The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-04-10


the SOuthPlatt has illustrated its YOs-
sibinties by productive orchards and
alfalfa fields thus irrigated In the VAL
leys OF the mountain rivers some of this
underHOW is entirely from the noun
tains. In the valley of the plains rlV-
ers this is not the case The water has
another source.
West of the Tooth meridian, partic-
ularly in the mid-plain regiOn-east-
ern Wyoming, eastern Colorado west
ern Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma,
with northern Texas-the plains proper
the rolling uplands. vastly exceed IN
area the valley lands and it becomes
much more important question whether
any large part Of these areas can be
made productive by irrigation In
large part Of the uplands, probably 80
per cent of the whole there is a great
sheet of underground water, or rather
series Of sheets, that in places approach
in thickness and volume the underhOW
Of the great river valleys.
without going further into details
1t may be affirmed that the visible
water of the streams, with the under
flowing beneath their beds and under
the adjacent bottom lands,is sufficient
to irr1gate in the great valleys of the
plains an area probably larger in pro-
portion than is accomplished IN the ir-
rigated districts of California or Utah,
and that without carrying water far.
These great valleys may become per-
manent gardens in the desert. This is
also true of the smaller valleys to
great extent.
The Running Water, the Chugwater,
the LOdgepOle the F'renchnan the Re
publican, the Prairie Dog, the Smoky
Hill, the CimarrOn, the Medicine, the
Canadian. and the Red river viii all
have long lines Of permanent fertility
assured by artificial application of wat
er. Much Of this will be done by lift
ing water with ordinary pumps, cen
trlfugaI pumps and water elevators. Tt
is shown that it can be done. There /
are examples IN nearly all these val
leys- 1t is a marked feature OF the Ar
kansas valley in western Kansas.
But the sum total of these areas,
though perhaps amounting to Is per
cent Ga very large prOpOrtiOn) of the
bottom lands and second bottoms, res
cued thus from frequent dearths would
be, after all, incOnsiderable as cOmpar-
ed with the whole plains region. The
high prairie of the interduvial spaces. /
notably from the Tooth to the 1O4th
meridian, can be supplied with water
only from wells from 80 to 800 feet
deep Fortunately the districts where
they are over 200 feet are not eXteTa-
slve. There are areas where for scores 4
Of miles the wells are less than 100 feet
deep there are others where the depth
is between 100 and 200 feet. Engineers
Of repute confidently state that me-
chanical difficulties in the way of lift
ing the water SUFFICIENT for five or ten
acres from these depths are all over
come, and that at a cost that will leave
margin of profit for the careful Gull
nents showing this in many parts of
the plains region. but in the spaces in
cluded between the forks Of the Repub-
hcan and its tributaries the work done
is a demonstration.
In Sherman county, Kansas, and the
neighboring part of Colorado, there
are upwards of a hundred acres of fr-
rigatiOn, from few rods square to
several acres, a few of ten acres or
over The water is lifted by wind
pumps into reservoirs from Is to 20 feet
i'm diameter to $50 feet square. The
reservoir on the top of the ground has
its contents run rapidly over one or two
acres, is redlled, and next time is emp
tied on other land. Where the pump
is large. and the wind engine has been
made purposely for irrigation, the re-
suit is also large, and peculiarly sue
cessful-
Where the pump and wind mill are
what were put in merely for domestic
purposes, and only a garden-patch has
been irrigated, the result is also highly
satisfactory. In the dry season of 1894
such small irrigated gardens were the
sustenance Of the family. Such ex-
amples have LED to a very large increase
in the number of reservoirs put in and
strong wind mills built. The state of
Kansas, by an irrigation commission
appointed last year,is putting in a num-
DCA VI EA pen AlACAL 5LallOLSe using Q1T-
ferent kinds of pumps, different motive
powers gasoline, steam and wind-in
different situations. with wells of diff
ferent depths to carry further the dem
Onstration already made that a num-
Der of acres Of an upland farm can be
irrigated from the water that is be-
meath it.
These two questions involved in the
irrigation of the plains uplands are now
nfin1 I1yr
Can water be lifted 200 feet at so low
cost that it viii pay to iprigate with it
from that depth2 and is there water
enough below the surface to irrfgate
any proper proportion of the large area
of the semi-arid uplands2 Saying yes
to both these queries, it may also be
said that where water is even at greater
depths enough may be raised with com
paratively small expense to irrigate so
much land as in dry years will be a
material addition to the means of sub
sistence of the farmers family.
The writer has no doubt of there be-
ing enough water in the tertiary for
nation previously mentioned to irri-
gate 5 per cent of the land of large
parts of the western plains The me
chanical devices for raising the water
are becoming better and cheaper every
year There ives never before such ac-
tivity among the manufacturers of
water-lifting appliances as is the case
at the present time. The volume Of
water and the means to lift it being as
sured, the redemption Of the plains
from the stigma Of aridity is also GER
tain.
I'm saying this it must not be under
stood that irrigation of the uplands
means the irrigation of large bodies of
lands in solid areas. 1t is absolutely
true that under present conditions a
family can obtain a good living from
three acres Of irrigated land. If
family can within itself supply the Ia
Dor for the irrigation of ten acres. or
even hire some helm. coincidence and