Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-10-03
AN IRRIGATION EXPERT
WHAT A. j. ROSS HAS TO SAY
ON THE SUBJECT.
Hc Has Examined tho Same Thoroughly
and Gives Some of His Observa tionS--He
Believes the Artesia,a Supply to l3o mex
haustiblc How Best to Sink Wells.


and Gives Some of His Observadons-He
Believes the Artesian Supply to l3c Inex-
haustiblc How Best to Sink Wells.
A. j. Ross. the water expert who has
made thorough study OF the water
question in South Dakota, has just re-
turned from q trip through the Jim river
| valley. taken with the state engineer,
Maj. Fred Coffin, for the purpose of
| thoroughly Investigating the subject of
! artesian irrigation, it's feasibility and
cost. Mr.. Ross was found by II reporter
| and below gives his opinion OH the sub
! ject which is of such Importance to the
| central part OF The state OF South Dakota,
but it seems the ruler of the universe
had the foregoing object in view when
| he lcveled the mountains and filled the
valleys which form the pr;;irics of South
Dakota to place beneath it's surface u
supply of water which, when reached
and properly distributed, would
make the land more produce
tive and valuable than anv other
state in the union. The land located
over this supply of artesian water is
shaped SO that any and all parts may be-
watered from the supply beneath the
surface. The early cinigrinr to this
| country stuck his stake and erected his
house on his choice of Uncle Sans land.
His first efforts were successful in tilling
the soil. There seemed to have been u
sufficient rainfall to mature all his crops.
He was encouraged with the future
prospects. which from year to year,
proved all he had expected, until the
time when tho rainfall had reached the
maximum in 1882 and 1883, when his
granarics and corn sheds We're full to
l,;. {Iot
the soil OF South Dakota was ranked
ing more grain per aero with less labor
and less expense than any other state.
but after that period the rainfnll
decreased until this year so that almost
total failure of crops OF all kinds has
been the result in the section | speak
of. There has been rain enough in that
country this year TO have matured all
crops. il the ground had been in condi-
aion in the spring, but it was not, and d
failure resulted. His remedy is in irri-
CATION.
'sThere exists an abundant supply of
water that lie may control and water
his field ut will. This water supply can
DE obtained by drilling holes through the
shale formation to the depth of from 700
to 1900 feet. Different localities re-
quire different depths as the surface
varies i'll elevation. Tho depths Of the
wells vary accordingly. The sand strata
} that tho water is found in is supposed to
be nearly level. The principal cost of
these wells is the piping or casting. The
shale formation is such that water COM
ing in contact with it dissolvrs and
loosens it So that it caves in and fills the
, hole
az Tl,o}n
'.About So per foot. Then the pipes
for distributing. the cost of which will
depend on tile mode of distributing.
Some can water by reservoirs, others by
~ bitches and others through pipes, SO
: that The cost OF material on the surface
e will depend OH the location and mode OF
I distributing.
moisture for the farm lands of the
: central part OF the state, said Mr.. Ross,
lis the most important question for
= South Dakota to-day, a solution of
/. which seems to be at hand in the ar
+ tcsian lake underlying that portion of
: the state where the rainfall has been the
= lightest and where the finest farming
land IN the stale is located. There is
not another state in the union that can
produce better land for general farming,
OF stock raising than South Dakota
Neither is there another state more in
need of surface water supply
''How much land will the we'll irri-
gate?'
'sAny one OF the wells looked ut will
irrigatc from five TO eight quarter Sec
: tions for the first and second years, after
J which they. will irrigate more, as the
land can be watered in the winter and
spring 80 that there will not be as much
required III planting and growing sea-
, sons. find in some localities. where
, the farmers are able. they are
joing their interests in that direc-
, ton and are going to put down u we'll
and irrigatc their farms jointly, In
other places find the farmers too poor
| to do this. III these places under
stand the loan companies holding claims
on these lands agree to advance money
to these farmers TO bear their share of
the expenses Of WE'LL In another part
tind the companies are going to put
down and distribute tho water over the
land where wanted and charge tho
farmer rental for it; still another place
whore the county is going to vote bonds
to drill wells to irrigate and pay said
bonds by taxes, so that it looks now as
J il irrigation in central South Dakota
would be success where it cannot be
within reach OF the farmer himself.
Capital is coming to the rescue. There
is one great difficulty to overcome in that
, country. There are machines of all
makes and descriptions coming in to
drill these wells, Very few machines
have q capacity sufficient, OH account of
the amount Of pipe to be put in. The
/ contracts are let to owners Of these
machines, the wells started and drilled
to various depths, some receiving
pay for the entire we'll. Trouble arises.
the we'll is stopped and some
companies have tried to finish their own
well with poor success. Others finish
the well to the required depth. The
company not understanding the business
cannot judge tho work or tell when it is
. finished properly so that the contractor
can leave it in shape and give plaus-
ible excuse for any difficulty arising
:sfterward. There is u well drilled at
ST. Lawrence that cost over $1,000. It
was drilled TO the water supply, but at
that point the well was tampcred with
SO that the flow is very small. Another
one was finished at q small town east of
ST Lawrence was started an S-inch