| Show PRACTICAL irrigation IT THE WEST when I 1 commenced trying irrigation farming eight years ago I 1 made as many blunders as an it to ie possible to make or on acres of land A man who abo has baa never dever had bad experience la in irrigation will always guess wrong my farm is ia just one quarter of a mile wide I 1 have a main aitch running down each side bide the entire length of the ranch with a good wagon road running right down the center parallel with the ahe ditches I 1 run my irrigating laterals literals late rals out from these two main ditches as aa jar ar as aa the road giving just juet fall enough to make too toe water move my small furrows are sixty lest feet abarr lout but where the fall jot Is less lees the ditches could easily be placed feet from each other lo in preparing the land in this way the surface between the ditches can be made perfectly smooth I 1 find that barrels ot of water will irrigate one acre of land A stream three leet feet wide and six inches deep with a current running three miles an hour is a good head of water for one man anan to handle and will irrigate about ten cen acres in twelve hours my crops gd 20 very nearly twenty days from one irrigation to another but every fifteen or sixteen days would be better of course I 1 cultivate after each irrigation to keep up our community ditch costs an average of 1 an screw acre each year irrigation is not act near the expense that some seem to 0 o abing it costs we me 16 15 cents an aa acre to irrigate each time I 1 notice that in some bome localities it is 18 still the practice to irrigate both day and night dight I 1 formerly dul did so BO but now have a small email reservoir into which I 1 run the water at night in order to have a good head for the following day A man cannot do good work in night irrigation farming by irrigation with a good water privilege beats farming arming in the rainy countries tor for many reasons we got get better prices for or what we produce and the harvesting Is in not dot disturbed by rainfall speaking from noy my own ex per pet leuce farming in the ariu arid region to la a profitable bue bus ineer luese I 1 hava nava out oat ml 88 tons of alfalfa hay bay from bel acres of land I 1 out cut alfalfa tabrae phrae during the season in ear further development of the mountain region can only be by means of storage res re in our section sect iori we have a two twe reservoir that la Is a success J think we can successfully rt utilize the flood waters in the tain region they come with violence and carry so BO much bed aadi and driftwood that a reservoir so BO n be filled up there are many mountain a that run a rood good beau of water wa early winter until may or june are the streams I 1 would select 10 storage reservoir irrigation ta farm A is ii tage acme of scientific agreci agri coHl and its glorious results now justi justify fir tremendous efforts in capital is gence and labor put forth by the gation pio pioneers ex |
