Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-07-25
NEW IDEA IN IRRIGATION
Successful Scheme of a Texas
Landowner.
He USES TWO ARTEsIAN WELLS.

Runs the Water Around, but Not on,
His PIants-F. f. Collins of San An
tonic Has Rented His Property In
Plots TO Thrifty BeIgians, Who
Raise Remarkable Crops.
+. +. Collins, a prominent manufac-
turer at San Antonio, Tex, is trying an
experiment with irrigation which prom
iscs TO make the country around San
Antonio a paradise for truck gardeners
and farmers, says the ST. Louis Post
Dispatch. Mr.. Collins project can
hardly be called an experiment now,
since its success has been demonstrate
ed. The only difficulty In the way OF
any one else doing the same that he
has done is the uncertainty of finding
water by boring. With an artesian we'll
Mr.. Collins performances can be du-
plicated by any one.
He has ranch about five miles from
San Antonio upon which he bored two
wells, striking a good flow of water at
a depth of 800 feet. He divided 100
acres into tracts of 1212 acres each and
rented them, the tenants being chiefly
Belgians, who understand thoroughly
the best methods of using water in the
growing of vegetables and farm prod
uCts.
Irrigation has been conducted here
since there was a settlement the early
Spaniards. MeXicans and Indians using
il with degree of success that provid-
ed for all their wants. In modern times
the old Mexican bitches have been used
south of the city by Germans and Ital-
ians with success.
But their methods produced no such
results that have followed Mr.. Collins
experiment. He discovered the secret
of intensive cultivation" with this soil
when he found that the best results
could be attained If the water was new
er allowed to touch the plant and If as
little water as possible was allowed to
stand on the surface. His tenants each
have a connection with the main ditch,
which Is supplied by the artesian wells.
They cultivate their plants, corn, Okra,
melons, cotton, beans-in fact, every
thing that will grow in this country
In rows well banked up, with deep fur
rows between.
Each tract is given water for So min
utes once in six days. The water is run
into alternate rows for that time. II
has been asceTtained that all the water
- L., h,,
mediately absorbed, and none Will
stand on the surface. The water run
ming into alternate burrows percolates
through the dry furrow, wetting the
soil around the roots thoroughly.
At Il meeting of the Business Mems
club Mr.. Collins showed samples of the
products Of his farm-luscious canta-
loupes, beans, peas and okra. He has
cotton u inches high that shows from
12 to 16 squares to the plant. Corn
Business Mems club that the yield was
worth from 500 to $500 per acre annu-
ally They expect to gather four crops
every year from it.
The report of this enterprise, just
made public, has opened the eyes of the
people Of San Antonio, and already 9th
ers are arranging to follow Mr.. Col
Inns example. His profit Is not small
one, as he is paid $50 an acre rental for
all the land, his only expense being the
original cost of the two wells, about
$1,000. Much of the land now used for
this purpose could have been leased
three years ago for so cents an acre and
could have been bought outright for
from 50 to s. an acre.
While there is some uncertainty
about finding water, 1t has been struck
in many different localities at depth
of from 800 to 1,50O feet. The greatest
danger in this direction Is not that wa
ter Will not be found, but that it will
be impregnated with minerals, making
1t unfit for use In irrigation