297. Publication material supporting irrigation research, 1934

n

d

i. ,J t

·-

<'

i\N

EVENING THOUGHT

Keep thee far from a false matter: and the innocent and righteous sla:y thou not: for I DJill not justify !he DJicked.-Exodus 23:7.

"'

:{. :{.

Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits

them ali.-Oiiver Wendell Holmes.

GOV'T MAY ABANDON

FARr-.1 IRRIGATION STUDY

The national budget for 1935 eliminates all

provisions for the study of irrigation problems.

Other items under the Bureau of Agricultural

En-gineering remain substantially unchanged, but the

appropriation for the Irrigdn D

i

vi s i o n w a s

deleted by the director of the budget.

The committee on Agricultural appropriations,

which is now holding bearings, may be prevailed

upon to reinsert thia item for farm irrigation in

the budget; otherwise, federal research dealing

with the problems of irrigated farms will ter·

minate in June, 1934.

It seems strange that while the Government

bas embarked on an extensive program of

water-shed protection to conserve water supplies, and

is buildin1 Hoover Dam and other structures to

store water, that no help is to be given the farmer

who must use this water and grow the crops under

these developments.

The folly of such a program of eliminating

research in irrigation problems is more apparent,

also, when it is remembered that thruout history

no great irrigated area has remained permanently

productive. The future of the irrigated West

de-pends upon enlightened research into.. the

causes-of these failures and the continuous vigil against

practices that eventually sap the vitality of a com·

{

munity.

To abandon irrigation research is to

1

abandon progress.

\

As the eastern and central States are not yet

\

particularly interested in irrigation, any

move-ment to wipe out the work of the Division of

Irrigation must be considered a direct attack upon

western agriculture. The research work will ter·

minate in June unless vigorous protest is made.

The Pomona valley is a part of the Southwest,

the development of which is absolutely based

upon the success of this research work, and it is

up to us to inform the East and the officials of

the government that the abandonment of the

study of farm irrigation problema would

consti-tute one of the costliest m i s t a k e s t h a t could

poasibly

be

made.

ANOTHER MILESTONE

FOR POl\10NA CHAMBER

Another milestone has been passed by the Pomona Chamber of Commerce and, in recognition of this event, mem· bers and officials of the organization met last night for the an· nual dinner.

During the past year Pomona, like every other city in

the land, has had difficult economic and social problems. The Chamber has played a bigger part in the solution of these problems and in keeping the tide of affairs running smoothly than has been generally realized. The work of the organiza· tion may not have stood out so clearly before the public eye, but its value has been none the less real and its existence never more vital to the community.

The position of president of the Chamber is a trying one. It requires a great deal of time, patience, and marked executive ability. The community, therefore, owes a debt of gratitude to the retiring president, Allen P. Nichols. No president of the Chamber has been more sincere or more faith·

ful and untiring in his efforts to make the work of the organi-zation effective for the community's welfare. He is to be

warmly congratulated upon the fine service which he has rendered.

His work as president was concluded last night when he turned the gavel over to the new head, W.

E.

Campbell, local Southern Pacific agent.

Since coming to Pomona several years ago, Mr. Camp· bell has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Chamber. His faith and confidence in the future development of this valley

and his enthusiastic belief that it is destined to be one of the most important centers of the southland has entitled him to this honor.

While he lllas named to the position bJ) ihe directors, it is reall:y an honor conferred b:y the community, for the Chamber of Commerce is the one single organization in which all loyal residents of the valle)) have an opportunitJ) to worle.

The Chamber constitutes a rallying point for all activities

that make for the welfare of this community.

It

should be a

guiding star directing the forces of the community to bigger and better things. Without such an organization, any city j

would miss a great deal, for it is true today as it has always

been that "without vision, the people perish." ~ ~ ~ ~

PAGE FOUR

I

FRIDAY, January 19, 1934

As We See It

-By One of

Us-The recent severe rain storm gave many of the conservation projects, constructed in Southern California during the past 20 years, their first real test.

'l'he tlams in >;an Gabriel, Dalton, 'l'hompson's Live Oak and San Dimas canyons, the Puduingstone dam and many other projects, de· signed to hold back flood waters, are credited with saving large sec-tions of Long Beach and othct· com-munilies situated along the San Gabriel water shed from a disaster which ·would have been unparalleled in the history of the country.

Studies being made by the engi-neers of the division of irrigation, stationed at the federal building in Pomona, from charts and maps of their Investigation of the damage done at Montrose and La Crescenta should preYent In the future millions

o! dollars of damage and the loss of

many lives.

e3 e3 ~ ~ The flood of New Year's eve apparently had no parallel in weather bureau records as kept by the federal government for South-ern California. These records go back less than a hundred years, but from some of the early resi-dents, who lived in this section

before any official records were kept, stories have· come down thru the years of storms which washed the country terribly and would have done as much damage as was recorded in the Montrose section had the country been as thickly populated at that time.

The observations being made by the fPderal en~ineers show that the damage :!'rom such unusual storms -storms that may not come more than once in 50 years, and not even once In the life time or many rest-dents-can be prevented, or at least mitigated.

Maps or the ffooded area around Montrose show clearly that there would have been no serious damage in that section had it not been that the mountain area just above the city was completely denuded of all brush and vegetation. They also show that wherever suitable

con-uits, or other provisions for the aking care of storm waters, had een constructed the streams were aslly diverted.

~ $ ~ ~ Now is the time to plan for the future. There are several

sugges-tions being made for conservation work in the Pomona valley, none of which will require the expendi-ture of large sums of money but all of which are of vital necessity and should be constructed.

