94 

95 

96 

97 

97 

98 

98 

98 

99 

99 

99 

100 

102 
CONTENTS. 

Rice irrigati0n systems----,Continued. 

Brazos Valley section _ _ ______ .. _________________ _ 

Washington County _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ______ . _ .. _ . _________________ _ 

Austin County _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______________________ _ 

San Ben1ard Creek _ _ _ _________________________ _ 

Fort Bend County _ _ _ ______________________________ _ 

Brazoria County_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______ _ 

Colorado Valley section _ . _______________ . _____________ _ 

Colorado County_ _ _ _ _ ________________________________________ _ 

Eagle Lake _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _____________________ _ 

Colorado River _ _ _ _______________ _ 

Well plants______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ______________ _ 

Wharton County _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ______________ _ 

El Campo systems _ _ _ _ _ ________ _ 

Jackson County ______________ _ 

Colorado River below Wharton __ _ 

Matagorda County_ _ _ _______ _ 

Guadalupe River __ _ 

Dewitt County _ -~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ______________________ _ 

Victoria County_____________ _ _ _ _______________ _ 

Area devoted to rice culture, by counties _ _ _ _ _____________________ _ 

Proposed plants____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ______________ _ 

Brownsville irrigation system _ _ _ _______ _ Appendix____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____________________________________________________ _ 

Index _____________________ ------- _ -- _ --- - --- -- - - -- ------------ ------ ----

,. 

5 

4. 

Page. 

(; 103 

103 

103 

103 

104 

105 

107 

107 

107 

110 

111 

116 

116 

119 

119 

121 

123 

123 

123 

124 

124 

124 

125 

129 
... _ 
ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page. 

PLATE I. Wing dam of El Paso Irrigation Company ___ .__________________ 14 

II. A, Head gate of Margueretta canal: B, Rock cut in curve of 

West Valley ditch; Margueretta canal _______________ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 22 

III. Margueretta flume across Pecos River _____________ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 22 

IV. A, Sluice gate used on Margueretta canal; B, Measuring weir 

adopted by Pioneer Canal Company ______ · __ . ____________ . _ _ _ _ 24 

V. A, Dam supplying San Felipe ditch at Del Rio; B, Dam supplying Madre ditch at Del Rio_ . ____ . _. _______________ . · ___ . _ _ _ _ _ _ 26 

VI. Old stone aqueduct c.arrying the Espada ditch across Piedras 

Creek _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 52 

VII. A, Pumping station of Jefferson County Rice Company; B, Rice 

thresher at work on Port Arthur Irrigation Company's plantation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ .. __________________________ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 90 

VIII. A, Building levees for rice-farm canals, with engine and grading 

machine, in Matagorda County: B, Breaking sod with engines, 

for rice planting, near Bay City, Matagorda County _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 120 

IX. A, Nile Valley pumping plant; B, Baling rice straw for hay, near Bay City _____________________ c ___________ . ____________ . _____ . 122 

FIG. 1. Map showing irrigation systems in El Paso Valley _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 14 

2. Map showing Toyah Creek irrigation systems____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 16 

3. Map showing Fort Stockton irrigation systems ____ . __ . ___ . _ _ 18 

4. Map of Margueretta canal system __________________________ . . 22 

5. Map of Grand Falls and Santa Lucia irrigation systems_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 24 

6. Map of Del Rio irrigation system.______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 26 

7. Map of Cienagas Creek irrigation system _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 27 

8. Map of Mud Creek irrigation systems _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 28 

9. Map of Las Moras Creek irrigation systems_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 29 

10. Map of Menard ville irrigation systems______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 31 

11. Cross section of Sieker's dam on San Saba River__________________ 34 

12. Flexible pipe joint used on Mamie ditch _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 34 

13. Map of Sloan irrigation system_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 36 

14. Map of Kimble County irrigation systems __________ . _ _ _ 43 

15. Cross section of sewer farm ditch at San Antonio_ . _______ . 56 

16. Map of Comanche Irrigation Company's ditch near Batesville.____ 67 

17. Map showing location of irrigation ditches in Tom Green County__ 72 

18. Map showing rice belt of Texas ____ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 83 

19. Diagram showing horsepower required for various lifts and acreages_ 84 

20. Map showing irrigation systems in eastern half of the Beaumont 

section _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 86 

7 
8 ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page. 

FIG. 21. Map showing irrigation systems in western half of the Beaumont 

section _______ ~-- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ '__ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 87 

22. Map of Jefferson County Rice Company's farm, showing irrigation 

canals _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 90 

23. Elevation and section of flume of Beaumont Irrigation Company__ 94 

24. Map showing irrigation canals at Eagle Lake______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ 108 

25. Cross section of Eagle Lake Rice Company's siphon under Cane 

Belt Railroad_________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 109 

26. Sand screen for water wells _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 113 

27. Map showing irrigation systems in Colorado Valley below Wharton_ 120 

J 
LETT E R 0 F T RAN S M ITT AL. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 

DIVISION OF HYDROGRAPHY, 

Washington, D. C., Jrune 1, 1902. 

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a paper entitled Irriga- · 

tion Systems of Texas, by Thomas U. Taylor, professor of civil eng~­

neering at the University of rrexas. This paper contains the results 

of field work carried on by Professor Taylor through several years in 

connection with the measurement of the principal rivers of '"fexas and 

the investigation of the best methods of utilizing the water resources 

of the State. I recommend it, for publication in the series ·of pamphlets on Water Supply and Irrigation. ; 

· A report on the same subject was prepared in 1897 by J\tlr. William// 

F. Hutson, and printed as Paper No. )3 of this series. Since that:. 

time co~sider~ble development has tak~n place in the utilization of 

water in Texas, and the ground has been gone over with greater 

thoroughness, resulting in obtaining a larger and more complete presentation of the subject. 

In the present. report Professor Taylor has discussed the principal irrigation systems in general geographic order, and has given statistics as to the location, cost, and benefits of the devices for obtaining water. He has also devoted some attention to the irrigation of. 

rice, a business in which large amounts of capital are being invested. 

'"fhere has been appended a brief statement of the laws governin·g 

irrigation in the State of Texas, also sonw of the facts obtained from 

the recent census investigation. 

Yours, with respect, F. H: NEWELL, 

Hydrographer 'in Charge. 

Hon. CHARLES D. WALCOTT, 

Director United States Geological Survey. 

9 

IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. 

By THOMAS U. TAYLOR. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The practice of irrigation in Texas is of considerable antiquit,y, 

especially in the western end of the State, along the Rio Grande, 

where the early Spanish conquerors established sett,lements, and their 

tJ descendants, the Mexicans, have maintained possession of the soil for 

centuries. At San Antonio are ditches whose origin is lost in local 

tradition, having probably been built to carry water to the grounds 

surrounding the missions. It is only in comparatively recent years, 

however, that part,icular at,t,ention has been drawn to the matter, and 

the importance of the development of the State through irrigation has 

been appreciated by the public. Already agriculture by means of an 

artificial supply of water is being practiced in nearly every portion· 

of the State, the greatest increase in acreage being in the rice-growing 

districts in the squtheastern quarter. The figures obtained at the 

Eleventh Census (1889) and Twelfth Census (1899) illustrate the rapid 

increase in acreage and the wide extent to which irrigation is now 

employed. 

For most of the land water is obtained by gravity systems of ditchesthat is t,o say, by means of channels through which the water flows from 

some source at a higher elevation. In many places, however, it is im possible to bring water to the surface of the ground in this way, and it 

must be lifted or pumped by some mechanical device. For this purpose windmills are most commonly used. We~t of the one-hundredth 

meridian north of San Antonio the C'attle country of Texas stretches 

almost unbroken for from 200 to 500 miles. To supply water for the 

ranches which do not border on or include a flowing stream the windmill has become a most potent factor. In addition, a few localities, 

like oases, have everlasting springs that rise with surprising suddenness either from the foothills or from the baked prairies. These are 

in nearly all cases utilized to convert the otherwise unproductive soil 

into crop-bearing farms. While the old Mexican methods of irrigation are still in use in many localHies, with their· consequent waste of 

water, they have been accompanied by few disappointments or heartburnings. 

11 
12 IRRtGATlON SYSTEMS OF TEXAS, [No. 71. 

Irrigation in Texas has not escaped the booming influence of the 

land agent or the subtle promoter. Nearly every county in the western part of the State through which flowing streams course their way 

has on its maps the sinuous tracings of irrigation systems, wh~le the 

secretary of state has issued hundreds of charters for systems that 

fortnnat,ely got no further than the charter stage. Some of the promoters, however, with the seductive phrase "modern methods," have 

formed companies, eonstructed eanals costing hundreds of thousands 

of dollarR, and sold lands, upon flattering prospectuses, to honest and 

would-be settlers without the slightest data of the available water 

supply. rrhe collapse of many enterprises and the loss of much 

money have made the public timid, with the result that two amendments to the State constitution, which carried with them permission 

to bond c~rtain districts, have been overwhelmingly defeated. The 

first was prepared in 18B7, and unde1· its terms certain districts could, 

by a majority vote of the landowners, issue bonds for the purpose of 

constructing irrigation systems. The second amendment, which was 

voted on in the fall of 1900, earried with it power by virtue of which 

tl).e people of the Wichita and adjacent districts could issue bonds for 

the purpose of constructing an immense irrigation system in t,he 

Wichita Valley. 

With suffieient hydrographic data, however, there was and is no 

occasion for disappointment; but obtaining these data is a process 

entirely too slow for the irrigation agent, t,he promoter, and the developer, and the result is marked by wrecked hopes in many localities. 

The year 1900, a very wet one, furnished excellent data upon which 

flattering prospects could be held out to prospective rice farmers, as 

all streams, bayous, and lakes were full of water and the rainfall was 

so abundant that only a small amount of artHicial watering was 

required. ResuU, an excellent crop of rice, a large part of which 

was watered by Providence. The year 1901, however, was a striking 

contrast to 1900, for there was no good soaking rain from the time of 

the Galveston storm, September 8, 1900, until the latest sowing of 1901. 

The coast country was dry, wat,er was low, and new canals were 

untried. No two years could emphasize more clearly the need of caution in placing dependence upon a water supply. In the latter year 

many of the bayous were drawn upon for an amount of fresh water 

that so lowered their surface level that the salt water of the lower sect,ions backed into them and impregnated the supply. To counteract 

this, at some places dams have been constructed to check the inflow 

of sea water. 

The irrigation systems of the State have been divided into the following groups: (1) The trans-Pecos systems; (2) the Pecos Valley 

systems; (3) the Edwards Plateau systems; (4) the systems at San 

Antonio and vicinity; (5) the systems along Lower Nueces Rivm!, 

Lower Rio Grande, and Leona River; (6) the Colorado Valley sys-
TAYLOR.] EL PASO VALLEY. 13 

terns; (7) the systems north of Colorado River; and (8) the rice irrigation systems. 

The two dry years of 1901 and 1902 have called attention to the 

necessity of irrigation in what has been heretofore called middle 

Texas. Farmers are realizing the efficiency of an irrigation system 

. to be put into operation when the rainfall is not sufficient for agricultural purposes. Slowly irrigation for ordinary crops takes its way 

eastward in Texas. It is now on the Brazos, and another dry season 

will take it to the Trinity River. 

In· the preparation of this paper valuable aRsistance has been rendered by Lester G. Bugbee, instructor in history in the University of 

Texas; ""\Villard H. Denis, observer at Pecos; Judge 0. W. Williams, 

of Fort Stockton; the late S. C. Dobbins, civil engineer, and T. L. 

Smith, civil engineer, of Col urn bia. The writer has also frequently { j 

consulted Water-Supply Paper No. 13, prepared by W. F .. Hutson. 

TRANS-PECOS SYSTEMS. 

The portion of the State west of Pecos River is commonly known 

as trans-Pec9s Texas. It is a peculiar country, rough and mountainous, with few perennial streams. The storm waters rush out upon 

the lowlands and are rapidly absorbed in the sandy plains, from which 

the mountains rise abruptly as isolated peaks or ranges. rrhe soil of 

the plains is of remarkable fertility, and when watered produces 

abundantly. Irrigat,ion away from the creeks, however, is practicable 

only by means of storage reservoirs holding the storm waters. Reservoir sites occur in many places, and seYeral of them have been mapped 

by the topographers of the Geological Survey. Trans-Pecos Texas. is 

bounded on the west and south by the Rio Grande, from which water 

is at present taken for irrigation mainly in the vicinity of the Big 

Bend. The following irrigation systems occur in t,he trans-Pecos 

region: (1) The El Paso Valley systems; (2) the Toyah Creek systems; (3) the E~ort Stockton systems; (4) the Santa L_ucia systems; 

and ( 5) the Big Bend systems. 

EL PASO VALLEY. 

F-ranklin canaL-At El Paso the principal canal is that owned by 

the Franklin Irrigation Company. It was begun in 1889 and completed in 1891. Later the affairs of the company were placed in the 

hands of a receiver, and the property was bought at a receiver's sale 

by Thomas Worthington, of Manchester, England, the trustee for the 

bondholders. 1,he canal begins 1 mile northwest of El Paso, and runs 

in a general southeasterly direction for 29 miles. (See fig. 1.) At 

the beginning its width is 30 feet, but it gradually diminishes to 15 

'feet at Fabens, where it returns to the Rio Grande. Water is diverted 

by a masonry wing dam extending diagonally up the river about 300 
14 IRRI{*ATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

feet and about ·halfway across, as 

shown in Pl. I. The original cost 

was approximately $150,000, and 

about $70,000 has since been expended for protection from overflows and for repairs. The water 

rights under the new management 

have not yet been issued. The 

yearly water rental was $2 an acre. 

The canal was designed to cover 

:30,000 acres. During 189H, a,OOO 

acres were irrigated from it, but 

since that time practically no land 

has been served from this ditch, 

t- on account of lack of water in the ;::::: 

~ Rio Grande. 

Ysleta, Socorro, ancl San Elizario ddches.-There are three old 

Mexican ditches uaken from the 

S Rio Grande below El Paso, on the 

~ American side, on grants of land 

~ made to the inhabitants of Y sleta, 

~ Socorro, and San Elizario, capable 

.~ of irrigating from 1,000 to 1,200 

·~ acres each. (See fig. 1.) The ditch 

·~ on the Ysleta grant was taken out 

~ of the Rio Grande about 3 miles 

~ 

~ 

1. ,-

south of the present station of 

Y sleta (not the old town of Y sleta ), 

and continued through the Socorro 

and !San Elizario grants, following 

the banks of the old river bed after 

passing the present station of San 

Elizario. The total length of the 

main acequia was about 10 miles, 

andlthe two branches, the Acequia 

Littpral and the Acequia Madre, 

wer~ 4 and :3 miles long, respect,ively. The Acequia del Comal 

took its water from the Rio Grande 

abo{lt 15miles below El Paso, on the 

lower part of the Socorro grant. It 

followed the general course of the 

river for 2f miles, then ran almost 

due east for 3t miles, and finally 
lJ. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 71 PL. I 

...... 

WING DAM OF EL PASO IRRIGATION COMPANY. 
'.,, TAYLOR.] TOYAH CREEK. 15 

deflected to follow the banks of the old river bed. Its total length 

was about 10 miles. The Acequia de la Cuadrilla took its water 

from t,he Rio Grande 3 miles below the intake of the Acequia del 

Comal. Its total length was about 9 miles. 

These· Mexican ditches are capable of irrigating about 3,000 acres, 

but the flow of the Rio Grande at El Paso has been so unreliable for 

several years that it was impossible to base any calculat,ions upon it. 

A reliable storage reservoir in the mountains above El Paso would 

serve during its life to make the whole El Paso Valley on both sides 

of the river for 30 miles one of the most prJductive countries in the 

world, for it possesses an unrivaled climate and is capable of producing fruits with a flavor that, easily commands for them the highest 

price wherever t,hey go. The total area on the American side that 

could be brought into active production would be not less than 40 

square miles. 

Irrigation has been practiced here probably longer than in any 

other part of the United States. The old Spanish records show that 

when this pass was first reached by the exploring party of Coronado, 

villages of Indians were found on the Mexican side, on the site of the 

present town of J aurez, and on the Arilerican side at Y sleta and 

below. These Indians had a system of irrigation of seeming great 

antiquity, which has been followed by the descendants of the aborigines and their conquerors for three hundred and fifty years. 

During the spring of 18£17 the large canal was damaged by the flood 

that submerged so large a portion of the town of El Paso. This flood 

reached its greatest, height on May 311, and quickly subsided. .The 

banks were badly cut, and in some places the canal was completely 

obliterated. The truck gardens and orchards near the city were 

flooded and damaged, a layer of mud about 3 inches thick being 

deposited over the surface. It was noticeable that while most trees 

withstood the flooding eomparat,ively well, the peach trees were almost 

uniformly killed. Fortunat,ely for the farmers lower down, a portion 

of the river cut for itself a new channel, curving inward, crossing the 

canal, and then recrossing it at the last point at which the banks were 

damaged. In this way they have been supplied with water and are 

able to save their crops, which otherwise would be ruined. 

TOYAH CREEK. 

'"royah Creek rises in natural springs about 40 miles southwest of 

Pecos. These springs are mainly in section 25G, patented by the State 

of Texas to Antonio Ball. They are in a flat valley, hemmed in by a 

horseshoe curve of the Davis Mountains. About 3 miles northwest is 

Phantom IJake. It is stat,ed hy cloRe observers that the waterirofthe 

creek and lake are of the same eomposition and general character, and 

it is probable that the latter is on the underground stream that, issues 

from the earth in the Toyah Springs. 

<' 1 ,)W, 
16 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. "" 

The largest of the Toyah Springs is oval shaped, and is about 100 

feet long by 60 feet broad. Its water level in t,he spring varies 

with the condition of the weeds and long grass, and also with the 

weather. The discharge as measured by the writer on September 5, 

1900, was 46 second-feet. A large percentage of the water is deflected 

FIG. 2.-Map showing Toyah Creek irrigation systems. 

into the ditch of 1,oyah Creek Irrigation Company. The flow of the 

spring is equal to about 8 heads, a head being defined as the amount 

of water that flows through an opening 1 foot square, the upper edge 

of the opening being 4 inches below the water surface. There is an 

unverified and hazy tradition that the flow once amounted to 12 heads, 

but this is seriously doubted. 
TAYLOR.] .IfORT STOCKTON. 17 

· For several miles the creek skirts the foothills of the Davis Mountains, and in addition to the well-known springs mentioned is fed by 

·small invisible springs and by seepage. It empties into Toyah Lake, 

a large alkali fiat depression about 35 miles from Toyahvale and about 

12 miles south of Pecos. 

In all there· are five ditches taken out of Toyah Creek: (1) The 

Clements or Murphy, 9 miles long, taken out of Toyah Spring, on the 

south side, and irrigating about 1,500 acres; (2) the Giffin, 1 ·mile 

long, taken out of Toyah Creek, on the north side, and irrigating 

about 400 acres; (3) the Saragossa, 2 miles long, taken out on the 

south side of the creek, about 6 miles below Toyah Spring, and irrigating 1,500 acres (this is included in the Clements system); ( 4) the 

St. Isabella ditch, which irrigates about 700. acres and is 2 miles long, 

being taken out on the north side of the creek, 19 miles below Toyah 

Spring; and ( 5) the Pruet.t ditch, 2 miles long, headgate 26 miles below 

Toyah Spring, on the south side, which irrigates about 300 acres. The 

location of the ditches is shown in fig. 2. The crops raised are mostly 

corn, wheat, Kafir corn, and sweet potatoes. From Toyahvale to Saragossa the irrigation has been very efficient. A half mile above Saragossa, on the main Saragossa ditch, is Clements's grain and flour mill, 

an adobe and timber structure, at which there is a fall of 12 feet. 

The main irrigation ditch leading froni the largest of the Toyah 

springs (now known as the Clements or Murphy ditch) was projected 

as early as 1875, but the ditches of the Saragossa and the Toyah 

Cree.k companies were chartered in 1875 and 1876~ Afterwards the 

companies passed through various ownerships and changes until1894, 

when :Mr. E. Clements obtained all the rights and ownership of the 

. Saragossa Company ditch, and in 1895 he obtained a controlling interest in the Toyah Creek ditch. The Saragossa ditch was taken out of 

Toyah Creek about 6! miles below the Toyah Springs and about 1! 

miles above the town of Saragossa. Both ditches are now operated 

under the Clements management, a lateral connecting them. The 

original Saragossa ditch was taken out probably as early as 1869, at a 

point where the bed of the creek ended in rather swampy lands. 

These lands are now in the Saragossa farm. From the best evidence. 

obtainable the flow of the Saragossa Spring was about 15 second-feet, 

and it was the largest affiuent of Toyah Creek below section 256. 

Toyahvale is about an eighth of a mile west of the Toyah 8prings; 

La Lorna is about 1 mile below the head spring, on the right bank; 

India (known as Brogado P. 0.) is about 4 miles below the Toyah 

Springs, on the right bank; while Saragossa is 9 miles below the head/, 

spring, on the right bank of the creek. 

FORT STOCKTON. 

Comanche Creek rises near Fort Stockton, in a clear and bold. 

spring. In 1899 its flow, as determined by measurement, was 70 

second-feet. The waters of the creek were first used for irrigation 

IRR 71-02--2 
18 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

in 1868, when Cresario Torres irrigated land belonging to Gen. John 

Hatch and others. In 1870 the United States Government irrigated 

about 100 acres, most of which was used for a garden for the post. 

In fig. 3 are shown four irrigation ditches taken out of the creek, 

two on the right or east side and two on the left or west side. 

Garza &itch and Comanche Creek Ir·rigation Company ditch.-

The ditches on the right side of Comanche Creek are known as the 

Garza ditch and the Comanche Creek Irrigation Company's ditch, 

both of which are owned by the Southwestern Irrigation Company. 

The former is taken out about 3 miles and the latter 3t miles below 

FIG. 3.-Map.showing Fort Stockton irrigation systems. 

Fort Stockton. A loose dam, made of cottonwood logs and turf, raises 

the water into the Garza ditch, which is 6 miles long and is used to 

convey water to cattle ranches. From 600 to 800 acres are irrigated 

from the lowest (Comanche Creek Irrigation Company) ditch, 400 

acres being in alfalfa. 

Rooney ditches.-Two ditches, known as the Rooney ditches, and 

marked A and Bin fig. 3, are taken out on the left side of the creek. 

They were constructed in 1876 and 1877. Ditch A is about 4 miles 

long, and is taken out about a half mile below the hearl of the Garza 

ditch. The Rooney ditches can irrigate 6,000 acres. In 1900 they 

actually irrigated 1,360 acres, 900 acres being in corn, 400 acres in 
'l'AYLOR.] BIG BEND. 19 

cotton, and 60 acres in alfalfa. On ditch A is located the mill belonging tp Rooney & B11tts, of Fort Stockton. The fall at the gin is 12 

feet, and 12 horsepower is developed by a 24-inch Leffel turbine. 

Hermost~.Jra d·itch.-The Ilermosura ditch, owned by J. H. Crawford, is 7 miles east of Fort Stockton and receives its waters from the 

San Pedro Spring, which is in section 208 of the Texas land office map. 

The flow of the spring is about 4 second-feet, and from it Mr. Crawford irrigates 160 acres of land. 

Seven miles west of Fort Stockton Mrs. Hoyall irrigates 260 acres 

from the Leon Spring. 

SANTA LUCIA. 

The Santa Rosa Spring is in section 68 of the Texas land office map. 

It comes out in a bold stream of about 10 second-feet volume, and 

flows in the ditch constructed for its control. It is 4-! miles north of 

the post-office at Santa Lucia, the office being located at the home of 

Thomas L. Ray, the largest user of the Santa Rosa water for irrigation purposes. The wa~er is under the control of the Pecos River 

Company, and each irrigator pays 50 cent,s per year per acre for suffi-. 

cient for his crops. Mr. Ray planted cottonwoods along the ditches, 

and now his farm is bordered on the north and west sides by stately 

trees that can be seen for 20 miles. He lives in section 104, and irrigates 100 acres. Mr. Levi A. Scott lives 2 miles north of Santa Lucia, 

and irrigates 60 acres from the Santa Rosa (spring) ditch. The crop 

raised is mostly alfalfa, and when visited in June, 1900, all kinds of 

stock were being fattened upon green alfalfa. In addition to the 

alfalfa, Mr. Ray has a thriving orchard of peach trees just coming 

into thrifty bearing. The Santa Lucia systems are shown in the map, 

fig. 5. ' 

BIG BEND. 

The land along the Rio Grande in the Big Bend is very rich and 

will raise any crop that grows in Texas. Its yield is enormous, as 

many as 80 bushels of corn and 50 bushels of wheat being grown to 

the acre. Irrigation on a small scale is practiced extensively. 

Candelaria d'£tch.-At Candelaria, a Mexican settlement on the Rio 

Grande about 45 miles from Shafter, there is an irrigation ditch 4 

miles long, which was built ·by the Mexicans. It is fed by Coyote 

Creek, and irrigates about 200 acres. The Rio Grande is generally 

dry at this point during the irrigation season, but when it flows part 

of its waters are deflected into the Candelaria ditch. 

Dawson system.-At Shafter Mr. G. S. Dawson has two tanks that 

are filled from a strong spring. Small ditches, or acequias, lead from 

the tanks andirrigatehisfarm, orchard, and garden. The land not in 

orchard or garden is sowed in wheat, which is cut green to serve for 

feed, and the land is then plowed and planted in corn and beans. 

Del Rosa ditch.-'rhe Rio Rosa ditch is 6 miles long, 6 feet wide, 
20 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

and from 2 to 4 feet deep. It was built about 1880. A low dam of 

loose rock, 1 or 2 feet high, is constructed across the Rio Grande, and 

serves to irrigate about every other year 1,200 acres. 

Palvo Ir·rigation Company ditch.-About 10 miles below Presidio 

the Palvo Irrigation Company has a ditch 5 miles long, 6 feet wide, 

and 6 feet deep. Water is obtained by means of a dam of loose roc~, 

500 feet long and from 2 to 4 feet high, which was constructed across 

the Rio Grande in 1877. Two miles above Presidio the Rio Concho 

of Mexico enters the Rio Grande, affording an abundant supply for 

this ditch. Above the mouth of the Rio Concho the flow of the Rio 

Grande is unreliable. 

Mulato canal.-Opposite the Palvo canal, on the Mexican side, is 

the Mulato canal, in the State of Chihuahua. This canal shows what 

can be done by irrigation in t,he Big Bend. It is 6 miles long, 10 feet 

wide, 4 feet deep, and supports 1,000 persons. It is taken out of the 

Rio Grande a short distance below the Palvo dam, and reenters the 

river at the Mexican village of Mulato, below Palvo. 

Ernst and Lindsey systems.-N ear Boquillas, on the Rio Grande, 

in Brewster County, there are two small irrigation plants which take 

their water from Tornillo Creek, which is dry most of the year, but 

affords excellent opportunities for impoundi11g. .Mr. A. Ernst owns 

a ditch 900 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 3 feet deep, which was constructed in the early part of 1901, on the east side of the creek. The 

soil here is sandy and of good productive possibilities. Twenty acres, 

in corn, cotton, and beans, were irrigated this year (1902). The 

plant of D. E. Lindsey is on the west side of the creek. The ditch 

was constructed in 1898. It is 1, 500 feet long, 3 feet wide, a~d 2 feet 

deep. The earth dam across the creek is 400 feet long and 6 feet 

high. Thirty acres, in bea1l.s and corn, are cultivated at this plant. 

D·itches along Alamo and Leonc·ito creeks.-Two ditches have been 

taken out of Alamo Creek, in Brewster County. The first of these, 

taken out in 1880, is 2 miles long, 3 feet wide, and irrigates 250 acres 

of corn, beans, wheat, and sorghum. The water is deflected into the 

ditch by a dirt dam 40 feet long and 4 feet high. A ditch has also 

been taken from Leoncito Creek. Its length is one-fourth of a mile, 

its width 1 foot. It irrigates 3 acres of alfalfa. 'rwo other small 

ditches, irrigating about 3 acres each, derive their water from small 

springs. 

Pool systern.-A few miles from Shafter, on the ranch of J. R. Pool, 

5 acres, in vegetables and fruit8, are irrigated. The water is derived 

from springs, and the peaches produced are of excellent quality and 

abundant quantity. 

Hosier Brothers system.-The Hosier Brothers, near Dryden, have 

two small ditches, from which 24 acres are irrigated. The larger one 

is three-fourths of a mile long. It was built in 1898 and 1899, takes 

its water from a spring, and irrigates 19 acres in corn. The smaller 
T.A.YLOR.] PECOS VALLEY SYSTEMS. 21 

ditch was built in 1894, is one-fourth of a mile long, takes its water 

from Arocha Spring Creek, and irrigates 5 acres of sweet potatoes, 

melons, and vegetables. 

Ditches in Jeff Davis Cuunty.-ln Jeff Davis County, along Limbia Creek, several small gardens- and farms, aggregating nearly 100 

acres, are irrigated. 

Templeton systmn.-~rhirteen miles northwest of Alpine and 15 

miles southeast, of Fort Davis, in the county of Jeff Davis, there is an 

irrigated system on the Templet,on ranch. Two natural springs from 

the side of a mountain supply the water to irrigate an 18-acre orchard 

containing about 2,000 fruit trees, consisting of apples, peaches, 

plums, pears, apricots, quince, and almond. The two springs irrigate 

separate pieces of ground. The one near the residence supplies water 

-for domestic use, h·rigates about 2 acres, and waters the domestic 

stock. In connection with this is a cement tank, having a capacity 

of 11,000 gallons, which is supplied by pipes that lead from the spring 

and fill it in about thirty-six hours. rrhis amounts to about one-third 

the flow of the spring. The larger spring irrigates directly 15 acres 

without the intervention of a reservoir. 

Two miles above this place is located a field of about 30 acres which 

is supplied by one or more springs. No ditches are used, but the 

forage crops, consisting of alfalfa, Johnson grass, and cane, are subirrigated, and when not used for pasture the field produces three or four 

crops each year. 

PECOS VALLEY SYSTEMS. 

Pecos River rises in the northeastern part of New Mexico and flows 

in a general southerly direction through the southeastern part of that 

Territory, crossing the western prolongation of Texas and finally 

entering the Rio Grande at about the lower third of the length of 

that stream. It is supplied to a considerable extent by water from 

large springs in the limestone rocks of the region, of which Roswell 

is now the principal town. These maintain the perennial flow of the 

river, the run-off from the catchment basin being irregular in character and diminishing at times to relatively small amounts. 

Large irrigation works have been constructed in the vicinity of 

Roswell, which utilize the greater part of the summer flow of the 

river so that during the dry season of the year little wate1· crosses the 

Texas line. Large storage reservoirs have been created both at Roswell and above Carlsbad. Between Carlsbad and the Texas State 

line there are several reenforcing springs. The water that flows in 

the stream is largely derived from the seepage of irrigated lands 

above, and is often heavily charged with alkaline salts. Irrigation 

canals have, however, been constructed along the valley in Texas, 

principally near the town of Pecos, at the crossing of the Texas and 

Pacific Railroad. The valley is fertile, and where properly irrigated 

large crops are prod need. 
22 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. 

MARGUERETTA CANAL. 

The most important irrigation system along the river in Texas is 

the one about 50 miles from the New Mexico line known as the Margue'retta canal system (see fig. 4). It was begun in 1887 by the 

Pioneer Canal Company, which afterwards consolidated with the 

Margueretta Canal Company, which now owns the whole system. 

Water is diverted by means of a brush dam, it being deemed impracticable to build a masonry structure in the sandy river bed. The dam 

is 250 feet long and 5 feet high. The head gate is shown in Pl. II, A. 

As shown in fig. 4, the canal is taken out of the west side of the river, 

runs in a southwesterly direct.ion for a distance of 3 miles, crosses the 

river in a flume (shown in Pl. III), and then runs in a general easterly 

FIG. 4.-Map of Margueretta canal system. 

direction for 12 miles. There is also a branch continuing down the 

west bank for a considerable distance, being the main part of the old 

Pioneer canal and now known as the West Valley canal, a view of 

which is shown in Pl. II, B. Thirty current-meter measurements 

during 1900 show that this ditch carries an average of 12 second-feet 

of water. The dimensions of the main ditch are: Top width, 30 feet; 

bottom width, 18 feet; depth of water, 4t feet. There are three principal laterals, with bottom widths of 12, 6, and 8 feet, respectively. 

In Pl. IV., A and B, are shown a sluice gate and a measuring weir 

used on the canal. 

The canal was first used in 1889~ and the extent of land irrigated 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WAT ER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 7 1 PL. 11 

A. HEADGATE OF MARGUERETTA CANAL. 

B. ROCK CUT IN CURVE OF WEST VALL EY DITCH, MARGUERETTA CANAL. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURV£Y WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 71 PL. Ill 

MARGUERETTA FLUME ACROSS PECOS RIVER. 
TAYLOR.] PECOS RIVER IRRIGATION COMPANY. 23 

by it is steadily increasing. The total cost of the system was more 

than $150,000, and it is designed to cover about 40,000 acres, only 

6,000 of which are, however, yet under cultivation. The water rights 

are sold at $10 an acre, a permanent right guaranteeing 25 miners' 

inches of water 'to the acre. The annual rental is $1 and $1.50 for 

each acre served with water. The principal crop is cotton, of 

which there are about 3,500 acres. The other crops cultivated are 

alfalfa, sugar beets, and all kinds of forage plants, fruits, and vegetables. Sugar beets tested in 1896 showed between 14 and 20 per 

cent of saccharine matter. Peaches, apples, and grapes do well. 

Cotton averages 500 pounds of lint to the acre. The annual rainfall 

is about 12 inches. Owing to the high elevation (2, 700 feet) the 

seasons are much later than in most of the. irrigated districts of the 

State. 

The enterprise seems to have been conducted with energy and care, 

the canals and head gates are well planned and well built, and altogether the scene about Barstow, the center of the irrigated portion, 

has a general air of healthy growth and prosperity that is very pleasing to the eye after the many miles of desert scenery between there 

and El Paso. There are, however, a number of problems that must. 

be solved before agriculture will be everywhere succe.ssful. Much of 

the land is impregnated with what is known as alkali. At first this 

does not prove troublesome, but after a few years of cultivation it 

may be brought to the surface by injudicious treatment, and the 

river water used in irrigation continually adds to the supply of this 

mineral matter. r-rhe only remedy so far applied is drainage, which 

is as important in it,s way as irrigation. The land is nearly level, 

and considerable care will be required to provide means by which the 

accumulated alkali can be washed from the soil. 

One of the principal crops is alfalfa, which sells at $8 a ton on the 

cars at Pecos and $10 a ton retail. Alfalfa (Medicago sat-il'a) will 

grow on almost any land, under almost any conditions, but satisfactory results can be expected only on a naturally deep, loose, porous 

soil, preferably deep sand, underlain with gravel, so that good drainage is assured. 

PECOS RIVER IRRIGATION COMPANY. 

About 28 miles below Pecos is the head gate of the canal of the 

Pecos River Irrigation Company, on the west side of the river, running in a general southeasterly direction for 12 miles. It is the oldest 

1itch on the river in Texas, having been built in 1875 and 1876. It 

was enlarged in 1889 and used again in 1890, but has never been 

<:~ntirely completed in its enlarged condition. It takes all its water 

'-)y means of a brush-and-stone dam about 60 feet long and from 5 to 

'3 feet high. The -total cost of the undertaking was about $:35,000. 

·~twas designed to irrigate 20,000 acres, but only 100 acres were irri~ 
24 iRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. (NO. 71. 

gated in 1901. The water supply was very short for several years, 

especially in 1892, 1893, 1894, and 1898, after the dam at Carlsbad, 

N.Mex., was completed. The flow has increased since then, but the 

river becmnes quite low and the water bitter in March and April of 

each year. The soils and crops raised are similar to those at Pecos 

and at Barstow, but as at times only 15 second-feet of water are permitted to pass Pecos, the supply and quality are entirely inadequate 

to meet the demands. 

GRAND FALLS. 

The Grand Falls Irrigation and Improvement Company takes out a 

canal 4 miles below the head gates of the one last described, but on 

the opposite side of the river. It was begun in 1896, and 16 miles of 

it are finished. It is supplied by a brush-and-stone dam across the 

FIG. 5.-Map of Grand Falls and Santa Lucia irrigation systems. 

river, 100 feet long and 7 feet high. The water rights are valued at 

$15 an acre; the annual assessment is $1.25 an acre. The company 

has completed an excellent system of canals in one of the most fertile valleys in Texas (see fig. 5), but the enterprise, like that of the 

Pecos River Irrigation Company, left two factors out of its calculations or gave them too little weight-i. e., the minimum flow of the 

river and the amount of alkali it carries at low stages. Both factors 

prove almost conclusively that only alfalfa can be raised on either 

side of the river near Grand Falls. The brackish condition of the 

water will affect the young alfalfa, but after it gets stronger it, can 

stand it and water can be applied at will. By judicious management 

a small amount of alfalfa can be produced in paying quantities, notwithstanding the alkali in the water. The Pecos and Grand Falls 

systems have fallen far below expectations. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SUAVEY WATER-SU PPLY PAPER NO. 71 PL IV 

.A. SL U ICE GATE U SED ON MARGUERETT A CANAL, 

B. MEASURING WEIR ADOPTED BY PIONEER CA NAL COMPANY. 
TAYLOR.] DEL RIO. 

EDWARDS PLATEAU SYSTEMS. 

The Edwards Plateau comprises the region bounded by Colorado 

River on the north and northeast, by the International and Great 

Northern and the Southern Paeific railroads, and by Pecos River. 

The systems treated under this section are those included in the 

plateau and its foothills, including, in whole or in part, the systems 

in the counties of Valverde, Kinney, Edwards, Kimble, Menard, San 

Saba, and Kerr. Ji_,rom the foothills of the plateau numerous large 

springs gush forth from the limestone rocks, and many of these have 

been utilized for water-power and irrigation purposes. Springs occur 

at Lampasas (the Hancock and Hanna springs; volume, 15 secondfeet); at Walton's ranch, near Bartlet,t; at Mormon Springs (volume, 

10 second-feet,), on the banks of the Colorado, 1 mile above the Austin 

dam; at Barton Springs, 1t miles southwest of Austin (with a volume 

varying from 18 t,o 70 second-feet, the average being 30 second-feet); 

at San Marcos, forming San Marcos River (minimum volume, 70 secondfeet); at New Braunfels (minimum volume, 300 second-feet), forming 

Comal River; at San Ant,onio, with a volume varying from 9 to 125 

second-feet; at Uvalde, with a volume varying from 0 to 15 secondfeet; at Brackettville (the Las Moras, with a minimum volume of 21 

second-feet); at Del Rio, in the San Felipe Springs and Creek, with a 

minimum volume of 60_second-feet; along Upper N ueces River, in the 

Edwards Plateau; the Kickapoo Spring, in Tom Green County, etc. 

The systems treated here are those ·at Del Rio, including Cienagas 

Creek; those along Mud and Los Moras creeks; those along the Upper 

Nueces; those near Menardville; and those in Kerr, Kimble, and 

Edwards counties. 

DEL RIO. 

At Del Rio is one of the most effective and successful irrigation systems in Texas. A map of it is shown in fig. 6. The water is supplied 

from San Felipe Creek, a short stream formed by four large springs, 

about 1 mile east of the town, within a fourth of a mile of one another. 

In the ±t miles from the springs to t,he Rio Grande the fall of the stream 

is 62 feet, thus furnishing an excellent water power for manufacturing 

purposes. Four ditches have been takc:m out, two of them for irrigation. They are supplied with water by means of two permanent 

masonry dams 65 and 150 feet in length, respectively, and each 8 feet 

high. 1~he smaller dam, shown in Pl. V, B, is nearest the springs, 

and is the starting point of the San Felipe ditch, shown in Pl. V, A. 

The first ditch was started in 1868 by James H. Taylor and others. 

The company purchased about 6,000 acres of land, including Cienagas 

and San Felipe creeks. In 18()9 several hundred aci·es were irrigated 

from this diteh. The second ditch was taken out in 1869, with a 

capacity to serve 1, 600 acres. The third was started in 1873; 2t miles 

were built in 1874, and it was widened and completed in 1875. The 
26 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. (NO. 71. 

ditches are now owned by the San Felipe Agricultural, Mechanical, 

and Irrigation Company, the shares in which are held by owners of 

the land commanded by the ditches. The total cost of the ditches 

was about $25,000, and the annual cost of maintaining them is about 

50 cents per acre per annum. The main ditches measure about 4-k 

miles in length and are 10 feet wide at the top, have perpendicular 

Rides, and carry about 2 feet of water. · The laterals are fOlu in 

number, with an average width of 4 feet and a total length of 24~ 

miles, making the total length of the ditches 30 miles. The area 

irrigated is 3,600 acres (in meadow, cotton, corn, gardens, orchards, 

FIG. 6.-Map ~f Del Rio irrigation system. 

and vineyards), although 5,000 acres can be irrigated. All kinds of 

fruits and vegetables are grown in profusion. On June 15 of this 

year (1902) melons, plums, and apples were ripe. The impression 

made on the traveler who comes from the droughty and sun-scorched 

plains is not soon forgotten. This cultivated tract has been so isolated from the rest of the agricultural world that none of the diseases 

which so reduce the profits of the grape and fruit grower elsewhere 

have yet been introduced. Grapes produce from 6,000 to 10,000 

pounds to the acre, and are most.ly made into wine, the yield of which 

is from 10 to 16 barrels to the acre. 
A. DAM SUPPLYING SAN FEL I PE DITCH AT DEL RIO. 

B. DAM SUPPLYING MADRE DITC H AT DEL R IO. 
TAYLOR.l CIENAGAS AND MUD CREEKS. 27 

CIENAGAS CREEK. 

Cienagas Creek rises in the Cienagas Spring-, in section 179, about 

3 miles west of' Del Rio. A dam 690 feet long and 25 feet high was 

constructed across the creek in 1875. This deflected the water into a 

ditch that skirted the foothills to the west,, and then turned toward 

the east, after crossing the tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad, as 

shown in fig. 7. The ditch is 3-k miles long, 6 feet wide, and 4 feet 

deep., The flow is sufficient to irrigate 800 acres. The principal crop . 

is Johnson grass, which is raised for hay. The year 1900 was so wet 

FIG. 7.-Map of Cienagas Creek irrigation system. 

all over Texas that no irrigation was needed to produce an excellent 

hay crop. The hay farms ~lie along the Southern Pacific Railroad, 

between it and the Rio Grande. The yield in 1900 was 5 tons to the 

acre. 

MUD CREEK. 

Mud Creek, which is about halfway between Las Moras and San 

Felipe creeks, has had a varied hist,ory. Several attempts have been 

made to utilize its waters for irrigation purposes. The creek rises in 

large springs about 7 miles north of the crossing of the Southern 
28 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OJ;, TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

Pacific Railroad. At one time there was a dam across the stream 

just below the springs which backed the water over the springs, and 

it ·was claimed that this was one of the causes of the stream going 

dry. The dam was finally blown out, but the creek did not regain its 

former flow until the spring of 1900. It was practically dry from 1893 

FIG. 8.-Map of Mud Creek irrigation system 

to 1899. Its revival was simultaneous with the revival of the Leona 

and San Antonio rivers. A ditch, shown in fig. 8, is taken out of the 

creek on its west side 3 miles above the railroad, and in 1900 about 

400 acres were irrigated from it. 

LAS MORAS CREEK. 

Las Moras Creek rises in large springs near Brackett. The flow in 

1895 was 21 second-feet, and in 1900 it was 51 second-feet. The 

waters of the m·eek are used for irrigating farms and gardens.within 

10 miles of Brackett. 

Government d-itch.-The ditch nearest to Brackett, shown in fig. 9, 

is the property of the Government, being used by the Seminole Negro 

Indians, who live on the Fort Clark Reservation. It is on the west 

side of the creek, and is about 1 mile long, 5 feet wide, and 1 foot 

deep. 

Indelkoje1·- Gilder &itch.-The Indelkofer-Gilder ditch, .also on the 

west side of the creek, is taken out 1 mile below the intake of the 

Seminole ditch. Its dimensions are: Length, GOO feet; width, 4 feet, 

and depth, 1 foot; 15 acres are irrigated from it. 

