Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1905-08-04
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IRRIGATION IN HUMID BELTS.

IRRIGATION IN HUMID BELTS.
In view of the claims frequently
made that irrigation is not needed in
North Dakota-that the natural rain
fall is sufficient in great number of
years-the following from the St. Paul
Pioneer Press is in point:
Florida is probably the last state in
the Union which would be thought of
as affording a field for the profitable
employment of irrigation. The annual
rainfall there is about 81 inches, or
more than twice that of Minnesota,
and it Is usually fairly wen distributed
through the year. But nevertheless
there are seasons when the rain fails
when needed; and, to guard against
loss by these, irrigation works have
already been introduced in several
sections, notably in the vicinity of
Tampa and Sanford. The state Is
thickly studded with lakes and veined
with running streams; and where
these are not available for irrigation
the Tampa Times urges the use of the
subterranean water-supply through the
medium Of artesian wells.
People in Minnesota, who may have
been inclined to sheer at the proposal
to protect their farms and insure their
crops by setting up irrigation plants,
may change their minds when they see
the farmers of Florida, under the spur
Of not half the necessity, thus prepar-
Ing against the contingency of a
destructive drouth, and doing it with
cheerful assurance, born of practical
experience. that it will pay"
It must [be borne in mind, too, that
not only does the provision of an irri-
eating plant insure the one annual
crop which is all the Minnesota farm
er now, as general rule, gets from
his land, but it makes possible two and
sometimes even, three different crops
from the same field. 1t requires dill
gent cultivation, as we'll as a water
supply, to accomplish this latter re-
suit in a state where the growing sea-
son is comparatively short. But this
in turn leads to the concentration of
effort on smaller number Of acres,
with a decided pecuniary gain.
There are unnumbered farms in
Minnesota where the damming of a
small stream may create a reservoir
at sufficient height to irrigate quite
an area in it's neighborhood. To
countless others neighboring lakes and
rivers afford supply of water avail
able by pumping, and nowhere is there
a region where an underground supply
cannot be had. To say nothing of the
useful windmill, various kinds of
power machines suitable for operating
irrigation pumps are now to be had at
a cost far below the value Of single
crop that might be lost for want of
one. Fuel is a comparatively small
item of expense, and will be smaller
yet when farmers shall be permitted
to make their own alcohol from un-
marketable vegetables, grain, etc., as
is done in Germany From a gallon of
such alcohol, costing cents, twice
as much power can be developed as
from gallon Of gasoline, costing IA
cents.
And another gain from the introduce
ton of irrigation apparatus-one sell
dom thought of, but nevertheless I'M
mensely important-is the relaxation
it brings from the strain of perpetual
worry over the weather. Many a
farmer has grown prematurely old, or
gone crazy, with anxiety over drouth,
impending or actual. With an irriga-
ton plant right at hand, ready to de-
feat any destructive designs entertain
ed by Old Sol, he can view the coming
OF a "dry SPELL with supreme indiner-
ence, and save his fortitude for use
in those rare seasons when not search
ty but a superabundance of rain shall
call for its exercise.
b.
Doubleday, Page G Co.. announce
that the August number of "The
Worlds Work is given wholly to an
elaborate description Of the Northwest,
including Alaska, about which viii be
found an. article by Mr.. VIM. +.
Perkins Of Bismarck now in Alaska.
Fined for II
n married Italian couple who IN
their lodgings at Avellin0 without