Rocky Ford enterprise., 1898-07-28
FARMING MATTERS.
(From Field and Farm.)

Bulletin No. 10. issued by the State
Board OF Agriculture, Fort Collins
treats of the loss of water from rcser-
voirs by secpnge and evaporation. me
pamphlet contains thirty-two pages OF
useful Information. summary OF
which we give below:
The losses from reservoirs are from
secpagc and evaporation. The scepage
losses are dependent on the condition
OF the reservoir site, therefore differ
ent for different sites. They were de-
termIncd ON series OF reservoirs near
Fort Collins, In the winter of 1S9o-G
and 1867. In the lakes under meas
urcmcnt. the losses in some cases Were
less than from evaporation alone. In
some cases. lakes may gain from seep-
age from irrigated lands. and the gain
may be more than the combined loss
from secpagc and evaporation. In the
eases where loss from secpage occur
red. the loss was at the rate OF about
feet In depth over the area OF the
iake. per year. This amount does not
necessarily apply TO other sites, ana
other observations nre needed before
general statements respecting loss
from this source can he made. The
seepage decreases after the lake Is
lrst filed, from the erect of sitting.
md from having filed the porous
ground underneath and connected with
thc site. Even In sand, there Is limit
10 the amount of seepagc. The loss In
.rcases with the depth. probably near
~ ns the square. The losses may be
lcsscned. though not entirely prevent
I'd by sitting. The sitting process is
more efficient with small reservoirs.
because of the better distribution of
the silt. II the loss from seepage Is
not more than two feet per annum.
the sites may be considered as prac-
tically water tight. In the case of ca
nails, the losses often average more
:han that In twenty-four hours.
The losses from evaporation, in the
,ases examined, are greater than those
from seepage. yet not necessarily the
same from adjacent bodies of water.
The amount of evaporation increases
with the temperature of the water.
with the wind, and diminishes with
increased moisture in the air. From
the standard evaporation tank Mt the
Experiment Station. the evaporation
FOR eleven years has been II inches.
Evaporation proceeds when the water
ls frozen, but nt n diminished rate. nv-
eraging about 1 to 1Ih inches per
month. The evaporation mt night Is
the same as during the day. the differ
,nce being less with the Increase of the
bodies of water. The loss by evapor-
alton from several lakes exceeded that
from the standard tank, being about 60
inches per year. The increase is due
TO higher temperature of the water.
and to freer exposure to the wind. In
some of the summer months. the lakes
.ost twice as much rs the standard
tnwnr N
:er Mt high elevations, and the lower
lew points, tend to increase the evap-
oration. The diminished bucometric
pressure tends to increase the evapora
zion. amounting to IA per cent. Mt s.
No. feet, and to IS per cent. at 10000
Feet, over the evaporation at 5000
feet. Every mile of wind movement
in "a hours increases the evaporation
by from to per cent. over the evap-
oratlon If calm. The winter period is
longer at the high elevations. For the
whole year. the evaporation in all
probability Is considerably less at the
high elevations than ut the low ones.
Evaporation is lessened by any infiu-
encc which diminishes the wind or de-
creases the temperature O. the water
Protection of lakes by wind breaks is
In many cases practicable. and in
small lakes sometimes desirable. In
the large lakes the benefits is by re-
ducing the wind velocity; in small
lakes both from effect on wind and by
lessening action Of sun. The deeper
the lake the cooler the water as
whole, the cooler the surface, conse-
quently the less evaporation. Assum-
ing n loss of > feet in depth per annum
an area of 100 acres would require u
cubic feet per second for the whole
year to make good the losses from
evaporation: one of 800 acres would
require 3k cubic feet per second. con-
siderably more than would be used to
Irrigate an equal area. The net loss to
the reservoir would be the sum of the
above losses from seepage and from
evaporation. diminished by the rain
fall, n combined loss which may be
considered as depth of 6 feet in one
year. AS irrigation reservoirs are
Usually full for few months only,
the loss is much less than this for the
high water area.
Now is good time to think about
putting up Il silo to provide for the
green crops now growing on so many
farms. The silo takes the place of n
hay NOV, for when 1t is considered
that silo of $50 tons capacity will
hold only thirty-one tons of hay, we
can see the saving of buildings re-
quired. If n good barn is already
built the silos may be placed inside
and the expense saved Of second roof.
The lamb trade in New Mexico is
still n good deal of a puzzle, and there
will be the usual parley between sell
ers and buyers over the price that is
to be paid the coming fall. Some of
tpe New MeXicanS have said the
price must be $3.50 this fall. but such
n figure is so largely prohibitory that
it cannot prevail. A. A. Knott, one
of Colorado's best known flockmast-
ers, has just returned from New
Mexico and says he can get 10000
head of lambs at $1.5O on the spot.
Our buyers are willing to pay S1.T5,
but will hesitate n long time before
having So us they did last senson.