Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1894-10-10
Irrigation.

Auo lfuttCu lain Idll III DaTOer, as
we'll as in adjacent counties, has, dur
ing the past two years brought upon
the farmers severe loss. No loss sus-
tanned is more discouraging than the
loss of vines and trees that are two to
five years old; and the failure TO have
a garden crop, sufficient at least for
home consumption. There is a remedy
for this failure applicable To nearly
every one. The amount of cash cap
ital required is not great. If your land
lies on strong flowing stream, throw
up dam one or two feet high. enough
to turn the water into a side ditch,
give it or inches fall in each hun
dred feet until you reach the ground to
be irrigated. If it be spring or well
from which water for irrigatiDg is OBJ
tainable, then obtain some kind of pow
er suitable for pumping into a reser-
vOir. Wind engines are all right, aud
suitable for this work, you can succeed
with them. Perhaps 90 per cent of all
the irrigation that will eyer be done in
Barber county will be done by the
pumping process, and IS per cent of
that by the use of wind power. The
reservoir is a necessity and cannot be
dispensed with. 1t must occupy the
highest part of the plat to be irrigated,
and contain water in proportion to the
area of the plat. The walls should
never be more than + feet high, and
| the water within should not be held
nearer to the top than feet. Regard
| ing the amount Of water required for
an acre of ground during the growing
of crop, there may be honest opinions
expressed that are no nearer the truth
than one Of DR.. Ayers prophesies con.
corning rain. Recent observations
show that on a level plat of plowed
land, one inch of rain. falling in three
hours. will saturate five inches of soil,
or in other words the depth of satura-
ton is five times the depth of the rain
fall. This knowledge will enable us to
approximate the amount necessary for
single watering, but the number of
times the watering must be done In one
season will depend on the rain fall, and
on the cultivation of the ground after
| irrigating. 1t is pretty well establish
ed among irrigators in the West that
"a inches of water Is necessary to the
maturity of crops. 1t is also we'll
known that this locality receives from
10 to Is inches of rain fall during the
5 months beginning with April and
ending with August. 1t is my own
judgment that the requirements would
be satisfactorily met if we had Is inch
es of moisture in those five months,
distributed in an increasing ratio as
the heat increases. Arril is a cool
month aud the ground i ti,en warming,
which is necessary for piints, and in
ches of rain is sufficient for that month.
For the month of May inches of rain
fall will mature the wheat and keep
the corn growing, while inches will
be required in each of the remaining
months, owing to the increasing heat.
l believe that it is near the truth to
say we have rain enough in April and
May. Not only do the records kept of
the past years prove this, but the burnt
cornstalk is witness. We learn from
these records that some variable guam
tity will represent the amount of water
required to supplement the rainfall, as
the seasons are dry or wet. We have
record of some valuable experiments
made in Barber county that will be
presented to the convention that will
meet on Oct. Is in Medicine Lodge.
Unless man becomes thoroughly
aroused on the subject he will not sue
coed with irrigation. The first step in
the right direction is enthusiastic in
quiry for all the details connected with
the business. Think it all out to a fin |
lsh. When you do not know how to |
provide for some seeming difficulty, in
quire of some one who possesses skill
or knowledge in that line. The well |
digger can tell you about the cost of
obtaining good flow of water perhaps;
the dealer or agent can tell you how
much your pump and power will cost; |
the engineer can tell you where and
how to construct reservoir and ditch |
es and what sized pump and power will |
be needed for certain tract OF land;
the practical irrIgator can tell you what
crops will yield the best profits, and
when and how to apply the water.
Let US be reminded that the family
who keeps but one COW, very seldom
maks any butter to sell. 1t means this,
that one little irrigation plant can't
support family, and produce vege-
tables to sell to pay for the plant the
first year and hit the old mortgage.
However, 1t may serve the purpose of
bringing you back into the road to
prosperity headed in the right direction.
This allusion to road SO little travel
Ell of late that in may be hard to find.
reminds me tina. on the 18th of Oct. at
Medicine Lodge, the farmers will or
gaBize an exploring party, guide boards
will be set up along the route, and