We are fortunate in having the advice and counsel of engineers who have made a careful study of the subject. Probably few depart· ments in the Federal government

are in a position to render more valuable service to the taxpayers than are the engineers of the Division of Irrigation in the Bu· reau of. Agriculture.

e3 ~ ~ ~

Nothing pleases visitors more

than hearing and seeing features which present the romance and tra-ditions that constitute the back-ground of a community. And so there is an unfailing appeal in the programs being presented at Padua Hil1>1. Here each WE't>k-end is vis-uali:>:ed some of the real Mexican life that was one of the chief

fac-tors of the early days of California.

It is liltle wonder that these pro-grams receive the praise of all who find keen Interest in the unique

his-tory of thE' Pomona valley and other parts of the Southland.

In 11. recent issue of the South Pasadena Footh\11 Review there ap-pears an at·ticle, written by its edl· tor, W. A. Anderson. which pays a fine tribute to the delights of Padua Hills and to the tirt>less work of llfr. and l\Ir>1. H. H. Garner in develop-ing this attrac•tive and restful place in the foothills north of Claremont.

"Padua Hills is a unique con· to·ibution to the cultural life of Southern California," declares Mr. Ander!-on, a recent guest on the hill, who continues, "It is the de-velopment of a civic-minded group of people who formed the Padua Hills corporation. The central feature, around which it is hoped an artistic colony of homes will grow, is the Little theater and its complementing studios, set amid an olive grove, which covers the summit of one of the hills. The towering mountains of the Sierra Madre range form the back·

ground. Below the valley spreads

its beauty like the masterpiece of a great painter. In the dining

room, where one may dine over· looking the valley, before the hour

of the theater, Mexican

trouba-dours play and sing." ~ ~ ~ ~

Efforts to ot·ganize a league of municipalities which will embrace all the cities of Southern California ha\·e been under way for some We£'kS.

A little more than a year ago a break in the State League of M u · nicipalities resulted in the forma· tion of a Los Angeles county league. An officia: of that organ· ization was in Pomona Wednes-day, conferring with representa· tives of the Pomona city govern· ment in the hope that support for the larger organization, involving

It has been stated rather generally recently that the all the counties of the southland,

could be secured.

purpose of numerous visits of the Finnish Minister to the Stale 1\fembe•·s or tbe city counl·il

e:>.-Oepartment was an effort to get a debt revision. Those who JH'e~sNl the opinion, llOWPve1·, that

should know insist that Finland, our only creditor to pay up tiH•re are too many ori;an!zatlons alrNuly in existence, and that the

in full on each installment date, has NOT asked for any creation of another would only

concessions. They say the Minister's calls were m connection work further hardship on the

tax-1 payers.

with other subjects. ~ ~ ~ ~

$ $ $ ~ The opening of the packing It seems only yesterday that Congress was back home

and reports were pouring into Washington from all directions about as follows:

houses, as the Navel shipping season gets under way, is result·

ing in employment of a good many workers who have been idle

"Wait until we get back in ] anuary and get into General Johnson and that Blue Eagle of his."

our teeth for some time.

\Vel!, they're back but they must have left their grudge• behind them.

.. :1 ..

~"! ~~ ~~

AnnnHl •·.~tHin~~- hPing )Jllbli,;h~•l in tlH' l':a,..t h)' mnil ot·<l<'l' hot'~~s.

;rust aa

tbtll

aoarci ty of a grav1

ty

tlow increases

the

valu

ot

the water auppl7e so does

the

necessity to pUJJI) water from

underground

bas~

increase the deliver, coat of irrigation

watero

Pumpiq

1a one

ot

the moat

expensiv

methods

ot

water·

delivery,

but

in

recent

yeua

it

has ahowu

the larseat increase

of

·

any

phase

of irrigation

devel~nt o .A8

a result • in

many

n.llep

ground water levela

bave

recededp well•

haTe

been deepened

apin

and

againe

and

P'UPIPS

ha'Ye been lar

area

in the wlla until the

consequent

increaae

in

the collt of

pump1Dg

haa

cauaed a large

reduction

in

the amount

ot

water P'UifP&d to unit areas.

'l'hia

additional coat baa resulted in demands

tar

tuther

~rovamenta

in methods

ot

aiDld.ns

and

equipping

wells and in installing and

operating

the

PUIIIP•

'beat suited to apecitic cond1

tiol1So

Although

there

llaa been a

sreat

advance in the knowledge

ot

~1ng

tor

irrigation,

llal1J

p~ing-plau.t ine~tiou

have been nade UDder

tbe

direction of the farmers th.ael

vee, some

ot

whom

were not

familiar with

the coDditiona necessary to

secure

economical

out-tits suited to

their

needa.

As

a

resul:t

t

maD.7

such

installations

have not

pert~ed

efficiently.

What

the Div1aioa of Irrigation

has undertaken to do is 'to assist fal'Dra

in

ollooalDs the

r1 ght

kinda of pumps

tor

the kiDde

ot

plll:IJD.ing

to

be done, to describe

12roper methode

ot

1natall1ng th•, and to

JOint

out best methods

ot

operatins

them1

·aJ.l

w1

th

the

purpoae

ot

reducing

coata and

increaaiDS

ettioienci•o

'!'he J'armera' Bulletin on

t~

a subject.

prepared

by

the Di 't'iaion baa bad an enomoua u.d ner_, Deressing

circulation.

In

~e

important field

at

pumping,

the

DiTiaion nell' has in

progrese

a

set

ot

experimmta which seek to detemine the etf'ic&oJ"

and

practicabili t7 of spreading water

41aoharse4

during periods

of

hea17 rainfall

by

streams debouching upon gravel oonea at their

mouths,

so as to ettect the repleniam.nt of the underground

storage.

These a:perimc ts, conducted in southern

Cn111'omia

where

the threat

ot

depletion

is

moat aer1oua,

have alree.4y had

the ettect

ot

extending

the practice to

sections not

pr&Tiously

aware

of ite possibilities.

