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THE IRRIGATION AGE.

VOL. XV1v

CHICAGO, OCTOBER, 1900.

NO. 1

THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN RMERICH

Reclaim The executive committee of
The the National Business League

Laud held a meeting- recently at the

Wellington hotel, Chicago, and adopted
resolutions urging the reclaimation of the
arid regions of the West. Charles Truax
read a paper on the loss that accrues by
exchanging the money of one country for
that of another.

Those present were: President Erskine
M. Phelps, Vice-president Alexander H.
Revell, General Counsel John W. Ela,
LaVerne W. Noyes,Colonel Elliott Durand,
Charles A. Mallory, Charles Truax, P. W.
Gates, Benjamin J. Rosenthal, George H.
Maxwell, F. Howard and A. A. Burnham.

The resolutions set forth that one-third
of the entire area of the United States is
public land, nearly all of which is in the
western half of the country. It is esti-
mated that 74,000,000 acres of this vast
territory could be reclaimed by irrigation.
The expense of irrigation is so great that
it will uatu rally have to fall on the general
government, and action on this line is
urged in the resolutions.

In Mr. Truax's paper it was claimed that
there was need of an international money
for the use of travelers.

The An organization has recently

Farmers' been incorporated in Kansas
Combine known as the Farmers' Ameri-
can Federation, which pro-
poses to benefit the farmer by improving
the present method of selling farm prod-
ucts. The capital stock of the new corpo-
ration is $20,000 divided into shares of $10

each, and its aim is to secure co-operation
among the farmers of the Mississippi val-
ley by their membership in the federation,
and thereby to secure better and more
stable prices for farm produce, fixing min-
imum prices for staple farm products based
on the average cost of production. The
secretary of the federation, in outlining-
the objects, says: "It is our purpose to
establish a bureau of statistics, giving in-
foBmation regarding farm products and
their prices in the market; to place farm-
ers in control of the elevators, warehouses
and btockyards, and put them in full con-
trol of the marketing of their own pro-
ducts; to put farming on a business basis,
make provisions for failure of crops, add
the cost of insurance and risks to the price
of .the products we offer for sale, and to
secure the practice of equity in trade rela-
tion between all organized industries."

The objects are very fine theoretically,
but whether they can be put into practical
operation is another question. The Mil-
waukee Sentinel says: "It is obvious that
the federation will have great difficulties
to overcome before it can be made success-
ful. The present established methods of
handling farm products must be almost
completely superseded before it can expect
to regulate prices. This means that there
must be co-operation on the most exten-
sive scale among the farmers of the coun-
try. Besides, there must be the most
intelligent and honest management of the
affairs of the federation in order to assure
good results. The objects in view are DO
doubt excellent, but to attain them seems
little short of impossible.'1

I HE IRRIGATION AGE.

The The recent flood in Texas was

"Galveston the most devastating catastro-
Horror phe which has occurred in the
history of the country. In
1889 people were horrified at the awful
disaster at Johnstown, when it is estimated,
over 2,000 person's perished; more recent
was the cyclone at St. Louis, with its
awful destruction of property and the loss
of over 700 lives; but the Gulf storm was
far greater than either of these in the
appaling loss of life and property. It is
estimated that in Galveston alone at least
3,000 perished, while the total loss of life
in the storm center will probably reach
10,000. Many of the citizens of Galveston
realized for years the inadequency of the
protection against the ocean storms, and
often spoke of the probability of a calam-
ity happening, but regarded it as a far off
contingency, as we do death. It came
upon them almost without warning, and
the city is now a vast ruin. Doubtless the
same American pluck and energy which
made it possible to rear a newer and bet-
ter Chicago on the ruins of the old in 1871,
will rebuild Galveston and put about it
such protection from the ocean as the
recent disaster has shown is needed. In
the horror of this tragedy there is one
bright spot, and that is the willingness —
nay eagerness, shown on the part of other
cities to give aid to Texas. Johnstown in
her tln» of trouble received $2,000 from
Texas and now offers to pay this sum back
with interest, $5,000 being the amount
contributed. Chicago, New York, Indian-
apolis, St. Louis — all were ready with
money and provisions as soon as possible,
while the railroad companies showed their

generosity by offering to transport freight
free of charge to the sufferers. There was
no red tape, no delay, but a prompt offer
of help.

Fitz and Col. Robt. Fitzsimmons, who
The has announced his intention of

Cigarette retiring permanently from the
ring, recently gave utterance
to sentiments regarding the cigarette,
which should receive wide publicity. A
word from a great pugilist will carry more
weight with the average small boy. who
looks up to him as a hero to be admired
and emulated, than will the lectures of
instructors or the tears of mothers. Fitz-
simmons attributes his health and strengtn
in his accumulating years to temperate
living. He says: "Drink, late hours, cig-
arettes in youth — those things make men
old. I would as soon learn to crochet as to
smoke a cigarette. If a man criticised me
for crocheting I could give him some kind
of an answer, or at least give him a punch
for criticising. But if he caught me smok-
ing a cigarette, I'd have to confess that I
had gone wrong." If the boys could read
this and be taught that cigarette smoking
is something contemtible; that it is de-
spised by "manly" men, perhaps there
would be fewer stunted old-young men,
who are victims of this pernicious habit.
To compare cigarette smoking with cro-
cheting is to make it savor of weakness,
and therefore to be despised by young
Americans whose aim is to do "what the
men do." Fitzsimmons should receive a
vote of thanks for thus boldly denning his
position on the question and giving his
influence against the little "coffin-nails."

MILLIONS APPROPRIATED FOR

LEVEES.

By GUY E. MITCHELL.

The history of levee construction on the Mississippi river has
been a long one. The first levee was begun in 1717, which was, when
completed, one mile long, erected to protect New Orleans, then a mere
village. This levee was four feet high and eighteen feet across at
the top. It was not, however, until after Louisiana had been ceded
to the United States that levee construction was begun on a large
scale — an enlarged and systematic scale. As the work progressed up
the river and additional basins and bottoms were enclosed, the levees
necessarily increased in height. The average height of the levees in
Louisiana, above New Orleans, in now between twelve and thirteen
feet, and this height proved insufficient in the great flood of 1897.
This flood indicates to the official engineers that three or four feet ad-
ditional will be required.

Millions and millions of dollars have been appropriated by the
Federal Government for the building of these levees and other con-
structions intended to protect the surrounding country from floods,
and millions more must he appropriated by every Congress to come
unless other steps are taken to prevent these floods. The measures
of the government are merely palliative; they do not go to the root of
the evil. The report of Captain Hiram Chittenden, of the Govern-
ment Engineer Corps, however, shows that there is a way to strike at
the trouble itself, and largely prevent the floods instead of trying to
•enclose them between banks after they have become such.

He shows in his official reports that, by the building of a series of
great storage reservoirs at the head waters of the Missouri, floods can
be prevented through the diverting of the excess of waters into these
artificial lakes. Surely this is something for Congress to give its at-
tention to. Here is a practical plan. An ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure. Congress will go ahead appropriating millions
every session for flood prevention without a question, but it will not
appropriate the same amount for a plan, which, according to the
government's own engineers, promises far greater results. Of course,
the storing of these reservoirs would mean the reclamation of large
tracts of land to irrigation; but this need not worry Congress, even in
eas tern members, for the eastern merchants are already alive to the
situation, and realize that the reclamation of the arid West would
open to them the finest market in the world.

THE IRRIGATION A GL
THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION POLICY.

The opponents of the national irrigation movement seems im-
bued with two ideas. First, that national irrigation is a matter of
flight and fancy about which all sorts of extravagant, unauthenticatedr
and theoretical statements are made by its advocates, and, second,
that whatever the scheme may be. the people of the East will never
endorse it. Neither of these ideas is founded upon fact. The national
policy is not a plan reared upon fancy, but a legitimate problem en-
tirely capable of performance, as shown by the recommendations of
the best government engineers of the various departments at Wash-
ington. The friends of national irrigation want nothing more than
that the recommendations of these engineers shall be carried out. And
if this is done there can be no other possible outcome than that the
population of the country lying between the Missouri and the coast
will be vastly increased with resulting prosperity. The waste waters
of the West, if stored, would create a permanent source of wealth to
the nation.

And the eastern opposition to western reclamation is getting to-
be more of a myth than a reality since the crusade has been started
throughout the manufacturing states calling attention to the vast pos-
sibilities which lie to manufacturers through the development of the
arid West in giving to them the best market in the world for their
goods. It is well enough for the opponents of the national irrigation
policy to talk of unalterable eastern opposition to the scheme, but the
fact is that the East contains thousands of the strongest and most in-
fluential supporters which the movement claims.

Intimately connected with the conservation of water for irriga-
tion is the preservation of forests. Every irrigated valley and the
supply of every storage reservoir is dependent upon forested tracks
which will absorb rainfalls and gradually let it out through streams
and springs.

Primitive man did not at first begin his agricultural operations by
irrigating great valleys and plains. He commenced, perhaps, with a
small patch of ground and a little stream of water, or planted his sim-
ple crops on the edge of the desert, utilizing the water of some small
but perennial spring, or laboriously drew it from a well. Then later
he learned to broaden his operations and work in communities, until
finally he undertook great projects and accomplished engineering
feats in the construction of canals, viaducts, and complete systems
which have hardly since been surpassed by modern capital and in-
genuity.

AN UNWATERED EMPIRE.

The vista that the possibilities of irrigation reveals, say the Los
Angeles Herald, is almost stupendous, as a few facts and figures pre
pared by the National Irrigation Association demonstrate. The Fed-

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 5

eral Government today owns 100, 000, 000 acres of land, which is worth-
less only because it is arid. This " unwatered empire" can be re-
claimed by irrigation and rendered capable of sustaining a population
of at least 50,000,000 people. In the words of the Secretary of Agri-
culture in his last annual report: "More than one-third of the country
depends upon the success of irrigation to maintain the people, the in-
dustries, and the political institutions of that area, and the future
growth will also be measured by the increase of the reclaimed area.
In a region which, in the extent and diversity of its mineral wealth,
has no equal on the globe, the riches of the mines in the hills are
already surpassed by the productions of the irrigated farms in the
valleys, and the nation at large is at last awakening to the fact that
the development of the use of the rivers and arid lands of the West
will constitute one of the most important epochs in our increase in
population and material wealth."

These stupendous possibilities also present a colossal problem.
How may this gigantic desert be transformed into a land of pros-
perity? Who is to redeem the national domain by a comprehensive
system of reservoirs? It has been demonstrated by twenty years of
experience in irrigation development and by the reports of Govern-
ment experts and engineers that the great problem can only be solved
by the Federal Government. Capt. Hiram M. Chittenden, Engineer
Corps, U. S. A., in his report on " Surveys for Reservoir Sites," de-
clares emphatically that reservoir construction in the regions of the
West can properly be carried out only through public agencies. "Pri-
vate enterprise can never accomplish the work successfully. As be-
tween state and nation, it falls more properly under the domain of the
latter."

It is estimated that $143,000,000 would reclaim the arid lands of
the West; that an expenditure by the Federal Government of
$15,000,000 a year for ten years would open up lands for the settle-
ment of a population as big as that of the entire country at present.
An appropriation of $100,000 was made at the last session of Congress
for preliminary surveys to discover the best locations for the im:
mense reservoirs.

The assistance of every organization and of every individual in
forwarding this all- important work should be welcomed and assisted
in every possible way by the citizens of California, who will substan-
tially derive more benefit from its consummation than the inhabitants
of any other section of the country.

" The National Irrigation Association," continues the Herald, "is
doing most valuable work in awakening interest throughout the
country, East and West, in the cause. The policy that the association
advocates is, in brief, that the Federal Government shall build,
wherever necessary, the irrigation works required for the reclama-
tion of the arid public lands, reimbursing itself from sales of the land

6 THE IRRIGATION AGE

reclaimed; and that a fair share of each river and harbor bill shall
hereafter go for building storage reservoirs. To carry out such a
policy requires an effective national organization, which can only be
realized by active and general support. Commercial .organizations
are asked to endorse this policy and co-operate with the National Ir-
rigation Association. Personal co operation and membership in the
association are necessary for the success of the movement."

NATURAL RESERVOIRS.

Congress has for years been appropriating money for storage
reservoirs in the West. This may seem like news to many, but it is a
fact with which they are in reality familiar. Long ago the legisla-
tive branch of the government recognized the fact that it is the duty
of the government to protect forests and to reforest such districts as
are burnt over, to the end that the water supply shall not fail. In
other words, where the government appropriates for the protection of
a forest or ihe reforesting of a tract of land, it appropriates for the
building of or the care of a storage reservoir. The forests are nature's
reservoirs, and if it is economical and proper for the government to
recognize and care for them, why is it not equally proper that it should
build artificial reservoirs which would save to the country the millions
of dollars which now annually sweep to the sea through the waste and
flood waters of countless rivers?

SHAMEFUL TREATMENT.

According to recent Phoenix, Ariz., dispatches, some of the Pima
Indians at the Sacaton agency have threatened violence and rebellion
if their children are forced to attend school. Before this time the
trouble has been adjusted or suppressed, but in truth it would seem
strange if these Indians refused to send their children to school or to
believe' any word the whites may tell them. Of all the Indians of the
West, they, the most peaceful, friendly and industrious, have been
treated the worst by the government.

These Indians have always been irrigators — were such at the time
of early Spanish explorations — and some dozen years ago the import-
ance of protecting or increasing their water supply was brought forci-
bly to the attention of the Washington afficials, and it was urged that
something be done to prevent their being cut off from the water sup-
ply which they had used from time immorial to water their little plats
of maize, vegetables and orchard.

The matter at the time received the grave consideration of the
department, and since that time it has been referred back and forth
from the office of Indian Affairs to the Indian Division of the Interior
Department and back again, and then, under the spnr of some outside
pressure, to some special agent for a report, and so on. The numer-
ous reports made and printed on this case would fill a shelf. In the
meantime the condition of the Indians has grown steadily worse;

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 1

practically all of their water supply has been diverted by white set-
tlers, and they, the original owners, have been reduced to actual
starvation. Last Congress appropriated $30,000 to feed them— $80,000
to feed a free and independent people, heretofore relying only upon
their labors, — industrious, and asking nothing of anybody.

But why bother these department clerks about such a matter.
They have sat at their desks probably for twenty years and they know
best how f o do things. When the report comes in of Inspector Graves,
who has been sent down to the Pi ma agency to tell the same old story
in new words, it will be then time to — labnl and pigeon-hole it.

It might be well, however, for the Secretary of the Interior to
himself inquire a little into this matter, and not act entirely on the
recommendation of bureau and division clerks, who apparently desire
never to see any definite relief provided. This case of the neglect
and abuse of the Pima Indians has just about reached the straining
point.

THE IRRIGATION PROBLEM OF VAST PROPORTIONS.

Hydrographer Frederick H. Newell, of the Geological Survey
who is making a general tour of the West in the interests of irrigation
matters, combines not only exhaustive knowledge of his work with in-
defatigable activity, but takes an interest in western development
amounting to nothing less than great enthusiasm. He usually spends
much time during the summer season in traveling through the west-
ern states, and during the winter months delivers a goodly number of
lectures in eastern cities, descriptive of these travels. In this manner
the western country with its illimitable possibilities and vast resources
gets an eastern advertisement which must be of great benefit. Some
of Mr. Newell's stereopticon lectures on the great irrigation works of
the West are full of interest and carry to easterners some idea of the
scale upon which things are done in this part of the country. Mr.
Newell anticipates the rapid strides in the work of irrigation during
the next few years, but he gives some excellent advice in an interview
on the subject of the progress possible.

" The problem of the complete reclamation of the desert lands,''
said Mr. Newell, "is too big for individual or corporate enterprise.
The government must reclaim these new fields, which will be the rich-
est in the world, as it now, by spending millions of dollars, seeks to
save the productive lands of the lower Mississippi valley. The manu-
facturing East is now beginning to gladly support such a policy since
its possibilities are being properly exploited. The West, however,
must look ty its representatives in Congress to press matters in the
most practical manner, and it must send the right kind of men to
Congress.

'• The surveys we are now making will furnish facts upon which
recommendations to Congress can be made, and behind the work of
the congressmen, there should be the strong backing of the organized
business interests of the West."

ELWOOD MEAD ON IRRIGATION

[Read at the Farmers' Congress, Aug. 21.]

Elwood Mead of the United States Department of Agriculture,
delivered an address on irrigation. He said in part:

"As the result of less than a half century of effort and experi-
ence, irrigation has changed arid, desolate plains producing nothing
but cactus and stunted grass, into orchards and gardens, created cities
like Salt Lake and Los Angeles, and dotted with rural homes, many
valleys where once the live stock industry was supreme. From being
an experiment there is not now an arid state or territory in which the
products of the irrigated farms do not rival in value those of the
mines or factories. Looking at these achievements the question may
well be asked whether or not there is any need of state or national
aid to promote the success of this industry. If people, to whom at
the outset the whole subject was strange and new, have succeeded so
well, cannot the complete utilization of western land and western
rivers be left to unaided private effort?

"It is the opinion of those best informed that the present hap-
hazard development cannot continue. The area now irrigated is now
larger than the state of New York, every acre of which has been
watered from one to six times each year. The canals and literals
which distribute this water are many thousands of miles in length,
and require in their management during the growing season an army
of men to protect and regulate headgates, patrol their banks and ad-
just the measuring boxers of users. The success or failure of these
canals is a matter of local interest. Much of the money expended in
their construction came from the East.

"Already the claims to water amount in the aggregate to many
times the supply. Every transaction which has thus far had to do
with their disposal has been marked by a lavish prodigality. Ditches
have diverted more than was used, the owners have claimed more
than they could divert, and the courts have given the claimants titles
to more than the ditches could carry and often many times what the
highest floods would supply. In the absence of definite information
of the quantity needed to irrigate an acre .of land, or of the volume
which streams will furnish, the ignorance or greed of the speculative
appropriator has its opportunity.

"We can most surely end this state of things by showing how
much water is needed and when it is used. To do this on a large
scale is expensive. To have the results accepted as a guide to legis-
lation and as a basis for the important transactions, they must be
made by men of capacity and experience and cover a wide range of

THE IRRIGA 7 JON A GE. 9

country and conditions, and they must be absolutely freed from local

• or selfish influence. All these mark the study as one which the gen-
eral goverment can carry on more effectively than any other agency.

"The public, East and West, has another interest in this investi-
gation. There are many million acres of irrigable land yet to be re-
claimed. This land is a public trust and the opportunity of future
home seekers. In order to know how much can be safely offered to
settlers we must know how much water each stream will supply, and
how much an acre of land requires. The government should provide
this information as a guide to honest enterprise and protection from
unscrupulous ones. ' Sooner or later a knowledge of the duty of water
becomes a necessary in every irrigated district. It is required to
settle disputes over water right contracts and provide for their intel-
ligent reconstruction. It is needed by law makers in the framing of
laws for the establishment of water rights and by the courts in ren-
dering decisions.

" The issue as to whether western rivers are to remain a public
trust or become personal property is being waged with a vigor com-
mensurate with the value of the property. The result will determine
whether irrigated agriculture will become corporate or co-operative.
Personal ownership creates an opportunity for monopolies more ab-
solute and oppressive than any now existing. Those who do not ob-
ject to the free grants of perpetual franchise in cities, will approve of
the free and perpetual surrender of the water of streams. It is my
belief that both are alike unwise.

• ' The time to settle which of these two policies should prevail is
during the early year of our development, in the pregnant years when
institutions are forming and before mistakes or abuses have become
fixed by time or custom. There are two agencies which should be en-
listed in this work. The national government should study the irri-
gation systems of the different states and of other countries, as the
governments of Canada and Australia are now doing. This the office
of Experiment Stations has begun. Some of the most equable and
experienced students of. irrigation are now making, under its direc-
tion, a careful investigation of the irrigation systems of Utah and
California. Their reports when printed will show in concrete form
what sort of water ownership now prevails and the merits and defects
of the systems now in use. It is the intention to extend these studies
to other states in order that legislatures may profit by the experience
of neighboring commonwealths, This, however, is not enough. The
problems of today will not be the same tomorrow. With growing and
increasing scarcity there will be a constant evolution in water laws.
"The next generation of irrigators should be educated to deal with
them. A course of instruction in the social and industrial features of
irrigation should be provided in every western university. A number

• of agricultural colleges, Colorado being especially entitled to com-

10 THE IRRIGA TION A GE.

mendation, are rendering valuable service to the West by their in-
struction in irrigation engineering and an investigation of its prob-
lems. This should be supplemented by equally thorough instruction
in the laws and methods which should control the ownership and dis-
tribution of streams. If Jefferson was right in believing that one of
the functions of universities is to form the statesman, legislators and
judges on whom public prosperity and individual happiness so much
depends there is no question that the state universities of the arid
region can in no way more effectively serve the commonwealths which
support them than by instructing their students in the principles
which should govern the disposal of the commodity which is destined
to exercise a larger influence ovt>r the prosperity and growth of the
western third of the United States than all other influences combined.'

The splendid work which El wood Mead and his assistants are do-
ing throughout the West along irrigation lines, is becoming well
known. As state engineer of Wyoming, Mr. Mead achieved for his
state such an enviable reputation throughout the irrigated region
that his broader work of investigation under the general government
is meeting with much favor and is being watched with deep interest.
His first annual report on "Irrigation Investigation" is just issuing
and will be found of great value to the West.

It deals with the methods in use in the arid states in the distribu-
tion and use of water in irrigation, and gives a large number of meas-
urements made to determine the duty of water, the losses from seep-
age and evaporation [in canals, and describes the methods by which
the water supply may be more effectively and economically applied
to crops. It contains papers discussing the results of the year's in-
vestigations by El wood Mead, expert in charge, Clarence T.Johnston,
assistant, and reports and discussions by special agents Thomas
Berry, Colorado; W. M. Reed, New Mexico; W. H. Code, Arizona; W.
Irving, California; R. C. Gemmell and George L. Swendsen, Utah;
D. W. Ross, Idaho; Samuel Fortier, Montana, and O. V. P. Stout
Nebraska. It is illustrated by views, diagrams and maps showino- the
location and character of the investigations made.

"The investigation," says Mr. Mead, "deal with problems which
sorely perplex the irrigators and canal builders of the arid West.
Their comprehensive study is a new feature of national aid to irrio-a-
tion development in this country. Heretofore the leading object of
such aid has been to promote the construction of new canals, to show
how much land there was above existing ditches which could be re-
claimed, and the benefits which would come from such reclamation.
It is believed that this investigation also will tend to secure these
ends, but its primary purpose is to promote the welfare of the people
living under the ditches already built, to render the farms now irri-

TEE IRRIGATION AGE. 11

gated more profitable, to lessen the controversies over the distribu-
tion of water and secure its more systematic and economical use."

During the year that Mr. Mead has had the work of irrigation
investigation in charge a great number of measurement have been
made of water used for irrigation at the heads of the large canals, at
the heads of the small canals or laterals and also at the margins of
the fields when used. These measurements show in many cases a sur-
prising discrepancy. The differences in the measurements at the
three places show the approximate loss of water in transit in canals.
The results which are given in full in Mr. Mead's report are expressed
in the depth to which the water measured would cover the land irri-
gated, provided it all reached the land. The table below gives the
averages of the three classes of measurements.

Depth

Measured at the heads of large canals. ... 2.63 feet

Measured at the heads of large canals and laterals 2.40 feet

Measured at the margins of fields when used 1.29 feet

The causes assigned for these immense losses are improper con-
struction, the nature of the soil through which the canals pass, and
the practice of placing checks in canals to throw water on land too
high to be irrigated without their use. The report of the work on
the Gage Canal in California shows that practically all these losses
can be stopped when the value of the water will justify the necessary
expense. This saving would enable many existing canals to irrigate
double the area now reclaimed.

Serious losses from evaporation do not occur in main canals, but
from the fields where water is distributed. During the midsummer
season the continuous sunshine heats the surface of the ground to a
very high temperature. A test made last summer by the govern-
ment irrigation man, showed the surface soil in southern California to
have a temperature of 120 degrees F. When a thin layer of water is
spread over land thus heated, as it is frequently done when flooding
is practiced, the loss from evaporation must be excessive. Mr. W. M.
Reed discusses this in his report on New Mexico, showing instances
where it has become so great as to entirely consume the volume sup-
plied. Irrigators know by practice how much faster an irrigation
head of water travels over fields at night and in the early morning
than during the afternoon. This is due to the difference in the rate of
evaporation. In order to lessen this loss it is important that fields be
irrigated as quickly as possible. To do this each irrigator should be
supplied with all the water he can distribute. Where only a small
stream is used, progress is slow, the soil next the laterals is satu-
rated; it is hard work to reach the high spots while the low ones are
over irrigated by the delay this causes.

Contracts which provide for the delivery of a uniform constant
flow are, as a rule, wasteful of water. Contracts which charge for the

12 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

acres irrigated, without regard to the volume used on these acres, are
a temptation to extravagance on the part of the irrigator. On the
other hand, contracts providing payment proportioned to the quantity
delivered and for delivery in amounts which can be most efficiently
distributed, cannot fail to lead to economy in the use of water, and
consequently to a high duty. Under such a system the irrigator is
benefitted by his saving and pays for his waste. Such contracts can
only be employed in connection with a system of rotation in delivery
to irrigators. This rotation benefits the canal company as well as the
irrigator, because it lessens the loss from evaporation and seepage.
If a canal is large enough to supply 100 farms it will still supply them
whether they are all irrigated every day or one-half given twice the
usual supply every other day. On large canals the economy of such
rotation is very great. It would permit of dividing canals in sections
and supplying the lands under them, one section at a time. A canal
60 miles long could be divided into three sections of 20 miles each, and
all the loss from seepage and evaporation on the lower forty miles
saved while the irrigators of the upper section were being supplied.
In the same way, by keeping the full supply in the canal, water could
be rushed through to users under the lower section with less loss than
where the flow is depleted by laterals along the route. The greatest
saving in rotation, however, would be made in the laterals. Where
water is permitted to slowly dribble through continuously the waste
is enormous. By devising a system for grouping the laterals and
inducing the irrigators therefrom to take water by turns, the engineer
can do as much toward raising the duty obtained as the actual culti-
vator.

The co-operation of the western states with the Department of
Agriculture in making this broad investigation of the duty of water
will be of immense value just now when the time is ripe for a western
awakening which will induce the government to enter into actual
appropriations for the construction of irrigation works which will
place under cultivation vast additional areas. It is important that all
the light possible should be thrown upon the subject.

FOR NATIONAL IRRIGATION.

EASTERN INTEREST IN ITS POSSIBILITIES IS

GROWING.

Evidence comes to show that the national irrigation movement is
not dead, but that on the contrary it has taken a firm hold, particu-
~arly of the people of the East, where opposition has been the strong-
est. On the 17th of August, the Missouri Press Association adopted
ringing resolutions pledging itself to urge Upon congress and upon
individual senators and representatives, irrespective of party, the ne-
cessity for the construction of storage reservoirs by the federal gov-
ernment in order to redeem Arid America and to control the floods of
the Mississippi. The resolutions were comprehensive and broad.

On the same day the National Association of Merchants and Trav-
elers, of Chicago, at a special meeting of their executive committee
to decide whether they would take hold of the national irrigation
movement, adopted the following trenchant resolutions:

"WHEREAS, the building of great storage reservoirs and canals
by the federal government, as advocated by the National Irrigation
Association, would transform the great arid region of the west into a
fertile territory, capable of sustaining a greater population than in-
habits the whole United States today, and would practically double
our national wealth and resources, enormously enlarging our home
markets and increasing our trade and commerce and the prosperity
of the whole people of the United States. Now, therefore, be it

" Resolved, That the Federal Association of Merchants and Trav-
elers will give its active and vigorous support to the national irriga-
tion movement, and we urge upon the people of the United States,
and especially upon all merchants and manufacturers and commercial
organizations in every part of the country that they co-operate in aid
of the movement."'

The fact is that eastern merchants and business men generally
recognize the moment that it is called to their attention, the vast pos-
ibilities which open before them, in the reclamation of the arid west
through a comprehensive storage reservoir system. It takes no pro-
phet to see that with the opening to settlement of millions of acres of
the most productive land in the world and its population by thrifty,
industrious and well-to-do farming communities, an immense market,
the superior of any in the world and almost at and within our very
doors, will be opened to the thousands of American factories looking
for places to sell their products, while they in turn would be so stim-

14 THE IRRIGA TION A GE.

ulated as to make heavy demands upon eastern farmers to feed the
hundreds of thousands of their employes.

The more general introduction of irrigation practices in eastern
humid regions is a good sign for the arid west, for, with a more gen-
eral familiarity with the subject, the better it is for that section en-
tirely dependant upon it when it, comes to a question of needed legis-
lation. In Louisiana the possibilities of irrigation are great, and for
an extremely humid state it has already a comparatively large area
under water systems, amounting to something over 100,000 acres,
while the annual rainfall of the state is double the average for the
whole country, being in the neighborhood of 60 inches, yet Louisiana
is subject to the most' severe drouths, especially in the spring-time
when the crops need moisture. The Mississippi furnishes an unlimited
water source for much of the state, and its waters hold in suspension
and solution much matter of a fertilizing nature.

New Jersey is another state which furnishes some excellent object
lessons on artificial watering, and in Wisconsin, on land receiving its
full share of the rainfall of the humid belt, irrigation of small crops
has been shown to produce remarkable returns over and above cost of
production and watering. The more this sort of development affects
the east, the less novel will be the subject and the less opposition will
be put forward by the intelligent people of that section to a policy of
general western reclamation.

The opponents of federal irrigation admit that it is quite proper
for the government to appropriate money for the construction of ex-
pensive ripraps and levees for floods to destroy from time to time, in
addition to causing vast loss to life and private property; yet that it is
wholly wrong to build reservoirs to restrain these floods and thus get
at the root of the evil, because the water stored in these reservoirs
would be used to irrigate parched fields, and thus we would be adding
too much to our productive capacity. Fortunately, the adherents to
this narrow proposition are not numerous, and the theory is not grow-
ing in popularity.

However wise, just and carefully drawn may be the water laws of
a state, they do not afford its residents complete protection, because
rivers are bound to flow across state lines, and in such cases only fed-
eral control will insure equit}'".

Forests and storage reservoirs both serve the same purpose,
namely, that of keeping the waters from running away from the
mountains in spring floods and letting it down gradually during the-,
crop season.

SALVATION ARMY IRRIGATORS.

IRRIGATION ENGINEER FROM THE PUNJAB TO
INSPECT AMERICAN METHODS.

The irrigation farms of the Salvation Army are attracting consid-
erable notice. In Colorado the Army has one farm of a thousand
acres and is about to add another thousand. It has another farm in
California and the movement generally is .looked upon as of some
economic importance.

Commander Booth Tucker invited his friend E. A. Pargiter,a gov-
ernment irrigation engineer of the Punjab, India, to visit the irriga-
tion farms of the Salvation Army and Mr. Pargiter is now in this
country on two years' leave of absence.

•'I intend also to study irrigation in the United States for my
own benefit," said Mr. Pargiter in an interview at San Francisco.
" Methods and conditions here are quite different from in India, where
I have been connected with the Public Works for some fifteen years. 'r

Mr. Pargiter upheld the Indian government in its treatment of
the famine question. "India "he said, "has reclaimed vast areas
through building permanent irrigation works for the watering of arid
lands which cannot grow crops without irrigation, and this has won-
derfully improved the condition of the people living in those districts.
There are now about 5,000,000 acres benefited by a system of irriga-
tion works.

"Irrigation is under government control in India. This has
proved by far the most satisfactory method and the best for the peo-
ple. There have been many large private irrigation projects but the
government has found it necessary sooner or .later to control them for
the reason that investments in large irrigation enterprises do not
yield an immediate return on the money and private capital is not
willing to wait eight or ten or even fifteen years for an investment to
begin to pay. But the government can wait, and finally will secure
good interest on its money. Some of the districts return a profit to
the government as high as 10 and 15 percent. Rice and sugar land is
charged f or „ irrigation about $3 an acre. The charge for cotton lands
is $5. For wheat and barley lands $1 is the charge.

" Irrigation can hardly solve the famine question for the reason
that the famines occur in regions where some years there is ample
rainfall for the crops. The drouth comes along generally about
once in ten years and while an irrigation system would avert trouble
in that ye.'tr, during the other nine years in would not be patronized.
The stricken districts have suffered a drought for three years in sue-

16 THE IEEIGA TION A GE

«ssion this time, something which will probably never happen again
for fifty or one hundred years. When it rains in those districts there
is more than enough of it. Irrigation is then utterly of no use."

"Colorado should be the greatest agricultural state in the West,
says the Denver Times. In its sandy plains and valleys there is as
much gold as in its mountains. The only difference is in ger/ting it
out. For the one the plow and the harvester are used. For the
other the pick and drill are necessary. Colorado needs more farmers.
A thickly settled agricultural region builds up cities. It makes a
prosperous state."

And this possibility of upbuilding and development through agri-
culture will apply to all the great arid west as soon as its land shall
have been reclaimed and made productive through the construction of
great storage reservoirs and the conservation of the vast volumes of
water which now flow uselessly to the sea.

In his last annual report the Secretary of the Interior, referring
to the arid lands of the West says: "That this vast acreage, capable
of sustaining and comfortably supporting, under a proper system of
irrigation, a population of at least 50,000,000 people, should remain
practically a desert, is not in harmony with the progress of the age or
in keeping with the possibilities of the future." The federal govern-
ment should devote a portion of its annual river and harbor appropri-
ation to the building of the great storage reservoirs, the surveys for
which have been made by the geological survey.

The extensive regions of northern Mexico, are, it is reported, to
be irrigated by canals through aid extended by the Mexican federal
and state governments.

THE DUTY OF GIRLS.

By ENOCH DIXON.

There are almost as many varie-
ties of girls In the world as there
are individuals. No two are ex-
actly alike, yet, if we dispense
with the finer distinctions which
would prompt a sub-division of the
groups, there are but a few general
classes. The distinction between
these classes is vague, however,
and while they are in a measure
opposed in character, disposition
and inclination, yet one class is
really synonymous of the others.
The fact is, and we would not have
it otherwise if we could, girls are
girls. One may be petite and
vivacious, hence attractive to some,
while the power of another may be
in her obesity and timidity. The
gift of verbosity, even without rea-
son or logic may insure "the popu-
larity of one, while her taciturn
sister may have equally as large
and as earnest a following. The
society butterfly has a no more
faithful or devoted cavalier than has
the girl who is a product of the
slum; the maiden who goes out to
domestic service is loved as hon-
estly as the woman who has gained
fame in art or music. The girl who
teaches a Sunday school class and
lives a goodly life may be an old
maid when her frivolous friend is a
wife — though the man who chose
her may not have used commenda-
ble discrimination in making his
choice.

