Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-09-26
IRRIGATION In HUMID REGIONS.
How Productive Capacity Of the Soil
Is Doubled In Humid Regions Of

How Productive Capacity o. the Soil
Is Doubled In Humid u Regions Of
italy. s8.s
I Washington, September rs ~ (speci.l
al correspondence OF. N. Y. Evening
Post. The possibility Of new irri-
cation policy looms before the country
In recently ISSUED government re-
port. That is, irrigation for the humid
parts of the east. Why not Irriga-
ton is not only a necessity in the arid
regions, but decided aid to agricul-
ture everywhere, and why should
Uncle Sam draw the line at absolute
necessities? George H. Maxwell, the
head Of an irrigation propaganda here,
on taking up residence in the suburbs
of Boston q few years ago, announced
that he wanted to equip country
place with irrigation to show how
much more could be done with all the
water a field wants, and just when it
needs it, than by a mere haphazzard
dependence upon NATURES gifts. Per-
haps the time will come when in q
well-ordered farming community the
rains and the SHOWS will be turned to-
the uses of man, by reservoirs and
tile drainage, just as fully as the cat
tie ON the hi1lside les have been bred ever
from their natural state to q condf tion.
where they may better serve mans
economic needs. $sF2 5555
@ At all events. the chief Of the agri-
cultural departme nt's bureau Of irri-
cation investig atoms has been study
ing this subject III the valley Of the
Pc, which is not an arid region The
annual rainfall at Milan, the chief city
Of Lombardy, is more than AZ, inches.
greater than that Of Cincinnati Or
Omaha, The climate of Lombardy is
not different from that OF the Missis-5
sippi valley, and the crops raised with
few exceptions, Al q the same. With
out irrigation, the plaiL OF Lomh hardy
would be fruit fun but for their devel-
opment . network of canals and d trains
has been built. no secure thencon-
struction OF one of these canals. Milan
gave a bonus Of $40O, 900. This canal
cost Sc, 900. 900, or $s7 so for each acre
OF land that can be served BY 1t. It
supplies water to 5000 farmers, who
/ pay from one to two dollars per acre q
year. Some Of this land supports as
many as 800 people to the square mile,
and has increased in value since the
bull ding Of the canal from so to- 100
per cent. s5f= h; vs. 3Ss. 5s
| Under the Vettabbia Cana, which
uses the sewage from Milan. meadows
Iyield an annual crop worth 5000 per
acre. Some Of the fields have been
used as meadows continuously for
/ TOO years This great rise in land
values and increase IN productivity OF
lands, due to Irrigation, In q region
with q rainfall equal to that Of the
southern half Of the mississippi valley
and q climate no more favorable TO
Icrop production leads to the conclu-
sion, 50 the department. expert says,
that In irrigation this section has q
means of at least doubling the present
i yield from its lands.
In Piedmont. which has an annual
rainfall OF more than 8 inches, or about
Il the same as eastern Nebraska and
Kansas. the Italian government has
built nearly a thousand miles Of canals
and expended about $40, 000, 900 for
Irrigation works, The annual income
4 from the government canals in this
4 province is nearly $500, 900. Pump.
ling plants. have been established to
raise the water to lands above the
canals One Of these was put In at an
4 expense OF SAT per acre for the lands
Irrigated, In addition to which the
farmers are required to pay the annual
maintenance expense and $s2 a year
for a cubic foot Of water per second
It Irrigated land supplied BY this pump
ing plant IS worth three times as mpch
las unirrigated land adjoining IT.
The Italian government disposes Of
water directly to farmers at retail II
some sections. and in others sells It te
1 cooperative associations. One OF these
has 900 members, operates $500
miles Of bitches. has 266 miles Of tele
phone and telegraph lines, supplies
water TO $4,000 acres, and does al
annual business Of 5000, 900. Eighty
water masters are employed BY thu
association to distribute the water *
4 its members. The farmers In this as
ISOLATION pay from 81 go to 50 per acrt
per year for water according to Thu
+ distances Of their land from the mar
canal and the crops that they raise.