Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-08-22
ANCIENT RRraArros.
Crude But Effective Methods Used
I'm Oiden Times.
New York Tribune.)

NEW York IriDune) -
While irrigation mas become u great sue
cess In many section OF the West, the
question Is SO broad and comprehensive,
and there Is 20 much TO learn aboutit in
It's different aspects under various fonii-
TONS that when men embark in large ir-
rigation enterprises without a full kn~"l-
edge of the subject they frequently DO not
attain success.
Primitive man did not at first begin TO
lrrigate great valleys and plains. He be-
gan with a small patch OF ground ana
little stream Of water, or Wei from
which The water was labOriOusly draw "
Then lie learned later TO broaden his
operations and 10 work In communities,
until he was finally able TO handle great
projects. There are thousands of cases OF
Individual irrigation in this country, ana
some of them are extremely sausipc'ory,
where men, by employing the forces or
nature through the medium OF wind-mllis'
irrlgate small farms. Taken separately,
these are insignificant as compared WIFI
the great irrigation systems. yet they are
complete and effective in themselves, ana
a comparison OF them with the primitive
methods which have been employed LOT
centuries, and are still in use in other
lands, may not be embarrassing.
The early history of irrigation In Egypt
and India Is replete with lessons, snow
ing as it does, the gradual development
of the art from the most primitive, SIM
pie. and Notorious methods. Without arti-
fetal watering both of these countries
would to-day be largely desert. Cultlva-
ton lin the tropics or semi-troploS can
rarely be conducted over any large eN-
tent Of country except by artificial water
ing of at least some portion OF the crops
The rainfall in some sections may be Ut
terlv Insufficient IN any season 70 ma' ,he
rainfall averages from 2 70 4 inches only,
while I'm the entire basin of the Me the
rainfall IS practically nothing. Even III
parts of the Himalayas, where inc ram
fall averages so and even loo inches an.
nually. IT is so unevenly distributed that
the crops in the dry season must be ma
tured by artificial irrigation.
CRUDE. PICTURESQUE METHODS
Various methods were employed centu-
ries ago to utilize water Tor crop-gio"lhs'
and some or the crudest are stlll In use.
The Persian water-wheel IS now found III
various forms in Egypt and india, cons ST.
ing of a series OF earthen pots slrhhS
on an endless rope and revolving on
wheel with a horizontal axis. The lower
end of the rope desceuds into the wen
or tank, filing the pots as the wheel re-
wolves and as they rise ana reach tne
top OF the wheel they tip over ana empty
themselves into trough, then descenulhg
to the water to be filed again. JheSe
wheels are generally kept in. motion by
bullDcks or sometimes by horses anu
camels, and in Egypt both a camel anu
a donkey are often harnessed together N
the truck. In some places wnere NEE
are many small camels with comparative
" rapid slopes and high veiocities these
wheels or sakias, as they are caheh ~
Egypt, are driven. usually as unueisuvt
wheels. by the streams themselves. IN
the Punjab il is not an uncommon thins
to see oxen lifting water by Persian
wheels from depths Of fifty or Sixty leeI
for the irrigation II spring and summer
crops. Another apparatus when rs eN1.n-
siyely used in India for the larger ~ s
hull
a leathern bag by means o. rope anu
pulley When the bag reaches the 1Op Oh
the lift the water Is released INTO
DEVICES ON A SMALLER SCALE.
For lifts Of from four 20 ten feet the
shadouf Is extensively employer on ~
banks of the Nile This simply consists
of the old-fashioned pole and bucket,
which can still be seen In many a New
England farm-yard. The pole Is piVo'et
on an upright crotch, and weighted az
the butt end with stone ana the lop p,
and bucket are attached to the smail
! end When the rope IS pulled uoWil anu
the bucket flied the pole nearly balances
itself so that a slight enOrt VIII tai1c
the bucket Another crude but lhsell-
Gus contrivance for making stol' 49,
of from two 10 three feet Is the doom,
which is used along river panks' me
consists of a trough, usually mar Vl
small tree. which works on nxed plsot,
one end being depressed INTO lne Nv 81
and then raised above the horizontal, so
that the water flows out OF the o,ner
end into a ditch or receptacle. Inc
means for raising the water Is the same
as in the New England well, by the use
OF a weighted pole. TO manage tnls'
upon which the operator STANDS aitsr
nately submerging and raising the
trough.
These and other primitive irrigation
la- mn
India and Egypt, for the reason mat
while the work is laborious and would De
extensive If computed at day LABOR Tor
man or beast, IN many cases the cuitNa-
tor employs only himself and MS Duilochs
when there IL no other work on hand'
II was reported by an officer Of the
British army that in 1850 there were p.,vy
masonry wells and $4,000 temporary
earthen ones in the tract OF land lylns
between the Jumna and the Ganges riVvls,
from which 1,i70OO0 acres or. crops Wete
irrigated by lift, and, although this tract
Is now commanded by the Ganges lrrisa-
ton Canal. many of these wells are yet
used TO irrgate lands which nave not
been connected with the canal
VALUE OF WINDMILL WORK.
In the investigation Of the extent 70
which the arid lands. of America can Dc
reclaimed by irrigation, attention mas
been continually drawn 10 the most prdc-
teal methods of bringing undergtounai
water to the surface. WINE tns aihouIi'
which could be thus drawn IN the assre-
gate is not large as compared with the
Water used in the great irrigating sys'
tens. and while the interests OF the vino,
mill irrigator and the reservoir or canal
irrigator do not at first appear 10 De a'
all Identical there Sre In reality many
points I'm common, and the water 20 90
obtained by this means Is practically IN,
exhaustible by the ordinary methods OF
pumping. AS stated In the beginning OF
tt,t, any work on IRRIGATION me-
thods by whatever means, tends TO edu-
cate farmers I'm this particular branch OF
agriculture, and the small farmer who IT.
rigates by means OF wlnd-power becomes