Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-04-08
TELLS THE STORY
OF IRRIGATION
TIME following account of the his
tory of irrigation, written by

- AHOISt ". o0niOids o0pti inttIu-
ent of the Sun River project, appears
in the last issue of the Ne% Reclama-
ton Era:
Montana has been struggling with irri-
cation for something over two generations.
The area now under the ditch is about
2.usO .OtA acres and the chief problem now
confronting irrigation development is first
10 complete the projects that have been
started ana then secure the settlers who
will bring these farms up to the highest
state of cultivation.
Possibly you may think that we are
trying 10 travel an unblazed trail in this
Irrigation work. hut II you do think so you
are mistaken for irrigation is one of the
oldest arts practiccd by the human race.
In fact, the world was Graded under the
ditch and the Oldest known civilization was
developed in countries where irrigation was
necessary for the production Of crops.
Egypt was blessed with the annual over
flow Of the Nile. and because of this flood
irrigation, supplemented by water stored In
pools at the time the river was high, won
derful crops were produced. Herodotus
tells MS that the Egyptians-
Obtain the fruits of the field with less
trouble than any other people in the world,
since they have no need to break up the
ground with the pillow, nor to use the hoe,
nor TO do any Of the work which the rest
of mankind find necessary If they are to
get n crop: but the husbandman waits till
the river has, Of its own accord, spread
'llSelW over the ueluS anu MltHuEdWH d-dln
to its bed, and then SONS his plot of
ground. after which he has only to await
the harvest
Good crops brought about a rapid in
crease in the population and Il mighty ma
ton grew up on the banks of the Nile
which suhjugated the adjoining nations and
tribes and brought the captives back to
till the soil and perform the hard tasks for
their conquerors.
Bible References
The Bible has frequent references to
irrigation, and we read in Deuteronomy
For the land, whittier thou goest in to
possess it, is not as the land of Egypt,
from whence We came out, where thou
Isowedst the seed, and wateredst 1t with
thy foot, as a garden of herbs:
but the lald. whittier We go to possess
it. is a land of hills and valleys. and drink
eth water Of the rain of heaven
1T is self evident that the promised land
that Moses was talking about was a land
where crops could be raised without irriga-
ton. but one well may ask what is meant
by watering the ground with thy foot for
ii certainly sounds like a queer way to ir-
rigate. In those countries the irrigation
shovel was not a common tool, at least not
as common as it is on the farms in this
country and W. have a right to assume that
it was unknown in the time of Moses. The
irrigation farmer In those days went 'lare-
foot, and when he wanted to turn the water
from one plot into another, or from his
farm ditch. what better way than to break
down the bank with the foot and thus turn
the water on to a new part Of the farm?
This same method is in use today Just as
it was several thousand years ago.
Babylon was the center of a large irrt-
gated area, and we know from. what little
remains today that ages ago the country
must have been covered with a network Of
canals.
Had Strict Laws
zone naturally wonders if there were en-
gineers in those days who designed the
canals and determined what the fall per
mile should be and how much water each
landowner was entitled to have. This we
do know. that their canal systems were
an important factor in the life of the ma
tion and laws have been found which In
some respects are In advance of the irriga-
ton code Of Montana. King Hammurabi
ruled over Babylon about 1000 years ago
and he left inscribed on a large diorite
boulder what is known as the code of Ham
murabi the Just. These laws cover a great
many subjects and among them is that of
irrigation and after reading them we draw
the conclusion that the same troubles ex-
listed in those days that are found on all,
or nearly all, of our projects at the pres
ent time. Here are some sections of his
irrigation code:
"'If anyone is too lazy to keep his bikes
in order and fails to do so, and IL a breach
is made in his dixie and the fields have
been flooded with water, the man in whose
dixie the breach was opened shall replace
the grain which he has destroyed.
"If he is not able to replace the grain
he and his property shall be sold, and the
people whose grain the water carried off
shall share the proceeds.
eff anyone opens his irrigation canals
to let in water, but Is careless and the
water floods the field of his neighbor, he
shall measure out grain to the latter in
proportion to the yield of the neighboring
field
There can he no doubt that these laws
were very effective in preventing c%arless-
ness in handling water, and some of us can
recall the time when similar laws would
have had a very good influence in elimin-
ating troubles on our present-day projects,
although our ideas of right and Justice
would hardly permit the sale of a man to
make good the destruction of crops.
King Took Hand
"lt is evident that a king in those days
had a good many affairs to which he had to
give his personal attention and among
Others Il seems that operation and main
~tenance work came under his supervision
FOR we find letters written 40 centuries ago
that read a good deal like the instructions
of today. Letter writing In those days
was quite an art, and, although 1t required
a much longer time than 1t does today, the
writings are still in perfect condition,
which Is something that may not be true
of our letters 1000 years hence. Clay cyl
inders we're prepared on which were in
scribed the cuneiform characters and then
baked. The translation of these letters
makes some very interesting reading. Here
is one that Hammurabi wrote to one Of
his subordinates-possibly a superintend.
ent In charge of some division of a project
Ito Sin-Idinnam: Thus saith Hammu.
rabbi.
1.-The whole canal was dug but IL was
not dug clear into Erech, so that water does
; not come into the city. Also the bank OF
the Duru canal has fallen In. This labor
is not too much for the people at thy COM
mand to do in three days. Directly upon
z receipt of this writing dig the canal with
) all the people at thy command clear into
3 the city of Erech, within three days. AS
soon as thou has dug the canal do the work
which / have commanded thee
"In the art of letter writing we must
admit that Hammurabi ranks high II the
; above quotation is q sample OF his work
1t is brief and to the point and there is q
sound to 1t that does not permit any argu.