Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-02-06
value of the lands will be in proper
ton to the depths Of the wells.

value of the lands will be in proper
ton to the depths Of the wells
l will now tell you Of our source Of
supply and something of the efforts
made to obtain it. Eighteen hundred
and eighty-seven was a dry year, as
many Of my farmer friends remember.
That was the third year that I, city
chap, had been on that ranch Of 10000
acres, and those three years compris-
ed the total experience of my life in
farming. In that time had seen the
seed Of three crops planted in soil that
/ prlded myself was as good as any,
or those three seedlings not one ma
tured crop. Beginning with that
year the discouraged farmers about
me left the country, one by one. That
was the summer of the fateful July
winds that parched the magnificent
corn crop everywhere approaching
maturity from Englewood to Topeka.
That summer, also, the Santa Fe, the
road which has been such factor in
the upbuilding of the state and which
as a corporation has had its boom and
its collapse unequalled by that Of any
other institution within our limite, was
engaged in running preliminary sur
vey southwark from Englewood.
This work brought to light the fact
that the bed of the Oimarron river, six
miles south, was thirty-two feet above
the level of the ranch. Realizing the
fntility Of dry farming, we determin-
ed, about the middle of July, to build
a gravity canal of sufficient capacity
to irrigate our farming lands. BY
October, such canal was completed.
1t was ten feet wide on top, five feet
wide on the bottom, and eighteen
inches deep, with a fall of two feet to
the mile. 1t was eight and a half
miles long, three and a half miles
squsrely away from the river to the
south line of the ranch and five miles
around the western and northern rim
Of that beautiful valley, comprising
5000 acres of irrigable land in the
eastern half Of tina ranch.
AT first, it was attempted to take
water out of the river without dam.
The wide channel and shifting sands
rendered that lmpracticsble. A stone
dam was therefore built but was soon
washed out. After two and a half
years of struggle and disappointment,
it was decided to put in a sheet piling
dam, 422 feet long. Two by eight
planks twelve feet long we're driven
down, leaving eight inches above the
bed of the river Timbers were bolted
on each side and 800 loads of rock
thrown in on the lower side Of the
dam, and finally an apron eight feet
wide was bolted onto lower part Of
100 feet Of dam where the main chan
mel was. This dam has served sue
cessfully to divert the water into the
head. gates Of the canal for the last
five years. The first time the water
was turned in, a stream one foot deep
and sixteen feet wide was fourteen
days going through the eight and a
half miles of dry ditch Now it takes
but seven or eight hours. Faulty en-
cheering had to be commended with IN
laying out the canal, the natural con-
tour Of the land not being followed
closely enough.
Where the draws aud the ravines
came down from the hills only one
bank was built, thus forming ponds
on which the wind made waves that
cut out the banks. This was remedied
by making the bank strong enough to
be split and on which the water could
be carried, with q drain under the
ditch to lead off the rainfall, or in
other places the ditch was rebuilt
around the pond next to the hill.
Some of the fills had to bs made
heavier, and after two or three years
the banks settled and we're erased
over. As the waters flowed placidly
and smoothly along, it seemed as
though we were no longer servants,
but masters, for the old saying,
water is a poor master but q good
servant" has been proved 10 us many
times. l have thus briefly outlined
for you our troubles in building the
dam and canal, but even after the
waters had been brought to the land
our troubles were not ended. The
main lsterals and distributing bitches
had then to be built, 80 that the land