The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-04-30
President RoOseveIt's Dinner
Bill Is Complete.
/. L. Diesem, of Garden City,
Brings Kansas Product.
ACREAGE is INCREASED
There viii Be 500 Acres of
Beets This lear.
His Original Ideas About Irri-
cation Of Fields.

President Roosevelt will eat Kansas
sugar along with other Kansas products
at the dinner given by Governor Bailey
Friday evening. This fact was settled
today when l. L. Diesem. of Garden
City, came to Topeka bringing with
him a box Of beet sugar manufactured
from Kansas beets, and gave it to H. J.
Bone, secretary to the governor, for the
dinner Friday evening. Governor Bailey
himself is in st. Louis today, so Mr..
Diesem turned the package over to Mr.
Bone.
When the State Journal stated a week
ago that the governors dinner yvould
be made up largely from Kansas prod
ucts, but that there might be some diff
ficulty in securing Kansas sugar, Mr.
Diesem saw it and at once wrote to the
beet sugar factory at Rocky Ford. Colo.
where all the Kansas beets are now
shipped, asking that a box of sugar
made from Kansas beets be sent him
at once. He received the box by ex.
press Saturday and brought it on to
Mr.. Diesem says that the acreage of
peets this spring in the three beet coun-
ties, Hamilton. Kearney and F'inney,
VIII be double that Of last year. Last
year 439 acres were grown. This year
Mr. Eiesem says the acreage will be
over 500 acres. The industry is coming
rapidly to the front in the western Ar
kansas valley. The first trial was made
two years ago and was merely expert
mental. The acreage was 337 from
which 1.747 tons of beets were harvest
ed and manufactured into sugar. Last
year the acreage was increased only
about 30 per cent, but the product was
increased about $50 per cent This year
the acreage Will be increased by 100
per cent.
Two years ago Mr.. Diesem planted
about two acres of beets. from which
he sold a tribe over So tons of beets-
Last year with about the same acreage
he sold nearly "A tons of beets, and
kept several tons for feed He received
nearly I'VE dollars ton, besides the
bounty from the state of one dollar a
ton This year he expected to p liant four
acres but an accident three weeks ago
resulted in breaking his shoulder, so
that he has planted only about the
same acreage as last year.
Mr.. Diesem is still carrying his arm
in a sling as a result of his accident It
happened as the result OF an encounter
with a vicious bull belonging TO a neigh
Dor. The animal got loose and came
over to Mr. Diesems place. He at
tempted to drive it away, but it at
tackled him, and would probably have
fatally injured him had not dog at
tackled the bull. AS it was Mr.. Diesem
escaped with a broken shoulder and is
otherwise bruised.
MI OtGSS4l4s WHO Is d If1StIiDCI OI IHC
state board of agriculture, is an en-
thusiast on the subject of irrigation. He
was the pioneer in pumping water for
that purpose in the Garden City district,
beginning fourteen years ago, but he be-
lieVes the final solution of the problem
will be the bringing of the underflow
water to the surface with a siphon-
His idea is to dig a big well deep
enough so that there will be several feet
of water in it. The water would stand
at from seven to ten feet below the sur
face of the ground. Then he would dig
a ditch on level with the surface with
the water and make the bottom on
level. As the fall Of the land to the
east is seven feet to the mile the ditch
half until it would come out on the sur
face of the ground. In this ditch he
would lay a pipe, extending it perhaps
two or three miles below the mouth IF
the ditch. This pipe would form a COM
plete SiphOn, and when filed with va
ter the suction below the end of the
ditch would be sufficient to draw the
level part of the ditch. SO that there
would be a continuous flow with no
pumping or expenditure of any kind
From the mouth of the pipe the water
would be distributed to the land to be
irrigated.
Il think that plant of this kind with
a six-inch pipe would cost about SO 006
to $4,000" said Mr.. Diesem today but
when once built there would be no ex-
pense at all to running it. My son, who
/ is county surveyor of Finney county,
/ has been figuring for several months on
a plant with three-foot pipe. This
would, of course, require a big well to
/ supply the necessary flow of water and
as near as he has ascertained it would