Show t AN INTERE TING sssi lON tl The Farmers Convention Held at South Cottonwood THE SUBJECTS DISCUSSED Prof Fortier on the Irrigation Problem Prob-lem of Utah Th Leclslaturo ViII Bo Asked to Slake an Appropriation Butter Slaking the Plow Diseases of Domestic Animals Ani-mals and Other Timely Topics The agricultural convention just held at South Cottonwood attracted widespread wide-spread interest among the farmers of this county and the movement is bound to result in good Thelectures by the president and faculty of the agricultural agri-cultural college were timely and the important Subjects were handled in an able manner One of the most interesting features was the lecture by Prof S Fostier C E on the IRRIGATION PROBLEM OF UTAH The professor spoke as follows I feel grateful for the opportunity that has been afforded me of attending this convention Inasmuch as it enables me to say a word in favor of that most essential of all subjects irrigation irriga-tion No more fitting place could be chosen in which to discuss this subject than Salt Lake county It was in this vicinity that the early pioneers nearly half a century ago lirst tried the Si 1 eat experiment and notwithstanding the many difficulties that have been and are yet to be surpassed there is nu sane man within your borders today to-day but who will affirm that it has been a magnificent success Your 1300 IiIo well irrigated farms containing an area greater than that irrigated in any other county in the territory bear witness wit-ness in a manner that admits of no doubt as to the affectiveness of the artificial application of water to cultivated culti-vated soil While working last summer in the interests of the Agricultural College of Utah I spent a short time in your county Having little money to expend ex-pend in hiring teams I was obliged to 1 cover part of the distance on foot I and while trudging along beneath a j heavy load of instruments under a July sun I came to the conclusion that your county was large I remember remem-ber that a soft downy patch on some hillside seemed to have attractions for me and I would there sit and ponder i over the past and future prospects of II this valley In view of such difficulties difficul-ties and my brief stay I trust you will pardon me if in what I am about to say I have formed wrong conclusions A history of the irrigation development I develop-ment of this county would prove to be I the history of irrigation in Utah and as such is an inviting field to any ona Intv rented in this subject I V e see the results of the first efforts ef-forts in the roughly formed older I ditches which seem to indicate that I the projectors themselves were not very sanguine of the ultimate success of the undertaking and accordingly did not wish to put more money or labor into the scheme that would barely suffice to bring water to the farms The smaller ditches having proved in every sense a success wo next see larger corporations of farmer organized for the purpose of taking water out of the Jordan river ThQ 1 oClcers of these companies also showed their good sense and progressive spirit by engaging for a few days at least some surveyor or engineer providing he would work for 2 per day and take 1m n + hQ lth fcr hie rn mhn great mistake these < men adJ in my opinion was in not employing an engineer en-gineer all the time and holding him responsible re-sponsible for all subcontract work You would not admire that mans judgment who engages a surgeon to amputate his childs arm with the understanding un-derstanding that the surgeon shall merely cut the limb off and that the important work of tying up the veins ig and arteries arranging the ligaments f and bandaging the wound shall be 1 left to the unskilled parent to perform per-form Yet that is almost exactly what was done from an engineers standpoint stand-point on some of the Jordan canals Efficient engineers formed the outlin of the plans were suffered to drive a few stakes and then dismissed The graders then began work each one being be-ing his own engineer and taking as his guide engneer deceptive instrument instru-ment the human eye Construction work of such magnitude carried on in any such way even among skilled laborers la-borers will never be well done You well know the results on some if not all of the big Jordan canals Some of the graders felt like taking out theii share of dirt particularly if they struck a soft place and accordingly went down two or three feetbelow tho true grade line Others were not so liberal and left about as great a thickness above the gradient and all wre more or less careless In forming rmooth and even slopes along the bottom bot-tom and sides I venture to say that those little mis you have paid for all takes perhaps a score of times in the way of increased annual assessments loss of water by seeoacre and evaporation evapor-ation inability to destroy vegetable growths breaks etc gowths mistakes if I am justified in calling them such were not confined to this locality but extend throughout all of irrigated Utah I In census bulletin No 23 is given a table showing the average first cost of water per acre for the various states and territories in the arid west The four highest numbers In that table are California 1295 Utah 1055 Nevada 75S Colorado 71o I am more or less familiar with the irrigation systems of Colorado Utah and California and in comparing the above costs per acre with what each 1 of these states possesses Utah shruld r not rank second Allow