McGovern ditch.~The :McGovern ditch, from which 8 acres are 

irrigated, is taken out on the east side a short distance above the 

intake of the Indelkofer-Gilder ditch. Its length is 600 yards, depth 

1 foot, and width 5 feet. 
TAYLOR.) LAS MORAS CREEK. 29 

Srnith and Stratton ditches.-About 6 miles below Brackett two 

ditches-the Smith and the Str;1tton-are taken out, one on the west 

and the other on the east side of the creek. The Smith ditch is 600 

feet long, 4 feet wide, and 1 foot deep, and irrigates from 6 to 10 

acres of garden. The Stratton dit,ch is 3 miles long, 8 feet wide, and 

1 foot deep, and irrigates a hay farm of 250 acres below the Southern 

Pacific Railroad. In March, 1902, through litigation, Judge Stratton 

lost part control of the ditch which bears his name, and he therefore 

abandoned it and installed a pumping plant on the Las Moras. This 

iFI Braclretf 

t.Clar~ -~~ 

1) 

~~ 

Cotes 

Maverick\ 

~, N lfl ,~-,L--- 1 _ __. 

)fit, 419 ~li"~'---------· 11 

~ r 

231 ~/} 

~-----------------_, ~ 

6~ ·~,II 

~\ ~~ ~~~~ . 

12 

II 

10 

Dolores town tract 

$ 

8 

FIG. 9.-Map of Las Moras Creek irrigation systems.· 

plant can readily be seen from the Southern Pacific trains as they 

near the bridge on the Las Moras. The machinery consists of a 40-

horsepower Ames steam engine, which operates an 8-inch Gould centrif gal pump against a lift which varies from 17 to 20 feet. Eagle 

Pas coal is used for fuel, and it requires 2,500 pounds for a complete 

day' run. The capacity of the plant is 4,750 minute-gallons, and in 

ver dry seasons it exhausts the twent.y-four hours' impounded flow of 

the as Moras in two and a half hours. A small dam is constructed 

aero s the stream, which forms a reservoir in the channel, and is allowed 
30 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [No. 71. 

to impound the water in irrigation season for twenty-four hours. The 

water is delivered into a flume 15 by 30 inches, 2,000 feet long, which 

carries it to the highest point of the land. Johnson grass is the main 

crop,. and t,hree crops are made each season, averaging 2 tons to the 

acre, which in August, 1902, was selling for $14 a ton. This is somewhat higher than usual, but it never sold for less than $11 a ton. 

SAN SABA VALLEY. 

The San Saba River rises in springs 1i and 3 miles above Fort 

McKavett. The total flow of these at the crossing a mile below town 

was found on August 14, 1902, to be 13 second-feet. There are in all 

eleven different irrigatio~ systems in Menard County that take their 

water from the river or the springs that feed it. These are the Ball, 

Perry, Byers, Dickinson, Striegler, Spitgarber, Uoghlan, Noyes, Sieker, 

Kitchen, and Vanderstiicken. 

Ball systmn.-The plant of Tom Ball is north of Fort McKavett 

and takes its water from the San Saba by means of a pump run by 

a 20-horsepower steam engine. It is intended to irrigate 50 acres. 

Perry system.-Seven miles east of Fort McKavett, on the south 

side of the river, W. J. Perry irrigates 30 acres from the Sheen spring, 

which comes out of the foothills in a flow of 1 second-foot. This 

systt\m has been in operation a long time, and double the acreage 

could be brought under irrigation. 

Spitgarber and Coghlan systems.-At the Spitgarber ranch, 6 miles 

above Menardville, there is a bold spring flowing out of the foothills. 

A ditch taps this spring and irrigates 20 acres. One mile above the 

Spitgarber ranch, on the Coghlan ranch, occurs another spring. A 

ditch taps the outflow of this spring and irrigates 40 acres. 

Byers systems.-Twelve miles above· Menard ville is Byers's vineyard. The dam is almost as unique in construction as that of Captain 

Sieker. Into the rock bottom holes were drilled across the river and 

small iron posts were inserted. An iron brace was attached to each 

post, the other end of the brace fitting a hole drilled into the rock bottom. A plank was attached to the upper side of each post and 

adjusted to fit the configuration of the river bed. On the top of this 

bottom plank another plank was placed and attached to the posts. 

The race was blasted out of the solid rock on t,he north side of the 

river. Two stone piers were built up to form supports for the axis of 

the undershot water wheel. To the wheel are attached buckets which 

carry a certain amount of water to the level above, and in addition 

the wheel is mad~ to operate a pump which reinforces the flow from 

the buckets. This plant irrigates a vineyard, the fruit of which is 

converted into wine. A half mile below this vineyard is the plant of 

the younger Byers, which is similar to that just described. 

Olear Creek systerns.-Clear Creek, 3 miles long, issues from the 

mountains in a bold spring, which had a capacity on August 14,1902, 
TAYLOR.] SAN SABA VALLEY. 31 

when measured, of 21 8econd-feet. ':rhe owner, W. J. Wilkinson, a 

settler of forty years' residence, states that during the summer the 

flow is larger than it is during the winter. The waters are used by 

two small irrigation systems, the Wilkinson and the Striegler. A 

small rock dam at the head deflects part of the waters into the two 

ditches of the Wilkinson system, from which 12 acres are irrigated on 

each side of the creek. Near the mouth of the creek 0. Striegler, by 

means of a rock dam 8 feet high and about 50 feet in total length, 

that deflects the water into a ditch on the left side of the creek, irrigates 18 acres in corn, cotton, oats, melons, etc. It is well to remember that the capacity of this creek was exactly three-fourths of that 

of the Noyes ditch near the courthouse in :Menardville on the same 

day-. 

Old Mission ditch.-The San Saba mission was established at what 

is now known as old Fort San Saba in 1734, and it was from this the 

river took its name. The Franciscan fathers who established the 

mission constructed a system of irrigation the remains of which can 

213 

212 185 186 32/2 176 175 273 

0

/z Scale 

Indianola 

li'.R.Co. 

Jmiles 

FIG. 10.-Map of Menard ville irrigation systems. 

be easily traced to-day. The dam was a short distance above the 

mission and the ditch was taken out on the south side of the river and 

skirted the hills one-half mile above Menardville. 

There are three systems near Menardville-the Vaughan, the Sieker, 

and th13 Kitchen. (See fig. 10.) 

Noyes ditch.-The Noyes ditch is nearly 10 miles long. The dam 

is built across San Saba River about 4 miles above Menardville, 

and the water returns to the river 5 miles below that town. The 

charter was obtained by the Vaughan Agricultural and Improvement 

Company in 1874, and the d,itch was built soon after. It. is claimed 

that this company put $12,000 into the work. This was an excessive 

cost, extra expense being incurred by the refusal of right of way in 

one instance, forcing the company to make a cut 16 feet deep and 

several hundred feet long. Further, the methods employed were rude 

and costly. Wheelbarrows were used to move the dirt, and in the 

cut the earth was thrown on staging and passed from man to man. 

There are 97 shares of stock, valued at $180 each. One year $1,200 
32 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. (NO. 71. 

was spent in improvements and another year $1,000, but the ditch 

pays all running expenses, cost of improvements, and 10 per cent on 

the shares at the foregoing valuation. 

After construction the grade of the ditch was found to be irregular 

and unsuitable, so work has been done each year-cutting and fillingto reduce the slope above the Las :Moras flume to a nearly uniform 

grade of 30 inches to the mile. At the flume there is a fall of 14 inches 

in 128 feet. At the point of the mountain, where the ditch curves 

with the hill and runs through rock, it is lessened in size and has a 

much steeper grade. The grade of 30 inches to the mile was established experimentally and satisfies as nearly as possible the necessity 

of avoiding silting on the one hand and erosion on the other. The 

ditch runs through coarse gravel part of the way, and there is a heavy 

loss from percolation. The straightening of the ditch, the reduction 

of the grade, and the tightening of the dam have given an available 

flow of water sufficient to irrigate 2,000 acres of land. 

The dam is of rough limestone quarried at the spot, averaging, 

where seen on t,he front, 2 feet by 3 feet by 10 inches, and laid in 

courses without cement. The blocks are tied by bolts fastened to a 

log under the dam, passing up through the dam, and at the top are 

fastened by taps to cross-t,ies lying along the upper surface. The 

dam is slightly concave, and is about 200 feet long and 5t feet high at 

the center of the front, with an irregular batter. It is 13t feet wide 

on top at the center. It rests partly on rock and partly on gravel, 

and is backed with earth on a slope of nearly 2 to 1. 

The water stands within a few inches of the top of the clam and 

overflows at every rise in 'the river. .Judging from the high-water 

marks there are 10 or 12 feet of wat,er passing over it at times. Below 

the dam is a pile of loose bowlders which holds the leakage through 

the dam and forms a water cushion to receive the fall. . At every 

high rise the dirt is washed from the back of the dam, and when the 

water subsides it is at once replaced by dirt scraped from the north· 

side of the river. The dam backs the water about 500 yards, the 

deepest hole being about 15 feet. 'rhe water is taken out on the 

south side, 100 or more yards ahove the dam, and is carried in a cut 

to the sluice gate a short distance below the dam. 

A section of the ditch made a few hundred yards below the sluice 

gate gave the following dimensions: Top width, 15.2 feet; bottom 

width, 8 feet; depth, 2. 7 feet; wetted perimeter, 16.5 feet; area, 29.83 

square feet; maximum surface velocity, 2.17 feet per second, and 

mean velocity, 1.54 feet per second. The velocity was measured for 

100 feet above and below the section, where there was not a very great 

difference in the dimensions of the ditch. The fall of the surface was 

found to be 0.1 foot in 195, or 1 foot in 1,950, or 2. 7 feet in a mile. 

This, with a coefficient of n=0.03, would give a velocity of 1.57 feet 

per second, which is very near the observed velocity of flow, and 
TAYLOR.] SAN SABA VALLEY. 33 

gives a discharge of 46 cubic feet per second, or 2,300 inches, estimating 50 inches to 1 foot. 

The flow of the main ditch · was measured by current meter in 

August, 1902, at the bridge near the Methodist Church and it was 

found to be 28 second-feet. Two small ditches, one on the north side 

of Main street and the other skirting the foothills of the south, taken 

out above the bridge referred to, were carrying one-third and 1 secondfoot, respectively. 

As to the amount of water required to the acre, one man who irrigates 40 acres of land uses 40 inches of water and occasionally needs 

a little more. On another farm they use 15 inches of water on 12 

acres of garden truck. On the upper part of the ditch above the 

town the water is measured and distributed by the inch; that is, if a 

man wants 20 inches of water the gate opening on his ditch is set for 

a 20-inch flow and remains in that position throughout the season. 

From the town down they use the water in rotation, because, owing 

to a mistake in laying out the distributaries, the use of water above 

interferes with the flow below. So they alternate every seven days, 

the residents above using ·an the water that reaches them during that 

period, the lower owner having all the water during the next seven 

days. One-half mile below the town the Waller lateral runs off to 

the left toward the river bend. At present (1902) it is the custom 

to let those on the Waller have the whole flow one week and those on 

the main ditch the next, etc. 

Assuming the acreage irrigated to be 2,000 acres, we have from our 

calculated flow a little more than 1 inch to the acre, which is the 

allowance in actual use, and a duty of 44 acres per cubic foot per second of flow for the water entering the main ditch. These measurements were made at but one point, and can be considered only 

approximate for the whole ditch. For accuracy they should be 

repeated at a number of points and proper allowance be made for percolation and leakage. In general, the estimate is that three waterings of 4 inches will make a crop. 

Bieker system,.-One mile below Menardville is the dam of Capt. 

L. P. Sieker. It is of peculiar construction, as shown in fig. 11. In 

- a line across the river piles 6 feet apart were driven into the bed of 

the river with a pile driver, being left 5 feet above the river bottom. 

Parallel to this row and 6 feet from it another row of piles was driven 

in such a way that the piles of the lower row were immediately below 

those of the upper row. The piles were thus located at the corners of 

6-foot squares. The piles of the lower row projected only 3 feet 

above the bed of the river. Sheathing boards 2 inches thick were 

spiked on the upper side of the upper row of piles, while logs were 

laid against the upper side of the lower row of piles and were wired 

to them. The inclosure between the sheathing and the logs was 

filled with loose stone. This added weight and increased the stability 

IRR 71-02--3 
34 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

already obtained by sinking the piles. To prevent leakage cedar 

tops were piled above the dam and were tramped into the soil and 

against the dam. On top of the cedar boughs earth was filled to 

within a short distance of the top. This method of constructing a 

dam has proved very successful. The dam is 380 feet long, 5 feet 

high, and 6 feet wide. 

FIG.ll.-Cross section of Sieker's dam on San Saba River. 

From the lake thus formed leads the ditch known as the Mamie 

ditch, built in 1894. It was chartered for a length of 4 miles, but 

only 1! miles have been constructed. It is 6 feet wide and 2 feet 

deep. At one place it is forced to within 30 feet of the river, on 

account of the foot,hills crowding up to the river bank. The cut at 

this place was 18 feet deep and the bottom of the ditch 9 feet above 

FIG. 12.-Flexible pipe joint used on the Mamie ditch. 

the ordinary wat,er level of the river. One hundred and seventy-five 

acres are irrigated from the ditch, but it has a capacity of 200 acres. 

The chief crops are cotton and corn. Cotton averages from 1! to 2 

bales and costs $1.25 a bale for transportation t,o the railroad. Corn ' 

brings from 15 to 20 cents more a bushel than at the markets on the 

railroad. Sweet potatoes average 250 bushels to the acre. 

1..,he ditch crosses four st,reams, Millers Branch, Temple Branch, 
TAYLOR.) SAN SABA VALI~EY. 35 

Temple Field Creek, and Scalp Creek. At first the old form of 

wooden flume was used across these creeks and branches, the channels being 4 feet wide and' 2 feet deep, but the excessive heat of 

summer caused constant leaks in the flumes, and they were finally 

abandoned as water carriers. The sides were taken off and the 

floors were left as supports for the pipe lines which were snbst,ituted to carry the water across the creeks. To counteractt.he expansion due to tlH~ heat a flexible joint, shown in fig. 12, was designed to 

connect the sections of the pipe. After the ends were brought 

together several inches of the pipe near the joint was heavily coated 

with North Carolina tar, heavy canvas was wrapped around the joint, 

the whole was again tarred, and the canvas was securely strapped to 

the pipes by wires twisted around the joint. A bulkhead was constructed across the ditch on each side of the creeks and- the pipes were 

built into the bulkheads. At ].\fillers Branch the flume pipe is 90 feet 

long, 18 inches in diameter, and has a fall of 14 inches; at Temple 

Branch the length of the pipe is 50 feet, its diameter 15 inches, and 

the fall!) inches; the Temple Field flume pipe is 125 feet long and 12 

inches in diameter, and the fall is 18 inches; at Scalp' Creek the 

length of the pipe is 180 feet, its diameter 13 inches, and the fall 18 

inches. All of these flexible joints and pipe flumes have proved 

eminently satisfactory. 

Kitchen ditch.-~rhis ditch is taken out 6t miles below Menardville 

and 5i- miles below the Sieker or Mamie dam. The dam is of brush, 

rock, and dirt, a l>ou t 7 5 feet long and 7 feet high. The ditch leading 

from the lake formed by the dam is 4i- miles long, 6 feet wide, and 2 

feet deep. Three hundred acres were irrigated from it in 1902. 

Vanderst·ii.cken system.-Twelve miles east of Menardville~ on San 

Saba River, is a pumping plant owned by Emile Vanderstiicken, 

consisting of a 28-horsepower steam engine operating by a belt a 

VanWie centrifugal pump having a capacity of 5,000 gallons a minute, or 11 second-feet,, with a lift of 31 feet. The total cost of the plant 

was $1,500. No reservoir is used, the water being carried in a flume 

to the highest point on the land and distributed by ditches. The 

flume .runs along a ridge for 150 feet and then branches. 

Sloan systern.-At Sloan, San Saba County, there is a series of perennial springs that gush forth from the foothills near San Saba River. 

Originally the water ran down to the low grounds and formed a pond, 

but about 1870 a ditch was constructed along t,he foothills to the river, 

which took the water away from the pond, and it soon dried up. A 

st.one dam 200 feet long and 4 feet high was built to deflect the water 

into the ditch. The ditch shown in fig. 13 is 1 mile long, 5 feet wide, 

and ·1 foot deep. The former pond is now an irrigated farm, through 

which runs a long sag. To convey the water across this sag a rock 

race and a pine and cypress flume are used. The soil is a rich, black 

loam, slightly sandy. The crops raised are corn, cotton, ribbon cane, . . 
36 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

and sweet potatoes. The yield per acre is generally from 40 to 60 

bushels of corn, from 1 to 2 bales of cotton, about 290 gallons of 

molasses, and from 150 to 300 bushels of potatoes. The ditch is 

owned by Mr. J. A. Sloan & Sons, and in 1902 it irrigated 186 acres. 

Scale 

o V4 Vz mile i::=::====::::::I=========:::::J 

1.20 

66 

65 

FIG. 13.-Map of Sloan irrigation system. 

Doran system.-Seventeen miles west of the town of San Saba is 

the irrigation plant of W. R. Doran. The water is drawn from the 

river through a ditch 600 feet long into a pond from which it is 

pumped into the flume. A 16-horsepower engine runs a centrifugal 

pump against a lift of 28 feet, delivering 2 cubic feet per-sec-
TAYLOR.) S.AN S.ABA VALLEY. 37 

ond. One hundred acres;(in cotton, mill,et, cane, and corn) are to be 

irrigated. · · :: · · : I}· · ·. · 

West & Burnet system.-Ten miles northwest of San Saba West & 

Burnet have constructed an impounding reservoir of an estimated 

capacity of 20,000,000 gallons, by making a dam across a drainway. 

Tlie dam is 705 feet long, 14 feet high, and cost nearly $1,000. The 

ordinary crops will be irrigated and the number of acres the canal 

will serve will be determined by trial. 

King system.-Probably the oldest irrigation plant in the San Saba 

country is that of the King Sisters (I .. arkin King, manager), just above 

Sloan, on the south side of the river. There are two springs, known 

as the Fl ming Springs, that issue from the foothills of the mountains 

and supp y the King farm with sufficient water to irrigate 40 acres. 

Ellis s stem.-Twelve miles above San Saba, on the south side of 

the river, Robert Ellis operates a pump irrigation plant, which was 

first erec ed late in the season of 1902. A stationary tubular 25-

horsepow r boiler furnishes steam to a 20-horsepower engine, which 

drives a -inch Rumsey pump against a lift of 25 feet. The water is 

pumped ut of a walled-in well 6 feet in diameter and 19 feet deep 

from top ~curbing, the well being supplied from the San Saba River 

by a 15-i ch wooden pipe, constructed of leveled 2 by 4 pine lumber. 

The wate is pumped into a canal that conveys it to the fields onefourth mi e from the pump. Ordinary crops of corn, cotton, etc., are 

irrigated. 

Hawki s system .. --Eight miles above San Saba, on the farm of Mrs. 

M. E. Co k, Thomas Hawkins has equipped a pumping plant by a 

12-horsep wer charter gasoline engine, which runs a 4-inch vertical 

Van W ie centrifugal pump against a lift of 33 feet. The plant cost 

$825, and ith it, by the use of $4 worth of oil, 6 acres can be irrigated 

by the, fu row system each day. By this plant 40 to 50 acres can be 

irrigated ach season. 

Propos d canal system.-Many surveys have been made with the 

view of pItting in an irrigation system on a large scale in the San 

Saba Val ey. Seventeen miles above the town of San Saba, at the 

Narrows, the river issues from the canyons which it has traversed 

for a dist nee of 60 miles, from a point about 12 miles below Menardville. Fr m the Narrows to the junction of the San Saba and Colorado a fe tile valley on each side of the San Saba River could easily 

be broug t under irrigation. The flow of the San Saba at the 

Narrows, s determined by two measurements in June, 1902, by the 

writer, at a time when no rain of importance had fallen in its watershed for wo years previous, was found to be 24.5 second-feet. 'ro 

irrigate t e 42,000 acres in the valley below, a system of storage 

reservoir could easily be constructed by putting in dams across the 

river at e Narrows and near the mouth of Brady Creek. The 

deflecting dam at the Narrows would be about 550 feet long and 60 

feet high to fill the north valley canal, which would bring under · 
38 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

ditch all of the north valley between Doran's ranch and the Colorado. 

Two distinct surveys have been made by independent parties with 

the view of putting in a complete irrigation system in this valley. 

The soil is rich, and the possibility of .. rrigating the lands in the 

valley by storing up the flood waters in the deep canyons offers easy 

construction for the prospectors. Between the deflecting dam and 

Menardville t.here would be no adverse interest to complicate the 

situation, as there are no farming lands in this section of the river to 

be covered. 

Systems east of San Saba.-Just east of San Saba there is a large 

tract of land extending from the mill creek that skirts the town to the 

foothills 3 miles east. This land could be irrigated easily, and offers 

an inviting field. From the lake formed by the clam across the creek 

a stone race leads out into a ditch th~t commands several hundred 

acres. The ditch is 2 miles long and is well built, as is shown by the 

substantial flume about one-fourth of a mile from the dam, which was 

used to carry the water across a sag. This ditch has not been utilized 

for two or three years, but it is reported that it will be brought into 

use again for the season of Hl02. Near the foothills east of San Saba 

an effective spring, known as the Barnet Spring, furnishes sufficient 

water to irrigate the lands of Hambert Brothers and those of Mrs. 

Farrar. The ditch is a small surface trench, and could be rendered 

much more effective by repairs. 

Maxwell systern.-Twelve miles southeast of San Saba, on Rough 

Creek, Z. T. ·Maxwell has an irrigated farm of 40 acres, the water for 

which is 'supplied by perennial springs on the mountains. The water 

is conveyed from the springs by a ditch 1,500 feet long, which is tapped 

by three side ditches. The main dit,ch has a fall of 1 foot in every 300, 

while the side ditches have a fall of 1 foot in every 600. The soil is 

partly black loam and partly chalky and sandy. The farm has been 

in operation since 1880, and is one of the most successful in Texas. 

The crop in 1901 was distributed as follows: Twenty-one acres of 

onions, 2 acres of cabbages, 2 acres .of tomatoes, 10 acres of millet, 5 

acres of cane, and the remainder in corn, wheat, etc. A second crop 

is raised on the small-grain and the onion land. In 1901 the onion 

land yjelded 180 bushels to the acre and a second crop of 50 bushels 

of peas to the acre. 

Baker systern.-Near Sloan post-office, on Richland Creek, a t:dbntary of San Saba River, about 30 miles northwest of the town of San 

Saba, George Baker has a system of ditches from which he irrigates 

150 acres, the principal crop being cotton. The water is taken from 

the Richland Spring by a cement and stone dam 25 feet long and 5 

feet high. There are 2 miles of ditches on both sides of the creek, 

the width and depth of which are 4 feet and 2 feet, respectively. The 

plant was inaugurated in 1870, and the yield from the black and waxy 

valleys on each side of the creek is from 1 t to 2 bales of cotton to the 

acre. 
'tAYLOR.) IRRIGATION SYSTEM OF TEXAS. 39 

UPPER NUECES. 

There are several small irrigation plants in Edwards and Uvalde 

counties, on the prongs of N ueces and Frio rivers, in the vicinity of 

Leakey, Barksdale, Vance, Riofrio, Montell, and I..~aguna. The following persons have irrigation plants: Tom Woods and M. Clymer, 

near RockSprings; W. B. Patterson and H. Elms, near Leakey; W. D. 

Hutcheson, 0. A. V. Burr, John Nelson, M. Red, J. W. Sparks, W. F. 

Woodward, S. W. McLaughlin, Mrs. W. A. Connell, W. A. Shockley, 

.J. K. Lippard, B. F. Casey, J. H. Woods, and E. M. Jones, near Barksdale; Z. H. Pannell and A. R. Barker, near Vance; W. T. Patterson, 

near Riofrio; J. H. Etheridge, at Montell, and William Landrum, at 

Laguna. 

Woods system.-1..,he Tom Woods plant is a small one on the Pulliam Prong of Nueces River. It was built in 1883. The dam, which 

is 150 feet long and 1 t feet high, deflects the water int,o the ditch. It 

is made of logs, rock, and dirt. The ditch is 600 yards long, 2t feet 

wide, and 1 foot deep. The soil is black alluvial along the banks of 

the stream, and 8 acres are irrigated and planted in corn, potatoes, 

cane, and Johnson grass. The yields per acre are as follows: Thirtythree bushels of corn, 200 bushels of potatoes, 2 tons of cane, and from 

3 to 4 tons of Johnson grass. About 1 acre is sublet to another party 

for a garden. 

Clynwr system.-The plant of M. Clymer was constructed in 1897, 

and consists of a ditch 1,300 feet long, ~ feet wide, and about 1 foot 

deep. It takes its water direct, without the aid of a dam, from Hackberry Creek, a tributary of the East Prong of Nueces River. The 

soil is a black loam, 4 acres of which are irrigated for garden truck. 

Hutcheson system.-W. D. Hutcheson, near Barksdale, has two 

ditches, both of which take their water from the South Prong of 

Campswood Creek, a tributary of Nueces River. The first ditch was 

taken out in 1889, on the east side of the creek. It is 500 yards long, 

2 feet wide, and about 1 foot deep. It takes its water from the creek 

without the aid of a dam. The second ditch was built in 1893, on the 

west side of the crP.ek. It is 400 yards long and of ·the same general 

dimensions as the first ditch. The water is deflected into it by a rockand-earth dam 20 feet long and 3 feet high. The first ditch irrigates 

7 acres and the latter 13 acres. The soil is a rich, black loam, and 

readily produces 40 bushels of corn or 1 bale of cotton to the acre. 

Nelson system.-John Nelson's plant was inaugurated about ten 

years ago. It is near the post-office of Barksdale, on the South Prong 

of Campswood Creek. The dam is of logs, stones, and earth, is 30 

feet long and 4 feet high, and deflects the water into the ditch. The · 

latter is taken oli.t on the left bank, is 600 yards long, 25 feet wide, and 

about 1 foot deep, and irrigates 150 acres in corn, potatoes, and cane, 

yielding 40 bushels of corn, 280 bushels of potatoes, and 5 tons of 

cane to the acre. 
40 IRRIG.ATION SYSTEMS OF TEX.AS. [NO, 71 •. 

Red system.-The ditch of M. Red is on the South Prong of Campswood Creek, near the Barksdale post,-office. It is 625 yards long, 2i 

feet wide, and of an average depth of 1 foot. It was constructed in 

1890, and takes the water from the stream by means of a log, stone~ 

and dirt dam 18 feet long and 2-! feet high. Twen.ty-three acres of 

black, porous limestone soil, in corn, potatoes, cane, and vegetables, 

are irrigated. The yield per acre is 40 bushels of corn, 225 bushels 

of sweet potatoes, and 5 tons of cane. 

Sparks system.-The ditch of J. W. Sparks is taken out just below 

that of M. Red, but on the opposite side of the creek. It is 2,100 

feet long, 2 feet wide, and 1 foot deep, and irrigates 22 acres. The 

dam is made of logs, stone, and dirt; is 20 feet long and 2 feet high. 

The soil is black, and produces 1 bale of cotton, 40 bushels of corn, 

·and 280 bushels of sweet potatoes to the acre. 

Woodward system.-The system of W. F. Woodward, which is just 

below that of :Mr. Sparks, on Campswood Creek, was constructed in 

1895, and irrigates 25 acres of black, loose limestone soil in the usual 

crops of this section (corn, potatoes, and sorghum), the yield per 

acre being 40 bushels of corn, 300 bushels of potatoes, and 5 tons of 

sorghum hay. The dam is 24 feet long and 2 feet high, aJld deflects 

the water into a ditch 2,100 feet long, 2i feet wide, and 1 foot deep. 

It is taken out of the left bank, but crosses to the right bank. 

McLaughlin system.-S. W. McLaughlin's ditch is just northwest 

of that of W. F. Woodward, and takes its water from the left bank 

of Campswood Creek, by a dam of logs, stone, and dirt 40 feet long 

and 3 feet high. The ditch is 1, 950 feet long, 2i feet wide, and 1 foot 

deep. The soil is similar to that of the preceding plants, 14 acres of 

which are irrigated in the three chief crops of the Barksdale sectioncorn, sweet potatoes, and sorghum. 

Connell system.-On the farm of Mrs. W. A. Connell there occurs 

one of the springs (Connell Spring) that really are the source of the 

water of the upper sections of Nueces and Frio rivers. Its waters 

are led off into a ditch 800 feet long, 2f feet wide, and 1 foot deep, 

which irrigates 24 acres, in corn and potatoes. The spring is near a 

stream, and the tl.itch runs parallel to the stream for about half its 

length and then crosses by a flume to the right bank. . 

Shockley system.-The next ditch below that of Mrs. Connell, on 

the short spring branch that is tributary to the East Nueces, is that 

of W. A. Shockley. The water is taken from the branch by means 

of a dam of logs, stone, and dirt 20 feet long and 2 feet high. The 

ditch is 2, 700 f~et long, 3 feet wide, and 1 foot deep. The system was 

constructed in 1894, and 50 acres are irrigated, the yield being 35 

bushels of corn, 275 bushels of potatoes, and 5 tons of cane to the 

acre. Messrs. vVoodward and Cunningham are joint owners with 

Mr. Shockley. 

Lippard system.-The plant of J. K. Lippard, at Barksdale post-
TAYLOR.] UPPER NUECES. 41 

office; was erected in 1892, and consists of a stone-and-dirt dam 15 

feet long and 1 foot high across Cainpswood Creek and a ditch 1,500 

feet long, 2 fe-et wide, and 1 foot deep. This plant irrigates 12 acres 

of the black, porous limestone soil planted in corn, sweet potatoes, 

and sorghum, producing 35 bushels of c0rn, 275 bushels of potatoes, 

and 5 tons of cane to the acre. The .ditch is taken out of the left 

bank of the stream, but crosses the creek by a flume, thus irrigating 

land on both sides. 

Casey, Taylo1', and GrahaTn system.·-B. F. Casey, M. M. Taylor, 

an~ Oscar Graham (Barksdale) are the joint owners of a ditch that 

was constructed in 1898 to take water from a short spring branch 

tributary to the East Nueces. The ditch is It miles long, 4 feet 

wide, and 2 feet deep, and irrigates 40 acres, the yield per acre being 

40 bushels of corn and 1 bale of cotton. The clam is of logs and dirt, 

40 feet long and 3 feet high. 

B·urr and Woods systerns.-On the Pulliam· Prong of the Nueces 

0. A. V. Burr and J. H. vVoods each took out. a dit.ch in 1899. That 

of the former is a half mile long, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet deep, and 

irrigates 50 acres of black bottom land, which yields 30 bushels of 

corn, 1 bale of cotton, 5 tons of cane, and 280 bushels of sweet pota:.. 

toes to the acre.· The dam is of rock, 150 feet long and 6 feet high. 

About one-fourth mile below the Burr dam is the _dam of Mr. Woods. 

It is of logs, dirt, and brush, 50 feet long and 2 feet high. rrhe 12 

acres irrigated produce the usual yield of corn, cane, and potatoes. 

Jones systems.-E. M. Jones, at Barksdale, built two small ditches 

in 1893. The upper is 600 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 1 foot deep, and 

irrigates 2 acres. The brush-and-dirt dam is 10 feet long and 3 feet 

high. The lower ditch is of the same length and dimensions and 

irrigates the same amount of land as the upper ditch. 

El1ns systern,.-The system of H. Elms is near Leakey, on the Rio 

Frio. It was constructed in 1894, and consists of a ditch on the east 

side of the river It miles long, 4 feet wide, and 2 feet deep. The dam 

is of dirt and stone, 40 feet long and 1 foot high. Forty acres of corn, 

cotton, and sorghum are irrigated, yielding the usual quantities for 

this section. 

Patterson sysien~s.-About 4 miles northeast of Leakey W. B. Patterson has a brush-and-stone dam across the Rio Frio 45 feet long and 

2 feet high, built in 1896. This supplies a ditch 2 miles long, with a 

top width of 5 feet, a bottom width of 3 feet, and a depth of 3 feet. 

It was first used in 1897, and commands 300 acres, 125 of which have 

been cultivated. Near Riofrio, just across the line in Bandera 

County, is the Patterson ditch, owned by a company composed of 

three men. It was constructed in 1868, is 2 miles long, 5 feet wide, 

and of a depth varying from 3 to 4 feet. The dam is of brush and 

gravel, 30 feet long and 4 feet high. The soil is black and sandy, 

and under irrigation is very productive. In 1901 about 700 acres of 
42 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. (NO. 71. 

cotton, corn, oats, and garden tr"Q.ck were irrigated. The yields per 

acre were 1 bale of cotton, 45 bushels of corn, 20 bushels of wheat, 

and 75 bushels of oats. 

Etheridge system.-At Montell, on the Upper Nueces, Mr. J. H. 

Etheridge is the owner and operator of the CasaBlanca Irrigation and 

Mill ditch, which was constructed in 1894; it is 2f miles long, 6 feet 

wide, 7 feet deep for the first half mile, and from 2 to 3 feet deep for 

the next 2 miles. Water is taken from Nueces River by a dam of 

loose rock, which raises the water to the ditch. The dam is 300 feet 

long and from 2 to 3 feet high. The soil irrigated is rich alluvial, and 

corn yields 40 bushels a~d cotton three-fourths of a bale to the acre. 

During t,he season of 1901 this ditch irrigated 100 acres. 

Landrum, system.-The plant of 'Villiam Landrum is near Laguna. 

The source of supply is five large springs, which have been forced 

into one by means of dams. The dams range in length from 30 to 

100 feet and in height up to 6 feet. Some of them are of rock, others 

of clay. The water of the springs is forced into a ditch three-fourths 

of a mile long, 4 feet wide, and 2 feet deep, and is capable of irrigating more than 100 acres, although only 30 acres are usually irrigated. 

The system was constructed in 1894 and 1895. 

KERR COUNTY. 

In Kerr County, on the headwaters of Guadalupe River, there are 

a few small plants. That of Robert Tedford, near the post-office of 

Japonica, takes its water from Honey Creek by means of a loose-stone 

dam 15 feet long and 2 feet high. The ditch is 900 feet long, It feet 

wide, and about 1 foot in depth, and irrigates 4 acres of tomatoes, 

onions, sweet potatoes, etc. • 

The plant of Silas Welch, near the post-office of Mountain Home, 

takes its water from a spring by means of a rock dam 40 feet long and 

2f feet high. The ditch, constructed in 1901, is B,OOO feet long, 3 feet 

wide, and about 1 foot deep, irrigating 8 acres of corn and garden 

truck. 

Kaiser system.-W. C. Kaiser early in 1902 installed a pump plant 

a mile below Mountain Home, on the left bank of Johnson Fork. A 

• 16-horsepower gasoline engine operating a centrifugal pump against 

a lift of 25 feet irrigates about 50 acres in the ordinary crops. This 

plant paid for itself in one season. 

Thrailkill system.-W. F. Thrailkill, just below Mountain Home, 

irrigates 10 acres from Smith Branch, a tributary of Johnson Fork of 

the Guadalupe. A small plank dam 1 foot high deflects the water 

into the ditch. 

KIMBLE AND EDWARDS COUNTIES. 

Irrigation in Kimble County is chiefly confined to the valleys of the 

creeks tributary to Llano River and its two branches, the North Llano 

and the South Llano. This is due to the great violence of the river 

during high stages and the consequent difficulty of building dams and 
TAYLOR.] KIMBLE OOUN'rY. 43 

maintaining ditches. Capt. C. K. Gordon's is the only plant that 

takes its wat~r direct from the river. There are no "company" 

ditches in the county; in some instances two or three men have 

formed partnerships, but all the plants are small. Few of them 

water more than 20 or 25 acres, while the average number of acres 

watered is much· smaller. There are thousands of acres lying along 

the river and its larger tributaries that might be irrigated if sufficient 

capital were employed to successfully dam the river and use the water 

on a large scale. 

FIG. 14.-Map of Kimble County irrigation systems. 

The following brief descriptions of the plants in Kimble County 

(see fig. 14) begin at the eastern end of the county and proceed westward. rrhe plants are described in order downstream. 

JOHNSON FORK OF LLANO RIVER. 

The first stream on which there are irrigation plants is the Johnson 

Fork of the l-lano, which joins the river about 5 miles below Junction 

City. There are four plants on this stream, as follows: 

Moos system.-W. G. Moos's plant is three-fourths of a mile from 

the mouth of the Joy Branch, a small tributary of the Johnson Fork, 

about 11 miles above its mouth. It takes the water fr')m the right 

bank of the Joy Branch, by means of an earth-stone-timber dam 60 

feet long and 3 feet high. Thence the water is conducted along the 

right bank about 200 yards, and then is flumed to the left bank. The 

ditch is a fourth of a mile long, 1 foot deep, and flows at "an average 
44 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS 01!, TEXAS. (NO. 71. 

depth of 1 foot. Eighteen acres are irrigated. The principal crop is 

corn, which produces about 30 bushels to the acre. Oats, wheat, cane, 

sweet potatoes, alfalfa, and garden vegetables are also grown. The 

yield of oats is about 40 bushels to the acre, and of wheat about 20 

bushels. The cost of the clam was $25, of the ditch $25. The dam 

was first built by John Joy, prior to 1879. 

Rem/bold systern.-P. J. Rembold's·plant is a little more than a half 

mile below the one just described, and is also on the Joy Branch. It 

was built by John Joy, prior to 1879. The dam is 60 feet long, of 

rock and gravel, and raises the water about 1 foot. The ditch is 300 

yards long, 3 feet wide, and flows at a depth of 18 inches. Last year 

(1901) Mr. Rembold irrigated only 3 or 4 acres, but ·there are 67 

acres of cultivated land within reach of the ditch. As many as 20 

acres have been irrigated within recent years. Besides a garden the 

crop consists solely of Johnson grass. The cost of the dam was about 

$10, of the ditch $75. 

Long system.-A. B. Long's plant is about 4 miles farther down 

the Johnson Fork. The water is raised 3f feet by means of a 75-foot 

timber dam, consisting of upright timbers held in place by cedar 

posts and filled above with stones, gravel, and earth. Power is 

obtained by means of an undershot water wheel 8 feet in diameter 

and 5 feet long, operating two 6-inch force pumps of the. walkingbeam pattern, which raise the water 40 feet, through 100 feet of 5-inch 

iron pipe, to a flume. The flume conveys the water 100 feet, to a 

ditch lf feet wide, which carries it 600 feet farther, or to the field. 

Only 5 ac.res are irrigated, and only veget.ables and fruits will be 

grown. It is interesting. to note that an experiment is being made 

with strawberries. The cost ·of the dam was $50, of the flume and 

ditch $54, of the pipe $100, of the pumps $36, of the wheel $100, making a total of $340. The plant was constructed about 1898. This 

plant was recently sold to J. B. Bullard. 

Owens system.-Eight miles from Junction City W. J. Owens operates a small -pump plant, on the left bank of Johnson Fork of the 

Llano. A 12-horsepower steam engine operates a 3t-inch centrifugal pump against a small lift and irrigates a garden. This could 

easily be made to bring 200 acres under irrigation. 

Armstrong systern.-G. R. Armst.rong's plant is on the Johnson 

Fork, about 3-! miles above its mouth. By means of a dam 86 feet 

long the water is raised 5f feet. A race 86 chains long conducts it to 

a 15-!-inch turbine, which operates a No. 4 submerged centrifugal 

pump. The pump raises the water 20 feet., at the rate of 600 gallons 

a minute (lt second-feet). A reservoir 4~- feet deep, scraped out of 

the earth, and covering 1 acre, receives the water and distributes it 

to the field through a ditch a half mile long. Sixty-five acres ·of black 

loam are irrigated. The crop consists solely of alfalfa, which is 

grown f9r home use. The cost of the entire ·plant was $1,200. 
TAYLOR.] KIMBLE COUNTY. 45 

CEDAR CREEK. 

Cedar Creek, which flows into the South Llano about 1 mile southwest of Junction City, furnishes water for four plants, as follows: 

Allen & Kelley systems.-J. A. Allen and W. H. -Kelley own th~ 

first plant in partnership. It was constructed by J. H. Clements, and 

was completed in 1897. The ditch is three-fourths of a mile long, 

about 3 feet wide, and the water flows at an average depth of 10 

inches. It takes water from one of the head springs of Cedar Creek, 

by means of a very simple dam of earth, logs, and stone. The dam 

is about 18 feet long and 2t or 3 feet high. Immediately on leaving 

the dam the water is flumed across Cedar Creek, to the right bank, 

and soon branches. One of the branches is flumed across the creek, 

and after watering a small field is allowed to return to the creek. 

The other branch, at the point of separation, is flumed across a small 

draw, and after watering several small fields empties into the main 

ditch. Twenty acres of black soil are irrigated, usually planted in 

corn, oats, wheat, and cane. The yield of corn is about 40 bushels 

to the acre, of oats 60 bushels, and of wheat 23 bushels. The dam 

is about 5 miles above Junction City. 

J. A. Allen and E. F. Kelley own the next plant, which is about a 

half mile below the one just described. This was the first dam built 

on the creek, being eonstructed abou~ 1892. It is 60 feet long and is 

made of stone to a height of 4 feet. The ditch is three-fourths of a 

mile long and 3 feet wide, and carries~ stream about 10 inches deep. 

The water is taken from the right bank of the creek about a half mile 

below the plant just described, waters a small field, is flumed -across 

the creek and waters a second field, is again flumed to the right bank, 

and after watering a few acres is once more carried to the left bank 

and the remaining water is distributed through the largest of the 

fields belonging to the system. The large amount of fluming in this 

and the J. A. Allen and W. H. Kelley plant is made necessary by the 

sharp bends of the creek and by the precipitous bluffs. Thirty-three 

acres are irrigated, 8 acres belonging to Mr. Allen and 25 acres to Mr. 

Kelley. Corn and wheat are the chief crops. 

Jarvis & Hodges systent.-R. I ... Jarvis and G. ,V. Hodges own the 

next plant, which is about It miles downstream. The dam, which has 

just been replaced, consists of walnut-log pens securely bolted together 

and filled with stones. There are seven sections 10 feet long and two 

sections 8 feet long, all 6 feet wide. The upstream side is filled with 

gravel. The dam is 86 feet long and 4 feet high. The ditch is 80 

chains long, 3 feet wide, and carries 6 inches of water. It emerges 

on the right bank of the stream and continues on that side. Fortyfour acres are irrigated, 19 belonging to Jarvis, and lying nearest the 

dam, and 25 belonging to Hodges. The crops are corn, potatoes, 

wheat, and oats-=-chiefly corn, which yields about 40 bushels to the 
46 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF 'J'EXAS. [NO. 71. 

acre. The cost of the dam was $40; the . expense of maintaining is 

about $40 a year. 

Taylor system.-W. vV. Taylor's plant is just above the mouth of 

Cedar Creek. The dam is 60 feet long and 3 feet high, built log-pen 

style, and filled with stones and earth. The ditch is 2 miles long, 2t 

feet wide, and carries 8 inches of water. It is on the left bank of 

Cedar Creek. It divides about 600 yards after leaving the creek, and 

one brahch is flumed 7 5 yards, to the right side, where it waters the 

smaller field. Seven acres are irrigated. The crops are chiefly corn 

and potatoes. A garden is also watered. The cost of the dam was 

$25; the cost of the ditch, $300. The plant was constructed by Z. I., 

J. B., and J. A. Williams, about 1896. 

BAILEY CREEK. 

Jenson system.-On Bailey Creek, which flows into the South Llano 

about 10 miles above Junction City, is W. J. Jenson's plant. There 

is no dam, the water being taken direct from a spring on the left bank 

of the creek and carried in a flume across the creek and for about 350 

yards along the left bank, where it divides. One branch is carried to 

a field on the I'ight bank ahd the other across the creek again, in a 3t-

' inch iron pipe, and waters a field on the left bank. Only 4 or 5 acres 

are irrigated. Cane, corn, sweet potatoes, and garden vegetables are 

grown. The flume carries about 40 gallons a minute (one-tenth of a 

second-foot). The total cost of the plant was $100. 

