Arizona weekly citizen., 1895-07-27
IRRIGATIOEIN SOUTHERN GRI.
 ZONA.

THE irrigation system in southern
 Arizona is yet in Its infancy. Hereto
 fore all that has been attempted hal
 been ID connection with artificial TIT gs
 tion by means of water storage, under
 ground development dams or divertiDg
 water by natural grsvitatlon direct from
 the river beds, through Irrigatlpg canals
 with an average grade Of two feet, or
 mora to the mile. These fields of.irrig-
 ation we're first occupied, as presenting
 the greatest features of economy, and
 the most natural source of feeding
 water AS time has demonstrated that great ruinaHons occur in Arizona in all
 water systems of surface origin, and that
 the chsrRcoer of the seasons is bound to
 play very important part in the water supply, our people have gone step further, and have investigated the sub-
 iect of irrigation by the use of water entirely developed underground, where the action of the seasons has scarcely
 6 noticeable effect on the supply or
 diminuton at the water underground
 in the large water channels through out
 our southern country. Take for instance the Santa Cruz river bed or the Rillito,
 both of these channels are practically inexhaustible for all pumping purposes. A well 10 10 feet will supply from either of these channels sufficient water to irriSate 16n acrss O. ordinary land. 1 That this can be done is not left 10 1 speculation, as it has been thoroughly | demonstrated on the Santa Cruz 8Il- ready in several places. In one place three miles from to xn pump in a we'll s X 10 feet running 2-5 ths Of the time irrigates severity five acres Of land. The cost Of running tbis pump at the present price of wood is S4.50 for a day of twelve hours. The water Is pure as is proven by the fact that the boiler csn be fed for six weeks without using steam ,Ieater and when opened up is in excellent condition forming little or no scale. The water for irrigation purposes is excellent, and hes a most sdvant- sgeous effect on the soil. One fact that makes pumping so desirable is the posei- bility of plenty of water during long spells of draught, wien the failure of crops depending upon surface water advances the prices of farm products. To the bumpers dry seasons are of un- questionable advantage, gs 1t costs DO ! more to pump if the underground water meiptaius its level. The ordinary cen- trifugal pump has been used principally on account of its cheap purchasing price { not that there are not many expensive pumps that pump with far greater economy.
 Regarding the cost per acre, of the irrigation of alfalfa, where the lift of water is twenty-seven feet, it has been proven in the Santa Cruz valley that each irrigation can De made for SL3S ( per acre, provided the alfalfa has been well put in, and the land carefully pre- pared for fairy economical irrigation. For hay purposes the land should have { six irfigations, but can be made to pro- | duce fairly well on five irrigations. St this cost alfalfa is Q paying crop for ( dairy purposes, for hay, or for fatenipg { cattle. The showing is not by any means confined to alfalfa, but we have selected alfalfa ss beng the test as 10 [ success with pumping plants-we might say as minimum showing. For garden | purposes the showing would be much 1 Santa Cruz bottom was recently rented 1 as high as S25 per acre 10 Chinese gar Geners, but land at SIC per acre, artifici- ally irrigated by pumping plant, would bs enormously profitable to the gardener and would show large profit to the irrigation were he owned the land and { devoted his OWE time to the running o' the pump. The time is not remote when the entire agricultural lands along { Santa Cruz valley will be redeemed this { way. The vast possibilities for storage of water in natural reservoirs may play an important part in the reuemption at these highly valuable lands, but the steady supply for this favorably located valley will come from the underground l water raised to the surface by pumping
 IL stands to reason that 8 farmer who is independent even of the action of the elements, is in the best position to count on certain crops, and their exact cost of production.
 We predict that five years will see a revolution in the irrigating methods of our section Of Arizona.