Omaha daily bee., 1911-01-24
Irrigated Lands
Attract Settlers at
the Land Show
], W. Fitzgerald Tells of the Work of
Irrigation in the Arkansas Valley
in Colorado.

The Nepesta ditch ano reservoir lands
are represented by a display at the Land
Show which places emphasis on the adj
vantage of farming irrigated lands. The
booth is in charge Of J. w. Fitzgerald OF
Omaha.
There is no soil more fertile than these
lands in the Arkansas river valley" said
Mr.. Fitzgerald, mot only because it is in
Its virgin state, but also because the
natural chemical salts which nature origin
ally put there for plant food have not been
drenched and leached out by centuries of
heavy rainfall, as is largely true in the
case of humid climates. This is not
theory; the heavier yield Of crops here as
compared with those of wet climates ac-
tusly proves IT,
The right amount Of water applied at
the right time Is rarely possible in a
humid country where rainfall is relied
upon. II makes no difference how rich a
soil is or how excellent in other respects
unless a crop receives the right amount of
moisture at the right stages Of It's growth
a heavy yield cannot be expected. TOO
much moisture at the wrong time Is Just
as bad as too little at the right time. II
is estimated that even In the most favored
humid sections the average yield could he
I doubled were Il not for the uncertainty
and the uneven distribution of the rainfall
during the growing season. Water is,
therefore, wealth in any country. but it's
highest value depends upon being able to
apply it Just when 1t is most needed and
to keep It off wien II is not needed a
good storage system does this very thing.
I II corrects the fckleness OF the skies by
gathering up the rains and the SHOWS in
! times Of plenty and distributing them for
use in times of drouth and scarcity II
concentrates the precipitation over a large
area for a long period of time to be ap,
piled upon a comparatively very small area
at Just the right time. 1t Is water insur-
ance and therefore crop insurance
The storage and ditch system under
which this land is located, we have no
hesltancy In saying. Is one of the best to
be found in this valley. The drainage area
! tributary TO it is more than 1000 square
miles, composed of territory for the most
part high, rough and mountainous, where
both the precipitation and the run-off are
much greater than on the plains. The
! two reservoirs Nos. l and 2. are jointly
supplied from three streams, namely, the
| Chic"sa creek, the Doyle Arroyo and the
Huerfano river. Immense feeder bitches
have beer constructed to convey the water
into these storage basins The combined
carrying capacity of these feeder bitches
is about $500 cubic feet per second OF time
or sufficient capacity to store 5.6OO acre
feet of water In twenty-four hours The
| available storage capacity OF the two
reservoirs is 1900 acre feet. These bitches.
| running fun three days out OF the entire
/ year, will store this amount of water,
which is sufficient to supply every acre
Of the 10000 acres under the system with a
quota Of one and one half acre feet OF
water at one filling; that IT, enough water
| to cover every acre one and one-half feet
deep, which, with the natural rainfall, is
considered ample, although II more Is
drawn out as It is needed the reservoirs
can be partially refilled from time to time. I"