Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1888-08-22
A Now Source of Wealth.

A New York Tribune correspon- dent, in recent letter to that paper, reviews al length the history of Irrlga- ton ln the western states and terrri:o- ries, especially Colorado, where such great success has atteaded irrigation enterprises. h v'ew of of many simi- lar enterprises now under way in An zOna and New Mexico, the article Is doubiy valuable as showing wha; can and may te done h this connection by the judlcious Use oi money and. con- mon sense The Tribune correspondent says
 There h a ncw source of wealth growlng up in our country, almost un- OUseIveu, put coiiossal Tn Its nature ana extent. 1 Inean the owning of the water n the streams and rverS. For mefiy only the iand was considered valuable, out non Tn maDy parts of the country the owneiship of land without Water Is ci iti.e account. If one man owns the iand anO another the water. tue man who owns the water has the Dest of il and has the other fellow at his mercy. The eFeat system of irrigatlng ianus iii cry sections for crops IS yet In lls Infancy, but wherever ;ried 1t has done Wei and mi :, ,attns dltcnes nave yielded iargc retufnS l. me investors III them.
 Mos. Ot the largest ditches are Tn Col orado, wnoie 5000. 900 acres of land are subject to irrngatlo.i. Otlhis vast body less than 500. .oco acIoS have been irrl- gated, leaving 2,5oo,oco 10 De watered ,st. The canals in Couise Ot Cons,ruc- ton Will wdiSr about I, I,2Oo,Ooo of the 2,5oO,O acIeS. This IS enorm, JUS when We consider that the whole irriga- ton system has .iUwu Up almost within the past five years. The San LoulS Park can4i watering 100000 acres Staie LInu canal, I4O,oOO acres Citizens canai, IIo.o 900 acres, and the Del Noitc and SuguaChc canal, I5O,oeO aores, may be mentioned as among the most successful. Colorado dItChes. Faesc three canals cover 100000 acres oi soyeTnmcnI land, 100000 Of pat engtd land ard I5o,ooO acres of state land. They wiil furnish homes for be- tween 5000 and 4,ooo farmers. The water $ taken from the Rio Grande, near the town ot Dci Norte. The larg- est canal Is 20 feet wide at Its head and sraoaIsiy narrows down to I2 feet. It naS, whtn iui, . c&pact}s iO' watering 100, ,oO0 acres ut aid.
 How do tney make lrrisa,lng canals ? Easily enough and qu,te rapidly. First the ConsiraCtlon Ot the msin canal The water h taken from riyer Or creek the supply beng regulated by a head gatc. The canal may De ter, twenty or hity feet wide and one, five or ten feet deep, according to the volume Of water desIred.' Generally the canals are wide and shallow like creek. Indeed they are meIcsy artitCia! creeks, ana wh, n srass-srown aiu planted with tfeeS along tbc banks are hard 10 tell from tfeI natural streams. A favorable place for tapping the river or creek hav- Ing been found the canal Is carried fOr- ward to the hlgh grounds. It Is gener- ally given about half the tall of rlvcr or creek, s0 Il soon reaches an elevation above the natural stream and has the iand between 1t and the stream below its waters At intervals as needed small canals ale taken out and carried to the farms Each lateral has 8 head- gate ana lne&suIe for the water. The 1T, 4trst rumUtr of farms At certain subiatefals, too, have heaJ- gates and water measures. The Sublet- erals are used by individual farmers. if before ploughing lime there has beenraln enough 70 soiten the ground the farmer does noi heed to resort to his ditChes, hut II the season is dry he opens his 1eaGsates and Saturates the ground. The seeding IS then done. Ten acres $ abou, the allowance of iand that can 1e irrigated In one day per man. Un- ess water IS very pieruiui farmers a,e
 
 Imited tO eighty acres to be irrigated .n ! ,ne season btt this does not include ,rasS iaHds.
 Daching machlnes have been made | or digging lrrigatlng canals, but never a~ one that worked satisfactorily. The pest diggng machine Is an Irishman nd q wheeibarrow or blow anG crapey. X ditch ten feet wide and two 1T thee feet deep can ordinarily be nade a. the cost of SI,ooo per mile. The income from the water iu such a Iltcn m good locality IS about A 'er rent per aupun On the cost of mak- 1g. So II will be seen that dltchlng IS rohtable. The little companies first ormei in Colorado had great difficulty l placing their stock. but they thlove and soon men of capital be- an to look into the matter. The Colo ldo Loan and Trust company was ,lmed by T. C. Henry for the purpose niigauag lands, and soon large irrl- anng oi;ches were under way. This ompary nov controls many dltches and | rlgates nearly one million acres of md. There are many other companies, nd l relieve they are ali making money. rom Colorado the IT igation saystem 1read into Wyomng and there are now lore thar one hundred irrigating ditches i this territory. Many of them are wned hy Colorado capitalists, who are oiug to extend their ditthes as rapidly } possible, not only in their own state Ut Tn the adjoining states and territo- es.
 England In Politics.