Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1896-03-12

County Surveyor Romig Gives Some
Valuable Information.

lin peit irrlSatloh ,iaht Vi oVo
gallons capacity per minute will cover
one acre of ground with six inches Of
water in nine hours. 1t can be oper.
ated by horse power and will cost 81
for a 25 foot lift. This volume Of
output will irrigate 80 acres II the
pump is employed in the fall, winter
and spring to wet the soil thoroughly
before seeding.
A 700 gallon plant will do the same
work in 3.8 hours and will cost $l75,
exclusive Of power which to be effect
ual should be traction or gasoline en-
CINE costing from $3.50 up to any
figure desired. This capacity will
irrigate rs acres under good manage
ment.
A centrifugal pump Of 500 gallons
capacity with horse power will cost
from 500 to 1920; with 'two-horse
power gasoline engine about 1925. A
cylinder pump with tower and wind
mills, 100 gallons capacity, will irri-
gate 10 acres and cost 1925 or there
abouts.
Herman Mitsch, OF Woodbine, is
testing the efficiency Of sub-irrigation
by thing. Finding bis young orchard
about to perish, he purchased $50
worth 8 inch tile, planted them 2 feet
under ground in rows 20 feet apart
between rows Of trees. The pipes are
filled with water, lifted 100 feet and
from the same well that waters his
stock. The effect upon the trees was
visible in less than ten days. He is
delighted with the result Of his exper-
iment, has saved his young orchard
and If the work had been done a few
months earlier would have saved the
fruit crop Of 1885,
As an evidence Of the growing
popularity and confidence in irriga-
ton as an assurance against crop
failures, some Of the leading factories
are proposing to furnish pumping
outfits to responsible parties on easy
terms Of payment, small cash pay
ment 10 hand and balance in che and
two years giving the pump a chance
to pay for itself.
The marvellous success and sur
prising results Of wind pump irriga-
ton in western Kansas is largely due
to the broad-guaged liberality and en-
terprise Of the business men Of that
region. Discerning that the average
farmer is unable to incur the expense
Of experiment and is in measure
disqualified from want Of practical
knowledge, took the business in hand,
gave them an object lesson, developed
the possibilities, the best methods
and how to obtain best results. They
are today reaping rich reward for
their ventures, not only in increased
trade resulting from better thrift in
husbandry, but in a closer alliance
with their customers, binding their
mutual interests in hoops Of steel
until every farmer has implicit faith
in the business men ofhis town, trades
there and no where else il he can help
it.
An interesting and profitable ad-
junct to the improved system Of farm
ing is the supplement Of "a fish pond
obtained by stocking the reservoirs at
tached to nearly every plant with
fish.
Mr.. Dusem Of Garden City has two
reservoirs on bis twenty acre farm,
one Of which is stocked with fish in
which he takes great interest, derives
much pleasure and some profit. Mrs.
Hall Of the same place has a pond Of
educated fish taught to respond to the
tap Of a bell when summoned to
rations. They understand the mean
ing Of the sound and come not in
single file but in battalions, stirring
up the water until it rolls and boils
like the huge chaldron Of Macbeth's
witches.
A significant and prophetic move
ment on the part Of central and
western Kansac is in the direction Of
an effort to change climatic conditions
by adopting Major Powell's sugges-
ton Of impounded storm waters
through system Of storage reser-
voirs, catch basins, drains and ponds.
Not alone for purposes Of irrigation
as he suggests, but for increased
humidity evaporation, dews and
possible rain fall as well. In this
connection we can make no better
presentation than to quote from the
February number Of the Irrigation
Age: at is a well known meteorolog-
ical fact that clouds evaporated from
the Pacific Ocean are precipitated on
the western coast in like manner as
those Of the Atlantic are emptied