R babili

tation and

Reorpn1zat1on

ot

F81'118ra'

Enterpria

The

Datural 8D4

economical

course

ot

development

in

mo

1rri ated vall8)'11 has been the

constructiOJl

of small,

cheap

di ch

to

w

er the low lends first, to

be

followed later

by

larger,

igh

r,

end

more

expenai

wa:rkse

As

a

result,

in

many

v l

:vs

t

r

1

ralleling an

uplication

ot ditches.

and

opp

ot

1

,

ch l d o high costs of

maintenanc

and

opera 1 n,

:xc

ssi

lose

ot water, wasteful use • an controveraie

8

wb.er

should be a

unifJ'ing

d

e

ilding of d1 tch s

t

and

ccmrrm.uli

of

r1

orki:Dg out

ot

iatactory

service. which have b en made upon ito

The proaperit7

ot

the

eat

1e

eo inttmatel7 related to

irris

t1on-agr1oulture that it

is most unwise to

take

any

chances of

a:rtecting

advers 7 the

tarmera

who

are now struggling under tremendous

handicaps, to

say

n thing of the

interea

a of their cr ditors throughout th

ation

and

includtDg the Nation itself.

Berkeley, Calif

o ₉

l

II

h=====-=-=-=-=-============l=t-==-=-=:..==:=-=--

-_ -_ -_ -_-_-

_-l---:1

~ %

From estern Irrigatio

,

February

,

1934.

Brush

,

Colo

.,

~eboCth--Protesting

the proposed discontinuance

of

t~e irricatio~

division of the bur

e

au of ag1icultural engi

-nee~in~,

particularly the

irri~atio~ investi~ations con~uct~d

in cooneration

~Jith

the Colorado gricultural College Experl

-ment utation

,

officer;:1 of

~he

Colorado State .ater Users Pro

-tective _ ssociation have i.7ri tten to Colorad.o members of con5ress

o

SpeaLing for the associatioE

,

Presid

ent

C

.

I

.

Coluell of

Brush

,

Colo

.,

an~

Vena Pointer

,

secretary and treasurer of

Pueblo

,

declcre

:

1

'

.e earnestly hope

t~at

the senators and

repres~ntatives

from

~olorado

l:ill u,ite with those

~rom

other

-1estern stc.1.tes in a determined ,ffort to convince the adllinis

-tra t ion that this

.

ork should go on

.

rt

They add

:

nspea:-ing for Colorado and the

1J

ark Yihich has been do ... e

at the Fort Collins statio11

,

and

't"lith

the fc.ct in

mind.

that

agriculture is Colorado

'

s _reatest industry and that irriJation

is its lifeblood

,

ve feel that there is no federal

~ctivity

in the state

\ihic~

1.,e could so ill afford to di3pense \,i th -::.s

the

~:ark

of this trrigation division

.

"Ex:perimer...ts of this

division

for the past

30

or

more

years have resulted in a large n-w.ber of valuable bulletins

and reports

,

and the engineers and ex:pe:-cts in

c~~c_-

ge have

become recoznized authorities in their special fields

.

'orne

of their experiltlents have been vo:rl:ed out to

u

:fi.Lal con.clu

-sioL.

,

but _any are still unfinishe(::.

,

and as to them unless

and until they are carried to a successful conclusion

,

the

money alre&dy spent will be lost

.

practical illustration of this is the sandtr·p on

uhich __ alph L

.

Parshall of the Fort Collins station has been

'iOT

-ing for a n ··nber of yee; .. rs

,

anr-

which bids fair to solve a

very troublesome nnd expensive problem of irrigators from

stre ms ca:L"rying sand

.

ttThe cost of this -,-hole irrigation division is about

:100

,

000

a year

Q

Tho federal census of

1930

sho~s

that in the

United States

i::.""~.:·igated

crops of the value of

900

nillj_on

dollars -r;ere prociuced tl1at .rec r

,

nhich is

r

ore than

11

per

cent ,)f the vc.lue of all

Cl ..

ops produced in the United

-~tates.

nLoo~:ed

at from an. anz,le

,

tl1e

cost of .:aintaininj this

or~~~

niz.-ttion is L.1signifacant C'..)Ylpared to its value

,

und t:tere

is no otLer

rvay

in

wt~ich

the auount could be

e~~pendecl

by

t~1e

goverrunent 'Jhich

~..?auld

be of an.,.,thing like as

r uch benef'i t to

t_e !estern ztates

.

Our countTy cannot recover until agr

3:-culture recover3

,

an.

(.~riculture

in the . est.cannot recover

\.ithout irrigation

,

~ich

in turn aemando the efficient use of

water for irrigation

.

The

lett

er points out that the division

'

s

~or~ entraces

studies reJ.atirF\ to

~ ·e efficient

use

of t:ater for iri

... ig::.tion

,

expense

-

saving :lrrication

dev

ices

,

the utv and use of water

,

pu.l~ping

plants for J.rrigo.tion

,

ScLll. arH~L

silt

tr

o.ppin:

,

flow

of

'~tor

thru

con

du

its

,

f~ooC

control

and prevention

o~

soil

erosion

.

1

,DITC

_\!J

1 OTE

--

The

foregoin~

resolution is

t.ea

rtily

enc-:.orsed by

J·estBrn

Irri

;>at

ion

,

and ;.;;auld re.spectfully urge

th

c.t

Con

sre3s

include

the

)lCO

,

OOO

a year

to continue

thJ

uor~

of the

Irri

-gation Division

of

the

~ureau

of

~gricul~ural ~n~ineerinc

•

.

