History of Dakota Territory, volume III, Part 65

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1146

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Under all of this stimulus and healthy growth irrigation projects were pro- pounded in all parts of the state, particularly in the Black Hills and their adjacencies, and along the rivers of the western part. The eastern portion, except along the Missouri River, will not irrigate as long as the farmers can make money by extensive farming without such water. Perhaps that portion will be worse off in the end than the Black Hills region, which has practically been forced to irrigate and hence to put intensive methods into effect. About this time the Government issued a special bulletin to illustrate by a definite case what might be expected along intensive lines where irrigation and fertilization were combined and employed to effect improved results. The experimenter was an old colored

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man in Mississippi who knew nothing of scientific methods. He became the owner of two acres and began to study how to support himself and wife thereon. He owned a mule, a plow, a small cart, a harrow and a number of garden tools. His first crop was cotton and amounted to about one and one-half bales per acre or three bales for the two acres. In addition he grew between the cotton rows a quantity of vegetables. But this result was unsatisfactory, so he began to figure on how to increase his crop. He did not have, nor could he get, sufficient manure, so he went to the adjacent woods and secured many cart loads of leaves which he plowed under and also soaked the soils with rainwater. The result was that his crop was increased from twenty-five to forty per cent. Again he plowed under large quantities of leaves and irrigated with rainwater when needed and so continued for seven or eight years, when his cotton crop had increased to seven or eight bales to the acre and his vegetable crops between the cotton rows was the wonder of the whole town. Thus without knowing what intensive farming meant he stumbled on just the right program-rich soil, the right water, the proper tilth, right aeration of the soil, proper drainage, destruction of weeds -- all the conditions to produce the most possible in a given acreage. The immense vegetables grown in large quantities between the cotton rows were nearly as valuable as his cotton crop and his poultry assisted much in swelling his income.

There are in South Dakota at the present time thousands of bonanza farmers who have ceased to make big money and never again will be able to do so until they can and will adopt much the same methods pursued by the old colored man. Many a man who owns 160 acres or over has all he can do to make a living-really makes less than the colored man on two acres-say about $225. They are the men who laugh at the statements of the agricultural and irrigation experts and are egotistical enough to think that they know more than the Department of Agriculture, the agricultural colleges and the experiment station. If they will select forty acres-the best of their large farms-they can make more by intensive methods than they are now making on 160 or more acres by the old methods of haphazard farming. On twenty acres of the forty they can grow under intensive methods five tons of alfalfa to the acre or 100 tons on the tract and one of the crops will yield a large quantity of seed. Seed and hay will easily yield $1,200 per year. The other twenty acres can be made under irrigation and intensive methods to make as much more in vegetables, hogs, cows, poultry and special crops like onions, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, etc. These are facts vouched for by the Department of Agriculture, agricultural colleges and experiment stations. The old colored, man in Mississippi will tell the South Dakota farmers that they can raise more on twenty acres under intensive methods than they are now raising on 160 acres under extensive and wildcat methods. And the statements of the colored man will be substantiated by the three expert authorities above mentioned. The truth is there are too many old ignoramuses and egotists in South Dakota who think they know more about farming than the Department of Agriculture. Almost every valuable thing about farming they now know came from that source. All of these intensive methods, these irrigation problems, are set forth in the Government or station bulletins which the alleged farmers have not suffi- cient intelligence to read and utilize. In many places in the state may be seen these egotistical nonentities making fun of the trained experts of the stations or the Government-drinking liquor, gambling and bursting with laughter at the pretensions of intensive farming.