KYAC ( CAJAC) CREEK. 

Kyac (or Cajac) Creek, which flows into the South Llano from the 

left side, is the next stream that is used for irrigation. Four systems 

take water from this creek, as follows: 

D,upny system.-Maj. R. T. Dupuy's plant is about 2 miles from the 

mouth of the -creek. There is no dam. The water is taken from a 

spring on the left bank of the creek, is flumed to the right bank, and 

is then carried by a 3-inch pipe to the field about 500 yards below. 

Seven acres are irrigated. The crops are oats and cane; a garden is 

also watered. The cost of the ditch was $30. The plant was constructed about 1883. 

Griffith system.-S. A. Griffith's plant is about a half mile below the 

Dupuy plant. A lumber dam 50 feet long raises the water 2 feet. The 

ditch is a half mile long, 2 feet wide, and carries water to a depth of 

6 inches. The water is taken from the right bank of the creek, but is 

soon flumed to the left bank, where it waters two small fields of 12 and 

4 acres, respectively. The crops are chiefly wheat, corn, and vegetables. It is interesting to note that ribbon cane is successfully grown 

on a small scale. A yield of ::?00 gallons was raised from half an acre. 

This crop sells at 50 cents a gallon. The cost of the dam was $25; the 
TAYLOR.) KIMBLE OOUNTY. 47 

cost of t.he ditch $150. The plant was constructed by Q. Lowe in the 

eighties. 

Bislwp system.-J. L. Bishop's plant is a half mile below Griffith's. 

The dam is of stone, earth, and brush, 40 feet long and 18 inches high. 

The ditch is a half mile long, 2 feet wide, and carries a stream 6 inches 

in depth: The wat.er is taken from the right bank of the creek. 

About 600 yards below the dam the ditch branches, one branch watering two fields near the point of separation, the other branch being 

flumed 106 feet across to the left bank, where it waters a third field. 

Fourteen acres of black loam are irrigated. The crops are sweet potatoes, corn, oats, millet, ribbon cane, and cotton. The noticeable feature about this plant is that It acres were planted in cotton last year 

and one-fourth of an acre in ribbon cane, unusual crops in this county. 

The It acres of cot.ton produced one bale; the yield of the cane was 

about the same as on Griffith's farm. The cost of the dam was $10; 

the .cost of the ditch $150. 

Galentine system.-F. L. Galentine's plant (on Mrs. Wooten's farm) 

is at the mouth of Kyac Creek. r.rhe dam, which is of logs, stone, and 

brush, is 80 feet long and It feet high. The ditch is one-fourth of a 

mile long, 2-! feet wide, and carries a stream 5 inches deep. The water 

is taken from the right bank of the creek, is flumed 120 feet, to the 

left bank, and distributed to a field which lies along the South Llano. 

rrwenty-five acres are irrigated, though 100 acres could wit:h little 

trouble be put under t,he ditch. The chief crop is corn, 35 or 40 

bushels of which were raised in 1900 on the irrigated land of this 

farm, while only 15 or 16 bushels were raised on the nonirrigated land. 

The cost of the dam was $5; the cost of the ditch $100. The system 

was constructed in the eighties. 

FLEMMING BRANOH. 

Flernrn,ing system.-0. B. Flemming's plant is on the Flemming 

Branch, a short distance above the confluence of that stream with the 

South Llano and about 15 miles above Junction City. His largest 

field lies along the I. .. lano. The dam, which is of earth, logs, and 

stones, is 20 feet long and raises the water 1 foot. The ditch is a half 

mile long, 2 feet wide, and flows to an average depth of 6 inches. 

The water is taken from the right bank of the stream, is conveyed 

about 300 yards along the right bank, and then the ditch divides, one 

stream being flumed across to the left bank, where it waters- a field of 

5 acres, the other stream irrigating a field of 30 acres. The crops are 

corn, oats, cane, alfalfa, and a garden. The cost of the dam was 

trivial; the cost of the ditch was $75. The plant was constructed In 

1890. 

LITTLE PAINT CREEK. 

Do·ugherty system.-The next plant in this vicinity is on what is 

known as the A. H. D. Dougherty place, at present (1902) occupied 
48 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEX..AS. [No. 71. 

by G. F. Wood. An earth-and-stone dam 50 feet long raises the water 

1 foot.. The ditch is three-fourths of a mile long, 2 feet wide, and 

carries a flow 6 inches deep. The wat.er is taken from the east bank 

of Little Paint Creek, which flows into t.he South Llano from the left 

bank, about 1t miles above its confluence with the South Llano. A 

large tank, constructed by throwing up embankments of earth, affords 

a storage reservoir 100 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 2t feet deep. 

Twenty-five acres are irrigated. The chief crop has been corn, which 

yields 50 bushels to the acre. Twenty acres of cotton are to be planted 

in 190f. The cost of the dam was small; the cost of the ditch was $150. 

SOUTH LLANO RIVER. 

Baldwin systern.-J. A. Baldwin has two small plants on the left 

bank of the South Llano, about 13 miles above Junction City. One 

of these plants makes use of a spring and has no dam and no ditch. 

A one-half-acre garden is irrigated. The other plant has a dam 10 

feet long across a small 1-1pring branch which raises the water 1 foot. 

There are 100 yards of ditch 1 foot deep. Two acres of cane and corn 

are irrigated. The cost of the dam and ditch was trifling. 

Hunger system.-T. Hunger has a small plant on the Ford Hollow 

Spring, a short distance from the South Llano and about 13 miles 

from Junction City. The water is taken directly from the spring, 

and is conveyed 1,150 feet, in a flume, to the .garden irrigated. The 

flow is about 15 gallons a minute. A 1-acre garden is irrigated, 

from which Mr. Hunger derives a profit of about $250 a year. The 

flume cost $75. The plant was constructed in 18£16. 

Taylor syste1n.-T. C. Taylor's plant is 17 miles above Junction City 

on the South Llano, though it does not take its water from the river. 

It is the last plant in Kimble County on the South Llano. The dam, -

which is of stone, is 5 or 6 feet long and raises the water about 1.0 

inches. The water is taken from the Christmas Spring, on the left 

bank of the South Llano, and is carried under the river to the right 

bank in an iron pipe 300 feet long, and thence to the ditch through 

1,326 feet of 8-inch sewer pipe. The ditch distributes it immediately 

to two fields of 14 and 11 acres, respectively. The principal crops 

grown are corn and cane, which are used at home for feed. The corn 

yields 40 bushels an acre. The cost of the dam was trivial; the cost 

of the iron pipe, $225; the sewer pipe, $331. The plant was constructed about 1892. Until the spring of 1901 Mr. Taylor used a flume 

instead of the 8-inch sewer pipe. 

Barrett & Stephenson syste1n.-C. C. Barrett and vV. M. Stephenson 

own a plant about 2f miles above Taylor's plant, just described, in 

Edwards County, about 2 miles across the Kimble County line. 

There is no dam, the water being taken directly from a number of 

beautiful springs which issue from the bluff on the left side of the 

South Llano. As a rule the bluff is too precipitous to permit the con-
TAYLOR.] KIMBLE AND EDWARDS COUNTIES. 49 

struction of a ditch, hence the water is carried in a flume a large portion of the distance to the field, a tract of 25 acres about 1 mile down 

the river. The principal crops are corn, wheat, and cane. The cost 

of the flume and ditch was $200. It was constructed about 1895. 

This farm ha~ only recently been purchased by Messrs. Barrett and 

Stephenson, and is generally known as the Black Place. The present 

owners intend to construct a new plant this summer (1901). They 

purpose to build a 4-foot dam across the Llano and use an 8-foot by 

10-foot water wheel for power. This will operate an elevator pump 

to raise the water. Twenty-eight acres will be irrigated .. 

Huffman system.-One mile above Barrett's, on the South Llano, in 

Edwards County, is the plant of M. Huffman. There is no dam. The 

water is taken from a spring on the left bank of the river. "rhe ditch 

is 300 yards long, 2 feet wide, and carries a stream 1 foot in depth. 

Seven acres are irrigated. Corn is the sole crop. The yield is 40 or 

50 bushels to the acre. The cost of the ditch was $7 5. It was constructed by Henry Baldwin about 1895. 

BEAR CREEK. 

There are several plants on Bear Creek, a tributary of the South 

Llano; as follows.: 

Hall syste1n.-The first plant in order coming down East Bear Creek 

belongs to Freel S. Hall. It is about 13t miles above Junction City. 

The water is raised 4 feet by means of a timber dam, consisting of 

upright timbers held in place by cedar posts and filled with earth on 

the upper side. Below the dam the water falls on a cushion of cedar 

logs arranged parallel to the course of the stream. ".rhe ditch is a half 

mile long and 3 feet wide. The water flows about 9 inches deep, and 

irrigates a field of sandy loam containing about 9 acres. Last year 

·p900) the following crops were raised: Alfalfa and oats, 3 acres; garden, 1 acre;. orchard, 2 acres; bermuda grass, 1~ acres; sweet potatoe:-~, 2 acres. The sweet potatoes yielded 300 bushels to the acre, and 

were sold on the spot at 50 .cents a bushel. The plant is now being 

enlarged and will be finished in time to irrigate the 1901 crop. About 

800 yards below the clam is a branch ditch, which will be carried across 

the creek by means of 475 feet of 10-inch drain pipe laid under the 

creek. This will enable him to irrigate a field of 20 acres on the left 

side of the creek. The cost of the dam was $150; of the old ditch, 

$100, and of piping and new ditch, $150. The plant was constructed 

in 1895. 

Re·id system.-J. H. Reid's plant is on West Bear Creek, about 16 

miles above Junction City. The water is raised 18 inches by means 

of a common earth. dam about 25 feet long. It is then carried, at a 

depth of 4 inches, through a ditch 12 inches wide and a half mile long 

to a small field of 8 acres (in two patches). The crops raised in 1900 

were corn, 2~ acres; sorghum, 2t acres; potatoes, onions, etc. The 

IRR 71 :_02--4 
50 IRRIGATION SYS'l'EMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

cost of the dam was probably not more than $5; of the ditch, about 

$50. The ditch is on the right hank of the stream. 

D. L. Stewart system.-D. L. Stewart's dam is about 1 mile below 

Reid's. It was built in the eighties by John r:r. Mayes. It is 100 feet 

long and 3 feet high, and is made of earth and logs. The ditch is 1 

mile long, 18 inches wide, and carries the water to a depth of 7 inches. 

The water is taken out of West Bear Creek, and is carried along the 

right bank for about 400 yards, when it is flumed across to the left 

bank. The field irrigated is mostly black loam, and contains 30 

acres. The cost of the dam was $50; of the ditch, $150. 

1l!Iorales systern.--M. Morales's plant is on the left bank of West 

Bear Creek and is about 2 miles below that of D. L. Stewart. rrhe 

dam is of stone and earth 150 feet long and 3 feet high. The dituh is 

about 2 feet wide and three-fourths of a mile long. This is one of the 

best as well as one of the most expensive ditches in Kimble County. 

Along part of its course it is walled with stone. ]}'Iost of the remainder runs through a cut which averages about 5 feet in depth. The 

field irrigated contains 10 acres. The cost of the dam was $100; of 

the ditch, $175. The plant was constructed in 1899. 

"L. C. pasture" system.-About a half mile below the Morales plant, 

and on the same stream, is the dam belonging to the '' L. C. pasture," 

at present owned by G. D. Tarlton, of Hillsboro. It was constructed 

in the seventies, and is probably the oldest plant in the county. It 

is of earth, about 80 feet long and 2t feet high. The ditch is 3 feet 

wide, a half mile long, and flows perhaps 800 gallons of water a minute (nearly 2 second-feet). It is carried along the left bank of the 

stream. The field of about 8 acres is used to raise alfalfa for the use 

of the ranch. A branch ditch also irrigates a small garden. The 

cost of the dam was about $30; of the ditch, about $40. 

Alec. Stewart system.-Alec. Stewart's plant is just below the junction of East and West Bear creeks. It is 2 miles below F. S. Hall's 

and 1! miles below the "L. C. pasture" dam. The dam is similar to 

that of F. S. Hall, already described. It is 250 feet long and 3 feet 

high. The ditch is 1,000 yards long and 3 feet wide, and carries water 

to a depth of 12 inches. One hundred yards of the ditch is carried 

through a cut 4 feet deep. This is a new plant., having been constructed during the present, spring (1901 ). The field irrigated, which 

contains 15 acres, is on the right bank of the creek. The cost of the 

dam was about $150; of the ditcl1, about $100. 

Menge system.-William Menge's plant is on Walnut Creek, a 

tributary of West Bear Creek. It is about a half mile southwest of 

the dam of D. I •. Stewart, and is a very small plant. The dam is 150 

yards long and 12 inches wide, and flows about 50 gallons a minute. 

The field irrigated is a 1-acre truck patch. 

Gordon system.-Capt. C. K. Gordon's plant is on the North I..lano, 

10 miles above Junction City. The water is lifted by means of a No. 
TAYLOR.] SAN .ANTONIO AND VICINITY. 51 

7 centrifugal pump, operated by a 15-horsepower steam engine. The 

lift is 35 feet,, 10 feet of which is by suction. Wood is used for fuel 

and costs practically nothing, as a quantity of driftwood is always on 

hand near the pump. The capacity of the pump with the present 

engine is 1,250 gallons a minute. There is no ditch. The water is 

discharged into a flume, by which it is carried 1,250 feet to the upper 

side of the field, crossing a road by means of an underground siphon. 

Between the road and the pump the flume is 20 inches by 12 inches, 

and is partially lined with zinc. Below the flume is 20 inches by 6 

inches. No reservoir is used or needed. The plant is sufficiently large 

to irrigate 80 acres, but the field actually irrigated containR only 35 acrf's 

of black loam, with gravel subsoil. The crops raised are principally 

corn and alfalfa, which are used on the ranch. The average yield of 

corn is 50 bushels. The cost of the engine and pump was $800; of 

the house and appurtenances, $400; of the flume, $600; total cost, 

$1,800. The plant requires 1-1- cords of driftwood to operate it one 

day. The wood is picked up near by. One engineer is required. 

A sawmill and a gristmill are also run by the engine. 

Probable systerns.-The flow of the South IJano at low ordinary 

stages is 90 second-feet near Junction City. A dam could be put in 

10 miles above Junction City, and by bringing the ditch along the 

foot hills a mile west of the town and by taking it across the North 

Llano by a flume or inverted siphon 5,000 1jo 6,000 acres could be irrigated. In fact, the Ragsdale system did take out a ditch 4 miles 

above Junction City; but the dam was washed away some years ago, 

and it has never been rebuilt. It would also be possible to put in a 

system below the town by taking a ditch out on the north side of the 

main Llano. .Any system put in will have to be very substantial, as 

the Llano is torrential at times. 

SYSTEMS AT SAN ANTONIO AND VICINITY. 

The irrigation ditches at San .Antonio are historically the most 

interesting in the State, for here are found the oldest systems and 

structures, which have been in use more than a century. Additional interest is derived from the association of the ditches with the 

early missions and with the e:ffo1·ts of the :B'ranciscan fathers to settle 

the Indians upon these lands and engage them in agriculture. These 

ditches traverse the city, often concealed by buildings and sjdewalks. 

MISSION AND NEIGHBORING DITCHES. 

The original mission ditches, built by the :B'ranciscan fathers 

between the years 1716 and 17 44, are the Concepcion, the Alamo 

Madre, the San Jose, the San Juan, and the Espada, all dug to supply the lands belonging to the respective missions. In addition to 

these mission ditches, there was one, the San Pedro, which supplied 

water to the Villa Capital de la San Hernando, settled in 1730 by the 
52 IRRIGATION SYSTEM8 OF TEXAS. (NO. 71. 

immigrants from the Canary Islands, and one built much later than 

any of the others, under the superintendence of the governor, Baron 

Ripperda, for the supply of the citizens of the town, and called the 

Upper Labor ditch. 

UPPER LABOR DITCH. 

Beginning at the head of San Antonio River, the most recent of the 

Spanish ditches-the Upper Labor-is the first encountered. It was 

begun in 1776, under the general direction of the royal governor, and 

was ready for use in 1778, care having been taken that there should be 

no infringement of the prior rights of the five missions and the Canary 

Island settlers. The ditch took its water from one of the large springs 

at the head of the river by means of a loose rock dam. It follows 

the contour of the land on the west side of the river and ends in San 

Pedro Creek. It once commanded about 600 acres, but is now out 

of use .. In 1877 the city replaced the old loose rock dam by one of 

masonry, and built an extension to the ditch, called the Alazan 

branch. 'I'he latter was abandoned in 1896, because residences were 

built on the land irrigated. 

ALAMO MADRE DITCH. 

The Alamo Madre ditch, built between 1718 and 1·744 to supply 

water to the Alamo Mission and irrigate its lands, derived water from 

the river on the east side just opposite the Upper Labor ditch, by 

means of a low dam. The ditch follows the contour of the land and 

runs through the business part of the city. Its length is 6 miles. It 

irrigated about 900 acres, but is now closed. 

SAN PEDRO DITCH. 

San Pedro dit,ch was commenced in 1738 and furnished water to the 

Villa de la San Fernando, the parish church of which, now called San 

Fernando Cathedral, is the geographic center of San Antonio. The 

water for the ditch, taken from the pool in San Pedro Park, follows 

the east side of the creek and runs through the center of the city, 

irrigating 500 acres of land below the town. It~ length is about 

4 miles, and it is 2 feet deep and 6 feet wide. The management of 

the foregoing ditches long since passed out of the hands of the landowners and int,o those of the city authorities and is now intrusted to 

a J.itch commissioner appointed by the mayor. The annual water 

rent is $2 an acre. 

CONCEPCION DITCH. 

The next ditch of importance is the Concepcion, built in 1729 and 

abandon.ed in 1869, after being in use one hundred and forty years. 

It was discarded on account of the dam, which was in the center of 

the eity, causing much damage from overflow when there was a rise 

in the river. This ditch was constructed to furnish water to the 

Mission de la Concepcion and was the largest of the old ditches. 
lJ. S. GEOLOGICAL SU RVEV WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 71 PL. VI 

OLD STONE AQUEDUCT CARRYING THE ESPADA DITCH ACROSS PIEDRAS CREEK. 
TAYLOR.] ~AN ANTONIO AND VICINI'J'Y. 53 

SAN JOSE DITCH. 

The San Jose ditch was built about 1720 to supply water to and 

irrigate the lands_ of the mission of that name, 5 miles below the town. 

The water was taken from the west side of San Antonio River, about 

2 miles above the mission, and was returned to the river about 1 mile 

below. This ditch was abandoned about 1860. 

SAN JUAN DITCH. 

The San Juan ditch taps the river on the east side opposite the 

Mission San Jose. It follows the contour of the land and carries 

water down to the San Juan 1\'Iission. It was built in 1731 and is stili 

in use. It irrigates more than 450 acres of land. 

ESP ADA DITCH. 

The Espada is the lowest ditch taken from San Antonio R:iver, 

though one of the oldest. The Spanish Government. constructed it in 

1824 and settled families on the land covered, assigning to each about 

12 acres, known as suertes (swerties) and supposed to be the amount 

of land that could be irrigated from the diteh in one day. The ditch 

takes its water from the west side of the river, 6 miles below the city, 

by means of a loose rock-and-brush dam 270 feet long, built on a 

·natural ledge of rock extending across the river, making the total 

height of th~ obstruction 8 feet. The dam consists of layers of brush 

weighted by loose rock, with gravel and earth t.hrown in front, forming 

a very effective dam, the rock becoming gradually cemented together 

by a deposit of lime salts from the water. It crosses Piedras Creek on 

a stone aqueduct, shown in Pl. VI, which consists of a series of 

massive arches that seem in as good preservation to-d~y as when constructed, more than a century and a half ago. 

This ditch fell into disuse about twenty years ago and was abandoned until 1895, when A. Y. Walton, jr., who owned several suertes 

of land, organized the owners of the lands commanded by it into a 

company (the Espada Ditch Company), cleaned out, widened, and 

deepened the old ditch, repaired the dam, and made some change in 

its course, the total cost being about $3,000 .. The ditch is now 3 miles 

long, has a bottom width of 5 feet, and carries 10 second-feet of water. 

It commands 400 acres, nearly all of which is irrigated. The annual 

cost of keeping the ditch in good working oo·der amounts to 25 

cents an acre, the work being done by the members of the company. 

The manager notifies the members when work is to be done on the 

ditch, and no trouble has been encountered in repairing it on this 

labor-assessment principle. ~rhe general manager keeps_a complete 

record of the hours and dates upon which each irrigator is to have 

water. Each member gets water every fifteen days, and is allowed all 

he wants, but he must use it only during the hours assigned to him. 
54 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [No. 71. 

The appearance of the crops under these ditches, even in a time of so 

abundant rainfall as the first half of 1897, is a remarkable proof of 

the value of irrigation. The land is mostly an alluvial valley soil, 

very productive when watered. On irrigated fields the customary 

yield is at least a bale of eotton to the acre, while for the last five 

years the average on unirrigated fields has been hardly more than onefourth that amount. Truck farmers raise all kinds of vegetables 

from early spring until frost in the g1·eatest profusion. 

TRUEHART DITCH. 

Three-fourths of a mile above the head of the dam which supplies 

the Espada ditch is the head gate of the Truehart ditch, which is now 

out of use. 

ARTESIAN WELLS. 

There is some irrigation from artesian wells practiced in and near 

San Antonio. Following are brief descriptions of the plants: 

Kamp1rutn system.-The most extensive plant is that of Mrs. Caroline Kampman, who has three wells on her ranch, 3 miles east of the 

city limits. One of these wells has a flow of 1,500,000 gallons in twentyfour hours, under 20 pounds pressure, or 2.32 second-feet,. It is 970 

feet deep, and was drilled at a cost of $3,000. It is allowed to flow on 

200 acres of the owner's land, most of which is in Johnson grass and 

sugar cane and needs only a small portion of the water. By a system 

of ditches or storage tanks this well would irrigate 1,000 acres of land. 

Almost all of the water from the other two wells is wasted. All of 

the water is impregnated with sulphur. Mrs. Kampman owns another 

well near the head of t.he river, 2-t miles northeast of the court-house, 

from which 26 acres are irrigated, but it could easily irrigate 300 acres. 

Collins system~.-Three miles west of San Antonio River, lying along 

the International and Great Northern Railroad, F. F. Collins has a 

farm of 140 acres which is irrigated from an artesian well 600 feet deep 

and 12 inches in diameter. The flow of this well has been estimated 

at 700 gallons a minute (1.5 second-feet). The water is clear and pure. 

The tract owned by Mr. Collins consists of 140 acres, all of which can 

be irrigated from this well. The farm is divided into tracts of 12! 

acres each. A three-room house and the 12t aeres adjoining rent for 

$250 a year for land, house, and water. The latter is conveyed to the 

land by 4,000 feet of 6-inch pipe and 4,000 feet of 4-inch pipe. This 

method of conveyance guarantees a minimum loss by leakage and 

affords a most effectual control. The well is provided with two outlets, one of which supplies the pipe line on the farm, the other 

connecting to the reservoir. The reservoir is a triangular piece of 

ground covering 1 acre, one side of which is parallel to the track of the 

International and Great Northern Railroad. The capacity of the reservoir is 4,000,000 gallons, and the well fills it in seventy-two hours. It 

will be used to conserve the water supply, and will enable all irrigation 
TAYLOR.] SAN ANTONIO AND VICINITY. 55 

to be done in daylight. At night the flow will be shifted to the reservoir, and during the day water will be drawn from both the well and 

the reservoir. 

Brady system.-T'he well of Thomas F. Brady is unique, in that it 

is deeper by several hundred feet than any wells in the vicinity. It is 6 

inches in diameter and 1,450 feet deep. The water is soft and has the 

t,ast,e of rain water. It was noticed that the dry years affected it very 

slightly, but during the flush year of 1900 the water rose in the outflow conduit about one-fourth of an inch. Fifty acres of land are 

irrigated from the well, but it could easily irrigate as many more. 

Under present conditions the well is kept closed half of t,he time. 

T'he land is rented for $16 an acre, which includes t,he water rent. 

Epp nnd WalteTs systems.-J ust east of the Brady farm is the farm 

of John Epp, where a 4-!--inch well 884 feet deep irrigates 20 acres of 

forage, consisting mostly of cane and Johnson grass. Within a quarter of a mile of the Epp farm Mr. Albert Walters has a small well 

from which about 10 acres are irrigated. 

Vf~ndalle system.-About 2 miles west of the court-house, in the 

valley of Martinez Creek, Herman V andalle has a 4-inch well 840 feet 

deep that irrigates 14 acres of garden truck. A small tank, 60 by 60 

feet, has been constructed to conserve the flow and give a larger supply when necessary. The land rents for $25 an acre. 

Koelblen system.-Near the Aransas Pass roundhouse Jacob Koelblen has a very successfully conducted irrigation plant from an 

artesian well. The well was bored in 1895. For the first 34 feet 

10-inch piping was used. Into this was inserted an 8-inch pipe that 

extended to a depth of 200 feet, then 800 feet of 6-inch pipe was 

incased in this, and 1, 027 feet of 4f-inch pipe completed the well to 

rock. The lower 70 feet was drilled into hard rock. A 4-!-inch pipe 

leads from the well to a reservoir 72 feet by 30 feet, which borders on 

the east side of the San Pedro ditch, into which the waste water flows. 

The land irrigated lies on each side of the railroad track, the water 

being conveyed to it by pipes. Only 21 acres in garden are irrigated, 

but there is sufficient water to irrigate five times that amount. The 

water is rented out at $25 an acre. The drilling of the well cost $2 a 

foot, and the total cost of the plant, exclusive of land, was more 

than $4,000. 

Dignowitty system.-A.- F. Dignowitty owns two wells near San 

Antonio. The first well was bored in 1884, on the east side of Alazan 

Creek, 2t miles northwest of the court-house. Water was struck at a 

depth of 160 feet, sulphur water at 210 feet. At 460 feet artesian water 

of 5 feet depth was struck, which shot 16 feet above the ground, giving 

a flow of 1,000,000 gallons per twenty-four hours. The water is clear 

and soft, of a temperature of 75° F., and is partly used for irrigation. 

The second well was bored in 1895. It is 1 t miles northeast of the 

court-house. At a depth of 20 feet a fine pottery clay 80 feet deep 
56 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. (NO. 71. 

was encountered; at 435 feet iron pyrites was met; and at 445 feet 

a vein of fine liquid asphaltum, which rose 45 feet in the well. ·At 

456 feet a fine petroleum oil was struck; at 490 feet a substratum of 

clear fresh water, which rose to within 46 feet of the surface of the 

ground; at 500 feet a strong current of natural gas; at 525 feet a 

hard sandstone; at 540 feet a very hard white sandstone; at 550 feet 

another stream of water that rose w~thin 35 feet of the top. The well 

stopped at 659 feet in hard, white rock. 

SEWAGE FARM. 

The sewage of the city of San Antonio is conducted about 4 miles 

southwest of the city and there utilized for irrigating purposes. Early 

in 1897 R. W. Hamilton & Co. made a contract with the city whereby 

the firm, in consideration of an annual payment of $1,000 to the city, 

was to receive all the sewage and the use of a tract of 350 acres of 

land. The company had to grub the land, erect houses, construct 

ditches, etc., before they could realize any income from their outlay. 

FIG. 15.-Cross section of sewer-farm diteh at San Antonio. 

The sewage is delivered in the- form of a half invert 44- inches in 

diameter, and to provide for an increased flow a dyke is constructed 

on each side of the invert, converting the whole into a canal the 

bottom of which is formed by the invert. (See fig. 15:) Three hundred and fifty acres are irrigated on what is known as the sewer farm 

proper, and the company has rented 150 acres from an adjoining 

farm, making in all 500 acres irrigated in 1901. In addition t~ this, 

about 3! miles from the city the pipe line -has been tapped and 50 

acres are irrigated from the lateral. The flow is 10.8 second-feet, 

and 1,200 acres oould readily be irrigated from it. At present the 

surplus is allowed to waste. 

In September, 1901, the city leased the sewer farm and all of the 

sewage toR. H. Russel, J. A. Simmons, and others for a term of ninetynine years. The lessees are to construct a ditch from the present outfall, a good and serviceable dam at, Mitchells Lake, of a size sufficient 

to retain the surplus sewage of the city, and are to dispose of sewage 

by broad irrigation. They are also to guard the city against damages 

that may accrue from the sewage becoming a menace to private rights 

or a public nuisance. It is -understood that the dam and ditch will 
TAYLOR.] SAN .ANTONIO AND VICINITY. 57 

cost about $20,000. The lessees are to have the sole use of the sewage, 

and are to receive all rents from Hamilton & Co. for the two years 

their contraet has to run. 

MISCELLANEOUS SYSTEMS. 

Halff Brothers system.-At the crossing of the river on Mitchell 

street, San Antonio, Halff Brothers have installed a 10-horsepower 

gasoline engine, which operates a rotary pump. The lift from the 

river level to the pump is 6 feet, and the water is pumped through 

6-inc.h pipes alternately on the east and west sides of the stream. 

The capacity of the pump is estimated at 167 gallons a minute (0.35 

second-foot). During the season of 1901 it irrigated about 20 acres, 

but had to be run only about one-tenth of the time. The crops raised 

were the usual garden truck, which found a ready home market. 

Groos systertL-Four miles below San Antonio, on the east side of 

the river, F. Groos has a pumping plant run by water power. It is 

on au old race, and consists of one 35-inch Leffel turbine operating 

two rotary pumps having 5-inch discharge openings and an estimated 

capacity of 400 gallons a minute each. The head on the turbines is 

5t feet, and it is estimated that 40 horsepower is generated. This 

will require a flow of 80 cubic feet of water per second. The San 

Antonio River has been known to flow only 10 cubic feet per second, 

and if all of this were utilized on the turbine it would generate only 

5t horsepower. The flow on December 31, 1901, was only 41 secondfeet at the "hot wells," and in July, 1902, it was only 9 second-feet: 

Praeger system.-Otto Praeger's plant, just north of t,he "hot 

wells," consists of a 10-horsepower gasoline engine and a doublesuction rotary pump having 4-inch discharge. The water is raised 

into a flume, from which it flows into a ditch 600 feet long. Sixty 

acres of Johnson grass are irrigated. After a crop is cut and taken 

off, the water is immediately turned on until the ground is thoroughly 

saturated. Four weeks later the ground is flooded a second time, and 

two weeks later the grass is cut. Thus a crop is cut every six weeks. 

It requires 100,000 gallons of water per acre for a single saturation, 

and the plant waters one-half acre per hour. . 

Layton system.-Four and one half miles south of San Antonio is 

the Layton irrigation plant, which consists of a 15-horsepower Springfield engine operating a 6-inch Gould centrifugal pump. The lift is 

17 feet and the estimated capacity 1,0UO gallons a minute. The water 

is pumpeq from San Antonio River, and to deliver the quantity stated 

under the lift of 17 feet requires, with an efficiency of 80 per cent, 

only 4t horsepower. Sixty acres of vegetables for the local markets 

are irrigated. 

Brown system.-Five miles south of San Antonio, on the east side 

of the river, B. H. Brown irrigated 35 acres by means of a 5-horsepower 

engine operating a 4-inch pump. The water is pumped frQm San 
58 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

Antonio River against a lift of 20 feet. The plant cost $400. The 

soil is black and very productive. Sugar can(', vegetables, corn, and 

oats are the crops raised. 

Mission Fann Company sysfern.-This company uses the natural 

outfall of the sewer and irrigates 50 acres of sorghum, Johnson grass, 

oats, and fruit trees. 

Carnille systern.-The Camille plant, -if miles from San Ant.onio, 

pumps its water from the sewer outfall. The lift is 23 feet, and the 

pump has a discharge pipe of 4 inches diameter and a capacity of 900 

gallons a minute. The soil is black. Eighty acres of vegetables are 

irrigated. 

Meerscheidt system.-N ear Prospect Flill, Meerscheidt Brothers 

irrigate 50 acres from a 12-inch artesian well. r_rhe water in the well 

rises to within 7 feet of the ground surface and is pumped into the 

ditches by means of a 12-horsepower Springfield engine and a 5-inch 

centrifugal pump. The capacity of the well is 750 minute-gallons, 

and this is sufficient to irrigate double t.he present acreage in dry 

seasons. 

Pickett system.-Thirty miles below, on the same river, near Floresville, in Wilson County, is the plant of A, G. Pickett. It was set up 

in 1893, and consists of a 40-horsepower steam boiler operating a 

Blake duplex steam pump, which is connected to the boiler by a 

2-inch steam pipe. From 12 to 15 horsepower is used at present, it 

being the intention of the owner to extend the plant, by the addition 

of more pumps, as more land is brought under irrigation. The 

average distance from the water to the pump is 15 feet and the average 

lift 50 feet. There is no reservoir, the water being pumped directly 

into the ditch. The total cost of the plant is estimated at $2,500, and 

it requires one man, at a cost of 12t cents an hour, to operate it. The 

pump is covered by high water in the river from two to four times a 

year. This plant was built to irrigate from 300 to 400 acres, and has 

sufficient boiler capacity for that acreage, but will require additional 

pumpR. The present pump has a 7-inch suction pipe and a 6-inch 

discharge, and is estimated to pump about 750 gallons a minute, or 

1.67 second-feet, sufficient to irrigate from 75 to 100 acres, but only 50 

acres of fruits were irrigated in 1901. The annual cost of water is 

estimated at from $2 to $6 an acre, according to the amount of rainfall and pumping. 

State Agricultural an(l ft'Iechanical College ,systern.-The irrigation 

_plant belonging to the experiment station of the State Agricultural 

and Mechanical College is a pumping plant deriving the necessary 

power from a windmill and a gasoline engine. 1-,he windmill is a steel 

Ideal, the original pump a deep-well pump having a maximum capacity of 80 cubic feet an hour. But this required a high wind to maintain the flow, and a 5f-horsepower (nominal) Weber & Co. gasoline 

engine, capable of exerting 4 actual horsepower was added. The 

pump has a cylinder 3! inches in diameter by 36 inches long, with a 
TAYWR.] SAN ANTONIO AND VICINITY. fl9 

24-inch stroke when run by the engine and a 9-inch stroke when run 

by the windmill. The water is forced 600 feet to a reservoir 16 feet 

above the top of the well. The reservoir is 32 feet long, 52 feet wide, 

and 8 feet deep, and will hold about 100,000 gallons, 0.3 acre-foot. It 

was built by excavating to a depth of 4 feet and building around the 

excavation earthen walls of the same height, the total cost being $140. 

On account of the very porous nature of the soil all tanks in this 

region must be lined with artificialmat,erial-cement, asphalt, or coal 

tar. The reservoir at the experiment station is lined with a mastic 

consisting of 73 per cent sand, 25 per cent coal tar, and 2 per cent 

lime. The sand and lime are mixed together and the tar is boiled 

until it will string, when it is mixed hot with the other ingredients, 

and while hot is spread on the bottom and sides at the rate of 52 

pounds io the square yard. On top is put a varnish formed by boiling pure coal tar and flashing it with a lighted match to burn off the 

light oils. The plant was completed in J 897, and it is estimated that 

20 acres can be served by it. Gasoline costs 16 cents a gallon in Beeville, and 1 gallon used as fuel for the engine delivers about 1,900 

gallons to the reservoir under the conditions stated. The cost of 

water per 1,000 gallons is 8.42 cents. Calculating the cost of a single 

irrigation at this rate, assuming that 2 acre-inches are supplied, 54,309 

gallons (2 acre-inches) cost $4.58 per acre per application, or at the 

rate of $2.29 per acre-inch. Should land be permitted to become very 

dry before irrigation is resorted to tho cost is increased correspondingly. Early in 1901 there was added to this plant a larger pump 

(5!-inch cylinder), the capacity of which is 70 gallons an hour. ·A 

new well has been sunk 12 feet from the old well, the two being connected GO feet beneath the surface of the ground, so that the water 

of one well will supplement that of the other well. 

McDowell systern.-W. G. McDowell, of Beeville, has a plant consisting of a It-horsepower gasoline engine pumping from a 70-foot 

well and irrigating 5 acres. 

Beeville irr,igated gardens.-These gardens have the most efficient 

plant near Beeville. It consists of a 4-horsepower gasoline engine 

pumping into a reservoir of 140,000 gallons capacity. Thirteen acres 

of vegetables are irrigated, but the plant could easily irrigate 20 

acres. 

Bee Star gardens.-The Bee Star gardens, of Skidmore, operate a 

plant consisting of an engine of 4 horsepower and an Ames pump with 

4-inch suction pipe. The water is pumped from a 6±-inch well 110 

feet deep, and is discharged into a reservoir 120 feet in diameter, 

having a capacity of 500,000 gallons. Fifty acres of cauliflowers, 

cabbages, cantaloupes, etc., are irrigated. By judicious management 

of the water 100 acres could be irrigated. 

Other truck systems.-The foregoing are types of many other systems in the country around and near Beeville. These plants generally consist of a small engine, a centrifugal pump, a surface reservoir, 
60 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEX.AS. [NO. 71. 

and the necessary ditches. The following plants are in snccessful 

operation: S. A. McHen1~y (two plant.s), 27 acres; Carl Rankin, 12 

acres; J. T. Holliday, 12 acres; J. K. Robertson, 7 acres; vV. D. Messinger, 3 acres; A.M. Stoval, 12 acres; R.I. Eidson, 12 acres; J. H. 

Elliott, 4 acres, .T. M. Chittim (near Normanna), 15 acres; James 

McCan (near Vietoria), 25 acres. 

Near Driscoll, in Nueces County, Charles Reynolds, George Reynolds, and vVill Shealy are installing plants similar to the foregoing, 

while P. E. McNeill and John Clementson, at Wade's station, have 

each a plant in operation. The latter plants obtain the water from 

wells 150 and 190 feet dAep, respectively, and during the current 

season 25 acres wer~ irrigated. 

King systent.-On the King ranch, south of Alice, 46. artesian 

wells, of an average depth of 500 feet, furnish abundant water, and 

Mr. R. J. Kleberg, the manager, has commenced using this water 

for the irrigation of alfalfa; but this system is at present in its 

infancy. 

Landa system.-Mr. H. Landa has just installed two irrigation 

plants on Comal River, at New Braunfels, for the purpose of irrigating about 70 acres of farm land. In one case the water is pumped 

from a lake near his flour mills and is forced through about 370 feet 

of 10-inch pipe into a canal in the field·, being conducted through the 

canal to the highest point on the farm and then distributed by means 

of laterals to all parts of the t.ract. Int.ermediate laterals are also 

constructed at intervals along the main canal, and the water is carri~ by gravity to all minor elevations, the surface of the water 

in the main canal being higher than any point in the field. rrhis 

system will water 25 or 30 acres. J\:Ir. Landa's second system is supplied by a pump operated by a 20-horsepower gasoline engine, the 

water being elevated into a flume which leads into a canal that terminates on the bank of the river. This canal is constructed on the 

same principle as the one just described, the water being.conducted 

to the highest portion of the field and distributed by means of laterals at intervals along its course. The tract to be irrigated by this 

canal contains about 40 acres. The canals are about 10 feet wide and 

the laterals 5 feet wide, constructed by building two parallel levees 

10 feet apart, of sufficient thickness to prevent much seepage. the 

tops or crowns of the levees being made level, forming au elongated 

reservoir across the field, from which the water can be drawn at will. 

The total length of the main canal in the first system is 1, 700 feet, 

the total length of the laterals 1,100 feet. The total length of the 

main canal in the second system is 2, 200 feet, the total length of the 

laterals 2, 700 feet. In the first case the water is raised 4 feet from 

the tank in to the canal. 

Locke systern.-One mile west of New Braunfels Otto Locke irrigates :33 acres in orchards, nurseries, corn, potatoes, etc. A 12-horsepower l!,oos gasoline engine operates a 6-inch centrifugal pump against 
TAYLOR.] SAN ANTONIO AND VICINITY. 61 

a lift of 47 feet, raising 4:00 gallons per minute. The discharge pipe 

conveys the water to the highest point of the land, from which it is 

distributed by ditches to the lands wat,ered. With the present prices 

of gasoline it costs $7 an acre per season. - If continuously operated 

the plant could irrigate 50 acres. 

Lenzen sysfe·rn.-The plant of G. P. Lenzen is located on the north 

bank of the Comal River in the suburbs of New Braunfels, and was 

first operated during the season of 190:?. A 20-horsepower gasoline 

engine, qperating a 6-inch VanWie centrifugal pump against a lift of 

60 feet, delivers the water into a 12 by 12 inch flume 500 feet long. 

Sixty acres in peas,. sorghum, corn, cotton, and potatoes are irrigated 

at an average cost of $7 per acre. 

Jlischer systeTtL-On the east side of the Guadalupe River, 1 mile 

belo~ New Braunfels, near the bridge of the International and Great 

Northern Railroad, C. F. H. Fischer installed late in the season of 

HJ02 a water-power irrigation plant. A uirt clam across the north 

channel of the Guadalupe deflects the wat,er nnder a 7-foot undershot 

wheel, which operates a 3-inch Gould pump against a lift of 60 feet. 

The plant at present writing is an embryo of what is intended. A 

reservoir is to be constructed, and from this water is to be drawn to 

irrigat,e 50 acres in corn, cotton, grass, and gardens. 

Bruemmen system.-One and one-fourth miles northeast of New 

Braunfels, W. Bruemmen uses an 8-horsepower Model gasoline engine 

to operate a centrifugal pump against a lift of 51 feet. The water is 

pumped out of the Guadalupe into a flume 1,100 feet long, which carries the water to the highest point of the 18 acres that are irrigated. 

~"fhe plant was put in late in the season of 1£102, and its capacity has 

not been fully tested, but it has been found that it costs only $1.80 

per day to operate the complete plant. 

Starty systern.-One mile north of New Braunfels, A. G. Starty has a 

small pump plant that derives its water from a well. A 6-horsepower 

gasoline engine runs a 4-inch Van "\Vie pump against a lift of 20 feet. 

'"fhe plant is located in the lowlands north of I~anda Park, and during 

the current season 8 acres in cane, corn, and cotton were irrigated. 

Dittmar systenz.-Five miles below New Braunfels, on the west side 

of Guadalupe River, Adolph Dittmar has a water-power irrigation 

• plant. The water is pumped from the river by a Worthington pump 

having 10-inch discharge and a lift of 40 feet. The power is generated by one Risdon turbine working under a head of 5 feet. rrhe 

dam is a natural formation in the river. 

San Marcos Water lVorks Company system.-The San Marcos 

Water Works Company (William Green, president) transfers, by 

electricity, the power for its pump from a dam across San Marcos 

River, near the head of the stream. The distance from the waterpower plant at the dam to the pump is 1,400 feet. '"fhe pump is a 

VanWie centrifugal, having 18-inch discharge. The lift is only 8 

feet, and it is the intention to bring 185 acres under irrigation. 
62 IRRIG.A.TION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. (NO. 71. 

Freeman systems.-About three-fourths mile below San Marcos, on 

the east side of the river, I. Freeman has a 16-horsepower gasoline 

engine which operates a 6-inch :Morris centrifugal pump under a lift 

of 26 feet. The capacity is 1,312 gallons a minute, which would 

require only 8 horsepower. One hundred and twenty acres are to be 

brought under irrigation and cultivated in truck gardens. 

J. R. Freeman has a 6-horsepower gasoline engine that runs a 4-inch 

:Morris centrifugal pump, working under a lift of 26· feet. 1,he estimated capacity is 350 gallons a minute. The plant cost $675. Ten 

acres of vegetables are irrigated. 

GlQver systenL.-The plant of Frank Glover consists of a 35-horsepower gasoline engine and a 12-inch VanWie pump, operating against 

a lift of 35 feet. The water is pumped from San Marcos River, and it 

is intended to irrigate alfalfa and other crops. The soil is black and 

rich, and will produce well. The plant will irrigate 100 acres in 1902. 