me to quote from F H Newell New-ell who gives his reasons for the expenses el penses incurred in the construction of Irrigation enterprises in Utah The average first cost of water right In Utah 1055 per acre is noticeably jrreat being largely due to the manner In which the ditches and canals are made Nearly all were laid out and constructed by farmers of ordinary education edu-cation without the use of sure i Instruments As a consequence few of the more important works laid out in this manner have proved serviceable without great changes involving in many Instances the reconstruction of almost the entire system The entre perse verance shown in many of these cases Is remarkable Time after time a stctur ha been built only to re destroyed de-stroyed in a year or two Diverting dams have been placed at an enormous enor-mous outlay of time and labor in fivers fiv-ers at places where i was absolutely impossible to make such works secure using materials that must Inevitably be torn away by the next great flood Portions of canals have been built and aftgr the water was turned in the grades proved of such a character that i was necessary to adjust them again and again in order t make the water flow These changes have added fow enormously enor-mously to the first cost of Irrigation and have probably landed to bring the average above that of other parts of the country On the other hand the annual cost is remarkably low from the fact that farmers have done all the work of cleaning and making the small annual repairs necessary after the canals and ditches were in successful operation It should be noted however that the maintenance is as a general thing comparatively poor and that the main T canals and ditches receive only enough G j 4 0 b o < Dc < labor to keep the water flowing It would undoubtedly be far more economical eco-nomical to spend a larger sum annually annu-ally and thus save much water which is lost through evaporation and seep agfr due to the poor condition of the channel Mr President fear I do not possess pos-sess that vfacuity so largely developed in some of our political speakers of striving to say things that will please their audience while they are often unmindful a to the truth of their statements and yet I would not have you think me a calamity howler A low me to state therefore before I begin to criticise your irrigation systems sys-tems that I fully appreciate the exalted ex-alted position which Salt Lake county occupies in the irrigated west I I had the time and ability I might remind re-mind you of natures many gifts in the way of mild winters cool July evenings even-ings longcontinued sunshiny days unexcelled scenery and an invigorating salt sea wave to bathe in when the days work is done From an irriga tion standpoint the location could not be much improved upon Your cultivated culti-vated fields in the eastern part of the county extend well up to the base of the Wasatch from which range they are easily and cheaply watered by the numerous creeks which flow there from The middle and western portions por-tions are watered by the large canal from the Jordan and possess a soil made rich by the sediment deposited upon the bottom of what once was a greater salt lake than that which now exists I is here that they raise nine tons of alfalfa and 50 tons of sugar beets per acre This part of Utah is not for sale When I think of the 1300 irrigated farms containing 26000 acres and producing annually crops to the value of threequarters of a million dollars or at the rate af 27 per acre and comuare these figures with the best county in Idaho whose annual yield per acre is worth less than 10 per acre with the best county in New Mexico whose annual yield is worthless j worth-less than 9 per acre with the best county in Nevada whose annual yield is worth less than 15 per acre and with the best county in Wyoming whose annual yield is worth less than 13 per acre I cannot but feel proud of Utahs first born The productiveness of this vicinity is due to the application of water rather than to the fertility of the soil Without water the annual yield inmost in-most places would not be worth the harvesting I is true that land without I I with-out a water right is valuable but it is owing to its proximity to a city and not to its value for dry farming And yet notwithstanding all these facts there is every reason to believe that at least 50 per cent of the available water supply of this county is wasted You will understand that I do not refer to the high water in spring but to the July August and September flow I that fertile belt which extends from i Brigham on the north to the Jordan narrows on the south reaches as a rule II to the very base of the Wasatch range and is watered by some thirty or more mountain streams besides Ogden and Weber rivers There has been deposited depos-ited along the upper edge of this belt a vast accumulation of debris from the mountains in many places several hundred feet in depth and over this porous surface the waters from the many small canyons must flow before they reach the farms to be irrigated Last summer I made a large num ber of tests to determine approximate ly at least the percentage of water that was lost through seepage and ard evaporation in these mountain streams while flowing from the canyons to the various farms which they watered Let I me give you the result of one or two I of these tests which are characteristic tic of all Near the eastern boundary of Weber county there is a