Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1911-12-09
IRRIGATED FARMS
INCREASE NEARLY
50 PER CENT
IN WEST
Census Bureau Issues State
ment Showing That There
Are 100000 More Home
steads Watered Now.
NEARLY FOURTEEN
a MILLION ACRES
tspsslal oerss.sesasnse 70 ,As nesslal

-"
Washington. y. G., Dec. 9.--Dlrcctor
Durand of the bureau vi the census,
department ~ coiamerce and labor. is
aued today the FIRST official statement
relative TO the statistics Of irrigation
la the uaited Ststes. collected as %
part OF the thirteenth census. The
| statement Is based on a preliminary
comparative summary Submitted by
Dr. lie Grand Powers, chief statistic
can FOR tho division nf agriculture In
tne bureau ~ tho census. under whose
supervision u was prepared by II. p.
Toeic, special agent In charge Of irri-
cation. The figures are suhjcct 10 re-
vision after more complete tabulation,
but Il IN n1t expected that there viii
be any material modification OF the
totals or percentages reported.
The total number OF farms irrigat-
cd IN 1909 IN the arid and sems-arld
states. comprising all or parts OF Ari-
xona, California. Colorado, Idaho, kan
sas, Montana. Nebraska, Nevada New
Mexico North Dakota, Oklahoma. ore
Eon. south Dakota, Utah. washington,
Wyoming and part of Texas. was f5T.-l
SG2. against l97,7i6 In 1899. an in-
crease % seize. or 4s.6 per cent. Bee
tween 1899 and 1909 the whole nuns
bcr Of farms IN the states mentioned
Increased sI.s per cent. Additional
irrigated farms. totallng i.ssO. In the
rice belt of Arkansas, Louisiana, and
Tcxns. and e.sss others Of the humid
states. most az which were truck gar
dens. were also reported. The total
number Of farms on which irrlsationl
Was prac,iccd IN continental United
States was iet.tio In 1893 agalnat
f0S,2iS IN 1899, an increase Of &c.
igs. or 5f.s per cent.
The total acreage irrigated In the
arid and semi-arid states was i5.I5a,-
4s9 acres In 1903, against y.sz7,saol
acres In 1899, an Increase Of s.sii,so9l
acres, or sg5 per cent In the rice
states est.7so acres and In the humid
states 2Ssels acres were irrigated in
1909. making the total acreage irrl-
gated it.fes,its acres IN 1908 against
7.s59,s4s acres In 1898, an Increase OIL
s.g2sssOa acres, or Sis per cent. Ia
the arid ana seml-aEid states ai0nel
tbs acreage which Ell enterprises were
capable of Irritating IN 1919 was 49,
53s,5ii acres, an excess " h,5gs.al2
acres over tho acreage irrigated I'M
1908. The area Included In projects
either completed or under e0nairur.
ton was in the arid and semiaFid
states. 3l.ii2.iiO acres IN 1919. an cx-
cess OF i7,s72.gfI acres over the acre
age irrigated in 1909. These figures
Indicate IN a general way the area
which VIII he available within tho
next few years for the extension Of
irrigation. and show that the area ir-
rigaicd ia ia0a can be moro than
doubled without undertaking new en-
tcrprises.
The number Of independent enier-
nrlses reported in 1919 IN Che arid and
Seml-arld states was bf,aeg. The total
length 81 all bitches WAS Iab.sis miles.
OF which STAGE miles wore in main
canals and sS.aT9 miles Ia lateraiH
The number Of reservoirs reported was
s,aa3. having a remblned capacity or
ta.S7a.ea6 acrc.tnot. The number 81
wells pumped for irFlaation was Ia
sfi, and the number Of all pumping
plants 1881. Th1 engine capacity Of
pumping plants WAS so1,2fi horAe'
power. The acreage irrigated with
pumped water MAS 4s9.Hss acres.
Flowing wells supplied water 20 iss,-
$50 acres.
The total cost az irrigation sysiems
reported In The ARID and seml-asla
steton WIS sa0f.ees.fso IA ~ y.
aRainst te5.ts2,eef IN 1899, an in
crease Of sss7.ai7.lss o. ssi.5 per
cent The average epst per ncre was
ftS,5e IN 1910 hntinel fsks In 1898.
an lncrease OF t6.es. or tbs per cent.
The average cost III operation and
mainienance per akrs was tl.eI IN