The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-12

COUNTRY TOO FLAT
FOR GRAVITY CANAL
Chief Engineer Newell Says
North Dakota irrigation Is
Hard Problem

The proposed irrigation of large areas
of the Missouri river bench lands by
pumping water from the Missouri and
diverting it by means of small canals
presents engineering problems which
may delay and possibly prevent the
successful exploitation OF the scheme,
which has of late received such an i'm
petus from the enthusiasts of the
Flickertail state.
F. H Newell, chief engineer. of the
reclamation service of the United
States, who was at the Ryan hotel,
spoke enthusiastically Of the work
of his department, but he was not
sure, after a personal visit to the
slope. country that the. movement to
irrigate tie lands along the Missouri
is feasible. He would not say that the
purpose of the friends of the movement
to irrigate by pumping could not be
accomplished, but he pointed out that
no such plan is in successful operation,
and said that the government would
naturally hesitate before putting the
large amount of money into the scheme
necessary to~its development, until the
engineering obstacles were removed
and there was a reasonable certainty
that the irrigated region would be able
to repay the general government the
amount invested.
Mr.. Newell reached st. Paul Friday
from a trip to the Pacific coast coun-
try in company with Clifford Pinchet,
chief of the bureau of forestry, and
the irrigation expert stopped off en-
route East for several days in North
Dakota. He inspected the Mouse river
proposed irrigation plan near Minot,
and the Yellowstone region in the
northwestern corner of North Dakota
and made a long trip up the Missouri
from near Bismarck.
Yellowstone Looks Well
''The Yellowstone irrigation PROPOSE
ton looks feasible" Mr.. Newell said
a fall of 81 feet to the mile, and think
that gravity will be sufficient to raise
the water to reach the bench lands and
to irrigate them. There are, perhaps,
20,90 acres tributary to the river in that
part of the state which can be irrigated
successfully, and a canal can be built
out from the river with sufficient fall
to reach the bench lands now in a
semi-arid state. There is little doubt
that with water on this land it can be
made to repay the government for the
investment"
Mr.. Newell went up the Missouri riv-
er from Washburn to Fort Stevenson
In company with E. G. Williams, sur
Veyor general for North Dakota and
leader in the irrigation movement for
his state.
The trouble with the North Dakota
streams IS that the rivers are fiat" the
engineer said. 1.-The average fall to the
mile of the Missouri through the state
is but nine inches, and there is not
enough fall to admit of raising the wa
ter by gravity, nor of running canals
out from the streams
Along the Missouri, if irrigation is
to be successful the water must be
pumped. Now, / do not pretend to say
that this is Impossible, but it has never
been done successfully. 1t may be
done II the proper pumping machinery
is found and installed, but I know of
no pumps that can be utilized at the
cost at which the water must be raised
TO make the experiment pay.
Government Requires Payment
'The government does the work at
public expense, but it expects and ex-
acts payment. The lands must pay for
The irrigation investment. The gov
eminent requires the pay for it's sys-
tenn of irrigation in ten annual pay
ments from the land owners, and when
the payments are completed the works
belong, under certain conditions and
feStr1ct1onS, to the owners of the land
Even with a fruitful country and a
successful irrigating system, owners
of the land find it difficult indeed to
make their earlier payments promptly
out When 1t is theirs they have a most
valuable plant. The engineering de-
partInent cannot reasonably recon-
mend beginning on work unless the
engineers are reasonably sure the land
will pay for the improvement, for that
is the theory Of the whole irrigation
plan which was put into effect by the
government III the law of 1902.
Will Transform Nevada
TIE government has undertaken
some big irrigation schemes in Nevada
Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and
Idaho, and several of these are now
under construction. We are going to
transform Nevada from Il state of arid
desert and isolated mining camps to
one OF the most productive agricultural,
states OF the Union, unless all our plans
go wrong. We have only the forlorn
hopes left, for private enterprise has
long ago picked up all the lands sus-
ceptible TO irrigation that present I'M.
usual attractions III the way of large
profits for the promoters
The people of the West who are
living where irrigation is commonly
used as a means of developing the re-
sources OF the country take good,
healthy, sane view of the problems
that confront us in engineering. but
people unfamiliar with the subject are
quite likely to become over enthusiastic
when they consider irrigation schemes,
Mr.. Newell yesterday met a number
of Northwestern transportation men
and said later in the day that his de-
partment depended in quite a large
measure on the hearty cooperation of
the railroads in it's work and that the
railroads were nearly always willing to
meet the irrigation service half way.
FOR their officers realize that the sue
cessful reclamation of any waste land
Is help to the railroads which reach
them.
Charged With Stealing Wheel