canyon with its accompaning creek which flows through some of the richest agricultural ricultural land of that county but its only crop is dwarf oak I remember of going up to measure this creek in June of 90 but the volume was so great that I could not make any meas urement I went up again in January of 91 and there was not enough to irrigate ir-rigate Temple square Last July I visited it again and found the creek bed dry at its mouth A few hundred feet within the canyon I found a lit tle water which gradually increased until I came to a spring onequarter of a mile farther up This I measured and found to be threefourths of a cubic cu-bic foot per second Above this spring the creek bed was again dry but the water soon appeared and I traced it on for a haH mile or more and obtained ob-tained by measurement 13 cubic feet making a total of 214 cubic feet enough to irrigate 200 acres whose yield might readily sell for 5000 Take another an-other case in Davis county ani by the way if Davis county is In urgent need of anything it is water Nearly east of KaysviUe Hayht crcelc emerges from the mountains and likes scores of others it is allowed to flow over coarse gravelly materials down a steep descent to water the farms below hut only a fraction reaches the farms By a series of measurements taken last July I found the loss to be fully 50 per cent in flowing to the middle section sec-tion In this county you have beginning begin-ning at the north City creek Butte creek Emmigration creek Parleys creek Mill creek and the Cottonwoods Cotton-woods all mountain streams torrents in May and June but of insufficient flow in August and September and each one losing its large percentage of the vital fluid from the time it leaves Its rocky bed in the canyon until un-til it enters the furrow of the irrigator irriga-tor Let me tell you also that this loss Is in nearly every case permanent that Is when the water once sinks on the high slopes of these valleys it seldom comes again to the surface at an elevation ele-vation high enough to be again util ized Then again nearly all the ditches leading from these creeks are I very steep Time and again I have been L afraid of getting the current meter me-ter broken by the small rocks borne by the rapid current I is impossible for any sediment to coat the sides and bottom of these ditches they are more porous now than when first constructed con-structed At Wilard in Box Elder county they paved their ditches with cobble rock filling the spaces with clay and crude lining saves them hundreds of dollars worth of water annually an-nually I do not claim that we can save and utilize all of the available water supply sup-ply but I do assert that we can add annually to Utahs agricultural products pro-ducts at least 1000000 by a comparatively compar-atively small expenditure in the way of reconstructing old ditches lining the same with clay puddle concrete rock and lumber or by pipes which will prove most economical in the end Take your Little Cottonwood for example there are I believe about thirteen I ditches in all taking water from that creek varying in length from a mile or two to eight or ten and over but only five have prior rights that is the remaining seven with all the numerous farms under them may be left dry before the end of July I do not question ques-tion the right of these prior ditch companies to the use of the water They were the first users and are entitled to their average annual amount but in connection with what I have just said another question arises namely can I as the owner of a primary water right take all the water ut of a stream and waste one half in conveying it to my lands while my neighbor who owns a secondary sec-ondary right suffers all the hardships attendant upon the loss of the water There is likely to be trouble in the future over this matter It appears however t be a problem for the hydraulic engineer rather than the courts The amount of waste must be t accurately determined as well as the I cost t be incurred in its prevention The Romans solved this question 1500 years ago for we find in the Justinian I codes that the owner of a waterright though having held It from time immemorial im-memorial had no right to use it wastefully i waste-fully t6 the Injury of others I have called your attention to only I 1 one source of loss of irrigation waters I time permitted many more le k J > 0 t 0 i 10 C t 0 in our available water supply might be shown up Inasmuch however as I am addressing an audience composed almost entirely of Salt Lake county agriculturalists I wish to glance atone at-one more cause of loss before I pass 1 on to the next problem The irrigation engineer who surveys the many canals taken out of the Jordan river and their close proximity to each other is reminded of the church buildings in some of the smaller eastern towns Each denomination Roman Catholic Episcopalian Methodist Presbyterian Baptist Congregational and a number of others must erect a church edifice of some kind although the number of worshippers be few The desire of each particular denomination to fight the devil single handed involves an immense loss in what we might term first cost and annual operating expenses ex-penses In my rambles over this vicinity last summer I learned that you had at least five canals taking water from the Jordan three on the west and two on the east and that some ran nearly parallel to each other and only the width of a few farms apart Upon inquiry I learned that the annual