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Yet the good influences are having their day even with the numskulls. The latter are slowly imbibing the up-to-date farming methods in spite of the skeptics and the scoffers. Everywhere is seen the improvement. The old antediluvian methods are doomed and there is no hope of resurrection. Down in the beclouded minds falls the sunlight of uplift and ascension. The darkness in the country homes is fast flying before the attacks of sanitation and domestic science. In- tensive farming will accomplish all this with the help of irrigation, but not other- wise. A few years ago New Orleans had a terrible and destructive drought; the dust on the river front was eight inches deep. Secretary Wilson in a speech there about the same time called the attention of the citizens to the fact that the entire Mississippi basin poured its floods of the water past the city's doors at all times and that irrigation from reservoirs would answer all the drought questions and problems. The time is bound to come when the whole country under intensive methods will use reservoirs and irrigation instead of depending upon the fickle and deceptive weather. South Dakota should wake up. The Black Hills is aroused, but the central section, influenced by a fitful and intermittent rainfall, is blind to the promises of the future and the opportunities of the present.

The extensive wildcat farmer is doomed just as the buffalo was doomed, as the range cattle kings were doomed, and as the irrigation scoffer is doomed. Reservoirs are as certain to come soon as irrigation is. Both will be followed at once by intensive methods. Intensive farming will result in twice the crops with the same labor on the same acreage. Already throughout the East thousands of farms are being conducted along more or less perfect intensive lines. And many of these farms are the old abandoned ones of thirty and forty years ago- land it was then believed would never again be fit for husbandry. But the experts have found ways to restore the exhausted lands to their former fertility. The average farmer never would have been able to do so. In this state soil exhaus- tion is seen in the small crops of wheat compared to what they were the first few years of cultivation. Other evidences are to be seen all over the state of soil exhaustion as well as drought. It should be recollected that most soils need to be soaked from time to time in order that the plant food therein may be made soluble and ready to be taken up by plant roots. Irrigation should be studied from this point of view. Soil may contain an immense surplus of plant food, but unless it can be and is absorbed by the water and placed in proper chemical condition it may not be utilized by the plants. Sometimes manure applied to soils will not pass through the necessary chemical changes to fit it for the plants for several years. The old Mississippi colored man did not get the best results from his compost of leaves until after the lapse of seven or eight years. It took that long for the chemistry of Nature to digest the leaves and prepare them for avail- able plant food. Generally speaking you cannot put too much crude fertilizer on your land. Slowly it will yield up its plant food.

"The experiments in England showed that as a rule the cost of purchasing nitrogen, potassium and everything needed for fertilization was so large as to consume the gain in the increased productiveness. But this was only where the fertilizers were purchased. Every farm possesses nitrogen and potassium in enormous quantities which may be had practically without expense. There is enough nitrogen in the air over an acre of farm land to produce maximum crops for a period of 500,000 years, and this supply is permanently maintained by

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natural processes. Leguminous plants take the nitrogen from the air and deposit it in the soil by a natural process. These legumes, as manure, liberate the potas- sium already there. The only fertilizers not naturally produced by the farm itself are phosphorus and limestone. There is enough high-grade phosphate rock in the United States to furnish five tons an acre for all of the farm land in this country. This rock costs from six dollars to ten dollars a ton, and a ton of natural phosphate contains more phosphorus than one thousand bushels of corn or wheat. The three things we need for improvement of the normal soil are not the nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash commonly sold in commercial fertilizers. They are (1) organic manures produced upon the farms; (2) natural phosphate ; (3) ground natural limestone. All are cheap and easily obtained. Experiments at the Illinois Agricultural School show that fertilization with phosphate has increased the crop of corn 17.5 bushels per acre, oats 15 bushels per acre, wheat 24 bushels per acre and clover 2 tons per acre. The time for muscle farming has passed in this country and the time for brain farming is at hand."- Prof. Cyril G. Hopkins in address at Land Show, Chicago, December 3, 1912.

There is a growing belief that farmers should be compelled by law to adopt and pursue the methods of scientific agriculture. If all the farmers of the country today would grow next year twice the crop and live stock products they grew last year without a material increase in the cost, would not the present high prices be cut practically in half? Is not this step the solution of high prices ? Would not compulsory education of the farmer along scientific lines settle this vital question? If the farmer will not advance to meet the new responsibilities, if he seeks to justify himself with false reasoning, if he becomes an obstruction to the advancement of the people as a whole-then the time is sure to come, probably before he shall be aware of the change, when he will be compelled to adopt intensive methods or give up his farm to the man who will. The Govern- ment has the right of eminent domain and can take a farm for the public good as it now takes lands for parks, highways, railroads and other public benefits. There is no reason why a railroad or a bank or a telephone line or a large cor- poration should be regulated and compelled to serve the public and a farmer be permitted to pursue a policy detrimental to the public good. Should he not be compelled to obey a compulsory law requiring him to learn and apply methods of scientific agriculture under expert state and county direction and supervision ? Should he not be required to pass a civil service examination in scientific farming and if he fails to pass, be required a pursue a suitable course of study ?