There is a natural law which
causes like to seek like, and another

ess commonly enforced, which

forges a chain of friendship be-
tween the antonyms of character.
Generally a girl can be judged by
the company she keeps, but some-
times that standard of measure-
ment is at fault. The frivolous
may consort with the sedate and
each find pleasure in their inter-
course— the lewd may attach itself
to virtue without revealing itself
except to discriminating judges of
character, but such cases are rare.
They are common enough, how-
ever, to prompt caution and charity
when passing judgment.

Viewed from the standpoint of
worldly wisdom, it is a happy pro-
vision of nature that there is a de-
mand for all kinds of girls. The
rabble takes what comes its way,
careless of character, education and
qualifications. Those of the middle
class demand virtue and some edu-
cation, but ask little else. The
better class is content only with a
combination of all the graces —
womanly virtue, developed intelli-
gence, housewifely qualifications,
amiability and personal grace.
Because of their standing in society
and before the world the people of
this latter class, being in demand
as husbands, have first choice
among the marriagable girls and
can place the standard where they
will. They leave that which does
not meet their approval and the
middle class has second choice. The
culls, if you please, go to the
rabble.

The girl, then, practically choses

18

2 HE IRRIGA TION A GE.

her own after position in life. She
is called to the rank for which she
.is fitted. True, there may be oc-
casions when the accident of birth
may prevent exact justice in the
classification, but not often. In
the home, no matter how humble,
true character will develop. A
mask may be worn before the
world, but in this day and age the
world has a habit of looking behind
the mask; It is a discerning world.
It readily detects shant and hum-
bug. It distinguishes between
carelessness and vice; notes the
difference between honorable
vivacity and that levity which is
prompted ,by depravity. In its es-
timate of character it does not often
make a mistake, and the daughter
of humble parents may incite as
much reverence and respect as she
who is reared in a more pretentious
home or in luxury. The money
standard does not measure good-
ness; the possession of wealth car-
ries with it no monopoly of virtue,
intelligence and the womanly
graces.

In this age of efficient public
schools and splendid public and
traveling libraries a good education
is possible for any girl who has
reasonable aspirations and a little
application. In the public schools
are opportunities for gaining an
education which is ample, in all the
walks of life except the profes-
sions. This may be supplemented
by a course of reading, costing
nothing, which will include history,
biography, travel, fiction and a lit-
tle science if desired. Thus
equipped any girl of average intel-
ligence can carry her part in a con-
versation on almost any topic, and

these intercourses will constantly
add to her knowledge.

The daily walk of the girl is of
much moment in influencing her
fnture life, yet there are so many
standards that no ironclad rule can
be laid down. What would attract
in one instance would repel in
another. Above the rabble, how-
ever, virtue is always demanded
and a gaod name is of first import-
ance. It is an essential element.
Even the appearance of evil is a
handicap which cannot be wholly
overcome. The world is not char-
itable with this offense. Its judg-
ment is harsh and the decree irre
vocable. The girl, then, who
would occupy an honorable place
in society should be discriminating
in selecting her companions and of
her every action.

Of much importance, also, is
amiability, that combination of
agreeable qualities which win the
affections. This power of pleasing
is inherent with some, while in
others it must be cultivated and
beveloped. It is beyond no one.
A sour, churlish disposition can be
curbed or entirely changed. No
nature has not its agreeable and
pleasant traits. These, if properly
appreciated, can be fostered and in
time their softening influence will
permeate and transforms the most
disagreeable natural inclinations.
Sometimes it may be a severe
struggle, but "try, try again" is
the motto, success must come.

Personal grace is akin to amia-
bility. Its component qualities are
graciousness of manner, neatness
of dress, cleanliness of person,
adaptability and geniality. These
need no analytical explanation.

THE IR RIGA T10N A GE

19

they are pleasingly conspicuous if
they exist; shockingly patent if
they are absent.

The housewifely qualifications
are of prime importance. No true
man of the substantial and success-
ful sort loves or wholly respects a
girl because of the gaudiriess of
her apparel or the brilliancy of her
smile. He may admire her, but it
is much the same sort of admira
tion he lavishes upon a pretty pic-
ture or a plate from a fashion mag-
azine. He would not want her for
his own; in the chosing of a wife
he would strike her from the list of
eligibles. Her nature would not
be of the kind that would be sym-
pathetic in times of sorrow; her in-
fluence would not be strengthening
if he were called upon to meet mis-
fortune. Her influence in the home
would not conserve that peace,
happiness and quietude which
makes of home a retreat from the
trials and worries of business.

In preparing for wifehood the
girl has a herculean task. She
must expect to "love, honor and

obey" her husband for an average
lifetime of thirty years. During
this time there are three meals to
prepare each day, three hundred
and sixty-five times each year, for
the individual whose stomach if
not- filled or his palate gratified,
refuses to be happy or congenial.
Added to. this are the daily duties
of the house, the bearing and
bringing up of children and the de-
mands of society to be met. It is
a task which in its total is appall-
ing, and for which careful prepara-
tion should be made. It is a task
which the frivilously inclined do
not accomplish and the intelligent
man realizes that the possession of
housewifely qualifications is a true
indication of sterling worth and
good quality.

With the acquirement of the vir-
tues herein enumerated any girl of
sound mind can fit he'rself for and
rise to the choicest position in the
world — that of the wife of an hon-
est, loving, discriminating man
She must either do this or become
a second or third choice.

PHYSICAL ECONOMICS.

By E. MARGUERITE LINDLEY.

Summer is ended. Short skirts
have been every woman's bliss
whether or not she was a golfist.
What is she to do now, when she
returns cityward? Adopt the long
street skirt again, with its ragged,
dirty edge, and weary her arms in
her fruitless attempt to hold it
above street filth? What is the
use of women's clubs If they have
no strength when establishing hy-
gienic measures for our sex is con-
cerned?

The question of dress for club
women has been very strongly dis-
cussed of late in regard to elabo-
rateness of dress while attending
club functions. Should or should
not the woman of means wear her
elegant gowns in the presence of
those who from economy's pressing
needs must dress plainly. That, in
brief, is the question shorn of all
apologies and of all attempts to
make an ugly fact appear a grace-
ful one.

The question has been met too
radically in the positive or affirma-
tive, and by those who give a per-
sonal view only, forgetting that
there are a great number of points
to be considered, all of them
equally sensible, and that to meet
a question of such import one must
put herself in the place of a score
of others and give an impartial
opinion.

Club life levels all financial
grades. There the woman of
means finds herself of no more im-
portance than the woman of econ-

omy, providing their mental status
is on an equality. It would be a
tooL'sh waste of time to discuss
the frivolous woman of wealth, or
her whose wealth is too new for it
to have become a part of her. In-
stead, we will consider the woman
of refinement and culture who is
blessed with affluence and who dis-
plays no air of superiority over her
less favored neighbor. The true
woman of economy also experiences
no feeling of inferiority because of
her plain attire. Her paper carries
just as much weight in club life as
her wealthy neighbor's, providing-
it is equally well prepared.

The wealthy woman is accus-
tomed to elegance and would not
appear natural in inferior clothing.
Her dress is a part of her. Let no
one dispute her freedom in taste.
When unfavorable criticism is
made on her taste and personal ap-
pearance, she is probable to retire
from the club. No one, however
sensitive on the question of econ-
omy can desire this.

The woman who spends her
money for expensive fabrics, and
employs dressmakers and other
trades people, is aiding greatly all
enterprises. Sometimes she fur-
nishes clerkships for the husbande
of the very women who are one
sided enough to criticize her elabo-
rateness of dress.

The point first mentioned in re-
gard to club women and dress,
should concern us all. We have
enough in that one topic,, "hygienic

TEE IRRIGATION AGE.

21

and artistic arrangement of dress "
to occupy us in club discussion all
the season, and we had best let the
wealthy woman alone. Until late
years, we may as well say until to-
day, every thing in women's dress
has been decided by fashion. Now,
clubs will set the pace and fashion
(whoever she has been) will be
under club rule. The one great
question, street skirt, should be
rationally considered and decided.
The long skirt gathers up disease
germs, conveys them into the house
and distributes them on carpet and
upholstery. The wearer herself is
liable to dislodge the germs from
dress edge, while passing it over
her head in dressing, and to swal-
low them. Children at play on the
floor are sure to suffer results
sooner or later. Even if not yield-
ing to disease, the absorption of
germs renders the system less
resistant to illness generally.

After some of the family have
been laid low from diphtheria,
scarlet fever or other germinal dis-
ease, mourning robes are adopted
and a wail goes forth against the
"Hand of Providence." Poor Prov-
idence! that he couldn't have en-
dowed women with sufficient intel-
ligence to enable them to dress in
cleanly manner. One woman, liv-
ing in a suburb of New York, hav-
ing searched in vaiu the location
in which she lives for any trace of
scarlet fever whereby her child
took the contagion, finally con-
cluded "I must have brought it
from New York on the bottom of
my dress;" and the period of her
visit there made it a very probable
conclusion, as no other cases had
occurred nor did subsequently oc-

cur in the vicinity.

Physical strength should be
utilized to better account than by
holding up cumbersome clothing.
And what about the grotesque pic-
ture presented by the average
woman when thus engaged? She
knows her neighbor is a "sight,"
but she evidently fancies herself a
pleasing picture. Would she could
"see herself as others see her."
Generally she raises the skirt so
high in plares as to display lower
limbs, or draws the skirt so snugly
as to outline the body as plainly as
though she had on tights, or grasps
tightly the back midway below the
waist as though holding a loosened
garment from slipping off. The
grotesque, not the artistic prevails
and will as long as the trained
street skirt is permitted.

In adjusting the short skirt, the
wearer should stand on an eleva-
tion while the dressmaker decides
the exact length, as the contour of
instep and ankle rules the decision.
The length should be from three to
five inches from the floor, and often
half an inch either way spoils the
artistic effect. Great care should
be taken that it hangs evenly.
Above all, have shoes, jacket and
hat up-to-date, and the shortened
skirt will permanently establish
itself for street wear.

Clubs claim to bring together
the leading women of our country.
Let these leading women lead in
woman's real province, health and
attractiveness, and let them anni-
hilate the trailing street skirt that
certainly is an exceedingly power-
ful enemy to both.

I ask all clubs who intend to dis-
cuss this very important topic, to
kindly send me communications
that I may publish them in this de-
partment. Our great work should
be to make known our good works
through CLUB LIFE, for the good
of others.

A FAIR SPRINKLER,

By GRACE GOODMAN.

If it is true as my cynical old
bachelor friend Winthrop says,
that all women look sallow in the
morning, it is equally certain that
they are beautiful in the twilight,
especially in summer when seen on
a lawn in white dresses. And I
have come to the conclusion that
my young neighbor across the way,
who every night about eight makes
her appearance on the lawn with a
hose is very lovely, though this
fact I cannot prove. What I can
say is that she is graceful and
slender, that she drags that slimy
old hose across the grass in a really
dignified manner, and that she has
a fashion of holding back her skirts
with one hand while she wields the
hose with the other, which is truly
picturesque.

Now I don't pretend to be any-
thing of a student of human nature,
but I really think that I can ana-
lyze this girl's character from the
way she handles a hose. That she
handles it at all is a proof of enter-
prise and individuality, for here in
aristocratic Kenwood we usually
hire someone to do our sprinkling
for us and it is only because I enjoy
the opportunity for a little outing
that I am so conscientious about
keeping my lady mother's grass
well watered this season, and the
one I have just hinted at, the fact
that I am thus given the chance to
study my unknown fair one. And
as I was saying I have learned to
know that girl from her manner of
sprinkling.

In the first place she lacks appli-
cation and method, one can see
that from the way she will sud-
denly desert the roots of trees into
wThich she has been boring and
turn her spray to the topmost
branches of another on the other
side of the lawn. A man, myself
for instance, will methodically go
to work at one end of the garden
and slowly and systematically cover
every inch of space, never going
back and never swamping one
flower bed and neglecting another.
Yet she is conscientious and always
comes back to the deserted tree
and tries to make up for her fickle-
ness. Another is a certain pretty
playfulness about her too, for she
likes occasionally to point the
stream in a direct line over her
head and allow the. drops to fall
straight upon that mass of chest-
nut hair — at least I think it is
chestnut. And once I fancied I
discovered some consciousness of
my presence in an apparent effort
to imitate my more thorough going
masculine method of watering care-
fully but one spot at a time. But
it is simply impossible for her to
keep steadily to one purpose and
off she goes to the lilac bush that
is already in danger of being up-
rooted.

And how fond she is of flowers.
I often see her stoop to pat a lily
on its head and sometimes I fancy
I can hear her talking to the lark-
spurs and phlox which grow by the
gate. It has come to be the chief

THE IRRIGA '1 ION A GK. 23

delight of my life to sprinkle our heart he would have come nearer

lawn of an evening, and only last to the truth.

night I heard mother remarking to It may be months before we

a neighbor that it was wonderful to meet, it may indeed be after the

see how much interest I took in water is frozen and the lilacs and

keeping the grass well watered, larkspurs have gone into winter

And the other day when one of the retirement, but somehow I feel

boys in the store asked me to go to deep in my heart a conviction that

a vaudeville performance with him some day I shall be standing before

I declined, saying that I had to my fair unknown, pleading for the

water the lawn. He mattered privilege of doing her sprinkling

something about water on the brain, for life.
but if he had said water on the

SWEET MEMORIES.

By ELIZABETH M. GRISWOLD.

The memories which £ love to store in mind
And oftenest recall, nre not the kind

Which make a person wise,
I care not for the dates of peace or war,
For facts and figures gleaned from near and far

In- which much knowledge lies.

I love to think of Nature at her best

When gold and purple paint the glowing West,

And gild each peak and spire.
Or when the splendors of her Autumn shine
On every burning bush, while tree and vine

Are pillars bright of fire.

Sweet, too, the memory of her gentle moods,
The flower and leaf unfolding in her woods,

The sweet breath of her spring,
Of glad hours when I rest beneath her shade
And listen, while from every copse and glade

Her hidden choirs sing.

Let those who will hoard up their learned lore,
Their secrets gleaned from wisdom's garnered store

And kept by them alone.
I'll hold in mind where first the violet peeps,
Where, rocked in gentle waves, the lily sleeps,

Their secrets are my own.

LIFE'S TRIO.

By H. S. BAKER.

Oh Dream of Life! whose vapory ambitions

And floating, fleeting fortunes fill all space;
Whose things of beauty make a moment happy;

Whose fashions, finished fancies interlace;
Whose brightest lights like rocket stars shall vanish

And make calm eve to seem a darkness felt,
Be part of life, sweet Dream, till earth shall perish

And home be Heaven, where love has always dwelt.

Oh War of Life! whose ceaseless strife and clamor

And blood and tears make living seem a pain;
Whose iron heroes have no rest till dying;

Where wealth is law and wisdom cries in vain;
Where air is smoke, and love a greedy passion

And roses, paint and music, soulless din;
Do not invade, Oh War of Life, the province

My heart and I have taken shelter in.

Oh End of Life! so real and yet mysterious;

Whose cold and darkness awe the truly brave,
Which gives reprieve to none for gold or honor,

And makes the proudest seek the lowly grave;
Which gives my place and yours to those who follow,

And brings to dust the earth built works of man.
Hope calls thee but "The usher of the future,"

"The end of vanity," life's first short span.

A PURPOSE.

A purpose strong and high and true.

Towards which the daily work we do

Must aim, and ever strive to meet.

'Tis this alone develop will

And energy to work until

Our souls in striving grow complete.

TO ONOWA.

By WILL SKALING.

Oh! the world is full of beauty and the east is flushed with light,
And the stars that glitter brightly, are fading from my sight.
Oh! the morn is full of music and the morn birds matin hymn,
So undeth sweet and ever clearer as the light robed seraphim.

THE DIVERSIFIED FARM.

In diversified farming by irrigation lies tne salvation of agriculture

INFORMATION FOR THE FARVIER.

Last year over $1,200,000 worth of red
clover seed was exported from the United
States, principally to Europe; the year
before over $1.800,000. In previous years
still larger exportations have been made.
But now Ijuropeans, and especially the
German scientists, are making great out-
ury against the American seed and against
the plant resulting from American seed.
This calls attention to the great difference
between the American red clover and the
European plant. An experimental plot of
the Department of Agriculture shows the
two plants (both Trifolium pratense) to be
as widely dissimilar as two different spe-
cies. The German red clover has almost
hairless stems, while those of the Ameri-
can variety are covered with hairs, and the
leaf growth of the German clover is much
closer and heavier than our clover, which
runs much more to stem. The German
variety, however, does not stand hot
weather.

''The clover belt of Europe," said Mr.
A. J. Pieters, who is making a study of
the different clovers, corresponds in cli-
mate somewhat to Minnesota, Wisconsin
and sections of the United States much
cooler than that of Mason and Dixon's
line,- and our plots clearly showed during
the recent hot spell in Washington that
German clover is not adapted to this part
of the United States. Its leaves became
brown and dry, although it was in moist
soil, whereas the American clover beside
it stood green and vigorous. I think,
however, German clover may be a very
valuable forage plant in our cooler sec-
tions, as its leaf growth is very thick and
compact."

Some pure German seed will be pro-
cured and trials made of it in the more
northern and northwestern states.

These experiments with German clover
are of interest, too, from another stand-
point than that of forage. Germany and
central Europe generally, cannot raise
nearly enough clover seed to supply the
home demand and must always import
large quantities. If they object to the
American clover seed as producing a stalky,
hairy plant not adapted to their wants, it
is important to see if we cannot raise Ger-
man clover seed to perfection and so keep
up our large exportation of this farm
product.

It is safe to say that few of the farmers
who are sowing crimson clover know just
what kind of seed they are planting or how
liable they are to have poor seed sold
them. Crimson clover seed which has
been kept over for a year is very little
good. It will hardly germinate at all.
The agricultural department is receiving
samples of seed which came originally
from the various American seedsmen, and
in almost every instance the fresh seed is
more or less adulturated with the seed of
the previous year's crop.

"Many of these samples," said Mr. A. J.
Pieters in charge of the Pure Seed Bureau,
"will not germinate fifty per cent; some
will not germinate fifteen. It is easy to
tell old seed or seed which has been
spoiled in the curing by its dark brown
color. Good fresh seed is quite light or
amber colored.

"It would be such an easy matter, too,"
he continued, "for each farmer to test a
pinch of his clover seed on a damp cloth
and observe what proportion sprouts. It

30

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

layer of smoke between the plants and
the sky, and 'so prevent the loss of heat.
For this purpose smudge fires giving
much smoke are best. Special torches
made of muck and clay have been
patented for this .purpose. Those who
have experimented in frost 'protection
seem to think that the sprink'ing method
is the most practical and efficient. — Ex.

GOOD AND BAD-FITTING COLLARS.

Every horseman knows well the value
of a perfect-fitting collar to the horse's
neck and shoulders, says Dr. J. 0.
Curryer, in Farm, Stock and Home, and
every horseman also knows the annoyance,
irritation and torture to the horse, to say
nothing about spoiling an otherwise good
disposition, or making a balky horse of
the naturally true puller, by a collar that
is too long, too wide, and not adapted to
the form of the shoulder. The harness
horse does his work ''from the shoulder,"
and certainly everybody will concede that
for the comfort of the animal, and value
to its owner, it deserves a perfect-fitting
collar, and that nothing short of adap-
tation of the collar to the shoulder and
neck will be satisfactory to either horse
or driver.

Every horseman knows that not one
collar in one hundred in daily use is a
perfect fit; many will do, but a large
majority of them are too wide for the
neck and not adapted to the shoulders.
Every horse should have his own collar
to be able to do his work with comfort,
and every collar should be fitted to the
horse that is expected to wear it. If the
collar is too long it should be cut off at
the top; but if too wide and not adapted
to the shoulders of the horse, don't think
you must gtt a pad to fill in the space.
Pads to the horse's shoulders in summer
are about what overshoes would be to our
feet— makes them tender and soft instead
of firm and tough.

Select the style and length of collar
best adapted to the work to be performed,
and whether a new or old collar, ^oak it in

water over night before fitting to the
horse. When ready to put it on, wipe off
the surplus water from the collar, put it
on and adjust the names at top and
bottom, so as to bring the collar to the
neck snugly its entire width. Don't have
it wide at the top and close at the bottom,
nor vice versa; but a close fit to the sides
of the neck, so that the collar will sit
firmly and not slide from side to side over
the shoulders, but as nearly immovable as
possible sidewise. When the collar is
soaked thoroughly it can be brought to
the sides of the horse's neck perfectly;
but when the collar is dry and stiff this
cannot be done with any degree of satis-
faction. When the wet collar has been
fitted to the horse's neck, with the*hame-
tugs draught at the proper place (neither
too high nor too low), then work the horse
in this wet collar at moderate draught
until the collar is dry, and a perfect fit
can be obtained. There is no other way
in which it can be done perfectly, and we
should never be satisfied with anything
short of an absolute fie of the collar to
both sides of the neck and the form of
the shoulders.

Every manufacturer of leather to a
form invariably works it while soaking
wet and then leaves it to dry, after which
it will maintain its form until soaked
again and changed. Don't be afraid of
injury to the collar by soaking, if it is to
be put on the horse and brought to
position and maintained in proper place
until dry again: When the horses are
worked down thin in flesh and the collars
are too wide it is a simple matter to soak
them again and fit as in the first place.
Keep the horse's shoulders sound by
peifect fitting collars (which costs noth-
ing), and they will do their work more
easily and cheerfully, and you can sleep
sounder. — California Cultivator.

BARS BEET-SUGAR BOUNTY.

The state supreme court in a unani-
mous opinion handed down today declared
the act granting a bounty of 1 cent per

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

31

pound on all beet-sugar manufactured in
the state unconstitutional. The act was
passed by the legislature of 1897. The
decision is the result of a mandamus
asked for by the Michigan Sugar Com-
pany of Bay City to compel the auditor
general to pay the bounty earned in 1898.

HOW TO KEEP MILK SWEET.

How to keep milk sweet without preser-
vation is a question that confronts every
dairyman. The question is only half
answered by some of our best dairymen,
and not answered at all by others. There
is probably no better food for the growth
of bacteria than milk, and once in it they
will develop with astonishing rapidity.
In the udder of the average cow there is
no bacteria, and to get this milk into
closed cans without exposing it to a great
number of bacteria is the heart of the
problem. From the time the milk leaves
the udder till it gets into the closed can,
it must run through the midst of the
bacteria that should not be incorporated
with it. At the exit from the teat it
encounters thousands of these minute
plants, unless they have been washed
out. Other bacteria drop from the out-
side of the udder has been washed. From
the hands of the milker fall several kinds
of bacteria, unless the hands have been
washed. Finally in the bottom and
seams of the pail are found still other
bacteria, unless the pail has been made
more than usually clean. By close
attention to all of these details, the milk
can be made to pa»s through air that is
comparatively free from fermentive bac-
teria.— Wastern Creamery.

THE DELICATE CALF.

The stomach of a calf is delicate and
sensitive, and any change of feed should
be made gradually. Do not change from
whole milk to skim milk faster than a
pound a day, allowing from ten days to
two weeks for the change. Before turn-
ing on pasture it is better to feed a little
green feed and gradually incnase the

amount until the limit of the calf is
reached. Otherwise the calf may suffer
severely from scours by the sudden
change to pasture.

Don't over feed. Calves are greedy at
feeding time and there is often a great
temptation to give more milk than the
calf can properly handle, thus causing
them to scour. Over-feeding is un-
doubtedly the main reason why so many
farmers are not able to raise thrifty calves
on skim milk.

Never put corn, kafir corn meal or any
other grain in the milk for calves. The
starch in the corn has to be changed to
grape sugar before it is digestible. This
change only takes place in the presence of
alkali, and is done chiefly by the saliva of
the mouth. When corn is gulped dowa
with the milk, the starch is not acted on
by the acids of the stomach, but remains
unchanged until it comes in contact with,
the alkaline secretions of the intestines.
With hogs the stomach is small and the
intestines long. This allows starchy
matter to be digested in the intestines
short. Unless the starchy matter is
largely digested by the saliva of the
mouth, complete digestion will not take
place in the intestines and the calf
scours. — Exchange.

POULTRY NOTES.

Many of those who raise poultry and
endeavor to give the best of care, make a
practice of feeding their fowls at noon.
Nothing is so injurious or does more harm
than the giving of three meals a day.
It is simply a forced fattening process
that sooner or later brings in its train
every ill that can befall the flock.
Because three meals a day gives good
results at first it will be adhered to as a
practice and when disease appears or the
hens cease to lay the cause becomes a
mystery, the three meals never being
suspected.

It used to be the habit of farmers, say?
the American Cultivator, to kill the
largest turkeys fur market, and save for

-:--.

-- : - -

.

JL. C.

•-- - : -
--

.---

--:>:: -

-

THE IRRIGATION

m

pound on all beet-sugar manufactured in
the state unconstitutional. The act was
passed by the legislature of 1897. The
decision is the result of a mandamus
asked for by the Michigan Sugar Com-
pany of Bay City to compel the auditor
general to pay the bounty earned in 1898.

HOW TO KEEP MILK SWEET.

How to keep milk sweet without preser-
vation is a question that confronts every
dairyman. The question is only half
answered by some of our best dairymen,
and not answered at all by others. There
is probably no better food for the growth
of bacteria than milk, and once in it they
will develop with astonishing rapidity.
In the udder of the average cow there is
no bacteria, and to get this milk into
closed cans without exposing it to a great
number of bacteria is the heart of the
problem. From the time the milk leaves
the udder till it gets into the closed can,
it must run through the midst of the
bacteria that should not be incorporated
with it. At the exit from the teat it
encounters thousands of these minute
plants, unless they have been washed
out. Other bacteria drop from the out-
side of the udder has been washed. From
the hands of the milker fall several kinds
of bacteria, unless the hands have been
washed. Finally in the bottom and
seams of the pail are found still other
bacteria, unless the pail has been Bade
more than usually clean. By close
attention to all rf these details, the milk
can be made to pa»s through air that is
comparatively free from fermentive bac-
teria.— Wnttfr» Cream fry.

THE DELICATE CALF.
The stomach of a calf is delicate and
sensitive, and any change of feed should
be made gradually. Do not change from
whole milk to skim milk faster than a
pound a day, allowing from ten days to
two weeks for the change. Before turn-
ing on pasture it is better to feed a little
green feed and gradually increase the

it until the limit of the eatf is
reached. Otherwise the eatf may suffer
severely from scours by the sudden
change to pasture.

Don't over feed. Calves are greedy at
feeding time and there is often a great
temptation to give more milk than the
eatf can properly handle, thus causing
them to scour. Over-feeding is un-
doubtedly the main reason why 90 many
farmers are not able to raise thrifty calves
on skim milk.

Never put corn, kair corn meal or a»y
other grain in the milk for calves. Tfce
starch in the corn has to be changed to
grape sugar before it is digestible. Tins
change only takes place in the pmcuee of
alkali, and is done chicly by the saliva of
the month. When corn is gulped dew
with the milk, the starch is not acted our
by the acids of the stomarn, but remains
unchanged until it comes in contact with,
the alkaline secretions of the intestines.
With hogs the stomach is small and the
intestines long. This allows starchy
matter to be digested in the intestines
short. Unless the starchy matter is
largely digested by the saliva of the
month, complete digestion will not take
puce in the intestines and the calf
*eour>. — i

POULTRY NOTES.

Many of those who raise poultry and
endeavor to give the Wet of care, make a
practice of feeding their fowls aft BOO*.
Nothing is so injurious or docs mm karat
than toe giving of three meals a day.
It is simply a forced fattening process
that sooner or later brings in its train
every ill that can befall the lock.
Because three meals a day gives

results at Srst it will be adhered to

practice and when disease appears or the
hens cease to lay the
•jstery, tfce three
suspected.

It used to be the habit of farmers, say?
the JwerKw* €V/tr«tor, to kill tke
largest 'urkers f.* market, and save for

32

THE IRRIGA TION AGE.

breeding some of the later broods that
had not got their growth. The idea was
that with good feed and care these will be
as large by spring as those hatched early
in the season, and which get nearly their
full growth by the holidays. But this is
rarely the case. The late turkey, small
at Christmas, becomes stunted, and never
attains tbe size it would if hatched earlier.
Breeding from these immature and
stunted turkeys runs out the breed.
Some experienced turkey breeders keep
their largest fowls for breeding and retain
them until they are two years old. The
chicks from these older turkeys are
stronger and less liable to die off while
young. The young of tue turkey is a
tender bird at the best. It will pay to
breed only from birds that have attained
good size and full maturity.

WHEAT GROWING.

The results of trials at the experiment
station at Stillwater, Okla., and the prac-
tical experience of wheat growers all over
the territory show that early ploughing and
early sowing for wheat have given the
highest yields and the best wheat. At
the experiment station, wheat on ground
ploughed on July 19, yielded a little more
than twice as much as that ploughed on
September 11, the seeding in both cases
being done on September 15. The ex-
planation of this is that the early ploughed
land is in condition to absorb and retain
the moisture while that which has just
been ploughed is not in good condition for
the germination of the seed.

Wheat seeded September 15 yielded 37;
October 15, 35; and November 15, 23
bushels per acre. The early seeding was
.much less affected by rust than the last

seeding. These results agree with those
of former years. Seeding should be com-
pleted before the middle of October and
better resulfs will be obtained from seed-
ing from the middle to the last of Sep-
tember.

As to varieties, the hard wheat as a
rule are preferred in the western half of
the territory and the soft wheat in the
eastern. At the station, the highest yield,
44.52 bushels per acre, was obtained from
Sibley's New Golden; the lowest 37.70
from Big English. German Emyeror, Tur-
key, Pickaway, Red Russian, Early Ripe,
Fulcaster, New Red Wonder, Fultz, Mis-
souri Blue Stem, and Early Red Clawson
all gave satisfactory yields. All of these
varieties aae medium earlw, with but a
few days difference in heading and ripen-
ing. The seed is all kept up to high
standard by careful selection and grading
each year. If more fanning mills were
used in the preparation of seed wheat,
there would be less complaint of varieties
"running out" and less of demand for new
varieties.

Smooth meadows make the labor of
mowing easy. If yours are all rough or
stony, it will pay to go over them this
fall with a heavy roller, having on it a
box in which to put the stones: pick up
every one. This will save broken knives
on your mower next summer.

Many a farmer would find it profitable
to smooth the roadside and seed it to
grass, and then use it for pasturing his
own stock or cut it for hay. '\ he road
will be thus kept much neater and at
less expense than by permitting it to
remain rough and to grow up in weeds.

r"^

§ PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY.

NEW METHOD OF IRRIGATION.

Next season an entirely new system of
irrigating orchards will be introduced in
the vicinity of Ontario, Ore. It will be
applied to the land that is above the canals.
Water will be hauled in wagons to where
it is wanted. At the root of each tree will
be placed a 10-gallon water box. This box
is to be filled once every two weeks during
the dry season until the tree is five years
old. To fill these boxes, on the basis of
20 acres of orchard, it will require 30,000
gallons of water. This will take a team
and one man six days. The soil will be
cultivated thoroughly and about three
times as deep as is usual. It is claimed by
advocates of the new system that, fruit
raised with a dry surface will be far super-
ior to that raised with surface watering.
The spider and moth will not be attracted
by damp soil. The usual water rental is
$1 per acre for surface watering. It is
claimed under the new system two inches
of water will irrigate 20 acres of bearing
orchard. It is proposed to grow melons in
the same way, the water box at the melon
root, of course, being smaller. It is
claimed that melons in this country are
not of the best quality on account of lying
on moist ground and becoming the prey
for the different kinds of insects. Under
the new system, the melon rests on a dry
surface, colors naturally, ripens evenly, is
not filled with water by evaporation, has
an even and regular rind, ships better and
keeps better in the market.

GETS A BIG CONCESSION.
The government federation of Mexico
has granted a valuable concession to A. J.
Streeter of New Windsor, 111., for the
famous Fuerte river valley, in the State of
Sinaloa. Fuerte valley has an area of 200-

000 acres, and Mr. Streeter owns 65,000
acres near Topolobampo bay, on the line
of the proposed Kansas City, Mexico &
Orient railroad. The concession grants
the holder the right to use one-half of the
water from the Fuerte river. If the
scheme is consummated it will prove of
great benefit to the state. Survey jilans
and a location of a canal will be made next
winter.

BIG IRRIGATION ENTERPRISE.

State Engineer Ross, of Idaho, has re-
turned from a trip to Ogden, and he states
that final arrangements have now been
made between the state and the American
Falls Power & Canal Company for the
opening of the company's canal. The
state filed on 57,000 acres of land in Bing-
ham and Bannock counties under the
Carey act about a year ago, and the land
is all under the proposed canal.

The state insisted that the settler be al-
lowed the right to buy shares of stock in
the company rather than be assessed each
year, and the company has given way.

The work of construction will be under-
taken by the Utah Construction Company,
and the enterprise will cost $325,000, the
company giving a bond of $150,000 to
complete the work within 18 months. The
canal will cover 75,000 acres of land now
arid. The ditch will be 65 miles long, 70
feet wide at the bottom, and will carry
65,000 inches of water.

WATER STORAGE BENEFITS.
The western half of the United States-
to-day supports a population ranging some-
where around 5,000,000. Much of this
population has been attracted by the cry
of gold, and the capital invested in western
mines today is enormous. Yet it is not a
tithe of the amount which the value of the

34

IRRIGATION AGE.

mineral-laden ore of the West warrants;
only these minerals are locked largely in
the grasp of the arid belt. Water is what
is needed. Hills and mountains of ex-
treme richness lie undeveloped and deso-
late, surrounded by barren deserts or sage-
brush plains. Capitol is slow to venture
into such places, even with the great min-
eral wealth in sight. Gold is not the only
metal, tons of which are locked in the
rocky bosoms of the Western Sierras, but
all the family of baser metals are richly
represented, and the question of transpor-
tation enters largely into their mining.
Railroads will not follow mining camps
alone; but reclaim the arid lands of the
West, give to them a settled agricultural
population, and railroads will quickly
pierce the desert. And here, too will be
a source whence to feed the men and the
mules that work the mines; feed them at
reasonable rates. Many a torrent of great
volume rushes down the slopes during the
period of melting snows and spreads away
in a glistening stream across the brown
plain, but before a crop can be raised its
volume has waned and its bed becomes dry
sand. Yet store this, water in a mountain
reservoir and it would afford a perennial
supply, capable of irrigating land whose
fertility has never felt the washing, weak-
ening power of rain. Then, along with
the agricultural development would come
mining development.

There are many regions where irrigation
has transformed the agricultural lands and
railroads have been quickly built, where
adjacent mines — the necessities for man
and beast and transportation at hand —
have been simultaneously developed, add-
ing vast sums to our mineral output which
otherwise might have lain dormant.

