The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1907-10-24
GLgoraIeIrY ANo IRRIoATIoa.
Some Of the Things Made P0sslbls
BY the Use Of Modern Machinery.

oofne OF the Things Maoe F"~e'S@
by the Use Of Modern Machinery.
Promoting agriculture with water
taken from visible or hidden streams,
to make good the deficiency Of rain
fan. is one OF the Oldest Of human
practices. Sometimes the benehcent
fluid has been secured by diYerung
part Of the current OF a river, as IN
Assyria in bygone days and in Egypt
today. and sometimes 1t has been OBJ
tained by pumps. which were driven
by windmills, treadmills or even more
primitive devices. Occasionally arte-
sian wells have furnished supply
through a pressure high enough to
eject the water without any resort to
suction. Irrigation was prachced, too
In America long before the beginning
Of history on this continent, II not at
as early a period as in the Ola
World. In New Mexico and Arizona
there are now seen canals construct
ed by the Pueblo Indians previous to
the invasion Of the region by the
Spanish. and further south, both above
and below the ls,-mus Of Panama,
there is evidence that even more pre-
tentious undertakings we're features Of
a civilization which existed thousands
Of years ago.
II is said that the first systematic
attempts at irrigation within the lin
its OF the United States we're made in
Utah, in 1S47. The Mormons who set
tied there experienced many disap-
pointments, and found that in order
to secure sustenance they must utilize
the streams which ran into the Great
Salt Lake Snortly afterward the
more copious rivers of California we're
employed for a double service. Jets
OF water we're made to wash gold out
OF gravel, where there we're deposits
worth working, and also to assist In
the cultivation Of crops. The greatest
expansion in the practice has oc-
Cured since 1880, BY the year 1902
the number of acres which we're irri-
gated in the far west had increased
to nine million, and It is believed to
be fully fifteen million today. The end
is not yet reached, however, for many
important enterprises have been
started by the United States Reclaim
alton Service in the last three or four
years. When these are completed an
enormous addition will be made to the
area which was not arabic before.
Not the least significant contribution
to recent progress has been made by
electricity. This form of energy, de-
rived primarily from waterfalls and |
dynamos, is now used to help forward |
the work in several different ways. One |
Of its applications is to the operation
Of powerful Centrifugal" pumps which
lift water to unusual elevations. Elec- /
trio drills have assisted in the creation ]
Of eonduits. which extend through solid |
rock, and In some localities electric /
railways will be worked by means of !
the water which will subsequently flow /
into the irrigation canals. An eastern
firm which supplies |
ali kinds Of electrical machinery called /
in one Of it's recent circulars |
to one of the great engineering feats |
Of the country. This is the wonder
full Strawberry valley project at Yer
nal. Utah, now under way, where a
storage reservoir will be built to hold
five billion gallons of water, and a
tunnel three and one-half miles long
is being done by electrically driven
tools. and when it is completed the
water will first be used to generate
electricity for lighting and power pur-
poses. and then for irrigation.
The Williston On. d. project and
the Buford-Trenton project in the same
state are operated entirely by cleo
tEicity. The electric current is gener-
ated by steam turbines (not hydraulic
powerl, and is used to drive the large
motors connected with the centrifu-
gal pumps. Another system has been
installed at Garden City, Kan, and
still another at Salt Lake, Ariz.-New
York Tribune.