The Ordway new era., 1911-07-14
PROBLEM OF WATER
Few Farms Provided by Nature
With Exact Amount Needed.
Il Will 30 Found There 10 often TOO
Much or Too Littie-only Remeoy
10 to Drain the land-orav'ty
system Most Favored.

There is hardly a farm anywhere
which Is provided by nature with Jus'
the exact amount Of water for Tue
production OF the most satislac'o's
crop. There Is just as often too mucn
az there is too little water; moreover
at lines Of the year when the prec.p'
tation Is at its maximum the "a.ei
bench rises In the soil until 1t actuahS
browns out and destroys the vegeta'
tiou It Is supposed to feed; the on'y
way to cure this Is to drain the iaho
30 as to draw the level Of water down
to point where 1t will do no damage.
This work is done either by ditcnes
or piping and care must be taken ho'
to draw the water of too much. III
ferent crops require OF course oihe'
ent amounts OF water. but as generaI
proposition the water should not Dc
drawn any lower so the roots OF plants
are able to reach 1t and draw II up
for their nourishment, says the lrrisa-
tion Age. Such drainage water shouio
be made use Of again for land lying
| at a lower elevation as 1t has many
rich salts in solution necessary LOT
ulant food which 1t took up while
standing in the soil: thus the water
drained from one farm may be used
to irrigate and enrich another farm
A gravity system OF drainage Is nat
urally preferable as its operation cost
is practically nothing. There are how
ever, localities where there Is no nat
ural drainage and in such case the sur
plus water must be pumped. In such
case the cost OF pumping must be con-
sidered. and If 1t can be worked SO as
to store the water in reservoir SO
as to use 1t when the ground needs
irrigation the pumps are doing double
duty as their work in draining the
land Is the first step toward irriga-
ton as we'll.
1t may be truly said that the arts OF
irrigation and drainage are just now
beginning to be developed, and that
the next decade will see a tremen-
dous advance in this direction.
The time will come when all the
land that can be irrigated by gravity
plan will have been taken up. and then
the reclamation of further land will
necessarily depend on the ability OF
raising water from the deep. This
will also include such lands as are
now watered by artesian wells which
deliver water under a head at present.
but the time will come when the
pressure diminlshes and that water
will also have to be pumped. The ques.
ton whether 1t will pay to irrigate
land by pumping the necessary water
will depend on a good many circum'
stances which should be carefully con-
sidered. AS general proposition the
government should be first consulted
regarding the geological formation.
quantity and quality Of ground water
supply in the region under considera,
ton. next the condition OF the soil
should be established. which Is best
done by taking samples at different 10.
calities and depths and have them an
alyzed in the various experiment sta.
tions. From this Information an ap.
proximate estimate of the cost of
pumping can be made. But the propo.
sition is always one of more or less
uncertainty. as no one can definitely
state whether a subterranean water
supply Is permanent. like an under
ground river. or whether 1t is just a
pocket. For this reason the govern
ment should devote more work and
money to the establishment OF hy-
draulic Information in the various
states. especially in the arid and semi,
arid regions.