cost for maintainance and repairs on each canal varied all the way from 50 cents to 2 per acre per annum This conclusion may be wr nj and if so I trust some of you will show wherein it is erroneous but I could not help thinking then and am of the same opinion still that it was much to be deplored that you could not merge the five canals into two one on each bank of the Jordan and the money and labor which are now expended pended in striving to maintain five canals could all be devoted to two which would make of them the best and most impervious ditches in the ountry This may prove too i difficult a problem for our generation I genera-tion to solve but there can be no harm done in thinking over it and it may be that our children will satisfactorily complete the work which I we begin However this may be there I I is no question as to the immense amount of loss through seepage and evaporation from so many canals I was this object in view namely the determination of the amount of loss I from these causes that I made during dur-ing the past season something like fifty measurements at the various lateral lat-eral headgates of the Utah and Salt Lake canal The waste of water on this one canal along the main trunk not to speak of the loss from similar causes among the lateral ditches amounted to about an even 20 per cent or something like 35 feet enough to I I irrigate under skilful management perhaps 3000 acres of land Mr PresidentI am reminded that some one has put me down on the pro gramme to deal with the Irrigation Problem of Utah and I have already spent most of my time in one little county of Utah and on one little subject sub-ject namely waste of water This great problem the most important in Utah today still remains unsolved but I trust that an opportunity will be afforded af-forded me of appearing before you at some future time to take up another phase of the question There is the storage of surplus waters of the territory terri-tory a full discussion of which might occupy the entire time at the disposal of this convention In connection with this theme I wish to remind you that that immense tract of fertile land lying ly-ing above the Utah and Salt Lake canal comprising perhaps 30000 acres will some day support more than horned toads and Jack rabbits The admirable facilities which exist on the sources of the Cottonwoods to store water will be utilized and we may see in the near future a hgh line canal taken around by Draperville from the Cottonwoods to water this immense tract or it maybe may-be that the stored water will be conducted con-ducted from its mountain channel through an inverted siphon stretching across this valley and raising the water on the other side of Jordan far above the level of yoU highest I canals or it may be raised by centrifugal centri-fugal pumps The division of water might be taken I as the text to preach a prettylengthy irrigation sermon upon There is not only the apportionment of the flow in a particular canal among the various water right owners in proportion pro-portion to the number of shares owned by each taker but there is the more serious undertaking of making an equable division of the creeks and rivers to the various ditches taking water therefrom Then again we have confronting us the judicial settlement set-tlement of thousands of claims to water rights Comparatively few of the irrigators of Utah possess an absolute abso-lute title to their water This is a matter mat-ter which comes home to most of us We would ask that the water the one essential element in profitable farm ing in this region and the one for which we have tolled from youth to manhood and from manhood to old age to possess be adjudicated In other words we desire t acquire as absolute abso-lute a title to the water which is ours by right of prior appropriation appropria-tion and continued use a we now possess in our lands so that our last hours upon this earth may not be made miserable by the thought that litigation may deprive our families fami-lies of the mainstay of their existence their water supply Now you will readily perceive that on all the different sides of this great irrigation problem that I have touched upon the crying need is for more accurate ac-curate information The very foundation founda-tion of irrigation legislation has yet to be laid in Utah legislation that will be adapted not to a particular section or community but to the whole of the territory To attain this end we must I ascertain the needs of all the people I and when these wants together with i I all the physical data that can be collected i col-lected are before us we can then compare I com-pare the various irrigation laws in the states around us and with this full i knowledge and upon such a broad foundation we may frame our irrigation irriga-tion laws I t0n it is at present when a Utah man is asked some important question relating re-lating to this art which has made the territory famous he has too often to reply that he does not know He asks the questioner however to write to a I man who lives in Washington D C who may be able to give the desired information What is your available water supply We dont know The Washington man measured a few streams but hundreds have never been measured Is not the water supply by far the most valuable part of Utahs possessions Yes we are irrigating now about 270000 acres but if we had plenty of water we could irrigate ten times that amount What is the duty of water in Utah In other words how many