Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1896-03-07
BY M. B. TOMBLIN.

W.
The best answer to the question,
Is irrigation a success in western
Kansas? is to point to what has al
ready been done along that line by
our people, The fact that the irri-
gator in Kansas must derive his water
supply chiefly from the socalled under
flow, raised by pumps and stored in
reservoirs for future use instead of
from streams by gravity, as is gener-
ally practiced elsewhere, has made
our people slow to adopt this method
and caused people outside the state,
and indeed outside the immediate
neighborhOod of where irrigation by
means of the pumping plant is prac-
ticed, to doubt its practicability; but
to-day probably 1000 farmers pump
ing water from ten to 200 feet can
testify that with the pump and reser-
yoir, irrigation is not only practical
BILE but exceedingly profitable.
To show what can be done where
the water lift is something over 1870
feet, is the object of this paper.
What / have done any farmer in
western Kansas can do who has the
necessary capital to put in the plant.
1t consists Of a five-inch tubular well,
operated by a siXteen-foOt back geared
windmill built expressly for this kind
of work. The reservoir into which
the pump discharged is eighty-two
feet in diameter at the base, inside
measurement. The walls are six feet
high on the outside, seven and one
half on the inside. The bottom, as
well as strip about eight feet wide
under the walls was thoroughly pud-
died, and the reservoir seems to hold
pump discharges about twenty gal
Ions per minute. Everything con-
nected with the pump and windmill
is of the most solid and substantial
character. A much lighter and cheaper
pump could have been purchased, and
would probably do the work, for
time at least, but the fact that the
mill is turned loose to the wind at all
times, stormy as well fair weather.
and has cost me less than 81 for re-
pairs during the year. and to-day is
apparently as good as ever, convinces
me that / made no mistake in choos-
ing the very strongest and best ma
terial throughout. The plant cost me
a little less than $780, When farmer
can do greater share of the work
himself, such as building the reser-
voir, helping the wall men, ETC.. the
cost can probably be reduced 800.
The tract selected for my experiment
was Seyen-acre orchard of young
trees, and three-acre plat adjoining.
did not get my plant in operation
until late in April and consequently
did not have an opportunity this year
to give it fair test. However, the
results are so satisfactory that l
feel have no cause for complaint,
and with that spirit that actuates the
heart Of every true Kansan. | think
ssnext year I'll make it,"
i planted potatoes, onions. sweet
potatoes, celery, beetS, cabbage. and
on small scale many varieties of
garden vegetables, that might test
what was best adapted to our soil and
climate under irrigation. My Early
Ohio potatoes yielded at the rate of
something over 200 bushels TO the
acre. Late potatoes did not do SO
well, for the reason that just at the
time when they should have had
water the wind would not blow and
as / did not commence the season
with full reservoir, or the ground
well saturated, the crop suffered in
August. My onions yielded at the
rate of | 200 bushels per acre. be-