Lowman system.-Near the town of Staples, on San Marcos River, 

R. J. Lowman has a small irrigation plant in operation. The water 

is elevated to a height of about 21 feet, by means of an undershot 

water wheel carrying buckets on its circumference. The power is 

obtained from a 9-foot clam across the river. The capacity of the 

wheel is 300 gallons a minute. At present only 3 acres (a truck 

garden) are irrigated, and the wheel is not used to its full capacity. 

Jones systen~.-About 5 miles below San Marcos, on San Marcos 

River, J. C. Jones irrigates a farm of 20 acres by means of the power 

obtained from a 7-foot milldam. He uses a 6-inch centrifugal pump 

having a capacity of 1,000 gallons a minute and one 2-inch rotary 

pump having a capacity of 125 gallons a minute. The water is lifted 

to a height of 31 feet. Part of it is pumped into a reservoir in the 

field, and the remainder is run directly from the pump to the field 

and there distributed. This is the first year the farm has been irrigated. The crop is to be corn and alfalfa. Cost of plant, $600. 

Undershot 1..oater wheels.-Near San Marcos irrigation on a small 

scale is practiced by the use of undershot wheels, of wood, of the 

simplest form, with a metal bucket fastened to the perimeter of one 

side of the wheel in front of each paddle. These buckets fill in succession as the wheel turns and empty into a trough above, th"Gs raising the water to a height of very nearly the diameter of the wheel. 

The wheel owned by Capt. John Richards irrigates 2 acres of grapes 

and vegetables, while that of D. C. Garret irrigates 7 acres. 

SYSTEMS ALONG LOWER NUECES RIVER, LOWER RIO 

GRANDE, AND LEONA RIVEN. 

Nueces River :rises in the Edwards Plateau and, with its tributaries, 

the Leona and the Frio, drains the portion of Texas between Brackett, 

San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Encmal, and Carrizo Springs. In this 

paper ''the Lower Rio Grande" refers to the portion of that river 
TAYLOR.] LOWER NUECES RIVER. 63 

below Del Rio. The irrigation systems along the N ueces and its tributaries above the Southern Pacific Railroad are included in those of 

the Edwards Plateau. 

LOWER NUECES RIVER. 

Dolan system.-Going upstream, the first irrigation system is that 

of Pat Dolan, which is 6 miles below the crossing of the Southern 

Pacific Railroad. It consists of a 15-horsepower gasoline engine 

operating a pump, and with it he irrigates his garden and orchards. 

The cost of the plant. was $735, and at the time of its erection gasoline was selling at 12 cents a gallon, and he says that irrigation under 

those circumstances could be made to pay. 

COTULLA AND VICINITY. 

Near Cotulla there are seven very effective pump-irrigation systems: 

Copp systern.-The plant of George Copp is the oldest, and originally cost $1,000. It consists of a 12-horsepower duplex steam engine 

and a 4-inch discha1:ge pump, which, working against a lift of 45 feet, 

has an estimated capacity of 330 gallons a minute. The water is 

pumped from Nueces River and is delivered through 3,000 feet of pipe. 

The ch:lef crop is Bermuda onions. It costs from $15 to $25 an acre 

to irrigate, depending upon the season. The yield is from 15,000 to 

30,000 pounds an acre, and as the onions command from It to 4 cents 

a pound the revenue is from $::325 to $600 an acre. In all Mr. Copp 

irrigates 150 acres. 

Butler syste-rn.-W. P. Butler's plant irrigates 10 acres by the use 

of a 4-horsepower gasoline engine and a eentrifugal pump having a 

3-ineh discharge pipe. The water is pumped from Butler Lake and 

from Nueces River, and is raised 31 feet through 600 feet of delivery 

pipe. The system cost $700. 'rhe principal crop raised is Bermuda 

onions. The yield per acre and the price commanded are the same as 

in the case of Mr. Copp. Without. rainfall the onions must be irrigated 

every fifteen days, while cabbages require water only once a month. 

Kaley & Fuller system.-The plant of Kaley & Fuller consists of a 

50-horsepower steam engine and a centrifugal pump having a 3-inch 

discharge. 'Vater is pumped from Nueces River against a head of 

26 feet. rrhe estimated capacity is 600 gallons a minute, and 30 acres 

of Bermuda onions and cabbages are irrigated. The cost of the plant 

was $1,200. The yield and the revenue are the same as from the 

plants previously mentioned. 

m~z system.-The plant of Alexander Uhl cost $1,200, and consists 

of a 1g-horsepower steam engine and a centrifugal pump having 6-inch 

discharge, operating against a lift of 28 feet. The capacity is estimated at 500 gallons a minute, and 35 acres of Bermuda onwns are 

irrigated. The water is pumped from Harris Lake and from Nueces 

River, and is delivered through 1,150 feet of p1pe. 
64 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. (NO, 71. 

Davis system.-The plant of J. H. Davis consists of a 12-horsepower 

steam engine and a duplex pump costing $1,000, and irrigates 100 

acres of onions and tomatoes. rrhe water is pumped from Nueces 

River, and is delivered through 2,000 feet of pipe. The capacity of 

the plant is estimated to be 200 gallons a minute. 

Seafeldt systen~.-The. plant of H. G. Seafeldt consists of a 15-

horsepower steam engine and a duplex pump having a 4i-inch discharge, and irrigates 150 acres. Principal crop, Bermuda onions. 

Harg1..ts & Poole system.-The plant of Hargus & Poole consists of 

a 12-horsepower steam engine and a duplex pump having a 6-inch discharge. The plant cost $800. Water is pumped from Nueces River 

and is delivered through 500 feet of pipe. · 

UVALDE. 

Kilgore system.-Six and a half miles west of Uvalde, on the left 

bank of Nueces River, is t,he plant of M.'I-I. Kilgore and associates. 

A 55-horsepower engine operates a centrifugal pump, which delivers 

1,500 gallons a minute (3t second-feet) against a head of 73 feet. 

Wood is used as fuel, and as it is plentiful, the cost is nominal. The 

main ditch is 2 miles long, 6 feet wide at top, 2 feet at bottom; average 

depth, 2 feet. The plant was started in 1901, and 250 acres of the 

black, waxy, and sandy loam, most of it in alfalfa, were irrigated. 

IDLEWILD. 

Masterson system.-N ear Idlewild, on the Southern Pacific Railroad, 

Branch T. Masterson has installed a pumping plant on Medina River. 

Steam is supplied from a 60-horsepower boiler, which operates the hrin 

and mill, while the pump ( 8 and 12 by 12 by 10 inches) is connected 

direct. The head is 50 feet. The system was installed in the spring 

of 1901, and 200 acres, in oats and cotton, were irrigated. Medina 

River flows only about half of the year, but the plant is near a large 

pool in the river, which will furnish a supply at low stages. 

CARRIZO SPRINGS AND VICINITY. 

J. S. Taylor system.-Two miles below the iron bridge across 

Nueces River, on the road from Cotulla to Carrizo Springs, J. S. Taylor operates a pumping plant consisting of a 25-horsepower Buckeye 

engine, a 30-horsepower boiler, and an 8-inch centrifugal pump having 

6-inch discharge. The lift is 25 feet, and 60 acres of onions, corn, 

~nd oats are irrigated. The water is pumped into a surface reservoir 

of about 2 acres area, located about 300 feet from the pump. The 

ditch leading from the reservoir to the field is one-fourth mile long. 

The pump is 100 yards above the dam mentioned below. 

M. A. Taylor· system.-On tbe ranch of M. A. Taylor a dam has 

been constructed across Nueces River about 2 miles below the iron 

bridge just referred to. The dam is 20 feet high in the center and 

34 feet high on each side; wasteway 50 feet; length of dam about 170 

feet. The dam is of live-oak log cribs filled with stones and backed 
TAYLOR.) LEONA RIVER. 65 

with stones, cement, gravel, and clay. The lake at low water ·is 20 

feet deep and 5 miles long. To run the water out on gravity the dam 

would have to be built 29 feet high, which would give the water in the 

canal a total fall of 3 feet. The dam can be built 35 feet high, which 

would give a storage head Qf 9 feet, and would make a lake 10 miles 

long. The canal would be 1 mile in length and would turn the water out 

on gravity about 1 mile southeast of the ranch house. A storage dam 

12 feet high and 200 feet long is to be constructed about three-fourths 

of a mile north of the soldier stone bridge, which would create a lake 

10 feet deep and 10 miles long. To increase the height of the present 

dam to 29 feet in the center and 40 feet on each end, making it about 

500 feet long, and to build the mile of canal 6 feet wide on bottom and 

with a slope oft to 1, would cost $6,000. 

Artesian-well systems.-At Carrizo Springs artesian water can be 

obtained at a depth of about 100 feet. Artesian-well irrigation, however, is in its infancy. The wells 100 feet deep have a slow flow, 

although those of greater depth show a largely increased flow. The 

Paterson well is 590 feet deep and has a flow of about 200 gallons a 

minute, while the Campbell well, 5 inches in diameter, has a depth of 

350 feet and a flow of 50 gallons a minute. These wells have not yet 

been used for irrigation, as they were completed late in 1901. Mr. 

Campbell has installed a 15-horsepower gasoline engine and a 5-inch 

centrifugal pump to augment his supply, and has constructed two 

earth tanks having a total area of 2 acres and an average depth of 8 

feet. A well with a flow equal to the Patterson well could irrigate, 

under economical distribution, from 50 to 100 acres, depending on the 

season. 

The Carrizo Springs.-N o attempts have been made to utilize the 

flow of the famous Carrizo Springs for either power or irrigation. 

LEONA RIVER. 

The behavior of Leona River has been very irregular for several 

years. The Leona Spring, the source of its supply, is in the suburbs 

of Uvalde. It was dry in 1885, but soon revived and continued flowing until 1893, when it again stopped and has not flowed since. In 

1893, before the spring ceased to flow, a pumping station for the city 

water supply was built on the banks near the spring, but a year or 

two after the spring failed, the pumping plant was transferred to its 

present location, within 150 yards of the court-house. At the new 

station a pit 15 feet by 15 feet by 24 feet deep was excavated, and the 

pumps were placed in its bottom. A well 4 feet by 7 feet was sunk 

in the bottom of the pit to a depth of 16 feet, or to the 49-foot level 

below the surface of the ground, from which water was pumped to a 

standpipe. At first the water rose in the well to within 35 feet of the 

surface, but in December, 1897, it was noticed that the supply was 

·failing, and it continued to fail until May, 1898, when a second pit 

IRR 71-02--5 
66 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. (NO. 71. 

10 feet by 10 feet by 9 feet deep was excavated on t.he southwest side 

of the first or main pit, and in it a well was sunk until its bottom was 

63 feet below the surface. The pumps were then placed in the second 

pit, making t,heir position about 33 feet below the surface. In January, 1899, however, the water level had fallen so low that it was necessary to bore in the pump well three wells of a depth of from 30 to 35 

feet, reaching a total depth of 98 feet below the surface. 

In June, 18fl9, after the heavy rains over southwestern Texas, 

known as the Brackett flood, the water was standing at about the 

93-foot level and was slowly rising. On September 16, 1900, the 

water had risen to within 2 feet of the pumps, or to the 35-foot leveL 

In other words, in fifteen months the water had risen about 58 feet,. 

or nearly 4 feet a month. It continued to rise, and on December 1 

had reached the pumps and arrangements were made to raise them. 

Accurate measurements during September, 1900, showed that the 

water was at that time risi~g in the wells at the rate of 4 inches a 

month. 

Between the Leona Spring and the brickyard crossing, on the roadl 

from Uvalde to Pearsall, there are several small springs which contribute to the flow of the river, the largest being the Mulberry Spring .. 

During the early part of 1900 this spring was flowing, but in September of that year it.s flow had ceased. On December 1, however, 

it had a flow of about 1 second-foot. In 1895 the discharge of I...~eona 

River at the brickyard crossing was 11 second-feet, but in June, 

1899, the river was dry at the ford, and there was no water flowing 

between Uvalde and old Fort Inge, 4 miles below. On December 17, 

1900, the flow &.t the brickyard crossing was 5 second-feet. 

There are a number of irrigation systems along the river. 

UPPER DITCH. 

Jn 187 4 a dam of dirt and logs was constructed across the river 

near old Fort Inge. It had a length of 53 feet and a height of 

6 feet. The ditch known as the Upper ditch was taken out on the 

east side, the topography being such that a deep cut had to be made 

in the bank of the river. In all there are about 5 miles of ditches in 

this system,. of the usual depth of 6 feet and of a width of 4 feet. 

Six hundred and thirty aeres are irrigated from it. The crops raised 

are corn, hay, cotton, and onions. The yields per acre are 30 bushels 

of corn, 4 tons of hay, 1 bale of cotton, and 15,000 pounds of onions. 

LOWER DITCH. 

The Lower ditch was constructed in 1871. It is 4-k miles long, 6 

feet wide, and generally about 3 feet deep. A dirt-and-log dam 50 

feet long and 6 feet high forces the water into the ditch. The soil is 

a rich sanely loam. Three hundred acres are irrigated, the crops 

being corn, hay, and cotton. The yield is about the same as along 

the Upper ditch. 
TAYLOR.] LEONA. RIVER. 67 

COMANCHE IRRIGATION COMPANY'S DITCH. 

In Zavalla County, :?t miles above Batesville, t,he Comanche Irrigation Company has taken out a ditch on the west side of I.eona River. 

(See fig. 16.) It is 21- miles long, 7 feet greatest depth, and 4 feet 

wide. The dam that deflects the water into the ditch is about 100 

feet long and 15 feet high, and was first constructed in 1876, but had 

to be rebuilt. The ditch at first runs due west from the lake formed 

W //an Rosenberg 

JP.Rudd 

13 ~----------~--------------------~~._----~ 

Estavan Casanova 

John MAllen 

Patrick Jack 

~ 

1\) 

0 

~ 

~ 

(5 

o 2. 4 6 e miles 

======a=====~======~====~ FIG. 16.-Map of Comanche Irrigation Company's ditch near Batesville. 

by the dam for a distance of about 1 furlong, and then curves to the 

south, and .for 2 miles runs almost parallel .with the river, and then _ 

branches, in order to bring more land under it. The soil is a dark 

sandy loam of great depth, rich and easily cultivated, and is known as 

black mesquite. The company irrigates 500 acres of corn, oats, cane, 

hay, cotton, fruits, and garden truck. The corn yields 35 bm;;hels 

and the cotton 1 bale to the acre. 
68 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

LOWER RIO GRANDE. 

The Rio Grande Valley forms one of the most inviting fields for 

irrigation on a large scale that can be found in Texas. At Brownsville the valley is 35 miles wid~, decreasing slightly upstream toward 

Hidalgo. Five miles above Hidalgo the width suddenly decreases, 

and from there on it varies considerably, being at most a few miles 

and often almost nothing. 'There are from 180 to 200 square miles 

of rich and fertile valley land that could be brought into active production by clearing up the land, constructing canalR, and installing 

.pumping machinery. The minimum flowof theriveratLaredois2,500 

second-feet, and remembering that 1 cubic foot per second will irrigate and keep flooded 50 acres of rice, it can readily be seen that the 

natural faetors of soil and water only await utilization to inaugurate 

a successful rice and sugar industry along the Rio Grande. Sytems 

have already been built near Eagle Pass, at North Laredo and Hidalgo, and at Brownsville and vicinity, as described on thJ following 

pages. 

EAGLE PASS. 

Dolch system.-Just below Eagle Pass L. F. Dolch has put in a large 

pumping plant with which he will irrigate 400 acres of the Rio Grande 

bottoms. His machinery consists of a 125-horsepower Frost engine 

and two SO-horsepower boilers, operating two centrifugal pumps of 

14-inch discharg_e against a lift of 45 feet. The estimated capacity is 22 

second-feet. The plant is on the banks of the river, thepnmps being 

in a pit 31 feet deep and 20 feet in diameter. The water is drawn 

from the river through a 14-inch suction pipe 300 feet long, and is discharged through 1,100 feet of 14-inch discharge pipe. 

NORTH LAREDO. 

In North Laredo, on the banks of the Rio Grande, there are three 

pumping plants for irrigation. 

Nye system.-The plant of F. C. Nye consists of two 60-horsepower 

boilers and a Quincy duplex pump having a capacity of 800 gallons a 

minute (1.8 second-feet) against, a head of 65 feet. The water is 

pumped from a w·ell on the sloping banks of the river. The well 

extends below the level of low water and is connected to the river by 

a pipe. It is well built,, about 12 feet in diameter, and is lined with 

brick. The pump is on a platform in the welL Only 12 acres are 

irrigated, but 75 acres could easily be served. The pumps.are usually 

operat,ed eleven hours a day, at a cost of $7.50 for repairs, coal, engineer, etc. The fuel used is the Pecos coal, which costs $1.50 a ton. 

The land is watered twice a month, and the yield is 21,000 pounds of 

onions to the acre for unfertilized hnd and 31,000 pounds to the acre 

for fertilized land. 

Lit_hgow system.-The plant of F. H. Lithgow is about a half mile 
TAYLOR.) LOWER RIO GRANDE. 69 

below th" Nye plant, and consists of a 20-horsepower gasoline engine 

and an 8 by 10 VanWie triplex pump, whieh has a capaeity of 400 

gallons a minute against a head of 70 feet. The water is delivered 

through a pipe 830 feet long. The cost, including oil, is $3.25 per day 

of eleven hours. The engine runs without supervision and can water 

30 acres a day. The soil is alluvial, 10 feet deep, underlain with clay. 

The crops raised are onions, tomatoes, cabbages, carrots, turnips, 

watermelons, and cantaloupes. In all 38 acres are irrigated. 

Madrigal system.-The plant of S. V. Madrigal, which adjoins the 

Lithgow plant, consists of a 10-horsepower Weber gasoline engine and 

a 6 by 8 triplex pump raising 200 gallons a minute against a lift of 70 

feet. One acre a day is irrigated, and each section of land is watered 

every twelve t,o fifteen days. The pump is an upright direct-stroke 

and is operated by a belt from the engine. The suction pipe is a 

4-inch, and the water is pumped from a well connected with the river 

similarly to that of the Nye plant. The well is 5 by 5 feet and is 

lined with timber. 

HIDALGO. 

Closner system.-At Hidalgo, down toward the mouth of the Rio 

Grande, is a steam pumping plant owned and operated by John 

Closner. It consists of a 50-horsepower engine operating a centrifugal 

pump having a capacity of 6. 7 second-feet. The water is pumped 

from the Rio Grande, and 200 acres of sugar cane and corn are irrigated. The principal crop is sugar cane, which is manufactured into 

sugar that finds a ready market. This plant has proved one of the 

most successful in Texas, and .it is paying an excellent return for the 

outlay. 

BROWNSVILLE AND VICINITY. 

Brulay system.-George Brulay, of Brownsville, has a pumping 

plant worthy of attention. Is is 8 miles below Brownsville, in Cameron County, and was completed and first used in 1896. It consists 

of two boilers, having an aggregate capacity of 100 horsepower, and a 

45-horsepower Morris centrifugal pump, having a maxhnum capacity 

of 8,000 gallons a minute, or 17.82 second-feet. The total lift is 22 

feet, and when in use the pump is run about fourteen hours a day. 

It is designed to cover 300 acres, but so far only 240 acres, planted in 

sugar cane, have been irrigated. A high-grade sugar is made from 

the cane juice. 

Goodr·ich systems.-E. H. Goodrich reports having installed a 

10-horsepower Priestman engine in a resaca on his place, G miles-north 

of Brownsville, in :1\'Iarch, 1897, but he.has used it very little, owing 

to favorable weather and to the fact that the ditches are not yet 

finished. With two 12-foot windmills on the same place he can irrigate 35 acres. He also irrigates between 15 and 18 acres on his place, 

3 miles north of Brownsville, by means of a 14-foot windmill pumping 
70 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS Ol!' TEXAS. lNo. 71. 

from a well in the bank of a resaca. The distance to the water varies 

from 5 to 12 feet, and the pumps, which are three in number, discharge into a flume connected directly with the ditches. The total 

cost of the latter plant was $300. 

T~jerina. system.-Tomas Tijerina, Sabos Uavazas, and Pedro Cerna, 

on a farm about 9 miles above Brownsville, raise sugar cane by 

subirrigation from the Rio Grande. The cane is ground in an oldfashioned sugar-cane mill, and the juice is caught and boiled down to 

a consistency that will readily mold. 'rhe molds are of the form of a 

frust:um of a cone of about, 4: inches base. After _the sugar is molded 

it is known as piloncillo. It is -rV'o pure sugar, is hard, breaks readily~ 

and the light varieties have a taste similar to that of maple sugar. 

The lumps are wrapped in the foliage of the cane and are put up in 

packages of 150 pounds, forming what is called a cargo, equal in 

volume to six American bushels. P£loncillo is one of the chief commodities of the Mexicans of the Lower Rio Grande. 

COLORADO VALLEY SYSTEMS. 

The irrigation systems in this section include those in the Colorado 

Basin which are within a short distance of the river or immediately 

upon it. The Edwards Plateau is drained on the north by the tributaries of the Colorado, but the irrigation systems on those tributaries 

are described in the Edwards Plateau group, pages 25 to 51. 

STERLING COUNTY. 

The first systems along the Colorado or Hs branches are in Sterling 

County, along the North Concho.- There are two of them, one owned 

by the McGee Irrigation Company and the other by J. N. and .T. H. 

Kellis. 

McGee Ir~rigation Com1Jany system.-This plant is 5 miles from 

Sterling City. The main ditch is on the southwest side of, the river. 

It is 2 miles long, has a top width of 6 feet, a bottom width of 4 feet, 

and carries about 1 foot of water. It was begun in 1892 and was first 

used in 1894. The water is raised by a loose-rock dam 125 feet long 

and 6 feet high, built across the river. The total cost was $1,500, and 

it commands 250 acres, only 70 of which are irrigated. The principal 

crops, in order of their importance, are cotton, corn, sorghum, oats, 

sweet potatoes, alfalfa, and vegetables. The ditch is kept in repair 

by each stockholder doing his share of the work. 

Kellis systern.-The Kellis plant was constructed in 1889 on the 

northeast side of the North Concho. The ditch is 1 _mile long, top· 

width 6 feet, bott,om width 4: feet, depth 2 feet. The water is deflect.ed 

into the ditch by a loose-rock dam 50 feet long and of an average 

height of 5 feet. The soil irrigated is a loose gray loam. Fifty acres 

are served from the ditch, the crops being cotton, corn, cane, oats, 

-potatoes, and Johnson grass. 
TAYLOR.J COLORADO VALLEY Sf.YSTEMS. 7I 

IRION COUNTY .. 

Near Sherwood, in Irion County, there are threed'ams across; Spring· 

Creek, the headwaters of Concho River. These are known as the· 

upper, the middle, and the lower dam, and, although injured considerably by the floods of 1900 and 1901, each dam has its irrigation system in the chocolate-colored loam of the river valley. The upper and 

middle dams are 3 and 2 miles, respectively, above Sherwood. The 

ditches from them irrigate 266 and 216 acres. The lower, or Steinbaugh dam, is a half mile from Sherwood, and the ditch from its reservoir irrigates 1 53 acres. The crops raised command the highest 

market price, as competition is practically out of the question. The 

Sherwood system co1:nmands in all 635 acres. 

TOM GREEN COUNTY. 

In Tom Green County the irrigation facilities furnished by Concho 

River and its numerous branches and tributaries are among the best 

to be found anywhere in western Texas. These have been only partially utilized, however, in separate systems, by individuals and small 

companies, making the cost of maintenance much greater than if consolidated. Nevertheless they have been fairly successful, and have 

certainly reduced the cost of living in that section, making foodstuffs, 

especially vegetables, much cheaper and more abundant. Eleven 

plants are reported in the county-six on the South Concho, one on 

the North Concho, one on I.ipan Creek, and one each on Spring Creek 

and Dove Creek. The location of all of these ditches, except the one 

on the-North Concho (the Williams or Joe Glenn ditch) and the one 

on Lipan Creek (the Kelly ditch), is shown in fig. 17. The total area 

irrigated in the county is 3,500 acres. 

Williams or Jae Glenn ditch.--The ditch of Mrs. W. D. Williams, 

known as the Joe Glenn ditch, is on the North Concho, 1 t miles west 

of "\Vater Valley. It is 3 miles long, 8. feet wide on top, 4 feet wide on 

bottom, and 2t feet deep. It was first used in 1886, and is supplied 

with water by a rock dam across the river, 100 feet long and of an 

average height of 8 feet. The total cost of the system was $3,500, and 

it commands 350 acres, 225 of which have been irrigated, two-thirds 

in cotton and the remainder in different sorghums and oats. 

Glenmore fa·rrrn ditch.-Two miles southeast of San Angelo is the 

celebrated Glen more farm, sometimes known as the Cunningham farm, 

owned by A. F. Mabry. In 1891 a timber dam of the kind known as 

"turtle back," 74 feet long and of an average height of 7 feet, was 

built across the South Concho, and from it a ditch 4. miles long and of 

an average width of 6 feet and an average depth of 14 feet conducts 

the water to the land irrigated. The clam cost $4,000 and the ditch 

$500 a mile. The soil is a black sandy loam, and alfalfa, celery, cotton, and garden truck are produced in abundance. About 20 acres 
72 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

are confined to a garden. The famous Glenmore celery is produced 

here. Ninety acres are irrigated, and the yield of alf~lfa is 4 tons to 

the acre. 

Fw.17.-Map showing location of irrigation ditches in Tom Green County: 1, Cunnmgham 

ditch; 2, Bismarck ditch; 3, Twin Mountain ditch; 4, Gardner ditch; 5, Metcalf ditch; 6, Baze 

ditch; 7, San Jose ditch; 8, South Concho Irrigation Company ditch; 9, Miles ditch. 

Bisrnarck ditch.-The Bismarck ditch, 0\vned by Jones & Payne, of 

San Angelo, is 7 miles south of San Angelo, on the east side of the 

South Concho. It was project,ed by the Ben Ficklein Irrigation and 

Manufacturing Company, and was constructed in 1875. It is 4 miles 
TAYLOR.] COLORADO VALLEY SYSTEMS. 73 

long, 10 feet wide, and of an average depth of 2. 9 feet. A brush-androck dam 80 feet long and 10 feet high deflects the water into the ditch. 

The dam cost $1,500 and the ditch cost $900 a mile, the total cost being 

about $5,000. The soil is black loam; the crop raised oats, corn, cotton, sorghum, and Johnson grass. Thp, yield per acre is 60 bushels of 

oats, 20 bushels of corn, two-thirds of a bale of cotton, and 3 tons of 

hay. Six hundred acres are irrigated. The mos~ modern methods are 

used on this farm. The ground is plowed by use of a 20-horsepower 

traction engine, which, with three disk plows, breaks up 25 acres per 

day. Two crops are often raised on the same land in one yp,ar. When 

the small grain is cut, a crop of turnips is immediately planted, and 

these are off in time for small grain in the fall. 

Gardner system.-The plant of A. F. Gardner is on the west side 

of the South Concho, 12 miles south of San Angelo. A dam of brush 

and rock 70 feet long and 6 feet high, cost,ing $400, was constructed 

in 1883. It deflects the wat.er into a ditch 2 miles long, 6 feet wide, 

and of an average depth of 16 inches. The ditch cost $250 a mile, 

making the total cost of the system $900. In all 70 acres of sandy 

loam are irrigated. The crops are oats, cotton, and Johnson grass, 

the yield being 60 bushels of oats, two-thirds of a bale of cotton, and 

3 tons of grass to the acre . 

. Twin Mountain ditch.-The Twin Mountain ditch is on the north 

side of the river, at Spring Creek, 12 miles southwest of San Angelo. 

It is owned by Charles 1\'Iott, of San Angelo. A wooden dam 80 feet 

long and 7 feet high, built in 1885 at a cost of $2,000, deflects the 

water into the ditch, which is 3 miles long, 12 feet wide, and 15 inches 

deep, and cost $500 a mile. Under this system 300 acres of black 

loamy land are irrigated. The crops are oats, cotton, and Johnson 

grass, the yield the same as elsewhere in this locality. 

Metcalf ditch.-The Metcalf ditch (owned by Metcalf & Sims) is 12 

.miles south of San Angelo, on the east siue of the South Concho. It 

is 4 miles long, with an average top width of 12 feet, a bot,tom width 

of 8 feet, and a depth of water of It feet,. It was begun in 1887, and 

the first mile was completed the next year, but the ditch was not 

entirely completed until 1896. It takes water by means of a brushand-stone dam 200 feet long and 7 feet high, which extends across the 

river. The cost of the dam was about $500, the cost of the main ditch 

$500 a mile, and the cost of the laterals, of which there are three, $250 

a mile, making the total cost, with incidentals, $7 to each of the 470 

acres now irrigated. The repairs, which are maintained by the tenants, may be estimated as amounting in labor to 75 cents an acre. 

The crops are Johnson grass, cotton, corn, oats, wheat, and garden 

truck. 

South Conclw Irrigation Company ditch.-The plant of the South 

Concho Irrigation Company was constructed in 1881. It is on the 

east side of the river, 20 miles south of San Angelo. The brush-and-
74 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [No. 71. 

rock dam is 70 feet long and 7 feet high, and cost about $600. The 

ditch is 3 miles long, ·7 feet wide, and averages 16_inches in depth. It 

cost $400 a mile. The· soil is rich, black loam, and the 220 acres irrigated yield 60 bushels of oats and 3 tons of Johnson grass per acre. 

San Jose Irrigation Company ditch.-The dam of the San Jose 

Irrigation Company (of which Joseph Tweedy, of Knickerbocker, 

Tex., is the secretary) is on Dove Creek, about 8 miles from Knickerbocker. It is composed of brush, rock, and gravel; is 900 feet long 

and 8 feet high, and cost about $1,250. 'rhe annual repairs cost from 

$50 to $10(). The <lam deflects the water into the ditch, which is 6 

miles long, 8 feet wide, and 1 t feet deep, and cost about $300 a mile. 

The soil is chocolate-colored loam, and 1,400 acres are usually irrigated. The crops are oats, corn, cotton, sorghum, and Johnson grass, 

the annual yield per acre being 40 bushels of oats, 20 bushels of corn, 

three-fourths of a bale of cottou, and 3 tons of hay. This is hy far 

the largest irrigation system in the Colorado Valley. 

Baze irrigating ditch.-Five miles below the dam of the San Jose 

Company and 3 miles from Knickerbocker is the dam which feeds the· 

Ba~e irrigating ditch. This was constructed in 1875 and is now 

owned by Dr. Boyd Cornick and others. It is of wood and rock, 48 

feet long, and 8 feet high, and cost about $500. The ditch is on the 

west side of the creek. It is 3 miles long, 7 feet wide, and It feet 

deep. The soil is similar to that of the San Jose Company's tract. 

One hundred and sixty acres of oats, alfalfa, and cotton are irrigated. 

Kelley syste-rn.-Twenty miles southwest of San Angelo, on Lepan 

Creek, is the system of Mr. vY. S. Kelley. In 1894 he constructed a 

wooden dam 40 feet long and 4 feet high, which feeds the ditch. ·rhe 

latter is 1-! miles long, 4 feet wide, and about 1 foot deep. The soil 

is a sandy loam. Forty acres of oats, Johnson grass, and garden truck 

are irrigated. The dam cost about $150 and the ditch $175 a mile. 

BROWN COUNTY. 

Swin,den Pecan Orchard Cornpany.-Near Brownwood, in Brown 

County, about 120 miles east of San Angelo, there is.a large area suitably locat,ed for irrigation on an extensive scale. In it is the plant 

of the Swinden Pecan Orchard Company, which consists of a centrifugal pump operated by an 80-horsep()wer engine, pumping 3,000 gallons a minute, or 6.84 second-feet. The water is carried by a flume 

4, 000 feet long to a reservoir formed by an earth ern dam 400 feet 

long and of a height varying from 2 to 15 feet. The dam is at the 

foot of gently sloping land, and forms a triangular reservoir covering 

55 acres. The reservoir is designed to irrigate the 400 acres of level 

land lying along the Pecan Bayou, from which the water is pumped 

to fill it. A small stream is also dammed and turned into the reservoir. Th~ 400 acres commanded by the reservoir are planted in pecan 

trees, making the largest orchard of that kind in the world. The 

irrigation plant was put in chiefly to enable the owners to practice 
TAYLOR.) COLORADO ·VALLEY SYSTEMS. 75 

truck farming and the growth of small fruits between the rows of 

trees while waiting for the latter to mature. . The soil is a rich black 

and chocolate colored loam. A great mistakewas originally made in 

having the reservoir so large and shallow. Evaporation and seepage 

were in this way increased. To reduce the loss by evaporation an 

inside dam has been constructed, decreasing the area of the reservoir. 

Fairland 'irrigated farm.-The Fairland irrigated farm, owned by 

J. F. Smith and brother, is a short distance from Brownwood. Two 

pumping plants have been installed. The first one consists of an 

Ivens single-suction centrifugal pump, operated by a 50-horsepower 

Chandler & Taylor plain slide-valve engine. With an average lift of 

15 feet 4,000 gallons a minute (9 second-feet) can be discharged 

through the 10-inch discharge pipe. • The second plant consists of an 

Ivens double suction pump having a 13-inch discharge pipe, and 

driven by an SO-horsepower Nagle engine, which delivers 5,000 gallons a minute (11 second-feet) against a head of 30 feet. rrhe length 

of the ditches is about 4 miles, the width 6 feet at top and 3 feet at 

bottom, and the depth 1 foot._ There are 400 acres under ditch, and 

1~ bales of cotton per acre are produce:d from irdgated land, while 

only one-fourth bale can be produced from unirrigated land. The 

first plant cost $2,000, the second plant $3,000, making a total of 

$5,000. In 1900 high water destroyed the crop. 

MILLS COUNTY. 

In Mills County several pumping plants were formerly operated 

along Colorado River, but the high water in June, 1899, and in April, 

1900, damaged t,hem by either submerging the pumps or destroying 

ditches and crops to such an extent that some of the owners were discouraged and never repaired the plants. 

LAMPASAS COUNTY. 

Finlan systern.-One mile east of Lampasas Mrs. Owen Pinlan for 

years operated a windmill plant, the water being pumped into a 

cement tank 60 feet in diameter. In 1901 a 4-horsepower gasoline 

engine was added. This plant is oa the south bank of the Sulphur 

Fork of Lampasas River, and pumps the water from the pond or lake 

formed by Donovan's dam. The water is raised 20 feet by a bucket 

pump, and is delivered into a flume which conveys it to the cement 

tank. From the tank the water is conveyed to the land through a 

system of ditches. Fifteen acres of truck gardens are successfully 

irrigated. The yield of onions _and sweet potatoes is exceptionally 

large. Below the plant of Mrs. Finlan there is a fertile valley that 

could easily be bro-ught under ditch. 

TRAVIS COUNTY. 

Near Del Valle, in Travis County, there are two pump plants. 

That of George Begg consists of a nO-horsepower engine, which operates a 10-inch centrifugal pump against a lift of 45 feet; 200 acres 111 
76 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [~o. 71. 

ordinary crops will be irrigated. The plant of N. H. Shappard consists of a 12-horsepower engine operating a 6-inch centrifugal pump 

against a lift of 40 feet. Only 20 acres were irrigated this season 

{1902), but plans have been formed to enlarge the system by adding 

a 45-horsepower boiler and two 10-inch centrifugal pumps. 

SYSTEMS NORTH OF COLORADO RIVER. 

Irrigation in this region is rare, for two 1·easons: (1) The section 

(the eastern portion) where the streams would furnish water for irrigation has sufficient 'rainfall to raise crops unaide:i; and (2) the 

western portion, ineluding the St.aked Plains, has no st,reams available 

for irrigation, the underground waters are still undeveloped, and the 

construction of impounding reservoirs has commended itself neither to 

private enterprise nor to public favor. 

BELL COUNTY. 

Hoover system-One mile west of Killeen, in Bell County, A. J. 

Hoover has shown what could be done by windmill irrigation. His 

plant consists of a Dandy windmill, 13 feet in diameter. The water 

is pumped from a pool 100 feet from the windmill, and is forced 

through 300 feet of 3-inch pipe into an earthen tank 50 by 100 feet,, 

along the track of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad. The 

water is elevated 14 feet. Five and a half acres of garden are irrigated. A ready market is found for all vegetables raised. 

BURNET COUNTY. 

There are three small systems in Burnet County, two from springs 

and one from the Colorado River. The latter receives its water from 

the dam of the Tanner Brothers, at Bluffton, and 30 acres are irrigated 

from this plant. Ten miles west of Burnet, Mr. Williams irrigates 15 

acres in a truck garden, the water being obtained from a spring. A 

similar plant is located 10 miles south, at :Marble Falls. 

WILLIAMSON COUNTY. 

There are a few small patches irrigated in the western and central 

part, but these consist of only a few acres. Early in 1902 H. T. Sterns 

installed a pumping plant 5 miles north of Taylor to irrigate ordinary crops. The water is derived from San Gabriel River by means 

of a 13-horsepower Charter gasoline engine operating a 3-inch Van 

Wie centrifugal pump. The dry-land corn around Taylor was burned 

up by the drought of 1902, and, as in the other central portion of 

Texas, it was cut for fodder. However, M1e irrigated corn of Mr. 

Stern afforded a severe contrast to the dry-land corn of his neighbors; 

while theirs was virtually burned up, his was as abundant as that 

grown on the best black land. The soil irrigated here is in the black 

waxy strip, which is known as the richest lands in Texas. 
TAYLOR.) SYSTEMS NORTH OE' COLORADO RIVER. 77 

The few small systems referred to above are located along the San 

Gabriel and derive their water from springs. The plant of H. E. 

Townes is 8 miles west of Georgetown, an(l he irrigates 15 acres in 

tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, et,e., from the old Knight spring. 

John Ischy, 4 miles west of Georgetown, irrigates a truck garden of 

7 acres from the old Harper spring; while the plant of W. H. Donathan, 3 miles west of Georgetown, on the Middle Gabriel, irrigates 

his truck farm from a spring, in two levels, the lowest being irrigated 

from the ditches that lead from the spring, and the upper by means 

of a windmill that raises the water 3! feet. 

MILAM COUNTY. 

Near Cameron, Milam County, five pumping plants were installed 

somewhat late in the season of 1902. Four of these take their water 

from Little River and the other from a spring. The plant of McLane & 

Crain is 2 miles southwest of Cameron, on the southeast bank of I .. ittle 

River, and consists, of a 100-horsepower boiler, a 75-horsepower 

engine, and an 8-inch VanWie pump working against a lift of 27 

feet. The farm consists of the rich black shell bottom lands, with an 

admixture of sand near the river banks. The San Antonio and 

Aransas Pass Railway passes through this farm on a high trestlework. The cotton and corn had just been watered when the August 

floods completely submerged a large part of the crop, killing corn and 

cotton and making the season's work a complete loss. The plant of 

J-. M. Crain consists of a 10-horsepower engine and a 3-inch centrifugal pump working against a lift of 26 feet. However, no results were 

obtained, on aecount of the overflow mentioned above. The island 

farm of John B. Mci~ane lies almost south of Cameron, on the south 

side of Little River, and its topography is such that the ditches have 

a good fall as they leave the river bank. A levee along the river 

bank above the pumping plant should be constructed to protect the 

lands from destructive overflows of the river. The present plant 

consists of a 20-horsepower engine which operates a 5-inch VanWie 

centrifugal pump against a lift of 27 feet. There are 175 acres in the 

farm, and it is intended to add ~eavier machinery in order to increase 

the acreage. Just west of the city waterworks plant, on the north 

bank of the river, L. F. Blanchard has an irrigated truck garden of 20 

acres. The water is obtained from the river by means of a 15-horsepower stationary steam engine which operates a 4-inch centrifugal 

pump. The land is very rich, and two crops are readily raised each 

season. The 6-acre truck. garden of S. J. Brooks is a mile west of 

Cameron, and is irrigated from a reservoir directly. The water from 

a spring is piped tQ a fish pond, from which it is pumped into the 

ditches. The plant consists of a 2.5-horsepower Weber gasoline 

engine which operates a 2-inch rotary pump against a lift of 6 feet. 

The land irrigated was fm·merly an old quagmire. 
78 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF. TEXAS. [No. 71. 

STAKED PLAINS. 

The Staked Plains is a great plateau, about 36,000 square miles in 

extent, with an almost flat surface which gradually rises from an 

elevation of 3,000 feet to 4,500 feet above sea level. Flowing water, 

except from a few springs, is almost unknown. The soil is of such a 

character that it readily absorbs the rain that falls upon it, which 

percolates downward and is reached in wells from 40 to 200 feet in 

depth. Many of these wells are capable of furnishing a supply almost 

inexhaustible to ordinary means of pumping. The soil is often too 

dry to be successfully cultivated without irrigation, which can be 

practiced only by means of water raised by pump~. Pumping, however, is most easily aecomplished by means of windmills, which are 

remarkably successful in this region, owing to the almost constant 

winds which sweep across the plains·. Windmills have been used for 

many years to furnish water for stock, and they have been tried successfully on a small scale for irrigation. The settlers of the plains 

have learned to appreciate the value of devices of this character for 

raising water. Reservoirs or tanks are almost always used in connection with t,he mills. The sides and bottoms of these are made impervious by turning in a little water and puddling the soil by driving 

horses or cattle about in it for a day or more. 

Morrism1 systenL-About the center of the Llano Estacado or Staked 

Plains, in Hale County, T. W. J\!Iorrison owns a plant consisting of 

two Aermotors, 8 and 12 feet in diameter, respectively, pumping from 

wells 50 feet deep, with water 20 feet below the surface. Each windmill lifts the water 35 feet. One wheel is used for supplying the residence; the other pumps into a reservoir 125 feet long, 100 feet wide, 

and 4 feet deep, and irrigates 10 acres, besides furnishing water for 

the stock. These wheels have been in use since 1891. 

Wayland and Herbert systems.-J. H. Wayland, of the same 

county, has three Aermotors pumping from wells 35 to 60 feet deep 

into a reservoir 300 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 6 feet deep, irrigating 

10 acres in 1901. The total cost of wells, pumps, wheels, and reservoir was $505. The total cost of the plant, which must include land 

and fencing, is given as $1,000. W. P. Herbert also irrigates 5 acres, 

and C. E. McClelland states that there are at least 50 families in Hale 

County prepared to irrigate by windmills from 5 to 20 acres if the 

season renders irrigation necessary, but for the last two years the 

season.s have been so good that irrigation has not been practiced. 

SYSTEMS NORTH OF TEXAS PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

There are hundreds of windmill plants north of the Texas Pacific 

Railroad. In the counties of Haskell, Shackelford, and Young, in 

fact in nearly all the counties east of the one hundred and first merid· 
TAYLOR.] LIMESTONE AND COMANCHE COUNTIES. 79 

ian; there are small garden patches,_ varying in size from one-sixth 

to three-fourths of an acre, irrigated by windmills. Fifty replies to 

letters sent out by the writer have not shown, with the exception 

referred to in these notes, a windmill plant that irrigated more than 

a half acre. Two windmill plants of Haskell County (those of vV. H. 

Parsons and H. H. Nesbett) are typical of them all. 

Parsons and lolesbett systems.-The plant of W. H. Parsons consists of a Dandy windmill 4 feet in diameter, pumping from a well 

and irrigating 1 acre. rrhe plant of H. H. N esbett consists of an 

Aermotor 10 feet in diameter and a 4-foot well 38 feet deep; depth to 

water, 31 feet. This ~wheel irrigates 3 acres of black, sandy soil. 

Reynolds Land and Cattle Cmnpany.-'The Reynolds Land and 

Cattle Company, near Channing, Hartley Count,y, irrigates 40 acres 

from a spring. The principal crop raised is alfalfa, but a small 

orchard of fruit trees and a garden are also irrigated. The orchard 

consists of apples, peaches, pears, plums, and grapes. The underground water supply in the neighborhood of this ranch has not proved 

sufficient to irrigate more than small gardens. 

Rathjen systen~.-F. H. Rathjen, of Mobeetie, 'Vheeler County, 

irrigates 60 acres of corn and alfalfa, from Williams Creek, which is 

fed by springs. The creek is 5 miles long and there is sufficient water 

to feed the quarter-mile ditch. The soil irrigated is BJ red loam. 