As irrigation is the backbone of intensive farming and therefore of success, its importance and practicability are here elaborated. And as small but suffi- ciently large reservoirs are essential to much of the irrigation projects in this state, they are likewise here dwelt upon.

In the construction of reservoirs, cement is not necessary, though valuable and desirable. Earthen dams are now in existence in some parts of the state and others are being built. Before attempting to build a dam or a reservoir all farmers should communicate with the state engineer. This is done in most cases, but should be done in all in order that they may be constructed according to right principles and the money therefore not be thrown away. The area to be drained for the reservoir should be carefully measured so that the desired amount of water may be obtained. The character of the earthen matter in the

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dam should be submitted to the proper authorities. The law requires a certain slope to all dams built under the supervision of the state engineer. The object is safety in construction and certainty that heavy winds will not force the waves over the sides. The advice of competent engineers should be secured by all means. Double reservoirs would better as a matter of precaution, as the bursting of a reservoir occurs occasionally and the crops are left to burn up. It is practicable to build the reservoirs so that if the upper one should burst much of the water would be caught by the lower one. All of these irrigation problems are now being considered and solved. The time is not far distant when the husbandman in South Dakota will not have to submit to the caprices of the weather for his water, his crops or his success. Rain is certain to fall in all parts of the state; such rainfall can be caught and stored; therefore the man is foolish or crazy who will permit these certain conditions to pass by unheeded and then groan and wail because fate seems against him. His fate is in his own hands and he will practically commit suicide unless he grasps the opportunity.

Bear in mind that the reservoirs should be storm proof. Many existing in the state are of this character. Scores, if not hundreds, of such are in the Black Hills. Owing to the lack of moisture there the Black Hills has perfected its canals, ditches and reservoirs to a greater extent than any tract east of the Missouri except those under the management or direction of the agricultural college and the experiment stations. That the construction of a reservoir will soon pay for its cost has been demonstrated scores of times in South Dakota But the plan must be feasible on each particular tract-the land must be good enough to warrant the outlay, or the enterprise should not be undertaken. The situation should be thoroughly studied before work is begun. The Department of Agriculture said a few years ago, "The construction of small reservoirs for impounding storm water in South Dakota is encouraged by the state engineer office, for the reason that such reservoirs are useful in storing and retaining part of the run-off of each rainfall which would otherwise go quickly into the larger streams. In this way some good results are obtained mitigating the effects of over-flow and flooding by the larger streams. Of course, no very great amount of water in any one stream system is thus held back, but in the course of time it is hoped a decided benefit in this respect will be effected when the number of reservoirs for impounding storm waters has been increased to the maximum. These systems are a fair example of storm water reservoirs and methods of irrigation therefrom in South Dakota."

Storm water flooding instead of storm water reservoirs is successful in some portions of the western section. The plan is to send much of the flood water in the streams through side ditches or canals out over the soil, thus practically increasing the rainfall on the tracts to be irrigated. With wing dams the water of any stream however swift can be diverted into basins and then sent out over the soil through sluices or ditches, thus doubling or tripling the water supply of each rain. In Pennington, Meade, Butte, and other counties, this system or practice is followed with great success.

The Big Sioux River is subject to great fluctuations, but has been used for many years as a source of power. It would be an easy matter to store up the surplus flow for dry weather use and this step would be in accord with the policy of the Government to construct reservoirs at the headwaters of the Mississippi

THIRD STREET, LOOKING WEST, YANKTON

Taken in 1914

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River system. Formerly the Government investigated Lakes Kampeska and Pelican with the view of making them storage reservoirs for the Big Sioux Valley in times of drought. It was announced that this could be done-that the two lakes could be united and Lake Kampeska and 40,000 acre feet in Lake Pelican could be obtained. Lake Poinsett and others near it farther down the stream could be similarly utilized and about fifty thousand acres feet storage could be secured.

