El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-05-17

land where ground water lies within
so feet OF the surface. At some ia
vored points. where the lift is meder-
ate and where the soil is good. the
ground water may perhaps be pumped
and used as an ordinary irrigating sup
ply; but with small plants, costly fuel,
and imperfect farming methods this
kind of pumping will usually be found
too expensive. Without doubt tha
most advantageous use of pumped wa
ter is to supplement the rainfall con-
served and utilized by dry farming
methods. For instance, the summer
rains, beginning usually in July, are
not early enough to start a crop Of
corn in time to harvest before frost.
BY planting and irrigating the seed
in May, however, corn may be so far
advanced by the time the summer
rains begin that it will then easily ma
ture. Similarly. il may be found that
a preliminary irrigation in the dry fall
months will so greatly advance the
growth of winter crops-such az
wheat. barley and certain vegetables
that the winter rainfall will. carry
them nearly or quite to maturity.
Storing Water.
by means OF a small pumping plant
water msy be stored in earth reser-
voirs for weeks or months in advance
Of planting and when needed sent
through burrows across the fields.
These irrigated burrows should then BE
cultivated level and the soil mulch
maintained until planting time. when
seed burrows should be carried down
to moisture and planted with potatoes.
corn, sorghum, beans and other crops.
This method has been used experiment
tally in the valley with notable sue
cess
Where only a part of the water for
crop is thus supplied at critical times,
higher costs may be borne than when
the whole supply must be pumped.
Except at few places pumping has
not been fairly tested in Sulphur
Springs valley, but data showing the
expense of pumping by gasoline en-
gines near Tucson, Ariz-,s indicate
cost to the farmer operating his own
plant of SIS to $40 an acre a year,
using about four acre feet of water,
with lifts less than 40 feet At this
cost pumped water cannot be used
exclusively but it may be employed
to supplement rainfall
Ultimately. through cooperative
pumping associations. il may be found
possible to pump much more cheaply
by means Of large central power sta
lions. transmission lines and distrib-
uted wells.
a few flowing wells have been OBJ
tanned in both the northern and the
southern part Of the valley. but none
Of them has sufficient head or flow
to be OF much, practical value One
of the deepest wells in the valley was
drilled on low ground at the Copper
Queen smelter. in Douglas. 1t was
1885 feet deep ard passed through
successive beds Of clay. sand and grav-
ell, such as ordinarily constitute the
valley fill In this well flow was
obtained when the drill reached a
depth OF 39s feet. but the water did
not rise high enough to be promising
for irrigation
The Wilcox Wells.
"a few wells in the vicinity Of Will
cox penetrate a bed of dense. dark
clay or shale lying at some depth be-
low tho ordinary VALLEY fill The deep
est wells have entered this clay for
distance OF 200 feet, but none has
passed entirely through it. Such a
bed, If widely distributed. might serve
as an artesian cover for underlying
water-bearing materials. Whether wa
ter-bearing materials are present be-
low the clay bed. and whether. if
present. they would give rise to flow
ing wells Of economic value can be de-
termined only by drilling. The pros
poets are too uncertain to warrant
deep drilling by any settler Of ordina
ry means. but as the underground wa
ters are of vital Importance in the
agricultural development OF the region
the community as a whole can afford
to sink a well to a sufficient depth to
make, the test Drilling should not be
Continued, however after granite, Dor
Dhyry or other bedrock is reached. In
order to have reasonabI prospects Of
success the well should be located on
land where, the depth to the water is
not very great. but in order to make
the test Of the most practical value,
1t should be located outside of the
zone of alksli soil.
"a full report On this investiga-
ton viii be published for free distri-
button by the United States geologi-
,al survey ard the Arizona Export
ment station as soon as practicable !
after the completion OF the field work. |
probably some time within the year. An
announcement VIII he made through |
he newspapers as soon as the report |
Is printed