acres will a continuous flow I of one cubic foot per second irrigate We dont know the Washington man I thinks he knows but he seems to be mistaken Wht are the facilities here for storing water We dont know the Washington man pointed out a few that in his opinion were excellent I How much water is wasted every season seas-on in Utah owing to seepage in badly built ditches evaporation and carelessness I careless-ness in applying it to land We dont know anything as to the amount of this loss for on this subject the Washing ton man has been mute Now as a matter of fact you cant expect much from Uncle Sam He has been quite diligent in the past prying into Utah affairs but it has not been on matters pertaining to irrigation And yet in justice to the national government gov-ernment it must be said that about the only reliable data that we now possess of the water supply of this territory ter-ritory has been collected by F H Newell of the Geological Survey This work however is practically stopped and it may never be renewed We must rely therefore wholly upon our own exertions I Gentlemen in conclusion I beg of you to consider well your personal interests by striving in every way possible pos-sible to solve this one great problem PETITION TO THE LEGISLATURE In lice with this lecture the follow ing resolution was unanimously adopted unanimously Resolved That i is the sense ofl this convention that a small appropriation appropri-ation be tmade by our legislature at its next session to ascertain the probable proba-ble available water supply of Utah u Q a < c p a the main causes of loss in irrigation waters the probable amount of lana < that might be reclaimed by drainage and to render some assistance to the farmers in the measurement and division di-vision of their water supply BUTTER MAKING Butter Making on the Farm was the subject of F B Linfields talk The gentleman said that the raw product or milk should be in the best condition con-dition possible well strained immediately immedi-ately after milking Great care and cleanliness should be exercised during milking In skimming the milk the shallow pan and creamers are most used To get the best results the milk in shallow pans should be set soon after milking in a pure atmosphere atmos-phere and skim before the milk gets thick I In Jthe creamers the milk should be set immediately after milking milk-ing and cooled quickly to about 41 degrees F by means of ice water or cold running water placed in the tank in which the milk is immersed Skim from twelve to twentyfour hours Never add fresh cream to cream about to be churned Ripen the cream before be-fore churning by warming to about 65 degrees F twenty our hours b3 fore churning and allowing i to get slightly acid Churn often at least I twice a week in summer and once al I week in winter The churning temperature ranges I from 55 degrees F to 70 decrees F varying with the season of the year the food of the cows and the length of time the cows have been milking Churn at such a temperature as will bring the butter in twenty minutes to thirty minutes Stop churning when the butter is about half the size of wheat grains drain off the buttermilk and wash with two waters about 50 decrees to 6Q degrees Use fine salt only and just enough to suit the customer from threefourths to one ounce to one nound of butter work the butter as little as possible to mix the salt and remove excess of water Put up the butter for market in as neat and attractive a way as possible possi-ble and take to market in the neatest possible package Cleanliness anc carefulness all through and aim to Bianco the Mitomr are the main points to guide us THE PLOW President Sanborns subject was The Relation of the Plow to the Development De-velopment of Agriculture and of Civilization ization The lecture was illustrated by the use of the stereoptican Plows O the various stages were shown beginning with the first plowa crooked root or tree drawn by womenand ending with the modern steam plow The speaker showed that the plow was the basis of commerce the first plow ushering in commerce througlj the production of the materials of exchange ex-change The first permanent home waa established by the plowed field The home is the nucleus of virtue and the corner stone of national life of organized organ-ized and stable government The speaker showed the first plow that inverted the sward made last century and ascribed to Thomas Jefferson Jef-ferson the elaboration of the mechanical mechan-ical princinles of plow construction Not until 1840 did the wooden plow dis apnear in the most advanced nation and with the evolution of the cast iron plow began the Deriod of the most rapid growth of civilization ADVANTAGES OF DAIRYING Professor LInfield summed up the advantages of dairying as follows FirstIt keeps up the fertility of the soil by keeping the plant food on the farm as dairy prdducts such as butter but-ter cheese and milk take much less from the soil then coarse fodder or grain SecondDairy products can be marketed mar-keted with less expense than the coarse products as the dairy goods contain much value in a little weight and weight always adds to expense of transportation ThirdThe price obtained for dairy goods is relatively greater than for any other farm products as we find that dairy goods command as high a price here or higher than in the east while other products are less Points to be imp ved Better cows are wanted Find out what the cows are doing by weighing the milk say once