The Wichita daily eagle., 1893-10-27
Enid, o. 7
"LET'S IHRIGATE,"


promised by June and early July con
sumed III few hours by the drouth ant
: heat that prevailed before the end of th'
latter month, two thoughts occurred tt
: him, and were frequently suggested by
: him to others first, that southern
Kansas should rely less on corn ant
more on wheat and other crops tina
could he saved before the season Of dry
winds; and second. that these very burn
ing suns and devastating winds them
selves should be converted into bene
: ficent agencies Of Blessing by the
utilization of their energies in raising
and distributing the subterranean waters
flowing in such abundance so near the
surface.
TIE first thought seems to have crop
ped out, almost simultaneously, sug.
gested, perhaps, in the same way, to
almost every body in Southern Kansas,
and burst into fall fruition in the glori-
Gus wheat harvests Of the succeeding
and subsequent years It has added ten
fold to the value of farm lands, and re
deemed Kansas from millions Of mort
gagged Indebtedness. Who shall say that
the second is not destined to still more
glorious realization. when at no distant
day, improved farms of anemouic Or
caloric engines shall transform the
whitening wind or burning ray into
ministering messengers Of benediction
and of peace, and when the land, from a
sparsely settled region Of sporadic crops
dependent on the fitful seasons, shall be-
come the home of a dense population,
thriving and happy In such wealth Of
luxury. the product of well wa:ered
| fields, as tabled Atlantis did not know,
nor were dreamed of in Arcadia the
| blessed.
The suggestions of last Sundays EAGLE
along this liue again set the writer's
head working, with the following results
as to what may be accomplished even by
SO primitive an engine us the windmill
in it's present imperfect form. With de-
mand, new order of machines will
doubtless soon be invented capable of
utilizing a much higher percentage of
the winds energy, to say nothing of the
possibilities of solar or heat engines.
a siXteen-foot wheel Of the "Aermo-
tor" type carrying duplex pump with
two six-inck cylinders, will make about
fifteen TO twenty strokes per minute in
the annual average eight miles per hour
Kansas wind, and lift theoretically 81 ,333
cubic feet OF water TO height of sixty
feet every twenty-four hours.
in one acre, or 62,726, 400 square
inches in ten acres. TO cover ten
acres of ground one inch deep, there
fore, would require 62.726, 400 cubic
inches or sc, 800 cubic feet of water
Skip the 800, as we have allowed u wide
margin on the capacity of our pump, |
and we may safely say that such d
machine would easily flood ten acres |
one inch deep in one day of twenty four |
hours. For, being mere machine, and |
independent of the eight-hour law, it |
would work right along, day and night, |
every day, and with a sort of heathen- |
ish disregard even for Sunday. 1t would |
practically cover the ten acres thirty
inches deep in a montli-forty acres in !
four months. In six months we should !
have an equivalent of forty-fiye inches |
rainfall on forty acres.
The average yearly rainfall Of this |
section is q trifie over thirty inches.
Hence. we are not entirely dependen: |
on artificial irrigation as in many locali- |
ties. We need only TO supplement our |
natural rainfall slightly, and to be
able to control this supplemental /
increment so as TO apply it at the right |
time and place. For this purpose fifteen
inches would be ample. But suppose
we let our pump run half the year. (O5 |
serve; however, that we have estimated |
1t to run at only about hall speed under /
less than the mean annual velocity of !
the wind) and that we allow one-half for |
evaporation and waste-we should still /
havea twenty-five and one-half inch !
overflow, which added TO the natural |
thirty inch annual rainfall would be I
equivalent 10 over fifty-two inches, an /
amoun: exceeded nowhere except in few /
tropical localities, and sufficient to iu-
sure the highest capacity of production
possible under this most marvellous com
binaiion of rich soil, genial climate, ana
the supply OF moisture abundant and
under perfect control. Not only would I
the average OF any given crop be doubled
and trebleG, but the number of crops on
Il EtftI. pISSS "a Oui!0 10 ne IN
creased, and there would be no failures
from drouth. The question of irrigation
by subierraneouS drainage rather than
by open bitches would be one of the
economical phases OF the question which
will not touch. But | should
advocate storage IN open reservoirs.
We have allowed for an evaporation
Of half, or twenty-five and cne-half
inches of water. The existence OF open
reservoirs on every forty-acre tract. per-
mitting such evaporation. would an
doub.edly increase tie natural rainfall,
give mere humidity. more clouds, less
giaring, burning sunshine; and this
together with the equalization OF tenn
perature caused by the existence OF such
bodies of water, would change this from
u capriciouS inland climate to one Of !
uniform, peiagic baiminess.
Bu. this Is Not ali: Remember we have
only drawn upon half the capacity of
or windmill Tank you that II would
: c idle tie other six months: By no
means. That IS just where it could make
itself handy, like the proyerbial farmer
boy. who hoes the g2Tdaa or takes turn
at the woodpile while he is ''a-restin'.
The Kansas aree1e goes on forever. and
the merry windmill, tusily turning.
would convert this force iato storage
electricity, most wonserful reserve
fund of energy. that could be dawn
upon in wonderful wars