- Kernpner & Lasker system.--;-Messrs. Kempner & Lasker have constructed a dam across Holiday Creek, about 5-! miles south and 20 

degrees west of Wichita Falls. It is of earth, 3,000 feet long, 35 feet 

high in the creek, 25 feet high for 1,100 feet, and about 9 feet high at· 

the north end. 1,here are two wings, one 5,100 feet long a:nd the other 

about 700 feet long, making a total length of 8,800 feet, or 1! miles, 

and containing 150,000 cubic yards of material. The watershed is 

estimated to be 150 square miles. The creek is generally dry, but 

sometimes has a large flood volume passing down to Wichita River. 

The reser oir formed has a capacity of 13,000 acre-feet and covers 

2,050 acre . It is estimated that it will irrigate from 4,000 to 8,000 

acres. Pa t of this dam was washed away in May, 1901, but it is 

stated tha it can easily be repaired. 

LIMESTONE AND COMANCHE COUNTIES. 

Stubenr uch system.-At Mexia, in Limestone County, J. Stubenrauch has een very successful~ in the use of a small irrigation plant 

for fruits and vegetables. The plant consists of a dam across a ravine, 

catching t e storm waters and forming a tank covering about an acre 

of ground. From this the water is lifted to a height of 25 feet, by an 

8-foot win mill, into an earthen reservoir 50 feet long and 100 feet 

wide. Th reservoir is now being enlarged, to have double its present 

capacity. The total cost of the system was $300, including 700 feet 
80 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

of piping. Seven acres have been irrigated, but it is estimated that 

15 acres could be watered. Mr. Stubenrauch has put in another system, with a reservoir covering an acre of ground, the dam having a 

height of 5 feet above the outlet pipe. For filling the reservoir he 

uses a 12-foot wheeL He pumps from a storage tank made by damming a ravine. The dam on top is fully 10 feet wide, and both the 

reservoir and the storage tank hold water like a jug. The total cost, 

including 600 feet of 2i-inch pipe for discharging water into the 

reservoir, was $485. 

Mr. Stubenrauch says: 

For the gardener or fruit farmer there is no investment bringing in larger 

returns than an irrigation plant similar to what we have here. In the very driest 

season 300 bushels of sweet potatoes to the acre are easily grown, which can be 

disposed of during August and September at one's own prices. In 1899 there 

were grown some of the finest cauliflowers ever produced. Dozens of heads 

weighed over 6 pounds each. Have irrigated fruit only the past season (1900). 

Five acres irrigated as a truck farm near a good market are worth more to the 

owner than are 75 acres without, of similar land for the same purpose. 

Lee system.-One and one-half miles from the town of Comanche 

W. T. Lee irrigates 5 acres from an 8-inch well 95 feet deep. The 

water is pumped by a windmill jnto a circular reservoir 100 feet in 

cHameter and 6 feet deep. This reservoir was formed on a knoll, by 

scraping the earth from the central space into the leveed embankments. From the reservoir the water is conducted in different directions by 3-inch pipes and by ditches. The crops raised are chiefly 

garden vegetables and such fruits as pearf-:, peaches, apricots, grapes, 

and black berries. · 

WACO AND VICINITY. 

In the suburbs of Waco, on both sides of Brazos River, pump irrigation has proved a paying investment. This is well established, not 

only by the data furnished, but by the fact that many are enlarging 

their plants and adding better machinery. 

Plants east of Waco.-Two miles east of the city there is a cluster 

of a half dozen plants, all doing a successful business. E. Pordo has 

a surface well HI feet deep and 6 feet in diameter, walled with brick. 

Ordinarily the water stands 3 feet in the well. A small centrifugal 

pump, having 2-inch discharge pipe, rests on the well covering and 

is operated by a 4-horsepower gas engine of local make. The head 

is 23 feet, into a flume 8 inehes by 6 inches and 125 feet long, which 

empties into an earthen tank 60 feet by 60 feet on the inside. The 

system is reenforced by two Kirkwood windmills, which pump into 

elevated wooden tanks of 5,000 gallons capacity each. The windmills 

are 100 and 200 feet northeast of the tank, and each pumps out of a 

well of t,he same depth as the one just described. With good winds the 

windmills will supply sufficient water to irrigate the 3 acres. Adjoining the plant of Pordo is that of Robert Etheson, in all respects sim-
TAYLOR.] WACO AND VICINITY •. 81 

ilar to that of the former. The plant of Charles Myers consists of a 

4-hbrsepower Lambert gas engine operating a plunger pump. The 

wellts 32 feet deep, and the lift from the water to the flume is 38 feet. 

The water is pumped into a wooden tank of 6;300 gallons capacity, 

from which it is distributed to the garden through four outlet pipes 

1-! inches in diameter. Instead of conveying the water to the different 

sections of land by ditches, a system of 1 -!-inch pipes is used. The 

land is watered from the pipes by means of a hose, or simply by 

removing the cap of the hydrant. It costs 65 cents a day to operate 

the engine for twelve hours. The soil is black loam, slightly impreg:-

nated with sand. The plant was first used in 1894. Ten acres are 

irrigated, although double that amount could be irrigated by the engine 

and the auxiliary windmill. Near the plant of Mr. Myers, Fred Stalte 

irrigates 4 acres by the use of a small gasoline engine and a windmill. 

Etheson system.-One mile nOl'th of the foregoing cluster of plants, 

near Brazos River, A. Etheson irrigates 12 acres by the use of a gas 

_engine pumping from a surface .well. 

Dismukes system.-In East 'Vaco Ed E. Dismukes irrigates 16 

acres with a 6-horsepower gasoline engine and a cylinder pump. At 

present the water is pumped out of a 6-inch pipe driven into 12 feet 

of water. The well which formerly existed was filled up and the 

6-inch pipe substituted for it. The pipe is screened to prevent clogging by the sand. The suction pipe is 2 inches in diameter and the 

lift 9 feet. The water is pumped into a tank 30 feet by .120 feet by 5 

feet deep, from which it is distributed. 

Faulkner systern.-About 1-! miles north of "'"'aco is the fr~it farm 

, and garden of C. Faulkner, a tract containing about 400 acres. Of 

this about 350 acres are planted in fruit (pears, peaches, Burbank 

plums, apples, and blackberries)~ and about 30 or 40 acres form a 

garden in which vegetables, strawberries, and market produce are 

grown. The garden tract and a portion of that containing fruit trees 

(the late fruits) are irrigated from reservoirs or tanks on the highest 

points of the field, the water being supplied by an artesian well. The 

tanks are five in number, and consist of four levees thrown up to 

form a rectangular or roughly circular basin in which the water rises 

to a sufficient, height to be conducted by gravity through pipes and 

ditches to all parts of the field. One of the tanks covers about 4i acres 

and has an .average depth of water of 8 feet. Two of them are about 

120 feet by 150 feet and average 6 feet depth of water; the remaining 

two are smaller. The well was sunk in 1898, is 1,850 feet deep, has a 

16-inch casing for about 20 feet from the ground surface, and a 6-inch 

delivery pipe. The water has a temperature of about 100° F., and is 

under a good pressure. It leaves a slight white deposit on the ground 

irrigated-so slight that it appears more like white frost than anything else-which, it is said, does not in any way injure t~e vegetation. The water is conducted from the. tanks in ditches (piped under 

IRR 71-02--6 
82 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF 'fEXAS. [NO. 71. 

the roads), and is distributed by side ditches and furrows. Theaverage yield of pear trees is about 10 bushels, of peach trees about 

5 bushels, and of Burbank plums (the only kind grown) 5 bushels. 

Apple trees have not yet begun to bear. 

RICE IRRIGATION SYSTEMS. 

GENERAL FEATURES. 

The rice belt of Texas (fig. 18) extends from Sabine County, on 

Sabine River, to the Rio Grande, and at present includes two welldeveloped zones (the Beaumont and the Colorado Valley), which raise 

75 per cent of the rice grown in the State, and several detached areas 

that are sure, with good management, to be the forerunners of 

ext,ended systems in their respective localities. 

In the Beaumont section the land i& a level prairie, which heretofore 

has cut very little figure as an industrial factor. It is very flat, 

some of it having a slope of only 1 foot in 5,000 feet, and generally 

requires small levees and low lifts at the pumps. This flat section 

extends along the coast from Sabine River to the Rio Grande. The 

250-foot contour above sea level is from 50 to 125 miles frQm the 

Gulf, while the strip 20 to 30 miles wide along the shore rises oitly a 

few feet above sea level. 

In addition to this coastal belt the rice section has since 1897 been 

rapidly spreading back from the coast until it, has reached Cuero, 

Fayetteville, and Hempstead on the west. In the flat sections the 

water is often obtained from bayous, and is frequently so impregnated with salt sea water that injury to the rice occurs. Rice must 

have an abundant supply of fresh water and a soil that is rich enough 

to nourish the plants and compact enough to hold the water, and it 

is being successfully grown in Texas wherever these factors are 

grouped, and where they do not exist naturally money and brains 

are grouping them with a twentieth-century effectiveness. No longer 

is the rice belt restricted to the old bayou country, but along the 

Brazos, the Colorado, the Guadalupe, and the Rio Grande more than 

100 miles from the coast a high-grade rice is grown. 

In addition, the irrigation of rice from wells will certainly prove of 

greater benefit to the Texas farmers than all of the big irrigation 

plants combined. The latter method of irrigation is in its infancy, 

but it is certain to become the chief factor in rice production in the 

State. The plant of George Vick, 2 miles east of Eagle Lake, is but the 

pioneer of many that will become established when the small farmer 

can, with a nominal outlay, convert his flat lands into a successful rice 

farm. A welll2 feet in diameter and 34 feet deep (7 feet of water), 

a traction engine to supply power, a submerged pump, an open box 

for a flume, a canal easily constructed-total cost $2,200-constitute 

Mr. Vick's equipment. With this 125 acres of excellent rice were 
TAYLOR.] RICE IRRIG A.TION SYSTEMS. 83 

raised in 1900. Thi~ plant is now owned by Hudson & Ayres, and is 

reterred to later in these pages. 

The rice land is laid.off in sections or "cuts" so that the extreme 

difference in elevation will not exceed 6 inches. The size of the cuts 

varies with the character of the topography. A cut is surrounded by 

levees or dikes, to hold the water, and it may be that a hillock or hole 

FIG. 18.-Map showing rice belt of Texas. 

will occur in a cut. These can be ignored, however, for rice produces 

until time and the flow will level the one or fill the other. The water 

is pumped to the land by steam power, water power, or windmills, by 

far the greatest part of the work in Texas being done by steam. 

From the best informat,ion obtainable in western Louisiana and 

eastern Texas it seems to be the consensus of opinion that it requires 

9 gallons of water a minute for each acre of rice, or 1 second-foot to 
84 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [No. 71. 

each 50 a'cres. In the Beaumont section the rainfall often reduces 

the pumping considerably. During 1900, a wet year, some pumps were 

operated only four days. But a dry season will require the pumps to 

furnish the entire 9 gallons a minute for each acre, and it is not good 

engineering to estimate on less than that quantity, which is equivalent 

to 12,960 gallons per twenty-four hours per acre. If xis the number 

of acres to be irrigated andy the lift in feet, the weight of water to be 

supplied each second is 1. 25 x pounds, and the work done each second in pumping this amount is 1.25 xy foot-pounds. The theoretic 

horsepower required would therefore be ::a. 

Thus for x = 1,000 acres and for a lift of y = 22 feet an engine 

exerting 50 absolute horsepower would be required. The estimated 

a: 

w 

~ 

~300 w 

If) 

a: 

0 

I 

9000 ... 

FIG. 19.-Diagram showing horsepower required for various lifts and acreages. 

10--

3000. 

w 

If) 

.a: 

0 

:t 

or claimed hor~:;epowers of engines should be tested or reduced by a 

substantial fraction if disappointment in the capacity would be 

avoided. 

By the aid of fig. 19 a person can at a glance determine the horsepower required t,o irrigate a tract of land. Given the lift and the 

number of acres to be irrigated, to find the horsepower of the engine 

first find the lift on the sloping lines (say 24 feet) and follow that 

line to the vertical line which corresponds with the number of acres 

to be irrigated (say 1,100), then follow the intersecting horizontal line 

to the left and read off the horsepower required-in this case 48-but 

in order to insure a safe margin an engine of 60 hor~:;epower should be 

procured, and if the horsepower of the engine is based on the claims 

of agents a still larger margin should be allowed. 

For some plants, owing to the contour of the ground, more than one 

lift is required, and more than one pumping station is necessary, the 
T.A.YLOR.j RICE IRRIGATION SYSTEMS. 85 

pumping capacity of each station being the same, but the machinery 

in one station being heavier than that in t,he others, depending on the 

lift. 

By means of flumes the water is led from the pumps to the canals, 

· and from the main canals is turned into the laterals from which it is 

distributed over the land. The main canals are usually very wide, 

being in most cases intended to act as reservoirs. 

The first experiments with growing rice in Texas were in 1862, the 

farmers depending on the rainfall to furnish the water. But this 

trusting to Providence in the matter of rice cultivation did not pay, 

and to insure success pump irrigation was resorted to. The culture 

of rice by irrigation began about 1893. Prior to that time it had been 

grown in only a small way in ponds and marshes for home use. ,..rhe 

method of growing rice on a large scale by irrigation and· with 

improved machinery is comparatively new, and is peculiar to the 

Southwest. Unlike Georgia and the Carolinas, where rice is still 

grown in the old way, the rice being planted in rows, the field flooded, 

and the water drawn off several times during the growing season? in 

Texas rice is sowed on comparatively high land with drills or broadcast, is cut with self-binders, and is thrashed from the shock or 

stacked, to suit the convenience of the farmer. The same kind of 

machinery is used in raising, harvesting, and thrashing rice that is 

used with other small grain, the only difference in the cultivation 

being that rice lands are flooded after the rice is up to a height of· 

from 3 to 6 inches. The water kills t,he gra_ss and weeds and causes 

the rice to grow rapidly. · 

In from ten 'to twenty days (depending on the grower and the nature 

of the soil before harvest) the levees on the lower side are opened and 

the water is drawn off by means of the ditches made in throwing up 

the levees. For some plants this drainage requires more engineering 

skill in the arrangement of the levees than in making them fulfill all 

the requirements for feeding the land with water. In Texas the 

practice is to sow the rice any time from April 15 to J nne 15. It is 

kept flooded from ninety to one hundred and ten days, one hundred 

days being the average. From It to 1! bushels are sown to the acre. 

The land is plowed and harrowed and prepared as for wheat. The 

outfit or equipment varies with the acreage. After the rice is planted 

and the water is turned on eternal vigilance is necessary to keep 

canals and ditches in order, to prevent breaks and the consequent 

waste of water and drowning out of part of the crop. It is by no 

means an easy crop to manage. From the first flooding until harvest- . 

ing the work is a muddy history of patience. Just before the crop 

ripens the water is drawn off to permit the ground to harden enough 

to bear the binder. If the :rains set in at this critical time it entails 

additional expense and trouble to save the crop. In this respect the 

rice farmers away from the coast have an immense advantage, for 
86 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

there the rainfall aids during .,the flooding period and does not 

jeopardiz~ the crop during the time of harvest. While tlie cost of 

pumping is more in the western part of the rice belt, the surety of an 

undamaged product will always overbalance the additional expense. 

BEAUMONT SECTION. 

The irrigation systems in the Beaumont section, which comprises the 

counties of Jefferson, Orange, Liberty, and Chambers, are shown in 

the maps forming figs. 20 and 21, and are described on t,he following 

pages. 

J E F F E R S 0 N 

FIG. 20.-Map showing irrigation systems in the eastern half of the Beaumont section. 

1. George Gill. 9. Southern Rice and Trust 17. Port Arthur Rice Company. 

2. J. H. Garland. Company. 18. Des Moines Irrigation Com3. J. C. Ward. 10. C. A. Place. pany·. 

4. Jefferson County Rice Com- 11. Mr. Davis. 19. Cow Bayou Canal and Irripany. 12. Schumacher & Fox. gation Company. 

5. J. H. Hoopes. 13. Cameron & McClure. 

6. Lovell Brothers. 14. Viterbo Brothers. 

7 Ed. Moore. 15. Beaumont Rice Company. 

8. Gulf Rice Growing Com- 16. McFadden & Wiess Company. pany. 
TAYLOR.] BEAUMONT SECTION. 87 

JEFFERSON COUNTY. 

Of all the counties of r-_rexas in which the people have tried rice 

growing by means of irrigation, .J~fferson County undoubtedly stands 

first in extent of acreage and in successful cultivation. 

Hardin Co. 

~j~ 

"''b 

~ic ,.:r II.J .. I'J •' 

'·--------------------------------------~:::~:~~:_________________ i ! 

i 

. i ·--ct~~r-5~%o~-----------··-:··-~------l 

! 

Ri fl ' 

! Winnie ' 

! 

~ 

~ (') 

0: 

lo.J 

f.. 

~ 

Seabreeze 

White 

FIG. 21.-Map showing irrigation systems in the western half of the Beaumont section. 
88 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. (NO. 71. -.. 

The rice farms and plantations are in two general districts, one 1n 

the valleys of Taylors and Hillebrandt bayous, above their junction 

in the southern part of the county, and the other along the valleys of 

Neches River and the Pine Island Bayou. All of the farms owned 

and operated by individuals are on Taylors and Hillebrandt bayous. 

There are also in the county five rice-growing companies, known as 

the Beaumont Rice Company, the McFadden & Wiess Company, the 

Port Arthur Rice Company, the Jefferson County Rice Company, the 

Southern Rice and Trust Company, and the Gulf Rice Growing 

Company. 

The following is a list of the rice irrigators in the county. arranged 

in order going downstream : 

Rice irrigators in Jefferson County. 

Acres irrigated. 

Name. Stream. 1900. 

~eG~ft~~~~(f ~~~::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: _ ~~~J~r~-~~!-~~-~~~~ ::~~:::~ ~~:: ______ ~- J.C. Ward------------------------------ _____________ do-----------------------·-- 900 Jefferson County Rice Co ___________________________ do-----------------·-----·-- 1,800 

~i~li~~ ~1~~s::: ::::: ~: ::: ~:: :::::::::::::::::::: _ ~~~J_~r~-~~~~~- ~~·!_:::::::: ::: ----i,-200- P. S. Lovell ___________________________________________ do-------------------------- 850 Ed. Moore ___________________________________________ .do ______ ------______________ 100 

Gulf Rice Growing Co._________________________ Hille brandt Bayou (SW.)_ _ _ __ _ 150 C.A. Place ___________________________________________ do _______ -----·------________ 450 

Southern Rice and Trust Co ___________________ Hillebrandt Bayou (NE.)_____ 900 

Cameron & McClure--------- _______________________ do-------------------------- 550 Viterbo Bros _________________________________________ do__________________________ 600 

t~'F~d~~! ~i~E~s -co-::::::::::::::~~::::~:::: ~i~t~la:Ri~!~~~-~:: :~:: ::::::: :¥~~ Port Arthur Rice Co ________________________________ do ____ ----------____________ 4,000 

------------------------------------------ ________ Wells---·-- ____________________ ----------

1902. 

1,500 

750 

700 2,300 

600 

400 

760 

60 

300 

500 

900 

680 

950 

15,000 

9,000 

8,500 

1,480 

Total_-----________________________________ _ _____ _ _____ _ _____ _____ _ _____ ____ ______ ____ 44,380 

I 

General descriptions of the plants are given on the following pages; 

also, where obtainable, the opinions of the growers in reference to 

time of sowing, disposal o~ the straw, nature of the land, and other 

convictions drawn from experience. 

The dry season of 1902 caused the impregnation of Taylors and Hillebrandt bayoi1s with salt water, and the 10,000 acres of rice on these 

bayous suffered accordingly. It is claimed that the ship canal from 

Sabine Pass to Taylors Bayou has increased the danger from salt 

water. in these bayous, and att.ention is here called to the necessity 

of a dam across Taylors Bayou at the mouth to keep back salt water. 

TAYLORS BAYOU. 

Gill system.-George Gill's farm is the westernmost irrigating from 

Taylors Bayou. The soil is of clay, with no sand, and is very hard to 

plow. Mr. Gill uses the drill and also sows broadcast, but he recommends t.he former method. His yield has averaged 7 sacks an acre. 

rrhere are two complete pumping plants on the farm. One consisLs of 

an Ivens rotary pump, having a capacity of 9,000 gallons a minute 
'!'AYLOR.] BEAUMONT SECTION. 89 

against a lift of 12! feet, and a Skinner engine and SO-horsepower 

boiler made. by the Colu;ro bia Boiler Works. The other plant consists 

of a Menge pump, having a capacity of 300,000 gallons an hour against 

a lift of 3 feet, and a Taylor compound engine and a boiler of the 

same make and steaming capacity as that of the ·other plant. The 

flume is 6 feet wide, 2 feet deep, and 24 feet long. The main canal 

is 60 fe~t wide and 3 mi~es long, with several laterals. The t.otal cost 

of the tquipment was allout $5,000. Mr. Gill irrigated 400 acres in 

1S99, 6po acres in 1900, I and 900 acres in 1901. For all purposes he 

recom~ends !ow-speed ~ngines (though both of his engines are high 

speed)~nd slow-speed p~mps, as they seem to give better satisfaction. 

Gar nd system.-J. $. Garland's farm lies along Taylors Bayou, 

about 120 miles southw:Ft of Beaumont. The soil is very sticky, 

althouth it works well hen dry. Mr. Garland sows either with a 

drill o broadcast, fro March 20 to about June 10, ·and uses the 

ordina y binder in rea{ping. While thrashing he saves sufficient 

straw for feeding purpo~es and burns the surplus. For the first rice 

sown irrigation is begui about May 20, depending on the season, and 

is cou~inued until almqst time of harvesting. The yield from this 

land h~s been 10 barrel$ to the acre, the price of seed from $3 to $5 a 

barrel4 I 

He pses one pump, ~f the Menge pattern (manufactured by the 

estatelof Joseph Meng~ at New Orleans, La.), having a capacity of 

15,000 gallons a minu~e (33 second-feet) under a lift of S feet. A 

75-hor epower Skinner 1ngine drives the pump by means of rope t.ransmissio . The boiler u~ed for steaming has a capacity of 90 horsepower and was manufactured by the Union Iron Works and Skinner I 

Engin Works, of Erie~ Pa. There are two laterals-one a half mile 

long ~. d the other thre~-fourths of a mile long. The total cost of the 

plant jwas about $2, 700.[ With this equipment Mr. Garland irrigated 

600 a~~es in 1S99 and 7~0 acres ·in 1902. 

W~rd system.-The [farm of J. C. Ward is the next one on .the 

south 1 side of Taylors /Bayou. The soil is generally sandy, with a 

good ~lay foundation n~ar the surface of the ground. His methods of 

sowin~, cultivating, apd reaping are as follows: Beginning about 

Marlc1, he continues tr .. sow until the last of 1\'Iay, using either the drill 

or so ing broadcast. ~rrigation is begun about the 1st of June, though 

this c pends upon the weather. When matured, the rice is harvested 

with inders, and the~ thrashed. All the straw needed for feeding 

purp ses is saved, thd remainder is usually burned. .The average 

yield I has been 10 bar~ls (35 bushels) an acre, for which Mr. Ward 

has rtceived $3 a barrdl. There are two complete pumping plants on 

the f rm. The pump ~t the larger station is of the Menge type, with 

a cap city of 720,000 gallons an hour (27 second-feet). A 100-horsepowe Atlas engine i~ installed, with only an SO-horsepower Atlas 

boile . At the other ~lant there is a 500,000-gallon Menge pump, an 

I 
90 IRRIG ATJON SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. (NO. 71. 

engine of local make, and only a 30-horsepower boiler. The lift in 

each case is 9 feet. The larger plant cost $5,000, the smaller only 

$1,500. The flume is 60 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 4 feet deep; the 

box part is constructed of 2-inch planking. rrhe main canal is from 

60 to 40 feet wide and 2 miles long, and has several large laterals 

3 -'1-

~ I 2 ~ .2 ~ -----------

4 ..3 + .3 4 

/ 2 

I 

3 4 

2 

FIG. 22.-M~p of Jefferson County Rice Company's farm, showing irrig~tion canals. 

branching off. Mr. Ward irrigated about 400 acres in 1899 and 900 

acres in 1900, hut the plant is now leased to Bigham Brothers. 

Jefferson Cml!nty Rice Company system.-The farm of the J efferson County Rice Company is 17 miles from Beaumont, and is the last 

one on the south side of Taylors Bayou, all the land below being 

marshy and subject to overflow from salt water. Two pumps, one 

22-inch Marri and one 15-inch hTenR, of capacities of 20,000 and 7,500 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SU PPLY PA.PER NO. 71 PL. VII 

A. PUMPING STATION OF JEFFERSON COUNTY RI C E COMPANY. 

11. RICE THRESHER AT WORK ON PORT ARTHUR IRRI GATION COMPANY'S 

PLANTAT ION. 
.-

TAYLOR.) BEAUMONT SECTION. ~1 

gallons a minute, respect.ively, raise the water from the bayou against 

a lift of 15.1 feet. The engines are of the Erie make, of capacities of 

150 and 50 horsepower, respectively. The boiler is of the same make, 

and has a steaming capacity of 200 horsepower. The flume is 12 feet 

wide, 3 feet deep, and 180 feet long, and discharges into a canal 100 

feet wide. The soil is a deep, black, sandy loam and has a clay subsoil. In 1899 it yielded 8 sacks to the acre. This farm has been irrigated six years. Fourteen hundred acres were planted in 1899, but 

the number was reduced to about 800 acres in 1900. In 1901 about 

3,000 acres were irrigated. Pl. VII, A, is a view of the pumping station. The smaller pump was installed in 1896, the larger (a 150-

horsepower) in 1898. The company owns 10,424 acres .of land, which 

they have divided into quarter sections and thrown open to actual 

settlers. So far 3,800 acres have been sold to settlers, on the cyoppayment plan, at from $20 to $25 an acre, one-half of the crop being 

given to the company until the lap.d is paid for. The highest point 

on the farm is at the pumping station, and this enables the company 

to flood the whole tract without additional lifts by pumping. To 

insure a full supply, a reservoir covering 500 ·acres has been constructed, with an average depth of 4 feet and a capacity of 2,000 acrefeet, or 1,300,000 gallons. A map of t.his farm showing the irrigation 

canals is shown in fig. 22. 

Hoopes system.~J. H. Hoopes's farm is in the lowlands made by 

Taylors and Hille brandt bayous. Some of the soil is black and waxy, 

some is black loam, and some is sandy, but all has~ clay subsoil. 

The yield has been from 8 to 12 sacks to the acre. A Menge pump, 

manufactured in New Orleans, with a capacity of 16,600 gallons a 

minute, furnishes the water. The pump works against an average 

lift of 10 feet, varying with the stage of the water. An Erie engine 

of 60 horsepower is used, and an Erie boiler of the same steaming 

capacity. The flume is 32 feet long, 9 feet wide, and 1 foot deep, 

constructed of l-inch boards and lined with galvanized iron, which is 

an exception to the ordinary flume in this district. The main canal 

is 100 feet wide and 1 mile in length. Six hundred acres were planted 

in 1899, 400 acres in 1900, and 600 acres in 1902. "rhe total cost of 

the plant was about $4,000. 

Moore systern.-Mr. Ed. Moore's farm is near the Hoopes farm. 

"rhe soil is a mixture of clay and loam. The yield last year was below 

the a yerage, being only from 6 to 8 sacks to the acre. He uses an Ivens 

centrifugal pump having a capacity of 200,000 gallons an hour against 

a lift of 17 feet. One 60-horsepower engine, of the Cleveland make, 

operates it, steam being supplied by a 75-horsepower boiler. The 

flume is 200 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 1 foot deep. The canal is 

from 15 to 30 feet wide and 2 miles in length. One hundred and fifty 

acres were irrigated in 1899, 100 acres in 1900, and 60 acres in 1902. 

B·igham systern.-The plant of Bigham Brothers is on the north 
92 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. (NO, 71. 

side of Taylors Bayou, near Labelle. It consists of two pumps having discharge penstock 2 .by 3 feet. The lift of one pump is 8 feet, of 

the other pump 12 feet. The power is supplied by two engines of 40 

and 80 horsepower, respectively. The water is raised into flumes 30 

and 100 feet long, and these discharge into the main canals, which 

are a half mile and 3 miles long, respectively. There were 400 acres 

in rice in 1899, 1,200 acres in 1900, and 1,200 acres in 1901, notwithstanding the unusual severity of the latter season. The yield in 1900 

was 8,000 sacks, commanding $3 a sack. The soil is a black loam, 

and is well suited to rice culture. This firm operates the J. C. Ward 

farm. 

Lovell system.-The plant of the Lovell Brothers (Willard G. Lovell, 

manager) is on the north banks of Taylors Bayou. It consists of an 

Ivens pump having a 21-inch suction pipe and an 18-inch discharge 

pipe, and estimated to have a capacity of 18,000 gallons a minute ( 40 

second-feet) under a maximum lift of 18 feet. The plant is run by a 

Houston, Stanwood & Gamble engine of 100 horsepower. With an 

engine efficiency of 75 per cent this can pump only 275 gallons a second, or 16,500 gallons a minute. The flume is 146 feet long, 10 feet 

wide, and 3 feet deep. The length of the main canal is 3t miles, the 

width 50 feet. One mile of the laterals-is 20 feet wide, It miles are 

15 feet wide, and a half mile of them is 10 feet wide. In l899, 1,100 

acres of rice were sown; in 1900,850 acres; in 1901, 850 acres; and in 

1902, 760 acres. 

HILLEBRANDT BAYOU. 

Southern Rice Company system.-The plant of the Southern Rice 

Company is the northernmost diverting water from Hillebrandt 

Bayou. It is about 12 miles south of Beaumont. The plant is 

equipped with Ivens pumps having 22-inch suction pipes and 21-inch 

discharge pipes, operated by a 100-horsepower Chandler & Taylqr 

engine, estimated to have a capacity of 15,000 gallons a minute (33 

second-feet) under a lift of 13 feet. With an engine efficiency of 70 

per cent, 71 horsepower will do this work. The water is delivered by 

the pumps into a flume 150 feet long, 8! feet wide, and 4 feet deep. 

The main canal is 1 t miles long and 7 5 feet wide, and delivers into 

laterals 12 feet wide. The soil is black, with a clay subsoil. Water 

was rented in 1899, when 200 acres of rice were sown, yielding 2,000 

sacks, which sold for $2.70 a barrel. The amount sowed in 1900 was 

900 acres, yielding 7,000 sacks, which sold for $3 a barrel. In 1902 

about 960 acres were sown. 

Gulf Rice Growing Company system.-The farm of the Gulf Rice 

Growing Company is 10 miles southwest of Beaumon~on Hillebrandt 

Bayou. The lift is about 12 feet, and the water is pumped by a 90-

horsepower engine. The soil is a clay loam, 300 acres of which, in 

rice, were irrigated in 1902. 

Place systern._:_The plant of C. A. Place has one Morris pump 
TAYLOR.] BEAUMONT SECTION. 93 

having 15-inch suction and 12-inch discharge, operated by a 25-

horsepower· Westinghouse "Junior" engine, having a maximum 

capacity of 10,000 gallons a minute (222 second-feet) against a lift 

of 12t feet. , The water is delivered into a flume 28 feet long, 4 feet 

wide, and 2 feet deep, which in turn delivers it into the canal, which 

is 1 mile long and -60 feet wide. The soil is clay and black loam, with 

a subsoil. Two hundred and fifty acre_s, in rice, were irrigated in 

1899, 450 acres in 1900, and between 450 and 500 acres in 1901. The 

yield in 1900 was 3,40.0 sacks, commanding $3 a sack. The plant cost 

$2,500. Previous to 1899 other parties owning this farm had irrigated 

125 acres. 

Cameron & ~McClure system.-The rice plantation belonging to· 

Messrs. Cameron & McClure is on both sides of Hillebrandt Bayou. 

The soil is light, but it has a fine clay subsoil which retains the water 

well. The rice is sown from March 25 to May 1, and if the season is 

not rainy irrigation is begun when the rice is about 6 inches high. 

The yield has been from 7 to 10 sacks to the acre, and the price 

received ranges from $1.25 to $3.40. The lower prices were received 

for rice of poor quality, much of it being damaged by what is termed 

"red rice." The reaping is done with the ordinary harvester and 

binder. The owners of the plantation have found that the straw 

makes ve.ry good hay. 

Owing to the farm being on both sides of the bayou, there are two 

complete pumping plants. At one of the plants there is in use a 6-foot 

Menge pump, having a capacity of 12,000 gallons a minute (27 secondfeet,) against a head of lOt feet. The engine is of the Skinner type, 

of a capacity of 75 horsepower, and receives steam from a 100-horsepower boiler. The other plant has a 12-inch pump of the VanWie 

make, which has a capacity of 7,500 gallons a minute (17 second-feet) 

against a head of lOt feet. This pump is run by a 40-horsepower 

Skinner engine which is supplied with steam by a 50-horsepower Van 

Wie boiler. 

The flumes are 40 and 60 feet in length, 12 and 8 feet wide, and 12 

inches deep. They are constructed of 4-inch by 4-inch timber in the 

bents, while the sides and bottoms are made of 12-inch planking. 

Four hundred awl fifty acres were irrigated during the year 1899, 

550 acres in 1900, and 680 acres in 1902. 

Viterbo Brothers system.-This sy~tem is 12 or 14 miles southwest 

of Beaumont. One Menge pump, costing $500 and having a capacity 

of 25,000 gallons a minute against a lift of 7 feet, is used. Two boilers, each of 50 horsepower, furnish the steam to a 75-horsepower 

engine. The canal is 40 feet wide and 2t miles in length. A reservoir, covering an area of 225 acres and having a depth of 6 feet, holds 

the storage water. There are 1,000 acres leveed in, but not all of this 

is planted in rice. The yield on this land has been from 7 to 18 sacks 

to the acre. Six hundred acres were sown inl899, 600 acres in 1900, 

700 acres in 1901, and 950 acres in 1902. 
IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [No. 71. 

PINE ISLAND BAYOU. 

Bea,nmont Irrigation Company system.-This company has been 

operating the largest rice plantation in Texas. It is in the northern 

part of J e:fferson County, lying along the south side of the Pine Island 

Bayou. There are two lifts. The first one is_ at the crossing .of the 

1+-------- --21~--------~ I I 

(A) 

4~~2=:E1 =oi=::==S=c 4::Eal=e~====i=6==='2 feet 

FIG. 23.-Elevation and section of flume of Beaumont Irrigation Company. 

Southern Pacific Railroad,. and raises the water from Pine Island 

Bayou. Until1890 there were at this lift two Connersville compound 

blower pumps, each having a capacity of 25,000 gallons a minute. To 

each of these pumps was attached one Hamilton-Corliss engine of 250 

horsepower, st~am being supplied by 300-horsepower boilers. In 1900 
TAYLOR.] BE.A UMONT SECTION. 95 

another pump of the same capacity was installed, with a corresponding engine and boiler. The pumps work against a lift of 31 feet, and 

have always given satisfaction. They are 15 feet above the water in 

the bayou, and force the water 16 feet into the flume. Wood is used 

altogether for fuel. The flume. shown in elevation and section in fig. 

23, is 4 feet deep, 21 feet wide, 1,500 feet long, and has a total fall of 

only 4 inches. The box part is constructed of l-inch by 12-inch planks, 

the floor and sides being double planked, and all joints broken and 

tarred. The floor rests on 6-inch by 6-inch sills, which are supported 

by four 6-inch by 6-inch uprights. The distance between the bents is 

4 feet. The canal is 1~0 feet wide. 

For 3 or 4 miles fr9m this lift the land is covered with pine growth 

and is somewhat broken. The portion covered with timber would be· 

expensive to prepare for cultivation, and that broken could not be 

irrigated. So the water has to be carried to almost the second lift 

before the farms are reached. The whole plantation is on the prairie, 

the land gradually rising from the first lift. It is about 5 miles from 

the first lift to the second lift, where the water is raised 11 feet. The 

pumps here, both the two old ones and the new one, have the same 

capacity and are of the same make as those at the first plant, but 

owing to the low lift they are of lighter construction. The engines 

also are of the same make, and are of 150 horsepower each. The 

same may be said of the boilers, the steaming capacity of which is 200 

horsepower. The flume is similar to the one at the first plant, but it 

is only about 200 feet long. 

It is estimated that about $135,000 has been expended on this plantation. The company irrigated about 5,000 acres in 1899, a large part 

of which was rented to individuals. In 1900 12,000 acres were irrigated, 4,000 of which were cultivated by the company, the remainder 

being rented to 37 individuals. The eustom of renting is to charge 

2 sacks (162 pounds) an acre for water alone and 2 additional sacks 

where the company rents the land, making a total of 4 sacks an acre 

where both land· and water are rented. rrhe average yield on this 

plantation is about 10 sacks to the acre, though some of the tracts may 

run up as high as 20 sacks. The canals and laterals follow the general 

contour of. the ground. Machinery has been added from time to 

time, till now (1902) the river plant haR three 350-horsepower and 

two 250-horsepower engines and two 36-inch and two 48-inch Connersville and one 60-inch Roots pumps, while at the second lift there 

are two 200-horsepower and two 125-horsepower engines and two 

36-inch Connersville and two 36-inch Morris pumps. In 1902 there 

were irrigated 14,615 acres. 

NECHES RIVER. -

Port Arthttr Irrigation Company system.-This plantation is on 

Neches River, about 12 miles southeast of Beaumont and about the 

same distance northwest of Port Arthur. The pumping plant is on 

the banks of the river, from which the water is pumped, the lift being 
96 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [No. 71,. 

21 feet. The plant, has been in operation three years. Until th€~ 

season of 1900 there was in use only one 18-inch Ivens pump, having: 

a capacity of 18,000 gallons a minute. In 1900, however, two 24-incb. 

Ivens pumps, each having a capacity of 24,000 gallons a minute, were~ 

installed. The other operating machinery, including that' installed. 

with the new pumps, cmisists of two 125-horsepower boilers, four 100·· 

horsepower boilers, one Chandler & Taylor engine, and one new Cor·· 

liss engine of 350 horsepower. 

The flume was formerly about 100 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 4 fee1i 

deep, but in 1900 this was increased in width to about 60 feet. The~ 

main canal is 100 feet wide and has very high levees, but it is doubt .. 

ful whether this is the most economical form of construction. One~ 

t.housand seven hundred acres were irrigated in 1899, 4,000 acres in 

1900, and 7,000 acres in 1901. A charge of 2 sacks is made for water 

and 2 sacks for land rented. Pl. VII, B, is a view of a rice threshm~ 

at work on this farm. The yield in 1899 was about 14 sacks an acre .. 

The rice grows very rank, varying in height from 5 to 7 feet. Some ot: 

the straw was baled and found to make very good hay; the remainder 

was burned. All of the land on which this rice is grown is black andl 

sticky. (See map, fig. 20, for plot of the main canal and laterals. )1 

This company irrigated 8,500 acres in 1902. 

McFadden & W1:ess systern.-This plant is on the western bank of 

Neches River, or rather on the edge of the marsh that lies between 

the river and, the rice lands, about 7 miles southeast of Beaumont .. 

The water is conveyed from the river to the plant by a canal dredgedl 

out of the marsh. Its length is 2,000 feet, width 40 feet, and depth 

6 feet. The plant was located on the edge of the marsh, a founda·· 

tion being obtained by driving piles 3 feet apart under the power andl 

pui.np house. On top of the piles several courses of grillage work werEl 

laid, and this was capped by a cement foundation for the machinery .. 

rrhere are two Connersville rotary cycloidal pumps, with suction 

pipes 2t by 6 feet and discharge pipes 4 feet in diam.eter. The pumps 

are run by two Hamilton-Corliss compound condensing engines of 250 

horsepower each. The capacity of the plant is estimated at 70,000 

gallons a minut,e (156 second-feet) under the lift of 22 feet, which 

would require an efficiency of 78 per cent in the machinery. ThEl 

main canal is 6 miles long, 100 feet wide, and 2i feet deep. The plan1j 

cost $65,000, the machinery costing $40,000. Four thousand acres of 

rice were irrigated in 1901, and 9,000 acres in 1902. 

WELLS. 

In addition to the canal plants in Jefferson County there are 2~ 

number of plants that derive their water from wells. These arE~ 

located near Hamshire and China. The well of George J. McManus., 

near Hamshire, will serve as a type of those in this section. There 

are two wells 40 feet apart, connected in the pit 22 feet deep. One is 
TAYLOR.] BEAUMONT SECTION. 97 

81 feet, deep; the other 180 feet. The water-bearing sand was found 

to be 72 feet thick, and the screw was put in in three lengths of 20 

feet each. It consiste.d of ·an 8-inch pipe with three-fourths inch 

.holes bored with 1i-inch clear space between them. The pipe was 

then wrapped with No. 16 wire, one-fifth of an inch apart, and on this 

was wrapped the copper gauze of mesh 60, 30, and 40 to an in~h. 

The 6-inch Van Wie pump is operated by a 22-horsepower GearScott steam engine, using Beaumont oil for fuel. From this plant 

120 acres of rice were irrigated in 1902. In the same neighborhood 

H. C. Wheeler has a well plant that derives its water from flowing 

wells. At one of these wells it was 207 feet to the water-bearing sand 

that furnishes the supply. This is 43 feet in thickness, making the 

total depth of this well 250 feet. Near Hamshire the acreage from 

wells was: McManus, 120; Wheeler, 300; Reisig, 185; total, 605 acres. 

The acreage around China from well plants was, Hal Aldridge, 125; 

· J. W. Kirby, 200; Burrows, 200; Southwestern Company, 200; Spivy, 

150; total, 875. 

ORANGE COUNTY. 

COW BAYOU. 

Cow Bayott Canal and In·igation Company system.-Rice irriga-·_ 

tion has been conducted in Orange County for about ten years. In 

1891 F. H. Catron installed a 50-horsepower engine to operate a Menge 

pump under a head of 8 feet, the plant being located on Cow Bayou, 

about 6 miles southwest of the town of Orange. The ditch was 1 mile 

long and 20 feet wide. The plant cost $6,500, the canals and laterals 

costing $5,000 and the engine and pumps $1,500. The capacity of this 

plant was 5,000 gallons a minute, or 11.11 second-feet. With an efficiency of 75 per cent for the engine the pumping of this amount of 

water requires only 14 horsepower. Six hundred acres of rice were 

irrigated in 1896. This system has passed into the control of the Cow 

Bayou Canal and Irrigation Company, which has remodeled the whole 

plant, :removing the pump to a more advantageous location and installing one 250-ho:r:sepower Viker-Corliss engine having an 18-inch by 

36-inch cylinder and operating two 18-inch Ivens double-suction latest 

improved pumps having a capacity of 30,000 gallons a minute {66.67 

second-feet) against a lift of 14 feet. There are 5f miles of main 

canal. (See fig. 20.) For the first 1. 5 miles the width is 80 feet, for 

the next 1. 5 miles it is 50 feet, and for the remainder of the distance 

it is 60 feet. The water is first pumped into a :tinnie 20 feet. wide, 4 

feet deep, and 300 feet long. The cost of the plant, including engines, -

pumps, canals, laterals, flumes, etc., was $25,000. Three thousand 

acres were planted in rice in 1901. 

Des JJfoines Rice Cornpany system.-About 7 miles west· of Orange 

and 4 miles froin Terry is the plant of the Des Moines Rice Company, 

whieh consists of an Ivens pump having 21-inch discharge pipe, operIRR 71-02--7 
98 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

ated by a 125-horsepower Atlas engine, having a claimed capacity of -

20,000 gallons a minute (44 second-feet) against the lift of 17 feet. 

'This duty will require an efficiency of 68 per cent in the engine. Pine 

wood is ·used as fuel, and it takes abo~t 5 cords each twelve hours .. 

The flume is 200 feet long and 10 feet wide. The main canal is 3~­

miles long and 100 feet wide, and there are 4 miles of branches: 

varying in width from 20 to 50 feet. (See fig. 20.) The plant wa8 

installed in 1899, and 960 acres of rice were sowed that year, com·· 

manding a price of $3.25 a barrel of 162 pounds. In 1900, 1,400 am·eE: 

were planted, and in 1901 about 1,600 acre~. The soil is a black loam. 