a week throughout the milking season weed out the poor cows and keep only the best A good cow should produce from 5000 to 6000 pounds of milk in a year Develop the heifer young and milk the cows for ten months of the year The cows should be comfortably fed and well houajd Cooperation or the factory system of manufacturing butter or cheese will save very much labor on the farm and will give a uniform product which always al-ways commands the best price in the marketINJURIOUS INJURIOUS INSECTS Professor E S Richman gave a talk on injurious insects and how to treat them A short description was given of the different stages of the insects life pointing out the stages of life when they are most injurious and when they may be most readily destroyed de-stroyed The difference in the way different insects take their food was described and the necessity of attacking at-tacking different insects in different ways I was shown that biting insects may be destroyed by the application of poisonous solutions but that insects in-sects which take their food by sucking it from the interior of the leaves or other portions of the plant must be tilled by solutions or other substances that kill be contact The codling moth was taken up somewhat minutely and described the methods of destroying it commented upon DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS S S Twomley D V S of the Agricultural Agri-cultural college delivered a lecture on the causes prevention and treatment of the disease of domestic animals He spoke of the importance of the subject sub-ject to the farmer stated that these diseases were largely due to the treat ment and care domestic animals received re-ceived from the hands of the owner The influence of the parents on the health of the offspring was discussed and the statement made that 90 percent per-cent of the bone diseases of horses are inherited The opinion was advanced that wolf teeth and lampas caused much more disturbance in the mind of the owner than on the system of the colt Colic founder conjestion pneumonia etc were taken up their causes prevention and treatment discussed dis-cussed The methods of handling sick animals ani-mals was treated and criticised and proper methods indicated The paper drew forth considerable discussion and many questions from the audience ON FRUIT A short discussion of the growth and marketing of the stone fruit was given giv-en by E S Richman I was shown that Utah possessed advantages for their production that California her principal competitor does not possess The methods of growth care and the different methods of preparing the fruits for market were brought out and the advantages and disadvantages of each pointed out I was maintained maintain-ed that the farmer should grow such crops as would bring him the best returns re-turns and that fruit growing was a subject that deserved consideration Apricots peaches plums prunes and cherries were spoken of and the spec al location as to soil and climate of each was described The subject of pruning was especially mentioned asa as-a very important point not only to giye the tree proper shape but also as a means of securing fine fruit and therefore better prices ON FARMING Prof J W Sanbon closed the session ses-sion with a brief address upon the essentials in a successful system of farming Referring to the address of Bishop Heber he said that he joined him in the high encomiums upon the resources and advantages of Utah The ages had fattened the soils of our valfeys and on such soils map should j t F > grow broad and generous Our rugged mountains would associate with such impuls strength and sublimity of character He had one criticism to make on the farmers of Utah The injunction of Genesis to Till and keep It had been overlooked The soil was not being keptthe crops of Utah being be-ing on the decrease while the price of produce was going down No class of men could live on vanishing incomes without drawing in on themselves Our agriculture will never be above our ideal and our ideal will never be broader than our intelligence Agriculture Agri-culture was becoming the profoundest in the intelligence required in its prosecution pros-ecution required a broadening out of views and methods In answer to a question the audience gave the speaker 10 as the average income per acre of land tilled and the net revenue as practically prac-tically nothing Using this as a basis the speaker laid out a scientific line of farming with the products to be expected ex-pected and developed a line of farming farm-ing based on crop rotation and good method all along the line that gave an average several times as great per acre as that now represented as prevailing pre-vailing which while subject to greater expenses left a good balance sheet while present methods revealed very unsatisfactory results Many questions followed the address These sessions have been well attended at-tended and most closely listened to Short sharp questions in abundance answered clearly and briefly have characterized them They have been very wideawake In response to a vote of thanks to the experiment station and Agricultural Agricul-tural college of Utah for this meeting President Sanborn who is familiar with such meetings in the east expressed ex-pressed his great gratification at the high character of the audience and their questions and said the institution institu-tion that he was representing was at the service of the state and ready to aid in any direction within its sphere |