The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-11-16
An INTERESTING SESSION.
The Farmers Convention Held
at South Cottonwood.
THE SUBJECTS DISCUSSED.
Prof. Fertier on the Irrigation Prob
lem Of Utah.
The Legislature VIII Be Asked to Make
an Appropriation-Butte Making, the
Pillow, Diseases of Domestic AMI
naIs and other Timely Topics.

The agricultural convention just held
at South Cottonwood attracted wide
spread interest among the farmers of
this county, and the movement is bound
to result in good. The lectures by the
president and faculty of. the agri-
cultural college We're timely, and the
important subjects were handled in
an able manner.
One Of the most interesting features
was the lecture by Prof. S. Foster,
c. E.. on the
IRRIGATION PROBLEM OF UTAH.
The professor spoke as follows:
l feel grateful for the opportunity
that has been afforded me Of attending
this convention inasmuch as it enables
me to say a word in favor of that
most essential of all subjects, irriga-
ton. No more fitting place could be
chosen in which to discuss this subject
than Salt Lake county. 1t was in this
vicinity that the early pioneers nearly
half a century ago first tried the
great experiment and Notwithstanding
the many difficulties that have been
and are yet to be surpassed there is
no sane man within your borders to-
day but who will affirm that it has
been a magnificent success. Your 1900
well irrigated farms containing an area
greater than that irrigated in any
other county in the territory, bear wit
ness in a manner that admits of no
doubt, as to the effectiveness of the
artificial application of water to cult
waited soil
While working last summer in the
interests Of the Agricultural College of
Utah L spent a short time in your
TO
pend in hiring teams 1 was obliged to
cover part Of the distance on foot,
and While trudging along beneath a
heavy load of instruments under a
July sun l came to the conclusion
that your county was large. l renem-
Der that a soft downy patch on some
hillside seemed to have attractions for
me and l would there sit and ponder
over the past and future prospects of
this valley In view of such difficult
ties and my brief stay l trust you will
pardon me If in what l am about to
say I have formed wrong conclusions.
A history of the irrigation develop
ment of this county would prove to be
the history of irrigation in Utah. and
as such is an inviting field to any ona
int, rested in this subject
We see the results of the first ef-
forts in the roughly formed older
bitches. which seem TO indicate that
the projectors themselves were not
very Sanguine of the ultimate success
of the undertaking, and accordingly
did not wish to put more money or
labor into the scheme that would
barely suffice to bring water to the
farms. The smaller bitches having
proved in every sense a success, we
next see larger corporations of farmers
organized for the purpose of taking
water out of the Jordan river. Tho
their good sense and progressive spirit
by engaging. for d few days at least,
some surveyor or engineer, providing
he would work for 50 per day and take
land under the ditch for his pay. The
great mistake these men made, in my
opinion, was in not employing an en-
Eineer all the time and holding him re-
sponsible for all Sub-contract work
You would not admire that mans
judgment who engages q surgeon to
amputate his cbild's arm with the I'M
Outstanding that the surgeon shall
merely cut the limb off and that the
important work Of tying up the veins
and arteries. arranging the ligamenta
and bandaging the wound shall be
left to the unskilled parent to per-
form Yet that is almost exactly what
was done. from an engineers stand
point. on some of the Jordan canals.
Efficient engineers formed the outline
of the plans, were suffered to drive a
few stakes and then dismissed. The
graders then began work, each one be-
ing his own engineer and taking as
his guide that very deceptive instru-
ment, the human eye. Construction
work of such magnitude carried on in
anv such way even among skilled la
borers. viii never be well done. You
we'll know the results on some If not
all of the big Jordan canals. Some of
H. I,os-
share of dirt. particularly If they
struck a soft place. and accordingly
went down two or three feet. below the
true grade line Others were not SO
liberal and left about as great a
thickness above the gradient, and al
were more or less careless in forming
cmooth and even slopes along the bot
tom and sides. I venture to say thai
YOU have paid for all those little mis-
takes perhaps q score of times in the
way OF increased annual assessments,
loss of water by seepage and evapor-
alton. inability 70 destroy vegetable
growths. breaks, etc
These mistakes. if ] am justified in
calling them such. were not confined
TO this locality. but extend throughout
all Of irrigated Utah.
In census bulletin No. % is given a
table showing the average first cost
of water per acre for the various states |
and territories in the arid west. The |
four highest numbers in that table |
are:
California ....--.....-..-.''.,-. .Sla-S9 |
Utah OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES lg-o9 |
Nevada OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES 7-5S
Colorado ......-.--.-.-----. 715 |
am more or less familiar with the |
irrigation systems of Colorado, Utah |
and California, and in comparing the |
above costs Per acre with what each |
of these states possesses Utah should |
not rank second.
Allow me to quote from F. H. New |
ell who gives his reasons for the ex-
penses incurred in the construction of |
Irrigation enterprises in Utah:
The average first cost of water right |
In Utah. 5000 per acre, is noticeably |
great. being largely due to the manner
In which the bitches and canals are
made. Nearly all We're laid out and |
constructed by farmers of ordinary edu-
cation without the use of survey.
instruments. AS a consequence, few of |
the more important works laid out in |
this manner have proved Serviceable |
without great changes, involving in |
many instances the reconstruction of !
almost the entire system. The perse-
verance shown in many of these cases
is remarkable. Time after time a
structure has been built only to ioe de-
stroyed in a year or two Diverting |
dams have been placed. at an enor-
nous outlay Of time and labor in riv-
ers at places where it was absolutely |
impossible to make such works secure,
using materials that must inevitably |
be torn away by the next great food. |
Portions of canals have been built,
and after the water was turned in the
grades proved of such a character that /
il was necessary to adjust them again
and again in order to make the water
flow. These changes have added enor-