Rocky Ford enterprise., 1901-10-04
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In the course Of a series OF hearings
hcfarr the Industrial commission at
Washington ON agricultural subjects.
Prof. Milton whitney. chief OF the di.
vision OF soils Of the Department OF
Agriculture. was called upon TO cx-
press his views OH many and varied
topics. Among other things he
touched upon the subject of irrigation.
particularly as applied 10 the West. In
launching forth on this topic. Prof.
Whitney said that unfortunately
about all OF the available water has
been already appropriated and Is ncnr-
ly NIL in use. When questioned. how
ever. he modified ihi. statement, say.
ing II applied only In certain eases. lie
said tn. surface water had practically
NIL been put In use In California,
Washington. certain portions Of ArI-
xonn and In the Pccos valley In New
Mexico. but even in these states he
referred only TO such water ns could
bc used without the aid OF storage res
crvoirs.
Prof. whitney went on to state that
there nrc In the West approximately
s].UD.UpO acres that can be- irrigated
by the storage OF waste waters In
properly constructed reservoirs. This
ara. when II has b--rn wntcrrd. will
bc valuable for special crops. although
IL will not produce the best results
with the general crops. For instance,
said he. II no longer pays to irrigatc
wheat. The principal crops arc the
fruit crops OF NIL kinds. and alfalfa for
stock feeding and special industries OF
that kind. With these special indus
tries the possibilities are enormous.
According TO Prof. whitney the nv.
cragc cost OF placing land under irri.
gntion. Mt the time OF the las, census,
was S12.12 per acre. and the annual
cost thereafter OF maintaining the wa.
ter was SLOT per acre. The cost OF
opening up the TI.O6o.OOO acres OF arid
lands which are capable OF being irri-
gated. on the old basis. would b, sso,..
100000. The point Is raised. however,
that lands which UP to this time have
been irrigated have not. as n general
rule. drawn their water from storage
reservoirs. In the future the cos, of
building reservoirs Is TO he considered
In estimating the cost OF jrrigntinr
specified lands. hence the above cited
figure Is probably much too low. Once
this land Is irrigated. however. Prof.
Whitney says 1t will be worth from
S6D TO 500 nm acre. Notwithstanding,
the cost OF maintaining the water M.
tcrwards. or course. where these
lands are laid out in productive or.
chards. the price will rise to the neigh.
borhood OF $1,000 or 5000 an acre.
In his examinations OF storage rcscr.
yoirs and irrigating canals. Prof.
Whitney has discovered that owing ,o
the large amount OF silt or sediment
carried by many streams. the rescr-
voirs and bitches in such localities mr..
bound 10 become filled in. thus nercssl.
tnting constant attention and dredging
But even when water Is found that ia
free from silt and salt, there IL n fur.
thcr danger OF sccpagc TO he contend.
cd with. which. In arid districts, leads
to nm accumulation of aiknli in f1ic
soil. This alkali. he explains, is mere.
ly the natural wcatheriDg of the rocks.
resulting from their disinicrrntion. n
is his estimate that In nearly nil irr,.
gated districts twice as much land
could be irrigated with the water ,l,nt
Is now used. with actual bcncti, to ,bc
soil. provided 1t was intelligcnfIy nm.
pued. "P