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Show AGRICULTURE UNDER IRRIGATION IN BASIN OF VIRGIN RIVER. 225 Toquerville Irrigation Company controls the town and east side ditches. Each acre receives water two and one-half to four hours every eight days. The west side and La Verkin Creek ditches are not organized. The annual cost of water in the settlement is about $1 per acre. VIRGIN CITY. This settlement is on the Upper Virgin River. Six ditches supply water to 227 acres in average holdings of 7 acres, the annual cost being $4.25 per acre. The supply is ample, but the cost is large, owing to the sand filling the ditches. The water users are not organized, but the principal ditches have each a secretary and a water master. MOUNTAIN DELL AND THE MILL. These settlements are on North Creek. One hundred and thirty acres in average holdings of 12 acres are watered by twelve ditches at a merely nominal expense. The water supply is short in June and July. DUNCANS RETREAT. Four acres are watered at this place on the Upper Virgin River. The water supply is ample and the cost is merely nominal. GRAFTON. This settlement takes water from the river through two ditches. (PI. XVII, fig. 1.) An area of 154 acres in average holdings of 8.5 acres is watered at a cost of from $1 to $3 per acre per annum. Each acre receives an irrigating stream from two to four hours every eight or ten days. There is no formal organization, but each ditch has a water master and a secretary. ROCKVILLE. Rockville is the only settlement on Virgin River in which a strict time-rotation system of distribution is not followed. As there is abundant water in the river at Rockville, no strict regulation is exercised over the amount of water used. Three ditches serve 293 acres at a cost per acre of from $1 to $2.50 per year. (PI. XVII, fig. 2.) Land holdings average 9 acres. SPRINGDALE. Springdale is on Zion Creek. Two ditches water 160 acres in average holdings of 8 acres, the cost per acre being $1 per year. Above Springdale, Zion Creek, seven ditches water 135 acres in average holdings of 8 acres. The water supply is ample and the cost is very small. SHUNESBLRG. Only 35 acres are watered at ShUnesburg. An ample water supply is taken from Virgin River. CROP RETURNS FOR THE CENTRAL DIVISION. The data covering the crop returns in the St. George and Washington and the St. George Clara tields have already been given (see page 218). In addition an effort was made to learn the yield and value of crops in the other settlements of the central division of the basin. It was impracticable to gather detailed reports of actual yields in these settlements, but, instead, estimates were obtained from several of the leading farmers in each settlement. Although each farmer consulted was asked for a conservative estimate, it is natural for the figures given to more nearly represent good than average years. 18189-No. 124-03 15 |
