The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1912-04-26
ECONOMICAL DISTRIBUTION
Of IRRIGATION WATER
BY L. N. WiNsOR, Utah Agricultural
College.

nlLS, one writer even claims that II
IL made a distinctive feature OF the
middle status OF barbarism. Ancient
Egypt became the granary of the
world as result of natural irrigation
through the overlooking of the Nile;
through irrigation Chaldea. Assyria
and Babylonia, located AS they were
In practically rainless country along
the valley of the Tigris and Euph
rates, rose to enviable prominence and
dominion, The Chinese, the Roman
and the Moors, all made use Of irriga
ton.
In this country we find evidence OF
1t as practiced by the ancient inhab-
hants Of this continent and later in
the gardens Of the old mission fathers
of southern California. Numerous
other examples to prove the import
ance of irrigation as factor IN ma
BODYBUILDING might be cited but to
the Anglo Saxon race the art had its
birth but little more than half a cen.
fury ago. This seems doublN strange
when we look into history and find
that at this time over 1873 000. 900 acres
OF land had been reclaimed by irr ga
tion in different parts of the world.
Perhaps this can be explained on the
theory that the Germanic peoples
have always written history much
faster than they have read it.
However this may be, the first at.
tempt by the Anglo-Saxons to re-
claim the arid wastes of land was
made in the summer of 1847, in the
Salt Lake valley by little band Of
Mormon pioneers. To them we owe
the birth of the modern art OF irriga-
ton, and the working out Of the co.
operative system as we have it in
practice today.
The irrigation contagion soon
spread and became not only the gov
erning factor In the establishing or
Mormon towns, but in the colonizing
Of the entire arid west.
Irrigation as an art falls into two
divisions:
LIST. Irrigation as primary art, ard
End. irrigation as secondary art
BY the first we meau the using of
irrigation to take the place OF cultiva-
ton, fertilization, and so on; and by
the second we mean the using OF IT.
rigation water merely to supplement
the natural precipitation. The latter
is the correct use of irrigation. N a
farmer uses dry farm methods along
with his practice of irrigation he can
not go far wrong.
One OF the grave mistakes made by
eur early irrigators was the lnds-
eriminate use of water, with the re-
cult that thousands of acres of once
productive land have been rendered
INTO veritable swamps. and alkali
beds. The lamentable feature or this
question is the fact that with our
sixty odd years OF experience some OF
our farmers are still following these
erroneous methods, and are running
not only their own farms but those OF
their unfortunate neighbors, by a too
liberal and careless application OF
water. This is especially true in some
OF the newer sections where a more
or less heavy application is needed
Tor the first few years. The trouble
is that they do not set the brakes"
until IL is too late. Once new soil
has been moistened below the range
OF the plant roots it needs a great deal
less water than 1t required 10 begin
with, the actual amount for the ma
turing Of any certain crop will vary
only with the seasons cultivation. and
so on being the same. This be ng the
case 1t is possible to make an econ
omical distribution OF The wafer at
ones disposal and use it in way
which will not be detrimental 10 the
SOIL and in way to result In the
greatest returns to those concerned.
This question is one of prime import
ance to the farmers in this arid region
and too much stress cannot be laid
upon it,
Situated as we are in section
where the rain and snowfall is very
low, we are dependent almost abso-
lutely upon irrigation water to in
crease our agricultural possibilities.
The farming lands are almost unlim
tied within the borders of our states,
but there is a decided limit to the
water supply. The question then. is
not how much land have we9 but
how much water nave We at our dis
posal?
The State of Utah represents an
area of over $4,000 square miles, OF
which only LOO square miles are cul-
tvated and less than 1000 square
miles or slightly under 1875 per cent
OF the total are actually irrigated
Idaho is in a similar condition.
What We need then most of all is 8
distribution of the water in such O.
way that the greatest possible re.
turns can be obtained. The problem
Is not difficult of solution If we only
apply ourselves to a study of condi-
lions as we find them and to the in
formation available. In the short
time at my disposal | hope to open
up line of thought which will help
some Of you in your work: for. after
all. each of your individual problems