The Meeker herald., 1910-03-05
. RAISING WATER
Many subterranean Streams
Close to Surface In the West.
Well Adapted for Utilization Tor lrrs-
Z cation and VIII d Expieitsd
Within Next Few vears-
Cost 10 Low.

There are Q thousand ana one
places IN the west where the under.
now OF the subterranean water II 20
close to the surface that It might Just
a. well be utilized for irrigation and
every one OF these places Wall - al
plotted In this way within tie next
thirty or forty years. Greater irraga'
ton VIII work wonders In such places
Of the arid belt. The question o.
pumping water for irrigation u sim
pie snougArin these days Of practical
improvements by the way OF maehin'
cry for lifting water and the acre cost
10 generally less than Uncle Sam az
ponds In fancy tunnel projects. The
opportunities for gravity irritation
are largely exhausted. There has
been In the past and 10 yet too much
prejudice against pumping. The OPP
position ID due more to ignorance
than anything else. The use Of cheap
machinery is also responsible for the
general belief that the pumping Of
water for irrigation IL impracticable
and too costly.
All over the arid region are 70 Be
found abandoned pumping plants and
whom We inquire the cause We get
one answer: 1T costs too much 70
pump the water" The trouble u mot
with the pumping system but with the
system Of pumping. The cost should
not be more than two dollars the
acre per annum but there are scores
Of instances in which 1t costs from
t11 to S14 and this 10 rather sti6
tax for general crops under poor
methods Of culture. Water wheels
and current motors have been In use
In China for more than 5000 years
and iY all that time there has been
no marked Improvement in their en-
cheney although thousands Of types
have been constructed and tried.
They are q crude and burdensome
means to get power and under the
most favorable conditions give only
fraction Of the power Of steam.
Taking all facts into consideration
We may say that the windmill 10 an
ingenious continuance from an irriga-
ton standpoint to waste power and
money as q general rule. However
when the lift IL low. wind conditions
favorable and . natural, inexpensive
reservoir available small tract Of
land may be watered, but in 90 cases
out Of 100 II 10 q delusion and q wasto
Of money. The most approved sys-
TEN Of modern contrivance for small
quantities Of water on a Light lift 10
the gasoline engine with centrifugal
or piston pumps and thousands Of
them are to-day employed all over
the west to help AZ many poor set
tiers make living under conditions
which would otherwise spell failure.
There are all kinds Of splash wheels
working in currents that do pretty
good work night and day but they are
able to lift water only few feet and
are not available any distance back
from good stream OF water. The
turbine is simple enough but can be
operated only under the pressure at.
forded by declivity and the same is
true also of the hydraulic ram which
however Is not much better than. a
Merino buck for irrigating any con-
siderable amount Of ground in a prac-
teal way. The artesian we'll with
good stun dow is the finest kind Of
proposition but 1t comes wholly with
in the province OF the Creator and is
always a condition such as man can
not provide primarily.