The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1906-09-19

| "SiS-icct pci dHuuui. ne average
use of water in that state is now
| over four acre-feet and If no i'm
| provements in the use of water are
brought about the limit will be
reached when 100000 acres are ir-
rigated. This shows what the ulti-
mate difference in one of the western
states will be between low and high
| duty. 1t is the difference between
100000 irrigated acres and 6,0OO,-
600 acres. 1t is the difference be-
tween a total yearly revenue from ir.
rigated agriculture of $4,000, 900
and $90,000,000.
Finally, the excessive use of wa
ter on irrigated lands water-logs the
soil in low lying places, brings up
alkali and creates disease. Nearly
every irrigated district in the west
has its abandoned farms which have
been rendered non-productive by an
excessive use of water. Alfalfa
fields which were at one time worth
500 per acre, vineyards which sold
readily for $3.50 per acre, and groves
that gave large dividends on a valua-
ton of $1,000 per acre, may now be
purchased for from $40 to $50 per
acre. The accumulation of seepage
waters caused by over-irrigation and
leaky bitches, with all its accompany
ing evils has already damaged about
10 per cent of the irrigated lands of
the west.
"By beginning with the losses
which take place on the irrigated
field and tracing other losses back
through a network of bitches and.
canals to the source of supply, I hope
to convince you that for every four
gallons taken from the stream little
more than one gallon subserves a
useful purpose in nourishing crops.
"You will admit, believe, that
water is more skillfully applied and
more economically used in southern
California than in any other portion
of the west, and perhaps Of the
world. The office of experiment sta
lions at Washington is now printing
some results of experiments in evap-
Grafton losses conducted last year in
the vicinity Of Riverside, California.
We selected for our investigation the
lands under the Gage canal, which
irrigated last year $500 acres of or
ange and lemon orchards, and we
chose for our experiments some of
the most skillfully irrigated tracts
in that large are:..
II may say in passing that the av-
erage duty Of water on the orchards
under the Gage canal for the past
seven years has been IS inches and
the irrigation water combined with
the rainfall has averaged 33M
inches. This means that these or
ange and lemon trees have been kept
growing continuously the year round
on an amount Of water less than the
rainfall Oh Iowa.
Regarding the evaporation losses,
it was shown that a heavily irrigat-
ed orchard soil lost by evaporation
at the rate Of over four inches per
week, that a soil that was fairly
moist on the surface and in good
condition for crop growth lost about
one inch per week, while a dry soil
lost only one-fourth of an inch per
week.
1.-THE great waste of water caused
by uneven and rough surfaces and
careless application are too common
to call for any extended remarks.
Then. too. some irrigators are so
generous that they have always wa
ter to spare. They give the country
roads a good soaking every time they
irrigate the bordering fields. One
can't find fault with the irrigator for
working only ten hours a day, but
unfortunately while he is sleeping
or resting, the water Is usually run
ming to waste. Lack of constant at
tention may therefore be reckoned
as another cause of much waste.
"There are several other means Of
obtaining high duty of water whose
Importance is so generally recog-
nized that shall do no more than to
name them. Some Of these are: The
skillful application Of water. thor
ough preparation of the soil, we'll
made bitches and an efficient system
of distributing and delivering of the
amount of water to which each user
is entitled.
"The use Of we'll pulverized soil
mulches is another means of check
ing evaporation. The tests conducted
in southern California show that a
ten-inch layer Of dry granular soil
gives complete protection, that an
eight-inch layer will save five-sixths