The Red Cloud chief., 1879-04-24
the DITCH OF DIrCHES.


tpUfn the IrHNef ttoAl S1tVsN.4
While our mines are famous the world
,yer for their richness, and people nock
rom all quarters by the thousand, 3
rery important branch Of the industry
the State, and one which Is constantly
seems To be overlooked by
most people, and that is the agricultural
interest. II has been demonstrated
hat no better land a be found
Tor raising the small grains than the
barren land Of our plains.
he only difficulty being the watering of
The crops. This, Of course, Is done by
and thousands Of dollars hsve
been spent and many more thousands
made in building and running the large
necessary 10 water the immense
underlying territory.
There are several very large bitches
in the State, but the new mi now build
ing in Larimer and Weld Counties puts
all competitors in the shade. For sew
eral years the matter If watering the
vast tracts Of second and third bottom
land around the banks OF the Poudre
and Platte Rivers has been under con-
and now the problem seems
The immense undertaking Is
now in the hands of mon who have on
one hand plenty Of capital, and on the
other q large experience in ditch build
ing, so that there is nc doubt Of its final
working.
The parties building il are the Colo
RADIO Investment and Mortgage Com
pany and Hon. Ben Eaton, OF Weld
County. Besides owning q half interest
in the concern, Mr.. Eaton has the con
tract for constructing the ditch. Tbs
ditch, when complete, will be 30 miles
long, beading for the Poudre River, be-
tween Fort Collins and La Porte, and
running northeast r the Denver
Pacific Railroad TO Crow Greek. The
contract provides that the portion Of the
ditch from the head TO the Denver Pa
cifc Railroad, 81 miles, shall be COM
pleted within the present year, and the
remaining 80 miles by June. 1880. II
is to be at the head 80 feet wide or the
bottom, with about five feet of water,
which will make the stream of water
about 40 feet wide in the ditch proper.
The width will be gradually contracted
so that at the end Of the fourteenth mile
it will be % feet on the bottom, at the
end of the thirtieth mile % feet, and So
on to the end. The exact size Of the
lower end has not yet been fully de-
termined upon, as the owners have To
figure on the immense acreage Of land
to be watered at the lower end.
One of the best features of this new
ditch is the system of reservoirs extend
ing along the whole line, and adding
immensely to the amount Of water which
can be distributed over the underlying
land. In constructing these reservoirs,
many Of them of very large acreage. ad-
vantage has been taken Of the natural
basins lying in the course Of the ditch
or lust under it.. On many of them
there need be no work at all done, as
they have the natural inlets and outlets
on others it has been found that q dixie
of a few feet on one side will largely in
crease the body of water, and this work
will be done.
In crossing low places in the prairie
it has been the custom heretofore TO
build q dixie on each side, forcing the
water to run between them. The plan
followed by Mr.. NettletOn, the engineer,
is much better, as it has the double adj
vantage of saving money and adding to
the capacity Of the ditch. He builds a
slropg dixie on the lower side only and
on the other side allows the water to
run back as far as possible into the
bluffs, thereby forming in several places
artificial reservoirs . half mile or more
in width.
1t is q fact well known, that every al
ternate eighty acres of land in this part
OF the country vas the property of the
Denver Pacific Railroad, in consequence
of the grant given the road by Congress.
One of the first steps taken by the own
crs of this new ditch was TO secure this
land. They first had a price by the rail.
road company and contracted to buy il
from them, or at least all of it into which
water could be run. They then pur.
chased the bonds of the railroad in
Europe, most of them at about 35 cents
on the dollar. The law distinctly re-
quires railroads to accept their own
bonds at par, in payments for its lands,
ouu ny Ill 6tIOAC VI OuSluCSo oii III
available land under the ditch was Sc
cured at a very low figure. These lands,
together with the public lands adjoining,
make a grand total of over 10000 acres
of fine farming land, exclusive of those
already occupied by the farmers Of Fort
Collins and the Greeley Colony. 1t has
already been demonstrated that there is
no better wheat land in any country than
Colorado, and long since the title The
Great American Desert" given to our
plains by Gen. Fremont, has become a
name only.
The work of excavation on the ditch
was contracted for at IL cents per cubic
yard. The services of Mr.. Nettleton, OF
Pueblo, as engineer, have been secured.
and under his experienced hand this
department has gone on very success
fully.
Mr.. Eaton has about 100 head of
horses and mules at work blowing and
scraping. The plows used were made
especially for the work by parties at
Kalamazoo, Michigan. They are butt
very strong, as much of the soil broken
is the very toughest of sod. In some OF
the deeper cuts they e used to break
through half-formed rock. Six to eight
horses are used to each pillow, and the
lands laid of 50 that q single round &C
cupies half q day. The first blowing
has been completed to the Denver Pa
ci6c, thirty-seven miles from Greeley.
Thirty scrapers are now actively en-
gagged in excayating and building banks,
and the number will soon be increased
to fifty. Mr.. Scion Martin, Of Greeley,
is foreman Of the crew Of workmeu, who
number about fifty. Altogether, he has
q most intelligent and active set OF
workers.
The camp which Mr.. Eaton keeps for
these men Is in itself . curiosity. Iven-
ture to say that there is no better camp
in Colorado, and that the men are pro-
vided for in style unequaled anywhere.
Wagon loads of fresh beef, fresh pork,