Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-04-14
YRRiGAFE TIE VEST.
a Communication winch Explains the
AdyA0tagcs of 5uch :. Curse.
Du,-Hs
PECos CITY, TEX, April II, lsS3.
To the Editor of the Gszette

posed to be valuelsss on eCcolat of tha
!nsuflcieacy Ct tie rain fall, have oe,n
redeemed aud msde fruitful by irrigation.
This has caused 81 immense immigration
i from the other states sad attracted
people from Iii over the world. Inst
Tsxis hs5 large nree OF country, Of q
soil and climate sini!sr to tina. CT Cali
fornia thai can ne irrigated Is no: gener-
: iy kucTa or appreciated.
The Peccs river valley Of Western
Texss is sucd country, and es no
distant day it is destined TO become the
&c; den spos Of t1e state. This val
ley contains a5ou. 1900 600 sc.ee
that ctn be irrissted, srd tae 2 COS river
will supply sufficient wSter to do this.
The river is Of al average width Of
eighty feet an average dspJa Of SIX feet,
and has Z iloH Of four miles 6n hour. 81
1t can Re readily seen wat an i'm
mense supply OF wafer it would af5rd.
What can be done by irrigation IS saown
by 81 article in the New York Tribune,
written by General j. S. BEisben, whose
facts are tasen from actual experience,
Ia which he says:
After the crops come up they sre irli-
gated or simply flooded. The quantity 81
wster put on is shout equal to what
would taLl in three days. steady rain.
When the crop is tsli grown it is irri-
gated sgain. Two irrigaiions are consid-
cred enough for 8 crop n : season unless
the weather Is very hot and dry,
sad then thrSs irrigstiors nay ne put or
It will thUs be seen thst every fsrmer
holds in his own hands the meaDs Of
making cECp when he has irIig,l!rg
ditches.
ROOT crops cGn slwGys be kept moiss,
and require five or ten times as much
water as cereals. The expense CT III, ga
ton comp.rs Il with the benefits derived
's very slght. Irrigation about doubles
crops. ard the cost Of water is never over
81 per acre, aud often 80 los rs 60 cents
per acre psr snnum. Forty and fly
bushels OF wheat per sore are often raised
uader irrigation. FO!etOes FRI gueBtIe
gov 70 five pounds and yield $50 10 300
bushels per acre. O:ner root crops Yield
equally we'll, and hsrley viii yield
forty bushels per scre aud oats
often fifty ana sixty bushels. l havs seen
gsveCty seven bushels Of oats cut on an
acre Of irrigated land and myself meas
ured 800 bushels Of wheat cuE from ten
| scre field in Colorado, nesr Boulder
WIG hay, when well irrigated, will cut
two tons per acre and alfAlf. four to six
tons. All kinds OF berFies, such as Straw
| berrics, rasp0eTries, 5!aCk3errea, goose
berries, currAnte aud such fruits Grow
lp-oliaCaljy uucer irrigation rnd yield
nearly double crop. From $500 to $500
u often taken from en- acre for smsl!
fruits.
Il will he sem from this that irrigation
does net cost much and that farming b7
this method is exceedingly prchta9!e.
Tnen, sgaiu, it will not, ss supposed by
maD7 people, interfere with stock r2i9inE,
81 he country TO be cultivated IS on!j
about fifteen miles by 200 long. This
Leaves ell the uplaDds for the cattle, sad
ny, usirg the irrigatIng dltc5es they c,n
5eisuJpited with water. At several plqceo
on toe Pecoe river farming Is now being
done oy irrigation ard It has proved
highly successful. At Rs wal, n. NJ q
tns rivers about eco miles north II Peccs
City, a fJurl6hing community has
grown NJ and farming extensively
csrr. ed on By this method. at Seven
f vers, l25 miles north OF Pacoe, the
Z dy 3 ssvi Cattle and Land Company
are erg3gng extensively in irrigation
Tney have lst completed ditch fifteen
miles long, and the large amount Of land
hist this will enable to be cul waited Will
soon establish growing town at that
pl.ce, A. Black river, g tributary of the
PaCo5 reyer, seVenty1ye miles north Of
Pecoe City, numerous small farms are
under Gu tlyatioD, ard everything that Is
planted grows abuDdaLtly. J. B. VII
son & Co Of Dallas, have en- extensive
farm st this place thaSis being success
fully cultivated in connection with their
large cst.le ranch. At Prc0s City
Irrigation is being carried OF
By the means CT aTtesisr
wells as well as from the river end he's
proved immensely successful.
Il is thought that Alfalfa " II be s most
desirable crop to raise, as the soil, eli
mate Gnd altitude, which is 200 feet, are
peculiarly adapted 10 it's growth and de-
vslCpment. As the state land ana lease
law has been such as 10 preclude the de-
velopment Of Western Texas, it Is to be
hoped thst Uur legislators in the nezr
future vii. adept liberal irrigation Lave,
Ike Colorado and other western terri
torias, and thereby sid in the Develop
ment OF large portion Of the state. The
water supply Of Western Tex,s must be
developed before 1t VIII become
prosperous. Ole method of doing
Ibis ls by the means Of wind mills and
using reservoirs mode Of earth to store
the water, and using It st the proper time,
BY this means from Eve "a ten acres cen
be cultivated by one wind mill.
Fort Worth, the great city contiguous
to the west ard occupying the position
she does, should take deep and liberal
view of these masters and aid and en-
courage, 6oaucislly and otherwise, the
development Of that couatry living west Of
her, ss she is Its natural market, and the
development OF the great west means the
growth OF Fort Worth. See has In this
sll TO gain snd nothing TO lose. The de-
Veloped west will yet coma 70 her aid
with giant strides and make her indeed
what she is destined TO De the Queen
City Of ell Texas. Respectfully,
4. W. HILIIkRD.