Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1911-12-02
IRRIGATION AND THE UNDERFLOW
IN WESTERN. KANS as.


For years the feasibility of utilizing
the UNDERGROUND waters of western
Kansas for irrigation has been dis
cussed at the annual meetings of the
state board of agriculture, and learn
ed scientists have contributed much
on the subject that was pertinent and
of interest. While it was agreed
that the west third or half of the
state possessed so-called inexhaus-
tible underground water supply, it
seemed the consensus of opinion that
it could not profitably be made use of
for the irrigation of any considerable
areas on the high lands, because of
the lift being too great. Irrigation
of the valleys, where water is near
the surface, by pumping, long passed
the experimental stage, but its pos
sibilities are not fully realized, as
each season sees some new develop
ment. While this is important to
the valleys, the great Significance of
the later Investigations is the demon
stration here and there that the up
lands can be profitably irrigated by
pumping from deeply drilled wells, as
these lands comprise by far the
greatest acreage. Their soils are rich
and of such texture that experts de-
clare they will need less some say
only about one-half as much) water
to produce crops as the sander lands
of the valleys. Again, there will be
seasons when the rainfall will be
such as to require only partial, if any,
= ~ 10
gins to look as if many thousands of
acres of western Kansas land may be
made reliably productive through
artificial watering. In the valley
from Garden City to Syracuse many
pumping plants are already operating
or being installed.
There are number of wells being
drilled and put in use on the higher
lands at the present time, here and
there from Meade county, in the
southwest, north and west to Sher-
man county At Fowler in Meade
county, the Walker well is finished
and equipped ready for use. In Sher-
man county two big wells have been
drilled into the gravel that carries
apparently unlimited = water, and
pumps are now being installed. This
suggests in a general way something
of the territory where a water supply
may be protitably available for irrig-
alton by pumping. Only one of these
big upland wells was in commission
during the last crop season. This
was the j. w. Lough we'll, about Il
miles southwest of Scott, in Scott
county. From it $50 acres were ir-
rigated, all that could be made ready
in time for planting, but the owner
estimates that the well will take care
of 800 acres. On the $50 acres were
raised potatoes, beans, cucumbers.
watermelons, turnipS and other veg
etableS in profuSion. The yield OF
milo was estimated as high as 70
bushels per acre, and oats and barley
at 80 to 90 bushels. Sorghum grew
to a height of 10 feet. This was
planted the first of June, irrigated
three times, and cultivated. From a
31-acre field of alfalfa, sown in 1910,
four cuttings were made, averaging
about ton to the acre for each cut
ting.
This well is l30 feet deep, with "a
inch casing. The total cost, inclu-
ding pumping equipment was not far
from $500. As Mr.. Lough was a
pioneer in this, adjustments and
changes after installation added