The Topeka state journal., 1897-03-15

bles for his table grow, while he may
| in good season have far more pro-
| fitable crop. 1t is estimated that there
| are already 1000 people of the state
| living on the proceeds of this kind of
irrigation. They have the certainty of
a good living and are ready to go out
and hustle for the bigger crops If,
however, these other ventures fail there
is enough to keep the wolf from the
door-and the wolf is a very fierce
creature out on the high prairies- Even
down in central Kansas there are be-
ing carried on irrigation plants that
are in country that for the most part
is not in need of it. In one tarm IN TINS
county last year an irrigation plant
was run. although there was plenty OF
rain. On that farm the irrigated por-
tion yielded 200 bushels of potatoes TO
the acre and of onions the yield was
500 bushels 1t paid big interest on the
money. There are those, too, who be-
lieVe in winter irrigation, and many
windmill has turned increasingly all
the winter months pumping the water
to the fields, where long bitches were
ready to receive it. 1t is thought that
by planting time in the spring there
will be plenty of moisture in the ground
to make the crop a certainty. one OF
the most difficult problems the irriga-
ton enthusiast finds is the desire of the
settler to oVerdo the matter If he can
not make the fortune that he is after
he will do nothing One of the members
of the board found that when he ap-
preached the prominent citizen of one
of the counties that he had already
tried it and did not want any more of
the new plan of farming.
Did you not get cropS?
mot enough extra to pay me for the
trouble
How many acres did you irrigate?"
Ten acres, but 1 wanted to have
twenty"
How many mills did you have to
pump"
lone large one" was the reply. It
had been expected that this one mill
would lift from the earth enough to
water ten acres, and he wanted to
make it 20.''
Many of the people approached said
if they could not water ten acres or
more they would not water any. They
did not water any as a general thing.
FUTURE OF THE BUSINESS.
The desertion of the irrigation exper-
iment by the state will have depress-
ing effect on the business. The com
ments of the press in the counties where
the stations have been located have
been very uncomplimentary to the
ture, said in response to a query: The
state station in my county is a dismal
and humiliating failure. With a good
well, good reservoir and splendid equip
ment, the reservoir has never filled L
am unable to tell where the fault lies"
There is general complaint that the
work. though begun right, was Orna-
mental ratherthan useful. The western
part of the state will not regret the dis
continuance of the work, but it will
make some of the settlers who might
have gone into the new venture less
willing. The future is prOblematical.
1t is likely that some of the plants that
are already in operation viii be contin-
uedA but many more will be dropped.
The small plants are always dependent
on the weather. When year comes
like that of the season of 1896, it seems
to the settler that there is no need for
him to be worried. But he finds that
the rainfall can not be depended on in
western part of the state, and this
knowledge is sure to drive him in the
opposite direction.
The survey of the waters of the state
as to the amount that flows through
the principal river beds was one of the
most expensive OF the board,s tests. II
shows that the total run-Of of the
states rivers is in round numbers l.
226 900 feet of water a year. 1t is eSti-
mated that Il inches of water is sufH-
cient to irrigate land in addition to the
natural rainfall that is now given to
the principal part of the state. West of
the ninety-eighth meridian, which is
the Semi-arid region of Kansas, there
are "A, 900 square miles. If the run-off
water could be distributed over this it
would irrigate % OF the acres in each
section therein. AS the adjacent bot
tom lands to the draws and river bot
toms are the most accessible it is easy
to see what are the limits of irrigation
as a plan to save the whole of western
Kansas 1t is simply an impossibility
and is so recognized by the board and
the surveyors. The surveyor reports
that the indications are that with the
increase of water used in Colorado the
entire water supply of the Arkansas
river will soon be taken out before it
reaches the state line except the large
foods. This means the extinction of
some expensive and important invest
ments in the way of bitches that have
been the hope of that portion of the
state.
On the whole, the outlook for irriga-
tion in the state is far more promising
than it was two years ago, and much
more is known of its limitations and
possibilities. The board has done that
and has made the actual conditions so
plain that there need be no more of the
wild statements that have been so fire.
quent. The state can and will do much
along that line, but it will be by indi-
vidual effort, and in small plans where
there is the skill and patience to devel-
op the possibilities OF local conditions.
The state has on its hands a very elab-
crate and expensive collection of sta
tions with pumps and reservoirs where
no one can use them to advantage The
appliances will probably be sold and
the irrigation experiment of the COM
monWealth closed UP.