IRRIGATION IN HAWAII.

Interesting irrigation development is re-
ported from the island of Hawaii, in the
discovery of underground currents. Im-
mense subterraneum streams of the purest
water have been uncovered from 1,500 to
2,000 feet above the sea level. The water
will be flumed down to the sugar planta-

tions at lower elevations, affording an
abundance for irrigation.

From five subterranean streams, tapped
within the past few weeks, the Olaa plan-
tation has secured a continuous flow of
20, 000. 000 gallons every twenty-four hours,
mere than enough to irrigate the planta-
tion, which is the largest in the island.
The water has drained from the surface
into the subterranean beds of ancient lava.

In the Hawaiian cane-fields under irri-
gation the average yield is reported as five
and three-quarters tons of sugar per acre,
and reaches in some cases as high as ten
tons per acre. The Louisiana sugar yield
is on an average only 2,800 pounds, or a
little over one and a half tons.

EASTERN INTEREST.

That the Eastern manufacturer is awak-
ening to the possibilities of an irrigated
West as a market for his products is shown
to some extent in the remarks of Mr. Tom
L. Cannon, the representative of an East-
ern manufacturing association at the recent
Trans-Mississippi congress. Mr. Gannon
said in part: ''If the water that goes to
waste in the mountains cf the arid regions
were stored and controlled, it would save
to the federal government by preventing
floods in the overflowed lands along the
Mississippi river, more than the cost of
construction and operation of reservoirs.
If arid America were made humid, the
crops produced would give the federal
governmentrevenue in the way of increase'!
taxation; millions of people would be em-
ployed; millions of homes would be estab-
lished, and the richest country ever known
to the world would be developed.

"If steps were taken for the construc-
tion of storage reservoirs by the federal
government for the reclaimation of arid
America, the next fifty years would show
a ratio of increase in population far greater
in this section than during the past fifty
years.

"I believe it to be the duty of every
man who is interested in populating the
western half of this hemisphere as densely
as the eastern half is populated, to aid in
the reclaimation of arid America through
irrigation by means of federal storage res-
ervoirs, which will serve the double pur-
pose of irrigation supplies and flood pro-
lectors."

WITH OUR EXCHANGES.

LADIES HOME JOURNAL.

A score of writers and artists contribute
to the October Ladies Home Journal,
and the issue is one of commanding excel-
lence. The number opens with u The
Story of a Young Man," which portraying
Jesus as a man, and viewing him in the
light of his humanity, fills a unique and
unoccupied place in current literature.
The first of ''A Story of Beautiful Women"
tells of the romance of an American girl
who married a Boneparte, and a series of
stirring adventures are narrated in the
first of the " Blue River Bear Stories," by
the author of "When Knighthood was in
Flower." Mrs. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps'
new novel, "The Successors of Mary the
First," which has to do with domestic and
suburban life, and is exceeding!}' funny, is
begun in the October Journal. Edward
Bok arraigns the" Pullman Palace Car
Company for teaching false standards of
decorative art. Of the special features of
interest are: ''The Longings of a Se-
cluded Girl," "A Minister Among the
Cowboys," "Romances of Some Southern
Homes," "How We Can Lead a Simple
Life." and "Criticising the Clothes of the
Minister's Family," "A Georgian House
for $700 " and "A Farmhouse for $3500 "
are given, with building plans and details,
and "A Successful Country Home"pictures
the exterior and interior of a house of log
construction. By The Curtis Publishing
Co., Philadelphia. One dollar a year; ten
cents a copy.

MC CLURE'S.

Especial interest will attach to a special
article in the campaign number of
McClure's Magazine, entitled " The
Strategy of National Campaigns." Dr. A.
Conan Doyle will write on "Some Lessons
of the War," in which he takes up the

various branches of the service in the
South African war and criticizes their
conduct in the late struggle as well as the
general system governing the British
army. "The Horse Thief " is the title of
a story by E. Hough. It tells how four
Western ranchmen, as they innocently
would have put it. attempted to "run off a
bunch'1 of sever*! hundred horses "up in
Montanny."

THE FORUM.

Of the fourteen articles which constitute
the October offering of The Forum no less
than eleven may be classed under the
head of timely. In a ringing article
Senator J. P. Dolliver discusses what are
"The Paramount Issues of the Campaign"
from a Republican point of view. Two
views of the Cuban question are given,
one being "A Plea for the Annexation of
Cuba," by a Cuban whose name cannot be
disclosed, and the other a forcible exposi-
tion of the reasons "Why Cuba Should be
Independent." The Hon. Charles Denby
considers "The Future of China and of
the Missionaries" in a tone that will find
thousands of sympathizers even among
those who decide such questions by the
test of political expediency. "The Negro
Problem in the South " is taken up by
Representative 0. W. Underwood, of
Alabama, in an article that may be con-
sidered a reply to Gen. C H. Grosvenor's
late plea against the disfranchisement of
the ignorant negro voter. In an article
full of information Marion Wilcox analyzes
the substance of "Our Agreement with
the Sultan of Sulu," and Victor S. Clark,
late President of the Insular Board of
Education in Puerto Rico, tells of the
strides education is making under Ameri-
can auspices on that island. "The British
General Election " is treated bv no less an

36 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

authority than Henry W. Lucy, the well- Walter Appleton Clark continues his re-
known "Toby, M. P.," of London Punch. markable illustrations to the series. The
SCRIBNER'S. fiction of the number includes a story of a
John R. Spears' papers, "The Slave convict settlement, by Lloyd Osbourne,
trade in America," are concluded in the the stePson of Stevenson; a New England
October number, with an account of the story b-v Arthur Coltori' and the last in-
final suppression of the horrible traffic. Bailment but one of "Tommy and Grizel."

A BIT OF PHILOSOPHY.

What's the use o' lyin', cryin', sighin'?
What's the use o' fussin', mussin', cussin''?
Does the savages' complainin'
Stop the rattle o' the rainin'?
Does the tormentin' and teasin'
Make the winter quit a freezin'?

Quit a blowin'?

Quit a snowin'?

Does the grumblin' and the groanin;
Do a bit toward atonin'
For the miserable moanin'

Through the trees'?
Does the scowlin' and the growlin
Stop the prowlin' and the howlin'

O' the breeze?

Won't the sunlight be the brighter
If we keep our faces lighter?
Don't the dreary days seern longer,
And the wailin' wind seem stronger,

If one frets'?

Make the best of all the weather,
Sing an' snrile an' hope together,

Won't you? Let's !

—Medical !* imes.

MRS. WM. McKINLEY.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

VOL. XV .

CHICAGO, NOVEMBER, 1900.

NO. 2

THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN fiMERICfl,

The National Irrigation Con-
National
Irr gation gress will hold its ninth

Congress. annual session at Central
Music Hall, Chicago, on the 21-24 Nov-
ember, 1900. Reduced railroad rates have
been arranged for. It will be a business
mens' convention. Chicago wholesale
merchants are taking a genuine interest
in the proposition to reclaim the West,
and thereby increase its population fifty
million, and the work of the Congress
will be directed toward placing before the
business interests of the West the trade
possibilities which lie in the reclamation
of some seventy-five million acres of arid
land, whose fertility has lain dormant for
hundreds of centuries, waiting only the
touch of water to make it as productive as
the valley of the Nile.

The October just past was a
record breaker so far as
weather was concerned, it
having been the warmest October ever
experienced during the existence of the
weather bureau. This unusual weather
was detrimental to some lines of trade —
the dry goods and clothing business hav-
ing suffered the most owing to their
inability to dispose of the customary fall
goods. For the farm work the month was
favorable, being mild east of the Rocky
Mountains, with ample moisture in most
districts. The following resume of the
crop conditions for the month of October
was recently given by the Daily Trade
Record:

Portions of the lake region, Ohio
Valley, and middle Atlantic states, how-

ever, needed more rains, while heavy
rains, principally during the latter part
of the month, caused some damage in the
central gulf states and in the upper Mis- -
sissippi and Missouri Valleys. On the
north Pacific Coast the month was gener-1
ally favorable, although frequent rains in
the latter part of the month retarded
work in Oregon.

In portions of the upper Missouri and
Mississippi valleys the mild, moist
weather has proved unfavorable to corn^
causing considerable mold and some ro tr
ting in localities.

With the exception of some damage by
fly in portions of Missouri, Illinois. Michi-
gan and Ohio, the reports respecting fall
wheat indicate that the crop is in promis-
ing condition. The weather conditions
have been favorable for germination and
vigorous growth.

Cotton picking was interrupted by
rains in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana
and Mississippi, and in the last named
state the staple suffered some damage.
While picking is practically completed
over the eastern portion of the cotton
belt considerable cotton remains to be
gathered over the northern portion of the
western districts. Under the mild
temperature conditions the top crop made
considerable growth, especially over the
eastern districts, but owing to the ad-
vanced season it is not expected to
mature.

38

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

It is claimed that never before
Rich Uncle in its history has this govern-
ment had so much gold
bullion and coin at its disposal as at
present lies in the treasury. In this con-
nection an exchange gives the following
figures:

"The gold bullion and coin to the credit
of Uncle Sam amounts to $451,477,404, and
added to this are gold certificates, which
will be redeemed in gold, to the amount
of $35,658,180, making a total of $487,135,-
584. This fund is divided into reserve,
trust and general funds. The reserve
fund amounts to $150,000.000; the trust
fund, $248.409,679; and the general fund,
$53,067,725 in coin and $35,658,180 n cer-
tificates, making a total of $88,725,905 in
the latter fund. There in enough gold in
the treasury to give $6 in the yellow
hietal to every man, woman and child in
the United States, on the basis of 75.000,-
000 population. Even then there would
still remain in the treasury the $35,658,-
180 in notes, which can be redeemed only
in gold. To give an idea of how great an
amount of gold is stored in the treasury,
it is only necessary to point out that the
entire stock of gold in Great Britain is
but $462,300,000, or $24,835,584 less thtra is
actually in the United States at this
moment when the gold notes are included
in the total.

The silver figures are still more aston-
ishing, There is in the trust fund $425,-
120,000 in silver dollars: $3,73,053 in
silver dollars of 1890: $62,258,947 in silver
bullion in the reserve fund. Adding the
figures representing the gold and silver
coin and bullion in the several funds we
find that the total amounts to $890,310,679.

There is enough scattering wealth in
the treasury, including silver certificates,
silver bullion, treasury notes and national
bank notes to bring the grand total up to
'$1,003,685,779.

John Habberton, in the Satur-
tG1Ci?y.Sh *'y Evening Post, says that

the new census statistics will
be disappointing to the people who had
hoped that the rush of villagers and
country people to the city was checked.

The old explanation of this continuous
rush to the cities was that "farmers' sons
and daughters wearied of work that was
never finished: they had heard of city
demands for labor and of city wages,
payable always in cash and at stated
dates. They had also heard of city pleas-
ures, some of which were said to cost
nothing, while others were very cheap.
But young people do not constitute the
whole body of people who are crowding
into the cities, for mechanics and artisans
of all kinds are in the throng, for in the
villages and country districts employment
is irregular and pay uncertain. The more
aspiring of the hope for the larger oppor-
tunities and recognition that the country
dares not promise; they know, too, that
such of their children as incline to study
may become fairly, even highly, educated
in the city without special. cost to their
parents. Of the 'seamy' side of city life
they know nothing, but their acquaint-
ances 'went to town' have not returned to
tell of it; few of them could return if they
would. The few who go back to the old
homesteads are the men who have suc-
ceeded, and in any village such a man in
effect resembles a gold-laden miner from
Cape Nome or the Klondike; his example
threatens to depopulate the town."

Mr habberton takes an optimistic view
of the subject and in conclusions says:
"Nevertheless, the rural districts are not
going to be depopulated, except when
their soil is very poor and their malaria
over- rich. A country ward movement
started in some cities a few years ago,
and it has been increasing in volume; it
may be almost invisible in some localities,
for three million square miles is an area
so great that any city's overflow might be
lost in it. The men who are trying scien-
tific farming are all from the cities and
they have carried their city ideas with
them. As a rule, city brain and city
money are suggesting and backing the
rural attempts to have good roads, pure
water, perfect drainage, high farming,
high grade schools, free libraries and
many other ameliorations of old-time
conditions. Yet in one respect the city

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

39

man in the country is a disappointment to
all classes of the dissatisfied, for when
they talk of going- to the city he persist-
ently says 'Don't' and he supports his
advice with a dismal array of facts and
figures."

Redlands, Cal. expects a visit
Eterestf* soon from William E. Smythe,

erstwrale editor of the IRRI-
GATION AGE and a gentleman thoroughly
conversant with the great problems of
irrigation and the reclamation of arid
America. His visit will be in the interest
of the California Water and Forest Asso-
ciation and will be accompanied by P. P.
Wood, of Tulare, P. N. Berniger, of San
Francisco, and S. C. King, also of that
city, or, if not these gentlemen, by others
interested in the subject. The object of
the visit is to awaken the interest of our
people in the great work of association,
and get them to be active in the changes
necessary in our laws to enable irrigation
to be extended and made more secure,
and to assist in obtaining aid from the
general government in bui'ding storage
reservoirs to hold flood v/aters over for
use in time of deficient rainfall. "Mr.
Smythe should be heartily and cordially
received" says the Citroyraph, "and his
talk listened to with close attention."

The egg testers of Chicago
Eggs Galore, have just organized them-
selves into a local labor union
with the intention to effect a national
-organization. About 200 men find em-
ployment inspecting eggs in the big
storage houses of South Water street and
vicinity. The egg tester must daily
handle thousands of eggs that can be
guaranteed and sold to the trusting house-
wife under the "strictly fresh" stamps.

According to statements furnished by
managers of cold storage houses the sup-
ply of eggs in Chicago at the beginning of
this year in round numbers was 252.000,-
000, enough to give the entire population
of the United States at least one square
meal. Putting it in another form, this
meant 700,000 cases of eggs, thirty dozen
or 360 to the case, and it would be enough
.to fill every inch of space in the Masonic

Temple. This was a supply unprece-
dented in the history of any city, and was
largely due to the mildness of the then
prevailing winter weather, when the
simple-minded hen kept on laying, to the
great consternation and financial loss of
the storage speculators. It was about 60
per cent, of all the marketable eggs in the
United States in January. All the storage
eggs in this country during that month it
was estimated aggregated 1,250,000 cases,
or 450,000,000 eggs.

It is on record that the eggs received in
this city in 1898 numbered 773,262,000; in
1899, 753,596,900. The number reshipped
to other cities and towns in 1898 was 440,-
408,160: in 1899, 359,969,480. It takes
about 50,000 to 60,000 cases of eggs, or
18,000, to 21, 600,000 distinct and individual
eggs to supply the local Easter market.
The number of eggs received during
Easter week, this year, exclusive of
"through'' shipment, was 20,250,000: over
50,000 cases. The receipts of eggs in New
York last year were 2,642,252 cases, and
this Eastern supply was drawn largely
from the Western country by way of
Chicago.

Speaking of the hen figuratively, as
representing her entire tribe, she annu-
ally earns more than the total value of the
wheat crop, more than the total value of
the cotton crop, and is still clucking
cheerily away as though she had done
nothing remarkable after all. It is esti-
mated that there are about 350,000,000
chickens in the United States, which pro-
duce each year something like 14,000,000,-
000 eggs. This number of eggs represents
in money value about $175,000.000. The
consumption of poultry as food amounts to
$130.000,000 annually, and the total value
of living hens at 30 cents apiece is $150-
000,000. Thus the entire product of the
humble hen may be said to be some $410,
000,000 a year, while all the cows in the
country foot up a total value of only
$370,000.

The fact is that egg producing is carried
on now not only far more extensively but
far more systematically than ever before.
The breeds of chickens everywhere have

40

IRRIGATION AGE.

been improved, though more in some
parts of the country than in others. This
improvement is everywhere expanding.
There are many great chicken farms in
the immediate vicinity of Chicago, where
chicken-raisers confine themselves to
special breeds, and this is true of other
localities. The great egg season of the
year is not winter, but spring. Com-
mercial eggs may vary in price as much
as five cents a dozen; handsome, large
selected, high-grade eggs may be worth
five cents a dozen more than ordinary
eggs. These superior eggs may be the
production of special breeds of stock, but
the eggs of comparatively ordinary hens
packed with care may bring a ce,nt or two
more a dozen than the same eggs packed
as they run.

The Commercial Club, of Chi-

Experts cago, had several experts on

e Banueted. Irrigationi at a banquent Oct.

27, who discussed irrigation for the recla-
mation for the arid lands of the West.

The addresses were made by Professor
Elwood Mead, irrigation expert of the
Department of Agriculture; F. H. Newell,
hydrographer of the United States Geo-
logical Survey; George H. Maxwell, exe-
cutive chairman of the National Irrigation
Association, add A. C. Bartlett of the
Commercial club.

Mr Maxwell emphasized, the relation of
the subject to Chicago by his statements
that modest estimates of what could be
accomplished by the irrigation of lands
now arid placed the population such
regions could support at 50,000,000 persons,
while with greater improvements than
those considered these lands could be
made capable of sustaining 200,00".000
persons.

"With such a country in the West
Chicago would become the greatest city
in the world," the speaker declared.

The interest of the club members in the
proposed plans for reclamation of these
arid lauds was asked. The direct ques-
tion for discussion was whether the
federal government should make appro-
priations for the construction of water
storage reservoirs and for the reclamation

of land. It was answered in the affirma-
tive by Mr. Maxwell when he said that
Congress at its next session should make
appropriations for the construction of
such water storage basins.

Mr. Newell illustrated his address with
stereoptican pictures of the arid land
under consideration. He showed the con-
trast between the desert and the culti-
vated lands and explained the reasons
why irrigation is necessary throughout
one-third of the United States and is
beneficial to at least two-thirds of the
country. He illustrated the work the
government now is carrying on to locate
reservoir sites.

The necessity for public improvement
rather than private improvement was
indicated by the statements that nearly all
the capital which had become interested
in the reclamation of arid lands had
suffered a loss. It was asserted that the
work of reclamation by irrigation should
be done by municipalities and States, and
in cases in which the.work overlapped into
several States by the federal government.

In the event of construction of storage
basins by the government it was held that
the benefit should be received by the land-
holder, who went into the desert to build
a home.

Professor Mead spoke of the condition s-
existing in the West and explained the
character of the laws regulating water
rights. These, he said, illustrated the
necessity of federal supervision to bring
them into unity.

Colorado business men recog-
Business nize the benefit that attaches
Men- to their state through the

Government along the lines of irrigation
investigations and surveys for reservoir
sites. -The Denver Chamber of Com-
merce and Board of Trade last month
adopted rigorous resolutions calling atten-
tion to the great development possible in
Colorado, through irrigation, and to the
generally accepted opinion that only by
the storage of flood waters can the future
problem affecting successful farming in
the arid region be solved, and pledging
support to the United States Geological

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

41

Survey in securing large Congressional
appropriations for carrying on their work
for surveys of reservoir sites, and other
preliminary irrigation work.

Many sections of the West
Waste of
the Waters. are beginning to reap the

bitter fruits of forest destruc-
tion. A few years ago the snow would
drift; and pile up in tne mountain gulches,
thickly studded with pine and other trees,
forming an almost impenetrable forest
protection, and there gradually melt
away, supplying water for the streams
until late in the season. This, now, has
too often changed. The timber has
gradually, but surely, been cut and burnt
away, until now some of the finest forests
of the mountains have disappeared, and
where the snow banks would remain until
late in the season, they now disappear
months earlier, and instead of melting
gradually, the flood-waters come with a

rush, and then cease when most needed.
There is scarcely anything more im-
portant than forest protection and preser-
vation, which means a guarding of the
water supply; and every state and every
section should rouse to active local orga-
nization and national co-operation.

Every dollar expended by the
Investment. National Government for the

building of reservoirs and
great irrigation works to reclaim the
millions of acres of western aridity will
return to the Federal treasury six to one
in the form of increased taxes on increased
land values and population. Every con-
gressman knows this, now that his atten-
tion is being called to the subject by
eastern manufacturers who want a largeei
market in the West for their goods, and
all this is required for his favorable
action is a strong and aggressive demand
from every western State and Territory
and Congr <§ sional district.

IRRIGATION FOR THE EAST.

The office of Experiment Stations of the U. S. Department of Ag-
riculture will soon issue bulletin No. 87, entitled " Irrigation in New
Jersey." It was prepared by Prof. E. B. Voorhees, of -the New Jersey
Experiment Station, and describes his experiments in irrigation for
the season of 1899. It is generally thought that the necessity for irri-
gation in the United States exists only in the region west of the Miss-
issippi River, but repeated crop failures in the East and successful
farming in the West have called attention to the importance of con-
trolling the moisture of soils rather than accepting the conditions as
they exist. Professor Voorhees estimates the loss to the hay crop of
New Jersey from the drouth in May and early June, 1899, at $1 ,500,000,
while small fruits and vegetables were even more seriously affected
than the grasses. The records kept by him at the experiment station
show that in 1897 and 1898, years of abundant rainfall in April and
May, the yield of hay averaged 2.65 tons per acre. In 1899 it was but
a fraction over 1 ton, owing to the deficiency of rainfall in April and
May, at the low price of §10 a ton, a loss for the 25 acres of over $400.
The yield of crimson clover forage for 1897 and 1898 was 8.5 tons per
acre; in 1899 the yield was but 5 tons, or in a good year the yield was
70 per cent greater. The deficiency in the rainfall at the critical
period was alone responsible for this difference in yield. Oat and pea
forage in 1897 and the early seeding of 1898 averaged 6 tons per acre;
in 1899 the yield was but 3.3 tons per acre.

To show the frequency of such drouths as that of 1899, the bulle-
tin cites the rainfall records of Philadelphia: "The rainfall records
in Philadelphia from 1825 to 1895 (seventy years) show that in 88 per
cent of the year there was a deficiency of over one inch for one month,
or that in 62 years out of the 70 there was one month in the growing
season from April to August in which such a marked deficiency oc-
curred as to cause a serious shortage of crop, and that for the same
period there were 39 years in which the deficiency extended through-
out two months, while in 21 years it extended throughout three month,
or in 30 per cent of the years included in this record there were three
months during the growing period in which the average rainfall was
deficient one inch or more. It was thus observed that a wide series
of crops would be likely to suffer in more than one-half of the years
for which the record is available, while a still larger number would
suffer in nearly one-third of the years, for it must be remembered that
even a slight deficiency in one month may result in serious reduction

THE IRRIG TION A GE 43

in yield and consequent loss if it occurs at a time when the crop is
making its largest development."

The experiment conducted by Prof. Voorhees and reported in this
bulletin were for the purpose of determining whether irrigation during
these short periods of drouth would result in sufficient increase of
yield to pay for the works necessary to obtain the supply of water.
The tests were made on small fruits. Careful records were kept of
the yield of plats, which received identical treatment, except that
some were irrigated and other were not.

The yields of the Irrigated plats over and above those not irri-
gated were as follows: Blackberries, 1,038 quarts per acre, worth
$93.42; raspberries, 329 quarts per acre, worth $32.90; currants, 852
quarts per acre, worth $85.20. The increase in yield would not be so
marked every year as in 1899. as the drouth of that year was ex-
ceptional.

The bulletin contains detailed descriptions and statements of cost
for a number of small irrigation plants in New Jersey. All of these
are pumping plants. The cost of plants large enough to supply 10
acres of small fruits and garden crops has varied from $230 to $500. '
Records of the returns from these plants have not been kept, but the
owners are all satisfied that their installation has been very profita-
ble, and in nearly every instance have stated that they have made the
cost of the plant in the increased crops the first year.

So far as climatic conditions are concerned, New Jersey may be
considered typical of the whole eastern half of the United States.
Judging from the results reported in this bulletin, there is no question
but that irrigation for fruits and market gardens, even in regions of
abundant rainfall, is a profitable undertaking.

The work in New Jersey is a part of an investigation of the prob-
lems of irrigation now being carried on by the office of Experiment
Station in different regions of the United States. Owing to the
greater importance of irrigation in the West, where farming is impos-
sible without its aid, the greater part of the work is being done there
—Cheyenne, Wyo., being its headquarters. The results in New Jersey
show. that no agent of agriculture or horticulture is more effective
than water, applied when needed, and that the eastern farmer can
well afford to pay more attention to the subject.

A limited number of copies of the bulletin will be turned over to
the superintendent of documents, Union Building, Washington, D. C.,
for sale at the price affixed by him under the law.

IRRIGATION IN WASHINGTON.

BY A. A. BATCHELL,EK.

Several irrigation propositions are being pushed forward in
Washington and the adjoining states of Oregon and Idaho. There is
a very small percentage of the area of the lands of these states that
can be irrigated, and the arable land being largely in the arid part of
these states, the question of irrigation naturally comes very promi-
nently to the fore when there is any considerable demand for agricul-
tural lands. The development of the mines of this state and in Alaska
have made a demand for agricultural products, especially in the line
of butter, eggs, etc., far beyond the ability of this state to produce.
No time during the last five years has so much money been sent out
of this state for these products as during the present season, and no
state has better facilities for their production. The result has been
that prices for these products have ruled high all through the season.
This is attracting agriculturists from the eastern states, and is bring-
ing in a large number of farmers seeking agricultural lands.

I have been interested in irrigation matters for the last eight
years. In 1894, I tried to do something in the line of irrigation by
endeavoring to induce parties to become interested in an irrigation
proposition that I have in eastern Washington. But on account of
the hard times and the price of agricultural products continuing to go
down, there was very little demand for agricultural land, and, there-
fore, no inducement for capital to make investments in this kind of
business. I could get no one to take hold of my irrigation proposi-
tion, although several times it was pronounced a good one.

It seems to me that now is the time when a first class irrigation
proposition ought to attract capital, and be readily taken up.

My proposition covers 20,000 acres of the very best arid land in the
state of Washington, at the junction of the Snake and Columbia
Rivers in Walla Walla county, and of the lowest elevation, being from
350 to 400 feet above sea level. It also has the warmest average
annual yearly temperature of the state, being 55 degrees, taken from
a weather record of nine years. The winters are short and mild, from
two to five weeks, and the temperature of any winter month seldom
going below 32 degrees, and that only from 2 to 4 degrees.

Scientists tell us that the average yearly temperature of 55
degrees is that temperature which contributes to the greatest success
in agriculture in the North Temperate Zone.

The total precipitation for the year averages a little over six inches.
There are nearly 300 days of sunshine during the year.

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 45

The waterto irrigate this land will be taken from the Snake river
at a place known as "The Five Mile Rapids;'' had a sample of this
water and four samples of the soil analyzed at the Pullman Experi-
ment Station, this state. The analysis showed that the soil contained
all the elements in a marked degree necessary for vegetable growth,
and the water of the best kind for irrigation purposes. The practical
tests of this water and soil is shown by the orchards that are grown
on the bottom lands along the Snake river which are irrigated by
current wheels. These orchards are famous for their wonderful
growth and large yearly crops of fine large fruit. Snake river fruit
has a great reputation for size and fine quality wherever known.

The flow of the Snake river at extreme low water is 18,000 cubic
feet per second of time.

One- half of the 20,000 acres belongs to the Northern Pacific Rail-
way Co. The other half is government land. A few quarter sections
have been taken up by settlers, and some of them are occupied.

For irrigation purposes the railway land can be bought very
cheap, in the neighborhood of one dollar per acre. The railway
company also owns a large tract of grazing land above this irrigable
land and below the famous Walla Walla wheat fields which can be
bought very cheap, much less than one dollar per acre.

The party, or parties, that would irrigate this 20,000 acres can
get 15,000 acres of this irrigable land, purchase 10,000 from the rail-
way company, and obtain one half of the other 10,000 acres for water
rights for 5,000 acres. Also purchase from 20,000 to 30,000 acres of
fine grazing land which would be very valuable when the other land
is irrigated. The land lies in such a 'position that it can be irrigated
with about twelve miles of main canal.

No better arid land and water can be found in any other place in
the United States, and, I question if any better climate for health and
temperate zone products can be found any where else, and not at a
latitude 46 ° 15 North.

Water in a sure and never failing abundance as long as water
flows, with the very best possible title to water rights with no possi-
bility of any one ever disputing these rights, which has been the bane
of many an otherwise good irrigation proposition.

I was interested in reading a description of the Pecos Valley,
New Mexico, as described in THE AGE for September. I have read
considerable about the irrigation works in that valley. In reference
to climate, products of the soil, quality of the fruit, variety and pro-
duction of agricultural products that valley cannot surpass this local-
ity. In some respects in natural resources this locality surpasses the
Pecos Valley.

As the railroads are now giving very cheap round trip rates
probably many parties will be induced to make a trip out to this
• country for investigation and investment.

Any one wanting further information can address,

A. A. BATCHELLER, at Townsend, Wash.

THE WISE USE OE WATER.

Except for grass and grain crops ~vater should not be used by
looding, and it certainly should not be in the preparation of the
ground for the planting of either of them.

There are certain crops upon which the water may be used with
impunity so far as touching the plant is concerned. Some of the
stronger of the garden vegetables will not be injured by any use of
water, while others will certainly be. if the water is allowed to touch,
the stem of the plant. As a matter of safety let no water touch any
plant or the bark of any tree or shrub. Under the best circumstances
it does no good, and is certainly liable to do injury.

It should be remembered too, that running water upon the sur-
face of hard baked land, or of rain washed land, under a hot sun, will
be attended with almost as rapid evaporation as it would be if poured
upon the top of a hot stove, nor is its effect advantageous to the sur-
face of the soil when so applied. If, on the other hand, the surface
be broken so as to apply the water to the cool under soil, the absorp-
tion is much more rapid and more thorough, and then, with the pul-
verized surface soil, no matter how dry, thrown back upon it, will
serve to retain it there many times longer than it will if applied
broadcast.

In watering alfalfa, if the water is applied about a week before
cutting while the ground is shaded, and consequently cool, and es
pecially if it is applied at night, the grass will be in much better con^
dition for cutting and will start more promptly after cutting by far
than to wait until after it is cut before watering. Then, if as soon as
the hay can be cleared from the ground, a harrow be run over the
surface to break the surface while it is soft, and there be another ap-
plication of water, say two or three weeks after the previous one, it
will certainly make a very great difference in tho yield of the crop.
One watering intermediate between this and the watering at cutting,
will invariably insure a good crop of hay.

The most useful tools that can be used is the disc cultivator. With
these, land in reasonably fair condition can be thrown into ridges
about four feet apart, either rounding ridges or sharp ones. In pre-
paring land, best results come from throwing the ridges as high as
possible, or at least leaving the dead furrows between as deep as possi-
ble and apply the water in these furrows. Run furrows all the way across
the block, where the slope of the ground permits, running the furrow
as full as possible until it has nearly reached the lower end, and there

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 47

-shorten the supply so as to run just as much as the ground will ab-
sorb by the time it reaches the lower end of the furrow.

A little stream left in this way for five or six hours will soften al-
most any of this ground so that it will mire a horse, and will use, in
doing so, little more than half the water that would be required, if ap-
plied on the surface; and a good irrigator can run ten or twelve of
these furrows at a time, and can irrigate more land with less labor,
and more uniformly, than he can by flooding. With the same culti-
vator, with the discs straddling the dead furrow, the ridges of dry
earth are thrown down over the water furrow as soon as it is dry
enough for the team to travel over it. Then by harrowing the ground
smoothly, the surface is left thoroughly pulverized and to a depth of
six or eight inches is as mellow as ground need be for any crop.
Ground watered in this way need not be watered oftener than once in
six weeks, and no matter how hot the weather, moisture will be found
within half .an inch of the surface at any time, and plants will thrive
in it. Of course such ridges can be made by the ordinary plow, but
not so cheap.

Plant on the leveled ground with planters after this preparation,
and there is moisture enough to bring any plant up and give it a rapid
growth until it is from six to twelve inches high. As soon as the
plant is large enough, put the cultivators in for simple cultivation,
throwing up as little ridge as possible. Two or three weeks later run
the cultivators through again, and then water in the dead furrows be-
tween, following watering by another cultivation with the discs set
with a view to leveling down the ridges as much as possible.

There should be at least one cultivation between the waterings,
and two will be preferable. The finer the surface soil is kept the lon-
ger will the ground retain moisture," and the more mellow and pliable
will it be to a depth of from twelve to eighteen inches.

The general rule would be, keep the water off the surface, get it
underground from the outset; keep it entirely away from the plants,
trees and vines, and use as little as practicable to keep the soil in good
growing condition.

NATIONAL IRRIGATION CON-
GRESS.

The indications are that the coming ninth annual session of the-
National Irrigation Congress, which will meet in Chicago Nov. 21 to
24 inclusive, will mark a turning point in the history of the national
irrigation question in the United States.

For a nnmber of years the national irrigation movement has been
steadily growing and advancing its lines from the western country,
where irrigation means life, into the East, where the problem of land
reclamation through the application of water is but little under-
stood. The crest of the wave which marks a new era for national ir-
rigation is seen in the interest which is being evinced in the move-
ment by eastern manufacturers and commercial houses, who see in
the general western reclamation of the desert a greatly increased
home market for their various lines of goods and manufactures. The
co-operation and support of the eastern business man in the direction
of water storage means a distinct and tremendous gain to the national
irrigation movement.

The ninth annual session of the Congress, it is evident, will be a
business men's Congress. Instead of discussing abstract theories of
irrigation and water conservation with long scientific articles and well
rounded speeches generalizing on the stupendous possibilities, enor-
mous wealth and inconceivably great future of the West through the
reclamation of vast areas of now uninhabitable aridity, this Congress
proposes to get down to business and simply work oul, endorse and
push a plan of action by which something definite can be accom-
plished.

"Save the Forests and Store the Floods," has been adopted as a
motto for the Convention and the discussion will probably be in the
lines of how to get at this work and do it.

An excellent program has been arranged which includes addresses
by some eminent men in political, official and business circles. Some
of the sessions will be at the Auditorium Theatre which has a capacity
of four thousand, and the indication of attendance point to no empty
seats.

The following paragraps are taken from the Call, which has just
been issued by the Congress:

" The ninth annual session of the National Irrigation Congress
will be held at Chicago, Ills., on Nov. 21, 22, 23 and 24, 1900. The

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 4$

Congress will convene at 8 o'clock P. M. on Nov. 21, at Central Music
Hall, cor. State and Randolph streets.

"In this session of the National Irrigation Congress all disputa-
tion and controversy should be eliminated. Its deliberations should
be guided by a high purpose and a united determination to arouse the
whole people of the nation to a realization of the national importance
of transforming the western desert from uninhabitable wastes into fer-
tile and populous territory.