Thus far the Legislature of South Dakota has done very little to aid irrigation in any and every form. Of course, many sections where irrigation is needed and necessary do not contain sufficient population to warrant the expense. On the other hand, where state aid would have been extremely beneficial as a public measure, the Legislature with its customary backwardness, if not stupidity, has failed to afford any relief, leaving all advances to private individuals. One Legislature went so far as to vote down the Carey Act five or six years ago. There did not seem to be sufficient public interest, it was declared in the debates. Unquestionably the measure then would have been of the greatest value to South Dakota in reclaiming desert tracts and introducing settlers to hundreds if not thousands of farms. Though independent of the Reclamation Act it did not conflict therewith, but was supplemental to or amendatory of the former.

The Reclamation Act depends largely upon the artificial storage of water for the purposes of irrigation. Thousands of acres in South Dakota contain all the elements of plant food except that of water. Usually such tracts are remarkably fertile when the moisture is applied under proper conditions and the surprising crops are the most striking and gratifying result.

Early in 1907 the Government appropriated the waters of the north fork of the Grand River in Butte County for purposes of irrigation under the Reclama- tion Act. This appropriation embraced about ten thousand acres, of which three thousand were in South Dakota.

Many other examinations have been made in the state under the Reclamation Act. Many have been found to be practical and desirable but will have to wait until the population becomes sufficient to warrant their construction. Three of the most feasible projects are the ones on Rapid Creek, Little Missouri River and Cheyenne River. About one hundred thousand acres are reclaimable on these streams under present plans.

On January 1, 1909, the following areas were under irrigation: Redwater, 5,000 acres ; Spearfish Valley, 5,335 ; Little Missouri, 213; Belle Fourche Water District, 3,242; Elk Creek, 75; Rapid Creek, 15,278; Battle Creek, 148; Fall River, 3,900; South Cheyenne, 2,708; Belle Fourche project, 12,000; reservoirs, 14,000.

The project of using the water of the Missouri River for irrigation purposes was again duly considered in 1910, as it had been many times before. The plan now proposed was to construct enormous reservoirs here and there along its course and build canals or aqueducts to convey the water to the higher lands farther down when needed. It is merely a question of time when this plan will be carried out in detail. The people are too progressive and intelligent to put up with semi-arid conditions forever. It could and would be done soon if the Government would lend the money necessary to build the dam and reservoirs, all to be repaid by installments in the future, but the state must take the first step to show its interest in the project.

Vol. III-30

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The Belle Fourche reclamation project is the largest that has been built or proposed in the state. Another is the Grand River reclamation project, which is partly in North Dakota and partly in South Dakota. The Belle Fourche project was commenced in 1903. The altitude there is from 2,600 to 3,000 feet. The extent of the irrigable region is about 40 miles from east to west and about 13 miles from north to south. On the north is slayey loam and on the south is sandy loam. The average annual rainfall is from 14 to 18 inches, plenty enough for the crops if all could be used and used at the right time. The irrigated land is valued at $75 to $125 per acre. The water shed is 4,300 square miles and the storage reservoir contains 8,000 acres, with a capacity of 203,770 acre feet. The main canals have a total length of about 100 miles, the lateral canals 125 miles, and the sub-lateral canals about 1,000 miles. The average annual dis- charge of Belle Fourche River at the head of the inlet canal is in round numbers 400,000 acre feet. The leading products are native hay, alfalfa, sugar beets, grain, vegetables, hardy fruits. The temperature ranges from 30° below to 100° in the shade.

