The chronicle=news., 1913-07-08

.S1 .1:S Acre-fert. ~ nearly one Acre
ft,nt Of reservoir capacity 70 reach
nero irriIatssl from airy source In
1908. The number Of pumping plants
reported WAS 1896. md the acre
asc supplied ny them t1;.s2S.
The total cost Of irritation enter.
Idisrs to July I. 1910. waa e3O7.-
xGs. .5ss. or eis.s: p~r acre 0f the
land which thesr enterprises were
capable of supplying with water In
1910. Tho increase In the items re-
iaiing TO COS, arc the most conspie.
uous. The total cost OF irritation
enterprises Increased between 1900
and 1910 by :ss.x per cent and the
average cost PER acre covered Ia.
cress~si also. although much lesa IL
degree.
California contained the largest
rumher OF farms on which irritation
was psacticed. having about ONE
fourth-:s.S per ceut-of the total
number. and Colorado the aext iarG.
ct number. nearly one-aixth-is.3
rcr ccns-os the total. while Utah
ranked third In this rcspert with
about one-cishth-i:.t pcr crat-of
tho total.
The total cost of Irrigation enter.
rriscs up to July I. 1910. was rcpor-
ted as S3o'.scs.3 .3ss. which repre-.
scnts an increase OF S:&o.sO&.OSa.
or 1888 per cent over the cost Of
reported at tho census Of 1900. In
no state In the arid resion was the
increase In cost for this period lees
than 100 per cent. the highest per.
centaEe Of increase being In North
Dakota aud the lowest In Oklahoma
With respect 10 the absolute increase
California ranked first. Colorado sec.
ond. Idaho third and Montana fourth
The year 1910 was In the midst Of
q period Of great activity In the con
struction of irrigation works. and on
July l. 1910. large number Of
works were incomplete. The cs,i
mated final cost reported. Si:&.:Sl.-
1856. Ia the sum OF the cost up e
July I and the estimated cost o.
completing these unfinished works.
l. The average cost per acre ba.ed or
the acreage irrigated In 1903 was
3??.il: that basei on the averaxc
enterprises were capable Of irrisat.
ing in 1910 was Sia.92: and that
based on the estimated total cost
and the acreage included In projects
was si3.6i.
The reports shows for all crops
reported MS irrigated an average val.
nc per aero Of S25.0S. The highest
average value per acre for crops
raised on irrigated land is that TO
Washinc'on. St?.S2. which is follow.
ed by that OF Texas. Sia.l:-exclu.
elusive Of ricc--ni that for Cali
, tornia $3.50. Wyoming shove Il the
lowest average value per acre 3i9.6I
Ar It Is to he expected. the ave 'ag
value per acre is highest In the state
with large areas OF fruits. vegetable,
"nd other specialized crops raised b
means of irrigation. while In thos"
where forage crops and grains pre-
dominate the average Ia lower.
From the report II appears that at
both census alfalfa was the leading
crop grown under irrigation, hut
that II occupied n considerably lar
ger proportion OF the total acreage
for irrigated crops In 1909 than In
1889. rhe corp next n Importance
In respect to acreage In boil, Year,
was wild. salt or prairie grasses. I"
which likewise comprised q larger
rerccnctagc OF the total In 1909 than
in 1899. Oats was third in acreage
in 1903. followed by wheat, whiie In
1899 wheat ranked third and oat.
fourth. Oats covered q much larger
percentage of the total acreage Of
irrigated crops in 1909 than 1899