"The magic touch of water will work this transformation. The
conservation of the water supplies must therefore be first accom-
plished. The forests, which are nature's storage reservoirs, must be
preserved and the waters that now go to waste in destructive floods
must be stored in great reservoirs and saved for beneficial use. The
national government is the only agency through which this can be
accomplised.

"The Chicago Irrigation Congress should be a great gathering of
representative men of the country, and governors, mayors, Boards of
Supervisors, County Commissioners, Chambers of Commerce, Boards,
of Trade, Agricultural Colleges, Irrigation, Agricultural and Horti-
cultural Associations, Engineers' Societies and Irrigation Companies
are requested to appoint delegates at once who will attend and take
part in the proceedings of Congress.

BASIS OF REPRESENTATION.

The governor of each state and territory to appoint 7 delegates.

The mayor of each city of less than 25, 000 population, 2 delegates.

The mayor of each city of more than 25.000 population, 4 delegates.

Each Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce, 2 delegates.

Each agricultural college, 2 delegates.

Each organized irrigation, agricultural and horticultural associar
tion, 2 delegates.

Each society of engineers, 2 delegates.

Each irrigation company, 2 delegates.

In addition to the foregoing the following persons are delegates
by virtue of their respective offices:

The duly accredited representative of any foreign nation or colory.
The governor of any state or territory. Any member of the United
States Senate and House of Representatives. Member of any state
or territorial commission.

SOME REASONS WHY THE COUNTRY SHOULD ANNEX ARID AMERICA,

The Secretary of the Interior in his annual report for 1899, says
of the irrigable area of the arid region of the United States: " That
this vast acreage, capable of sustaining and comfortably supporting
under a proper system of irrigation, a population of at least 50,OQO.;000

50 THE IRRIGATION AGE

people, should remain practically a desert, is not in harmony with the
progressive spirit of the age or in keeping with the possibilities of the
future/'

The Secretary of Agriculture in his annual report for 1899, says:
"More than one-third of the country depends upon the success of ir-
rigation to maintain the people, the industries, and the political insti-
tutions of that area, and future growth will also be measured by the
increase of the reclaimed area. In a region which, in the extent and
diversity of its mineral wealth, has no equal on the globe, the riches
of the mines in the hills are already surpassed by the productions of
the irrigated farms in the valleys, and the nation at large is at last
awakening to the fact that the development of the use of the rivers
and arid lands of the West will constitute one of the most important
epochs in our increase in population and material wealth."

Capt. Hiram M. Chittenden, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., says in
report on surveys for reservoir sites: " Reservoir construction in the
arid region of the West is an indispensible condition to the highest
development of that section. It can properly be carried out only
through public agencies. Private enterprise can never accomplish
the work successfully. As between state and nation, it falls more
properly under the domain of the latter. "

El wood Mead, in charge of the Irrigation Investigations of the
Department of Agriculture, in Agricultural Year book, 1899, says:
"The commercial importance of the development of irrigation re-
sources is being realized in the West at the present time as n'ever be-
fore. * * * The East, as a whole, is beginning to realize the great
part which the West is to have in the events of the twentieth century.
World-wide forces are working to hasten the day of its complete de-
velopment and the utilization of all its rich resources. The Orient is
awake and offering its markets to the trade of the Pacific Coast.

"With the development of this trade there will come an impulse
for the completion of the material conquest of Arid America, by the
enlistment of public as well as private means in the storage and di-
version of its streams for the irrigation of its hundred million acres of
irrigable soil; the harnessing of its water powers to mill and factory
wheels, the crowding of its pastures with new millions of live stock;
the opening up of its mines and quaries; the conversion of its forests
into human habitations; the coming of a vast population, and the
growth of institutions worthy of the time and place."

Frederick H. Newell, Hydrographer of the U. S. Geological
Survey, in Survey of Reservoir Sites, says: "Water storage on a
large scale can rarely be made profitable to individuals or corpora-
tions. * * * Existing conditions, laws and customs are such that
the person who builds a dam on the head waters of a stream is rarely

THE IRRIG TION AGE 51

in a position to be benefited financially by the water which he im-
pounds.

"While reservoirs in general cannot be made sources of profit to
the investors, there Jis no gainsaying th<3 fact that they are indispen-
sable to the community. They may be classed with lighthouses and
works of internal improvement, which, under existing laws and cus-
toms, cannot be made sources of private gain, and yet must be had if
a full development of the natural resources is to be obtained."

PORTRAIT OF A CHILD,

Sargent's Beatrice.

Rose of childhood, sweetest rose,
That on a painter's canvas glows,

Light of innocence and grace

O'er the flower- tinted face;
With a shadow of surprise
In the sweet and pensive eyes,

Fillet-clasp of golden hair,

Ribbon, pink as petal rare,
Spirit, thou, or dream-caprice
Figure quaint of Beatrice?

Hast thou seen, A fairy child,
Gretel of the forest wild,

Heard the talking leaves repeat.

Secrets of their dim retreat?
Harkened to the fountain call,
Music of the Parsifal,

Saw the brownies vanish quite —

From the beams of jocund light?
Spirit-vision, dream-caprice
Figure quaint of Beatrice!

This thy Little Self shall be
Ever young immortally!

Time nor sorrow leave their brace

On the the pure ideal face,
In the eyes, that sweet express
Childhood's love and happiness.

What thy thoughts the moment while

Artist gave the world thy smile?
Who can fathom thy caprice-
Living, loving Beatrice!

ISADORE BAKER.

IRRIGATION IN NEBRASKA.

A line drawn in a southwesterly direction across the state of
"Nebraska from the northeast corner of Knox county to the southwest
•corner of Purnas county, traverses approximately the medial line of a
belt receiving an average mean rainfall of about twenty-four inches
per annum. To the east of this belt the precipitation is greater, while
to the west it decreases in a regular ratio. The line above referred to
may be accepted also as the line of demarkation between the humid
and the semi-humid portions of the State, The humid region of
Nebraska, as thus defined, comprising about 32,000 square miles of
territory, contains a million inhabitants, and is unexcelled in agricul-
tural resources as compared with any other State in the Union. • Its
soil is fertile to a degree; every cereal and other product known to the
temperate zone can be cultivated here with the assurance of a harvest
as abundant and certain as that which befalls any other region of the
ivorld of the same latitude. Tf Nebraska only included its humid
•counties alone it would still be a great State, exceeding in area West
Virginia, Maine or South Carolina; it would contain four times as many
square miles as the state of Massachusetts, and its extent would be
but one-fifth less than that of Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, or of all the
New England States combined.

But Nebraska is all this and more. To the west of the line above
mentioned are 44,000 square m\les of • magnificent prairie lands, car
peted with grasses that render this section one of the finest stock
ranges of the great West. With the exception of about 15,000 square
miles, which compose the sand hill areas of this part of the State, the
fertility of the soil is as great as that of the lands just west of the
Missouri river, and in years of plentiful rainfall the crops produced in
this region have been the envy of the farmers of the humid section of
the State. While the climate of this portion of Nebraska is delightful,
the rainfall is uncertain, and for this reason the settlement of the
buffalo grassed table lands lying between the Platte and the Repub-
lican rivers has been the source of disappointment and misfortune to
those who were lured thither by the smiling prospects of the dark
green prairies in June. But experience alone is the great teacher of
the limitations and possibilities of development in the unpopulated
regions of the new world, and so it came that a hundred and fifty
thousand people found themselves located in the semi-humid portion of
Nebraska before it became notoriously evident that the uncertainty of
rainfall in that part of the state renders agriculture, as a pursuit, un-
jcertain and hence unrenumerative.

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 53

•r

Whatever may have been the former hopes for Western Nebraska
as a rain belt agricultural region they have all been dispelled by the
short crops harvested since 1890. The people of the east have heard
much of the suffering and misery due to the drought and hot winds,
and to those unacquainted with the situation it has been the impres-
sion that the misfortune was a general one throughout the State.
While it is true that agriculture was far from renumerative, even in
the eastern counties, during 1894, yet it is equally true that suffering and
privation was confined almost if not wholly to the semi-humid region,
as above defined. Eastern Nebraska is no more subject to droughts
than Michigan, Ohio or Indiana, but in the western counties of the
State it must be acknowledged that agriculture without the aid of irri-
gation is so uncertain in its returns as to render its pursuit, to say the
least, undesirable. This conclusion was practically reached some years
ago, and since that time the progress of irrigation in the great valleys
of the State has been remarkable indeed.

Nowhere in the semi-arid region is the altitude so favorable, the
available water so abundant or the problem of Reclamation so simple as
in Western Nebraska. In considering locations, altitude is often lost
sight of by the unitiated, and yet, this is a factor that has a most im-
portant bearing upon the success of agriculture in the arid West.
Those looking for irrigated lands, however, need have no misgivings
upon this score so far as Nebraska is concerned, for so favorable is the
elevation of even the high table lands in the extreme western portion
of the Stale, that whenever sufficient moisture is present corn can be
grown equal in quantity and quality to any produced in the vicinity of
the Missouri river.

Excluding the Platte river there are four water sheds from which
water supplies can be obtained: those of the White, Nobrara,Loup and
Republican rivers, affording in the aggregate several thousand cubic
feet per second. The Platte river, which alone has its source in the
mountains, is a peculiarly favorable stream for irrigation purposes.
Not only does its flood season occur during the months of June and
July when its discharge varies from 6,000 to 12,000 second feet, thus
coinciding with the period of greatest use, but its declivity, like that
of most western streams, is relatively great and its banks low. Here,
as in the other valleys of the State, little or no rock that cannot be
plowed, is met with in the construction of canals. The broad level
bottom lands and benches afford especially advantageous opportunities
for the use of graders in the removal of earth. As a consequence,
earth work is cheaply done and the cost of reclamation correspondingly
slow. When we add to these facts the additional fact that there is a
population in the semi-humid region exceeding that of Montana, or
that of Wyoming and Idaho combined, the causes responsible for the

54 THE IRR1 GA 21 ON A GE.

rapid advancement of the irrigation industry in the State are rendered
apparent.

The first considerable canal was constructed in 1883, in Lincoln
county in the vicinity of North Platte, yet little water was used there-
from until in 1889 and 1890. Since then, however, the use of water has
rapidly increased and the number of canals so multiplied that in
October of 1894 there were, according to the report of the State Com-
missioner of Labor, 689 miles of canal completed, covering in the
neighborhood of 360,000 acres of land, or more than half as much as
was under ditch in Utah in 1890, as stated in the National Cencus of
that year. If we assume that the cost of reclamation averaged $3.00
per acre, then upon the basis of the figures above given, the recent ac
tivity in the irrigation industry of the State means an investment of
more than $1,000,000 within a period of less than four years. When
we consider the expenditure and the amount of land reclaimed, it is
doubtful if this record has ever been equaled by any other state of the
great West.

The first laws designed for the encouragement of irrigation devel-
opment in Nebraska were enacted by the legislature of 1889, and though
meager in detail and narrow in application, yet they were found suffic-
ient to meet the demands of the situation. Under this statute the right
to the use of water from streams exceeding fifty feet in width was se-
cured by posting a notice of appropriation at the point of diversion and
filing the same with the County Clerk. Hundreds of these notices are
now on record in the various counties of the State, and one of the first
duties devolving upon the present Board of Irrigation is the adjudica-
tion of the rights and priorities of the numerous claimants represented.

The inadequacy of the St. Raynor law — as this act was called —
soon became apparent, and the two succeeding legislatures were applied
to for relief. It remained, however, foi* the legislature of 1895 to Jully
recognize the importance of irrigation, and place it upon that sound
foundation that was necessary for the continued development of the
industry. As a result of the untiring eflorts of Senator W. R. Akers,
of Scotts Bluff county, two bills were passed, and an appropriation se-
cured to make them effective. The first, known as the control bill
created a State Board of Irrigation consisting of the Governor, At-
torney General and Commissioner of Public Lands and State Engineer
and Secretary. An assistant secretary and two under-secretaries were
also provided, with an additional provision for under-assistants in each
of the water districts of the state that may be hereafter created. One
of the first duties of this Board, as already stated, is the adjudication
of the rights and priorities of the claims now on record. In addition
thereto, the State Engineer is required to receive and pass upon ap-
plications for the appropriation of water and the construction of new

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

oo

ditches. . And further, to supervise the division of the waters of the
state among the various claimants in accordance with the Board's
decrees.

The second bill was modeled after the "Wright" law of California,
the provisions of which are so well known as to require no description
here. The effect of this legislation is already apparent; a number of
irrigation districts are now organized or in process of organization.

In view of the results thus far achieved, and the nattering condi-
tions under which further progress will be made, the friends of irriga-
tion are fully justified in contemplating with complacence 'the future
of that industrv in Nebraska. Though, for lack of water, it may not
be possible to eventually reclaim more than six or seven per cent of
the 30,000,000 acres embraced within the semi-humid portion of the
state, yet the intensive cultivation of this seemingly small area will
place Nebraska in the front rank of the irrigation states, and in con-
nection with the stock growing interests, assure the livelihood, con-
tentment and happiness of a half million people west of the hundredth
meridian.

THE DIVERSIFIED FARM.

HOW TO RECLAIM AN ABANDONED
FARM.

Mr. Arthur B. Clapp, of Brattleboro,
Vt., is the possessor now of the farm near
West River on which his great grandfather
settled in 1765. It was by no means an
abandoned farm when it came into his pos-
session, having good buildings and carry-
ing a stock of thirty head of cattle, besides
horses and swine and a lot of fowls; and
there are twelve acres of corn and fourteen
acres of oat fodder growing, with an ex-
pected crop of sixty tons of hay, at least
300 bushels of potatoes, 100 barrels of
winter apples and other smaller crops.
But Mr. Clapp is a practical farmer and
believes that a man can reclaim an aban-
doned farm and make it pro6table while
doing so.

He says: "The first thing I would do
would be to provide sufficient fertilizers,
and begin in the spring of the year. If
without capital a man should be thrifty
enough to procure cattle to stock hjs pas-
tures. He should plant an acre of corn
for each head. The cattle should be
stabled nights to secure the manure.
Every farm has a muck bed. and this
should be drawn out in a quantity suni-
cient to use as an absorbent in stables and
yards, for which purpose it is one of the
best and cheapest. The herd should be
mostly of cows, and the milk might be
turned into butter. A separator should
be used if there were means to buy it, and
the cream might be sold to a creamery.
The skimmilk should be fed to calves and

Pigs-
There is more money in poultry for the

amount invested than in anything else if
they are properly cared for. Good fences
are absolutely essential to good farming.
If there is a sugar orchard it should be
kept up, as sugar is made at a time when
other farm work is not crowding. The
time is coming when sugar and syrup will
bring in a good income. Fruit trees
should receive the same attention as any
other crop, so far as working the ground
and fertilizing it goes, and the trees should
be kept well trimmed and healthy.

" The second year the fertilizers should
be put on the land where corn had been
grown, and it should be seeded to oats to
be harvested in the milk, while more land
should be broken for corn. This process
should be repeated for three or four years,
increasing the herd as the fodder crop in-
creases. In this time enough should be
saved to pay for all the dairy implements,
and all necessary labor-saving implements
for the farm. Milk should be made the
chief product, and if one understands the
art of butter making it should be the most
profitable way of disposing of the milk.''

With most of this we would agree, but
if we had to reclaim a neglected farm we
would wish to begin in the fall, not only
that we might do some fall plowing, but
get ready in many other ways, and espe-
cially in preparing for a good garden, even
thongh we were too far from market to sell
many of its products. We have taken a
run-down farm in the spring and found so
much to be done that we felt like Hamlet's
uncle, who said, " like a man to double
business bound, I stand in pause where I
shall first begin, and both neglect. "-
America ii ( 'n/

THE IRRIGATION AGK

57

SILO ON A SMALL FARM.

Having a small farm, and consequently
a small dairy, yet believing that a silo is a
necessary adjunct of a dairy farm, 'I
studied to see how I could build econom-
ically. My barn where my cows are kept,
is about 30x40 feet with the cow stable on
the east end, a driveway floor through the
center, and a bay in the northwest corner.
It was here that I decided to build my silo.
After tearing out the floor, etc., I exca-
vated four feet beJow the sills. The posts
of the barn are fourteen feet. This gave
a chance fora silo eighteen feet deep. Its
surface is 15 1 2x18 1-2 feet. Studding
were set up where needed to strengthen
the walls and crosspieces were nailed to
these, about three feet apart near the floor
and further apart near the top. Hemlock
boards were nailed up and down to these
and then double boarded with spruce,
taking care to break joints, but using no
paper between. Neither were any of the
boards planed. The floor of the silo was
cemented. A door was left next to the
feeding or driveway floor. This was
closed by a single thickness of matched
boards placed 'horizontally across the
opening as fast as filled and taken out as
the ensilage was fed. The lumber was
cut on the farm and much of the work,
including getting the lumber to the mill,
I did myself. The actual money paid out
would not exceed $25.

The silo was built in 1896 and has been
filled four times; in 1896 and 1897 it was
filled with cut silage. This spoiled some
around the edges near the top and a little
in the corners, but I do not think the
spoiled material was equal to the interest
on the extra cost of a more expensive silo.
It is a cold place and the silage freezes
quite badly, sometimes as much as eight
or ten inches being frozen all around the
sides. In the spring, as fast as this thaws,
it is fed. I have never seen any differ-
ence in the feeding value of that which
had been frozen as compared with that

which had not. In 1898 I was unable to
secure a cutter, and against my better
judgment I filled the silo with uncut corn.
The corn was mostly Sanford, and a very
heavy growth, many stalks being ten feet
long and over and heavily cured. This
made it heavy to handle and very difficult
to pack in the silo. Much care was taken
in packing. Beginning at one end the
butts were placed next the outside and a
layer placed across the end; then begin-
ning another layer the butts were placed
two feet from the end and so on. shingle
fashion, the entire length of silo. The
tops of the last layer were doubled over
and a bundle laid crosswise. Then a new
layer was begun on this end, and so on
until done, but in spite of my care the sil-
age spoiled badly and was very hard to
take out. Not only this but the cows do
not eat it as readily as they do the cut
ensilage, so there is considerable waste in
this way. From my experience I should
say it is doubtful economy to fill a silo
with whole corn to save the cost of a cut-
ter. The principal silage crop in Vermont
is corn. The most common variety is the
Sanford, a large flint sort that in the state
rarely matures (;he seed being obtained
from the southern part of the state and
Massachusetts), but it generally reaches
the roasting stage, and this is usually con-
sidered the proper condition for silage.
As it contains a good proportion of ears it
makes capital silage. I believe the silo is,
the proper place for the entire corn plant.
I believe there are few dairy farms that
can afford to be without a silo. Also that
an expensive silo is not necessary. But
good silage and clover hay are, in my
judgment, the cheapest feeds for the dairy
farmer. If it were practicable I would
not cover the silo at all, but begin feeding
as soon as it was filled I have done this
way and like it very much, but have never
been able to cover it so as to prevent there
being more or les« spoiled silage. I usu-
ally feed about forty pounds per cow daily

58

'IHZ IRRIGATION AGE,

in two feeds, morning and evening the
grain ration with the silage and giving a
small foddering of hay directly afterwards.
No other feeds are given during the day.
With this manner of feeding silage I have
had good results and I firmly believe that
it will pay any farmer who keeps cows to
have a silo.— Practical Farmer.

ENCOURAGING THE FARMER.

Secretary of Agriculture Wilson, in
view of the crop estimates which his ex-'
perts have made, looks for rising prices.
''The outlook for good prices," he says
"was never better. We have a shortage
in the American wheat crop this year
which will probably amount to a hundred
million bushels in all. This alone would
serve to make the present yield more val-
uable. There are additional reasons, how-
ever, which incline me to believe that
wheat will make a marked advance before
the end of the present year. There is un-
exampled prosperity throughout the coun-
try to-day, and the prospects are that the
present year will be a record-breaker.
This has been best instanced, perhaps, in
our enormous export of niauufacured
goods of various descriptions, while the
trade balance is all our way. But our
home market is, and will continue to be,
the greatest wheat market in the world.
This year the demand for the great bulk
of our crop is at home, and the people
have the money with which to pay fur
whatever breadstuff they desire.

"Not only will our people be the best
fed people in the world during the present
year, as they have been in years past, but
they will be better fed than they have
been in years past. They have plenty of
money to buy all the wheat they want for
bread and will haye flour left over for cake
if they want it. Hard times directly affect
the price of wheat by decreasing the de-
mand, and at the same time cuts off the
consumption by decreasing the buying

power of the people. The consumption of
wheat per capita this year will go above
last year and will probably be nearer seven
than six bushels, because this year the
people are better able to buy than ever be-
fore, as the milld and factories are going
everywhere and labor is receiving more
general and more generous employment
than ever before. Moreover, the farmers
themselves are getting good prices for all
their products and will not be forced to
stint themselves in their food supplies and
in their buying, as formerly. The short-
age and the increased domestic demand
will make foreign countries who buy wheat
pay more, and the price must advance.

"It will probably be advisable for our
farmers to feed much of their corn this
year to sheep, horses, cattle and hogs, as
the price of meat is high and the outlook
fur a continuous demand for our meat pro-
duct, both at home and abroad, is excel-
lent. Germany can exclude our meat on
whatever pretext she pleases, but if she is
going to feed meat to her soldiers in China
she must buy it in Chicago. Moreover,
our meat is the best in the world. With
the stimulus which our foreign commerce
is getting, and the introduction of our
manufactured goods into other markets,
tLe home demand for all food products
must grow and steadily increase. More-
over, we may look for an increase in the
average price of our farm products from
this time on for the same reason."

BIG OREGON HOP CROPS.

In the opinion of the well known hop
buyers in Aurora, Ore., the hop crop of
the state will reach at least 90,000 bales,
tin increase of about 10,01)0 bales over the
yield of 1899 Exact figures are not yet
obtainable, but the buyers say that reports
so far received warrant the foregoing
statement ; also that the hops are of fine
quality and sell readily at 14 and 142
cents a pound, with a few sales at l5o
cents. Last year prices ranged from 4 to
6 cents per pound, or less than choice '99
hops bring today.

PULSE OF IRRIGATION.

IRRIGATION IN THE EAST.
Through the kindness of C. P. De Field
we are able to present to our readers the
following description of an irrigation
tank, built by him at his place in Field-
home, N. Y., together with illustrations
of same.

Ions when full. There is a spring within
twenty feet of the tank and an inch bored
well just outside of the wall. We have a
pump (hot air) using kerosene for fuel,
ready to erect, that will pump water from
the well into the tank or take water from
the tank and pump it into the house some

"The walls of the tank are of Portland
cement concrete, two feet thick at the
top and four feet thick at the bottom,
most of the bevel being on the in or water
side, to allow the ice to lift rather than
squeeze out the sides The tank is four
and a^half feet deep with right angled cor-
ners aud |should hold fifty thousand gal-

100 feet above the tank or pump it into
any of the irrigation ditches of the garden
which is over half a mile long (to avoid
many turnings of the animal worker.)

When the tank was first completed it
was very dry and the spring extremely re-
duced and while the concrete was harden-
ing the walls became so warm that the

60

THE 1RRIGA T10N A GE.

production of the spring for the first week
was entirely evaporated until a shower
cooled the walls sufficiently to allow the
water from the spring which is a few feet
above the tank top, to cover the bottom.

Having a plentiful supply of water for
domestic purposes from several good wells
I have used a sewerage pump to empty the
cisterns on the lawns with marked success.
Truly the western expression that rain is
a poor substitute for irrigation has been
demonstrated here this season. We are
debating now whether to catch the rain
water from the building which is nearly
two hundred feet long and fifty feet wide,
in cisterns or uncovered tanks for basins
with equatic plants. Stones and spalls
costing only the drawing not over a mile
and a half we are peculiarly well situated
for doing concrete work and expect to use
a thousand barrels of Portland cement this
season; we were able to buy it put into our
buildings and piled up, for two dollars
and twenty cents a barrel, while the local
dealers were keeping the price at over
three dollar? a barrel. We have several
good floors (on beams) of concrete, one
roof and one floor over a stretch of nearly
thirty feet that is an arch and that was
put up last fall and seems to stand admir-
ably. One roof has a crack in it, but it
was done in freezing weather by using salt
in the mixture and we did not then know
that concrete floors and roofs should, to
use an Irish expression, be kept wet
till dry i. e. made to dry very slowly by
keeping damp bags all over the top."

IRRIGATION PAYS.

• "Myriads of instances could be ad-
duced in this semi-arid region to approve
the assertion that irrigation pays," says
the Citrograph. "It is the common belief
however, that in the moist — or humid —
regions, irrigation does not pay. We of
the irrigated section are firm in the belief
that irrigation pays, even in the humid
region, and such a statement as this,
which we find in the Vacaville Reporter,

goes far towards showing that our conten-
tion is the correct one.''

'The benefits to be derived from irriga-
tion are well illustrated in an experience
of Frank Buck this season. On his
upper place he has a tract of canning
peaches. Without irrigation this year it
would probably have produced about 400
lug boxes. With the amount of water
put on this was increased to over 1700, an
increase which well pays for the expense
and trouble of pumping the water applied
to the tract. Doubtless, the experience
of others is in the same direction. Irri-
gation pays. Of that there can be no
doubt even in season when this locality
ha& a normal rainfall of thirty-five inches.

When the people all over the United
States once become convinced of the fact
that irrigation pays, we shall have no
difficulty in getting any needed amount of
appropriations from both nation and state
for the building of catchment reservoirs
for the conservation of water for dry sea-
sons."

WOULD ASSIST THE WEST.
That eastern business men are genu-
inely alive to the importance of western
arid land reclamation is shown by the
continuons press reports of the actions of
various business and commercial organi-
zations endorsing the national irrigation
movement, and urging the reelamation of
the arid region. The recent action of the
executive committee of the National Busi-
ness League at Chicago, whose member-
ship represents tens ot millions, is an ex-
ample. Strong resolutions were adopted
urging upou congress the preservation and
development of national resources by the
construction of storage reservoirs by the
federal government for flood protection
and to save for use in aid of navigation
and irrigation the flood waters which now
run to waste and cause overflow and de-
struction, arid for the reclamation of the
arid public lands. Also, the necessity
for the preservation of the forest and re-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

61

forestration of denuded forest areas as
sources of water supply, the conservation
of existing supplies by approved methods
of irrigatiun and distribution, and the in-
crease of the water resources of the arid
region by the investigation and develop-
ment of underground supplies and the
united ownership of land and water.

The resolutions embodied a specific de-
mand for an annual appropriation of not
less than $250,000 for irrigation surveys
and maps of irrigable public lands, with
plans and estimates of costs of reservoirs,
canals and irrigation works necessary for
their reclamation and for sinking experi-
mental artesian wells by the United States
Greological Survey, and of not less than
$100,000 for irrigation investigations by
the Department of Agriculture of the
United States.

The National Business League is send-
ing copies of these resolutions to all the
multitude of commercial organizations in
the United States, with a request for
their endorsement of the national policy
set forth therein, and asking for their co-
operation to secure the support of of their
senators and congressmen for said policy
and for the said appropriations to carry
the same into effect.

GUY E. MITCHELL.

IRRIGATION DECISION.

The suit of Miller & Lux and the San
Joaquin and Kings river canal and irriga-
tion company against the Enterprise
canal and laud company and others and J.
C. Mowry, intervenor, which was submit-
ted on briefs in Judge Webb's department
of the superior courts several weeks ago
has been decided. The suit was really a
contest between Henry Miller and Jeff
James for the waters of the San Joaquin
river and neither of the parties will find
much consolation in the judgment, which
was virtually against both.

Miller & Lux, who have defied the law
for years by damming up the San Joaquin

at the point of confluence with the Fresno
slough, brought injunction proceedings to
restrain James from tapping the river
near the old California ranch above-their
dam, claiming that they would thereby be
deprived of the water. To support the in-
junction proceedings they set up two
claims — (1) that they were entitled to the
water by right of prior appropriation and
prescription founded upon long continued
usei and (2) that their lands were riparian
to the river and that the land of Jamesr
was npt. The latter contention was sup-
ported by the court and the injunction
against James was made perpetual, it ap-
'pearing that he wished to divert the
waters of the river for the purpose of irri-
gating lands riparian to the Fresno slough
but not to the San Joaquin. Judge Webb,
however, emphatically denied the first and
most important part of the Miller & Lux
claim, that they had a right to the waters
of the river by prescription.

The various parts of the decision are as
follows:

"First— That the plaintiff, the San
Jcaquin and Kings river irrigation com-
pany, takes nothing by its action in this
matter as to its claims of a right of diver-
sion of the water from the San Joaquin
river.

"Second — That judgment in favor of
the Miller & Lux corporation, and the in-
tervenor, Mowry, be entered against the
defendants, enjoining each and all of them
from diverting any water out of of from
the San Joaquin river.

"Third — That judgment be entered in
favor of the San Joaquin and Kings river
irrigation company, in so far as its right
as a riparian owner is concerned, in this
action against the defendants enjoining
each and all of them from diverting any
water out of the San Joaquin river.

"Fourth — That each party pay their
own costs herein.

Miller, of course, is the soul and spirit
of the San Joaquin river canal and irriga-
tion company and the part of the decision

62

TEE IRRIGATION AGE.

applying to that company applies to him.
The important part of Judge Webb's rul-
ing is that while it gives Miller an injunc-
tion against James it is only because
James wished to apply the water taken
from the river through the enterprise
ditch to lands not riparian to the San
Joaquin. In other words, Miller has not
a right to restrain the diversion of water
for irrigating lands along the river, as he
would have had if the court sustained his
prescription claim.

Judge Webb held that the? San Joaquin
river is a -navigable waterway and that
with its navigability

is unlawful such as the diverting of water
by means of a dam. The act of the plain-
tiff, the San Joaquin and Kings river
company," says the court, "being unlawful
from its inception it can never found a
right on an unlawful act and I am of the
opinion that the company is not entitled
to recover in this action for any acts com-
plained of by the defendants for interfer-
ing or threatening to interfere with the
diversion of water from the San Joaquin
by said plaintiffs."

Webb held that it devolved on the de-
fendants to show that their diversion of
water from the San Joaquin did not inter-
fere with Miller's riparian rights and that
they had failed to do so. He therefore

granted the perpetual injunction with the
proviso, however, that James and the
enterprise company might sue Miller and
the intervenor to determine under what
circumstances they might divert water
without injury to the plaintiffs."

Short & Cook and Houghton & Hough-
ton of San Francisco represented the
plaintiffs. James was represented by
Archie Borland, N. C. Coldwell and W.
C. Graves. A. S. Treadwell of San Fran-
cisco looked after the interests of the in-
tervenor, Mowry.

TO STORE SIOUX RIVER WATER.
Col. H. M. Chittenden, United States
engineer at Sioux City, has just returned
from Watertown, S. D. , where he investi-
gated the matter of the projected reser-
voirs in which to store the surplus water
of the Sioux river in springtime and re-
lease it when wanted during the drier
portion of the year. The colonel will re-
port favorably to the war department on
this subject. The plan is to construct a
dam across the Big Sioux river, so as to
back the interrupted waters into Lake
Kampeska. During the summer, when
tock is looking for water along the courses
of the stream, the stored water will be let
out and the river be thus made a running
stream during the whole year.

8

8

WITH OUR EXCHANGES.

THE FORUM.

The November number was evidently
issued before the outcome of the recent
election was known since two of the lead-
ing articles are: "Why the Eepublicans
Should be Endorsed," by Chas. Dick,
and "Eeasons for Democratic Success," by „
Chas A. Towne. Both are well written
but not of so much interest as they would
have been a few weeks previous. Geo. E.
Roberts, director of the United States
mint writes on "Can there be a Good
Trust?" Archer Brown discusses " The
Revival and Reaction in Iron," while the
advantage of having mounted infantry in
modern warfare is ably handled by Mau-
rice A Low under the title of "Four Legs
Instead of Two." "Bread, and Bread-
making at the Paris Exposition," by H.W.
Wiley; "The United States and the Aus-
tralasian Federation Compared," by Sir
Robert Stout, K. C. M. G. ; and " The
English Intelligence Department," by
Major Arthur Griffiths, are a few of the
other articles which go to make up an ex-
cellent number.'

REVIEW OF REVIEWS.

In the editorial department of the Nov-
ember number the result of the presiden-
tial compaign is compared with that of
1896. and the following are a few of the
subjects taken up in connection : " The
Ebbing of the Free Silver Tide;" " Silver
in the Campaign;" "Local Politics as a
Factor;" "Mr. Bryan as the Paragon of
Statesmanship," etc. The situation in
England and the election in Canada are
also discussed in this department, which
is enlivened with the customary cartoons.
The frontispiece is an illustration of the
.scene at Mr. Crocker's banquet to the

democratic candidate. Among the con-
tributed articles are " The Hall of Fame,"
by Henry Mitchell MacCracken ; " The
Political Beginnings in Porto Rico," by
John Findley; "Trusts in England," by
Robert Donald and "The British Czar,
the General Elector," by W. T. Stead.
Two other articles which must not be for-
gotten are "How the Republican National
Committee Works for Votes," and " The
Management of the Democratic C a m-
paign." The number is one of unusual
interest. t

SCRIBNER'S.

Scribners for November contains Henry
Norman's article on the "Great Siberian
Railway;" J. M. Barrie's great serial,
''Tommy and Grizel;"an article on "Fa-
mous Writers" by Mrs. Rebecca Harding
Davis. The World's Fair in Paris is
pictured and described from the points of
view of an expert landscape gardener, Mr.
Samuel Parsons, Jr., and an expert ama-
teur photographer, Dwight L. Elmendorf ;
a poem by Benjamin Paul Blood, entited
Tithonus. etc.

THE SATURDAY EVENING POST.

The opening article is The Leaders in
American Diplomacy, by Hon. John W.
Foster, formerly Secretary of State. Hon.
Frank A. Vanderlip, Asssistant Secretary
of the Treasury, contributes The Onward
March of American Trade. Hon. Carter
H. Harrison, mayor of Chicago, has an
article on "The Defacement of the Modern
City. Major Arthur Griffiths, of the
British Army (retired), has an anecdotal
sketch of Gen. Wolseley, The Adven-
tures of a Pioneer Plainsman are told by
Capt. John J. Healy. The fiction in-
cludes Senate Bill 578, by Brand Whit-

64

THE IRRIGATION AGE,

lock ; For Divers Reasons, by Charles Bat-
tell Loomis ; The Banner Bearer, by Mrs.
Burton Harrison ; The Dairy of a Harvard
Freshman, by Charles Macomb Flandru ;
Mooswa of the Boundaries, by W. A.
Fraser ; 'Enry 'Iggins' 'Eart Story, by Joe
Lincoln; A Supper by Proxy, by Paul
Laurence D unbar.

