Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-27
SOURCE OF PROFIT TO MANY
Report Of South Dakota's Engineer Of Irri-
cation is Interesting,
ARTESlAN WELLS SUPPLY MUCH MATERIAL
Power to Turn the Wheels of Manu-
fncturcs Thus ObtnInnblc In
Addition TO IA Permanent
source of Moisture.

PIERRE, S. d., Dec. 2G.--(special)- THE
report Of the state engineer of irrigation
Hon. ]. II. baldwin Of st. Lawrence, is one
for which the legislature this winter should
make an appropriation for its printing and
circulation 1t is full Of information as to
the artesan system OF South Dakota, with
statements Of results of irrigation in differ
ent portions OF the state. and practical sug-
gestions to the best manner to conduct
this work.
Comparatively few wells have been sunk
by the public in 1890 on account OF investors
being afraid of the bonds issued for this
purpose, their fear being founded on the de-
clsiOn Of the California supreme court on
the Wright law, which is very similar to
the law of this state. But now that the
United states supreme court has sustained
that law, the doubt will be removed, and
bonds for the purpose of sinking wells Will
lind more ready market.
Brulc county has taken the lead In the
way OF sinking wells, more having been
sunk in that county than in any other in
the deep well section OF the state. In that
county the county commissioners have is
sued warrants for the purpose and collect
from the townships, and from the land di-
1ectly benefited for the purpose of payment
county has issued S7S,565,73 of such bonds.
ONE FEATURE A FAILURE
Several counties have tried the expert
ment of purchasing well machinery and al
lowing parties who desire to sink wells
the use of the machinery, and in all cases
the plan has proved failure.
While public wells have been delayed on
account Of the failure of townships to float
bonds, private parties have been more active
in this line than in past years, and a num-
Der Of wells have been sunk by private
capital.
number OF cases are cited where artesan
irrigation has proved a complete success
and others where it has proved a failure
In the latter cases the failure has been
largely from ignorance of the eXperimenter
in the right methods Of applying the water
and In this line the report is quoted in full
THE great fault with Dakota rrigators
is in using too much water. They 20 on
the plan that If a little water is good more
is better, without realizing that every bit
of water in excess of what is needed to
mature the crop is an injury and lessons the
yield. Land should not be soaked nor water
left on the land TO exceed twenty hours
and water should not be allowed to stand
on the ground If we wish to obtain the best
results, but should be spread evenly over
the ground" The cost of an irrigating
plant Is put at about $40 per acre on half
sections
1nere are TWO classes OF artcSlan wells
found in the state, one the deep strong pres
sure wells and the other the shallow flow
ing wells. The deep wells are found in all
counties of what is known as the ''artesian
basin of the James river valley" and the
shallow wells from the south line of Beadle
county, especially in the counties OF Miner.
Sanborn, Hutchinson, Douglass and Yank-
ton. Hutchinson county has about 400 of
these wells from 60 to 300 feet deep; Davi-
son has about 100, which average $50 feet
in depth and flow from 200 to 300 gallons per
minute, but there is little pressure from
these wells.
There are about 100 Of both classes of
wells in this state, the strong pressure wells
being in the counties of Beadle. Sphinx.
Brown, Faulk, Hand, Hyde, Hughes, Je-
rauld, Brue and one well at Cheyenne agen-
cy and one at Crow Creek which have been
sunk by the government.
INTERESTING FEATURE.
Special mention is made of the wells in
Hughes county. the one at the Locke hotel
In particular: 1T is a very fine well / 200
feet deep, and was constructed two years
ago. The water has very high tempera
ture-96 degrees-with a strong flow. But
the most remarkable thing about this well
is the amount of gas it produces. At ?
depth OF $50 feet the drill went through q
hard strata OF earth. and a small quantity
of gas was produced; the flow was never
lost afterward but constantly increased as
stead
lily ever since, found at apparently the same
volume The gas has been utilized for heat
ing and lighting the hotel and the operation
OF the cook stoves ever since the well was
completed. r. II. Proudfoot. manager OF
the hotel, estimates the gas as worth 81 500
per annum to the hotel for fuel and lights
One popularity of the gas is that it gives
no odor and is perfectly clean, and gives
much better light than the gas from the
city gas works. Gas is also found at the
well put down by the government at Chey-
enne agency, but | do not know of any ar
rangements to utilize it."
In regard to power from artesian wells
grBt mills are being operated by artesian
power at Newark Marshall county; Spring
field, Bon IlOmme county; Mellette Sphinx
county; at fankton and the cities Of Huron
Aberdeen and Redfeld use the power for
their water systems. Turner & Son, who
operate the mill at Springfield. give few
figures as to the cost of operating their mill
by artesian power: Their we'll which cos,
them $3.50, has a pressure of eighty pounds
to the inch and flows about 5000 gallons per
minute. They use a siXteen-nch turbine
and their expense of keeping it in operation
is about S25 per year. With this power they
manufacture from fifty to sixty barrels of
-four per day
The durability of wells depends upon the
quality of the pipe used In their construc-
tion. AT AndOver a well has been In opera
tion for fifteen years and is yet in good
Snape, Wnlle others In winch poor pipe was
used the piping has given ou in few gears
necessitating new piping at a heavy ex-
pense.
COST OF THE WORK
The expense of sinking wells has been
very much reduced by improved methods OF
construction the past lew years. The esti-
mated cost of wells by present methods is
put at: Two-nch well not to exceed 81 so
to Sl.25 per foot; four and one-half-lncn
from $40 to S2,25 per foot slX-inch not to
exceed SO per foot.
1t has been shown by chemical analysis
that there is nothing contained in the water
which is injurious to plant growth. How
ever, II has been found that water from the
wells at Pierre, when applied to the soil
in the immediate vicinity OF the wells de-
stroys some kinds of vegetation, but an
examination and analysis show that IL the
same water Is applied to the uplands away
from the river. the result would be the same
as that from water from other wells the
fault being in the chemicals in the soil
near the wells, and not in the water itself
For the best distribution of the water 1t
is necessary TO construct a reservoir for
the storage of the water as 1t flows from the
gallons per minute can be put upon the
land and two men can irrigata from twelve
to fifteen acres per day
In the construction Of the reservoir II
should be built with the sides sopng in
ward. SO the water will not wash It down
and the embankment should be planted to