Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1905-06-03

Conquest . .: Great
American Desert


The officials Of the reclamation de-
partment Of the United States geolog.
ical survey have taken the field for
the most active campaign thus far
undertaken for the benefit Of the PEG.
pies heritage-the public lands Of
America, estimated TO measure SAL.
S72,877 acres, Of which 172,S73, O70
acres have been reserved by law for
forest culture, Indians and other pur.
poses, leaving 704, 704,34 acres open
to reclamation and ultimate settle
ment. Colorado contains 1881 500
acres Of this heritage, Of which 4,09S.-
b43 have not yet been surveyed.
In connection with irrigation enter.
prises, and to enlighten the large
number Of settlers who know practic.
ally nothing about the application Of
water to the soil and to growing crops.
the San Francisco Call discusses the
quantity Of water allotted to a given
area of irrigable land" Taking the
States a. a whole, the quantity per
acre used in California Is about 30 per
cent of the Colorado average. This
would appear to convict Colorado Of
needless waste, hut a. the nature Of
the soil and the kind Of crop irrigated,
together with rainfall. are factors in
the problem, II Is not safe to conclude
without careful comparison. This IL
now going forward at Fort Collins and
at other experiment stations under the
general control Of the Agricultural
Depa rtment. Experts connected with
pump and machinery houses In this
city are also collecting data. this be.
ing the natural result Of the installa.
ton Of plants In different portions Of
the State. on different soils and for the
care Of different crops.
1t has been stated By one Of the en-.
gineers In charge of Federal work in
Nevada that a miners inch Of water
would irrigate 500 acres Of land. This
Is not the Colorado experience. Even
California rejects It. the San Francisco
Call alleging that the estimate Is un.
sound and Is not supported by Califor.
MIA experience, dating back TO the time
Of the missions. when the Franciscans
brought with them the experience Of
Egypt and the Orient.
In support Of his liberal Nevada es.
timate-500 acres to one miners inch
Expert Lipplncott quotes conditions
ut Yuma and In the klamath district
Of California. His allowance for
Yuma, II we understand him correct.
ly, Is ESQ cubic feet Of water per acre.
which Is not quite three.sixtcenths Of
an inch per acre. That is very thin
sheet Of water to spread upon land In
a region where the evaporation IL
twelve or fifteen feet per year. I'VE
doubt very much" says the Call.
whether It will sustain growing crops.
II he means that a miners inch flow.
Ing constantly for ninety days will sui.
Ace for an acre and a half, we have
this result: In an acre and n half are
85,340 square feet, which miners
inch In ninety days would cover about
fifteen inches. He allows eighteen
inches at klamath for the crop sea.
son. against fifteen inches at Yuma.
but the record Of thirty.six years
rainfall at Yuma shows an average an.
nual precipitation Of three and four.
tcnths inches only, while at klamath
It IL thirty.six to fifty inches"
Experiments the world over show
that land requires about three feet Of
water during the growing season to
produce a crop. This IL averaging all
Abs0rptive conditions Of the soil and all
rates Of evaporation. Italy, In the
valley Of the 20. has long established
q scientific irrigation, and the aver.
age duty Of water IL one cubic foot
per second to about slxty.six acres. in
continuous flow. But Italy on the
same land has a rainfall Of between
thirty.Hve ana forty inches, OF which
twenty-five inches falls In the season
Of growing crops. So the irrigated
land Of Italy gets about 1870 inches of
irrigation water and twenty-five inch.
e. Of rain, or little over twelve feet
In the season Of crop growth.
This feature Of the irrlgatio prob.
lem deserves close attention. because
II IL basic in the matter Of dividing up
lands. The settlers should know In
advance what the chances for success
really are, and. In estimating those
chances, the government experts
should lean to the conservative rather
than the hopeful side. A season Of re.
action would materially injure the re-
clamation project--Denver News.