THE HOUSEHOLD

for November is noteworthy. The stories
are from such well-known writer as Sophie
Swett, Will Allan Dromgoole, and J. L.
Harbour. There are illustrated articles
by Col. T. W. Higginson, Kate Sanborn,
and Fannie Bullock Workman — the Only
woman who has climbed the Himalays.
The illustrators for the month are Chase
Emerson, H. W. Colby, Louis Maynelle,
and E. Jepson.

THE LADIES' HOME JOURNAL
for November contains The Loveliest
Woman in All America, The Future of
the White House, The Man Who Wrote
Narcissus, Waiting for the Mail — a page
drawing by A. B. Frost— and How Aunt
Sally Brought Down the House, a short
story, are some of the excellect features.
In the same issue Clifford Howard con-
tinues The Story of a Young Man ; Charles
Major his Blue River Bear Stories ; Eliza-
beth Stuart Phelps her serial, The Suc-
cessors of Mary the First, and Josiah
Allen's Wife, finally narrates the incidents
of her fourth visit. Edward Bok forcibly
contends that the Americans show exec-
rable taste in furnishing their houses, and
An American Mother, convicts the Ameri-

cans of having bad manners. Plans are-
given for A Quaint, Old-Fashioned House
for $6600, and interior views of The Most
Artistic House in New York City, right
worthily occupy two pages, as does
Through Picturesque America, which pic-
tures the scenic beauties of California.
There are numerous articles on the
fashions, and woman's work.

MC CLUEE'S.

Perhaps the most timely article in Mc-
Clures Magazine for November, is A
Woman's Diary of the Siege of Pekin, by
Mrs. E. K. Lowry, one of the besieged
missionaries in the legation last summer.
Another article that will awaken general
interest is that on The First Flight of
Count Zeppelin's Air Ship, by Eugen
Wolt, the Count's assistant and companion
in the trial. Interesting, suggestive, help-
ing— that must be the verdict upon Wm.
Allen White's Character Sketch of Hanna.
The fiction in this number is of the usual
high standard. A Temperance Cam-
paign, by G. K. Turner; Confusion of
Goods, by Frederic Carrol Baldy ; Charles
Warren's story of How the Law Came to
Jenkins Creek ; Little Hallujah's Convert,
by Alvah Milton Kerr, and The Love
that Glorifies, by Lilian True Rryant.
Ray Stannard Baker's account of The
Making of a German Soldier is instructive
and well written. The 'story of The
Crucifixion of the Messiah in the Rev.
John Watson's Life of The Master is a.
worthy continuation of a notable work.

ODDS AND ENDS.

ILLUSTRATION.

What a broad, open, ever widen-
ing field illustrations is for the
artist. It reminds one of the vast
tracts of uncultivated land in the
West where only here and there
fields are cultivated, with the rich
untouched soil still to be tilled.
Many are the papers and maga-
zine illustrated, but only the mar-
gin of the great field of work has
begun.

Many large publishing houses
pay especial attention to reproduc-
tion and lithography, and employ
regular artists to execute their
work. While if anything of es-
pecial merit comes to them, or they
are rushed with work, other out-
side illustratoors are engaged.

Multitudenous are the means
and ways of illustrating. The gate
way if entered by the ambitious
amateur, must close it behind him,
buckle on the methods that will
best fit him for a long dusty up
grade road, and travel it without
much rest, and scant nourishment,
until the goal of success is reached.
Now and then he will be encour-
aged by a lift from some friend,
tossed to him like dry crust — again
he will have his dry lips moistened
by a juicy plumb from some prom-
ise from a publisher (who never
pays him) but he must grip his
pen the harder, and his dusty staff

with a firmer grasp, and climb on
to the top where the air is pure and
the landscape smiles beneath him,
and the pines clap their hands over
his successful performance.

The avenues are so varied, a
young illustrator hesitates which
to enter. He wastes much valua-
ble time playing around the gate-
way. There is such jolly Bohemian
company at the beginning of his
journey. They all like to play
croquet, tennis, golf and use the
"lead" occasionally. He is en-
ticed by their winning manner to
join in their excursions, late sup-
pers, and sketching tours, while
more time is spent in reveling than
picture making. He awakens
from this dream with very little
money but keener perception —
with determination to seek one
avenue in the field of illustrating,,
and follow that undeviatingly^
Which shall it be? — the charac-
terturist, where some enter but
few have the talent to carry it to a
successful issue. The political
newspaper illustrator — whose field
is full of thorns, but lucrative. The.
poster maker, where the sailing is,
smooth, subject to squalls, sudden
death in a few years, but profita-
ble while it lasts. Tne illustrator
of books, which takes intelli-
gence, fine sense of adapt-
ability, keen insight for

66

THE IRRIGATION AGE

vital points a great love of fiction,
and a thorough knowledge of draw-
ing in every field, still-life, figures,
landscape, both picturesque and
pastural, perspective and c o m-
position. Keen wit to adjust ones-
self to publishers' wants, and the
author's desires — insight into the
methods needed for best reproduc-
tive.

Or shall our embryo illustrator,
submerge self and engage to fur-
nish the papers with the "latest
fashions" as a bread winner, until
he has reached some plain in his
career to choose an avenue and
tread it to the end.

Shall he bend his energies to the
field of advertizement which is
ever alluring, but menial, a con-
stant demand on time and thought
but the widest field yet open to the
illustrator.

Or shall he be a "specialist" and
travel some new road, over which
no one has ever passed, and make
for himself a name as did Charles
Dana Gibson, famous for his
•"American Girl," Edwin Abbey,
noted for his Shakespereian charac-
ief drawing a Pennell with his
-crisp bits of Europe; or a Remming-
ton famed f6r his strong drawing
of cowboys and mustangs.

After one decides the avenue to
travel another tantilizing doubt
stops him at the beginning — what
medium is best to use for repro-
duction:' Should he choose Wash
drawing, Dry Point or Pen and
Ink. It is universally acknowl-
edged pen and ink drawings repro-
duce most satisfactorily. Wash
drawings are best for some compo-

sition. Dry point for others,
which ever field one enters make
one medium subserve your pur-
pose and pei severe in that line
until the best work is reproduced
from it. Let "the lights and shades
be crisp and clear, simplify the
method, use no extra lines. Tell
the story direct, so that the eye
can see at once what the mind
wishes to unfold and you are on a
fair way to success.

What an open field for women.
One can mention on one hand
those famous as book illustrators,
As news paper designers, for
posters, for calendars, for book-
covers charactertures; there is
much room in the front rank.

Who cares now in this age,
where the love of art is beginning
to be felt in every home, to read a
book, paper or magazine that is
not illustrated. As the Turk said
at the World's Pair, "I cannot
read English papers, but I can
read the pictures.'' It is a uni-
versal language.

Illustration brings to our very
doors great works of art. Great
masterpieces are made a familiar
thing to the school children.
Their minds are enlightened and
kindled with a desire to see and
know more.

We measure and estimate the
style of a book or magazine by the
style of its illustrations. If su-
perior, we enjoy and glow with
pleasure over a refined picture
cleverly reproduced. While a
coarse cut repulses us and we
refuse to buy a magazine on
account of its poor reproductions.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Which volume would you choose
on entering a book store.

The plain pointed text of "The
Absent-Minded Beggar by Rud-
yard Kipiing. Or the handsome
booklet with uncut edges, margin
and chapter heads illuminated, the
thought clearly defined by artistic
illustrating.

Who would not rather see
"Duke's son, Cook's son, son of a
hundred kings. (Fifty thousand
horse and foot going to table Bay"
in a praphic picture, thrilling and
pulsating with life, than in cold
print.

Or who would care to read James
Lane Allen's "The Reign of Law,"
without the beautiful interpre-
tation by the facile pencil of
Harry Fenn, who gives us glimpses
of the flowering heads of the wav-
ing hemp fields, n The cutting
March winds and quiet sheep
pastures — the swaying, elastic
figures cutting the hemp.

Or the vision of Gabriella as the
shadowy twilight played around
her while mourning at the hemp
brake.

Or the broad expanse of Ken-
tucky landscape, "masses of liv-
ing emerald, saturated with blaz-
ing sunlight."

The ideas of Mr. Allen so vividly
wrought' out, kindles the heart
with adimiration for both author
and artist alike, and makes one
acknowledge illustrations is a
unique field for the uniniatated to
enter.

The Bull in a ^ ever a man ^

China shop, to regret his existance it

is in the experience of masculine
shopping — not the purchase of
a lawn-mower or a load of hay,
with which the descendant of the
Lord's first-born is comfortably
familiar, bub the business to be
transacted over the dry-goods
counter and the awful presence of
the "saleslady" chilling him to the
core. I have a humorous friend—
thatis, he fancies he is humorous
—who endeavors to wring pleasure
from these solemn rites, actually
attempting badinage now and then.
Lately he wished to purchase a
pair of small gloves, adapted to his
limited anatomy, and after some
confusion sidled up to the "youth's
counter," perfectly conscious of
some impending danger. "Them's
boy's gloves" suddenly broke upon
the affrighted silence, as a languid
damsel paring her nails looked up-
on him superciliously. "Well won't
they do for an old boy," he feebly
asked — whereat the animated phe-
nomenon refulgent in kaleidoscopic
raiment looked savage and turned
away in withering dudgeon. My
friend, in obedience to a principle
never to encourage fatal deficiency
Of humor, sought another estab-
lishment. Here he found the ideal
goddess of the counter, pretty as a
picture, radiant with bonhomie and
graciously attentive. "Will you
give me your hand, please?" "Oh,
this is really so sudden! (it hap-
pened to be leap-year) I must ask
mamma." This woman was human,
and the brief yet merry interview
which followed amply atoned for

68

1HE IRRIGATION AGE.

funereal experiences elsewhere.
The safest passport to success in
ventures of a dubious nature in
the "saleslady's'' domain seems to
be to allow the presiding divinity
to enlighten the purchaser without
hindrance as to the special article
he desires, no matter what, the
proper amount he should disburse,
•etc etc. True, he might find that
he had borne away the wrong trifle;
yet the thought of a perfectly har-
monious transaction would be ex-
hilarating to the distressed predic-
ament of man under circumstances
.so wholly foreign to his natural
genius. Should Eliza Jane affect a
chiding mood, her beaming spouse
could persuasively descant upon the
'Celerity and comfort of his exploit.
If by accident he has added to the
family stock of blue ribbon or
clothes- wringers, having been com-
missioned to purchase cotton flan-
nel and nutmegs, they will keep,
keep, you know, and are sure to
come into play, if not in this in
some succeeding generation.
There's nothing like proper recog-
nition of the "saleslady's" omni-
science and the calm of a mercan-
tile accord.

The abyss of waters
ocean Depths, lying beneath us as we

cross the ocean is sel-
dom realized. ccording to an au-
thoratative statement by Sir John
Murray, in an address before the
British Association, it is knowm
that considerably more than half
of the sea floor lies at a depth of
2000 fathoms, or more than two ge-
ographical miles. The charts of

the noted Challenger expedition
record as "deeps'" all areas exceed-
ing 3000 fathoms, forty-two such
being known, twenty four in the
Pacific, fifteen in the Atlantic, three
in the Indian, and one in the Ant-
arctic ocean, comprising about 7
per cent, of the entire water sur-
face upon the globe. Of more than
250 soundings twenty-four exceeded
2000 fathoms, three being upwards
of 5000 fathoms. Eight of these
deeps show more than 4000 fath-
oms, or four geographical miles.
Depths exceeding 5000 fathoms
have been found in the south Pa-
cific, eastward of the Friendly is-
lands, the greatest depth being
5,155 fathoms, or 530 feet more
than five geographical miles. This
enormous depth of ocean is illus-
trated by the fact that it is 2000
feet more below the level of the
sea than the summit of Mount Ev-
erest, in the Himalayas, is above
it. Not an exhilarating thought
for the Pacific missionary on his
way to enlighten, or to be enlight-
ened by, the heathen. Yet even
profounder depths than this may
be revealed by future explorations.

Whatever be their short-
ooi comings, Americans, in

the opinion of thought-
ful travellers, are gifted with one
supreme virtue — amiability of
temper. Seldom indeed is the
native wrath or peevishness ex-
cited and in his most excited
moments the American, of all men,
is amenable to the mollifying influ-
ence of a bit of badinage which in
an instant transforms his "dander"

THE IREIGA TION A GE.

69

into smiles and laughter. His
normal mood is essentially gentle,
and, if his manners be not always
well-bred, his innate bonhomie
spares him the reproach of endur-
ing anger.

Contrast with this native good
humor the consuming, often male-
volent, passions of the Latin races,
the Teuton's splenetic scorn, the
Briton's contemptous assurance —
all of which have an atrabilious
tinge wholl3r foreign to our char-
acter. Even the utmost access of
our rage melts away beneath the
exercise of a little tact — it is not in
us to brood, to plot revengful evil,
or prolong an attitude of enmity.
Our contemplation of mankind
is from the standpoint of peace
and good will. Our love of fellow-
men is active, as it is earnest and
sincere.

Upon alighting from a railway
carriage, the story goes, an
Englishman was accosted by a

fellow-traveller: "Say, stranger,
I guess you've forgotten your
umbrella have'nt yer?" to which
the Briton replies: "Why, I
didn't know you were an Ameri-
can." "How could yer tell?"
"Because you're so d — kind." Re-
versing the situation, would tha
typical Briton have been so com-
plaisant— and without an intro-
duction? We doubt it.

We may justly pride ourselves
upon this crowning grace of frank-
heartedness, this imperturbable
sweetness of disposition which, if
it be a diamond in the rough, is
still a diamond. The pitiless rail-
lery to which the slightest symp-
tom of temper in our public men is
subjected attests the prevalence
and worth of this] national charac-
teristic, an even temper. " It
makes me so mad," is but a puerile
colloquialism — like the story of the
empty box, there is nothing in it.

4 Jfr

The National Irrigation Congress which will meet at Chi- \j*

4^ cago, 111., Nov. 21, 22, 23 and 24, is creating wide interest and ftp

4i promises to be an unusual success. The national irrigation p*

iKf W

•n movement has become a broad popular movement, and eastern i^

4^ commercial interests have readily taken hold of the idea of re- }$p

J» claiming and populating the arid west and thus creating a gj

^o great home market for their goods. ij,

4^ The best authorities on irrigation and forestry have been ^p

secured to speak and give illustrated lectures, andpnen of na-

^|0 tional fame and renown as orators and statesmen, will address tfc

4^ the Congress at the great Auditorium theatre on subjects of &l>

J5 national interest to the West.

4i or

40 Under the constitution of the Congress the mayor of ]each \jL

41 city of 25,000 or less population is entitled to appoint two dele- o^

40 ijL

•n gates, while cities of greater population are entitled to four 9T

\|) delegates. Each agricultural college, organized irrigatio^ ft

agricultural and horticultural association, each society of en-

£O gineers, irrigation company and each board of trade and cham- ^T

4^ ber of commerce is also entitled to two delegates. * |»

^ Reduced railway rates have been arranged of one fare ofc

^o plus two dollars for the round trip to Chicago from nearly all PJ

4^ western points, good until November 28th. All delegates or ftp

^ persons receiving invitations to the Congress can obtain this oF

40 rate on the certificate plan. That is, travelers should buy a FT

4^ single trip ticket to Chicago and take a certificate (not a re- ftp

T5 ceipt) from the ticket seller at the point of starting. This cer-

40 tifieate will be stamped at the Central Music J3all, Chicago, i^

4^ where the sessions of the National Irrigation Congress will be &V

Tj held, and will then entitle the holder, upon presentation to the

^1 oV

4Q ticket agent at Chicago, to a return ticket for only two dollars, tfc

4^ This liberal reduction will enable a great many people to $f

4f Lfe

mQ take the trip to Chicago at a moderate cost. ,.

PRESIDENT McKINLEY.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

VOL. xv .

CHICAGO, DECEMBER, 1900.

NO. 3

THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN flMERICfl.

West Should

Stand

Together

There is great need that
everyone interested in seeing
the Government take hold of
the question of the reclamation of its arid
lands should stand together at this session
of Congress, and be ready to do whatever
possible to secure concerted action.

The great prominence given to the
meetings of the National Irrigation Con-
gress at Chicago, and other influences,
have shown to thoughtful members of both
houses of Congress that this irrigation
question is something that has to be set-
tled with, and that there is no use in trying
to think it can be indefinitely put off. The
question with them is how to do it. East-
ern statesmen are asking this question
now.

It is possible that some defi-
Reservoir nite plan of action will be put
Construction forward this winter to secure

reservoir construction. If so, every man
in the West should wake to the opportun-
ity. The favorable action of Congress on
the question of building some particular
reservoir would ba the beginning of a
general policy of reclaimation of the des'
erts. It would be an entering wedge. It
is a matter of the most tremendous inter-
est to the West and to every interest in
the West.

This point should not be overlooked;
that whatever reservoir site it is proposed
to concentrate the attention of Congress
upon, and in whatever State or locality,
-every other State and Territory should

bend every effort to secure the construc-
tion of this first reservoir. This would
start the movement.

T . u In the meantime every

The Fight newspaper in the arid belt
should take up the fight from
o w on and urge upon the people of the
West the great opportunity which is now
before them. Congress is now ready ap-
parently to listen to some fair proposition
which does not resemble a raid; but the
West should back up the demands of its
representatives in Washington by a united
and persistent demand that the time has
come for some Governmental action.

There are enough Western Senators and
Congressmen to carry the Federal irriga-
tion proposition to a triumphant issue, if
they will stand together, and every man
of the West should sit down and write a
personal letter to his member of Congress
and to his Senator at Washington, and
tell them why they should work to get a
bill passed providing for the construction
of reservoirs by the Government to store
the floods.

No man, no locality is unin-
You are terested in this plan. Every

Interested. industrv of the West would

be stimulated and developed wonderfully
through the carrying out of a policy which
would reclaim 75 million acres of arid
land.

If the people of the great West ever
were interested in anything, they are in.

72

THE IRRIGATION AGL.

terested now in seeing that this question
of national irrigation is pushed forward
and pushed forward strongly within the
next two months.

The motto stretched above
The Forestry the platform of the National
Question. Irrigation Congress while in
session at Central Music Hall read: "Save
the forests and store the floods," The
storing of flood waters in vast reservoirs,
with the two-fold purpose of obviating de-
structive torrents and of feeding out the
reserved waters later for irrigation pur-
poses, was the subject which naturally en-
gaged the attention of the congress almost
exclusively in its earlier years. But more
recently and particularly at this annnal
convention, the subject of perpetuating
forests where they now exist, and of affor-
esting denuded areas, has come to be
looked on as an important item in the gen-
eral subject of irrigation.

This importance is due chiefly to two
facts, the first of which is that timber, or
even a scrub growth, protects the snow
fall from the sun and so from disappearing
in a destructive flood. The second fact is
that forests protect mountain sides from
erosion and reservoirs from being filled up
with the detritus. These two points were
emphasized at the meeting of the con-
gress held at the Auditorium, both
in the extended letter from Governor
Roosevelt and in that from General Miles.

A considerable and growing number of
persons are curious to know what the
United States is doing and to know what
more ought to be done to protect and in-
crease cur forest areas. It is not to be
questioned that people in general are be-

coming more and more concerned about
forests, not alone in respect to the lumber
supply, but with respect to water supply
and national scenery. They should be
given more information at the next con-
vention than they received this year.

At the annual International
Criming. Shoe and Leather Fair, re-
cently held in London, the
American exhibits were so good and num-
erous that the English called it "a huge
Yankee Show."

John T. Day, editor of the London Shoe
and Leather Record, is quoted as saying
in a published interview:

"Our dependence on American ideas and
raw material may be gauged by the fact
that 90 per cent, of the machinery in Brit-
ish factories comes from the United States.
Seventy-five per cent, of the leather we
consume is imported from American tan-
neries. Even thus equipped we seem
powerless to repel the invasion of Ameri-
can made shoes.

In 1898 $370,000 worth of American shoes-
were sold in the United Kingdom. In
1899 the amount increased to $715,000.
This year I suppose our purchases will ap-
proximate $2,000,000. Superior workman-
ship, combined with prices home manu-
factures cannot meet, have given American
competitors a winning advantage. They
have already captured the Australian
trade. They are beginning to take our
European customers away from us.

Even in our new African dominions they
have begun to press us. It is the same
old story — American enterprise and Brit-
ish lethargy. This fair ought to prove a»
eye-opener for British manufacturers."

NATION AS ARID LAND RE-
CLAIMER.

At the National Irrigation Congress lately held in Chicago, two
hundred delegates were present, and their motto was: "Save the For-
ests, Store the Floods, Reclaim the Deserts, and Annex Arid America."

President Mead in his opening address told of the inception of the
movement and recounted the questions now facing it, In speaking of
the need of national legislation he said:

"While no question has yet arisen of greater importance than the
necessity of securing such changes as will unite land and water under
one control, other questions besides ceding the public lands to the
states have finally relegated this to a subordinate position. It is now
realized that watering these deserts is not solely a problem for the
states, that the nation has certain duties and responsibilities, and that
there are certain questions which require national legislation and
oversight.

"The need of national laws grows out of the fact that in the West
it is water and not land which is of overshadowing importance. Many
western rivers are interstate streams. The laws of the states through
which they flow differ widely in character, while in some they are both
inadequate and dangerous. The appropriation of these interstate
rivers under these lax and conflicting state laws threatens to become
a fruitful source of litigation and social disturbance, unless in some
way the conflicting rights and warring policies can be reconciled and
adjusted/'

National govermental control of the water supplies in the arid and
subarid lands of the West was strongly advocated. General Nelson
A. Miles, Governor Roosevelt, and former Senator Dubois of Idaho
emphasized this idea, the two former by letter, and the latter in an
informal speech.

"The government of our country has an important mission to per-
form," said General Miles in his letter to the congress. "Now that it,
has taken hold of the work it is presumed that it will continue until a
time when the entire irrigation system will be under control, with one
simple law governing it alike in all the western states and territories.
Extravagance in expenditure should be avoided, and the government
should systematically improve only such lands which will repay the
expenditure, and divide the same in such manner that they can never
be monopolized by a few, but shall be cultivated by an industrious,
enterprising and intelligent people, who will build for themselves and

74 fHE IRRIGATION AGE.

their posterity homes that will enrich and beautify the region, thus
sustaining and promoting the general welfare. "

Governor Roosevelt outlined a plan for government supervision,
which he summed up in the following points, which he said must be
attained :

Government study of the streams upon which the plans depend.

Government construction and control of great irrigating plants.

The preservation of forests by the extension of the forest reserve
system and government control of the forests.

National protection and use of the forests under expert supervision.

The instruction of private owners of forests, East and West, that
timber can be cut without forest destruction, and that ownership of
water rights in the arid country and of forest lands anywhere entails
public as well as private duties and responsibilities.

Mr. Dubois expressed hope that the water supply of western lands
would never fall into the hands of corporations.

Professor Willis L. Moore, chief of the United States Weather
Bureau, told of the achievements of the weather bureau in relation to
irrigation problems. He said the department had been able to forcast
far in advance of the season the probable character of the water sup-
ply on the plains. This is done by measuring the snowfall in the
mountains, where the packing of snow and ice in ravines forms great
natural reservoirs.

Gifford Pinchot, forester of the United States Department of Agri-
culture, in an illustrated lecture on "Forestry is Business," pointed
out the many economic reasons for the preservation of the forests.
The department, he said, is accomplishing great results in the West
by showing timber owners how they can cut this timber and yet pre-
serve the forests Destruction of the forests, he said, will mean more
floods.

H. B. Maxson, the secretary of the congress, reported that the
National Irrigation Association now has 1,000 members, representing
the leading agricultural, commercial and labor organizations. The
reclaimation of the arid lands of the West would provide homes for
100,000,000 people, he said.

Captain Hiram M. Chittenden, of the United States Engineer
Corps, said that the building of great storage reservoirs at the head
waters of the western rivers would not only impound water for the
irrigation of millions of acres of arid land, but would prevent the floods
of the lower rivers. This work, he said, came properly under the gen-
eral government.

George H. Maxwell, chairman of the executive committee of the
congress, declared that too many men are fighting for water instead
of getting together and starting a campaign for government action

THE IR RIGA TION A GE. 75

•"Get to work and see if we cannot get one great 'object lesson' reser-
voir built by the government," he said.

Thomas Knight, of Kansas City, contended that the reclaimation
of the arid lands of the West could not be detrimental to the interest
of the farmers of the East.

Herbert Myrick, editor of the American Agriculturist, declared
that the reclamation of arid lands would create a large field for the
development of the sugar beet industry, saying: "The arid regions
are free from droughts or unusual rainfall, which are alike injurious
to beets."

Hugh M. Wiley, chemist of the Department of Agriculture, also
declared the sugar beet was well adapted for growth on irrigated soil.

Henry James, editor of the Forester, declared the preservation of
the forests would prevent an exhaustion of the water supply.

By a unanimous vote Thomas F. Walsh, the mine owner and for-
mer United States Commissioner to the Paris exposition, was elected
president. Mr. Walsh resides in Washington. J. Bradford Prince, of
New Mexico, was elected first vice-president, and P. B. Thurber, of
New York, was selected for second vice president. H. B. Maxson was
re-elected secretary.

Mr. Walsh said that upon the proper development of irrigation
depended the future prosperity of the West and to a large extent the
welfare of the whole nation.

"Above all is to be emphasized the fact," he said, "that in the
West are opportunities for making thousands of homes, where men
can earn their living from the soil and be practically independent of
hard times. The safety of our institutions rests, to a large extent,
upon the ownership of small farms by the men who live upon them
and derive their support from the products of the soil. In all the
great centers of population, like New York and Chicago, are thous-
ands of unemployed men, constant sources of Danger. There is no
higher duty for the citizens of the country at large than to make it
possible for these unemployed men, who are willing to work, to make
for themselves homes upon the national domain."

John W. Ela, of Chicago, spoke on "A Forecast of the Future.'
He said in part: "The more small farmers we have in this country the
more prosperous the country will become. We are particularly fortu-
nate in that we have a large area of land which will some day become
the homes of the small farmers. There is such, an expanse of territory
that it will prevent syndicates from owning and controlling it, and
when reduced to cultivation with the assistance of irrigation it will
become the homes of the small farmer."

A. C. Bartlett read a paper written by Dwight B. Heard, of Ari
zona, on "Government Irrigating Works in India and Egypt," and

76 THE IRRIGA 1 1 ON A GE.

C. B. Booth read a paper prepared by Harrison Gray Otis of Los
Angeles, Cal., on the "Reclaimation of Arid America." Frederick H.
Newell, hydrographer of the United States Geological Survey, in an.
illustrated lecture told of "Our National Irrigation Resources."

J. B. Whittemore explained the primitive irrigation of the Pima
Indians in Arizona, and Milton Whitney, of the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, spoke on "Alkali and Its Remedies." Alexander
H. Rev ell delivered an address on "The Grandest Opportunity in the
Pathway of Nations."

PRACTICAL IRRIGATION.

Although the general subject of irrigation and the reclaimation of
arid lands is discussed widely, and has come to be one of the great
questions before the people of this country, yet there is probably a
considerable number of persons who have a very vague idea as to the
methods by which the water is brought to the land. A few element-
ary statements may, therefore, not be out of place.

As a fundamental proposition, it may be said that irrigation on
any considerable scale is possible only by means of gravity systems
and open ditches. In other words, the amount of water required is so
great that it will not pay to bring it to the agricultural lands unless it
can flow through ditches or channels dug into the surface of the
ground. In exceptional instances pumping has been employed, and
the water conveyed through pipes, as is customary in municipal
supplies.

In order to irrigate land, it is necessary to dig a ditch leading
from a stream whose slope is so great that the ditch, following its
bank on a lesser grade, can gradually be diverted from the river. If,
for example, the stream falls at the rate of 10 feet per mile and the
ditch only one foot, it is evident that the water in the ditch only one
foot, it is evident that the water in the ditch will be 9 feet above that
in the river at the end of the first mile, and in 10 miles will be 90 feet
above the river, and usually, looking down over a large extent of bot-
tom land. If now allowed to escape from the ditch, it will find its way
back to the river across the intervening low lands. Successful irriga-
tion consists in guiding this water in Its journey back to the river in
such a way that it will cover the largest area of land, saturating it to
the proper degree.

The methods by which the water is thus conducted are numerous,
the water in the supply ditch, following the contour of the land, is
allowed to escape in temporary ditches, and from these it is turned
out and guided by a shovel, so that it flows outwardly along the slope
of the land and finds its way by innumerable tiny rivulets down the
slope. Considerable skill is required to distribute the water uniformly
in this so-called "wild flooding," and as a rule the lower parts of the
field receive an excess of water while the higher portions are left dry.

The supply ditch follows the general contour, dropping slightly;
below this the land is divided into rectangular fields, each of a size
such that by means of a low ridge — say 2 feet in height — the water
can be held back and flooded over the entire surface. If the slopes
are steep these checks or little leeves must be near together, while if

78

THE IRRIGA TION AGE.

the land is nearly level, they can be far apart. Water is turned into
each of these compartments, which may contain from 1 to 20 acres or
more, and the stream from the ditch is allowed to flow until the entire
compartment is flooded. A small gate is then opened, or the check
cut with a shovel and the water drained off until the next compart-
ment is full, and so on until the entire area has been thoroughly wet.
In the case of crops cultivated in furrows, such as potatoes, it is
customary to run water down the furrows -these being laid out so
that the water will flow freely, yet without washing the soil. In prac-
tice, the water flows down four or five of these furrows at once until it
reaches tne lower end, and then it is shut off and turned into another
series of furrows. — Buffalo Voice.

"SAVE THE FORESTS AND STORE
THE FLOODS."

The holding1 of the National Irrigation Congress in the East, as it
turned out, was a wise move. The people of that half of the country
have had the subject of national irrigation brought home to them in a
manner not otherwise possible. The far-reaching importance of the
problem has been presented to them and a genuine interest has been
awakened. Instead of finding opposition in the East, the Congress
found that eastern men of prominence were more than interested in a
proposition which promised an increased western population of mil-
lions of people.

As the "enemy's country" has been invaded, the myth of eastern
opposition has faded away and its people are found to be anxious to
see inaugurated a national policy of western arid land reclamation.

The western delegates went home with the feeling that they have
the hearty support of eastern interests in securing action which will
open to settlement a half a continent, capable of supporting fifty mil-
lion people. They cannot but feel that this support is growing; that
it is developing into a great movement; that many people are realizing
that national action would meet such a western development as would
increase the national wealth beyond measure.

The time seems fully ripe for the west to take a firm and decided
stand on the question of national irrigation and something great may
be accomplished at once. Why not? It is as right that Congress
should appropriate money for storage reservoirs as for river and har-
bor improvements. The building of storage reservoirs would obviate
the necessity for much river expenditure and would help navigation,
and the home building area of the United States would be vastly in-
creased. And now if the West makes this demand the East will back
it up, for the benefit would not be local.

Every western paper is interested in seeing this development ac-
complished. What would be the result of an appropriation of eight
or ten million dollars spent annually in the west for irrigation con-
struction? The immediate stimulation would be enormous and the fu-
ture benefit greater. This policy should be inaugurated and the
western press should urge it with one voice. It is a national matter;
it can be productive only of great good; the East is responsive; will
the West be aggressive; it is time to work.

It is the opinion at Washington that $40, 000, 000 will be appropria-
ted by this congress for river and harbor improvements. Of this the

80 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

western half of the United States will get, judging by previous rec-
ords a couple of million or so. Whatever are her possibilities, it is
not contended that the West is as important or influential as the East.
She has not yet the dense population; but why should she not get at
least a fair share of this great appropriation? Why should she not
get a fourth of it, to be applied to the building of great storage reser-
voirs to be filled with flood waters for use in irrigation, under a sys-
tem of internal improvements?

The government is spending large sums in aiding in the develop-
ment of foreign trade and the opening of foreign markets for Ameri-
can manufacturers. It is believed that we should push our goods into
every market of the world and sell them. The belief is also gaining
ground that the government should also develop its home market for
American products and manufacturers. This it could do by reclaiming
the 75,000,000 acres of western arid land and settling them with thous-
ands of industrious home builders. Eastern merchants are more than
willing to see such an undertaking. The west should take the in-
itiative.

The telegram sent by the National Irrigation Congress at Chicago,
urging upon President McKinley the importance of the irrigation and
forestry problem and requesting him to in turn urge upon Congress
the advisability of some definite action, has done more to direct public
attention to these important national questions than any other one.

To the President:

The ninth annual session of the National Irrigation Congress now
in session in the City of Chicago, respectfully urges that in your mes-
sage to Congress you call attention to the national importance of the
preservation of our forests and of the extention and conservative use
of the forest preserves, and further that you emphasize the need of
national action to store the flood waters that now go to waste.

"Save the Forests and Store the Floods" proved a popular motto
at the Chicago Irrigation Congress. Its sessions bore a marked at-
mosphere of thoughtful consideration of how these great objects could
be accomplished and a general spirit of harmony and co-operation
pervaded the atmosphere. Much satisfaction was expressed at the
growth of the national irrigation sentiment in the East and the inter-
est and active co-operation afforded by eastern business men.

Great as is Chicago, with her people equaling in numbers a third
of the entire population of the western half of the United States, yet
the National Irrigation Congress was recognized as the exponent of 'a
national movement, and caused no little local and general comment.
Chicago newspapers devoted their columns to its meetings and Chi-
cago's largest business men attended them. The great problem of the
reclamation of the millions of arid acres was recognized at its true

I HE IRR1 GA1ION AGE. 81

value and the incalculable benefits to result, appreciated, The nat-
ional irrigation question is an assured fact.

The following resolutions were adopted by the National Irrigation
Congress, November 24, 1900:

"We hail with satisfaction the fact that both of the great politi-
cal parties of the nation in the last campaign declared in favor of the
reclamation of arid America, in order that settlers might build homes
on the public domain, and to that end we urge upon Congress that na-
tional appropriations commensurate with the magnitude of the prob-
lem should be made for the preservation of the forests and the refor-
estation of denuded areas as natural storage reservoirs and for the
construction by the National Government as part of its policy of inter-
nal improvement of storage reservoirs and other works for flood pro-
tection and to save for use in aid of navigation and irrigation the
waters which now run to waste and for the development of artesian
and subterranean sources of water supply.

' "The waters of all streams should forever remain subject to pub-
lic control and the right of the use of water for irrigation should in-
here in the land irrigated, and beneficial use be the basis of measure
and the limit of the right.

"The work of building the reservoirs necessary to store the floods
should be done directly by the government under existing statutes re-
lating to the employment of labor and hours of work and under laws
that will give to all American citizens a free and equal opportunity to
get first employment, and then a home on the land.

"We commend the efficient work of the various bureaus of the na-
tional government in the investigation of the physical and legal prob-
lems and other conditions relating to irrigation and in promoting the
adoption of more eff ectine laws, customs and methods ot irrigated ag •
riculture, and urge upon Congress the necessity of providing liberal
-appropriations for this important work.

