| OCR Text |
Show THE DUTY OF WATER IN CACHE VALLEY, UTAH By P. S. HARRIS* The greater part of this bulletin is devoted to a report of experiments on the relation of the amount of irrigation water applied to the yield of crops. As the agriculture of Utah develops, it becomes more obvious each year that the chief factors limiting the production of crops is irrigation water. It is desirable- therefore, to have available all possible information on the subject. Water is so scarce that none should be wasted either directly or by attempting to spread it over so much land that it is not economically applied. Wasteful extravagance on the one hand and undue economy on the other are both bad for the farmer. The best agriculture is realized when as many prosperous farmers as possilbe can be supported by a given area; but it must be remembered that one hundred thoroughly prosperous farmers are better for the community than one hundred and fifty who are unable to make a living. It is, therefore, very important to the welfare of the state to know just how much land the available irrigation water should be made to serve. It seems clear that irrigation water should be made to go as far as consistent with the prosperity of the individual farmer, but certainly the desire to bring a large area under cultivation should not be allowed to cut the supply of water to the individual farmer below the point at which he can make his farming operation safe and profitable. The year of abundant water supply should not be used as the standard in determining the area to be served. The average year is also probably not a safe standard by itself; the dry years must also be taken into consideration. The first step toward either economy or prosperity is to obtain the facts. Guessing is always uncertain. Many of the early explorers on looking at the large rivers of the West stated that the supply of water could never be exhausted. Actual tests, however, have shown that vague estimates of this kind are far from true. No present supply of irrigation water is limitless. * The irrigation work reported in this bulletin was planned and carried on from 1902 to 1905 under the direction of Dr. J. A. Widtsoe and L. A. Merrill; from 1906 to 1910 under the direction of Prof. J. C. Hogenson; and since 1911 the author has had charge of it. He has been at various times very ably assisted in the field work by A. E. Bowman, H. W. Stucki, H. J. Maughan, and D. W. Pittman. Mr. N. I. Butt gave valuable aid in tabulating results. |
