Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1883-10-10
From Sam"

From Sam"
Marshalltown, Ia, Aug 81, 1883.
This is what the shoemaker threw
at his wife: the last. This is the
last Of my correspondence on this
trip. | find Marshalltown, my old
home, which left over ten and a
half years ago, altogether different
town. 1t is now city of about H.
600 inhabitants. l also find the
surrounding country advanced in
culture and improvements in every
respect Farms, with buildings,
trees, evergreens, shrubbcry, etc,
and also III stock; horses, cattle,
hogs, sheep, poultry, and in fact ev-
erything. The Marshall county Ag-
licultural, Domestic and School In
dustrial Exposition is open and in
full blast here now in Marhalltown.
1t is splendid aud successful fair,
and thousands of people are attend
ing it. l attended two days. I ex-
pect to start tomorrow. for Des-
Moines to attend the state fair, which
commences to-day,
promised in my first article to
say something in regard to the sys-
tenn Of irrigation in Colorado; but
to give full and comprehensive de-
scription of the system and manner
of irrigating, would take too much
space and would weary your pa
tience. Some people have an idea
that irligating is simply to go to
some creek or small stream of water
and by little exeition or labor get
what water you want to spread ovi r
your farm; but this is not The case.
There are thousands and millions of
dollars expended in Colorado to ir.
rigaie that state, ard there is az
much system and regulation about
it as there is about the pulice system
in the city Of Denver. Most Of the
water used in irr.gating Colorado is
taken from the south and nortl,
branches of The Plalt river, aud
mountain streams. Now Colorado
is not, by considerable, level coun-
try; some parts OF it is much higher
than Others, So the source of the
main bitches, as they are termed,
are taking out, or rather commence,
at a certain point from the rivers, or
mountain streams, to suitor con form
with the lay oi the country. Now,
while | was ut Golden, in the toM
hills OF the mountains. there were
three main bitches coming out from
that gulch, as we will term it, that
were supplied by mountain stream
called Clear creek. Aud as we were
going into the foot hills 10 Golden,
one main ditch was perhaps lO0fyet
or mere below lis un the right, nnd
another nearly ON a level with the
road we went in on, while on our
left, away up On the nlou,.tain side,
was another one, the source Of which
was number Of miles up in the
mountains, and was dug out in the
sides Of the mountains. and winds
around for miles, until it reaches
the prairie country, and the highest
country between the mountains and
Denver. From tins ditch the city
Of Denver is irrigated, or at least the
highest part Of it, for portion d
the lower part is irrigated from thu
south Platt. Denver has lots o
shade trees and vegetable gardens
| and it is 90 systematic that ever,
tree, on high or low ground, can b
| irrigated.
These irrigating bitches are ownet
and governed by companies or cor
porations, just as railroads are
They sell the water to farmers ~
FROM two to four dollars per squar
inch. It depends somewhat as Re
CARDS the distance from the sourc
Of the ditch. In Denver, irrigatinl
water cost four dollars m inch.
1 might add that from the main ditch
es smaller ones branch ont ia all II
rections, from which the ranclinls.
81 FARMERS, towns and cities are SUI
piled.
I. 4 II seldom rains III Colorado, ii
4 cept ia the mountains, mud it min
theIo = much and ~ oiten ~ ssls
B ~ u III