.<

EXTRACT FROM REPORT OF
SECRETARY OF AGRI-
CULTURE.

Much progress has been made during the past year, in the
organization and development of the irrigation investigations con-
ducted through the Office of Experiment Stations.

• In accordance with tho terms of the appropriation act, two
general lines of investigation have have been pursued: (1) The study
of the laws and institutions relating to irrigation in different regions
and (2) the determination of the actual use made of irrigation waters.

The largest single enterprise connected with these investigations
has been in the State of California. The growing value and increas-
ing scarcity of water in that state are creating imperative need of
better laws to control the distribution of streams, and there is much
public interest in this subject. This local interest has been shown in
a most substantial and gratifying form by the co-operation of the
California Water and Forest Association in our work and the contri-
bution of several thousand dollars to be expended under the direction
of the agents of the Department. The University -of California and.
Leland Stanford University have also given efficient aid to this enter-
prise, and have been represented on the staff of agents employed in
the prosecution of the work.

Eight typical streams in different parts of the state have been
thoroughly studied with reference to the conditions under which the
water for irrigation is owned, distributed, and used. A compre-
hensive report on these investigations is now in course of preparation.
It is believed that this is the largest and most comprehensive inquiry
regarding irrigation laws, customs, and conditions which has been
undertaken in this country. Similar investigations, though on a
smaller scale, have been made in Utah, Colorado, and other States.

The measurements of the duty of water undertaken last year
have been extended this season, regular stations for this purpose
having been maintained in eleven States and Territories in the
irrigated region. A detailed report on the observations of the
previous season is now in press, which includes a larger amount of
data on this subject than has ever been brought together before.
Studies of the losses from evaporation and seepage and of the amount-
and character of sediment contained in irrigation waters have also
been carried on in a number of localities.

1 HE IRRIGA TION A GE. 88

Interest in the use of irrigation to supplement rainfall in the
humid regions of the United States is constantly growing. In a
number of sections this has been greatly stimulated daring the past
season by long-continued drought. Interesting and valuable investi-
gations regarding the use of water for irrigation in New Jersey have
been made by Professor Voorhees, director of the New Jersey agri-
cultural experiment stations. The results of these investigations
have recently been published, and they indicate that the practice of
irrigation has been quite profitable in that state as far as it has
been tried.

Similar investigations are being undertaken in Missouri and
Wisconsin in co-operation with the experiment stations in those
States. A preliminary survey was also made of the conditions of
irrigation practice in the rice fields and sugar plantations of the
Southern States. This indicated that there is great opportunity for
improvement in the methods and use of water in that region, and it is
hoped that it may be possible to undertake a study of some of these
problems in the near future.

A report on the irrigation system of Hawaii is now in press.
A popular bulletin on the practice of irrigation in connection with
horticulture has been issued and widely distributed.

Although the irrigation investigations now in charge of this
Department have been in progress too short a time to permit the
publication of extended reports, it is believed that they have already
had important results. As the basis for these investigations, an
effort has been made to ascertain the actual needs of the people of
the irrigated region as regards the investigation of irrigations
problems. This has led to widespread discussion of this subject in
agricultural and other associations, as well as in the public press.
Through the publications of this Department already issued and the
addresses of our agents in public meetings in different parts of the^
irrigated region, the existing conditions have been described as
accurately as a preliminary survey would permit. The lines along
which investigations must proceed have also definitely been pointed
out: In this way the experience already obtained by the experiment
stations, State engineers, and officers and experts in irrigation
matters has been brought to bear on the public mind more effectively
than heretofore. The result has been a great quickening of interest
in this matter throughout the West, cogether with a large and more
definite realization of the importance of the development of our
irrigation system and the intricate nature of the problems involved.
A great desire has been awakened to have an accurate and complete
showing of facts, on which permanent improvement alone can be
based. This has led to hearty co-operation of the people and local

84 THE IR RIGA T10N A GE

authorities in our investigations wherever they have been undertaken
and demands for our work far beyond our ability to meet.

While the earnestness with which these demands are pressed is
very largely due to the urgent needs of localities and individual
farmers and ditch owners for the remedying of evils affecting their
immediate interests, it is also beginning to be seen quite clearly that
the questions involved in this and kindred investigation have a direct
bearing on the problems which are of national and even international
importance. On the supply of water for irrigation and its equitable
'distribution depends the permanent existence of civilized life in one-
third the area covered by the forty-eight States and Territories of
the Union. Questions relating to irrigation are vital not only to
agricultural, but also to all other interests of this vast region, and
the ultimate solution of the problems relating to irrigation will be
found not only in State legislation and administration, but also in the
^action of the National Government. Most of the streams used for
irrigation cross State lines, and some of them run partly in foreign
•countries.

The nation still owns large areas, the development of which will
necessarily depend on national land laws recognizing the importance
of extending the irrigated region as far as possible. Sooner or later
these questions must be taken up by the United States as well as by
the individual States and settled on a just basis and in accordance
with actual conditions. What is needed in this matter at the present
time above everything else is the impartial ascertaining and record-
ing of the facts relating to irrigation in this country. It is this task
which this Department has set for itself. It is believed that an
efficient organization for the prosecution of this work has been estab-
lished and that in this way a basis has been laid for the prosecution
and extension of the work as rapidly as the necessary conditions of
the investigations arid the available funds will permit.

In view of the urgent need for the extension of these investi-
gations, I recommend that the appropriation for the ensuing fiscal
year be increased from $50,000 to $75,000.

WASHINGTON LETTER.

A statistical abstract of the world which will show the imports
and exports of every country in the world having statistical reports
is the ambition of the Bureau of Statistics of the Treasury Depart-
ment. To present in a single volume a picture of the world's com-
merce not only of to day but extending back over a long term of
years, and to show that commerce in detail as to principal arti-
cles, country by country with quantities and values stated in
United States currency and measures of quantity, is a work of no-
small magnitude, but of such great importance to the commercial in-
terests of the country that it is being resolutely undertaken by the
Bureau of Statistics. The details of this work, which will be carried
on under the personal supervision of the Chief of the Bureau, have
been entrusted to Mr. Benjamin T. Welch, whose long service in the
Bureau especially tits him for this duty.

The opening chapter of the proposed volume has already been
completed. It shows the total imports and exports of each country
of the world having statistical records, from the earliest datfe
for which the figures are attainable down to the present time. In
the case of the United Kingdom the report begins with the year 1800,
and shows the total imports, total exports, and excess of imports or
exports in each year from that date to the present time. In the case
of Austria-Hungary Ihe record begins with the year 1800; Belgium,,
1831; France, 1831; Germany, 1872; Italy, 1861; Netherlands, 1860;
Russia, 1861; Spain, I860; Norway, 1860; Sweden, 1860; Canada, 18") 1;
Mexico, 1873; Argentina, 1870; Chile, 1860; China, 1868; Japan, 1874;
India, 1851; Australia, 1851; Egypt, 1874; and Cape of Good Hope and
Natal 1851. in each case the figures covering the entire period from
the earliest date named to the present time. The subsequent chapters
will give the details of the commerce of each of these countries, the
principal articles imported and exported during a term of years down
to the latest attainable date, and the principal countries from which
its exports are obtained and to which its exports are distributed.

The figures on the total commerce country by country, which
have already been completed, afford matsrial for some interesting
comparisons with our own growth meantime. The imports for home
consumption of the United Kingdom, for instance, which in the year
1800 amounted to $81,310,000, amounted in 1899 to $2,043,896,450, an
increase of 2400 per cent. ; while in the case of the United States the
imports for home consumption in 1800 were $52,121,891; and in 1899,
5, Hl,S,)2, an. increase of 1215 per cent. Taking the export side the.

'86 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

contrast is much more clearly in favor of the United States. The ex-
port of articles of home production from the United Kingdom in 1800
were $11 1,107, 000, and in 1899 $1,287,151,345, an increase of 1059 per
cent; in the case of the United States, the export of home products in
1800 were $31, 840, 903, and in 1899, $1,203,931,222, an increase of 3681
per cent.

In the case of France the comparison is equally interesting. The
imports for consumption into France in 1831 were $72,182,000, and in
1899, $872,032,000, an increase of 1108 per cent.; while the export of
articles of home production were in 1831 $88,088,000, and in 1899, $801, -
452,000, an increase of 810 per cent. In the case of the United States
the imports for home consumption in 1831 were $82,008,110, and in
1899, $685,441,889, an increase of 734 per cent., and the export of arti-
cles of home production were in 1831, $59,218,583, and in 1899, $1,203,-
931,222, an increase of 1933 per cent.

The official data covering the commerce of the German Empire in
its present form begins with the year 1872, in which year the imports
ior home consumption were $793,726,000, and in 1899, $1,304, 977, 000, an
increase during that period of 64 per cent. The export of home pro-
ducts were, in 1872, $564,165,000 and in 1899, $801,452,('00 an increase
of 42 per cent. A comparison of the figures of the commerce of the
U. S. covering the same period shows the imports for home consump-
tion in 1872 to be $560,419,034, and in 1899, $685,441,892, an increase of
24 per cent., and the export of home products in 1872, $428,487,131,
and in 1899. $1,203,931,222, an increase of 181 per cent.

One especially interesting fact developed by a study of these fig-
ures is that in the case of the United States they show with much
greater frequency than in any other countries a favorable "balance of
trade," or excess of exports over imports. In the United Kingdom,
Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and Norway,
and practically all European countries excepting Russia, Austria-
Hungary and Spain, the imports exceed the exports, in some cases by
large sums, and this is true also of China and Japan. In the newer
and great producing countries, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Australia
and India, the exports exceed the imports in nearly every case, though
in sums which are insignificant when compared with the enormous
balance of trade in favor of the United States in recent years.

The commerce of 47 countries other than the United States is pic-
tured in the opening tables of the proposed volume. Of this number,
18 countries show an excess of exports over imports, and 29 show an
excess of imports over exports. The principal countries which show
an excess of exports over imports are Canada, Mexico, Argentina,
Chile, Australasia, India, Egypt, Spain, Austria -Hungary, and Russia.
A study of the detailed figures in this group of favored countries

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 87

-whose exports exceed their imports, and a comparison of their exports
with that of the United States alone furnishes a striking evidence of
the phenomenal prosperity of our own conntry. No one of the 18
countries whose exports exceed imports shows a favorable balance of
trade approaching that enjoyed by the United States, and a compila-
tion of the excess of exports in the entire group of 18 countries having
such excess gives a grand total of only $414,845,000, in the latest at-
tainable year, as against an excess of $544,542,131 in favor of the
United States alone in the fiscal year 1900,

A good deal of anxiety seems to have been wasted with reference
to the trade relations between the United States and Germany. It
will be remembered that a fear was expressed some months ago that
certain trade restrictions proposed in Germany might seriously inter-
rupt the commercial relations between that country and the United
States and especially decrease our exports to that country in agricul-
tural products. Figures just issued by the Treasury Bureau of Sta-
tistics show that our exports to Germany, in the ten months ending
with October, 1900, were $27,000,000 greater than those in the corres-
ponding months of last year, an increase of about 20 per cent, and
that our imports from Germany show an increase of $8,000,000, a gain
of over 10 per cent. Of the forty great articles which compose the
bulk of our exports to Germany more than two-thirds show an in-
crease in 1900 as compared with 1899. Those which show the princi-
pal decrease are hog products, corn, wheat, fertilizers and certain
lines of machinery. Those which show an increase are cotton, flour,
fruits, tobacco, timber, mineral oils, cotton seed oil, oilcake and meal,
tallow, parrafin, rosin, turpentine, coal, copper, builders' hardware,
scientific and electrical instruments, agricultural implements, sewing
machines, cars and furniture.

Copper shows an increase of more than $3,000,000, mineral oils
$2. 000, 000, tobacco a»nd agricultural implements nearly $1,000,000 each,
and unmanufactured cotton over $28,000,000, while in the list of arti-,
cles which show a decrease there are but two cases in which the fall-
ing off is as much as $1,000,000 — corn showing a reduction of a little
more than $1,000,000 and wheat a little more than $2,000,000.

American trade with China shows a more rapid growth than that
of any of the European countries. The official reports of the Chinese
Government for 1899, the details of which have just reached the
Treasury Bureau of Statistics, show that the imports into China from
the United States in that year amounted to 22,288,745 Haikwan taels
(Haikwan tael-72 cts.), against 17,163,312 taels in 1898, 12,440,302 in
1897, 11,929,853 in 1896, and 5,093,182 taels in 1895. Thus in the four
years from 1895 to 1899 the imports into China from Great Britain in-

TEE IRRIGATION AGE.

creased from 33,960,050 haikwan taels in 1895 to 40,161,115 in 1899, and
from the continent of Europe (Russia excepted), they increased from
7,552,099 Haikwan taels in 1895 to 10,172,398 in 1899. Thus, while the
imports from Great Britain show an increase of 18 per cent, from
1895 to 1899, and those from Europe show an increase of 35 per cent.,
those from the United States show an increase of 337 per cent. Tak-
ing the imports from all parts of the world, the figures for 1895 show
a total of 171,696,715 Haikwan taels and in 1899, 264,748,456, or an in-
crease in the entire importation of 54 per cent, against an increase of
337 per cent, in the imports from the United Sta.tes.

Reporting upon the foreign trade of Shanghai, the Commissioner
of Customs at that port says: "The import trade in piece goods dur-
ing the year showed great vitality. Almost every item of importance
show improvement, the most remarkable being found in white shirt-
ings, sheetings of all descriptions, chintzes and twills, handkerchiefs,
towels and cotton flannel. Notwithstanding the continued increase in
the consumption of American domestics, English goods have managed
to show satisfactory progress. There are several makes, notably
prints and dyed fancy fabrics, which are not interfered with by Amer-
ican competition as yet; and although they must be looked upon more
as luxuries than as actual necessities, the trade in them is growing in
importance and value."

The Commissioner of Customs at Canton reports as follows: "The
value of our foreign imports exceeded that for 1898 by nearly two-
million taels, being 13,861,995 Haikwan taels. With the exception of
cotton yarn, nearly all the staple articles, such as Manchester goods,
kerosene oil and American flour advanced considerably."

Commenting upon the growth in the import trade at Tientsin,
which showed a gain of 6,700.000 taels over 1898, the commissioner at
that point says: " The conspicuous gains are in white shirtings, and
more especially in American sheetings; this last article having gained
90,000 pieces over the record of 1898. American drills have declined
17 per cent, below the import quantity of 1898, although as regards
value they show a gain of 6 per cent. American kerosene oil has
fallen off greatly, the import (1,868,000 gallons) being only half that
of 1898. Machinery, railway materials, munitions of war and govern-
ment stores all show an increase over the figures for 1897 and 1898."

Imports into the United States from Porto Rico have trebled, and
exports to that island from the United States have quadrupled in the
five months since the enactment of the new Porto Rican tariff act, as
compared with those of the corresponding months of 1896 and 1897
when Porto Rico was under the Spanish flag. The Porto Rican tariff
act went into effect May 1, 1900. The imports from the island in the-

THE. IRRIGATION AGE. 89

five months whose record the Treasury Bureau of Statistics has just
completed, amount to $3,316,334, against $1,169,128 in the correspond-
ing months of 1897, or practically three times as much in the five
months of 1900 as in the corresponding five months of 1897. The ex-
ports to the island in the five months of 1900 are $2,807,909, against
$717,744 in the corresponding months of 1896 and $768,802 in the cor-
responding months of 1897, or practically four times as much in 1900
as in 1896 or 1897.

These figures are especially interesting because of the fact that it
was supposed when the act went into effect, that the commerce of the
first year would be very small by reason of the hurricane of last year
which proved so damaging to the chief industries that it was thought
the island would in the present year have little to sell and conse-
quently little with which to buy. Yet the figures given below show
that it has sent to the United States in the five months from May
1, 1900, to October 1, 1900, twice as much in value as in the corres-
ponding months of 1899 and three times as much 'as in the same months
of 1897, and that it has bought from the United States more than
twice as much as in the corresponding months of 1899 and practically
four times as much as in the corresponding months of 1896 or 1897.

The table which follows shows the imports from, and exports to
Porto Rico in its commerce with the United States during May, June,
July, August and September of 1896, 1897, 1899 and 1900, respectively,
and the total for each period, and thus enables a comparison by months
and by the entire period both with 1899, when the island was under
the American flag but subject to the general customs laws of- the
United States, and with 1896 and 1897, when it was Spanish territory.
It will be seen that every month since the enactment of the new law
shows a marked increase over 1899 and a still greater increase as com-
pared with 1897 and 1896; while the total imports from the island in
the five months of 1900 show an increase of 62 per cent, over 1898 and
172 per cent, over 1897, and the exports to the island show an increase
of 104 per cent, over 1899 and 265 per cent, over 1897.

IMPORTS FROM PORTO RICO INTO THE UNITED STATES.

Month of 1896 . 1897 1899 1900

May $430,821 $553,938 $647,1791, $103,867

June 516,746 361,328 814,803 1,218,257

July . . .254,676 145,373 448,267 . 640,023

August 107,880 72,625 74,323 281,903

September 125, 369 35, 864 56, 167 72, 284

Total, 5 months... .$1,485, 492 $1,169,128 $2,040,739 $3,316,334

90 THE IRRIGA 2 ION AGE.

EXPORTS TO PORTO RICO FROM THE UNITED STATES.

Month of 1896 1897 1899 1900

May $113,069 $161.845 $305,564 $696,479

June 173,313 167,138 361,423 890,999

July 101,944 156,296 213.302 529,729

August 194,361 143,945 251,843 408,638

September 130,058 . 130,578 246,490 282,064

Total, five months. . . .$717,744 $768,802 $1,378,622 $2,807,909
The following table shows the exports from the United States to
Porto Rico of fifteen representative articles during the five months
ending October 1, 1900, compared with the same months of 1897:
Articles. Five months ending Oct. 1.

1887 1900

Cotton cloth $ 1,423 $406,194

Flour 294,278 402.912

Pork 75,829 94,567

Petroleum 12,930 65,956

Bacon 6,949 28,481

Coal 14,680 26,565

Cheese 1,062 26,463

Furniture 3,392 23,220

Builders' hardware 4,335 22,086

Cars and carriages . , 2,344 12,209

Books, maps, etc 2,516 11,034

Fruits and nuts 399 6,077

Butter 3,151 5,420

Agricultural implements 1,217 3,856

Sewing machine 1,508 3,132

The abrogation of the Porto Rican tariff is being seriously dis-
cussed by the press of Porto Rico. The Porto Rican Tariff Act it
will be remembered provides that "whenever the legislative assembly
of Porto Rico shall have enacted and put into operation a system
of local taxation to meet the necessities of the government of Porto
Rico, by this act established, and shall by resolution duly passed so
notify the president, he shall make proclamation thereof and there-
upon all tariff duties on merchandise and articles going into Porto
Rico from the United States or coming into the United States from
Porto Rico shall cease, and from and after such date all such mer-
chandise and articles shall be entered at the several ports of entry
free of duty. The Porto Rican Legislature elected on November 6th,
the date of the general election in the United States, is to meet
shortly and will, under the provisions of the Porto Rican Act above
quoted, have the power to immediately terminate the Porto Rican
tariff by enacting legislation which will provide funds for the neces-
sities of the government, of Porto Ri.co and the question whether this

THE IRRIGA TION A GE. 91

•action shall be taken and the 15 per cent, tariff thus terminated, is
being discussed by the press and public of that island as is shown by
the following leading editorial taken from the San Juan (Porto Rico)
Daily Neivs of November 13, 1900, just received by the Treasury Bu-
reau of Statistics:

"We have lived now for six months under the 85 per cent, prefer-
ential tariff. The question now is — is it good or bad? Has it helped
or injured us? The Legislature will have these questions to decide.

"We now have the question to deal with aside and apart from poli-
tics. Its use as a campaign club is past and gone. The burden of de-
ciding this very important question is solely upon the Legislature. As
it decrees, so shall it be. If it desires to abolish the tariff and operate
the island upon a free trade basis, it can be so ordered.

"If the people of Porto Rico through the Legislature, desire to
continue the tariff it can be done. A precedent has been established
which will permit this taxation. It has been legally decreed that such
action is constitutional.

"If the tariff is abolished, it is at once evident that a more bur-
densome and higher rate of internal taxation must be imposed. Where
and upon what shall this be levied, is indeed a perplexing question.

"Aside from all the difficulties that may or will arise from the
abolition of the tariff, let us glance at the tariff itself and see what it
has done. In the last six months the 15 per cent, tariff has afforded
the island as much, if not more revenue than the 100 per cent, tariff-
'The theory that ' the way to increase revenue is by lowering the
taxes,' is proven to be true for Porto Rico. This revenue will be con-
stantly increasing as our trade increases, as it is sure to do. It has
helped the consumer, for it has lowered the taxes he has to pay, not
only on American goods, but upon all goods that enter our market in
competition with them. This results in an increase of importations.
This helps the producer by constantly providing him a means to carry
his goods to the great American market, which is always so hungry
for the products this island has to dispose of. Again, unless we have
a traffic both ways, the steamers must make one trip without a cargo
and the freight is thereby doubled.

"A tariff helps us as borrowers; it will give our securities a stand
in the United States, which they could not have without a permanent
revenue like the tariff revenue. The argument so often advanced in
favor of a tariff tax as against other means of raising revenue, that it
is easily collected, is especially forcible in Porto Rico, We would ad-
vise that the tariff is necessary, and if it were not it would still be the
most convenient and logical means of raising our revenue. Let the
tariff stand at 15 per cent."

MKS. McKlNLKY AND H KR 1'RKSENT HOME.

THE DIVERSIFIED FARM,

THE ENGLISH SPARROW.

The war which is being waged on the
English sparrows in some farm sections is
only partially successful through lack of
co-operation. If every farmer would de-
termine to keep the sparrows off his farm
place, they could easily be kept in check.
I have never allowed this species of Pas-
ser, which Congressman Lacey designates
"rats of the air." to build or stay upon my
Virginia place, and my several immediate
neighbors through my solicitation have
joined hands with me on this issue. Once
rid of them, we have had but little trouble
in keeping them away. They are ever
ready to return however. During a year's
sojourn in Florida two pair discovered my
absence and built and reared breeds, keep-
ing up a continual warfare with other
birds. By fall the sparrows were thick on
the place. On my return I commenced
picking them off at odd times with a small
rifle. In a week I had them so terrorized
that they would fly away at sight of me,
and after a little while they disappeared.
The harsh things that are said about the
English sparrow are none too severe. Its
meanest trait is that of driving off other
birds. • Among those which it whips are
the wren, song sparrow, chipping sparrow,
yellow bird, cat bird, oriole, blue bird and
•even the robin; in fact, fighting as it does
in numbers, it will thrash and even kill
almost any other bird. These insectivor-
ous birds which the sparrow drives away
are of more use to the farmer than he per-
haps realizes.

Then the English sparrow preys upon
almost every product of the farm and gar-
-den, from the early fruit bud to the ripe
fruit and the mature grain. An exhaus-

tive investigation made by the Department
of Agriculture shows that hardly a crop is
exempt from this pest's ravages. The evi-
dence secured shows the sparrow to be so
destructive as to be a serious menace to
farm industry in many sections. Farmers
report of their entire grape and other fruit
yield being almost ruined and of thous-
ands of the birds appearing persistently in
thoir grain fields.

After all this, the English sparrow
causes an increase in the multiplication of
destructive insects and caterpillars instead
of acting as a deterrent on them as was ex-
pected when the bird was foolishly impor-
ted from England. It does not eat the
caterpillar itself and it keeps away the
American birds which would feed upon
them.

"The English sparrow," said Dr. G.
Hart Merriam, the ornithologist of the De-
partment of Agriculture, in discussing the
pest, "is a curse of such virulence that it
ought to be systematically attacked and
destroyed before it becomes necessary to
deplete the public treasury for the pur-
pose, as has been done in other countries.
By concerted action in the towns and on
the farms and by taking advantage of this
sparrow's gregarious habit much effective
work can be accomplished against it with
small expenditure. In the winter time, if
food is placed in the same spot at the same
hour each day for a week, the sparrows
will gather in dense flocks to feed and
great numbers can be killed at a time by
firing upon them with small shot."

Dr. Merriam states that the sparrow ia
an excellent article of food, equaling many
of the smaller game birds. This would
not be strange considering its diet. At

94

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

restaurants it is commonly sold under the
name of "rice-bird," even at times of the
year when there are no rice-birds in the
country. Nobody need have any scruples
about killing, and eating if he wants, as
many English sparrows as possible.

If the Department of Agriculture could
only arrange to cross the English sparrow
with some bird of brilliant plumage so that
all sparrows would have beautiful red or
blue wings or tails then there would be
some prospect for their depletion of their
numbers since American women will wear
birds and bird* feathers on their hats.
This would be doing the farmer more ser-
vice than all the gseat work of free seed
distribution which Congress forces the
Secretary of Agriculture to carry out, each
year.

SEED DISTRIBUTION.

Frederick V. Coville, the Botanist of
the Department of Agriculture has a well
thought-out plan in hand whereby the free-
for-all-seed distribution now operated in
the interests of ''close Congressional dis-
tricts" can be gradually transformed into a
system of seed collection and distribution
under which the original intention of the
Department can be carried out, and new
and presumably valuable seeds distributed
to the proper localities throughout the
country and experimented with, tn other
words Mr. Coville thinks it is possible to
substitute a rational seed distribution for
one which is, to say the least, almost use-
less from an agricultural point of view.

"There has been set aside," said Mr.
Coville, "from the Congressional seed dis-
tribution appropriation, a special fund
which the Department of Agriculture now
devoting to a systematic prosecution of
plant introduction work. Within the past
three years new plants have been imported
which are capable to adding enormously to
the agricultural products of the country."
He cited the introduction of Kiushu rice
brought from Japan two years ago by one

of the Department's agricultural explorers
Dr. Knapp, as a means of saving the
Louisana rice-planters a million and a h alf
dollars a year. Mr. Coville also called at-
tention to the introduction of Kafir corn,
Turkey wheat, Turkestan alfalfa and the
date palm, with which the Agricultural
Department had more or less to do.

He said: "About in 1888 Kansas began,
the cultivation of a cereal and forage plant
from Egypt and India known as Kafir
corn. In 1893 the value of the Kansas
crop was $653,000; in 1896, $3,599,000; in
1897, $4,375,000; and in 1898, $5,842,000.
The Turkey wheat now so extensively
grown in the Great Plains is an immigrant
from Russia. The cold-resistant variety
of alfalfa recently introduced from Turk-
estan by the Department of Agriculture
promises to effect an important extension
in the cultivation of this crop into the
higher and more northern plains. The
date palm has not been successfully intro-
duced into southern Arizona and extensive
experiments under the auspices of the
Government are underway."

SUGAR BEET EXPERIMENTS IN
INDIANA.

For the past thirteen years the Indiana
Agricultural Experiment Station has been
conducting experiments on sugar beets in
Indiana. The main purpose of this work
has been to determine whether or not
sugar beets might be profitably grown in
this state, for sugar producing purposes.

This work has been conducted year after
year with much care, and every opportun-
ity has been made use of to ascertain Indi-
ana's adaptability as a state to produce
sugar from the beet. For years the sta-
tion has distributed free seed each spring
to hundreds of farmers over the state, who
agreed to follow the directions given
them, to plant the seed, grow the crop and
send the station samples of the beets in
the fall. Thousands of pounds of beet
seed have thus been distributed, and each

THE IRRIGATION AGE

95

fall a large number of beets have been re-
ceived at the station from different parts
of the state, and their sugar contents de-
termined. No other experiment station in
the United States, excepting Nebraska, so
far as we are informed has attempted to
conduct such long continued experiments
with sugar beets, or grown experimental
crops for so many years in the state, as
has Indiana. Since 1888 inclusive, we
have had experimental plats of beets in
one or more parts -of the state. In 1890
there were eight of these, in 1891 thirty-
eight, in 1892 thirty-nine, in 1893 twenty-
seven, in 1894 forty-seven, in 1896 five, in

1897 one hundred and forty-three. In

1898 the station sent seed to 1,169 persons
over the state, while in 1899 and 1900
large amounts of seed were distributed,
which farmers agreed to grow under the
direction of the station. For years grow-
ers have planted one-eighth acre or more
of beets under our instructions.

As a result of this work a great number
of samples of the beets from nearly 70
counties in the State have been received
at the station and their sugar contents de-
termined. We have now on our records a
large amount of information as a result of
these years of work, which is favorable to
the profitable production of sugar beets in
the northern third of Indiana on certain
soils suited to this crop.

In consequence of all this work, the
station has decided to discontinue further
distribution of beet seeds to our people
and to largely curtail its sugar beet inves-
tigations. The station however, desires
to keep in touch with our sugar beet grow-
ers, and will be pleased to examine free of
charge all samples of beets sent us, under
station instructions, in the fall of 1901.
Farmers desiring to secure free seed for
further trial on their farms, can no doubt
obtain the same by applying to their con-
gressman during the winter of 1900-1901.

Some time early in 1901 a bulletin will
be published by the station giving a record

of the sugar beet work of this institution
during the past thirteen years, and the re-
sults attained. This will be mailed free
to any one desiring a copy of the same.
C. S. PLUMB, Director.

THE CULTURE OF AMERICAN
GINSENG.

The subject of growing Ginseng has re-
cently received so much attention from
the agricultural press of the country and
from circulars and pamphlets sent broad-
cast throughout the country by dealers,
that hundreds of people are being induced
to try its culture.

Many of the articles are written by peo-
ple who have no personal knowledge of the
best way to grow it or of the profits to be
derived thereby, Others are written by
dealers who have seeds and plants to sell,
and in both instances as a rule the infor-
mation is second hand and unreliable.
The most extravagant figures are given
showing enormous yields produced on a
given acreage and Monte Cristo fortunes
to be made out of a paltry investment
while one loafs in the back yard watching
the gold dollars sprouting.

Certain dealers have sent out figures in-
forming the public that $5.00 invested in
their seeds and plants will show a value of
$44,340.00 the fifteenth year.

A million dollar bed in twelve years
from a $1000 investment is advertised on
another page. A value ivhich cannot be
obtained except perhaps in small quantities
is placed on the seeds and young plants
and the ratio of increase and loss is given
very accurately and more extravagantly on
paper. Can any of these versatile writers
plea?e inform us how many turnips can be
grown on a $5.00 investment in twelve
years, the price the roots and seeds will
bring each year and how rich a man will
be at the end of that period? Certainly
not and information pretending to figure
it out would be absolute nonsense.

An article on Ginseng entitled "Valu-
able Farm Land" appeared in the St.

96

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Louis Republic a short time ago and was
extensively copied by other papers in the
South and Southwest. Among other wild
statements the writer said that seeds bring
five cents each (another writer says there
is unlimited demand at twenty-five cents
each) and yearling roots 20 cents each;
that the eighth year an acre should pro-
duce 3,120,00o seeds which sell at five
cents each, giving an annual income to
the fortunate grower of 1100,000.00 from
the seeds alone. He further states: "Say
that a full crop of seed from one acre is
available for planting. That will be 3,120-
000 seeds. Allow for the loss and failure
to generate or 120,000 seeds. This will
leave 2,000,000 seed that are practically
sure to generate and create 2,000,000
roots. In eighteen months these roots
will be ready for market, and can be sold
direct to consumers, the present price be-
ing 20 cents each or a total of $400,000
from the Ginseng crop in eighteen months.
This crop of 2,000,000 roots would require
a space of approximately forty acres. One
acre should produce 52,000 roots, which at '
the market price of 20 cents each, should,
after eighteen months bring a return of
$10,400."

Could anything be more baldly ridicu-
lous. Let us suppose that only 1000 gar-
deners had the above success as to yield.
This would mean over three billion seeds
put on the market each year, which at five
cents each would require $150,000,000 an-
nually to pay for them, not to mention
the value of the roots.

Suppose further that the ratio of in-
crease both in yield of crops and number
of growers continued the same for twenty-
five years there would not be money enough
in the world to buy a single year's crop.
China, the source of demand for Ginseng,
would have used all their wealth in its
purchase long before the twenty-five years
had elapsed: notwithstanding these air
castles there is an enormous profit in
growing the plant, but it depends on the

individual grower as in any other crop.
The right conditions for its culture must
be supplied, either naturally or artificially
and intelligent cultivation given. There
will probably always be a good demand for
the root at high prices, and it is an article
commanding cash at all times.

These conditions for growing are readily
found in nearly all the States of the Union
or can be produced at reasonable cost of
labor and material. They may be stated
in a few words: A rich, deep, well-drained,
and moist soil, containing abundant de-
cayed vegetable matter and not too heavy
or clayey. Humus or vegetable mold, ob-
tained by using decayed forest leaves is
extremely beneficial, as is also thoroughly
rotted compost. Shade sufficient to keep
off the direct rays of the sun is almost
necessasy, particularly in sections where
the heat is exccessive. Add to this care-
ful cultivation and you have the secret, if
there really be any, of growing Ginseng
successfully. Lath covers are perhaps
the best artificial shade and apple trees
have been found good to keep the ground
protected from the sun. At maturity the
roots must be carefully and properly pre-
pared for market, and the extra care taken
to produce a fine article, clean, well graded
and perfeccly dry is more than repaid by
the much higher price such roots will
bring.

The writer who has had many years of
experience growing this root will be glad
to give fuller information as to the best
modes to be used in its cultivation, but
would warn the reader ag&inst the wildly
extravagant articles that appear from time
so time and which will damage rather than
help an industry that really does promise
most unusual returns for the labor and ex-
pense necessary to cultivate it success-
fully.

HARLAN P. KELSEY.

THE IREIGA TION A GE.

97

SHEEP KILLED IN FEUD.
Reports from Sharpsdale say that the
feud over the use of the range, which has
long existed between cattlemen and sheep
men, reached a climax this week when the
cattlemen drove three thousand sheep
over a high precipice. The entire coun-
try has taken up arms.

Germany's trade relations with this
country are closely watched. Every at-
tempt at German regulation of commerce
is heralded as portending evil for Ameri-
can exporters to that country, notably the
case last summer. Some tables just com-
piled by the Treasury Department, how-
ever, show that our exports to Germany in
the ten months ending with October 1900,
were $27,000,000 greater than those in the
corresponding months of last year, an in-
crease of about 20 per cent, and that our
imports from Germany show an increase
of $8,000,000 a gain of over 10 per cent.
Of the forty great articles which compose
the bulk of our exports to Germany more
than two-thirds show an increase in 1900
as compared with 1899.