The primary survey was made in July, 1903, and construction of the works was authorized by the secretary of the interior March 10, 1904. The residents of the valley who owned private lands under the proposed system organized in July, 1904, as the Belle Fourche Valley Waterusers' Association, with a total capitalization of $3,400,000. In April, 1905, bids for the division dam, the main feeder canal and the structures on the latter were opened and contracts were awarded about two weeks later and soon afterward work was commenced. The project contemplated the reclamation of 100,000 acres, beginning about two miles east of the Town of Belle Fourche and extending eastward to the dis- tance of about forty miles. The main supply canal conveys the waters of Belle Fourche River to the reservoir, which is held by the dam 6,200 feet long at the top and 115 feet high at the deepest part. Two large canals convey the water from the reservoir to the lands to be irrigated. The north canal serves the farms in Indian, Horse, Dry and Willow Creek valleys; while the south canal irrigates lands in Owl Creek Valley and in the vicinity of Vale and Empire. Other extensions have been made lately and many more can be made without interfering with the supply. The main canal is 6.5 miles long and extends from the river to the reservoir. This canal is 70 feet wide at high water and 40 feet wide at the bottom and carries 10 feet of water. Its capacity is 1,635 cubic feet per second. Along its course are wasteways and sluice gates. At the lower end is a concrete weir 180 feet long. The dam in the river raises the water about 8 feet and diverts the flow to a depth of 10 feet in the canal. This dam is 400 feet long, is a concerete weir or overflow, rests on bed rock and connects on the south side with an earth wing dam about 1,300 feet long. At the head of the supply canal is the regulator which consists of seven 5-foot openings, the water being under the control of double gates. There are three sluicegates also which are used to eject the water without forcing it over the weir. Twelve miles northwest of Belle Fourche is the big dam across Owl Creek, the highest earthen dam in the United States. The earthen dams have concrete revetments. More than one thousand farms are embraced in this irrigable project; some of the land is flat and some rolling; in fact considerable land is too high for irrigation from this system unless the water should be drawn up by windmills. Water may

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be secured, of course, in many cases from the rainfall on the hills and uplands, by storing the same in reservoirs.

By May, 1910, the great irrgation works near Belle Fourche were nearly completed. The largest earth dam in the world was here. The reservoir cov- ered about nine thousand acres and the land benefited covered 150,000 acres, of which 100,000 acres were in Belle Fourche Valley on both sides of the river. Within this district were 50,000 acres of public land, 45,000 acres of private land, and 5,000 acres owned by South Dakota. During the year a large water power electric plant was planned for the Black Hills-to cost $1,500,000.

Numerous irrigation and reservoir plans west of the Missouri were consid- ered in 1903. Many artesian wells were already in use west of that river-at Buffalo Gap, Smithville, along Bad River and elsewhere. Plans presented by Representative Martin were figured to reclaim 307,000 acres as soon as the National Irrigation Fund should be placed at the disposal of the states. About this time Raymond T. Walter, engineer on the United States Geological Survey, called a meeting at Rapid City, in the interest of irrigation and reclamation. At this meeting committees were appointed and were instructed to consider the subject and report at a subsequent meeting. In June the Western South Dakota Chamber of Commerce assembled at Rapid City to take steps to promote irri- gation in the counties of Meade, Pennington, Custer and Fall River. C. L. Wood served as president. Several committees were appointed. The subject was one of great interest and moment to the whole Hills region at this time.

In the districts where the soil is sometimes thought good and sometimes thought otherwise, and where sometimes the rain is thought insufficient, it has been learned that the rainfall would be ample if it were conserved and if it were not for the hard subsoil or the impervious bed farther down through which not a drop of moisture can be drawn upward to supply the roots of plants in times of hot weather. In cases of that kind an examination has shown, in nine cases out of ten, that it is not the lack of moisture in the soil, except in the soil above the hardpan, that is responsible for the "burning up" of crops. But it is shown that the great reservoir of moisture below the hardpan is of no use to the crops which has no storage to draw upon after the moisture above the hardpan has been exhausted. Where this hardpan is near the surface the moisture above is soon gone, though conserved by dust and other mulches, and then the first hot wind wilts the corn or other grain in a day's time and soon completely ruins it.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume III, Part 65

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1146

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1146