There

are more than

20

,

000

,

000

acres

under

irTi

:;ation

in

the

-,;

estern

sta·t;es

,

annually }!ro:..ucin

-~

-v:ealth that

contribu~es

in

no sQall degree to our

Dation~l

inCepen

den

ce

and prosperity

.

The

majorit

of

our uomestic sugar

,

fruits

anu.

vegetables

,

which

contriouto in

no small C:.eE;ree

to

the uelfaro of all -he

people

of the "Jni

tecl

States are

~rorJ::l unc~er irri~;at

ion in the

..

e

s.t ern areas

..

The

-.J'es·~ern

states

contribu-r.;es

Ltore

inco.Lne taxes for the

support of

our l'rational Goverm1 ent

then any

other

gr

oup of

azrm~ultural

states

.

Therefore it

is

ne

cecsary

the:~t

the studies relating to

tho efficient use of later for irrige.tion

,

e::pense

-

ss.ving

irrigation

c.ovic-

s

,

the

do.tr

ana use of

:c. tt:-r

,

pur1ping plants

for

irri

.,8.-t

ion

,

sa:1.d arJ·_

E

ilt

trappint_;

,

floi.: of uater

thru

conduits

,

flood coYltrol nnd preven-::;io:: of soil erosion

,

.:xrust

be

con-~inued.

in the ·.res tern states :particularl:T

,

if

t}l.e

polic:es

of

the

ap

·

el.i

Dealn

of

our President

is

to be cer:;.. ... iod out and

maintained

.

,e

as_·,:

ever~r

Congressnan and

Jenc.. tor to support this

neasure

~nd

ue

~ppeal

to

ev0~y

co

rmllirc

ial

,

industrial and

agricultural

or~ainz~tion

to support

t~e

coasure

ana

~sk

their

From

we~tern

Irrigeti n

,

F

br ary

,

l93A

~noT_;

;T

P

~:r T~ .1

ID IR IG

{

r !Oli E

.:r

UiCH

·V

ORK

Bru h

,

Colo

.,

Fe'b

.

8th--Protes 1

g

he

d

discontinuance

of the trrigat1on iviaion of the bur u of gricultural

engi

-

-neer· ng

,

artie

llarly the irr

~s.

t:t.on

in.

est

~o.tions

con

tUeted

in cooper

tion

riit.n

the

Color

do griculturcl College Experi

-j,Jt

st

;~.·tion,

off1c

n:-,J

of

'·he

Golor:~.do :"1

ate iatcr

Users

Pro

-tectivo

.u.

ocia.t1o

h

ve

wri·ttcn to Colorado

~emb

rs of congress

.

Spenkin~ for the ai:)sociation

,

Pre.sidas.t

C

.

I

.

Colwell

or

Brus

,

Colo

.,

and

·vena

Pointer

,_

.secretar.. md treasurer

or

Pueblo

,

declo.re

:

·

1

_{We e rnestly hop that}

_t

_{e .Jenators and}

rc1res ... n tat1

vcs

from Colorado will

1mi

to

vrt th those from other

'estern s ·' tos n a

d

.

t

rmine( effo

t

to

oo1 vi 1ce

the e.dmin1s

-tration

·t;" ....

a.t

this

v

ork s 1ould go

on.

n

The"(' add:

"Sr)eakino for

Oolor£~

do

ana.

the ork -;1 ioh ht s been done

si.; the

Fort

~ollil:

station

,

c;nd

w

tth

the

fact

in mind

tnat

agl"i<l'

1

l

.rre

is

Colorado

'

s greate:;,t indu

tr . .:-

_1.3.11'.

tha.t irrigat1on

is its lifeblood

,

.e feel tba there is no ie1eral activity

in ·the

dt;"'tC ...

h.

Ch

.r:

Could

SO

J.l

':f:fOT"d to

di.

pen~e

ith

as

the

w

or1: of

t __

is

:i.J.·rig·-~·t ion d

i

vi.> ion

.

"EXlJ

·

·

l"il:J.tf

_ts o

thi

:11

vision

for

the

Y ..

st

30 or

t

z

!ore

yeo. . have re

ul

~ed

in

u

la1•ge nu.mbor

of valuable bulletins

a

d

reports

,

~

... nd

t.,. e

ena:ir1.eors ... n

d.

·

ex ... ert:o in

c_:t~rge

have

become recognized

authorities

in

their Blecial

fi

lds

.

Som$

of

·

their

e })eri

•

nent ... have

bel;.iu

work

d ou·-

to

a fine.l

conclu

-sion,

but r·an

r a.I~e

.still

unf:'L

.ished,

a

d

as to

thom

unless

and

·

.mtil the

re arri d

~o

··ucce sfu conclusion

,

the

mona

r

alre

dy

snent

will

be lost

pra.ctical illustration of this is

t~1e ~~:

'

.trap

on

vrhioh Ral-oh L

.

Parshall

or

the

Wort

Colli118

station has been

or king

for

a number of yea

s

,

a ..

\1b

icb

ulds

fair to

~ol

ve a

very troublesome an ex:ponsi ve p-eb

e1

1:,.

ir

.1

a

tors

fro

stre ma carrying

sand

.

'1?1

e cost of

this whole

irrigation division

is a bout

)'

" 100, 000

a

yec~.r.

Th teo.eral censu

01

1930

shows

tha.

t

in the

United

s·tates

irrigated crops of

the

va1ue of

900

million

doll ... rs were

produced .hat yeo.r

•

which is

rr.

ore than

11

per

cent

o

f

t

v

lue

of

t:tll

oro s proa.ucea. in

t

e United

·tates.

nLook d a , from

uy -.:tngle

,

the cost

of

maintaining this

organization is insignifacant compared to its value

,

and there

is no

other

way

in ··thioh

the amount

cot

ld

ue expended

by

the

goverr.J!h3nt

\-r;hich

would be

ot

anything like

as

nuch bene

it

to

the

·'/estern statea

.