Exports to Germany of agricultural im-
plements increased from $1,600,000 to
$2,800,000; flour from $1,700,000 to

$2,400,000; cotton from $30,000,000 to
$58,000,000; fruits and nuts from $450,000
to $1,400,000; cotton seed oil from $810,-
000 to $1,000,000; salt beef from $210,000
to $360,000; also oil from $1,600,000 to
$2,000,000; tobacco from $1,700,000 to
$2,800,000.

The principal agricultural articles whose
exportation to Germany have decreased
are corn, from $14,400,000 to $13,000,3005
wheat from $6,000,000 to $3,400,000 and
ham and bacon from $2,300,000, to $1,-
400,000.

In spite of the report at every hand of
the farm population turning city wards, the
Census says that the farmers in the
United States have increased 1,400,000
during the last 10 years. It would be a,
good thing if we could believe that men
are going back to the land and away from
the congested centers.

Humus is a term applied to the organic
partially decayed matter in the soil. Leaf"
mold, wood dirt or a green crop plowed
under form humus. Humus is the prin-
cipal source of nitrogen in earth. Its ac-
tion is beneficial not only in enriching but
mechanically improving both heavy and
light soils.

WITH OUR EXCHANGES.

THE FORUM.

From the thirteen articles that make up
the December issue of The Forum, one
may, without invidiousness, choose that by
Mr. Henry L. West as likely to attract
most attention. Mr. West reviews "The
Programme for Congress" and his forecast
is luminous and convincing. The Secretray
of the Republican National Committee,
Hon. Perry S. Heath, enumerates the
"Lessons of the Campaign" in a pardonably
exultant tone, and Mr. John Ball Osborne
recounts "The Work of the Reciprocity
Commission," which should prove inter-
esting reading for the tariff-tinkers. In
distant relation to the latter stands an
article by Mr. John P. Young, the manag-
ing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle,
entitled "The Economic Basis of
Protection." In answer to Mr. Eugene T.
Chamberlain, the United States Commis-
sioner of Navigation, is an article entitled,
"The Development of British Shipping,"
by Mr. Benjamin Taylor, an acknowledged
authority on British navigation figures.
Mr. J. I. Rodriguez, who was the unofficial
adviser in Spanish law to the American
Peace Commissioners at Paris, asks: "Can
there ever be a Cuban Republic?" in an
essay which may possibly foreshadow the
course of the Administration in regard to
Cuba. The "Progress in Penology" is
reviewed at length by ex-Congressman
S. J. Barrows, who is now the Correspond-
ing Secretary of the New York Prison
Association, and the "burning" question
of "American Coal for Englaud" is con-
sidered by Mr. George C. Locket, who is
heavily engaged in England in that impor-
tant branch of industry. Some of the
remaining titles are "America in the

Pacific," by Hon. John Barrett, late U. S.
Minister to Siam; "The Chinese System of
Banking," by Hon. Charles Denby;
"Vacation Schools," by Dr. Helen C. Put-
nam; " The Education of a Millionaire,"
by Hon. Truxtun Beale; and "The Higher
Education of Women in France," by
Anna Tolman Smith.

MO CLURE'S.

In McClures Magazine for December
appears the first instalment of "Kim,'' the
latest and most important novel from Kip-
ling's pen. From the beginning it reveals
itself as a masterpiece, worthy alike of its
theme and of its author. Anthony Hope
begins a series that will be welcomed by
every wise reader. The ' 'Dolly Dialogues '
won for this brilliant writer his first pres-
tige. The "Dolly" of those beguiling con-
versations was an artist's creation, a per-
sonality absolutely new in literature yet
true living. That daintiest and most de-
licious of modern matrons was beloved by
all for her piquant graces, her adorable
minglings of naive and worldly wisdom.
Now the author permits us new glimpses
of this delictable lady, and in "More
Dolly Dialogues," her witcheries re-assert
their gentle way. An article of permanent
value in this issue is the first of two in
which are repeated "The Last Days of the
Confederate Government." This was
written by the late Stephen R. Mallory,
Secretary of the Navy in the Confederate
Government. He shared in the experi-
ences of the administration during the
closing days of the war and his personal
nairative of those thrilling times is here
given. There are, too some notable short
stories in this issue, and the illustrations
throughout are of exceptional merit.

THE IRRIGA210N AGE.

90

SCRIBNER'S.

Baffles, the hero of E. W. Hornung's
-stories of the "Amateur Cracksman," will
appear in the January number of &crib-
ner's with a most remarkable adventure in
crime. It has been suggested that Sher-
lock Holmes is the only man who could
catch Raffles. Conan Doyle, the creator
of Sherlock Holmes, is brother-in-law to
Mr. Hornung. Other articles are: "Rodin"
will be the subject of a critical article by
W. C. Brownell. Henry Norman "Rus-
sia of Today." "Scappa" is a society
which has done good work in England by
•devoting itself to the prevention of dis-
figuring, advertisements, particularly in
landscapes. The work is spreading to
this county, and it will be fully described
in the January Scribner's by Arthur Reed
Kimball. Thomas F. Millard will con-
tribute a critical comparison of the merits
and defects of the various armies in the
field in China.

THE DELINEATOR.

In the December Delineator are two
Christmas stories by well known authors.
-One a negro story by Paul Laurence Dun-
bar, the colored protege of William Dean
Howels, entitled "One Christmas at
Shiloh." It tells of the home-coming of a
reformed negro, and is very touching. The
other by Beulah Marie Dix, who has dated
her story in Colonial times and entitles it
"In the Reign of Peggy." Kemble illus-
trates Dunbar's story with some of his fa-
mous negro faces, and F. M. Arnold illus-
trates the Colonial story. This famous old
magazine, which for 27 years has occupied
a unique position in the American literary
world makes a great' departure with the
January number, just out, by printing a
prospectus of what will appear in the
twelve issues for 1901. With the Delin-
eator in the house half a million women

know that they have the very latest news
at hand, set forth in such a way that by
her own needle each woman can keep up
to date positively and inexpensively. The
science of housekeeping, the care of chil-
dren in sickness and in health, the art of
living and of living well, a life progressive
in a home beautiful— all of these things
the Delineator is acknowledged to be the
best exponent in the world.

LADIES' HOME JOURNAL.
The Christmas Ladies' Home Journal
offers a superabundance of literary and
artistic features in attractive form. Among
its nearly twoscore contributors are Mrs.
Lew Wallace, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps,
Charles Major, William Perine, Clifford
Howard and Elizabeth Lincoln Gould,
while A. B. Frost, W. L. Taylor, Reginald
B. Birch, Henry Hunt, George Gibbs and
as many other illustrators supply its pic-
torial features. Apart from the articles
having special holiday timeliness of inter-
est, the notable features of the Christmas
Journal include The Innkeeper's Daughter,
Who Dissolved a President's Cabinet,
What May Happen in the Next Hundred
Years, Jerusalem as We See it Today,
Two Women's Gifts of Twenty-five Mil-
lions, The "Little Men" Play, a dramati-
zation of Louisa M. Alcott's delightful
story; Where Children See Saint Nick,
The Fourteenth Man, Two Christmas
Days at Rock Farm, and The Successors
of Mary the First, The Story of a Young
Man, and The Blue River Bear Stories,
which are continued. Edward Bok has a
thoughtful article on Christmas celebra-
tion, and there are various articles on
women's wear, Christmas presents arid edi-
bles, while various other practical, helpful
themes are ably presented. By the Curtis
Publishing Company, Philadelphia. One
dollar the year; ten cents a copy.

WILL IT PASS?

REPRESENTATIVE SHAPROTH INTRODUCED
THE FOLLOWING BILL; WHICH WAS RE-
FERRED TO THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC
LANDS, AND ORDERED TO BE PRINTED.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, that the
Geological Survey is hereby directed to
make accurate surveys of at least four prac-
tical reservoir sites and of the irrigating
ditches leading to the reser v o i r s and to
the public lands irrigated therefrom,
in each of the arid-land States of the Unit-
ed States, and estimate the coat of the con-
struction and completion of the same as
well as the quantity of water which can be
stored in each.

SEC. 2. That the Director of the Geo-
logical Survey shall make a report to the
Secretary of the Interior as to each reser-
voir and irrigating ditch, showing the sur-
vey, cost of construction, quantity of pub-
lic land in such State which can be irrigat-
ed from such reservoir, and the location of
the said lands, as well as all other facts
relative to the practicability of the enter-
prise.

SEC. 3. That upon the filing of such re-
port the Secretary of the Interior may, in
his discretion, withdraw from the public
entry the lands embraced within the reser-
voir sites at high water mark, and a strip
of ground fifty feet in width bordering on
the same, and the land within fifty feet on
each side of the center line of the irrigat-
ing ditches to be constructed in connec-
tion therewith, together with the public
lands which it is proposed to irrigate from
such reservoirs.

SEC. 4. That upon the determination
by the Secretary of the Interior that the
reservoir and irrigation project is practi-
cal, he shall cause to be let upon proper
public notice contracts for the construc-
tion of the same: Provided, however, That
contracts for the construction and comple-
tion of reservoirs and the irrigating ditcher
connected therewith in any one State shall
not exceed the sum of one million dollars.

SEC. 5. That the foil owing named
States shall be considered as arid-land
States within the meaning of this Act, to-
wit: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho
Nevada, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Color-
ado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and.
North Dakota.

SEC. 6. That the sum of thirteen mil-
lion dollars, or so much thereof as may be
necessary, be, and the same is hereby, ap-
propriated* out of any money in the Treas-
ury not otherwise appropriated, for the
purpose of carrying into effect the provis-
ions thereof.

SEC. 7, That upon the completion of
each irrigation project the lands to be ir-
rigated thereby shall be subject to home-
stead entry after notice by the Secretary
of the Interior upon the condition that, in-
addition to the requirements of the home-
stead Act, the entryman, on the making
of a final proof of settlement, shall pay
to the Government the sum of two dollars
and fifty cents per acre and each entryman
shall be limited to the entry and settle-
ment of eighty acres.

SEC. 8. That when the major part of
the land intended to be irrigated from
each reservoir has been duly located upon
as aforesaid, the management of the reset-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

101

voir and irrigating ditches connected with
the irrigation project shall be turned over
to the said homesteaders, who shall man-
age and maintain the same either as a body
or through a corporation formed by them.
SEC. 9. That nothing in this Act shall
be construed as interfering with the laws
of said States concerning irrigation.
. SEC. 10. The Secretary of the Inter-
ior is hereby authorized to make such rules
and regulations for the purpose of enforc-
ing the provisions thereof as may be just
and proper.

WHATCHANCE HAS A MAN AT
FIFTY?

The critical age in the life of a man well
preserved is certainly 50. At that age
tnan really reaches his maturity. His
mind, having spent half a century acquir-
ing knowledge of the world, ought to be in
condition to do its best work. His body
should be vigorous as ever and more than
ever free from illness or other troubles that
go with youth.

At 50 man is either hopelessly gone to
the bad or he has recovered from his foolish-
•ness, got over experimenting with folly on
his own hook, as we all do, and has begun to
live the serious life that was mapped out
'for him in the earth's planning.

A few freaks in history have achieved
their great success long be fore 50 and are
old at that age. But of the world's great
•men a mijority have begun to be something
only 50 years after birth.

Modern life has two ways of looking at
•the man of 50. The successful man is the
'* wonderfully successful man, and so young,
too" Mr. Bryan, nearing 50, is called a
"boy orator." Mr. Chamberlain, past 60,
is a considerable English statesman, "con-
-sidering how young he is."

The man not successful is seen at 50 in
a sadly different light.

When he wants to work, there is noth-
ing against him except that a "young man
-is wanted." If he seeks work as a mechanic,

or on a railroad, he is afraid to take off his
hat, lest the thin hair, turning gray, be
noticed.

Hair dye, almost unknown now in bar-
ber shops frequented by prosperous men,
is sold extensively in cheap little shops —
men of 50 dye their hair to get work.

There is no reason why any man who has
lived sensibly up to 50 should not be at
his best when 50 comes. There is no rea-
son why a man should not at 50 take a
new start, if he has the mental energy and
hopefulness to do it.

The trouble with the average man past
50 is this:

C He thinks he is old. He allows himself
to sink down and begins looking backward.
The elasticity dies out of him, and elasti-
city means success in a man as it does in
a sword blade.

Human beings are largely made byauto-
hppnotism, or unmade by the lack of it.
We hypnotize ourselves. We believe that
we can do a thing, and then we do it.

Ask a young woman to break down a cer-
tain door, and without hesitation she says
that she can not do it. She thinks she can
not and therefore she can not. But let the
house be burning and her child on the
other side of that door. A different story
may be told. She thinks she can burst
open the door. She feels that she must
and will. And hypnotized by her own will
power, she performs marvels almost incred-
ible.

So it is with men and women at all stages.
While the determination and will power
are there, they are young and capable of
successful accomplishment, no matter what
their age.

Success keeps us confident, and the suc-
cessful man at 50 works well — better than
ever. Lack of success weakens confidence
in one's self, and that weakened self-con-
fidence accounts for the sad and unneces-
sary failures of many middle-aged men.

A man of middle age — if he has not
wasted his force in dissipation — is as good

102

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

as any younger man, and usually better.
But he mnst believe that he is good, he
must feel confidence in himself.

One good thing for a man of middle age
to do is to read the lives of successful men.
Read of Admiral Blake, whof saved Eng-
land's naval reputation, yet never went to
sea in command until past middle age.
Read of almost any of the world's great
successes. You will find that success
comes late. Of course it must come late
in the natural order of things. The man
who succeeds must surpass others. No
matter how able he may be he must first
learn what others know, and that takes
time. It usually takes about fifty years.
After spending about one-half of his in-
tellectual life getting even with other -men
of ability, acquiring his supply of knowl-
edge the successful man goes ahead and
beats his fellows in the race.

The great thing is not to be discouraged
— discouragement means failure inevita-
ble.

Another very important thing is to re-
member that middle age is really youth,
or should be, therefore, let the man of 50
not be ashamed or hesitate to do at 50
the work that he w'ould do at 30 or 20.

Let the middle aged man simply say to
himself: ''I am not old, and I'll prove it.
I'll take the work that comes. I'll succeed
in it better than the very young man be-
cause of my steadiness, and although I am
beginning now where I should have begun
ten years or more back, I'll not let that
fact discourage or handicap me. I'll suc-
ceed now and think of other things later
on."

COLONIZING CRUSOE'S ISLAND.

Robinson Crusoe's island, Juan Fernan-
dez, is about to be turned into a colony.

Robinson Crusoe, or rather a prototype
of Robinson Crucsoe, existed under the
name of Alaxander Selkirk. That Defoe
knew Selkirk's story there can be no doubt,
for he closely kept to the facts of Selkirk's

existence on the island of Juan Fernandez.

Even the story of Crusoe's man Friday
has a foundation of truth, for Selkirk res-
cued a stray Indian from death.

Barren as the place seemed to Selkirk, it
contains many flourishing spots. The fruit
trees which he planted have reproduced
themselves, and peaches, quinces, pears
and grapes, are in abundance. A man who
had a stock farm on the island for some
reason abandoned the undertaking several
years ago and turned his live srock loose.
Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs are now found,
in a wild state, so that the colonists are
likely to have some good sport.

The island, which is in the Pacific ocean,
has been occupied by a few German and
Chilian families, numbering about fifteen,
persons in all. It is now proposed by the
Chilian government to turn the island into
a colony, and about 150 hardy Chilians will
form the nucleus of the settlement, which
it is proposed to christen "Crusoe's Island."
The cottage which Selkirk built snd which
Defoe describes, still exists as a broken-
down shanty.

WEIGHING THE BABY.

The story is of a young and devoted
father. The baby was his first, and he
wanted to weigh it.

"It's a bumper!" he exclaimed. "Where
are the scales?"

The domestic hunted up an old-fashioned
pair, the proud father assuming charge of
the operation.

"I'll try it at eight pounds/' he said
sliding the weight along the beam at that
figure.

"It wont do. She weighs ever so much.
more than that."

He slid the weight along several notches-
further.

"By George!" he said. "She weighs
more than ten pounds-11-12-13-14! Is it
possible?"

He sat the baby and the scales down,
and rested himself a moment.

IRE IRRIGATION AGE.

103

"Biggeit baby I ever saw," he panted,
resuming the weighing process. Fifteen
and a half-16! This thing won't weigh
her. See, 16 is the last notch, and she
jerks it up like a feather! Go and get a
pair of scales at some neighbor's. I'll bet
a tenner that she weighs over 20 pounds,
Millie!'' he shouted, rushing into the next
room; "she's the biggest baby in this coun-
try - weighs over 16 pounds!"

"What did you weigh her on?" inquired
the young mother.

"On the old scales in the kitchen."

"The figures on those are only ounces,"
she replied, quietly. "Bring me the baby,
John." — Pearsons Weekly.

GOV. MOUNT'S ADVICE.

Governor Mount, of Indiana, has writ-
ten some suggestions to boys which are
wise and well put. We quote the "five
fundamental principles" which, he declares,
are essential to success, and lie at the foun-
dation of good citizenship;

Discipline. Obedience to constituted
authority, self-control, discipline of th»
will, of the tastes, the passions, the aspira-
tions, the habits. "He that ruleth hia
spirit is greater than he that taketh a city

Love of home and country. I never
knew a boy who loved his home, his par-
ents, his brothers and sisters, and to whom
it was a joy and pleasure to respect and
obey his parents, who ever brought grief to
his home or dishonor to his family.

Through the tempting and dangerous en-
vironments of war, and the multiplied con-
ditions since, I have found it a pleasure
steadfastly to keep the boyhood promise I
made my mother never to use tobacco or
intoxicants. From a life of experience I
can earnestly commend the wisdom of
making and keeping such promises. The
love of country is interwoven with the love
of home.

Habits of industry. I would prefer that
my child be reared in the most unpreten-
tious cottage and trained to habits of indus-

try and economy than to be brought up in
a stately mansion, surrounded by the ener-
vating influences of wealth, ease and idle-
ness. "An idle mind is the devil's
workshop."

Principles of temperence. If greater
energy were expended in teaching the
principles of temperence to the youth in
the schools and in the home there would be
less demand for temperence laws and fewer
victims to the drink habit. The increased
consumption of tobacco and the widespread
indulgence and the evil effects of cigarette
smoking are assuming alarming
proportions.

A purpose in life. I would impress
upon the mind of every youth the motto
of Longfellow "I am determined to be
intensely something;" or that of Em-
erson: "Hitch your wagon to a star.'
Intensity of purpose, a resolute deter-
mination, with indomitable will-power
oupled with the foregoing principles, are
he essential factors which will win in the
battle of life.

MIKE'S SONG.

I'm Michael McCarty,
So hale and so hearty —

I work ivery day in the year;
The horses all know me,
The cattle all show me

They know they have nothing to fear.
Stan' up for the brutes,
An' the birds if it suits,

An' the chickens. an' turkeys alone,
For God made 'em all,
An' they came at his call,

An' He gave them to man for his own.
We shouldn't abuse 'em,
Nor cruelly use 'em;

Begorra! I know I am right,

An' before ye shall do it,
I'll have ye to know it,

'Tis Michael McCarty y'll fight.

{From '.'The Strike at

104

THE IRRIGA T ION A GE.

THE WAY WARS BEGIN.

Tommy was reading the war news.
When he finished reading he came over to
his mother and said :
"Mamma how do wars begin?"

Well, suppose the English hauled down
the American flag, and that the
Americans — "

Here Tommy's father intervened.
"My dear," he said, "the English would
not — "

Mother- "Excuse me, they would-"

"Now, dear, who ever heard of snch a
thing?"

"Pray do not interrupt."

"But you are giving Tommy a wrong
idea!"

"I'm not sir!"

"You are, madam!"

"Don't call me madam! I wont
allow you!"

"I'll call you what I choose!"

"I'm sorry I ever saw you; you are so —

Tommy (going out)— "It's all right;
I think I know how wars begin."
—Tit-Bits.

WHAT I LIVE "FOR.

I live for those who love me,

Whose hearts are kind and true,
For the heaven that smiles above me,

And awaits my spirit, too;
For the human ties that bind me,
For the task that God assigned me,
For the bright hopes left behind me,

And the good that I can do.
I live to learn their story

Who've suffered for my sake,
To emulate their glory,

And to follow in their wake;
Bards, patriots, martyrs, sages,
The noble of all ages,
Whose deeds crowd history's pages,

And time's great volume make-.
I live to hold communion

With all that is divine,
To feel there is a union

'Twixt Nature's heart and mine;
To profit by affliction,
Reap truths from fields of fiction,
Grow wiser from conviction,

And fulfill each grand design.
I live to hail that season,

By gifted minds foretold,
When men shall rule by reason,

And not alone by gold;
When man to man united,
And every wrong thing righted,
The whole world shall be lighted

As Eden was of old.
I live for those who love me,

For those who know me true,
For the heaven that smiles above me:

And awaits my spirit, too;
For the cause that lacks assistance,
For the wrong that needs resistance,
For the future in the distance,

And the good that I can do.

— Gtorge Linnaeus Banks.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

VOL. XV .

CHICAGO, JANUARY, 1901.

NO. 4

Philip D. Armour, the Chi-

ca^° Packer> died Jan- 6- He
made a success of his life from
beginning to end. He never allowed his
accumulating wealth to lead him out of
his accustomed life of liberality and
honesty. From a farm-boy he started for
•California where he first made a begin-
ning, and ended in Chicago, from where
lie fed the world. The Armour Institute
you might say was an inspirateon, for it
was after listening to a discourse by
Dr. Gunsaulus where he told what he
thought should be done for the boys and
girls of the present generation, that Mr.
Armour ask the doctor if he believed in
the views he had just expressed.

"I certainly do" responded Dr. Gun-
saulis.

"And would you carry them out if you
had the means?"

"Most assuredly" came the reply.

"Well, then," said Armour "give me
five years of your time and I will give you
the money."

The institute was built, and will be a
monument to as good a man as ever lived.

The war in South Africa, that
the Englsh have tried to
pursuade the universe is but a
skirmish with a few insane bushwhackers
and amounted to merely nothing, has
assumed new proportions. Several en-
gagements lately have reached the
dignity of actual battles, and under the

South
Africa.

leadership of Gens. Dewet and Delarey
the Boers have shown a bravery that
surpassed anything of the kind in the
early part of the war. Not long ago the
band of Delarey swooped down upon Gen.
Clements men, and after a sharp engage-
ment made prisoners of 550 of the North-
umberland and fusileers, and killed and
wounded many others. This was in the
Western Transvaal. Down near the
Orange river Gen. Dewet has been con-
ducting some, extraordinary military
operations, and all England is in despair
over the showing of the Boer strength.
That the Boers must ultimately succumb
to the superior number is inevitable, but
those who are supplying the money and
men are about discouraged. Meanwhile
Mr. Kruger has dined with Queen Wil-
hemina been entertained by the French,
and is receiving invitations from all over
the world by the common people to come
in person, to agitate intervention, and
though the rulers may stand by England,
the sympathy of the masses is with the
Boers.

Last spring a young couple of
Fora^Baby Kenosha, Wis., eloped and

were married at Milwaukee.
In the fall the young wife was stricken
with a fatal malady and recently died
leaving a young babe. Last week the
father called at the residence of his wife's
mother and demanded the child that had
been left by its mother to be cared for by

106

THE IRRIGA TION A GE.

its grandmother. The grandmother re-
fused to give it up. The father persisted.
When the grandmother ran to the tele-
phone, which was in another part of the
house, the father ran into an adjoining
room where the nurse was washing the
baby and took it from her arms before she
realized what he was doing: with the half
dressed child in his arms he rushed out of
the house, followed closely by its grand-
mother, who ran back at the nurse's
screams.

The grandmother overtook the father
in the middle of the lawn and seized him
by the throat. He struck at her desper-
ately, but was handicapped by having the
baby in his arms. And there, in the
most aristocratic part of Kenosha, facing
the Simmons' Library, in Central Park,
the grandmother and the father did
battle.

In the midst of the struggle, which
attracted a crowd of neighbors and passers
by, the nurse succeeded in wrestling the
baby from the father, who was being
choked on the ground by the maddened
grandmother.

The doctors were immediately called
who pronounced the child in a precarious
condition from the exposure.

The Secretary of the Interior
in his late report takes the
position that private enter-
prise in irrigation has used up all the
opportunities in its reach, and have
thereby demonstrated its value, so that
the nation, in taking hold of irrigation on
a lareer scale can do so with practical
assurance that it will be a success. He
does not make specific recommedations,
contenting himself with the feasibility
and leaves the rest to congress.

A subject for general con-

oMhe1 Press. gratulation to the West is the
broad national manner in
which the Eastern press has treated the
problem, since the Chicago Irrigation
Congress brought the subject prominently
before the country. With hardly an
exception the great dailies from Omaha to

Its all
Right.

Cape Cod have cordially commended tfie
national irrigation movement from every
standpoint, and have pointed out the
great good which would accrue to the
nation through its practical applicationr
at the same time showing that the
Federal Government is the logical and
only agent which can most successfully
put into operation a plan of general
reclamation .

Tf this is the sentiment
Western throuhout the East — a feeling
Pushing. of -willing and friendly co-

operation— the West should certainly
arise stimulated to lend every energy and
pat forth every possible effort to push it&
case before Congress.

Lack of organization and failure to
co-operate are main causes which have
retarded the development of the West and
kept Congress from taking up the ques-
tion of the reclamation of the arid lands,
Were they organized there are enough
non-resident property owners of the West
to carry through Congress any legitimate
measure for public improvement.

Opportunity Tne failure of Western com-
for organized mercial interests to recognize
the opportunity of pushing
the national irrigation movement as a
national issue, and act unitedly in urging'
the matter upon Congressmen, is respon-
sible for the apparent lack of interest in
the cause shown by some localities, and
this has prevented the Western members-
of Congress from pushing the fight as
they would have done had they been,
loyally and vigorously supported at home.

The indications are, however,
that the country is approach-
ing the time when, if the
people of the West will use plain, ordi-
nary business sense, and stand solidly
together behind their representatives in.
Congress, eliminating any sectional con-
troversies, the appropriations bill mayr
without opposition, contain each year
good sized sums for the systematic recla-
mation of the irrigable area of the West-

DESERT RECLAIMED BY IRRIGA-
TION.

Prof. F. H. Newell, of the United States Geological Survey,
writes in the Boston Herald that the tree is the mother of the fountain.
"Save the forests. Store the flood waters. Reclaim the deserts.
Annex arid America."

That is the slogan of the National Irrigation Association. The
marvelous growth of the movement fostered by this organization,
which held its ninth annual congress at Chicago a few weeks ago, is
attracting the attention of the public in the East, as well as in the
central and far West. The magnitude of the problem the organiza-
tion has bravely set out to solve and the influence and energy it is
bringing to bear are well worth considerate attention.

Millions of acres of barren land that might be made arable; miles
of territory now uninhabited that should support many thousands of
prosperous families. That is the proposition now being wrought out.

To persons who are not familiar with the matter many questions
naturally arise. The first and most comprehensive is: What is the
National Irrigation Association, and what does it seek to accomplish?
Briefly, this organization, composed of men identified with the manu-
facturing, transportation, and commercial interests of the country, as
well as those in professional occupations, is seeking to provide the
largest possible number of homes upon the public domain.

This can come about only through a wise administration of the
resources in water and forests, since upon these depend directly the
value of the vacant public lands. But why should not these matters
be left to the Washington authorities to settle? Simply because the
congress at Washington has not given serious attention to the matter,
and the conditions are becoming so ominous for the future that the
business interests of the country, as well as the philarthropists, have
begun to take alarm.

The great public domain, one- third of the whole United States, is
being administered not to make the largest number of homes, but
rather the reverse. Under wise laws and institutions, framed with a
knowledge of the facts, ten families can obtain a good living where
now one is scantily fed.

But why should not this be left to private enterprise? It has
thus been left, and individuals have siezed upon all they could grasp,
and in many instances have ruined the opportunities for making homes
for tens or hundreds of other individuals. The treatment of the arid

103 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

public land has been comparable to that of a poorly tended orchard,
where each apple has been bitten by a bird or insect — the amount act-
ually consumed is relatively insignificant, but the fruit is spoiled.
One man by securing title to a few acres controlling the water supply,
nas virtually become possessor of thousands of additional acres which
might otherwise have been used for farms. The opportunities for
doing this on a small scale Lave largely been seized, but by combina-
tions of capital they may be indefinitely extended.

Why not leave the development to corporate enterprise, as in the
case of railroads? This also has been tried, and large irrigation sys-
tems have been built. In nearly all instances these have been finan-
cial failures, although of great benefit to the country. It is highly
improbable that more capital can be brought to construct those costly
works unless the most stringent and oppressive monoply can be cre-
ated. If well administered the benefits are such that they cannot ac-
crue solely to a water company, but the public gains at the expense of
the investor. The latter becomes an involuntary philanthropist, sim-
ply because he cannot control all the returns which come from his in-
vestment.

In other words, these works, when successfully built, benefit the
community, but not the owner The situation is comparable in some
respects to that in building lighthouses, improving harbors or public
roads— the corporation or the individual who expends the money can-
not be sure of securing remuneration for his enterprise.

Why not turn over, to the states in which they are situated all
these lands, and let each state attend to the matter? This has been
frequently advocated and tried in a small way, but the state in which
these lands are situated are for the most part poor, and the lands them-
selves mus,, be used as a basis of security for money obtained; in other
words, the lands must be sold or rented to secure funds, and this in
the past has invariably resulted in putting the lands into the hands of
speculators — the very thing to be avoided.

The national government is the owner of these millions of acres
of fertile but arid land, and, as the owner, has duties as well as privi-
leges. But the question may be asked: Why should the East be
taxed to assist in developing the West? The answer lies in the fact
that the prosperity of one part of the country is closely linked with
that of another.

But the farmers of Illinois and Indiana say: We do not want more
agricultural land and more products brought into the market, as will
result from the creation of more small farms in the West.

This is a mistake founded upon ignorance. The products of the
arid and semi- arid region cannot compete with those of the humid.
Different crops seeking a different market are produced. The products

rIHE IRRIGA TION A GE. 109

which come East are almost wholly semi-tropical or the more expen-
sive dried fruits. The ordinary farm crops of Illinois are protected
by the heavy railroad tariff from the competion of the far West.

Now, what is the reclaimed country like, and what is to be done?

Briefly stated, there are, in round numbers, nine hundred and fifty
thousand square miles, or six million acres of vacant public lands. Of
these three hundred and seventy -four million acres are suitable for
grazing, ninety- six million acres are covered with woodland in which
there is also grazing, and from which fuel, fence-posts, etc., can be
had; there are seventy million acres of forests of commercial value,
and about an equal area of absolutely desert land, having no present
value.

There is water sufficient for the irrigation of from seventy-five
million to one hundred million acres, depending upon the methods of
conservation employed. The average size of an irrigated farm is
about forty acres to a family of five persons, not including in this the
grazing or range land.

Probably ten million people could find homes on farms and be
self-supporting if the water supply were properly regulated.

This would mean an enormous development of the mineral and
other resources, which, with the prevailing scanty population, will
thus be vastly augmented by the mining and other industrial occupa-
tions, as well as by the merchants and related trades. The experi-
ence of the old world has shown that there is almost no limit to the
density of population within the arid region, where, with ample water
and continuous sunshine, the soil produces the most wonderful suc-
cession of crops.

At present the vacant public laud can be considered under two
heads; that which is truly arid and that which is semi- arid or sub-
humid. In the case of the first, it is impossible to make a home with
out providing a water supply. In the case of the second, however,
there are years when large crops can be produced. Settlers have
rushed in during these times of unusual moisture, have attempted to
make homes, and when, year after year, the crops have been lost
through the prevailing drought, the farmers have become impov-
erished and have finally abandoned their homes, as has been the case
in western Kansas and western Nebraska.

The soil of these drought-stricken regions is notably fertile when
watered, and the luxuriant vegetation which followed an occasional
rain lured on the pioneer to his ruin. Farming there is a gambling
operation, in which the occasional high winnings cause thousands to
lose their judgment and risk their efforts in a hopeless undertaking.

The semi-arid regions include the great belt of country extending
from western North Dakota, through the wastarn pDrtioas of

1 10 THE 1RBIGA 110N

Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and the eastern part of
Colorado. Here may be found thousands of ruins, indicating the at-
tempts made to secure a foothold without first providing a water sup-
ply. It is truly the land of famine, for, like all the great famine regions
of the world, its soil is extraordinarily rich and everything is conduc-
ive to prosperity except the one factor of rainfall.

While the government has not taken up seriously this matter of
the reclamation of the arid and semi-arid lands, congress has author-
ized various investigations by the Department of the Interior, in whose
charge are the public lands, and by the Department of Agriculture ,
In 1888 the geological survey was authorized to investigate the extent
to which the arid lands could be redeemed by irrigation, and since
that time it has been systematically measuring the streams, survey-
ing reservoir sites, and obtaining facts and figures on which to base
an estimate of the cost of reclamation.

Not only are the surface streams being measured, but investiga-
tions are being made of the underground waters and their movements.
Maps showing the depth of water-bearing beds beneath the surface
are being prepared, showing by lines or colors the depth to which a
well must be sunk in order to reach the pervious rocks. In localities
where artesian wells occur these maps also show the height to which
water will rise above the surface. Many of the desert valleys of the
West are thus being watered by the apparently unlimited supply ly-
ing far beneath the dusty surface.

Among the most notable of the recent works of the geological
survey are the examination of St. Mary's River In Montana, and of
Gila River in Arizona. St. Mary's River, receiving water from the
snow clad Rocky Mountains flows along the eastern base of these into
Canada and carries away to the north the waters needed on the dusty
plains still further to the east. Milk River, a tributary of the Mis-
souri, rises against the side of St, Mary's River, and is cut off by the
well-watered mountain area. It is thus a mere brook or rivulet, ex-
cept in times of storm.

The division of hydrography of the geological survey has demon-
strated that the water from St. Mary's River can be conducted around
into the head waters of Milk River and kept on the south side of the
Canadian boundary, flowing eastward to the parched, fertile lands of
the Milk River valley.

The surveys have not yet been brought to completion, but it is
probable that several hundred thousand acres can be irrigated at a
cost not prohibitory, providing homes for thousands of families.

In the extreme south it has been shown that reservoirs can be-
foul It on the Gila River, storing up the flood water for the public lands
and for the supply of the Indian tribes residing along this stream.

THE IR RIGA TION AGE. Ill

These Indians have from time immemorial supported themselves by
agriculture through the use of these waters; but in recent years the
activity of the white settlers has resulted in depriving them of the
water and they are reduced to penury. Thousands of dollars are be-
ing expended to educate these Indians, but at the same time, they are
forced to live in idleness and are not allowed to continue the agricul
ture of their forefathers.

IRRIGATION IN RHYME.

How dear to my heart is the prospect of riches,
When dizzy old age comes along by and by,

A farm in the west with a number of ditches,
And life would be one constant Fourth of
July.

