Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-02-06
WETTING DOWN LAND
FACTS AND FIGURES REGARD
ING DAKOTA IRRIGATION.

1t VIII Increase Local showers and Equal.
fze tho Climate. and Also Make til.
Speedily Rich.
All are deeply interested in the
solution of the problem regarding the
irrigation of South Dakota lands. At
nrst glance it may seem that it is ST.
perfous to point in detail the adyant-
ages that would secure to the state if a
general system Of irrigation were in
operation. A little reflections, however.
will make it apparent that, as such a
system must necessarily be very ex-
pensive, clear and correct knowledge
OF Its benefits is absolutely necessary be-
lore we can safely answer the very inn
portant question, Will itpay?
The question is answered by Prof.
Culver, of the Vermillon university, in
the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. He saws:
ITO be able to make it rain from the
earth when the clouds fail is certainly a
grand cover. and the one which the farmer
would appreciate moss doubtless. yet it by
no means expresses the whole value OF u
good system. OF irrigation.
Let us specify Lrtety what these advan-
tages are. And first let me say there are
some things irrigation will not do 1t will
not materially change the climate Nor
wiz 1t increase To any appreciabie extent
the annual rainfall. 1t will have some eff
fect, however. on the distribution OF the
rainfall by tending to equalizc it. Every
ODservant man must have noticed the ten
dency of small local showers to follow the
course OF stream, and that the rain fall
Is thicker in the neighborhood Of stream.
lake or body OF timber. The cause is
this: A body of moist air-its vapor con-
densed into clouds in the upper.
PORTIONS moving over the country. In
| the center Of the mass precipitation
begins, and streamers of rain may be seen
HANGING from the moving clouds, but so long
| rs the cloud Is moving over the dry prairie
the rain fails to reach the earth. or at best,
falls only in scattering drops. When, how
| ever. the cloud reaches the vicinity of n
stream or other region from which a column
OF vapor is raising instead OF having it's
precipttated moisture dissipated in the
| thirsty air, it receives the re-lnforccmcnt
mentioned and comes down handsomely.
When the body OF moist air spoken of is
| several miles in extent and 1t crosses a river
| In diagonal direction, the precipit alton
| begins where the moist mir first reaches the
river and spreads to the right OF left as
| successive portions OF the moist air come
shower thus appears to move up or down
the river, when in reality the storm is nov
ing straight across it. Now any region
from which copious evaporation is taking
place will act just as the stream does
A system Of irrigation largely increases
the evaporation of the irrigated region, be-
sides multiplying small steams and eventu-
ally enlarging those now running. Many
depressions and low places will be turned
into small lakes by the waste water. These
will all act as present streams do. The
total effect must be to increase the area
| " NOnvC a rW
arc not at all affected by such slight lOcal
influenees.) Dews will DO more frequent
and copious The blighting hot winds tina,
often prove SO damaging to crops will have
their power much lessened by passing owe,
SO much moist ground, tiny lakes and man,
streams. Trees Of all sorts will grow in oul
rich soil wherever water is supplied and viii
in turn further protect the land from tn,
scOrch:ng winds.
These are some OF the minor incidental
benefits that are reasonably sure to folio,
general irrigation.
| turn now to the main question, the eff
feet on the regular crops. There are her
two things to consider: First, the inmedi
ate effect; and second, the ultimate effec
rs it affects the soil-and thus the futur,
crops-of applying artesian water abund
antly for q series OF years.
In South Dakota but little trial has We
been made of irrigation-but in every case
SO far as have been able to learn, result
fairly comparable with those obtained ii
other states where successful irrigation il
practiced. have been obtained here. Con
tiguous fields of wheat, the one irrigated
the other not, have given yields OF twenty.
five and five bushels respectively, in ont
instance. In another thirty-six and sia
we're reported on the irrigated and unirri-
gated land, all other conditions being equal
These figures are large. but should not sur.
prise US, for water in abundance and under
| pfrCl ho la ST. nj tYi In Of
dttions necessary for large crops. Rich
soil, abundant sunshine and suffi.
Gent moisture are all the nat
ural conditions needed for successful agri-
culture. That South Dakota possesses the
first two of these everybody knows, and
that she has an abundant water supply Q
few hundred feet below the surface of hel
rich prairies is coming to be pretty vel
understood. The bringing Of this water tt
the surface and applying it carefully and
scientifically to tho soil is the one thing
lacking to carry our agricultural interests
from their present struggling condition to q
high state Of prosperity. In the light OF
the experience of other states it is abso-
lutely safe to say that the average yiel6
of all present crops grown In South Dakota
can be doubled the first year by irrigation
In California where the value of Irrigation
is we'll understood. LAND jumps in value 300
to 500 per cent. the momentwateri is brought
to it. This is greater than can be looked
for here, as the irrigated districts in Cali
fornia are largely fruit growing regions. Il
is worthy OF note, however. that California
land which few years ago was considered
as desert land, absolutely worthless. is now
yielding profits of from $3.50 to $500 pei
acre, all due to irrigation. When the water
is used on corn, alfalfa and vegetables
the results are not so large, but tho
water makes even here all the
difference between no crop and a marvel
ously great yield. In Colorado, which has
an excellent irrigation system, this state
ment is made by Col. Nettleton, state en-.
gineer: Zone acre of land properly seeded
to alfalfa or clover, by reason of the supe-
riority of artificial watering of the land, Is
equal in food production to two acres of tho
best blue grass land in the Ohio valley
Col. Nettleton has frequently remarked tt
me that the people of Colorado wouldn't
have it rain there If they could, so wei
pleased are they with having the control OF
the moisture in their own hands.
South Dakota should raise more live
stock, and in the near future probably viii
do so. The advantage of an abundant sup.
ply OF good water in this connection !.
evident, but mention in passing
that have been told by Siou,
City dealers that the quality of the cattle
shipped from Clay and Yankton counties