Our country

cannot

recover until agr

ir-oul ture recovers

•

and e.gricul ture in the

·(

est cannot recover

1thout

irrigation

,

which

in turn d.cmand.s the efficient use of

The

letter

points out that the division's work embraces

studies relating to

the

efficient usc of water

for

irrigation,

expense-s

aving

irrigation devices, the duty

and use

of water,

pumpin

0

plants for irrigation,

sa~d

d

silt trapping, flow

of

water thru conduits, flood

co

ntrol and prevention

of soil

erosion.

EDITORS NOTE--The

foregoin~

resolution is

heartily

endorsed

by

V'

est

ern

Irri~ation,

and would respectfully urge that Congress

include

the

1?100

,000

a year to

continue

the

work

of the

Irri-gation Division of the Bureau

of

6gricultural

~ngineering.

There are more than

20,000,000

acres

under

irri ation

in

the

Western

states, annually producing wealth that contributes

in

no small

degree

to our

Jationa

l

independence

and

prosperity.

The majority of our domestic sugar, fruits and vegetables,

which contribute in

no small degree to the elfare of

all

the

people of

the

United States are

grown

under irrigction in the

W

es-r;ern

areas.

The festern states conti"ibutes

more

income taxes for the

support

of our

National

Government than any other group of

agrdmultur

1

states

.

•

Therefore

it

is

necess·

ry that the studies =elating to

the efficie

t

use of

water

for :rrigation, expe· se-saving

irrigation

devices,

the

duty

an

uS0

0 ....

ll.:.-:,

8

::-

,

·-y·

r.ping

plarJtS

for

irrigat

1on,

and. an-

s i l t

trapping,

flo~

of ;{ater

thru

conduits,

flood control and

p:reve~1tion

of soil erosion, must

be continued in

the Wqstorn

states particularly,

if

the

policies

of

the "New Deal"

of

our President is to be carried out and

maintained.

v

e ask ever·

..

Congress

nan

and Senator to su-pport this

measure

and we

appeal to every co:mmercial, industrial and

agricultural orgainzation to

sup~ort

the

~easure

and

ask

their

Representatives

.o

vote

for

it.

...

I

I

I

I

~

§

I

I

i

I

I

ttThe Voice of Western Progress

&

Prosperity''

IN THIS ISSU

-

E

FURTHER DISCUSSION OF RARE METALS

IN SOILS

By Lee VanDerlinden

•

BETTER STANDS OF SUGAR BEETS

L

By H. E. Brewbaker

•

COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS AND

AGRICULTURE

By

R. A.

Jones

•

PARSHALL PLANS SAND TRAP TES

FOR HUGE CANAL

•

LARGE IRRIGATION PROJECT

IN CENTRAL ASIA

PAGII

2

WESTERN IRRIGATION

Easily and Economically Done With

an

EVERSMAN AUTOMATIC

LEVELER

-BEFORE-The pictures here were taken on the S. A. Gerrard project at Boone, Colo. showing the land before and after it had been leveled by an Eversman Automatic Land Lev-eler.

Now it is easy to level your land. New

automatic machine does work of float, harrow and packer all in one. Fully auto-matic, no dumping levers to trip. Operated by one man on tractor. Makes big savings for the farmer.

SAVES LABOR--WATER--TIME

This new machine smoothes the surface automatically.

It

scrapes off the high places and distributes the dirt evenly over the low places with enough extra for set-tling.

Saves half to three quarters of the labor required by other methods. Eversman machine makes ground perfectly level. No

The Eversman Mfg. Co. Inc.

101 MARKET STREET

DENVER,

COLORADO

more low places that get too much water. . No more high places that don't get enough. Uniform seeding and well developed crop assured with less labor and less water. Economical to buy. Fully guaranteed. Ask your implement dealer to show you this automatic leveler or write for full particu-lars.

••••••••

I

I

I

I

Gentlemen:

Please send your free booklet giving full details on your automatic leveler and re-ports of irrigation farmers.

N arne _________

---Address ______________________ --- _ ---_____ __

W E S T E R N

I R R

'

I G A T I 0

N PAGE

3

Portable Pumping Unit, Wilson System, showing 4-inch Rain Pu mp attached to JOHN DEERE TRACTOR burning low-cost fuel.

"A DOLLAR SAVED IS

.

A DOLLAR EARNED"

T

HAT'S why you will find so many John Deere Model D T rae tors being

used with Portable Irrigating Systems. John Deere power is not only

ECONOMICAL power, but it is DEPENDABLE power-ready for work

when you want it.

Write for fu.ll details on

1

ohn Deere Tractors and ask for booklet in which

1

ohn Deere owners tell how they are cutting their fu.el costs in HALF by burning low-cost fuels.

JOHN

DEERE

)) )) ))

MOLINE; ILLINOIS

.

Single or Double Lines

I

~:~YR~~7t ~o~:t~d

0

:nr~:~e:e:~:s;;~~~~;~:~t~o:xtt~:

greatest amount of water and pressure with

minimum~~====­

power. It is specially designed for hard

,

continuous

service, and extreme portability.

THE RAIN VALVE is a specially designed aluminum

fitting for use on double line, combining double sweep

~=="-

elbow with two 4-inch gate valves. The aluminum

holds weight to a minimum, aiding in general port

-ability

.

BYRONJACKSON CO.

Factories

:

Berkeley

,

Calif.

Branches

:

New York

Visalia

Los Angeles

,

Calif

.

Fort Worth

Salt Lake City

Byron Jackson 4-inch Rain Pump and Valve. " ...

~-Capacity 600 gallons per minute.

