The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1912-03-22
ECONOMICAL DISTRIBUTION
OF IRRIGATION WATER
BY l.. M. WINsoR, Utah Agricultural
College.


stration Train Lecture.
According to many historians, irri-
CATION is one of the Oldest applied
arts; one writer even claims that it
Is made distinctive feature OF the
middle status of barbarism. Ancient
Egypt became the granary of the
world as a result of natural irrigation
through the overlooking of the Nile;
through irrigation Chaldea, Assyria,
and Bahylonia, located as they were
in a practically rainless country along
the valley of the Tigris and Euph-
rates, rose to enyiable prominence and
dominion. The Chinese, the Romans
and the Moors, all made use of irriga-
ton.
In this country we find evidence of
it as practiced by the ancient inhab-
itants 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 a 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
'lry ago. This seems doubly strange
when we look into history and find
that at this time over 1873 1000, 900 acres
of land had been reclaimed by irriga-
ton 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 of
Mormon towns, but in the colonizing
OF the entire arid west.
Irrigation as an art falls into two
divisions
LIST. Irrigation as a primary art, and
End. Irrigation as a secondary art.
By the first we mean the using of
irrigation to take the place of cultiva-
ton, fertilization, and so on; and by
the second we mean the using of ir-
rtgation water merely to supplement
the natural precipitation. The latter
is the correct use of irrigation. II 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
our early irrigators was the 1ndis-
criminate use of water, with the re-
suit that thousands of acres of once
productive land have been rendered
into Veritable swamps, and aIkali
beds. The lamentable feature of 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 nefghbors, 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
for the first few years. The trouble
is that they do not 'set the brakes"
until it is too late. Once a new soil
has been moistened below the range
of the plant roots it needs great deal
less water than it required to 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 being the
case it is possible to make an econ
omical distribution of the water at
ones disposal and use it in way
which will not be detrimental to the
soil and in a 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 a 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 we? but |
how much water have 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 GU
tivated and less than 1000 square
miles or slightly under 1.25 per cent
of the total are actually irrigated.
idaho is in a similar condition.) !
What We need then most of all is a
distribution of the water in such a
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-
tons as we find them and to the in
available. In the short
time at my disposal hope to open
up d line of thought which will help