Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1910-12-29
VALUED INFORMATION ON The
IRRIGATION WORK THAT
IS Being Done.
Department of Agriculture Accom-
plished Important Work in Recent
Years = Western Engineers Given
Praise for Creditable Work-Scien-
tific Research Proves Great Boon.

The United States department of
agriculture has during the last ten
years been doing very important work
through it's irrigation Investigations,
and the following extract from the last
annual report of the secretary, James
Wilson, should be of interest in show
ing the relation between the depart
ment and irrigation development:
During the past year the Office of
experiment stations, while maintaining
most of the old lines of work in its
irrigation Investigations, has endeav
ored to modify its plans so as to meet |
the demands for information on the new
issues which are constantly arising.
This is particularly true as regards
the assistance which has been given to
the new settlers. The task of convert
ing desert land into productive fields
is not easy under the most favorable
conditions, but when the one who at
tempts it knows little or nothing about
irrigated farming, the difficulties are
greatly increased. Those in charge of
irrigation investigations in the west
have, therefore, devoted considerable
portion of their time to advising the
newcomers as to the methods best
adapted to- their individual needs. This
personal advice, supplemented by prac
teal bulletins, has done must to pre-
vent mistakes and to safeguard the set
tier from either partial or total failure.
| East Interested.
So widespread an interest has of
irrigation in the west that the depart
ment has been flooded with requests
for information as to the conditions and
possibilities of different districts. The
series of bulletins on irrigation pre-
pared by this department in co-opera-
ton with western state engineers and
others, has done much to furnish the
information desired. OF this series,
ten bulletins have already been pub
lished, and four more are being pre-
pared. When complete, the irrigation
conditions as regards the climate, SOIL
water supply, extent of land, crops, etc.,
of each state and territory in the west
will be accurately described.
Great Waste of Water.
In former days water for irrigation
purposes was both plentiful and cheap,
and in attempting to use it much was
wasted. In many parts of the west
the old wasteful methods still prevail,
although the value of water has in
creased many fold. The results of seep-
age measurements of irrigation chan
nels obtained by the department,
coupled with the high price of water
rights and the rise in value of agri-
cultural products, have induced many
companies to line their main canals,
AS result, many channels which for
merly lost from 20 to 80 per cent of
their total flow are now practically
watertight. In many cases such i'm
provements would not have been made
if the attention of the managers had
not been called by our engineers to the
large losses sustained and the best
means of preventing this waste. In
, cases farmers used large amounts of
, water without realizing how excessive
; was the use until measurements were
taken. When the irrigators of the San
> Joaquin valley in California first began
to apply water on what had been dry.
: farmed grain fields, they frequently
used over nine feet. Now about one
5 third of this amount is found to be
ample. The water users of Greeley and
: neighboring districts in Colorado used
3 to think their crops would burn up un
less they had miners inch of water
to the acre. Now they are raising crop:
> on the same ground that are worth
about four times as much with one
fourth the water formerly used. They
are learning that cultivation takes the
, place of irrigation to a great extent.
}. Demonstration Farms.
The demonstration farms established
> in former years have been maintained
! These have been of great value during
the past year in showing, among othel
things, the benefits to be derived from
the use of scanty water supplies OF
!, small fields in connection with dry farm
> ing. At the Cheyenne farm during tn,
past season, "a bushels of oats wer,
raised per acre with the application o.
: only, eight inches of irrigation water
: while the crop grown without irriga
ton was practically failure. Alfalf;
: yielded 1905 pounds of hay per acr,
!, with the application of 1873 inches
while the unirrigated field yielded onl,
J. $50 pounds. Beardless barley, with tn,
application Of OF inches of water
yielded 81 bushels per acre; that un