Founded

1917

Adverti1ing RepreJmtatlv•

S. GORDON HYDE Publithed Monthly By

WILSON SYSTEM INC. 2H California St.,

San Francisco, Calif. OSWALD WILSON, Editor

F. 0. WILSON, Bus. Mgr.

WellerTL

Irritation

360 North Michigan Avenue

Chicago, Illinois Telephone State 2750

Southern California MONROE C. KIDDER

3 2 7 Pacific National Bank Bldg. Los Angeles, California

Telephone TUcker 6024 Phone SUtter 1275

DOMESTIC SUGAR

In the question of sugar our National prosperitJ]

and independence

within

the Continental Unit

States is of paramount importance

and

outweig;

s

any consideration for sugars

produced

in our

Is-land Possessions

and

Cuba.

Sugar is one of the greatest and

most essential

industries, not only to every American

home but to

a great many other industries,

such as baking,

pas-try, candy, essential drugs,

tobacco, soft drinks,

therefore it

is essential that the United States has

a safe and dependable

supply of sugar, and to

de-pend upon Islands,

far removed

from

the mainland,

is placing

our

country

at the mercy of any

invading

Nation,

because the

Islands

could easily be

block-aded

or the planta

·

tions or mills destroyed, in which

case with

a

limitation

on our Domestic Beet Sugar

Industry

we would become the

losers

in the conflict

with an

enemy.

The

beet sugar industry in the United States

provides more

employment, than any other

agri-culture

commodity, not only in

the

fields and

fac-tories,

but

in the

allied

industries,

such as

agricul-tural equipment

machinery, fuel, oil and gasoline,

lime

rock and coke, cotton cloth and bags, soda ash,

sulphur,

cement, steel,

lumber,

pipe valves and

elec-tric equipment,

belting, twine, machine and hand

tools,

rubber

goods,

and transportation. When we

bring in

cane sugar, none of these allied industries

are

benefitted, nor

is domestic

labor

employed.

For every ton

of cane sugar brought into the

United States

there is a consequent

loss

in labor and

purchasing

power.

It

is safe to assume that if all

our sugar

was produced within the Continental

United

States from sugar beets there would be at

least 2,000,000 men more under

steady employment,

and $1,000,000,000

added to our commerce.

The Tariff

Great stress is laid

upon

the

question of tariff,

saying

that the 2 cent

tariff

is

put

on

for the benefit

of the beet growers

at

the expense

_of the consumers,

when just

the reverse

is

true.

If

it

was

not

for the

tariff Hawaii,

Porto Rico,

The

Philippine Islands,

and Cuba

would be driven

out

of business.

Furthermore

the

2

cent tariff is

not

passed on to

the consumer.

Today sugar

is

the cheapest food we

have and

cost

less

than the amount spent for

cig-al·ettes.

Again if the labor employed in the cane fields of

Hawaii, Porto

Rico,

Philippines

and Cuba were paid

·

the

same wages as

prevail in the

sugar beet fields

of the United

States,

and

enjoyed

the

same standard

of living, sugar

would have to sell nearer

10 cents

a pound than five. Even

at

the low

prive prevailing

today

you will see

Philippine,

and

Mexican laborers

riding

to the

beet

fields in

automobiles, and that the

farmers

ar-e

using

·

tractors and the

latest

improved

implements and

machinery, whereas

in

the cane

fields the laborer is

fortunate to have a pair of

ARSHALL PLANS SAND TRAP TEST FOR

HUGE CANAL

Fort Collins, Colorado, January 25.-In an

at-tempt to solve the problem of removing huge

amounts of silt and sand that will be carried by

the waters of the proposed All-American canal in

Southern California, Ralph Parshall, U.S. irrigation

engineer at the Colorado Agricultural College

Ex-periment Station, will build a testing laboratory in

the Imperial Valley during the next few weeks.

Eight thousand dollars have been alloted for this

work by the public works administration.

Experi-ments at the laboratory will be conducted by the

federal bureau of agricultural engineering in

co-op-eration with bureau of reclamation.

Parshall expects to build this experimental

labo-ratory on the Alamo river near El Centro to test

his theories for desilting the gigantic All-American

canal. These theories have been developed in

pre-liminary experiments at the Bellvue, Colo.,

hy-draulics laboratory of the college experiment

sta-tion. Experimental work at the field laboratory in

the Imperial Valley is expected to continue at least

until next July

1.

Colorado River to Supply Canal

The All-American canal, which the bureau of

reclamation plans to build for irrigating the

Im-perial Valley, will take water from the Colorado

river about 30 miles north of Yuma, Arizona. It is

expected to carry 15,000 second feet of water.

The Colorado river has been known to carry

more than one million tons of silt and sand past a

given point in one day. This gives an idea of the

tremendous load of silt and sand which may have

to be removed from the All-American canal and

turned back into the river to prevent it from

dog-ging the canal and from covering valuable farm

land during irrigation.

Parshall is hopeful that the studies made at this

field laboratory may produce results which will be

of value in the final designing of the desilting plant

on the canal.

shoes to walk to the cane fields, and oxen and

primi-tive methods are used in many places.

If

President Roosevelt and Congress has the

wel-fare and independence of our Nation at heart and

wants to relieve unemployment and increase the

purchasing power of the farmers and through them

the 101 dependent allied industries, then we should

put a restriction upon the importation of cane sugar

into the United Sta:tes, and do everything possible

to increase the production of beet sugar within the

·

Continental United States.

As sugar contains no element of the soil but is

concentrated sunshine in its most beneficial and

edible form, why deplete our soil to grow wheat,

corn and other crops, to pay for the sugar from our

Island Possessions and Cuba, every bushel of wheat

is 25

o/a

soil.