ADAMS BAYOU. 

Orange County Rice Company system.--The plant of this company 

is on Adams Bayou, 4 miles from Orange. It consists of a 24-incb. 

Ivens direct-connected pump and a 100-horsepower engine. Under a, 

lift of 8 feet the plant has a capacity of 20,000 gallons a minute. In. 

1901 about 2,500 acres were irrigated, and 3,500 acres in 1902. r.rhe 

first lift is 16 feet, and the two pumping plants, 2 miles apart, when 

visited in August, 1902, had all the rice well watered, and the whole 

crop was healthy in appearance. 

Clark system.-The Clark Canal Company (A. T. Chenault, mana .. 

ger) is north of Orange and takes its water from the east side of Adams 

Bayou, under a lift of 16 feet. The machinery consists of a 50-horse .. 

power Morris steam pump, and 500 acres were planted in 1902. 

Giles system.-The plant of Giles Brothers takes its water from 

Adams Bayou, on- the west side, under a lift of 1St feet. One 50-

horsepower Ames engine operates the Menge pump, with a 4 by 4, 

penstock. In 1902 550 acres were planted. 

Acreage i~ Orange Counfy.-The acreage in Orange County is as: 

follows: Cow Bayou Company, 4,500; Orange County Company~ 

3,500; Des Moines Company, 1,2{)0; Samuel Wilson Company, 600;. 

Clark Canal Company, 500; Giles Brothers, 550; total, 10,850 acres. 

CHAMBERS COUNTY. 

TURTLE BAYOU. 

The Trinity _River Rice and Irrigation Company take their watet· 

from Turtle Bayou and Trinity River, 22 miles south of J ... iberty. (See1 

fig. 21.) The plant consists of four large pumps, having 24-inch suc·· 

tion and discharge pipes, and a capacity of 20,000 gallons a minute: 

each; or a total of 80,000 gallons a minute (173 second-feet), against a, 

lift of 32 feet. There are four 250-horsepower engines, exerting a total 

of 1,000 horsepower (esti'mated). However, with an efficiency of 70 

per cent it requires only 781 horsepower to pump the estimated quan-· 

tity. Three of the pumps should be able to do all of the work. There 

are three flumes of a total length of 2,400 feet, a width of 15. feet, and. 

a depth of 40 inches" and 16 miles of main canals 100 feet wide and 10 

miles of laterals 40 feet wide. The plant cost $13,000, and in a dry 
TAYLOR.] :BEAUMONT SECTION. 99 

season can irrigate 9,600 acres of rice .with the usual evaporation. 

In 1900, 6,000 acres of "Providence" rice were cultivated, producing 

29,000 sacks, which brought $3 a barrel. A sack averages about 180 

pdunds, while a barrel is always 162 pounds. The company sowed 

9,000 acres in 1902. Generally they sow during 1\'Iay and June, using 

about 60 pounds to the acre. Renters are charged one-fifth of the crop 

for water, one-fifth for land, and one-tenth for seed-i. e., the company furnishes land, seed, and water, and receives half of the crop. 

LIBERTY COUNTY. 

TRINITY RIVER. 

The Raywood Rice Canal and Milling Company has one of the largest 

plants in Texas. It is on the east side of Trinity River in Liberty 

County (see fig. 21), and cost $200,000. It was not installed until the 

latter part of 1900, but owing to excessive rains the company raised 

a good average crop of" Providence" rice that year. There are 10miles 

of main canal from 100 to 150 feet wide; and 25 miles of main laterals 

from 60 to 80 feet wide. rrhere are three lifts aggregating 70 feet, 

with a pumping station at each lift. The pumps are of the Root 

rotary pattern. Those at the river station have an estimated capacity 

of 45,000 gallons a minute {100 second-feet) under 16 feet lift. The 

suction pipes are 3 by 8 feet. Four of the pumps have circular discharge pipes 5 feet in diameter; the other two have rectangular 

discharges 3 by 8 feet. The pumps at the river station are operated 

by two 475-horsepower Lane & Bodley engines. The second station is 

equipped with two 375-horsepower engines operating two Root rotary 

pumps under a lift of 24 feet. The third st.ation has two 250-horsepower engines operating two pumps having 5-foot circular discharge 

and suction pipes. The head at the latter station is 30 feet. 

The soil is a black loam. Six thousand acres were cultivated in 

1900, producing 50,000 sacks, which sold for $3.25 a sack. In 1902 

the company planted 15,000 acres. The rice is sowed by a drill or 

broadcasted in April, May, and June, It bushels to the acre. The 

land is let, out to renters on the one· half plan-i. e., one-fifth of the 

crop for land, one-fifth for water, and one-tent,h for seed. In 1901 oil 

was used for fuel, the cost being about one~third that of coal. 

WELLS. 

Near Stilson, 32 miles east of Houston, on the Southern Pacific Railroad, Brown & Son have a rice plant, the water for which is obtained 

from an artesian well 405 feet deep. The pit is 17 feet deep. The 

first 280 feet are of 8-!-inch casing, the remainder of 5-g.-inch casing. 

A 22-horsepower Port Huron traction engine supplies the power. 

required to operate the 6-inch Morris pump, which raises the water 12 

feet into a flume. The land is composed of a black prairie soil. One 

hundred and sixteen acres were irrigated in 1901, producing 870 sacks 

of rice. In 1902 200 acres were planted. 

N. B. Sapp has an 8-inch artesian well 380 feet deep. In boring 
100 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. tNo. 71. 

this well a cypress log was s~ruck at a depth of 360 feet. The operating machinery consist,s of one ·IS-horsepower Foos gasoline engine 

and two 16-inch Morris submerged pumps working under a lift of 8 

feet. Water was not procured in time for the 1901 crop. 

The well at the plant of the Hill-Brown Rice Land and Irrigation 

Company (C. A. Brown, manager) is an 8-inch, 485 feet deep, the 

water rising to within 10 feet of the surface. The machinery consists 

of a Morris direct-connected engine 8 by 8 inches and two 8-inch Morris pumps, the steam being supplied by two 30-horsepower Erie City 

boilers. The season of 1901 was so dry that no rice was planted. 

Additions have been made to the plant of this company, and in 1902 

the crop was expanded to 1, 000 acres. 

HARRIS COUNTY. 

Harr-z:s Co-unty systems.-Nearly 90 wells in Harris County are furnishing water for rice irrigation, over half of these being located in 

the vicinity of Clodine. The following is a list of the plants in this 

county: Sheldon canal, 2,000 acres; Harris Rice Company, 600 acres; 

F. B. West, 150 acres; J. E. Ross, 80 acres; A. W. Wilkerson, 250 

acres; W. H. Myers, 75 acres; Conrad Bering, 125 acres; C. I.~. & 

_ C. H. Bering, 200 acres; Baldwin H. Rice, 280 acres; Meadow Brook 

Company, 3,600 acres; S. P. Dickey, 640 acres; F. E. Markeley, 60 

acres; J. H. O'Donnell, 650 acres; .T. E. Cabaniss, 75 acres; A. Stockdick, 40 acres; E. Couthwaite, 65 acres; plants at Stella, 75 acres; 

T. J. Roberts, 60acres; Mrs. Ida W. Baker, 75 acres; total, 9,100acres. 

Sheldon systenL-T.wo and one-half miles from Sheldon, 16 miles 

east of Houston, the Sheldon Canal Company takes the water for its 

2,000 acres of rice this season from the San Jacinto River against a 

40-foot lift. The plant consists of one 300-horsepower Corliss engine 

and one 18-inch VanWie centrifugal pump. The water is delivered 

into a flume 226 feet long, which in turn delivers it into the canal, 

which is 120 feet wide and 4 miles long. The land commanded by the 

canal lies on both sides of the SOuthern Pacific Railroad. 

0' DonneU syste·rn.-Thirteen miles south of Houston, near Erin, on 

the Santa Fe, J. H. O'Donnell has six wells, 50 feet apart. These 

are all under 98 feet in depth and have 46 feet of water-bearing sand 

and gravel; the whole length in sand is screened, and the water rises 

in the well to within 4 feet of the surface. The power is supplied by 

four 28-horsepower Fairbanks gasoline engines, which operate the 

5-inch Morris pumps. These are placed in pits 15 to 17 feet deep, 

and are operated in batteries of three each. The soil is black hog 

wallow, and 650 acres were irrigated during the season of 1902.-

Meadow Brook system.-On the J\feadow Brook farm, northeast of 

Clodine, Fort B. Smith has drilled forty-seven wells and has twelve 

complete plants, ten operated by steam and two by Fairbanks gasoline engines. A complete plant consists of a central steam boiler, 
TAYLOR.) BEAUMONT SECTION. 101 

using oil for fuel, and two or three engines, located in either opposite directions from the boiler or in such position as to form a right 

angle with the central plant. Thus one of these plants consists of a 

125-horsepower Erie City boiler operating two 35-horsepower engines, 

which run the centrifugal pumps. Two wells are connected by 

piping in each pit, and one pump is then connected to the common 

junction. These companion wells are about 20 feet apart and are 

usually 150 deep and 10-inch bore. 

Dickey systems.-Sixteen miles west of Houston and It miles north· 

of Daisy, S. P. Dickey has a rice farm where 640 acres were irrigated 

this season from five wells. These wells are of an average depth of 

200 feet, and the power to raise the water is supplied by four 16-

horsepower Fairbanks-Morse gasoline engines and one 25-horsepower 

steam engine. South and southwest of Clodine, in Fort Bend County, 

are located the well plants of B. A. Evarts, with 125 acres; H. F. 

Ring, with 165 acres, and F. E. Jones and S.M. Gordon, with 500 

acres. The wells are usually 110 and 250 feet deep, connected in the 

same pit by aT joint. 

Seven miles northwest of Houston C. L. and C. H. Bering have a 

rice farm on the Buffalo Bayou, from which water is taken. The lift 

is 50 feet. The soil is a black hog wallow. One hundred and fifty 

. acres were irrigated in 1901, commanding from $3 to $3.7 5 a sack. 

The plant consists of one 10-inch Hooker duplex steam pump and a 

60-horsepower boiler, the capacity being estimated at from 1,500 to 

1,800 gallons a minute. In 1902 200 acres were irrigat.ed. 

Near the plant just described Conrad Bering had 87 acres in rice 

in 1901, which he irrigated from three wells, 400, 450, and 500 feet 

deep, and all being flowing wells the lift is very slight. The wells 

cost $1,500 each. The 8-inch Knowles duplex pump is on the surface. The yield was 17 sacks to the acre, selling for from $2.75 to 

$3.50 a sack. In 1902 125 acres were irrigated. 

Eighteen miles east of Houston, on Bear Bayou, the Harris County 

Rice Company (Radford & Co.) had 110 acres of rice in 1901, yielding 

1,040 sacks, commanding $3.40 a sack. Their engine is a 125-horsepower Watertown high-speed engine, and their pump a 15-inch Lawrence. rrhe lift is 42t feet, and the estimated capacity 7,000 gallons 

a minute. The main canal is 40 feet wide and 1. 6 miles long. During the season of 1902 600 acres were irrigated. 

Systems near Katy.-In the vicinity of Katy Messrs. J. E. Cabaniss, 

A. Stockdick, W. J. Nelson, William Eule, and T. G. Roberts have 

well plants ranging in capacity from 40 to 90 acres for this year. The 

wells are from 93 to 130 feet total depth and have screens from 12 to 

20 feet long. qabaniss and Eule use Foos gasoline engines of 22 

and 14 horsepower, respectively; ~tockdick uses a 22-horsepower 

Fairbanks-Morse, while Nelson and Roberts use steam engines. The 

Morris pumps are used by Cabaniss, Eule, and Roberts, while Eule 
102. IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

has a Van Wie and Stockdick a Ganed. The acreage is as follows: 

Cabaniss, 75; Stockdick, 40; Nelson, 90; Eule, 50; Roberts, 60. 

Three miles from Genoa, on the Galveston, Houston and Henderson 

Railroad, A. W. Wilkerson has an irrigation plant consisting of two 

stations about a l:tftlf mile apart. At one station there is a 22-horsepower portable engine and an 8-inch Morris pump; and at the other 

station a 7-horsepower Foos gasoline engine running a 6-inch Morris 

pump. The water is obtained from 8! inch artesian wells 560 feet 

deep. The soil is a rich black prairie soil. Two hundred and fifty 

acres were irrigated in 1902. 

GALVESTON COUNTY. 

Six miles east of Alvin, in Galveston County, near the junct.ion of 

the Chigre Bayou with Clear Creek, Berry 'V. Camp, of Houston, has 

in ope1•ation a rice farm of 1,000 acres, which yielded 86 bushels to the 

acre in 1901. A 150-horsepower Corliss engine operates a 15-inch 

VanWie centrifugal pump, which delivers 8,000 gallons a minute 

(18 second-feet) against a lift of 40 feet. The water is pumped out 

of an elliptical basin 40 feet across and 17 feet deep, which was 

excavated in the banks of the bayou and walled in with sheet piling 

and floored with heavy timber, and is discharged into a flume 2 

feet by 6 feet 2,000 feet long and delivered to the main canal, which 

is 25 feet wide and 2 miles long. Both the Japan and the Honduras rice were sowed, 500 acres of each, the seed being imported for 

the purpose; 1! bushels were sowed to the acre. The soil is black, 

from 3 to 4 feet deep with a clay subsoil. The best machinery for 

handling the rice has been introduced. The thresher is the latest 

improved. It threshes, feeds itself, stacks the straw, sacks the grain 

(two sacks at a time), and has a capacity of 2,000 bushels every eight 

hours. In 1902 800 acres were planted. _ 

One and one-half miles south of Algoa Mr. R. B. Halley sunk seven 

wells from 42 to 45 feet deep early in 1901, arranging them in a battery 

formation, four on one side and three on the other. •rwo 4-inch wells 

connect with a 6-inch pipe, and this 6-inch pipe and a 4-inch pipe 

join and unite with an 8-inch pipe, while another 4-inch pipe unites 

with the 8-inch pipe. On the other side two 4-inch wells join with a 

6-inch pipe, and this 6-inch pipe and a 4-inch pipe unite with an 8-inch 

pipe, which is bushed into a 10-inch pipe. The two 10-inch pipes form 

aT to the pumps. The operating machinery consists of a 22-horsepower 

Foos portable gasoline engine and an 8-inch Morris vertical suction 

pump. The pumps are placed 8 feet below the surface. The water 

rises to within 4 feet of the surface of the ground. After the pumps 

are started the water level is lowered 10 feet, giving a lift of from 18 

to 22 feet. The soil is black prairie soil. The water supply for 1901 

failed, and only 250 sacks of '' Providence" rice were raised. 
TAYLOR.) IRRIG A'flON SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. 103 

BRAZOS VALLEY SECTION. 

WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

East of the Colorado Valley and from the country along the Santa 

Fe Railroad to Trinity River there are a number of plants, but they 

can not be classed in any system geographically distinct. They are 

in the counties of Washington, Austin~ Waller, Fort Bend, Harris, 

Brazoria, and Galveston. 'rhe highest plants in this group are in 

Washington County and take their water from Brazos River. They 

are owned by W. E. Buchanan, Heber Stone, and J.P. Buchanan, 

all residents ofBrenham. In 1902 775 acres were irrigated. 

The plant of W. E. Buchanan is about 18 miles from Brenham. It 

consists of a 35-horsepower Atlas engine and an 8-inch Morris pump, 

having an estimated capacity of 3,500 gallons a minute (nearly 8 

second-feet) under the lift of 40 feet. 'rhe soil is that of the rich 

Brazos bottom lands, and 200 acres were planted in 1902. 

'rhe plant of Heber Stone is in Waller County, about 18 miles from 

Brenham. It consists of a 125-horsepower Beaumier Brothers' engine 

and a 15-inch VanWie pump. The lift is 40 feet, and the estimated 

capacity 7,000 gallons a minute (15.6 second-feet). The machinery 

did not arrive in time for the crop of 1901, but it is the intention to 

irrigate 200 acres in 1902. 

J. P. Buchanan's rice farm is in the neighborhood of the former, 

but is in Washington County. A 125-horsepower Beaumier Brothers'. 

engine runs the 15-inch Morris pump against a lift of 40 feet, and it is 

estimated that the capacity is 7,000 gallons a minute. -The soil is the 

famous Brazos bottom land. Forty acres were irrigated in 1901, 

yielding 50 bushels to the acre, and 625 acres were irrigated in 1902. 

The floods in the Brazos in the early part of August, 1902, destroyed 

most of the rice in Washington County. 

AUSTIN COUNTY. 

In Austin County there are a few well plants. That of Hackborth 

& Koy is on Mill Creek, from which it takes its water, 6 miles north~ 

east of Sealy. It consists of an 8-inch Morris pump and a 40-horsepower 

Erie City engine, working against a lift of 31 feet. The soil is 

described as a red buckshot with an admixture of black sand. ·rwo 

hundred acres were irrigated during 1902. 

SAN BERNARD CREEK. 

Stone system.-On East San Bernard Creek James and Stephen 

Stone have installed an irrigation system It miles from Beard, with 

which 390 acres were irrigated in 1900, producing, after the Galveston 

storm, 6 sacks to the acre, commanding $3 a sack, and 300 acres in 

1901, yielding 3,000 sacks, which sold for $3 a sack. The plant con-
104 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [No. 71. 

sists of one !50-horsepower Westinghouse automatic compound engine, 

operating a No. 13 Ivens pump having Llj-inch suction and 13-inch 

disch~uge pipes. The estimated capacity is 7,000 gallons a minute 

(16 second-feet) under a lift of 27 feet. The flume is 5 feet by 2 feet 

by 520 feet long, and delivers the water into a canal 2 miles long and 

100 feet wide. The laterals are three-fourths mile long and 15 feet 

wide. The soil is light and sandy~ from 1 to li feet deep. Wood 

is used for fuel, requiring 3 cords a day for the 390 acres irrigated in 

1900. The experience here in 1900 confirms the estimate of irrigators in the Beaumont section and in western Louisiana-that it 

requires fully 9 gallons a minute for each acre irrigated, or 1 secondfoot for each 50 acres. In 1902 300 acres were irrigated. 

Ja.hn system.-Just north of Beard G. A. Jahn and associates have 

opened up a rice farm with the intention of deriving the necessary 

water from San Bernard Creek by impounding in a reservoir of 100,000 

gallons' capacity. 

A crib-work dam, 350 feet long, backs the water up 1 mile and 

deflects it into a canal and pit. r_rhe water is then pumped, under a 

lift of 25 feet, into a reservoir covering 180 acres. The water is 

pumped out of the reservoir into the supply canals by two 18-inch 

VanWie pumps. The power is supplied by a 300-horsepower Corliss 

engine. This company irrigated 700 acres in 1902. Ten miles sout,heast of Sealy, and 4 miles north of Chesterville, Dr. Magrud~r has 

constructed a dam across the Little Bernard, forming an impounding 

reservoir from which, with a 28-horsepower engine, he pumped water 

into 75 acres of rice during the season of 1902. Adjoining the San 

Bernardo Company, Stephe.n Stone has dammed a small tributary of 

the San Bernard, forming an impounding reservoir from which, with 

a !50-horsepower Westinghouse automatic compound engine and one 

13-inch Ivens centrifugal pump, he raises the water into his flumes. 

In 1902 ?OO acres were thus irrigated. 

FORT BEND COUNTY. 

The Fort Bend Irrigation Canal Company has two pumping plants. 

The second plant pumps from Smithers Lake, which during average 

seasons has an abundance of water for ordinary purposes. 'rhe lake 

has a drainage area of 14 square miles, and the outlets are dammed 

to prevent waste. Notwithstanding this, it was evident early in the 

season of 1901 that the long-continued drought in the coast country, 

which extended prac1!ically from September 8, 1900, to September,. 

1901, had completely exhausted the resources of the lake. At the 

second lift the plant is composed of one 50-horsepower Chandler & 

Taylor engine and one 13-inch Ivens pump, the capacity of which, 

with the lift of 18 feet, is estimated to be 10,000 minute-gallons. The 

soil is black prairie land with a good subsoil, 400 acres of which were 

irrigated during the current season. The plant at the river consists 
TAYLOR.] BRAZOS V .ALLEY SECTION. 105 

of an engine of. 250-horsepower, operating the pump against a lift of 

45 feet. This plant pumps the water into Dry Bayou, and this in turn 

to Lake Bayou. A dam has been constructed across Rabb Bayou to 

hold the water from passing out. The acreage in 1902 was 750. 

The pump:Wg plant of the Brazos Canal Company is located on Jones 

Creek, 5 mil~ north of Richmond, Tex., and 30 miles west of Houston. The water is taken from the creek, which possesses the characteristics of a bayou and acts as a storage reservoir 17 miles long. The 

lands to be irrigated lie to the west of Houston and fall generally to 

the eastward from the pumping plant. An extra pumping plant is 

located on the Brazos River just below t,he upper junct.ion of Jones 

Creek with the Brazos, and at low stages the river pumps will have 

to lift the water 32 feet into the reservoir. A tunnel is excavated 

from the bayou reservoir to the river, and when the level of the river 

water rises 32 feet it flows into the reservoir without pumping or it 

can be shut off if desired. At the second pumping plant the water 

will be lifted 52 feet into a canal, giving 4 feet of water in the canal, 

which, with the configuration of the country, can cover the lands to 

tQ.e east by gravity. During 1902 it is intended to irrigate 2,000 acres 

only. 

The Brazoria Rice and Irrigation Comp~ny takes its water from the 

Brazos above a crossing of the Santa Fe with the Brazos. The plant 

consists of a 900-horsepower Greenwald engine, operating a Worthington high-lift 36-inch pump against a head of 47 feet, and has 

an estimated capacity of 35,000 minute-gallons. The 100-foot canal 

from the river conveys the water into a lake of 27 acres about 1i 

miles from the river. The water is pumped out of the lake into the 

second canal by a 450-horsepower Greenwald engine and a 36-inch 

Worthington pump against a lift of 17 feet. The canals extend at 

present to the eastward, crossing the tracks of the Columbia Tap 

Railroad near Riceton. It is contemplated to construct another canal 

crossing the Santa Fe Railroad and irrigating land south of Arcola 

Junction. Only 4,800 acres were irrigated by this company in 1902. 

BRAZORIA COUNTY. 

In Brazoria County the following persons have plants: J. A. Bent, 

William Masterson, Howard F. Smith, Rod Oliver, H. and G. Munson, 

F. C. Baker, Judge Walker, A. H. Bartel, and John Chase. Two miles 

south of Arcola Junction, J. A. Bent has a small plant of about 

35 acres, where a small donkey e~gine and a 4-inch Morris pump 

raise the required water from a well. The rice farm of William 

T. Masterson is 4 miles southwest. of Sandy Point, and derives its 

water from Oyster Creek. A 25-horsepower Erie City engine operates 

an 8-inch Morris pump against a lift of 17 feet and irrigates 30 acres 

of rice, yielding 250 sacks. H. F. Smith's farm of 175 acres is 1i 

miles north of Sandy Point, and derives its water from Jackson Lake. 
106 IR.RIG ATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

The plant of Rod Oliver is 10 miles southwest of Angleton. . A 

25-horsepowerengine operates aspecialpumpdesigned by Mr. Baker, of 

Angleton, against a lift of 10 feet. It discharges through a vertical 

penstock 3 feet by 3 feet. Seventy-five acres were irrigated in 

1901. The plant) of H. and G. Munson is 3 miles west of Angleton, 

on Oyster Creek, and consists of an SO-horsepower Erie City engine, 

operating a 15-inch Morris pump, against a lift of 10 feet. This plant 

was late in being completed, but notwithstanding t,his 250 acres were 

irrigated in 1901. Only 100 acres were harvested, however, the yield 

being 900 sacks, which sold for $2.50 a sack. In 1902 700 acres were 

irrigated. 

The rice farm of 1-Valker & Cain, near Angleton, has three pumping plants. The first is located on Bastrop Bayou and consists of 

one 150-horsepower engine, operating two 15-inch centrifugal pumps 

against a lift of 10 feet and having an estimated capacity of 25,000 

minute-gallons. The second plant is located on Oyster Creek and 

constitutes an emergency plant in times of low water in Bastrop 

Bayou. One 125-horsepower engine pumps the water from Oyster 

Creek into the canal that leads to Bastrop Bayou. A dam has bee!l 

constructed across Bastrop Bayou to keep back the salt water, but it 

also acts as a storage reservoir for the fresh water. Plant No. 3 

constitutes the second lift for the main supply canal. It is 2 miles 

from plant No. 1, and a 75-horsepower engine operates the pumps 

against a lift of 6 feet and has an estimated capacity of 15,000 minutegallons. In 1902 1,400 acres were sown. 

John Chase also obtains water for his 60 acres of rice from the 

Bastrop Bayou, 6 miles southwest of Angleton. He harvested only 

75 acres in 1901. The pump used is of a special make, manufactured 

by Mr. Baker, of Angleton. It is run by a 25-horsepower Erie engine 

and operates under a lift of 8 feet. The crop was badly injured by 

salt water, the yield being 2 sacks to the acre. 

J. G. Smith & Bro. own and operate two rice farms, one 6 miles north 

and the other 9 miles west of Columbia. The first derives its water 

from a lake covering 2,000 acres, but the lake failed and the result 

was no crop. The plant iR composed of two Atlas engines of 40 and 

25 horsepower and two Morris pumps, one 15-inch and the other 

12-inch. The lift is 12 feet and the estimated capacity 6,200 gallons 

a minute. rrhe plant was first operated in 1900, when 85 acres of rice 

were raised; but in 1902 the acreage was expanded to 550 acres. The 

second plant (9 miles west of Columbia) is to derive its water from an 

8-inch well 270 feet deep, but it was not completed in time for the 

1901 crop. One 40-horsepower Nagle engine runs an 8-inch Morris 

pump, working under a lift of 10 feet. The soil is a black, waxy 

prairie soil. This firm also operates a well plant of 60 acres near 

Guy, in the Fort Bend country. 

The plant of A. H. Bartel is 6 miles from Angleton, on the Bastrop 
TAYLOR.) COLORADO VALLEY S:ECTlON. 107 

Bayou, and consists of a 25-horsepower engine and a 12-inch Lawrence 

pump, operating against a lift of 8i feet. He irrigated 75 acres in 1901, 

the yield being 135 sacks. In 1902 100 acres were irrigated. 

COLORADO VALLEY SECTION. 

The principal rice irrigation systems of the Colorado Valley are in 

Colorado, Wharton, and Matagorda counties. The larger systems are 

indicated on the map forming fig. 24. 

COLORADO COUN'l'Y. 

EAGLE LAKE. 

Dunavant system.-In 1898 Capt. William Dunovant irrigated 250 

acres of rice near the town of Eagle Lake. This was the first rice 

farm irrigated along Colorado River, and proved so successful that in 

1900, 30,000 acres were irrigated in the Colorado Valley, and in 1901 

56,000 acres. Water for the Dunovant plant is pumped from Eagle 

Lake, a beautiful, clear, fresh-water lake near the town of the same 

name, covering an area of about 2,500 acres and having an average 

depth of 8 feet. This was the first time the waters of the lake were 

utilized for irrigation purposes. Captain Dunovant's plant originally 

consisted of a 12-inch VanWie double-suction pump, throwing 4,000 

gallons a minute. The lift was 27 feet. The three boilers were oldstyle tubular, which were moved from a sugar mill that had been 

destroyed by fire. Two had two 14-!nch and two 10-inch flues, and 

the third had two 16-inch and two 10-inch flues. The engine was a 

200 horsepower. The flume, which was made of piping, had a length 

of about 350 feet. With this equipment 250 acres were irrigated in 

1899. The plant was added to considerably in 1900. A new 21-inch 

Ivens pump, having a capacity of 15,000 gallons, and a 150-horsepower 

automatic engine were installed, and with the other operating machinery 3,000 acres were irrigated. In 1902, 3,600 acres were irrigated. 

As Eagle Lake will not supply this plant and that of the Eagle 

Lake Rice Company, Captain Dunovant and the rice company have 

each erected pumping plants on Colorado River to pump water from 

the river to the lake. 

1,he plant has been added to from time to time till it now consists 

of three pumping stations, two on the lake and one on the river. That 

on the river consists of a 300-horsepower engine, operat.ing three 

centrifugal pumps-one 18-inch Morris, one 15-inch Morris, and one 

18-inch Ivens-all working under an ordinary lift of 14 feet. The lift 

would have been much more than this, but the canal to convey the 

water from the river to the lake was so deepened that the low lift of 

14 feet was secured. The old plant on the lake consists of three 

engines-two of 150 horsepower each and one of 60 horsepower. These 

operate, against a lift of 22 feet, three centrifugal pumps-one 12-inch 

Van Wie, one 20-inch Morris, and one 21-inch Ivens. This plant 
108 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

delivers the water into a flume that connects with the main canal 

system that crosses the tracks of the Cane Belt Railroad by means 

of an inverted siphon. The third plant is situated on the lake between 

the towns of J...~akeside and Eagle Lake and is operated by an electric 

motor that derives its power from the engines at the gin in Lakeside. 

The pump is a 12-inch Morris and works under a lift of 27 feet. The 

water is delivered into a flume which coi1nects with a main canal that 

FIG. 24.-Map showing irrigation canals at Eagle Lake. 

also crosses the Cane Belt tracks and there parallels the tracks crossing 

the- canal of the Eagle Lake Rice Company's plant and connects with 

the canal from the original pumping stations. At these stations 80 

barrels of Beaumont oil are used for fuel every twenty-four hours. 

In 1902 3,600 acres were irrigated. 

The Eagle Lake Rice Company syste1n (also known as Vineyard 

and Walker Canal).-This company has erected a pumping plant 
TAYLOR.] . COLORADO VALLEY SECTION. 109 

about one-fourth of a mile north of Capt,ain Dunovant's, on the eastern edge of Eagle Lake, and another on Colorado River, 3 miles 

from the first plant. The plant on the lake consists of three 125-

horsepower boilers and one 25.0-horsepower engine, operating a 24-inch 

Ivens pump having a capacity of 20,000 gallons a minute, and one 

350-horsepower engine, operating a 30-inch Ivens pump -having .a 

capacity of 25,000 gallons a minute. Either of the pumps can 

be operated fro{n the boilers, but both can not be operated at the 

same time. This plant is equipped with oil burners and storage ta]lk:s 

and a pipe line from the Cane Belt Railroad. The river plant consists of one 300-horsepower engine and tw9 150-horsepower boilers 

(another of the same size is being added), operating a 30-inch Ivens 

pump of 25,000 gallons capacity, against a maximum lift of 28 feet. 

The water is canalled to a brane h, 

. which takes it into the lake, and 

from there, in time of low water, 

is conveyed by means of a canal 

to the plant across the lake. The 

river plant has a 3-inch oil-pipe 

line 7,000 feet long leading from 

the Aransas Pass Railroad to the 

plant, also storage tanks, and is 

fully equipped for burning oil, 

which has proved a very satisfactory fuel in every way. It is 

cheaper in first cost, can be applied at less than half the expense 

for firemen, and is more effective 

than coal or wood. 

The canal is 60 feet wide at its 

______ 4feet -·-·-· 

head, or where the :flume enters it, 

but after the rice farm is r_eached FIG. 25.-Cross section of Eagle Lake Rice Company's siphon under Cane Belt Railroad. 

the width is increased to 100 feet. 

The total length of the canal is 16,840 feet. The distance from the 

mouth of the canal. to the first gate is 4,300 feet. There are two large 

laterals leading from the canal, one 4,000 feet long, the other 3,000 

feet long. A few hundred feet from its head the canal croRses the 

Cane Belt Railroad, and this crossing led to a -dispute between the 

canal company and the railroad company. The canal was too high to 

go under the railrogd as graded, and the company would. not elevate 

the track so that the canal could go under. It was :finally decided to 

carry the water under the track by a siphon. This siphon, except 

under the track proper, is made of brick, the cross sections and dimensions being shown in :fig. 25. Owing to the jar caused by passing 

trains it was considered wise not to extend tlie brick conduit under· 

the track. · Consequently the brickwork stops on both sides, just 
110 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS QF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

before the track is reached, and the water is carried through by means 

of pipes. The falling and rising curves in the siphon are easy, so as 

to eliminate as much friction as possible. 

The company irrigated 3,000 acres iR 1900. In 1901, 3,200 acres 

were planted, but the supply of water in Eagle Lake failed to such an 

extent that only a few acres were harvested. It is the intention to 

sow from 3,000 to 3,500 acres in 1902. The soil on the farm is black 

and sandy. The contour of the land proves to be of great advantage, 

for after a certain distance the ground falls, making a second lift 

plant unnecessary. 

COLORADO RIVER. 

Sigler system and Harba1'i-Stafford Rice Company systems.-West 

of Colorado River, near the stations of Altair and Rock Island, on 

the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad, several small rice irrigation plant.~ have been introduced. On the west bank of the river a 

few hundred feet below the railroad bridge, in plain view of passing trains, are the pumping plants of Dr. H. C. Sigler and the Harbart-Stafford Rice Company. The rice farm of the former, which is 

nearest the railroad bridge, lies along both sides of the railroad track. 

'"_rhe plant consists of an 8-inch Wells pump operated by a 35-horsepower Atlas engine. Under a lift of 34 feet the capacity of the plant 

is estimated at 2,500 gallons a minute (42 second-feet). '"fhe plant 

cost $4,500, and from it 200 acres of rice were irrigated in 1900 (producing 2,500 sacks) and 200 acres in 1902. 

'rhe plant of the Harbart-Stafford Rice Company is just below that 

of Dr. Sigler and west of Colorado River. It consists of a 150-horsepower Atlas engine operating an 18-i:nch Van Wie suction pump 

having an estimated capacity of 16,000 ga1lons a minute (35 secondfeet) under a lift of 33 feet from the river level to the flume. The 

flume is 200 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 2 feet deep, and discharges 

into the main canal, which is It miles long and 40 feet wide, with 2 

miles of laterals 20 feet wide. The plant cost $8,000, and the company planted 350 acres of rice in 1902. 

Westmo1·elancl systenL-Four miles from the Aransas Pass Railroad 

bridge J. W. Westmoreland has a rice farm of 225 acres. The water 

is taken from Colorado River by an 8-inch Morris vertical suction 

pump. The engine is a 50-horsepower Erie City, and the water is 

raised to a height of 42 feet .. 

Four miles east of Rock Island and 1 mile ·below the crossing of the 

San Antonio and Aransas Pass B,ailroad with Skull Creek the Brandon 

Brothers have a rice farm that derives the necessary water from Skull 

Creek. The plant consists of a 40-horsepower Erie City engine and 

an 8-inch Van 'Vie pump that operates against a lift of 32 feet, and 

during the season of 1902 irrigated 85 acres of rice. 

The total rice acreage in Colorado County west of the river is as 

follows: From well plants, 840 acres; Brandon Brothers, 85 acres; 
TAYLOR.] COLORADO VALLEY SECT:WN. 111 

J. W. Westmoreland, 220 acres; H. C. Sigler, 150 acres; HarbartStafford, 350 -acres; Red Bluff Company, 1,200 acres; total, 2,845 

acres. 

WELL PLANTS. 

On the west side of the Colorado River, in the country lying between 

Rock Island and Garwood, a number of small rice farms that derive 

their water from we Us have been opened up. The wells are somewhat 

similar in construction and always consist of a pit, either circular or 

recLangular in cross section, excavated to a depth of 18 to 22 feet, 

with a bored well in the bottom. This well must always extend t,hrough 

sufficient water-bearing sand and gravel to give flow enough for the 

farm. A screen must be let into the sand strata, which will keep the 

sand as far as possible out of the pipes and will admit sufficient water. 

These screens are of various forms and lengths, and upon the screens 

often hangs the success of the whole ent,erprise. ~rhe first step in a 

scheme of this kind is to get a well. Nothing further should be done 

till the well is an assured fact. The screen can be of side or end suction. In the former case the pipe is perforated with holes ·one-half to 

three-fourths inch in diameter, 2 to 3 inches apart. Around the pipe 

is then wrapped fine wire, almost touching, and over this a copper 

gauze is stretched, the mesh varying with the kind of sand, and often 

experience is the only sure test. The end-suction screen will be 

described later. The wells of Baker Brothers and W. C. Jones will 

serve to illustrate those west of the river in Colorado County. The 

Baker well has a screen 27 feet long at the bottom of a 67-foot. well, 

while the Jones well encountered water at a depth of 34 feet, and 

from this depth was placed a 30-inch screen 29 feet through coarse 

gravel. The suction pipe is attached to the screen pipe, and generally a centrifugal pump is placed in the bottom of the pit, and the 

vertical shaft extends several feet above the surface of the ground. 

A pulley is mounted on this shaft and is operated from the engines 

by belts. The engines are generally, for a single well, small steam 

engines of 15 to 40 horsepower, or gasoline engines of 12 to 28 horsepower. A good well outfit ought to be put in for about $1,600. · The 

well plants west of the river in Colorado County are as follows: 

Frank Marshall, 50 acres; Berry Brothers, 90 acres; E. D. Bone, 135 

acres; 'Y: C .. Jones, 200 acres; John Duncan, 100 acres; Baker 

Brothers, 100 acres; Berry, Cox, Johnson, 85 acres; \Vill Carr, 80 

acres; total, 840 acres. 

Just north of Garwood the plant of the Red Bluff Rice Company 

takes its water from the Colorado River. The plant consists of two 

!50-horsepower Erie City boilers and one 300-horsepower Corliss 

engine. Water is pumped from the Colorado River, and 1, 200 acreR . 

of rice were irrigated in 1902. The lift is 42 feet and the pump is an 

18-inch Morris centrifugal and has an estimated c~pacity of 15,000 
112 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS 01!"' TEXAS. lNO. 71. 

minute-gallons. The water is delivered into a :flume 600 feet long and 

then into the main canal, which is 100 feet center to center of embankments and 1-! miles long. The laterals are about 30 feet center to 

center of embankments and about 1 mile long. 

Marshall system.-Within the neighborhood of Hock Island, on the 

Aransas Pass Hailroad, there are a number of projected rice farms 

and a few that were ready at the opening of the season of 1901. Two 

miles south of Hock Island, Frank Marshall has a well 78 feet deep, 

from which water is forced by a 6-inch Morris pump operated by a 

35-horsepower Erie City engine. The plant cost $1,500, and although 

it was late in the season before it was ready for work, 100 acres were 

irrigated in 1901. 

Small system.-Nine miles south of Hock Island, A. W. Small owns 

a plant consisting of a 6-inch Morris pump and a 35-horsepower Erie 

City engine. The lift is 40 feet, and the plant is estimated to possess 

a capacity of 1,050 gallons a minute. Ninety acres were irrigated in 

1901. The cost of the plant was about $1,600. 

In that section lying east of the Cane Belt Hailroad and between 

Sealy, Hungerford, and East Bernard there are twenty well plants, 

averaging two wells to the plant, the acreage varying fr6m 75 to 550. 

These plants, lying mostly in that section bounded by Eagle Lake, 

East Bernard, and Chesterville, have a common bond, in that they 

obtain their water from the water· bearing sand lying under the upper, 

blacker soil. A few typical plants will be described. 

Vick systern.-About 2 miles east of Eagle Lake, George Vick has 

installed a plant to irrigate from wells. In 1900 he sunk a well 12 

feet in diameter and 34 feet deep, and with an Ivens submerged pump 

discharging through a 5-inch force main he irrigated 125 acres of rice. 

r.rhe pump was operated by an A very traction engine, which is also 

used for traction purposes. The water was discharged into a small 

:flume 12 inches by 12 inches, which in turn di~charged into a ditch 

25 feet wide and 1 mile long. In addition to the 125 acres irrigated 

from the pumps, 25 acres were irrigated by damming a small stream 

and forming a storage reservoir. In 1900 Mr. Vick sowed·1-! bushels 

to the acre, but increased this to 1! and 2 bushels an acre in 19-01. 

The crop of 1900 was damaged by the Galveston storm, but notwithstanding this he realized 19 bushels to the acre, which sold for from 

$1.50 to $4.25 a sack. The total cost of the plant used in 1900 was 

$2,250. This plant is now owned and run by Hudson & Ayres. A 

new 45-horsepower Erie City engine has· replaced the traction engine. 

Beaumont oil is used as fuel, and it requires about 3 barrels for a 

a twenty-four-hour run. In 1~02 165 acres were irrigated. · 

Adams system.-The feasibility of using windmills for rice irrigation was thoroughly tested at the farm of Adam Adams, 4t miles 

east of Eagle Lake. He installed nine Gamble long-stroke wind-
TAYLOR.] COLORADO VALLEY SECTION. 113 

mills, each having a 3-inch by 14-inch cylinder and a 10-foot wheel, 

operating pumps having 2-iuch suction and discharge pipes against a 

lift of 25 feet from the seven wells that furnish the water. The plant 

cost $825. ,..rhe water is discharged into a reservoir 4 feet deep covering 15 acres and having a capacity of 174,240 cubic feet. It is 

estimated that the windmills have a capacity of 70 gallons a minute. 

The windmills proved insufficient, and they have been abandoned. 

A Fairbanks-Morse 22-horsepower gasoline engine, operating a 6-inch 

Morris centrifugal pump, is now used to raise the water to the flume. 

Eighty acres were irrigated in 1902. 

FIG. 26.-Sand screen for water wells. 

A typical surface well for the Chesterville plants would be 41 to 44 

feet deep, 19 feet t,o water-bearing sand, and then 20 to 25 feet of 

sand, followed by clay. A very successful screen with bottom suction 8 feet long is used in this neighborhood. It consists of a wooden 

pipe about 8 inches in diameter, from which 6 to 8 radial vanes pro-. 

ject about 6 inches. A heavy wire . is wrapped spirally around the 

vanes, making another cylinder, varying in diameter from 24 to 36 

inches. Around the wrapped cylinder on top of the wire is attached 

a wire gauze with a mesh of 24 to the inch, which holds back the sand, 

permitting the water to enter. The vanes extend below the bottom 

IRR 71-02--8 
116 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. (NO. 71. 

WHARTON COUNTY. 

Hudgins Brothers system.-Seven miles east of Wharton the Hudgins Brothers have opened up a large rice farm and are giving wells 

a full and fair test. They have in all eleven wells; seven are 44 feet 

deep and four are 36 feet deep. The pumps are about 13 feet, below 

the surface. There are ten No. 3 and one No. 1 VanWie rotary 

pumps. The former cost, exclusive of freight., $85 each, the latter 

$115. The pumps are operated by gasoline engines, five of 22 horsepower and one of Hi horsepower. Eleven hundred acres of Japan 

rice were irrigated in 1901, but only 450 in 1902. 

The acreage from well systems in the section between Sealy and 

Hungerford is shown in the following: Hudson & Ayers, 165 acres; 

W. W. Miller, 200; R. B. Dobbins, 100; .J. E. Irvin, 40; Adam Adams, 

80; John Linderholm, 550; J. C. Townley, 200; C. T. Malmquist, 60; 

W. S. Strickland, 100; George McLain, 150; George Gray, 400; Bernard Rice Company, 205; H. Cordz, 300; Pa11l Jackets, 80; :McBride·& 

Lester, 100; W. S. Moore, 100; L. Pietsch, 170; Longworth & Caylor, 

300; Hudgins Brothers, 450; J. M. Everett, 140; total, 3,890 acres. 

EL CAMPO SYSTEMS. 

