Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1903-10-21

u NllSH i navy iidtN
with reference to the increased pro-
duction resulting from irrigation, even
though it be supplemental irrigation in
a humid or merely semi-arid region.
are not mere surmise. They are bas-
ed upon actual experience and inves-
tigation.
In a paper read before the Fifth Ma
tional Irrigation Congress at Phoenix,
Arizona. IN December 10th. 1896, DR..
Clarke Gapen said:
There is no part of the earth's sur
face where the rainfall is so exactly
proportional that it may not be prof
itably supplemented by the application
Of water artificially to any given crop.
That is to say there is no crop that
may not be increased in quantity or
improved in quality by this means.
In q little book recently published
by Prof. Cling, entitled. THE SOIL"
| find the following table with refer
ence to the amount of water which is
necessary for the production of dry
product.
Dent corn, 200 pounds of water t o
each pound of dry product.
Flint corn. 23S pounds of water to
each pound of dry product.
Red clover. 452 pounds of water to
each pound of dry product.
Barley. 1892 pounds of water to each
pound of dry product.
Oats, 500 pounds of water to each
pound of dry product.
Field peas. All pounds of water to
each pound of dry product.
Potatoes. 422 younds Of water to
each pound of dry product.
Rye. 1853 pounds of water to each
pound of dry product"
With reference to the increased pro
ductiveness of soil to which has been
applied all the water which it can use
Professor King makes the following
statement:
ION a moderately fertile soil the
writer has grown maize. supplying it
with water just as rapidly as it could
use it to the best advantage. and found
as an average of two trials that it took
during the growing season of one-third
OF the year the equivalent of thirty
four and three-tenths inches to pro
duce a yield, when calculated for an
acre. of more than four times a field
crop grown under the best natural con-
dition of rainfall in Wisconsin," In
other words that a soil to which is
given all the water it can use will
produce four times an average prod
uct. This will prepare you for the
remarkable statement which is pub
lished by Storer with reference to the
productiveness of the irrigated mead
ows near Edinburg, Scotland. where
the lands which are described as be-
ing originally worthless and a sandy
waste. are yielding almost incredibly
under a system of sewage irrigation.
And as stated by Prof. King. There
can be no question. however. but that
the larger yields here secured are due
more to the water than to the ferti-
liZers added to it."
Other Irrigation Yields.
The ~Craigentiny meadows. 200
acres in extent. yield five cuts of grass
aggregating from 80 to 20 tons an acre
between the first of April and the end
of October, which are sold to COW
keepers for from $50 to $3.50 per acre.
the farm of 200 acres turning in to it's
owner every year from $4,000 to 500
600 gross 1t is also said that the
milkmen acknowledge that they can
not get any milk producing food to
compare with this grass for the same
amount of money. On the Myremill
farm neal Maybole. Scotland, seventy
acres in Italian hay grass are said to
have produced seventy tons of green
weight per acre, or 900 tons. the mar
ket value of one crop exceeding by a
large sum the first cost of the irrigat-
ing plant. 1t is said that this same
land before being treated in the man.
ner described. would barely pasture
five sheep o r n bullock to the acre,
but under the system of irrigation
which was established. it was easy TO
keep twenty sheep or five bullocks to
the acre.
You will please observe that the
amount of water which a corn crop
will consume in producing the maxi
mum yield of four times the average
crop is thirty-four inches, or nearly ex-
actly the entire amount of annual rain
fall in Wisconsin and Illinois. What
enormous possibilities lie therefore in
the application of water to crops even
in the regions where the rainfall is
usually deemed sufficient" That is
DR.. Kings statement. and his state
ments are accepted where he is
known.
The value and Importance of irri-
CATION. as a factor in the prosperity of
our farms, being established. the ques-
ton then arises:
Whence in the State of North Da-
kota are We to derive the supply of
water necessary for the use of our
farmers to irrigate their lands?
Where to Get Water.
The sOurc from which a sufficient
supply can be most quickly and eco
nomically obtained by a very large
number Of our farmers is from the
underground waters which lie beneath
their own land. or from the small
streams or lakes upon their surface.
1t, of course, requires a pumping plant
to lift the water from underground,
and in the majority of cases it would
require pumping to utilize the waters
from he lakes and smaller streams.
But this is not an insuperable diflcul-
ty. 1t is not ever a serious difficulty.
In the manufacture of pumping ma
0hinnrxv i'm 49, I---