TERMS: Subscription• $2 per year. Foreign Cou~triet $3.00 per year.-Entered as second class matte~~, under the Act of Conareu of March 3, 187.9, at the pottoaice in San F.ranciaco, February 15, 1.922.

WESTERN

JRRIGATION

PAGE

5

================================~~~===============================

Further

Discussion

of Rare Minerals in Soils

CHEMICAL ELEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS

IN

THE SOIL MAINTAIN FERTILITY

By Lee VanDerlinden

United Metals Selling Company, Chicago, Illinois

Soil fertility depends in part on the rate at which

the essential elements for plant growth become

available as a result of the chemical decomposition

of rock particles and the residue of former plants

of which the soil is composed.

It

alsQ depends on the

amount and availability of 1noisture and on the

physical condition of the soil with reference to the

readiness with which it can be penetrated by

the

roots of growing crops.

The soil is a body of extreme complexity as far

as its composition is concerned. One might look at

it as a mass of chemical elements and compounds.

We might, by thorough analysis, find the elements

and compounds, but we may not always find that

the same minerals are in the soil, for many

min-erals, if not all, that compose the rock are not

en-tirely insoluble in pure water.

This pure water carries the dissolved mineral

particles across, through the soil, and over long

dis-tances. Water on the surface of the

land,

wind,

bur-rowing animals and plants work in spreading soil

particles. All this in time tends to make all the soils

similar. By thorough chemical analysis the

follow-ing chemical elements are found to occur in the soil

in the greatest quantity. These are not all free, but

are found combined with other

elements-Non-metals: oxygen, silicon, carbon, sulphur, hydrogen,

chlorine, phosphorus

,

nitrogen, fluorine and boron;

Metals: aluminum, calcium, magnesium, potassium,

sodium iron and manganese.

Oxygen

occurs in the soil in the free state and in

the combined state with all the elements except

fluorine. Silicon, with oxygen, fo

r

ms silica or quartz.

Quartz composes one half of the rock of the earth.

Carbon, with calcium and magnesium, forms

car-bonates. Sulphur occur

s

in the soil in the form of

sulphides, and these fo

r

m a necessa

r

y part of the

organic compounds in the composition of plants.

Hydrogen plays the greatest part in agriculture

and, with oxygen in the form of water, makes the

plant tissues and starches, sugars, etc. Chlorine is

not a part of the soil; it is associated with sodium

in the form of common salt. Phosphorus is never

found in the soil except combined with other

sub-stances; it is a necessary soil ingredient. Nitrogen

in the soil is in combined form, and occurs in the

decaying

of

plants and is converted, by small

g~rms,

into nitric acid; it unites. with other soil ingredients

and

forms

a salt which is taken up by the roots

of

plants. Boron and fluorine occur only in the ashes of

plants, and in small quantities. Aluminum is not a

plant food, but is a constituent of clay. Calcium and

magnesium collect in the seeds of plants. Potassium

is an essential element of plant food. It forms

solu-ble compounds, and is often carried away from

the

soil by

floods;

this therefore depletes the soil.

Sod-ium is a part of common salt, and is distributed all

over the soil. Iron and manganese occur in the soil

almost all over the world. Iron is so plentiful and

so hard to dissolve that the soil is never free from it.

Soils also contain silic

,

sulphuric, carbonic, and

phosphoric acid, potash, soda,

lime,

magnesia,

ferr-ous oxide,

ferric oxide,

and aluminic oxide.

The

sul-phuric acid is present

as

calcium

sulphate or

car-bonate.

An analysis of a soil casts only a dim

light on the

a1nount of plant food it may contain. Productiveness

also depends

on

the

looseness of the

soil.

Sand and

adobe do not produce good crops, as

one is too fine

and does not hold the moisture, and

the other is too

hard and can not be penetrated

by the roots of the

plant to any

great

extent. Sand

and clay soils are

not the same in chemical composition.

Lime and

phosphoric acid are quite abundant

in the surface

soil and are

insoluble. In the

subsoil,

the

soluble

silica and peroxide of

iron ar.e

in

the highest

per-centage.

Humid and

arid

soils are quite

different in

chem-ical

composition.

It

was once thought that any soil

without moisture was

a

poor soil,

but this is not so.

It

is known

that, in arid

regions,

large crops are

pro-duced when

an

abundance

of

water

is

supplied.

When nitrogen is supplied to plants

in the form of

mineral nitrates,

the

plants

thrive in the absence of

vegetable

mold

or

humus. Vegetable mold is formed

by the decaying

in the

soil of organic n1atter.

It

re-turns to free

nitrogen,

carbonic

acid and ashes. In

the

tropical

and arid regions, where

the

soil

is

warm

throughout

the

entire

year,

the

soil

is open, is

pene-trated by

the

air, and decay

is

very rapid, so there

is

not so much vegetable mold

in the soil. In climates

where the soil is cold

enough not to permit decay

during parts

of

the year, the

organic matter collects

in

large

quantities, particularly

in

swampy

places.

Peat

beds are

examples

of vegetable

mold. The

mi-croscopic forms

of life

are

unable to live

in

the soil,

where it is close and

.

full

of

water, because

they

are unable to get the oxygen

to thrive in it. The

microscopic

forms

of

life live in

the vegetable

mold.

A soil not containing any

one of the following is

considered

infertile: nitrogen,

potash,

lime,

mag-nesia and phosphoric acid.

A

fertile

soil

should

al-ways have a considerable amount

of sulphates in

a form within the reach

of

plants.

The amount of

sulphates

in

any soil is

a

very

important point.

Sul-phates are not used much by plants,

however, and

do not need to be applied

in

the

form of fertilizers.

Iron

in

the sap· of

the

plant is

necessary in a

cer-tain amount for the green

color

of

the leaves. The

iron compounds are taken

up

by

the

roots

of the

plant.

