Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 March 1893 — Snow Irrigation. [ARTICLE]

Snow Irrigation.

No doubt the recent famine in Eussia was principally due to want of irrigation. The usual process of carrying irrigation works lrom neighboring streams is too costly and slow, and besides is quite impracticable in South Eussia, on account of excessive small falls in all tho rivers in this part of the country. Tho streams, moreover, have very little water during the summer months, when the irrigation is principally wanted. Now in several parts of Siberia the water obtained from melting snow is used for irrigation. Tho climate of these parts is quite continental, with very hot, dry summer, a severe winter, with plentilul falls of snow. The snow irrigation is managed in the following manner: At the first warm winter day arter a plentiful snowfall, the whole village, not excepting women and youngsters, meet at a previously appo.nted spot in the field situated on a slope of a hill. One portion, consisting of stroDg men, collect and carry the snow to form a large bank, while others press the enow down and spread it evenly. This operation is repeated several times during the winter, and by spring a large bank of compressed snow is formed, a dozen feet deep and weighing several hundred tens. With the first approach of spring, the snow bank is covered with pine branches, straw and dung: if such material is not at hand, earth and sand are used as covering, but in the latter ease the layer has to be about eighteen inches thick. The same plan of irrigation would be quite applicable to Eussia, aud for' countries where snow falls in abundance. For regulating the flow of water from melting enow in the bank, a ditch is managed on the lower side of the bank with two openings, cne to be used as an overflow, in case the water is not wanted for irrigatirp, the other leads to the irrigation ditch distributing the water cn the fields. The number of able-bodied men now under arms in Europe, and, of course, withdrawn from the channels of industry is simply enormous and is steadily growing larger. With the increase proposed by such countries as France, Germany, Russia, Italy and Austria, Europe must soon have over twenty millions of men, almost, Immediately available for military duty. The European national debts are steadily growing larger. If this condition of things continues general bankruptcy and widespread ruin must result. Germany will soon have 5,000.000 of soldiers with which to meet almost as many for France. It is simply a terrible state of affairs.

The total flow over Niagara Falls is 265,000 cubic feet pe*r second. A flood that would raise the surface of Lake Superior nine inches would take six months to run off at the falls. The work of utilizing some of the power of Niagara, which is drawing near completion, will not in all probability use more than 10,000 cubic feet of water per second, not enough to lower the water two inches at the crest of the Horse-shoe Falls. Of course, only a small percentage of the power of the falls can be utilized. The company engaged in this work obtained rights of way giving facilities for generating 450,000 horse power, or not a tithe of the power that all the water would develop if it could be used. The ruby, the diamond, the sapphire and emerald seem to owe their formation to similar causes as do the masses of metaii Volatilization in fissures of igneous rocks turned these stones into crystallizations. Recently a theory has been- offered that diamonds are of meteoric origin.