In th~ section of Wharton County west of the Colorado River, along 

the line of the New York, Texas and Mexican Railroad, near the stations of Pierce, El Campo, and I~ouise, more well plants are .in operation than in any other section of Texas. Two systems of wells are 

used, the shallow and the deep. The shallow wells are all of one 

general type. A pit, t·ectangular or circular in cross section, is excavated to the depth to which the water will rise, and in the bottom of 

the pit one or more wells are bored through or into the water-bearing 

sand or gravel. In this is placed the screen. The pits vary in 

depth from 10 to 19 feet, and the wells from 40 to 70 feet. The soil 

is generally black and sandy, underlain by clay, which lies over the 

water-bearing sand. The Milner well, a mile west of Pierce, will 

serve as a type for the deep wells. This well is 180 feet deep, 10-inch 

bore, and has 60 feet of screen. The log shows 14 feet of black soil, 

thick stratum of red clay, 6 feet of quicksand, 4 feet of clay, 16 feet 

of coarse sand and gravel, and three thin layers of clay alternating 

with thicker strata of sand and gravel. This well and it.s companion shallow well (both in the same pit) constitute in their combined 

capacity by far the best well found in the Texas rice belt. One of 

the best shallow-well plants found in this section is that of Fred 

Blumquist, 1t miles east of El Campo, which is described later. 

A few typical plants are here described. 

Brwnes system.-The plant of Chris. Brunes is just east of the 

Beard plan~. It consists of a 5-inch Morris pump operated by a 

20-horsepower Advance traction en~dne. rrhe well is 48 feet deep, 

the water rising to within 19 feet of the surface. The head is 24 feet 
TAYLOR.] COLORADO VALLEY SECTION. 117 

and the capacity estimated at 800 gallons a minute. 'rhe engines, 

pumps, belts, etc., cost $1,500. Fifty acres were irrigated .in 1901, 

yielding 785 sacks, commanding $3.10 a sack. 

Nordin systern.-P. H. Nordin's plant is 2 miles north of El 

Campo. The well is 48 feet deep, the water being 20 feet below t.he 

surface. He uses a 20-horsepower J. I. Case traction engine and a 

6-inch horizontal centrifugal pump. The capacity is estimated to be 

700 gallons a minute under a head of 21 feet. The engine and pumps 

cost $1,350. Fifty acres were irrigated in 1901, yielding 413 sacks. 

Just east of this plant is the plant of J. B. Carlson, which irrigated 

50 acres of rice in 1900, the yield being 350 sacks. The pit of the well 

is 8 feet in diameter and 25 feet deep; the bored part of the well is 27 

feet, making a total depth of 52 feet. The pump, a 6-inch Van vVie, 

is in the bottom of the pit, and has a lift of 26 feet. It is operated by 

a 16-horsepower Fairbanks & Morse gasoline engine. A test made at 

this plant shows that it requires 46 gallins of gasoline each twentyfour hours, or nearly. 3 gallons to the horsepower. In carload lots 

the gasoline costs 12 cents a gallon, delivered at El Campo. 

A second pumping plant run by a traction engine is conducted by 

Mr. Carlson. 

Olesen systern.-Five miles north of El Campo is the rice farm of 

D. Ole~en. The well is 52 feet deep, 7 feet in diameter for 25 feet and 

bored the rest of the way. As at all of these plants, the water is pure, 

fresh, and as clear as crystal. The plant consists of a 5-inch Morris 

vertical pump and a 20-horsepower Advance conipound traction 

engine, and cost $1,500. The pumps are 22 feet below the surface of 

the ground, giving a lift of 27 feet. The estimated capacity is 750 

gallons a minute. Thirty acres were watered in 1901, the yield being 

·150 sacks. 

Higuee system.-In 1901 R. E. Higbee irrigated 98 acres of Honduras rice, the yield being 1,500 sacks. The soil is a black hog-wallow. 

The well is 48 feet deep, the water rising to within 13 feet of the surface. The plant is 1 mile east of El Campo and consists of a 6-inch 

Van Wie pump and a 25-horsepower J. I. Case engine. rrhe lift is 

17 feet, and the capacity estimated at from 1,200 to 1,500 gallons a 

minute. 

Berglund systecrn.-P. E. Berglund uses a 35-horsepower Weber gasoline engine and a 6-inch pump. His well is 34 feet deep, the water 

level being 12 feet below the surface. The rice is sowed with a seeder 

attached to the hind gate of a wagon. Thirty-five acres were irrigated 

in 1901, the yield being 450 sacks. 

Blurnquist systenL-One and one-half miles east of El Campo Fred 

Blumquist irrigates 35 acres, the yield in 1901 being 741 sacks, 4 bushels 

to the sack. He sold part for seed riee at $3.25 to $3.50 a sack. His 

pumps are in a pit 8 feet by 10 feet. The well is bored in the bottom 

of the pit to a depth of 30 feet, making the total depth of well 40 feet. 

· The pump is a 5-inch Morris horizontal rotary working under a lift of 
118 IRRIGA'l'ION SYSTEMS 01!' TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

15 feet, and the engine a 14-horsepower Foos gasoline. The cost of 

all was $070. 

Dan,ielsen systern.-The pump, lift, and engine of A. Danielsen are 

similar in all respects to those of Blumquist. Sixty acres were irrigated in 1H02, yielding 700 sacks, which sold for $3 a sack. 

Ernbry system.-The farm of J. R. Embry is 4t miles east of El 

Campo. The soil is a black hog-wallow. Ninety acres of rice were 

irrigat,ecl in 1901, yielding 625 sacks. The pit is 4 feet by 16 feet by 

() feet deep. Two S-inch wells were bored in the pit to a depth of 34 

feet, making a total depth of 40 feet. The water rises t,o the bottom 

of the pit~. An IS-horsepower gasoline engine runs the 6-inch Morris 

horizontal rotary pump against a lift of S feet. 

Schult system.-Six miles east of El Campo Oscar Shult has opened 

up a rice farm on which IOO acres of rice were irrigat,ecl in 1901, 

th,e yield being S5S sacks. The source of water is a well 3H feet 

deep. The pit isS feet by 9 feet by 9~- feet deep. The bored part (:30 

feet) is 14 inches clear diameter. The machinery consists of an IShorsepower gasoline engine and a 6-inch Morris horizontal rotary 

pump. The soil is a black hog-wallow, and both the Honduras and 

the Japan rice will be tried. Fifty-five pounds of Japan (It bushels) 

and It bushels of Honduras were sowed to the acre. 

The well camps around El Campo are all similar, the greatest variation being in. the machinery of operation. No attempt is made to give 

the individual peculiarities of each plant, as a few typical plants cover 

the essential features. The extent of the well system tributary to 

El Campo and Pierce is shown by the following list: 0. R .. Johnson, 153 

acres; Oscar Nelson, 60; A. Danielsen, SO; FredBlumquist,I20; A. P. 

Olesen, 60; R. E. Higbee, 70; N. Thompson, 200; A. Burglund, 50; 

T. Rolf, 40; Axel Bard, 60; J. W. Leech, I60; vV. H. Waugh, IOO; 

.T. R. Embry, 75; Johnson & Jensen, 70; Oscar Schult, 250; James 

Milner, 750; P. A. E. Nelson, 50; A. P. Borden, 50; N. J. Sunwall, 

50; M. Barnhardt, 25; A. P. Borden, 50; ,V. S. Wood & Co., 300; 

Chris Brunes, 105; P. H. Nordin, 105; Boehm Brothers, 60; .J. B. Carlson, 175; Nelson Brothers, 200; Fritz Bender, 60; A. E. Carlson, 75; 

Woolsey, I20; A. S. Thompson, 75; 0. B. Scroggins, 50; W. S. Louis, 

75; E. G. Sterner, 150; L. Cahn, 60; John Bacek, 30; WilliamNeizer, 50; 

Frank Garetzky, 50; John Wetzel, 50; T. A. Hill, I20; total, 4, 200 acres. 

Louise sysferns.-Near Louise station, on the Texas Mexican Railroad, over I,200 acres of rice were sowed in I902, but of the seven 

plants only two had sufficient water. A suecessful typical well here 

has hardly been formed. The well of W. G. Davis presented some 

peculiarit,ies. At 96 feet a granite-like rock was encountered, and the 

drill cut through a 4-foot layer of this, making the welliOO feet deep 

in all. The suction pipe was set directly on top of this rock, and no 

screen was used. The well furnished more than an ample ~upply of 

clear, fresh water. The machinery consists of a 22-horsepower Foos 

gasoline engine and a 6-inch Morris pump. Sixty acres of Japan rice 
TAYLOR.] COLORADO VALLEY SECTION. 119 

were irrigated during the season of 1902, but the well had water for 

double this a(•reage. The following is a list of the plantR near Louise. 

with the amount of rice sowed: W. G. Davis, 60 acres; G. W. Barnett, 50; Otto Peterson, 40; E. M. Clark, 400; Saddler & Rome, 250; 

Saddler & Thomason, 200; Saddler & Thomas, 240; total, 1,240 acres. 

'Vhen visit,ed in July the only plants that, had wat,er on them were 

the Davis and the Peterson, and it is very probable that the I .. ouise 

plants will not average over half a crop this year. 

JACKSON COUNTY. 

Moritz and Mayfield systems.-Near Ganado, just over the line in 

Jackson County, M. P. Moritz and D. B .. Mayfield have opened up rice 

farms of about 100 acres each. The former uses a 5-horsepower gasoline engine to pump from a well 56 feet deep with 20 feet of waterbearing sand. It is estimated that in a dry year one good well will 

irrigate 80 acres of rice. The Mayfield plant adjoins that of Moritz, 

and derives its water from a well 67 feet, deep with 30 feet of waterbearing sand. 

The acreage around Ganado in 1902 was as follows: D. B. Mayfield, 

50; N. P. Mauritz, 200; A. W. Everitt, 50; L. Ward, 75; Boquette, 

60; total, 430 acres. 

COLORADO RIVER BELOW WHARTON. 

Bay Prain:e Ii'rigation Company system.-Eight miles below 

"'Tharton and surrounding Lane City is the rice -fa!m of the Bay 

Prairie Irrigation Company (often called the Lane Company). The 

pumping plant is on the banks of Colorado River, from which it 

takes its water, at a distance of 16,700 feet. from the depot at Lane 

City. There were two pm:llping plants in 1901, but it is intended to 

add a third in order to bring more land under ditch. When completed the system will command 15,000 acres. The plant, at the river 

consists of two VanWie pumps having 54-inch discharge, operated 

by a Bates-Corliss engine of 1,250 horsepower. The lift is 33 feet, and 

the capacity is estimated at 70,000 gallons a minute. The engineer, 

L. E. Beadle, estimates that it will require 8 gallons a minute for 

each acre, but he has provided for emergencies by inst,alling pumps 

having a capaoit,y of 10 gallons a minute for each acre. There are 

two flumes, one at the river and the other across Jarvis Creek. The 

former is 5 feet by 12 feet by 182 feet long, while the latter, which is 

1! miles from the river, is 4 feet by 20 feet by 350 feet long. 1,here 

are 11 miles of main canals 120, 100, and 80 feet wide. At the second 

lift an Atlas-Corliss engine of 200 horsepower operates a 24-inch Van 

Wie pump estimated to have a ~apacity of 30,000 gallons a minute 

under the lift of 5 feet. The soil i~ black. The farm lies on each 

side of the Cane Belt Railroad. The water is carried under the tract 

by a terra cotta and timber invert. The plant, exclusive of land, cost 

$125,000. Six thousand five hundred acres were irrigated in 1901. 

It is intended to increase this in 1902 to 15,000 acres. This company 
120 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OT TEXAS. lNO. 71. 

offers the most liberal terms to renters of any irrigation systems examined. It furnishes land, water, and seed for three-sevenths instead of 

one-half of the crop, thus giving the renter an advant~ge of 6 per cent. 

Since writing the above the third lift has been added and· the plant 

at the second lift has been transferred to the third lift. The capacity 

of the river plant is now 120Jl00 minute-gallons, and the plant at the 

second lift consists of one 257Jhorsepower engine, operating a 45-ineh 

\ e o'l>~"90 1.'""' \ vo""'" ~';- ~....._e ~~~~~~TE~x.~&~~~~~~~~~~ 

\ ~ \ ~ \ WHARTON COUNTY 

z \ 

p \ 

0 \ 

\ 

\ 

0 

\ 

~ ~,---·------·--------·-·-·-·-· 

~ / r·, I ~ k i ~ 

o I 

·"</ / ":! / 

i 

I 

i 

/ 

FIG. 27.-Map showing irrigation systems in Colorado Valley below Wharton. 

centrifugal pump which has a capacity of 50,000 minute-gallons; at 

the third lift, a 200-horsepower Atlas-Corliss engine, operating a 24-

inch Van Wie pump, which, with the lift of 3f feet, has a capacity of 

20,000 minute-gallons. In 1902 there were under the first lift 9,500 

acres, under t.he second 5,000, and under the third 1,500, making a 

total of 16,000 acres under canal, and 15,000 acres of these were irrig-ated d tuing the current season. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 71 PL. VI II 

A. BU ILDING LEVEES FOR RICE-FARM CANALS, W IT H ENGINE AND GRADING 

MACHI~IE, IN MATAGORDA COUNTY. 

JJ. BREAKING SOD WITH E NGINES, FOR RICE PLANT ING, N EAR BAY CITY, 

MATAGORDA COUN TY , MARCH , 1902. 

Capacity of engine, about 50 acres pe r day and night. 
1'.A.YLOR.) COLORADO VALLEY SECTION. 121 

MATAGORDA COUNTY. 

Near Bay City, in Matagorda County, eight large companies have 

opened up extensive rice farms. 'rhe Bay City Irrigation Company, 

the Nile Valley Company, the Colorado Company, the Stewart, the 

Sexton, and the Matagorda Rice and Irrigation Company have plants 

on the east side of the river, while the Moore-Cortez, the Planters, the 

Prairie Bluff, and the Trespalacious are on the west side, as shown 

by fig. 27. Not only is heavy machinery used in pumping the water, 

but the heaviest traction engines are used both in making the levees 

and in plowing the land. One traction engine of 30 horsepower; with 

its plows, can break up 2 acres per hour. Pl. VIII, A and B, shows 

the methods of levee making and steam plowing. 

]-foo're-Cortez Canal Company system.-The Moore-Cortez Canal -

Company installed for the season of 1901 a large plant about 6 miles 

from Bay City. They own and control 20,000 acres of land, and have 

located t.heir pumps on a small lake. The plant consists of one 300-

horsepower Vilter-Corliss engine, Qperating an Ivens centrifugal pump 

having t.wo 30-inch suction pipes, and an estimated capacity of 56,000 

gallons a minute {124 second-feet) under a lift of 12 feet. The main 

canal is 7 miles long and 100 feet wide. The length of the main laterals is 10 miles and the width 40 feet. The whole plant, exclusive 

of land, cost $50,000. Five thousand five hundred acres were irrigated in 1901, yielding 10 sacks to the acre, selling for from $2.50 to 

$4. 50 a sack. For the part of the land t.hat is rented the company 

charges one-fifth of the crop for land rent and one-fifth for water. In 

1902 10,000 acres were irrigated. 

Bay Oity Irr,igation Company system.-The pumping stat,ion of 

the Bay City Irrigation Company (Victor La Tulle, manager) is 3 

miles north of Bay City and takes water from a lake connected with 

Colorado River. The plant consists of two 24-inch Morris pumps and 

two 140-horsepower Erie City engines. The capacity is 50,000 gallons 

a minute (111 second-feet) under a head of 12 feet. The water is 

delivered into a flume 3 feet by 12 feet 100 feet long. There are 7 

miles of main canals, 125 feet from center to center of embankments. 

The cost of the plant, exclusive of land, was $30,000. 'rhe soil is a 

black hog-wallow with a slight admixture of sand. The plant was 

operated for the first time in 1901, when 4,000 acres of rice were irrigated, producing 10 sacks to the acre. This plant watered 5,000 

acres in 1902. 

Matagorda Company system.-Adjoining the lands of the Bay City 

Company are those of the Matagorda Company. The pumping plant 

is 2 miles northwest of Bay City, and consists of one 360-horsepower 

Green wold engine and one 100-horsepower Nagle engine. There are 

two W ortli.ington pumps and one Menge pump. The discharge pipes 

of the Worthington pumps are 20 inches by 40 inches, while the 

Menge pump discharges th_rough a penstock 6 by 6 f~et. The joint 

capacity of the former is G4,000 gallons a minute and of the latter 
122 lRR!GATlON SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

22,000 gallons a minute, or a total of 86,000 gallons (191 second-feet), 

under a lift of 88 feet. H is to be remarked that this is about equal 

to the lowest flow of Colorado River at Austin. The total cost of the 

plant, exclusive of land, was about $55,000. The plant was used to 

irrigate 54:0 acres of land in 1900, the yield being 12 sacks to the acre, 

which commanded $:3.60 a sack, net. In 1D02 the acreage was 

increased to ~l,OOO acres. 

Colorado Company syste1n.-Near the Matagorda plant is that of 

the Colorado Canal Company. r_rhis plant is located on an intake 

connecting with a lake, which in turn at certain stages of the river 

connects with it. The machinery consists of a Murray Brothers 200-

horsepower compound condensing engine and a Connersville blower 

pu_mp, with discharge pipe 32 by 96 inches. The lift varies from S to 

12 feet, depending upon the stages of the river and lake. It requires 

20 barrels of Beaumont oil per day, which costs at Bay City 43 eents 

per barrel, making a total cost of $8.60 per day for fuel. The capacity 

of the plant is 50,000 minute-gallons. During the present season 

5,300 acres were irrigated. 

Nile l"alley system.-The Nile Valley plant is on the banks of theColorado River, less than one-fourth milo from that of the Colorado 

Company. This plant takes its water directly from the Colorado 

River one-half mile above the head of the famous raft. Two SO-hors~­

power duplex engines operate the two 30-inch Morris pumps against 

the maximum lift of S feet. The canal of this company forms a levee 

and serves to protect Bay City and the lands below. Twenty-two 

barrels of Beaumont oil are used per day. In 1£100 2,500 acres were 

irrigated from this canal. Pl. IX, A, is a view of the pumping plant 

at the Nile Valley plant .. 

Stewart system.-At the Stewart c.anal an SO-horsepower engine 

operates a 24-inch :Morris pump against a maximum lift of 21 feet. 

In 1902 1,700 acres were irrigated by this canal. 

Sexton system.-The Sexton plant. uses a Rimple SO-horsepower 

Greenwald engine and a :Menge pump under a lift varying from 18 to 

20 feet. This plant irrigated only 500 acres this season. On the 

west bank of the Colorado River two new plants have been projected, 

the Trespalacious and the Planters. The former is below Bay City, 

while the latter takes its water from below the Moore-Cortes pumping 

plant, but its canal crosses that of the J\t!oore-Cort.es Company and 

irrigates land above. The Planters Canal Company was late in starting, and only 950 acres were irrigated in 1902. The Prairie Bluff 

Rice Company has located its canal on Blue Creek above the MooreCortes and the Planters canals. It also was late in starting, and 

during the current season irrigated 350 acres of rice. 

Summary of Matagorda plants.-Following is a summary of the 

:Matagorda County plants: Bay City Irrigation Company, 5,000 acres; 

Matagorda County Rice Company, 9,000; Colorado Company, 5,300; 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 71 PL. IX 

A . NILE VALLEY PUMPING PLANT. 

B. BALING RICE STRAW FOR HAY, NEAR BAY CITY. 
. TAYLOR.J COLORADO VALLEY SECTiON. 123 

Nile Valley Company, 2,500; Stewart Canal Company, 1,700; Sexton 

Canal Company, 500; Prairie Bluff, 350; Moore-Cortes, 10,000; Planters Canal Company, 950; S. J. Cleveland, 160 acres; total, 3E,460 

acres. 

GUADALUPE RIVER. 

DBWITT COUNTY. 

'"fhe only water-power plant in Texas that irrigates rice is that of 

Otto Buchel, 3 miles north of Cuero. A masonry dam across the 

Guadalupe River produces an effective head of 10 feet. This is one 

of the most substantial dams in Texas, and it cost, with its equipment, $100,000. The power is generated by 54-inch turbines, which 

operate the pumps to raise water into an adjacent reservoir. An 

auxiliary steam plant of 400 horsepower is usetJ. for supplementing 

the energy generated by the water plant. This plant furnishes power 

for three rice farms-Mr. Buchel's, Schleicher & Crouch's, and Rathbone and Vl offord's. The farm of Schleicher & Crouch is above that 

of Buchel and on the east side of the river. '"fhe power for operating 

the· pumps is transmitted electrically from the Buchel power plant. 

rrhe farm of Rathbone & 'Vofford is on the west side of the river, and 

also receives its power by electric transmission from the Buchel 

plant. In all, 750 acres of rice were irrigated at these farms in 1002. 

VICTORIA COUNTY. 

The plant of the Victoria Rice and Irrigation Company is located 

10 miles south of Victoria, and takes its water from the Guadalupe. 

On the east side, at the first lift on the river, there are two 235-horsepower Brownell engines operating the pumps against a lift of ~2 feet. 

The riYer plant delivers ·the water into a flume 1,400 feet long, and 

this empties into a reservoir 24 by 125 feet by 9 feet deep. The second 

lift is 41t feet, and two 525-horsepower Corliss engines operate the 

pumps. rrhe second flume is 400 feet long and delivers the water int,o 

the main canal. There are 5 mHes of 100-foot canals, 2 miles of 75-

foot lat,erals, and 2 miles of 60-foot laterals. The highest point of 

land to be irrigated is 62 feet above the ordinary water level of the 

river, and there is a fall of 18 inches from the second lift to this highest land. In 190:2 2, 700 acres were irrigated. Wood is used as fuel 

at present, hut it is the intention to substitute Beaumont oil soon, 

transporting it down the canal by boat to the plants. 

Four miles west of Victoria Harry Rathbone has 60 acres in Japan 

rice this season. He derives the water from Pl'idhams Lake, and a 

6-horsepower engine operates the 5-inch centrifugal pump under a lift 

of 8 feet. The soil is sandy river bottom. Twelve miles above Victoria John T. Rusk has a well-plant rice farm, but lateness in obtaining water renders its acreage doubtful for this season. 
124 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. [NO. 71. 

BROWNSVILLE IRRIGATION SYSTEM. 

The center of rice culture in Texas takes its way considerably westward for 1902, on account of the big irrigation system near Brownsville, 

on the Lower Rio Grande. During 1901 this system was experimental, 

consisting of the machinery of an unused irrigation plant. The experiment was so successful, however, that the company, the Brownsville 

Land and Irrigation Company (W. M. Ratcliff, manager), has made 

plans to extend the system on a large scale; at a cost of $250,000. The 

plant is 5-! miles below Brownsville. Rice, sugar, and cotton will be 

raised by irrigat.ion. The plant now consists of one 300-horsepower 

Chandler& ~raylor engine and an Ivens centrifugal pump, having 28-

inch suction and 24-inch discharge pipes, and an estimated capacity of 

80 second-feet under the lift of 11-! feet. ':rhe horsepower of the engine, if actual, ought to treble this discharge. The water is first pumped 

into a flume 3 feet by 18 feet by 40 feet long, and then is delivered into 

the canals. 'rhe main canal is 12 miles long and 120 feet wide, and there 

are 16 miles of laterals 100 feet wide. The fuel used is mesquite wood. 

AREA DEVOTED TO RICE CULTURE, BY COUNTIES. 

Jefferson ____________________ _ 

Matagorda ___________________ _ 

Wharton _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___________ _ 

Liberty ______________________ _ 

Colorado ____________________ _ 

Orange ______________________ _ 

Harris _______________________ _ 

Chambers _ _ ________________ _ 

Fort Bend _____________ _ 

Acres. 

44,380 

35,460 

23,600 

16,200 

11,450 

10,850 

Cameron ____________________ _ 

Victoria . ___________________ _ 

Austin _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ 

Galveston ___________________ _ 

Washington _________________ _ 

Dewitt ______________________ _ 

Jackson ______________________ _ 

Waller ______________________ _ 

Acres. 

!l,OOO 

2,770 

1,220 

800 

780 

750 

430 

400 

Brazoria _ _ _ _ _ ________ . ______ _ 

9,100 

9,000 

8,830 

3,150 TotaL __________________ 182, 170 

PROPOSED PLANTS. 

In addition t.o the systems described above there will be several 

big plants operating in 1903. The Treadway Canal Company will 

take its water from the Neches River 8 miles northwest of Beaumont 

and irrigate land on each side of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It 

is contemplated to bring 25,000 acres in cultivation by _this canal. 

The canals are already under construction. 

The ~rexas Land and Irrigation Company is installing a plant to 

take its water from the Brazos River northeast of Wallis. Its canal, 

already under: construction, will extend in a southerly direGtion, and 

it is intended to bring the land between Wallis, Rosenberg, and 

East Bernard under canal. 

The Illinois Irrigation Company proposes to take out a canal from 

the Brazos River north of Sealy, near San Felipe, and irrigate lands 

north and south of Sealy. 

The San Jacinto Rice and Irrigation Company expects to put in a 

plant on the San Jacinto River east of Houston in 1903. 

The Wallace-Radford Company intends to irrigate lands east of 

Eagle Lake by a canal system to take water from Colorado River. 
APPENDIX. 

rrhe following statement of the Texas laws pertaining to irrigation 

was prepared by Judge John C. Townes, professor of law in the 

University of Texas: 

A water course, as the words are used in this connection, has been defined as 

"a stream usually flowing in a particular direction, though it need not flow continually. It may sometimes be dry. It must flow in a definite channel having a 

a bed, sides, or banks, and usually discharges itself into some other stream or 

body Of water." 27 Wrs., 661. COOLEY TORTS, 238. 

It will be observed that the water supply need not be sufficient to cause the 

strea.m to flow all the time. It must flow habitually, though not necessarily 

uninterruptedly. There must be a definite channel; that is, a bed or place 

where the water passes along over the same depression or lower surface, which 

is -bounded or limited by ascertained and definite sides or banks. When these 

things occur, the water thus confined and seeking a regular outlet is a water 

course or stream. Water standing in a depression and not flowing is not a stream. 

Water flowing not in a defined channel, as surface water after a rain, is not a 

stream. In our changeable climate it is sometimes difficult to determine the 

question as a fact regarding any particular body of water. Sometimes there is a 

well-defined channel, but no water except immediately after rains; again there 

are channelR down which water flows frequently, but not continuously. How 

often it is to run and how long during the year must be answered from the facts 

in each case. If there is a well-defined channel down which water passes usuallyhabitually-it is enough, though it may sometimes be dry. If, however, it is 

usually dry, with water flowing in it only occasionally, it is not a stream. 

The water passing in these streams is not owned by anyone. The proprietors 

of the land crossed by or bordering on the stream have legal rights in its use, but 

have no property in the water itself. These rights, like all others, have their correlative duties, and the proprietors of the several estates must have regard at all 

times to the obligations under which each rests toward the other. All persons 

who own land along a stream are coproprietors in its use. These uses are of two 

kinds-domestic or natural on the one hand, and artificial or commercial on the 

other hand. As to the first, the right of use is very extensive, and the proprietor 

- who first gets access to the water lawfully may completely exhaust it in these 

natural or domestic uses without incurring liability in so doing. It is not so with 

the second-the artificial or commercial use. Here no one has an exclusive privilege. The upper proprietor can use it for these purposes provided that after this 

use he permits it to leave his land at the same place, in the same quantity, and of 

the same quality that it would have but for such use. 

It is apparent that the rights and liabilities of the parties vary greatly as the 

use made of the water is of the one or the other class. It therefore becomes 

important to understand what uses fall in each class. Domestic or natural purposes embrace drinking purposes for one's family and his own domestic animals, 

culinary purposes, and washing, and all the uses about one's premises necessary 

125 
126 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF TEXAS. (NO. 71. 

to sustain life. Artificial or commercial uses are all those in which water is not 

used directly to sustain life or to give comfort, but is a means of pecuniary profit 

or indirect mean§! of comfort. This seems to be the line of separation. It works 

out different results in different localities. It seems to be considered everywhere 

that the uses mentioned under the head of domestic purposes are such. and that 

for any of these purposes the upper proprietor or the one first getting lawful access 

to the water may use it to the entire exhaustion of the supply. 

The following are the decisions of the supreme court of Texas: 

~'LEMING 1'. DAVIS, 37 TEX., 173; APPEAL FROM SAN SABA COUNTY, 1872. 

Syllabus :.?.-Irrigation of land, however beneficial in some portions of this State, 

is not one of the natural wants which will justify the owner of a head spring in 

exhausting the water which flows from it, to the injury of proprietors lower down 

on the natural channel of the stream. The maxim sic utere tuo ut alienurn non 

loedas applies. The case of Tolle -z•. CoiTeth, 31 Tex., 362, is not understood to 

have decided a contrary doctrine. 

Syllabus 3.-ln the distribution of the water of a natural stream among the 

riparian proprietors the principles of the common law furnish the only rules 

judicially known in this State; and a suit, it seems, can not be sustained to partition a natural stream among riparian proprietors by allotting to each a specified 

time to appropriate its waters. 

BAKER V. BROWK, 51) TEX., 377; APPEAL FROl\f SAN SABA COUNTY, 1881. 

Syllabus 1.-The right to use water for purposes of irrigation. when its "hse"isnot indispensable, but is resorted to for the purpose of increasing the products of 

the soil, must be subordinate to the right of a coproprietor to supply his natural 

wants and those of his family, tenants, and stock, by using the water for necessary and domestic purposes. 

Syllabus,'?: Limitations; riparian, rights.-The rights of a riparian proprietor 

to the use of the water may be restricted or lost by grant or by preseription, under 

such adverse, continuous, uninterrupted user and occupation by anothc.r as would. 

by analogy to the statute of limitations, bar the right of entry upon lands. Ten 

years' use and occupation would in Texas be the period of prescription. 

MUD CREEK IRRIGATION CO. V. VIVIAN, 74 TEX., 171; APPEAL FROM KINNEY COUNTY, 1889. 

Syllabus 1: Irrigation corporations.-An irrigation company chartered under 

general law and whose charter designates the locality of its canals acquires thereby 

no exclusive right to the use of the waters of a flowing stream on which it depends 

for its supply. By virtue of the charter of its incorporation, which authorized the 

acquisition by gift, purchase, or condemnation of all property necessary to the 

irrigation enterprise, it secured the right to obtain in the manner designated the 

privilege of using the water of a stream, but the charter did not proprio vigore 

confer that right in the absence of a purchase, gift, or condemnation. 

Syllabus 2: Constitutionallaw.-The legislature can not destroy or impair the 

vested rights of a riparian proprietor by conferring a special privilege on an irrigation company without providing for the payment of a just compensation. 

Syllabus 3: Riparian proprietors; irrigation cases reviewed.-Tolle v. Correth, 

31 Tex., 365, and Fleming 'l'. Davis, 37 Tex .. 173, reviewed, and the doctrine 

announced that a riparian proprietor has the right to divert water flo-wing along 

or through his land to purposes of irrigation, although the effect of such use is to 

leave to a riparian proprietor on the stream below him a supply of water insufficient for irrigation. No opinion is expressed as to whether water can be used 

by a riparian proprietor for irrigation so as to render insufficient the supply for 

ordinary use to those owning land lower down the stream. 
TAYLOR.) BEAUMONT SECTION. 127 

Syllabus 4: Prescription.-A prescriptive right to use water for irrigation will 

be acquired by the uninterrupted use of the water for such purpose under a claim 

of right. But this right can only be enforced against riparian proprietors on the 

stream below when the water has been continuously used for ten years under a 

claim of right. It can not be asserted against a riparian proprietor by or through 

whose land the water flowed before it reached the point below where it is appropriated by the one claiming the prescriptive right. 

Syllabus 5: Presumption of grant.-The presumption of a grant from long continued enjoyment can exist only as against those who might have prevented or 

interrupted the use of the subject of the supposed grant. 

In rendering the opinion in this case, Judge Gaines said: 

''It is true that the act of March 10, 1875, provides that' any * * * canal 

company shall have the free use of the waters and streams of the State,' but the 

provisions of that act applied as well to ordinary companies as to corporations. 

Laws, 2d sess., 14th Leg., 77. Besides, we are of the opinion that the provision 

could bg held only to apply to streams upon the public lands of the State, since the 

legislature had no power to take away or impair the vested rights of riparian 

owners without providing for the payment of a just compensation. If the defendants or the owners of the land along the stream in controversy had the right to 

use the water for the purpose of irrigating their lands, that right remained unaffected by the plaintiff's incorporation or by the legislation of the State passed for 

the encouragement of irrigation. It seems to be the rule of the common law that 

a riparian owner has no right to use the water of the stream for irrigating his 

lands, provided it interferes with the uses of the water by those who own the 

lands upon the stream below. That this is a proper rule in England and in those 

States where the rainfall is sufficient for the purposes of agriculture we freely 

concede, but we are of opinion that in those sections where irrigation is necessary 

to the successful pursuit of farming it should not apply. What is not a necessary use-in the one case becomes necessary in the other. Evans l'. Merriweather, 

3 Scam. (Ill.), 496. It was so held in Tolle v. Correth, 31 Texas, :365. and though 

this 1-ecision was criticised in the subsequent case, Fleming 17. Davis, 37 Texas, 

173, wear~ of the opinion that it recognizes a correct rule of law as applied to 

the present case. 

"We think it a matter of common knowledge that there are portions of onr 

State where the business of agriculture can not be successfully prosecuted through 

successive years except by irrigation, and it is to be inferred from the allegations 

of the petition that the section where the stream in controversy is situated is of 

that character. We think, therefore, that the defendants had the right to divert 

the water which flowed in the stream along or through their lands for the purpose 

of irrigating them, although the effect of such use was to leave the plaintiff corporation an insufficient supply for the same purpose. Whether they had the right 

to divert the whole of it and leave an insufficient supply for the ordinary use of 

the lower riparian owners we need not in this case determine.'' 

From these cases it is clear that the purposes named above as domestic are 

regarded as such in this State, and that irrigation ordinarily is not such a use, 

but that if in any particular locality the business of agriculture can not be successfully prosecuted through successive years except by irrigation, such use in 

such locality may be regarded as domestic, in a qualified sense; that is, so far as 

to give the right to so use the water, even though it may deprive lower proprietors of the opportunity of similar use. though this can not be done to the extent 

of cutting off the supply for drinking water, household purposes, or for stock.. 

INDEX. 

A. Page. 

Adams, Adam, area irrigated by_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 116 

.irrigation plant of ___________________ 112-113 

Adams Bayou, rice cultivation on________ 98 

Alamo Creek, ditches along_______________ 20 

Alamo Madre ditch, history of____________ 52 

Aldridge, Hal, area irrigated by ___ ._. _ _ _ _ 97 

Alfalfa, prices obtained for ____ .. _________ 23 

Algoa, rice cultivation near _________ . _ _ _ _ _ 102 

Alice, irrigation on King raneh near_____ 60 

Alkali, impregnation of soil with____ 23 

Allen, J. A., irrigation plant of. .t5 

Altair, rice irrigation near._______________ 110 

Alvin, rice cultivation near_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 102 

Angleton, rice.cultivation near___________ 106 

Arcola Junction, rice cultivation near __ . 105 

Armstrong, G. R., irri~tion plant of____ 44 

Arocha Spring Creek, irrigation from___ 21 

Artesian wells, irrigation from, in and 

near San Antonio ...... ________ 54-56 

Austin County, rice cultivation in _____ 103-104 

rice culture in, area devoted to.______ 124 

B. 

Bacek, John, area irrigated by _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 118 

Baker, George, irrigation plant of._______ 38 

Baker Brothers, well plant of____________ 111 

Bailey Creek, irrigation from. ________ .___ 46 

Baldwin, Henry, irrigation plant constructed by____________________ 49 

Baldwin, J. A., irrigation plant of________ 48 

Ball, Antonio, springs in section owned 

by-------------~---------------- 15 

Ball, Tom, irrigation plant of __ . __ ._______ 30 

Bandera County, irrigation in ____________ 41-42 

Bard, Axel, area irrigated by_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 118 

Bardhardt, M., area irrigated by--------- 118 

Barksdale, irrigation near _____________ :)9, 40-41 

Barnet Spring, irrigation from___________ 38 

Barnett, G. W., rice cultivation by_______ 119 

Barrett, C. C., irrigation plant of _________ 48-49 

Barstow, irrigation near__________________ 23 

Bartel, A. H., irrigation plant of_------ 106-107 

Bastrop Bayou, irrigation from_________ 106 

Batesville, irrigation near.________________ 67 

Bay City, rice cultivation near___________ 121 

rice planting near, plate showing engines breaking sod for._. _ _ _ _ _ _ 120 

Bay City Irrigation Company, area irrigated by----------------------- 12'2 plant of __________________________ ------ 121 

Bay Prairie Irrigation Company, plant 

of. _______ . __ . ____ ....... __ .•.. 119-120 

IRR 71-02--9 

Page. 

Baze irrigating ditch, features of.________ 74 

Bear Bayou, rice cultivation on.__________ 101 

Bear Creek, irrigation from ____ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 49-51 

Beard, rice cultivation near ___________ . _ _ 104 

, Beaumont Irrigation Company, farm of, 

' map showing location of._____ 86 

flume of, elevation and section of ____ 94 

rice cultiV?otion by ____________________ 94-95 

Beau1nont section, land in, character and 

extent of_______________________ 82 

rice irrigation systems in____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 86-102 

map showing __ __ __ _ _ _ __. ____ . __ 86,87 

Bee County, irrigation in .. __ . ___________ . 59--60 

Bee Star gardens, irrigation plant of.____ 59 

Beeville, irrigation plants in and near __ . 59-60 

Beeville irrigat2d gardens, irrigation 

plant of __ __ __ __ __ __ ____ __ __ __ __ 59 

Begg, George, irrigation plant of. ________ 75-76 

Bell County, irrigation in.________________ 76 

Bender, Fritz, area irrigated by____ _ _ _ _ _ _ 118 

Bent, J. A., well plant of._________________ 105 

Berglund, P. E., rice cultivation by...... 117 

Bering,C.L. and C. H., rice cultivation by_ 101 

Bering, Conrad, rice cultivation by ___ . __ 101 

BernardRiceCompany,areairrigated by_ 116 

plant of __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ 115 

Berry Brothers, area irrigated by________ 111 

Bexar County, irrigation in ____________ 51-f>8,C4 

Big Bend, irrigation systems in: _______ . ___ 19-21 

land along Rio Grande in, character of_ 19 

Bigham Brothers, rice cultivation by ____ 91-92 

Bismarck ditch, irrigation by _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 72 

Black Place, irrigation of _________________ 48-49 

Blanchard, L. F., irrigation plant of_____ 77 

Bluffton, irrigation at. ________________ . __ . 76 

Blumquist, Fred, rice irrigation hy ____ 117-118 

Boehm Brothers, area irrigated by_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 118 

Bone, E. D., area irrigated by------------ 111 

Boquette, ---, rice cultivation by ___ .__ 119 

Boquillas, irrigation systems near________ 20 

Borden, A. P ., area irrigated by__________ 118 

Brackett, irrigation systems near____ _ _ _ _ 28-30 

Brady, T. F., irrigation plant of__________ 55 

Brandon Brothers, rice irrigation by____ 110 

Brazoria County, rice cultivation in ... 105-107 

rice culture in, area devoted to ____ .. 124 

Brazoria Rice and Irrigation Company, 

plant of ______________ :_________ 105 

Brazos Canal Company, pumping plant of .. ____________________ ... ______ 105 

Brazos River, irrigation near ............. 80-82 

rice cultivation along_________________ 82 

rice irrigation from ...... ___ . . . . . . . .. . 105 

129 
130 INDEX. 

Page. 

Brazos Valley section, rice cultivation 

in _____ ----------_----- _______ . 103-HYl' 

Brenham, rice cultivation near_____ _ _ _ _ _ _ 103 

Brewster County, irrigation system,; in__ 20 

Brogado, irrigation near__________________ 17 

Brooks, S. J., irrigation plant of__________ 77 

Brown, B. H., irrigation plant of _________ 57-58 

Brown & Son, rice cultivation by________ 99 

Brown County, irrigation plants in ______ 74-75 

Brownsville, irrigation systems at and near ____________________________ 69-70 

l·ice cultivation near ____________ ------ 124 

Brownsville Land and Irrigation Company, plant of!-------~----------------- 124 

Brown wood, irrigation plants near______ 7 4-75 

Bruemmen, W., irrigation 11lantof __ ·_____ 61 

Brulay, George, irrigation plant of______ 69 

Brunes, Chris., area irrigated by________ 118 

well plant of _________ ----- _________ ._ 116-117 

Buchanan, J.P., rice cultivation by______ 103 

Buchanan, W.E., rice cultivation by ____ , 103 

Buchel, Otto, irrigation plant of_________ 128 

Buffalo Bayou, rice irrigation from______ 101 

Bugbee, L. G., acknowledgments to_____ 18 

Bullard, .J. B., irrigation plant of________ 44 

Burglund, A., area irrigated by__________ 118 

Burnet County, irrigation in_____________ 76 

Burr, 0. A. V., irrigation plant of________ 41 

Burrows,--, area irrigated by________ 97 

Butler, W. P., irrigationplantof_________ 63 

Byers's vineyard, dam at, features of____ 30 

c. 

Cabaniss,J. E., well plant of_____________ 101 

Cahn, L., area irrigated by _______ -------- 118 

Cajac Creek, irrigation from ___ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 46-47 

Came1•on, irrigatiotl near_________________ 7'7 

Cameron & McClure, farn1 of, map showing location of_________________ 86 

rice cultivation by-------------------- 93. 

Cameron County, irrigation in ________ 68,69-70 

rice culture in, area devoted to _ _ _ _ _ _ 124 

Camille irrigation plant, features of______ 58 

Camp, B. W., rice cultivation by_________ 102 

Camp bell artesian well, depth and flow of_ 65 

Campswood Creek, irrigation from ____ 39,40-41 

Canals, levees for, plate showing bnildingof____ _ _ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ _ 120 

Candelaria ditch, features of_ ______ ------ 19 

Carlsbad, N. Mex., storage reservoirs near ________ . _______________ . _ _ _ 21 

Carlson, A. E., area irrigated by ____ ---·_ 118 

Carlson, J. B., rice irrigation by ________ 117,118 

Carr, Will, area irrigated by------------- 111 

Carrizo Springs, artesian water near____ 65 

irrigation at and near ____ --------_____ 64 

Carrizo Springs, use of, for irrigation____ 65 

Casey, B. F .. irrigation plant of ____ ------ 41 

Catron, F. H., rice-irrigation plant installed by ______________ -------- 97 

Cedar Creek, irrigation from _____________ 45-46 

Chambers County, rice cultivation in ____ 98-99 

rice culture in, area devoted to_______ 124 

rice irrigation in, map showing---·-- 87 

Channing, irrigation near---------------- 79 

Page. 

