Wichita eagle., 1889-11-03


has not been practiced in one or more coun-
tries, from the use Of the rudest vessel to
simply dip up the water, up through all the
grades of common hand labor to the Egyp-
tan 'Shadouf," or from the simple bamboo
wheel of the East Indian to the elaborate
system of dams, fumes, canals and acecqulas
which once made Babylonia as the very
garden OF the Lord for abundance, and have
lately been paraleled by the British in India
and the Americans in Utah and Colorado.
Equally difficult would it be to find any new
feature as to water supply and It's value, for
IN the United States alone il found every
grade, from the rocky little troughs of the
Moquis Of Arizona, by whom the tiniest rlll
is husbanded as if water were golden, to the
mammoth fume of Boulder, Colo, where
river Is anchored to a mountain side and
made to feed hundreds of artificial lakes,
fish ponds and fountains.
Still further, it may be said that since the
beginning of history little or nothing has
been added TO mans knowledge of the prin-
clple. The rudest savage could not fail to
observe that his fayorite plants withered IN
time of drought, and that the tree by the
river remained green willie that on the plain
died, and thence to infer that water YVES the
needed thing. In the oldest poetry the early
and the latter rain are referred to as bless
ings, the dwelers in arid lands are pointed to
regions of regular rain as to types Of heaven;
the very word paradise" means a place
where trees grow, and Moses, exhorting the
children OF Israel to hasten to the promised
land, assures them that there they viii not
. have to raise water with the foot ION the
tread wheel as in Egypt, for the Lord waters
that land. The land where "the brook fall
eth not" is always the land of promise.
In the United States the area of arid and
sub-arid lands includes at least 100000
square miles. ''Sub-aridn is the term applied
by Maj. Powell 10 a strip perhaps two hum
dred miles wide along the eastern border Of
the arid region-a strip including much of Da-
kota, Nebraska, Kansas and the Indian terri
cory, and very large proportion of Texas-a
strip in which rain enough for good farming
cannot be relied upon more than one year in
three. Public interest in irrigation, however,
has been of very slow growth and it was
only after SEVENTY years. local agitation of the
matter that congress appropriated money for
thorough inquiry. In America in Asia
there is no record of the beginning of irriga-
ton, and the traveller through the far south
vest sees many painful reminders of the
struggles the semi-civilized Indians aztec or
Totec) made to hold their homes. In many
valleys he VIII see that, when compelled to
abandon their lowest and broadest fields, they
retreated further up the valley, built more
elaborate dams, and even ''puddled" the bot.
toms of their reservoirs to prevent seepage.
Still the increasing drought prevailed over
them, and they died out or abandoned the
country.
In Mexico the conquering Spaniards neces-
sarily adopted the methods Of the Indian
farmers, and continued them in their settle
ments in New Mexico and southern Caifor-
MA. Nevertheless, Americans generally knew
aothing OF irrigation until the Mormons To-
Gated in Great Salt Lake valley. Their
method was and still remains extremely SIM
pile. After many experiments they made an
estimate of a water 'dutyn-the amount that
would run through a foot square oriflce in
given time at given pTesSure-and roughly
estimated the cost of securing it. The church
engineer surveyed "A valley and reported the
number of families IL was sufficient for, the
church selected them, named all their officials
and sent them to settle the valley.
Where the stream issued from the mount
ain a simple dam was made, and from it the
main canal was carried along the base of the
hills inclosing the valley; from it small canals
OF acecquias crossed back 10 the original creek /
bed every quarter of mile or SO, and from
these smaller bitches traversed the upper side
of each little farm. From them in turn tiny
rills flowed down between the rows of corn /
or potatoes, among the orchard trees or in /
shallow burrows through the wheat and |
grass. The Mormons never attempted to re-
deem the vast terraces of the larger valleys;
they contented themselves with the simplest
system, and TO this day there are no great
engineering triumphs in Utah TO compare
with those in Colorado. and few, if any, arti-
6cial lakes, fish ponds or fountains.