There are

many

kinds

of

soils. Soils

are classified

as light and

heavy;

but this

does not mean the

weight

of

the soil,

it

refers

to the ease or difficulty

with which the soil can

be

worked.

In light soils the

plants have

a

very

little difficulty in

spreading

their

roots, but

in

a heavy soil they

have difficulty. In the

light

soils

the

roots spread

in every direction. Soils

are also called warm

and

cold soils.

This refers to

their temperatures during the

early part of the

season. The cold soil is the soil

that holds the most

water and

brings the greatest

amount

to the

·

surface

for

evaporation.

There are other varieties

of

soils, such

as

sandy,

heavy clay, loamy, sandy

loams,

and

loamy

sands,

clayey loams, and loamy clays, swamp muck

and

peat. The different plants grow in different' soils

adapted to their growth.

PAGE

6

WESTERN IRRIGATION

~==================~==~====~~============================~==~

\

l'f

igation

----"'"lil~~;e~~-.p

A

TO END RRIGAT

~

RESEARCH WORK

~

Brush, Colo. Feb. 8th-Protesting the propo

discontinuance' of the irrigation division of

t

bureau of agricultural engineering·, particularl

the irrigation investigations conducted in cooper~­

tion with the Colorado Agricultural College

Experi-ment Station, officers of the Colorado State Water

Users Protective Association have written to

Colo-rado members of congress.

Speaking for the association, President C. I.

Col-well of Brush, Colo., and Vena Pointer, secretary

and treasurer of Pueblo, decla1·e: "We earnestly

hope that the senators and representatives from

Colorado will unite with those from other Western

states in a determined effort to convince the

ad-ministration that this work should go on." They

add:

"Speaking

for Colorado and the work which has

been done at the Fort Collins station, and with the

fact in mind that agriculture is Colorado's greatest

industry and that irrigation is its lifeblood, we feel

that there is no federal activity in the state which

we could so ill afford to dispense with as the work

of this irrig·ation division.

"Experiments of this division for the past 30 or

more years have resulted in a large number of

valuable bulletins and reports, and the engineers

and experts in charge have become recognized

au-thorities in their special fields. Some of their

ex-periments have been worked out to a final

conclu-sion, but many are still unfinished, and as to them,

unless and until they are carried to a successful

conclusion, the money already spent will be lost.

"A practical illustration· of this is the sandtrap

on which Ralph L. Parshall of the Fort Collins

station has been working for a number of years,

and which bids fair to solve a very troublesome

and expensive problem of irrigators from streams

carrying sand.

"The cost of this whole irrigation division is

about $100,000 a year. The federal census of 1930

shows that in the United States irrigated crops of

the value of 900 million dollars were produced that

year, which is more than 11 per cent of the value

of all crops produced in the United States.

"Looked at from any angle, the cost of

main-taining this organization is insignificant compared

to its value, and there is no other way in which the

amount could be expended by the government

which would be of anything like as much benefit

to the Western states. Our country cannot recover

until ag-riculture recovers, and agriculture in the

West cannot recover without irrigation, which in

turn demands the efficient use of water for

irri-gation."

The letter points out that the division's work

embraces studies relating to the efficient use of

water for irrigation, expense-saving irrigation

de-vices, the duty and use of water, pumping plants

for irrigation, sand and silt trapping, flow of water

thru conduits, flood control and prevention of soil

erosion.

LARGE IRRIGATION PROJECT IN

CENTRAL ASIA

In the Vakhsh Valley in Tadzhikistan, Soviet

Central Asia, construction work on an irrigation

system designed to convert 100,000 hectares

(247,-000

acres) of desert into fertile cotton land has

been under

way

during the past few years and has

now progressed to a point where some 30,000

hec-tares of land will be ready for sowing this spring.

The first water was turned into the irrigation

canals in the fall of 1933, when about 7,500 hectares

of land were brought under cultivation.

The newly irrigated lands

will

be devoted

prin-cipally to the cultivation of Egyptian cotton by

state and collective farms. Settlers on the new lands

are offered many privileges and exemptions, such as

free transportation, loans of from two to three

thousand rubles per household for a term of 20

years, exemption from the agricultural tax for a

period of five years, etc.

NOTE-While other nations are developing their

agricultural

resources,

recognizing that from the

soil must come n9t only food, clothing and shelter,

but the raw materials that industry must have in

order to employ labor, our officials at Washington

are doing all in their power to restrict and curtail

farming in the United States, apparently failing to

realize that the farm is the only source from which

the nation can derive new wealth every year.

EDITORS NOTE-The foregoing resolution is

heartily endorsed by Western Irrigation, and we

would respectfully urge that Congress include the

$100,000

a year to continue the work of the

Irri-gation Division of the Bureau of Agricultural

En-gineering.

There are more than 20,000,000 acres under

ir-rigation in the Western states, annually producing

wealth that contributes in no small degree to our

National independence and prosperity.

The majority of our domestic sugar, fruits and

vegetables, which contribute in no small degree to

the welfare of all the people of the United States

are grown under irrigation in the Western areas.

The Western states contributes more income

taxes for the support of our National Government

than any other group of agricultural states.

Therefore it is necess~ry

that the studies

relat-ing· to the efficient use of water for irrig·ation

ex-pense-saving· irrigation devices, the duty and use

of water, pumping plants for irrigation, sand and

silt trapping, flow of water thru conduits, flood

trol and prevention of soil erosion, must be

con-tinued in the Western states particularly, if the

policies of the "New Deal" of our President is to

be carried out and maintained.

We ask every Congressman and Senator to

sup-port this measure and we appeal to ever

commer-cial, industrial and ag·ricultural organization to

support the measure and ask their

Representa-tives to vote for it.