East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1904-11-09
IRRIGATION METHODS IN ITALY

Irrigation, by English speaking peo'
pie. has been practiced in this coun.
Try little more than so years, while
tn Italy it has been practiced for more
than 500 years. II is, therefore, nat
nral that Italian experience should bt
ab to show much of value to Amerl.
can ir-igators. For the purpose OF
determining what could be learned ir
that country which could be applied
To our own problems, DR.. Elwood
Mead, chef of irrigation and drainage
Investigations of the office of expert.
ment stations. u. S. department OF
agriculture, spent the summer of 1908
in the valley of the Pc.
partial report Of DIR. Mead's OBJ
serVations has just been issued by the
department of agriculture as Bulle-
tin LA of the office of experiment
stations. No attempt was made to
make this an exhaustive monograph
upon irrigation in Northern Italy, but
the study was made solely from the
standpoint of obtaining suggestions
for American irrigation practice.
Contrary to very common opinion,
the valley of the Po is not an arid
reeion. The annual rainfall at Milan,
the chief city of Lombardy, is more
than 40 inches, greater than that of
Cincinnati, o.. or Omaha, Neb., both
OF which are situated in regions where
Irrigation is seldom considered in CO l.
nection with agriculture. The cli-
mate of Lombardy is not different
from that of the Mississippi valley,
and the crops r4ised. with few eXcep-
tions. are the same. NotwitnSa nd;ng
this large rainfall and the fact that
crops can be successfully ra sod with
cut irrigation. the plains of Lombariy
sre a network uf canals and drains
To secure tho construction OF one
Of these canals. the city of Mila gave
bonus of 100000. This canal cost
$6,000,000, or $3.50 for each acre of
land that can be served by it. It
supplies water to 5000 farmers. who
pay from 81 20 50 per acre per year
foi water. Some of this land supports
as many as 500 people De-. square
mile. and has Increased in value since
tie -trilding of the canal from 60 10
100 Fer cent. land which formerly
sol1 for S100 being worth trnIr $3.50
II s"o1 per ttre.
The Priceless Sewage.
Under the Vettabbia canal which
uses the sewage from Milan, meadows
yield an annual crop worth $500 per
acre. Some of the fields have been
used for meadows continuously for
TOO years Annual rentals for these
lands are more than $25 per acre.
Sewage has been used on these field
for centuries without injury to the
lands or tG the healthfulness of the
community.
Ihis great rise in land values and
increase in productivity of lands, due
to irrigation, in a region with a rain
fall equal to that of the southern half
of the Mississippi valley and a eli
mate no more favorable to crop pro-
duction. leads TO the conclusion that
in irrigation this section has a means
from its lands.
In Piedmont, which has an annual
rainfall of more than 80 inches, or
about the same as Eastern Nebraska
and Kansas, the Italian government
has built nearly a thousand miles of
canals and expended about $40, ,000,-
600 for irrigation works. The annual
Income from the government canals
in this province is nearly 100000
Pumping plants have been estab-
1ished to raise the water to lands
above the government canals. One
of these was put in at an expense OF
SAT per acre for the lands irrigated,
in addition to which the farmers are
required to pay the annual mainte-
nance expense and $S2 per year for a
cubic foot of water per second. Irri-
ragted land supplied by this pumping
plant is worth three times as much
as unirrigated land adjoining.
Under another pumping plant the
annual expense to the farmers is
$3.50 per acre, in addition to $40 per
year for annual expense to the farm
ers of $3.50 per acre, in addition to
nearly SIG per acre. And this also in
a region where crops can be raised
successfully without irrigation.
The Italian government disposes of
water directly to farmers at retail in
some sections. and in others sells II
to cooperative associations of farm