ChaEe, John, irrigation plant of _____ ----- 106 

Chesterville, rice cultivation near________ 104 

well plants near, features of ____ 113-114,115 

China, wells neal', rice irrigation from. __ 96-97 

Chittim, J. M., area irrigated by_________ 60 

Christmas Spring, irrigation from _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 48 

Cienagas Creek, irrigation from____ _ _ _ _ _ _ 27 

Clark, E. M., rice cultivation by_________ 119 

Clark Canal Company, plant of------____ 98 

Clear Creek, source and character of _ _ _ _ 00-31 

Clements, E., irrigation ditches controlled 

by---------·-------------------- 17 

Clements, J. H., irrigation plant constructed by----------~--------- 4.'1 

Clements ditch, map showing____________ 16 

Clementson, John, irrigation plant of____ 60 

Cleveland, S. J., area irrigated by---·.... 123 

Clodine, rice cultivation near.-·-----·-- 100-101 

Closner, irrigation plant of_______________ 69 

Clymer, M., irrigation plant of_ ___ --·---- 39 

Coghlan ranch, irrigation at______________ 30 

Collins, F. F., irrigation plant of __ .. ___ . _ _ 54-55 

Colorado Canal Company, plant of_______ 122 

Colorado County, rice cultivation in ___ 107-115 

rice culture in, area devoted to....... 124 

Colorado River, irrigation from .... ·----- 76 

irrigation systems north of ___ ... _ _ _ _ _ 76-82 

rice cultivation along ........ ______ .... 82 

rice hTigation from .. ___ .... _ ..... ___ . 107, 

. 103,109,110-111, 119-1:W 

Colorado Valley, irrigation systems in .. _ 70-76 

irrigation systems in, below Wharton, 

map showing------------------ 1£0 

Colorado Valley section, rice cultivation 

in ___________ ------------ ______ 107-123 

well plants in ____ ...... _ ..... ________ 111-115 

Columbia, rice cultivation near__________ 1G6 

Comal County, irrigation in------------·- 60-61 

Comal River, irrigation plants on_ .. __ .. 60-61 

Comanche, irrigation near ____ .. __ .... _ _ _ _ · 80 

Coman~he Creek, character and flow of_ 17 

irrigation from------------------------ 17-19 

Comanche Creek Irrigation Company 

ditch, features of______________ 18 

Comanche Irrigation Company, ditch of, 

map showing----·-------______ 67 

plant of ____________ -------------------- 67 

Conception ditch, history of _________ ---~- 52 

Concho River, irrigation from __ .. _____ .. _ 70-7 4 

Connell, W. A., irrigation plant of------- 40 

Cook, M. E., pumping plant on farm of__ 37 

Copp, George, irrigation plant of ____ . __ ._ 63 

Cordz, H., area irrigated by-------------- 116 

Cornick, Boyd, irrigation plant of .. ___ .. _ 7 4 

Cotulla, irrigation plants at and near---- 63-64 

Cow Bayou Canal and Irrigation Company, farm of, map showing 

location of ___________ ---------- 86 

rice cultivation by __ ..... ______ -------- 97 

Coyote Creek, irrigation from____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 19 

Crain, J. M., irrigation plant of_-----..... 77 

Crawford, J. H., irrigation ditch owned 

by------------------------------ 19 

Cuero, rice cultivation near __ .. ___ . ___ ._ 82,123 

Cunningham farm, irrigation plant on ... 71-72 
INDEX. 131 

D. Page. 

Daisy, rice cultivation near _______________ · 101 

Danielsen, A., rice irrigation by__________ 118 

Davis, J. H., irrigation plant of___________ 64 

Davis, W. G., irrigation plant of ________ 118-119 

Dawson, G. S., irrigation plant of________ 19 

Del Rio, dams at, plate showing__________ 26 

ditches at, area irrigated from ____ .__ 26 

irrigation system at, features of. _____ 25-26 

map showing ________________ ------ 26 

Del Rosa ditch, features of.. ______________ 19-20 

Del Valle, irrigation plants near ________ :_ 75-76 

Denis, W. H., ackowledgments to________ 13 

Des Moines Rice Company, farm of, map 

showing location of _ _____ _ ____ 86 

irrigation plant of _____________________ 97-98 

Dewitt County, rice cultivation in _____ :__ 123 

rice culture in, area devoted to_______ 124 

Dickey, S. P., rice cultivation by--------- 101 

Dignowitty, A. F., irrigation plant of ____ 55-56 

Dimmit County, irrigation in. ____________ 64-65 

Dismukes, E., irrigation plant of.________ 81 

Dittmar, Adolph, irrigation plant of_____ 61 

Dobbins, R. B., area irrigated by_________ 116 

Dobbim:, S.C., acknowledgments to______ 13 

Dolan, Pat, irrigation plant of______ _ _ _ _ _ _ 63 

Dolch, L. F., irrigation plant of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 68 

Donathan, W. H., irrigation plant of_____ 77 

Doran, W. R., irrigation plant of_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 36-87 

Pougherty, A. H. D., irrigation plant of_ 47-48 

Dove Creek, irrigation plant on _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 74 

Drainage, importance of__________________ 28 

Driscoll, irrigation near_____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 60 

Dryden, irrigation near.__________________ 20 

Duncan, John, area irrigated by__________ 111 

Dunovant, William, rice cultivation by_ 107-108 

Dupuy, R. T., irrigation plant of_________ 46 

E. 

Eagle Lake, irrigation canals at, map 

showing ______ ------____________ 108 

rice cultivation near _____ 82,107-110,112,114 

Eagle Lake, rice irrigation from ________ 107-110 

Eagle Lake Rice Company, pumping 

plants of--------------------- 108-110 

siphon of, cross section of_____________ 109 

Eagle Pass, irrigation near _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 68 

East Bear Creek, irrigation from _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 49 

Edwards County, irrigation in _____ i39-42, 48-49 

soil in, character of____________________ 39 

Edwards Plateau, boundaries of__________ 25 

iiTigation systems in __________________ 25-51 

Eidson, R.I., area irrigated by___________ 60 

El Campo, well plants near____ _ _ _ _ _ _ 116, 117, 118 

Elliott, J. H., area irrigated by.__________ 60 

Ellis, Robert, irrigation plant of ____ ------ 37 

Elms, H., irrigation plant of______________ 41 

El Paso Irrigation Company, dam of, 

plate showing_________________ 14 

El Paso Valley, climate of________________ 15 

irrigation systems in __________________ 13-15 

map showing---------------------- 14 

Embry, J. R., rice irrigation by__________ 118 

Epp, John, irrigation plant of.___________ 55 

Erin, rice cultivation near________________ 100 

Ernst, A., irrigation plant of._____________ 20 

Page. 

Espada ditch, aqueduct carrying, plate 

showing ______ ------ ______ ------ 52 

history and features of_ _______________ 5.3-54 

Espada Ditch Company, organization of. 58 

Etheridge, J. H., irrigation plant of______ 42 

Etheson, A., irrigation plantof_____ ______ 81 

Etheson, Robert, irrigation plant of _____ 80-81 

Eule, William, well plant of______________ 101 

Evarts, B.A., wellplantof --------------- 101 

Everett, J. M., area irrigated by_________ 116 

Everitt, A. W., rice cultivation by------- 116 

F. 

Fairland farm, irrigation of ____ ---------- 75 

Farrar, Mrs.; lands of, irrigation of------ 88 

Faulkner, C., irrigation plantof __________ 81-82 

Fa3-etteville, rice section extended to____ 82 

Finlan, Owen, irrigation plant of_________ 75 

Fischer, C. F. H.; irrigation plant of______ 61 

Fleming Springs, irrigation from________ 87 

Flemming, 0. B., irrigation plant of_____ 47 

Flood, damage caused by, in 1897 . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 15 

Floresville, irrigation near _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 58 

Ford Hollow Spring, irrigation from____ 48 

Fort Bend County, rice cultivation in___ 101, 

104-105 

rice cui ture in, area devoted to_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 124 

Fort Bend Irrigation Canal Company, 

pumping plants of _____________________ 104-105 

Fort Clark Reservation, ditch used by 

Indians living on______________ 28 

Fort luge, irrigation near----_____________ 66 

Fort McKa vett, irrigation near _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 30 

Fort Stockton, irrigation systems near _ _ 17-19 .. 

irrigation systems near, map showing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 18 

Foster, H. L., well plant ~f --------------- 114 

Franklin Irrigation Company, canal 

owned by, features of __ .. ______ 18--14 

map showing ______ -------------------- 14 

Freeman, I., irrigation plant of___________ 62 

Freeman, J. R., irrigation plant of________ 62 

G. 

Galveston County, rice cultivation.in____ 10'2 

rice cui ture in, area devoted to_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 124 

Ganado, rice cultivation near__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 119 

Gardner, A. F., irrigation plant of_______ 73 

Garetzky, Frank, area irrigated by------ 118 

Garland, J. G., farm of, map showing location of_______________________ 86 

rice cultivation by._----- ________ --,--- 89 

Garret, D. C., irrigation plant of_________ 62 

Garwood, rice irrigation near____________ 111 

Garza ditch, features of___________________ 18 

Genoa, rice cultivation near_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 102 

Georgetown, irrigation near _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 77 

Giles Brothers, irrigation plant of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 98 

Gill, George, farm of, map showing location of __ ----------- _______ ----- 86 

rice cultivation by-------------------- 88-89 

G lenmore farm ditch, irrigation by ___ . _ _ 71-72 

Glover, Frank, irrigation plant of._______ 62 

Goodrich, E. H., irrigation plants of. ____ 69-70 

Gordon, C. K., irrigation plant of. ____ 43,50-51 

Gordon, S.M., well plant of-------------- 101 
132 INDEX. 

Page. 

Government ditch, features of----------- 28 

_Graham, Oscar, irrigation plant of______ 41 

Grand Falls, irrigation near, map showing_____________________________ 24 

Grand Falls Irrigat:on and Improvement 

Company, canal of, features of 24 

Grapes, cultivation of, at Del Rio________ 26 

Gray, George, rice irrigation by ___ 114-115,116 

Griffith, S. A., irrigation plant of ____ ._ .. 46-47 

Groos, F., irrigation plant of-------______ 57 

Guadalupe County, irrigation in--------- 1">8,62 

Guadalupe River, irrigation plants on ... 42,61 

rice cultivation along _________ . ___ . __ 82,123 

Gulf Rice Growing Company, farm of, 

map showing location of._____ 86 

irrigation plant of ____ .. _______________ 92 

H. 

Hackberry Creek, irrigation from_______ 39 

Hackborth & IKoy, well plant of __ . ___ . _ _ 103 

Hale County, irrigation in.----- ______ .___ 78 

Halff Brothers, irrigation plant of. _____ . 57 

Hall, F. S., irrigation plant of____________ 49 

Halley, R. B., well plants of-------------- 102 

Rambert Brothers, lands of, irrigation of 38 

Hamshire, wells near, rice irrigation from 96-97 

Harbart-Stafford Rice Company, pumping plant of.----------------- no, 111 

Hargus & Poole, irrigation plant of______ 64 

Harper Spring, irrigation from ______ .___ 77 

Harris County, rice cultivation in __ . __ 100-102 

rice culture in, area jlevoted to ___ . _ _ 124 

wells in, rice irrigation from ______ . _ _ 100 

Harris County Rice Company, plant of._ 101 

Harris Lake, irrigation from. __ . _____ . _.. 63 

Hartley County, irrigation in------------ 79 

Haskell County, irrlgation in .. _. ______ . __ 78-79 

Hatch John, irrigation of land owned by 18 

Hawkins, Thomas, pumping plant of____ 37 

Hays County, irrigation in_______________ 62 

Hempstead, rice section extended to.____ 82 

Herbe;t, W. P., area irrigated by________ 78 

Hermosura ditch, features of. ___ . _____ .__ 19 

map showing-------------------------- 18 

Hidalgo, irrigation at_____________________ 69 

Hidalgo County, irrigation in ____ ------·_ 69 

Higbee, R. E., rice irrigation by ________ 117,ll8 

Highland Canal, map showing.___________ 24 

Hill, T. A., area irrigated by_____________ llS 

Hill-Brown Rice Land and Irrigation 

Company, plant of------------ 100 

Hille brandt Bayou, rice cultivation on ___ 92-93 

Hodges, G. W., irrigation plant of. _______ 45-46 

Holiday Creek, dam across, features of__ 79 

Holliday, J. T., area irrigated by_________ 60 

Honey Creek, irrigation from _________ . _ _ 42 

Hoopes, J. H., farm of, map showing location of_-----------------_____ 86 rice cultivation by _ _____ ______ _____ ___ 91 

Hoover, A. J., irrigation phint of .... _____ 76 

Hosier Brothers, irrigation plant of. _____ :~21 

Houston, rice cultivation near __________ 100-101 

Hudgins Brothers, rice cultivation by_.. ll6 

Hudson & Ayres, area irrigated by._____ 116 

rice irrigation plant of __ .. ____________ 8:?-83 

well plant owned by------------------ 112 

Page 

Huffman, M., irrigation plant of__________ 49 

Hunger, T., irrigation plant of___________ 48 

Hutcheson, W. D., irrigation plant of.___ 39 

Hutson, W.F.,referencetopaperby ____ 9,13 

I. 

Idlewild, irrigation near ______ . _ .... _ _ _ _ _ _ 64 

Illinois Irrigation Company, work proposed by----------------------- 124 

Indelkofer-Gilder ditch, features of __ . _ _ _ 2S 

India, irrigation near_-----------_________ 17 

Indians, irrigation systems of, antiquity 

of _____________ -----·----________ 15 

Irion County, irrigation in._______________ 71 

Irrigation, antiquity of, in El Paso Valley _ ------ _ ----- ______ _ _____ ____ 15 

antiquity of, in Texas ____ ---·-·_______ 11 

laws pertaining to, statement of. __ . 125-127 

methods of _________________ : ___________ ll-12 

necessity of, in middle Texas _____ .___ 13 

pumping water for, diagram showing 

horsepower required for______ 84 

systems of, promotion of._____________ 12 

Irrigation systems, groups of, division of 

the-State into__________________ 12 

Irvin, J. E., area irrigated by--------____ 116 

Ischy, John, irrigation plant of.__________ 77 

J. 

Jackets, Paul, area irrigated by------____ ·116 

Jackson County, rice cultivation in------ 119 

rice culture in, area devoted to_ ... __ _ 124 

Jackson Lake, irrigation from __ ~ _. _ _ _ _ _ _ 105 

Jahn, G. A., irrigation plant of___________ 104 

Japonica, irrigation near-------__________ 42 

Jarvis, R. L., irrigation plant of __________ 45-46 

Jeff Davis County, ditches in. __ ---- ... ___ 21 

Jefferson County, rice cultivation in ____ 86-97 

rice culture in, area devoted to.------ 124 

rice irrigation in, map showing ___ .. __ 86 

table showing·---~--- ____ ------____ 88 

soil in, character of.___________________ 89 

wells in, rice irrigation from _________ 00-97 

Jefferson County Rice Company, farm of, 

map showing__________________ 90 

irrigation plant of.. _____ . __________ ... f0-91 

pumping station of, plate showing___ !)(] 

Jenson, W. J., irrigation plant of.________ 46 

Joe Glenn ditch, irrigation by____________ 71 

.Johnson, 0. R., area irrigated by -------- llS 

.Johnson & Jensen, area irrigated by_____ llS 

Johnson Fork of Guadalupe River, pumping plant on. _________ .-----____ 42 

Johnson Fork of Llano River, irrigation 

plants on .. _ ... _________________ 43-45 

Johnson grass, cultivation of _____________ 27,30 

,Jones, E. M., irrigation plant of__________ 41 

Jones, F. E., well plant of __________ ------ 101 

Jones, J. C., irrigation plant of. ____ ------ 62 

Jones, W. C., well plant of ____ ------------ 111 

Jones & Payne, irrigation plant of. ______ 72-m 

.Toy, John, dam built by------------------ 44 

,Junction City, irrigation near ______ -. _ _ _ 44, 

45, 46,47' 48,49-50 

pumping plant near.------------...... 44 
INDEX. 133 

K. Page. 

Kaiser, W. C., irrigation plantof. ____ ·--- 42 

Kaley & Fuller, irrigation plant of_______ 6B 

Kampman, Caroline, irrigation plant of_ 54 

Katy, rice cultivation near ____ ------ ____ 101-10'2 

Kelley, E. F., irrigation plant of__________ 45 

Kelley, W. H., irrigation plant of________ 45 

Kelley, W. S., irrigation plant of_________ 74 

Kellis irrigation system, features of . __ . _ 70 

Kemper & Lasker, irrigation plant of.___ 79 

Kerr County, irrigation in._______________ 42 

Kilgore, M. H., irrigation plant of__ _ _ _ _ _ _ 64 

Killeen, irrigation near___________________ 76 

Kimble County, irr:gation in _____________ ~2-48 

irrigation systems in, map showing__ 43 

King ranch, irrigation plant on _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 60 

King Sisters, irrigation plant oL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 37 

Kinney County, irrigation in _____________ 2R-29 

Kirby, J. W., area irrigated by__________ 97 

Kitchen ditch, features of____________ _ _ _ _ 35 

map showing ______ --------------______ 31 

Kleberg, R. J., irrigation plant operated 

.by------------------------------ 60 

Knight spring, irrigation from___________ 77 

Koelblen, Jacob, irrigation plant of._____ 55 

Kyac Creek, irrigation from ______________ 46-47 

L. 

Labelle, rice cultivation near __ ------- ____ 91-92 

Laguna, irrigation near___________________ 42 

La Lorna, irrigation near-----------______ 17 

Lampasas, irrigation plant near __ ._._____ 75 

Lampasas County, irrigation plant in____ 75 

Landa, H., irrigation plants of __ ... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 60 

Landrum, William, irrigation plant of___ 42 

Lands, cattle, extent of __ --·--____________ 11 

Lasalle County, irrigation in______________ 63 

Las Moras Creek, flow of_________________ 28 

irrigation from ________________________ 28--30 

map showing __________ ------______ 29 

Laws pertaining. to irrigation, statement of _________ . ___________________ 12!l-127 

Layton irrigation plant, features of______ 57 

L. C. pasture, irrigation of._______________ 50 

Leakey, irrigation near ___________________ 41-42 

Lee, W. T., irrigation plant of.___________ 80 

Leech, J. W., area irrigated by___________ 118 

Lenzen, G. P., irrigation plant of________ 61 

Leon ditch, map showing-----------______ 18 

Leon spring, irrigation from____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 19 

Leona River, character of________________ 65 

flowoL_________ ______ ____ ____ ______ _ ___ 66 

irrigation plants along____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 6.'\--67 

Leoncito Creek, ditches along____________ 20 

Lepan Creek, irrigation from _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 7 4 

Levees, building of, for rice-farm canals. 

plate showing__________________ 120 

Liberty County, rice cultivation in ______ 9!'l-100 

rice culture in, area devoted to_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 124 

rice irrigation in, map showing______ 87 

wells in, rice irrigation from ________ 99-100 

Lim bia Creek, irrigation from __ .___ _ _ _ _ _ _ 21 

Limestone County, irrigation in ____ . _____ 79--80 

Linderholm, John, rice irrigation by ___ Ui, 116 

Lindsey, D. E., irrigation plant of________ 20 

Lippard, J. K., irrigation plant of_ _______ 4,; ... 41 

Page. 

Lissie, rice irrigation near .. ___ .. _ .. _._. 114-115 

Lithgow, F.H., irrigation plant of. _______ 68--69 

Little Paint Creek, irrigation from __ .. ___ 47-48 

Little River, irrigation from_-----________ 77 

Llano Estacado, features of, and irrigation plants on ______ ------------ 78 

Llano River, irrigation from _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 42-!l1 

Locke, Otto, irrigation plant of ___ ._______ 00-61 

Long, A. B., irrigation plant of.___________ 44 

Longworth & Caylor, area irrigated by__ 116 

Louis, W.S.,areairrigated by____________ 118 

Louise, rice cultivation near ____________ 118-119 

well plants near------- __________ ------ 116 

Lovell Brothers, farm of, map showing 

location of--------------------- 86 

rice cultivation by-------------------- 92 

Lowe, Q., irrigation plant constructed by_ 47 

Lower ditch, irrigation by________________ 66 

Lowman, R.J., irrigation plant of________ 62 

M. 

Mabry, A. F., irrigation plantof. _________ 71-72 

McBride & Lester, area irrigated by_____ 116 

McCan, James, arect irrigated by--------- 60 

McClelland, C. E., statement by, relative 

to irrigation in Hale County__ 78 

McDowell, W.G., irrigation plant of._____ 59 

McFadden & Wiess, farm of, map showing location oL -----· ____ _ _____ 86 

rice cultivation by ______ . _____ ____ ____ 96 

McGee Irrigation Company, plant of_____ 70 

McGovern ditch, features of ______ -------- 28 

McHenry, S.A., area irrigated by________ 60 

Me Lain, George, rice irrigation by..... 115, 116 

McLane, J. B., irrigation plant of_________ 77 

McLane & Crain, irrigation plant of ... _ _ 77 

McLaughlin, S. W., irrigationplantoL___ 40 

McManus, G.J., rice irrigation by ________ 96-97 

McNeill, P.E., irrigation plantof_________ 60 

Madre ditch, dam supplying, plate showing_------ ________________ ------ 26 

Madrigal, S. V ., irrigation plant of. ___ .___ 69 

Magruder, --, in·igation plant of_____ 104 

Malmquist, C. T ., rice irrigation by _____ 115,116 

Mamie ditch, features oL _________________ 34-:Jf) 

flexible pipe joint used on, figure 

showing_._.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 34 

map showing__________________________ Bl 

Marble Falls, irrigation at________________ 76 

Margueretta canal, features of_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 22-23 

flume of, across Pecos River, plate 

showing________________________ 22 

head gate of, plate showing___________ 22 

mapshowing _____________ --------. _____ 22 

sluice gate used on, plate showing____ 24 

West Valley ditch of, plate showing_ 2:? 

Marshall, Prank, rice irrigation by ____ 111,112 

Martinez Creek, irrigation plant in valley 

of_ ________________ ---- ____ ------ 55 

Masterson, B. T., irrigation plant of----- 64 

Masterson, W. T., rice cultivation by____ 105 

MatagordaCompany,riceirrigation by_ 121-1~~2 

Matagorda County, areas irrigated in, 

summary of--- _____________ . 122-123 

levees for canals in, plate showing 

building of_____________________ 120 
134 INDEX. 

Page. 

Matagorda County, rice ('Ultivation in. 121-123 

rice culture in. area devoted h.______ 124 

rice planting in, plate showing ongines 

breaking sod for_______________ 120 

Mauritz, N. P., rice cultivation by________ 119 

Maverick County, irrigation i:J. ____ _ _____ tiS 

Maxwell, Z. T.,irrigation plant of________ 38 

Mayes, J. T., irrigation plant bmlt by____ 50 

Mayfield, D. B., rice cultivation by_______ 119 

Meadow Brook farm, irrigation on~---- 100-101 

Medina River, pumping plant on_________ 6i 

Meerscheidt Brothers, irrigation plant of_ 58 

Menard County, irrigation systems in ___ 30-38 

Menardville, dam near, features of______ 32 

irrigation near ________________________ 30-35 

irrigation systems at an<l near, map 

showing __________________ ------ 31 

Menge, William, irrigation plant of______ 50 

Messinger, W. D., area irrigated by_____ 60 

Metcalf & Sims, irrigation plant of_______ 73 

Mexia, irrigation at _______________________ 79-80 

Milam County, irrigation in_______________ 77 

Mill Creek, irrigation from ____ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 103 

Miller, W. W., area irrigated by__________ 116 

Mills County, pumping plants in, damage 

to_______________________________ 75 

Milner, James, area irrigated by_________ 118 

Mission ditches, features of_ ______________ 51-54 

Mission Farm Company, irrigation plant of. _________ ... ______ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 58 

Mobeetie, irrigation at.___________________ 79 

Montell, irrigation at._____________________ 42 

Moore, Ed., farn1 of, map showing location of._________________________ 86 

rice cultivation by.____________________ 91 

Moore, W. S., area irrigated by__________ 116 

Moore-Cortez Canal Company, area ilTigated by--------________________ 123 

plant of _______ ------------______________ 121 

Moos, W. G., irrigation plant of. _________ 43-44 

Morales, M., irrigation plant of___________ 50 

Moritz, M.P., rice cultivation by ____ ____ 119 

Morrison, T. W., irrigation plant of______ 78 

Mott, Charles, irrigation plant of_________ 73 

Mountain Home, irrigation near _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 42 

Mud Creek, irrigation from ______________ 27-28 

irrigation from, map showing________ 28 

Mulato canal, features of__________________ 20 

Mulberry Spring, flow of ___________ ------ 66 

Munson, H. and G., irrigation plant of___ 106 

Myers, Charles, irrigation plant of.______ 81 

N. 

Neches River, rice cultivation on ________ 95-96 

Neizer, William, area ilTigated by_______ 118 

Nelson, Jolm, irrigation plant of_________ 39 

Nelson, Oscar, areJ. irrigated by _______ .__ 118 

Nelson, P. A. E., area irrigated by_______ 118 

Nelson, W. J., well plant of.______________ 101 

Nelson Brothers, area irrigated by_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 118 

Nesbett, H. H., irrigation plant of_______ 79 

New Braunfels, irrigation at and near___ 60-61 

Newell, F. H., letter of transmittal by___ 9 

Nile Valley Company, area irrigated by_ 123 

ir:.·igation plant of.____________________ 122 

vumping plant of, plate showing.____ 12'Z 

Page. 

Nordin, P. H., rice irrigation by _______ 117,118 

Normanna, irrigation near--------------- 60 

North Laredo, irrigation plants at. ______ 68-69 

Noyes ditch, construction, cost, and fea- tures of ________________________ 31-33 

Nueces County, irrigation in. ______ ------ 60 

N ueces River, irrigation from upper_ _ _ _ _ 39-42 

irrigation systems along lower_______ ~ 

Nye, F. C., irrigation plant of------------ 68 

0. 

O'Donnell, J. H., irrigation plant of..____ 100 

Old Mission ditch, construction of________ 31 

Olesen, A. P., area irrigated by___________ 118 

Olesen, D., riceirrigatien by------------- 117 

Oliver, Rod., irrigation plant of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 106 

Orange, rice cultivation near. ____________ 97-98 

Orange County, rice cultivation in. ______ 97-98 

rice culture in, area devoted to_______ 124 

rice irrigation in, map showing _ _____ 86 

soil in, character of _______ . ______ ----- 97 

Orange County Rice Company, irrigation 

plant of_________________________ 98 

Owens, W. J., pumping plant operated 

by ------ ~------ ----------------- 44 

Oyster Creek, irrigation from. _________ . _ 105 

P. 

Pal yo Irrigation Company ditch, feature'l 

of .. _____________________________ 20 

Parsons, W. H .. irrigation plant of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 79 

Paterson artesian well, depth and flow 

or ______ ------------------------- 65 

Patterson, W. B., irrigation plant of. _____ 41-42 

Peach trees, killing of, by flood. __ ._______ 15 

Pecos County, irrigation in . ______ . _ 1 i -19, 20, 24 

Peeos River, course and character of.___ 21 

Margueretta canal flume across, plate 

showing------ ______________ ---- 22 

irrigation systems west of ____________ l:l-21 

Pecos River Irrigation co·mpany, fea- tures of ditch of ______________ . 2H-24 

Pecos River Company, irrigation controlled by _____ .... ____ . ____ . . . . 19 

Pecos Valley, fertility of _____ .____________ 21 

· irrigation systems in __________________ 21-24 

Perry, W. J., irrigation plant of._________ 30 

Peterson, Otto, rice cultivation by ______ . 119 

Phantom Lake, location and features of.. 15 

Piekett, A. G., irrigation plant of ____ . ___ 58 

Piedras Creek, aqueduct carrying Espada 

ditch across, plate showing. . . 52 

Pieree, well plants near _________________ ... 116 

Pietsch, L., area irrigated by ____________ . 116 

Piloncillo, manufacture of. __ . ___ . ____ .. __ 70 

Pine Island Bayou, rice cultivatio:1 011. _. 94-95 

Pioneer Canal Company, measuring weir 

adopted by, plate showing____ 24 

Place, C. A., farm of, map showing location of __________________ -----_._ 86 

riee cultivation by. ____ ------ __________ 92-93 

Planters' Canal Company, area irrigated 

by---------------------------- 122,123 

Pool, J. R.,irrigationplantoL:__________ 20 

Pordo, E., irrigation plant of ___ ._ •.... _--- 80 
INDEX. -135 

Page. 

Port Arthur Irrigation Company, map 

showing location of............ 86 

plant of................................. 95 

rice thrasher on plantation of, plate 

showing .......... ____ .......... 90 

Praeger, Otto, irrigation plant of________ 57 

Prairie Bluff Rice Company, area irrigated by-·····---------------- 123 

location of canal of.................... 12"2 

Presidio, irrigation near ______ ...... ------ 20 

Presidio County, irrigatbn ill ____________ 19-20 

Pridhams Lake, rice irrlgation from---- 123 

Prospect Hill, irrigation near.____________ 58 

Pruett ditch, mapshowing ___________ ..... 16 

Pulliam prong of Nueces River, irrigation from------------ .......... 39,41 

Pumping, horsepower required for, for 

various lifts and acreages, diagram showing------·---------- 84 

R. 

Radford & Co., rice cultivation by....... 101 

Rankin, Carl, area irrigated by---------- 60 

Rathbone, Harry, irrigation plant of____ 1:!3 

Rathbone & Wofford, rice farm of....... 12.3 

Rathjen, F. H., area irrigated by......... '79 

Ray, T. L., irrigation plant of---------·-· 19 

Raywood Rice Canal and Milling Company, plant of------·----.----- 99 

Red, M., irrigation plant of _____ .......... 40 

Red Bluff Rice Company, plant of ...... 111-112 

Reeves County, irrigation in ______________ 18-17 

Reid, J. H., irrigation plant of .... -------- 4!!-50 

Rembold, P. J., irrigation plant of_______ 44 

Reynolds, Charles, installation of irrigation plant by------------------ 60 

Reynolds, George, installation of irrigation plant by-----------·····-- 60 

Reynolds Land and Cattle Company, irrigation plant of ..... --------~---· 79 

Rice, area devoted to culture of, by coun- ties_ .......... _____ . ____ .... ____ 124 

cultivation of, amount of water required for .....•................ 8.1-84 

conditions requisite for----------- 82,83 

plate showing preparations for___ 120 

irrigation of .......................... 82-124 

general features of ________________ H2-86 

proposed plants for cultivation of._._ 124 

Rice belt, irrigation in ___________________ 82-124 

map showing--·----------··----------- 83 

Rice straw, baling of, plate showing _. _ _ _ 12'2 

Rice thrasher, plate showing.------...... 90 

Richards, John, irrigation plant of __ ____ 62 

Richland Spring, irrigation from-------- 38 

Richmond, rice cultivation near ....... ___ 105 

Ring, H. F., well plant of.________________ 101 

Rio Frio, irrigation from _____ ------------ 41-42 

Riofrio, irrigation near _________ ---------- 41-42 

Rio Grande, features of valley of ____ ____ 68 

flow of, unreliability of. _________ ..... 15 

irrigation from ______________ ------ ____ 13-15 

irrigation plants along lower._._. __ ._ 68-70 

rice cultivation along.----------._____ 82 

Rio Rosa ditch, features of ....... _ .. __ ... 19-20 

Roberts, T. G., well plant of. ..... ________ 101 

Page. 

Robertson, J. K., area irrigated by·---·- 60 

Rock Island, rice irrigation near_ .. 110, 111,112 

Rolf, T., area irrigated by---------------- 118 

Rooney ditches, features of ..... ---------- 18-19 

Roswell, N. Mex., irrigation works at 

and near---------·---------··--- 21 

Rough Creek, irrigation near------------ 38 

Royall, Mrs., irrigation plant of ______ ---- 19 

Rusk, J. T., rice farm of·····------------- 123 

s. 

Saddler & Rome, rice cultivation by..... 119 

Saddler & Thomas, rice cultivation by . . 119 

Saddler & Thomason, rice cultivation by. 119 

St. Isabella Canal, map showing__________ 16 

St. Mat-ys ditch, map showing ______ ------ 26 

San Angelo, irrigation plants south of, 

map showing------------------ 72 

San Antonio, artesian wells in and near, irrigation from ________________ 54-56 

geographic center of------____________ 52 

irrigation ditches at, antiquity of .. _. 51 

irrigation systems at and near _ .. , . . . 51-62 

sewage from, use of, for irrigation .. _ 56-57 

sewer-farm ditch at, cross section of. 56 

San Bernard Creek, rice cultivation on. 103-104 

Sand screen for water wells, figure showing ----------------------------- 113 

Sandy Point, rice cultivation near------- 105 

San Elizario, irrigation ditch near, features of-------·-------------·-- 14--15 

San Felipe Agricultural, Mechanical, and 

Irrigation Company, ditches 

owned by------------··-------- 25-26 

San Felipe Creek, irrigation from________ 25 

San Felipe ditch, dam supplying, plate 

showing _______ ·---- ...... ---·-- 26 

map showing-------------------------- 26 

San Gabriel River, irrigation plants 

along _______ ...... -·-- .......... 76-77 

San Jacinto Rice and Irrigation Company, work proposed by---·-- 124 

San Jose ditch, history of _____ ------------ 53 

San Jose Irrigation Company, plant of.. 74 

San Juan ditch, irrigation by _ ....... _ .. _ 53 

San Marcos, irrigation near-------------- 62 

San Marcos River, irrigation plants on .. 61-62 

San Marcos Water Works Company, irrigation plant of.-·-·-- ...... ____ 61 

San Pedro ditch, irrigation by____________ 52 

San Pedro Spring, irrigation from....... 19 

San Saba, irrigation systems near .... 36,37,38 

San Saba County, irrigation in ........... Bi>-38 

soil in, character of.--·---.----------- 35,38 

San Saba mission, establishment of------ 31 

San Saba River, dam across, features of. 32 

San Saba Valley, irrigation in ............ 30---38 

proposed irrigation system in .... _. _. Si -38 

Santa Lucia, irrigation near ...... _ .. _.... 19 

irrigation near, map showing-------- 24 

Santa Rosa Spring, irrigation from------ 19 

Sapp, N. B., rice cultivation by--------- 99-100 

Saragossa, irrigation near .... ------.----- 17 

Schult, Oscar, rice irrigation by---------- 118 

Schumacher & Fox, farm Of, map showing location of----_-----....... 86 
136 INDEX. 

Page. 

Scott, L.A., irrigation plant of___________ 19 

Scroggins, 0. B., area irrigated by _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 118 

Seafeldt, H. G., irrigation plant of ______ ._ 64 

Sealy, rice cultivation near_______________ 104 

Seminole Negro Indians, ditch used by__ 28 

Sewage, use of, for irrigation ____________ 56-57 

Sexton Canal Company, area irrigated 

by------------------------------ 123 

Shackelford County, irrigation in ________ 78-79 

Shafter, irrigation at and near ___________ 19,20 

Shappard, N.H., irrigation plant of_____ 76 

Shealy, Will, installation of irrigation 

plant by________________________ 60 

Sheldon, rice cultivation near______ _ _ _ _ _ _ 100 

Sheldon Canal Company, plant of________ 100 

Sherwood, irrigation near---------------- 71 

Shockley, W. A., irrigation plant of______ 40 

Sieker, L. P., dam of, eroes section of.___ 34 

damof,featuresof ____ ---------------- 3!3-34 

Sigler, H. C., area irrigated by___________ 111 

pumping plant of______________________ 110 

Bleicher & Croueh, rice farm of____ _ _ _ _ _ _ 123 

Sloan, irrigation at ________________________ 35-36 

Sloan, J. A., & Sons, diteh owned by, 

features of _____________________ 35-36 

Sloan irrigation system, map showing___ 36 

Small, A. W., irrigation plant of_________ 112 

Smith, F. B., irrigation plant of_ ______ ~ 100-101 

Smith, H. F., rice farm of________________ 105 

Smith, J.F., & Bro., irrigation plant of__ 75 

Smith,J. G., & Bro., irrigation plant of__ 106 

Smith, T. L., acknowledgements to______ 13 

Smith ditch, features of ______ ------------ 29 

Smithers Lake, irrigation from _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 104 

Socorro, irr:if'ation ditch near, features 

of_--- __ -- ______ -- _______________ 14-15 

Soil, character of. ___________________ 3.'),38,39,42 

South Concho Irrigation Company, plant 

of _______ ------------ ______ ------ 73--74 

South Llano River, flow of--------------- 51 

irrigation from ______________ ---------- 48-49 

Southern Rice Company, farm of, map 

showinglocationof ----------- -86 

irrigation plant of_____________________ 9'Z 

Southwestern Company, area irrigated 

by------------------------------ 97 

Southwestern Irrigation Company, 

ditches owned by, features of_ 18 

Sparks, J. W., irrigation plant of________ 40 

Spitgarber ranch, irrigation at_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 30 

Spivy, -,area irrigated by_______________ 97 

Spring Creek, irrigation from____________ 73 

Springs, occurrence and use of_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 11 

occurrence and volume of, Edwards 

Plateau------__________________ 25 

Staked Plains, features of, and irrigation 

plants on_______________________ 78 

Stalte, Fred, irrigation plant of---------- 81 

Staples, irrigation near___________________ 62 

Starty, A. G., irrigation plant of_________ 61 

State Agricultural and Mechanical College, irrigation plant of _______ 58-59 

Stephenson, W. M., irrigation plant of_ __ 48-49 

Sterling, irrigation near__________________ 70 

Sterling County, irrigation in------------ 70 

StArner, E. G., area irrigated by_________ 118 

Page. 

Sterns, H. T., irri~ation plant of--------- 76 

Stewart, Alec., irrigation plant of_______ 50 

Stewart, D. L., irrigation plant of________ 00 

Stewart canal, irrigation by ______ ------__ 122 

Stewart Canal Company, area irrigated 

by------------------------------ 123 

Stilson, rice irrigation near_______________ 99 

Stockdick, A .. well plant of______________ 101 

Stone, Heber, irrigation plant of___ _ _ _ _ _ _ 103 

Stone, James and Stephen, irrigation plant of ______________________ 103--104 

Stoval, A.M., area irrigated by---------· 60 

Stratton, Judge, pumping plant installed 

by, features of ___________ ------ 29 

Stratton ditch, features of_______________ 29 

Strickland, W. S., area irrigated by______ 116 

Striegler, 0., irrigation plant of_ ____ ----- 31 

Stubenrauch, J., irrigation plant of. _____ 79--SO 

statement of, as to value of 

irrigation ________________ ------ 80 

Sunwall, N.J., area irrigated by_________ 118 

Swag ditch, map showing---------------- 26 

Swinden Pecan Orchard Company, irrigation piant of ________________ 74-75 

T. 

Tarlton, G. D., irrigation plant of________ 50 

Taylor, irrigation near ________ ---------·-- 76 

Taylor, J. H., irrigation plant of_________ 2.~ 

Taylor, J. S., irrigation plant of__________ 64 

Taylor, M.A., irrigation plant of-------- 64-65 

Taylor, M. M., irrigation plant of __ ------ 41 

Taylor, T. C., irrigation plant of.------__ 48 

Taylor, W. W., irrigation plant of__------ 46 

Taylors Bayou, dam across, necessity of_ 88 

rice cultivation on __________ -----_----- 88-92 

Tedford, Robert, ilTigation plant of----- 42 

Templeton ranch, irrigation on---------- 21 

Terry, rice cultivation near _________ ------ 97-98 

Texas Land and Irrigation Company, 

plant being installed by_______ 124 

Texas Pacific Raih·oad, irrigation systems north of ____________ ------ 78-79 

Thompson, A. S., area irrigated by_-----· 118 

Thompson, N., area irrigated by_________ 118 

Thrailkill, W. F., irrigation plant of______ 42 

Tijerina, Thomas, irrigation plant of_---- 70 

Tom Green County, irrigation in _________ '71-7-! 

irrigation in, map showing______ _ _ _ _ _ _ 7~ 

Tornillo Creek, irrigation from __________ • 2f 

Torres, Cresario, irrigation of land by____ 1f 

Townes, H. E., irrigation plant of________ 77 

Townes, J. C., statement by, of laws pertaining to irrigation _____ ---- 125--127 

Townley, J. C., rice irrigation by ______ 115,116 

Toyah Creek, course and character of____ 15. 16 

irrigation from_------------ 16-17 

map showing___________ 11} 

Toyah Creek Irrigation Company, water 

from Toyah Springs deflected 

to ditch of_-----------------____ 1'i 

Toyah Lake, locatwn and character of___ 17 

Toyah Springs, irrigation from ___________ 16,17 

location and features oL _ ----- ____ ---- 15-16 

Toyahvale, irrigation near ______ ---------- 11 
INDEX. 137 

Page. 

Trans-Pecos Texas, irrigation systemsitL 13-21 

reservoir sites ilL _____________ ---··____ 13 

soil of, character of. ___________ -------- 13 

Travis County, irrigation plants in. _ ..... 75-76 

Treadway Canal Company, work contemplated by ................... ____ 124: 

Trinity River, rice cultivation oiL ....... 98-99 

Trinity River Rice and Irrigation Company, plant of. ..... ------.----- 98-99 

Truehart ditch, location of. ..... __________ 54 

Turtle Bayou, rice culti'\"ation on .. _ .. __ ._ 98-99 

Twin Mountain ditch, irrigation by------ 73 

u. 

Uhl, Alexander, irrigation plant of ... _ .. _ 63 

Undershot water wheels, use of, for irrigation ............. _____ -------- 62 

United States, irrigation ofland by_.____ 18 

Upper ditch, irrigation by.:______________ 66 

Upper Labor ditch, history of.___________ 52 

Uvalde, irrigation near____________________ 64 

Uvalde County, irrigation in _______ 4;~,64,6..~-66 

soil in, character of ______________ .---·- 42 

v. 

Valverde County, irrigation in ....... ____ 25-27 

Vandalle,Herman,irrigation plant of.___ 5.~ 

Vanderstiicken, Emile, pumping plant of, 

features of. ____ .-----__________ 35 

Vaughan Agricultural and Improvement 

Company, construction of 

ditch by ________________________ 31-32 

Vaughan ditch, map showing............. 31 

Vick, George, irrigation plant of__________ 112 

rice irrigation by. _____ .. ______________ 8:!--83 

Victoria, irrigation near------------------ 60 

rice cultivation near-------------·----- 128 , 

Victoria County,rice cultivation in______ 123 I 

rice culture in,ar"(a devoted to--·-··· 124 

Victoria Rice and Irrigation Company, 

plant of ____ ._ ........ ---· ________ ._____ 1:!:3 

Viterbo Brothers, farm of, map showing 

location of . _ .... ___ .. _____ . ___ . H6 

rice cultivation by-------------------- 9H 

w. 

Waco, irrigation at and near------ ________ 80-82 

'\Vades, irrigation at.. ..... _____ .------_____ 60 

Walker & Cain, pumping plants of.------ 106 

Wallace-Radford Company, canal system 

proposed by.------ ______ ---··- 124 

Waller County, rice cultivation in __ . __ . _ 103 

rice culture in, area devoted to_______ 124 

IRR 71-02--10 

0 

Page. 

Walnut Creek, irrigation from--·-------- 50 

Walters, Albert, irrigation plant of------ 50-

Walton, A. Y., jr , organization of Espada 

Ditcli Company by------------ 53 

Ward, J. C., farm of, map showing location of. ___________ -------------- 86 

rice cultivation by ____________ ---- ____ 89--90 

Ward, L .• rice cultivation by_------------ 119 

Ward County, irrigation in _____ ------ ____ 2'2-23 

Washington County,rice cultivation in.. 103 

rice culture in, area devoted to __ . ___ . 124-

Water, method of obtaining supply of.__ 11 

Water course, definition of, by Cooley___ 125 

Waugh, W. H., area irrigated by_________ 118 

Wayland, J. H., irrigation plant of __ ----- 78 

Webb County, irrigation in. ____ ------ ____ 68-69 

Weir, measuring, plate showing__________ 24 

Welch, Silas, irrigation plant of . _ ..... _... 42. 

Wells, sand screen for,figure showing___ 113 

Wells, artesian, irrigation from, in and 

near San Antonio ___ . __ .. _____ . 54-56 

West & Burnet, irrigation plant of.______ 37 

West Bear Creek, irrigation from. ____ . __ 49-50 

Westmoreland, J. W., rice irrigation by_ 110, 111 

Wetzel, John, area irrigated by.__________ 118 

Wharton, rice cultivation near _____ 116.119-120 

Wharton County, rice cultivation in ___ 116-119 

rice culture in, area devoted to.______ 124 

Wheeler, H. C., rice irrigation by________ 97 

Wheeler County, irrigation in.___________ 79 

Wilkerson, A. W., irrigation plant of____ 10'2 

Wilkinson, W. J., irrigation plant of ____ 31 

Williams, 0. W., acknowledgments to.__ 13 

Williams, W. D., irrigation plant of.----· 71 

Williams, Z. L .J. B., and J. A., irrigation 

plant constructed by._.___ _ _ _ _ 46 

Williamson County, irrigation in ________ 76--77 

Windmills, insufficiency of, for rice irrigation_.---·------ ____________ 11:!-113 

use of---------------------------------- 11 

Wood, G. F., irrigation plant of---------- 47-48 

Wood. W. S., & Co .. area irrigated by____ 118 

Woods, J. H., irrigation plant of--------- 41 

Wood<>, Tom, irrigation plant of__________ 39 

Woodward, W. F., irrigation plant of____ 40 

Woolsey,-, area irrigated by---------- 118 

Worthington, Thomas, canal purchased 

by------------------------------ 13 

Y. 

Young County, irrigation in.------------- 78-79 

Ysleta, irrigation ditch~ near, features of. 14-15 

z. 

Zavalla County, irrigation in_____________ 61