How sweet is the sound of swift flowing waters,
That course near the fields of alfalfa and oats,

A sod house to shelter my sons and my daugh-
ters,
A monster frame barn for the horses and colts.

Thus blessed in old age life would be worth

living;

No failure of crops from the desolate drouth,
Each day would indeed be a day of thanksgiv-
ing;
A prayer in my heart and a song in my mouth.

The best thing I know of for saving the nation,

Is found in the creed of the people now here,
Whose motto is "ditching," whose pass "irriga-
tion,"
Who stand up for water as some do for beor.

No more hot winds will sweep over the prairies.

To wilt the potatoes and wither the rye,
When the people dig ditches from Dundy to

Cherry,

And keep them bank full in the sweet bye
and bye.

There'll be ample cause then for constant re-
joicing,

When money is plenty and crops never fail,
For all will be happy and nobody voicing,
The gruesome refrain of calamity's wail.

— National Advocate.

CONDITIONS FAVORABLE AND

UNFAVORABLE TO

IRRIGATION.

BY J. ULRICH.

Irrigation, in the Rocky Mountain States, is almost wholly a-
matter of gravity. The stream is tapped at a point where its channel
is higher than the field to be watered. Thence the water is carried
down hill in the ditch to the highest point to be covered. In spread-
ing it over the field the laterals run on the ridges, and the shovel of
the irrigator manipulates its distribution along or across the slopes
below. When it has thus been brought to a level with the most
elevated points upon the tract to be irrigated, it can be made to flow
out over the laud by the force of gravity alone, without any assistance
from the irrigator beyond such manipulation as may be required to
effect its uniform distribution over the minor irregularities of surface,
which are eliminated as far as possible by careful leveling and
preparation of the ground before irrigation is attempted.

Sometimes the water supply lies at a lower level than the land to
be irrigated, and has to be raised. This occurs where the water
supply comes from wells or other subterranean sources. In such
cases it is raised to the required elevation by pumping, or by any
other method which is found most convenient and economical.
Pumping water for irrigation, because of the large volume required,
is attended with great expense and can not usually be employed with
profit except for the reclamation of land devoted to the cultivation of
crops which represent great value per unit of area devoted to their
production. In the cultivation of oranges, lemons, and other fruits
which yield a product whose value is several hundred dollars per
acre, and where the amount of water required is relatively small,
pumping may be resorted to with profit; but in the growing of cereals
and the ordinary farm products of the temperate regions, the cost of
the pumping plant and its operation is often prohibitory.

In most cases, however (in all where irrigation is conducted upon
an extensive scale), the water supply is obtained from running
streams, which in the arid region generally have very high gradients,
thus rendering their diversion upon the adjoining lands compara-
tively easy. Where the land to be irrigated lies along the immediate
border of the stream and is but little elevated above the latter a dam.

THE IREIGA T10N AGE. 113

may be constructed which will serve to elevate the water to the
required level. This is a practice very frequently adopted in irri-
gating low bottoms, but is applicable only where the land is but
slightly elevated above the stream; as where its elevation is very
considerable the height of dam thus required would, in most cases
involve an expense prohibiting its building.

Frequently the lands to be reclaimed occupy positions remote
from the streams whose waters are to accomplish their irrigation,
and are elevated several hundred feet above it. In such cases neither
pumping nor damming the stream would be feasible, on account of
the expense involved. If the stream had but a slight fall, land so
situated could not be irrigated from it at all. One of the charac-
teristics of the streams of the arid regiou, however, as noted above,
is the excessive declivity of their slopes. There are few whose fall
is less than 4 or 5 feet per mile and 40 feet is not unusual, especially
in the case of the smaller streams in the vicinity of the mountains.
When, therefore, it is desired to irrigate a body of land which
occupies a position of great elevation above the stream selected as its
source of supply, the elevation of the latter does not necessarily
prohibit the enterprise, because, while at all contagious points along
the stream the water is much below the land, the excessive fall
characteristic of these water courses permits of the selection of some
point farther upstream, whose elevation exceeds that of the land
whose irrigation is desired, and from this point its waters may be
conducted by means of a gravity canal to the lands to be reclaimed.
This point of diversion may be, and frequently is, many miles up the
river from the lands to be watered.

The lands irrigated usually lie between the ditch or canal and the
stream furnishing the supply, and below the former. The water
is drawn off by letting it out of the artificial conduit and permitting it
to run over the lands below.

It is evident, however, that under some conditions irrigation can
not be thus accomplished. If, for example, the irrigating of a body
of elevated lands were contemplated from a stream whose rate of fall
does not exceed that required by the canal through which the waters
are to be conveyed to the land, the latter could not be covered.
It would also be impracticable to irrigate an elevated body of land
from a stream whose fall exceeded but slightly that required for the
canal through which the water is to be conveyed to the land. If a
canal whose slope must be 6 inches per mile is designed for the irri-
gation of land lying 150 feet above a stream whose slope is 1 foot per
mile, its point of diversion would have to be located 300 miles up the
stream from the lands to be irrigated, and the enterprise would
consequently be impracticable. For these reasons much of the land

114 THE IRRIGATION AGE

in the humid regions could not be irrigated by gravity canals, even if
the necessity existed, since the streams, while affording an abundant
supply, have generally such low gradients that the diversion of their
waters through gravity canals could not be successfully accom-
plished.

HOW CANALS AND DITCHES HAVE BEEN BUILT.

It is not so very long since the settlement of the arid portion of
the United States, and especially the carrying on of agricultural
operations within its limits, was pretty generally regarded as imprac-
ticable if not impossible. Its actual development is already far
beyond the dreams of half a century ago, and we do not yet realize
its ultimate possibilities. As a consequence the importance of irri-
gation and the various problems connected therewith have not been
generally realized or understood. In the older irrigated countries
the construction and operation of canals, as well as the distribution
of water, is under the most strict government supervision and
control, if not ownership. The wisdom of the system of operation
measures in a large degree the prosperity of the people who live
under it. Our system is yet in a primitive condition. The develop-
ment thus far reached has been under any comprehensive public
policy, but is rather a natural outgrowth of conditions.

THE SMALL DITCH OF THE PIONEER IRRIGATOR

During the earlier period of the settlement of the arid region,
before the possibilities of irrigation had come to be generally recog-
nized, and prior to the advent of a population sufficient to warrant
definite efforts toward organization in the development of its
resources, irrigation was limited to the individual enterprise of
pioneer settlers who formed the advance guard of civilization upon
the frontier. These pioneers, have selected suitable locations for
farming and ranching operations, constructed each his own ditch for
the irrigation of his individual lands, and operated it independently
in the manner best suited to his interests.

The individual ditch appeals to the inherited prejudices and
habits which the settler brings with him. Even if it costs more, he
often prefers it to the enforced submission to regulations which
dependence on partnership ditches or canals involves; hence on each
stream the locations for such ditches are early sought out. When
those in the main valley are gones, locators look higher up in the
mountain valleys and along the rivulets which go to make up the
main stream. These opportunities still exist in some parts of the
country, but they are rare, and hard to find. Tne pioneer makes use
of all such opportunities, and they are now to be found only along
water courses remote from the centers of population, where all the
drawbacks of the frontier mast b3 encountered. The gain in first

TRE IRRIGATION AGE. 115

•cost is thus counterbalanced by the attendant disadvantages of
location. The building of individual ditches is, therefore, largely a
thing of the past.

EVOLUTION OF THE COMMUNITY DITCH.

The evolution of irrigation on the majority of streams has
followed the same successive steps. Frequently the ditch of the
pioneer was so located as to be conveniently and economically
enlarged and extended to cover the lands of the subsequent settlers.
In such cases arrangements were often made with the original owner
by which such enlargements and extensions were made and the later
settlers became part owners in the ditch, which has often been
enlarged and extended many times and thus grown from the small
ditch constructed and owned by the first settler to a large partner-
ship or community canal, in which each owner of lands irrigated by
it has purchased or worked out an interest, and contributes to its
annual maintenance in proportion to the amount of water used
by him.

After the available lower lands near the stream have been taken
up and rendered irrigable by the individual or partnership ditches,
larger and longer canals are often projected to cover the mesas and
benches above. These are also often built, owned, and operated by
the owners of the lands to be reclaimed by them, the principal outlay
being their own labor. These partnership or community canals have
generally proven successful and satisfactory, and have been a most
important factor in the development of the agricultural resources of
the arid region. Their construction and operation are usually simple,
and their value represents wealth created by the people who live
under them. The operation and maintenance of such canals is
generallv satisfactorily accomplished through mutual agreement, by
proportionate assessments of labor or money upon the various
owners. The annual expense of operation is generally very small,
and the value of land under such canals (which usually includes a
proportiooate ownership in the canal itself) is usually greater than
that of similarly situated land under corporation cinals. In many
respects, where it is applicable, this individual or partnership system
of canal ownership is an ideal one.

Although partnership and community canals, especially those
which have grown up by the enlargement and extension of smaller
individual ditches, are usually unincorporated mutual associations as
above described, yet it often happens that a closer and stronger
organization than one department upon mutual agreement is desired
by the irrigators, and the result is the formation of the community
irrigation stock company. In sucb a corporation the stockholders,
as a general rule, are the farmers who expect to use the water thus

116 1HE IRRIGATION AGE.

made available. It generally originates and is organized in the-
following manner:

A body of lands suitable for farming purposes, and so situated
with reference to a river or other satisfactory source of supply that it
can be irrigated with a reasonable degree of economy, is located and
acquired by digerent individuals. If government land, it is secured
through the regular homestead or desert-land filings. If belonging
to the state or a railroad company, it is acquired through purchase.
Sometimes both State and Goverment lands are available, of which
the alternate sections belong to each, respectively. In the case of
Government lands, many of the filings may have been made long be-
fore the irrigation proposition in question had assumed definite form,
the same having been made upon the assumption that irrigation was
sposible and would sooner or later become an accomplished fact.

For the purpose of specifically illustrating the method of organizing
and conducting the affairs of such a community irrigation enterprise,
it will be assumed that a number of individuals have made filings upon
different tracts of Government land, comprising in the aggregate an
area of 8,000 acres, or that they have acquired the same area through
purchase from the state or from a railroad company This land is, of
course, arid and unproductive without water, and before its irrigation
can be effected a canal or other conduit must be constructed for con-
veying thereto the waters of some adjacent stream. A meeting of the
owners of claimants is therefore held, and the necessary plant is agreed
upon; the amont of water required, the size of canal needed, and the
approximate cost of the undertaking are determined; and a board of
directors is elected, who appoint the executive officers for conducting
the affairs of the company. It will be assumed that the probable
cost of the works has been determined to be $5,000. The capital
stock is then fixed at this amount, and is divided into 500 shares at a
par value of $100 each. It will be assumed that the canal is to carry
100 cubic feet of water per second of time. Under this assumption
each proposed cubic foot of proposed capacity is represented by a
capitalization of $500, and, as there are 500 shares, each of the latter
would represent one fifth of a cubic foot of water. If 1 cubic foot be
considered as the amount required for 80 acres of land, each of those
who desires to irrigate this area should subscribe for five shares of
stock, and for larger areas in the same proportion. These would,
however, be no condition specifying the number of shares which any
purchaser must acquire, though it would be advisable that each land-
holder purchase the number necessary to accomplish the satisfactory
irrigation of the area proposed to be cultivated, since the number of
shares held will determine the amount of water which he will receive..
Each land- owner or other person- desiring water shares now enters.

THE IRRIGA 7 ION A GE. 1 17

his name upon the subscription or stock book of the association, and
the secretary enters opposite thereto the number of shares for which
he has subscribed, opening at the same time an account with the
subscriber, upon which he is charged with the value of the stock
contracted for, and given credit, under the proper dates, for any pay-
ments made thereon.

While* it is generally a fact that a majority of the holders of
stock in these concerns are actual farmers who propose to live upon
and themselves farm the land to which the water thus acquired is to
be applied, this is noC a necessary requirement, and frequently a
number subscribe for stock who do not own any land, but acquire the
water either with the intention of selling it to others or because they
intend subsequently to acquire land to which it may be applied.
There are others, still, who, while owning land capable of irrigation
from the proposed system, do not subscribe, because they do not
intend to farm the land, but expect to sell it at an advanced figure,
after the works are in operation, to those who already own or may
subsequently acquire stock, either from the company direct or from
other stockholder who may, for any reason, desire to reduce their
holdings.

Each subscriber now becomes nominally a stockholder, though
certificates of stock may never be issued, and he may proceed to
work in the construction of the plant at a price for labor which has
been fixed and scheduled by the board of directors, which, through
the president of the association, has appointed a foreman and time-
keeper to supervise the details of the work and keep the time of the
operators engaged thereon. At the end of each month the foreman
or timekeeper turns in to. the secretary a statement setting forth the
amount and value of the work contributed by each subscriber, and
these amounts are by the secretary credited upon the accounts of the
several stockholders in partial liquidation of their indebtedness to
the association, incurred through the purchase of stock.

When the construction of the plant has been completed, the
various accounts are made out and certificates of paid-up stock are
issued to those who are found to have worked out the full amount due
therefor. Those who are found not to have contributed the amount
of work necessary to liquidate their indebtedness are given credits
representing the amounts paid, and their accounts remain charged
with the balance yet due, the adjustment of whlcti may be required
in the form of a cash payment, or may be permitted to stand on the
books until an opportunity arises for working it out at a future date.
Where stockholders at the completion of the construction have
contributed work in excess of their stock subscriptions, the amount
thus overpaid may be refunded in cash or allowed to stand as a credit

118 1 HE IRRIG TWN A GE.

upon the books of the association and subsequently applied in liqui-
dation of assessment liabilities arising through expenditures incident
to operation and maintenance of the plant.

If it should be found, upon the completion of the works, that the
expense of construction was less than the amount realized through the
sale of stock, the difference may be distributed to the stockholders in
the form of a dividend, to each in proportion to the amount of his
stock, or it may be permitted to remain in the treasury and applied to
the liquidation of subsequent indebtedness incurred in operation and
maintenance. It more frequently occurs, however, that the actual
cost of the works exceeds the estimate upon which the capitalization
was based, and that additional funds are required to complete the
enterprise. These may be realized by the levy of the pro-rata
assessment upon the outstanding stock, or through the issue and sale
of additional stock to the amount required. The general method of
organization and procedure is similar in the case of unincorporated
community associations.

When the works have been completed and actual operations
inaugurated, certain expenses incident thereto are encountered.
These consist, in the main, of salaries and expenses of officers, wages
of ditch riders or patrolmen, repairs necessary to structures, and
other incidental expenditures that need not be enumerated in detail.
These liabilities are usually provided for pro-rata assessments against
the stockholders.

As noted above, the essential features of this kind of stock
irrigation company and of the unincorporated community canal are
not dissimilar. The works of both are created, owned and operated
by local capital and labor, and their inception and organization are
brought about by similar causes and carried out along similar lines.
Both depend for their success largely upon local ownership, econo-
mical management, and the lack of necessity for any great cash
outlay in their construction and operation. Communities with little
capital except pluck and muscle have, under these methods, created
canal systems that are among the best and most successful in the
whole arid region, and which, from modest beginnings, have ulti-
mately resulted in the growing up of thriving^towns and populous
and prosperous farming districts under them. This is. the system of
construction and management common in Utah under the operation
of the district irrigation law formerly in effect in that state. The
districts formed under this law are in effect voluntary mutual asso-
ciations or companies for the purpose of construction and operation
of canals, the cost of which is raised by assessments on the various
owners in proportion to their respective interests in the works and
quantity of water used by them.

THE IRRIGA TION A GE. 119

The farmers in many localities are prejudiced against stock
corporations and prefer to operate their canals under mutual agree-
ment. In Wyoming, for example, it is doubtful if one in fifty of the
community ditches are incorporated. As trouble sometimes arises in
regard to collection of assessments, a law has been enacted in that
state the object of which is to compel the payment of such^assess-
ments in case of unincorporated community canals. The same
aversion to corporations in connection with irrigation is noticeable
in greater or less degree in the other states.

Although opportunities for participation in the development of
new enterprises under the community system still exist throughout
many parts of the arid region, they are becoming more rare with the
advance of time. This is particularly true with reference to those
localities in convenient proximity to the more important towns and
cities, where lands and water rights under such organizations can
now generally be acquired only through purchase.

THE CORPORATION CANAL.

Throughout all parts of the arid region there are found areas of
superior land in the form of high plateaus or mesas, located some-
times at considerable distances from the more important streams,
usually occupying positions of great evolution above the latter, and
frequently separated therefrom by high rocky bluffs or ranges of
hills and mountains. The exceptional fertility of many of these
lands, together with their wonderful uniformity of surface, render
them especially attractive to the irri gator. They are the best lands,
but their location is frequently such that to secure the proper
elevation dams have to be built to raise the water at the head, and
the canal must wind its way for many miles through rock canyons
and along precipitous cliffs, and be carried across ravines and chasms
in pipes or flumes, whose design and construction require the best
engineering talent and experience. The expense thus incident to the
construction of the works is frequently so great that neither the
individual nor the community can successfully undertake its exe-
cution; hence they await the coming of national aid. The agency
through which many of these comprehensive, difficult, and expensive
works of irrigation have been accomplished is the institution known
as the land and irrigation corporation, which has been the successor
to the individual community enterprises in the development of the
agricultural resources of the arid West. The latter successfully held
the field so long as the propositions open to consideration were
simple, inexpensive, and readily available. In the development of
these they proved to be admirably adapted to the requirements of the
situation, but as the simple problems were solved first, operations
became more difficult and expensive with the increasing magnitude

120 THE IREIGA T10N A GE.

and complexity of undertakings, and finally a point was reached
where progress must cease unless the assistance of some more
powerful factor could be enlisted which might successfully grapple
with the greater issues presented.

It was at this juncture that the irrigation corporation came to
the rescue, and it has since become a prime factor in the development
of the agricultural resources of the arid region. The individual and
community efforts, however, have paved the way for the new
departure, and the substantial results achieved by them made it
possible for this powerful agency to become a factor in the work. It
was their successful efforts that had first subdued the implacable
desert and demonstrated the fertility of its lands and the possibility
of creating prosperous agricultural homes and communities in a land
which had long been regarded as a suitable dwelling place for only
the buffalo, the coyote, and the Indian. These pioneers had demon-
strated that the so-called desert lands of the arid region, whose
acquisition from the Government could be accomplished practicaliy
without cost, assumed a value under the practice of irrigation equal
to that of the very choicest farming regions of the Eastern and
Middle States, and the uniform success which crowned their efforts
in this field attracted the attention of capitalists to these enterprises
as presenting unusual opportunitids for profitable investment.

Under the -individual and community regimes the prime incentive
was the transformation of certain desert lands in productive farms,
which were to serve as ,the permanent homes of the individuals who
inaugurated and executed this work, of reclamation, and they
expected their profits through the actual farming of the lands so
reclaimed.

(To be continued).

THE DIVERSIFIED FARM.

A TRAVELER'S GIFT TO THE FAR-
MERS OF AMERICA.

One of the most remarkable collections
of rare economic plants and seeds is now
being worked up by the department of
agriculture. Mr. Barbour Lathrop of
Chicago, with Mr. David G. Fairchild as
assistant recently completed a tour of the
world, covering a period of two years and
embracing travels which amounted to ex-
plorations. Mr. Lathrop has given the
results of the expedition, undertaken at
his own expense, to the farmers of the
United States through the medium of the
section of seed and plant introduction of
the department of agriculture.

The expedition left New York Dec. 31st
1898, and returned last fall, having visited
in order the following countries and sent
in from each, living economic plants and
seeds for cultivation by American farmers
and horticulturists: Jamaica, Grenada,
Barbadoes, Trinidad, in the West Indies;
Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru,
Chili, Argentine, Brazil in South Amer-
ica; Portugal, Tyrol and Bohemia in
Austro-Hungary, Italy, Egypt, Amboina,
Banda, Lombok Bali, Moluccas, Aru and
Kei Islands, Tenimber archipelago and
New Guinea in the Dutch East Indies;
Hong Kong, Canton in South China; the
Philippine Islands; Bankok, Siam; and
^Sweden and Finland in northern Europe.
Many thousands of dollars have been
spent by Mr. Lathrop upon this expedi-
tion and he has put into it some of the
best thought of a practical man who is
alive to the general wants of his country-
men. He is not an agriculturist and en-
trusted the technical part of the work to

his assistant, Mr. Fairchild, who was de-
tailed by Secretary Wilson from his posi-
tion as chief of the section of seeds and
plant introduction. The dangers of such
a trip into malarial-infested regions will be
evident to old travelers, and is a matter of
deep regret to Mr. Lathrop's friends that
the Caracas fever so seriously affected his
health that two visits to Carlsbad were
necessary, while the botanist of the
expedition was laid up with malaria in the
Moluccas and with typhoid in Stam and
Ceylon. Notwithstanding these serious
drawbacks the expedition has been brought
to a successful conclusion and the farmers
of this country should be made acquainted
with this valuable gift which Mr. Lathrop
has patriotically but modestly made to his
country.

The trip was primarily planned to be
one of reconnaisance. The object in the
first place was to find out what each
country offered in inducements for ex-
ploration work, how it should be entered
and studied, whom of its inhabitants could
be relied upon as correspondents and what
would be the probable expense of an ex-
haustive study from the standpoint of
plant introduction. This object has been
attained and is embodied in a mass of
notes and piles of publications and note
books.

The secondary aim of the expedition
was to purchase and import for trial such
promising seeds and plants as were suited
for culture in various parts of the United
States. The material thus purchased has
not all come in yet but the maiu part has
been distributed or will shortly be sent
out by the department to the various ex-

122

THE IBE1GA TION A GE.

periment stations and private experi-
menters for trial and report. Over four
hundred and fifty different purchases were
sent in from the various countries, each
purchase accompanied ^by careful notes on
its culture and the climatic soil conditions
to which the plant or seed was best
adapted. The noted list has been in part
published or is in progress of publication
by the section of seed and plant introduc-
tion. It covers a wide range of horticul-
tural plants suited to variety of conditions
from the tropical surroundings of Porto
Rico and Hawaii to the Artie climate of
Alaska.

Although it is premature at this early
day to predict the fate of these introduced
plants it will be of interest to point out
some of their prospects and the reasons for
their trial.

A spineless succulent cactus of the Ar-
gentine suitable for fodder purposes in the
desert regions of Arizona.

A series of West Indian yams of which
at least one is superior in flavor to the
Irish potato. Suitable for culture in
Florida and Louisiana but demanding
special care and a special market.

The Alexandrian clover from Egypt. —
a late fodder crop for irrigated lands in
southern California and Arizona. This is
the principal fodder crop of Egypt.

Some of the finest varieties of Bohemian
hops to replace the culture of inferior
sorts now almost exclusively grown in
America.

Varieties of "pedigreed" barleys origin-
ated in Sweden and of superior value for
brewing purposes. Varieties which took
20 out of 28 prizes at the Swedish brewers'
exposition.

Fine West Indian manges and superior
sorts of East Indian bananas for culture in
Porto Rico.

An evergreen poplar from Chili for the
Pacific slope.

A frost hardy aligator pear for the com-
ing industry of this fruit growing in

Florida and California.

The Lapland six-rowed barley and the
early ripening finish black oat for experi-
ments in Alaska and such short season
regions.

Chilian alfalfa varieties for breeding ex-
periments on this most remarkable of all
fodder plants.

Several novel Swedish leguminous
(clover-like) fodder plants lately brought
to the notice of the agricultural public of
Sweden.

A Bohemian horse radish, superior in
size and flavor to any American sort.

The " Jannovitch " Egyptian cotton
which is now being tested by over one
thousand experimenters in the upland cot-
ton regions of the south and regarding
which many encouraging reports have been
received. It is a stronger grower and has
a much longer staple than any American
upland cotton. It also has proven resist-
ant to "root rot" of cotton to a very great
degree which will make its culture possi-
ble on lands previously totally unfitted for
cotton growing.

The "Algarobillo " a tannin producing
shrub from the Chilian deserts with most
remarkable desert resisting characteristics
and large tannin producing capacity for
Arizona conditions.

A fodder bamboo for the arid regions of
the Southwest which forms in South Chili
one of the principal sources of fodder for
large herds of cattle.

A variety of onion from the islands of
the Nile which is pronounced by our ex-
pert onion growers, the best pickle ever
grown.

''Zuccini" from northern Italy. One of
the most important vegetables of the Vene-
tians and worthy serious consideration by
our truck growers.

The seedless Sultanina grape from
Padua, Italy, for the seedless raisin in-
dustry of the Colorado desert region.

This list might be largely extended and
were it possible to collate the ass c

1HE IRRIGATION AGE.

123

ports upon the various things already dis-
tributed it is certain several other most
important things would need to be added.
Of course, the value of most of the arbor-
escent plants can only be decided after
several years of culture and the fate of
many of the annuals only after numerous
repeated trials.

In addition to the four hundred and
more products secured and shipped, many
important plants were learned of, but not
secured. Quantities of important tropical
fruit varieties for Porto Rico and Hawaii
are on the books of the expedition and
wait only for suitable experiment condi-
tions on those islands. A seedless Siam-
ese grape fruit was ferreted out but owing
to the unhealthiness of the country, not
securable. This one variety it is pre-
dicted, would if introduced, like the seed-
less Bahia naval prange, revolutionize the
grape fruit industry.

Enough has been cited to show the
American farmers what has been accom-
plished by private means, and in how great
a measure their thanks are due to the true
American who, with neither land of his
own nor agricultural interests in his charge,
has put at their disposition his money and
time and health.

The great results likely to cyome from
Mr. Lathrop's explorations will be due to
his wisdom in associating with him expert
botanists and scientists and securing the
most complete data and information con-
cerning the new and strange plants se-
cured, relating to their habits of growth
and the character of their natural sur-
roundings, thus enabling the department
of agriculture to intelligently experiment
with them. There is in the broad area of
the United States somewhere, a spot
which is a counterpart of almost every re-
gion of the eastern hemisphere, but it is a
work of great magnitude to fit the plants
of the older country to their congenial
spots on this hemisphere. This is one of
the most important lines of work which is

being .carried on by the department o
agriculture.

FARM NOTES,

A novel way of booming farm lands is
credited by the Philadelphia Record to
the general passenger agent of the Atchin-
son. Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. He has
had traveling about the West an expert
shorthand writer to visit individual far-
mers in their homes, find out what success
had been met with and then write letters
at their dictation, addressed to eastern
friends, telling all about the big crops and
resultant good times. This private sec-
retary goes about with a team and carries
a small typewriting machine and station-
ery. He interviews the owner or renter of
each quarter section on his route and
writes down the industrial situation as it
really is in that neighborhood. He tells
just what luck was had with wheat, cattle
and hogs, describes climatic conditions,
mentions Mary and the baby, and some-
times winds up the story of a lifted mort-
gage and money in the bank. This per-
sonal correspondence is followed up at the
head offices of1 the road by mailing appro-
priate advertising literature to the farmer's
friends. Beneficial results are said to be
already manifest to the railroad. When a
person living back in Ohio receives a let-
ter from his former neighbor written on a
typewriter, he naturally concludes that
any country which is prosperous enough to
warrant a plain farmer owing his own
writing machine is worth investigation.

The department of agriculture has ad-
dressed inquiries to over l(i,000 peach
growers in the United States, the great
majority of whom have replied that
"peach-curl-leaf may be prevented with
an ease, certainty and cheapness rarely at-
tained in the treatment of any serious dis-
eases of plants, and there is no longer a
necessity for the losses annually sustained
from it in the United States." The rem-

124

THE IRRIGATION AGE

edy is spraying with winter strength of
Bordeaux mixture when the buds begin to
swell.

A government report states that the
horses of our cavalry and artillery branches
of the army in the Philippines would not
feed on their hay rations, and become very
weak. They were given one part of cheap
brown sugar or molasses to every eight
parts of hay, and soon recovered.

Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, the chief chem-
ist of the department of agriculture, is
preparing a report covering the work done
by his office during the year and outlining
the work for 1901.

"The utilization of the stalks of Indian
corn is one of the subjects," said Dr.
Wiley, "to which we have given some at-
tention. The subject affords more field
for study and has more possibilities than
might at first be supposed:

"The possibility of utilizing the stalks
of Indian corn as a cattle food has long
occupied the attention of our agricultural
chemists. A large amount of experimen-
tal and analytical work has been done in
this direction by the experiment stations,
notably by those of Maryland and Penn-
sylvania. Our work has been directed
chiefly to the study of the rations com-
posed of the fine ground stalks of maize
mixed with blood, molasses, ground bone,
Indian corn meal, other cereal products,
and various other ingredients.

"The previous grinding of the stalk is a
primary necessity, since otherwise it can
not be properly masticated. When con-
venient, it is also advisable to remove the
pith, which can be used to better advan-
tage for other industrial applications.

"The ground stalk has a nutritive value
equal to that of coarse hay and absorbent
power for blood, molasses and other
liquids which makes it an ideal vehicle for
offering these bodies in an appropriate
form for consumption to domesticated
animals. The value of both blood and
molasses as cattle foods has long been es-

tablished, but until the employment of
fine ground Indian corn stalks as an ab-
sorbent was proposed no entirely satifac-
tory method of utilizing these products
was known.

"During the past year many different
corn stalk rations have been mixed and
subjected to analytical study, with the
result of showing both high nutritive
properties and so adaptability to particular
purposes. This mayjbe illustrated by cit-
ing some of the particular rations which
have been prepared, viz., the rations for
the maintenance of horses and cattle not
being fattened; rations for animals at hard
work; rations for fattening animals; ra-
tions for poultry, both for egg production
and for preparing poultry for market.
Various forms of rations for each particu-
lar purpose were prepared with the object
of securing the best balanced and also the
most economic product.

"Our experiments demonstrated beyond
a doubt that fiue ground maize stalks are
by far the best material known for utiliz-
ing blood and molasses as animal foods.
Although cattle foods are now very cheap
and abundant in our country, it is some-
what interesting to know that in the al-
most inexhaustible quantity of this ma-
terial we have a resource for the future
which will supply every demand. In this
material also we find a means of utilizing
in the most economical way the waste pro-
ducts of the slaughterhouses, of our beet
sugar factories, and of the cane sugar fac-
tories of Louisiana, of the Hawaiian
Islands, and of our tropical dependencies.

"Another subject which may be con-
sidered of general interest is the chemical
examination which the department is
making of foreign food products. We
wish to keep a high reputation for Ameri-
can exports and we desire to send abroad
only those food products which are whole-
some and free from adulteration. In like
manner we ask that similar products sent
to us from foreign countries be true to

THE IRRIGATION AGE

125

vname and label and free from adulteration
and injurious ingredients. To this end an
extensive study of such imported products
has been authorized by congress and has
been rigorously prosecuted during the year.
The results of these studies have been in
a measure confidential, and instead of be-
ing published have been transmitted to the
secretary of agriculture for his guidance
in discharging the duties imposed upon
him by the act of congress authorizing the
investigation.

''The extension of this investigation to
all imported food product will undoubtedly
prove of the greatest advantage to our
people, since it will result in the exclusion
of harmful and adulterated articles and of
those which are sold under a false and
misleading name of labels. In securing
these samples, we have had the active
co-operation of the secretary of the treas-
ury and of the officials of the custom
.house at the more important ports of entry. "

The Chicago Tribune comments on a
musical folly announced by a German
scientist. He has discovered that plants
are sensitive to music and that some plants
unfold their leaves and are stimulated to
growth when sweet music is made, while
they close them again if the music be-
comes discordant. The Tribune thinks
well of the discovery and suggests that a
brass band might be usefully employed in
forcing the products of a truck farm,
while a mandolin orchestra could be used
•to stimulate a flower garden.

During the past year the weather bureau
ihas furnished daily weather forecasts in
11,621 cases, most of them to farmers.
Mr. Willis Moore the chief of the bureau
believes that no class of people better ap-
ipreciate these forecasts than those living
in agricultural communities. Farmers
^who are provided with rural free delivery
and desire to receive these forecasts should
^request the same from the Secretary of
Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

In his annual recommendation to con-
gress, the director of the office of Experi-
ment Stations urges the establishment of
an experiment station in Porto Rico (in
the vicinity of San Juan) on the usual
lines of such institutions except that in-
formation may be disseminated through
both the English and Spanish languages.
Secretary Wilson seems to think that con-
gress will so provide.

The entomologist of the department of
agriculture is endeavoring to improve in
living condition certain European tree-
inhabiting predatory beetles for use against
the Tussock mothcaterpiller in the United
States, and especially against larva of the
gipsy moth. The lapse of appropriations
by the state of Massachusetts against this
last named insect and its possible great
increase and spread renders the introduc-
tion of its European natural enemies very
desirable. The bug scientists state that
if allowed its own sweet will, the gypsy
moth would spread over the entire country.

A visit to Dr. Victor A. Norgaard,
Chief of the Pathological Division of the
Bureau of Animal Industry of the Agri-
cultural Department, found him care-
fully perusing some statistics which had
been compiled on the disease of black-leg
among cattle.

"The action of Congress last session in
making an increase in the appropriation
for the distribution of black-leg serum,"
he said after a few moments reflection,
"practically settled the controversy be-
tween the drug firms and the Department.
During the past year we sent out over
2,000,000 doses and the results, so far as
we have been able to learn, are more than
satisfactory. Of a total of 430,000 head
of cattle which had not been inoculuted
with the serum, the annual loss was some-
thing over 13 per cent, and last year an
examination by our assistants revealed a
loss of 16,000 or nearly 4 per cent of the
entire number. But since the dia-

126

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

tribution the decrease in the mortality
has been very marked. Our records show
about 2,500 deaths from black-leg or a
resultant three-fifths of one per cent, of
the total amount. That the farmer is
benefited by our work there is not a
doubt. Of course this is not the only
important work which we are doing, but I
have called attention to black-leg because
it is one of the most serious obstacles
with which the agriculturist has to con-
tend. The loss from this source is more
than from all other causes, — disease,
accidents, etc."

When asked about what has been done
toward relieving cows from the attack of
flies, Dr. Norgard said: "There are
many remedies, both from private sources
and our own, with which to keep flies off
of cows, but none of these are lasting,
continued application being necessary.
Now the horn fly is very troublesome to
many cows and fish oil is extensively
used. It is applied to the frontal bone
and head of the animal. It is sticky and
only has a lasting effect for a short time.
Two of the most prominent sheep dips on
the market used at a strength of about 2
per cent, are known to be beneficial.
Then different coal-tar preparations, —
kerosene, a solution from juniper and
cockle-berries and numerous other con-
coctions may be of some benefit, but
when their strength begins to weaken,
the flies continue to annoy the cows and
can only be kept away by renewal of
the remedy. Trouble from the cause is
not so serious, however, for whatever loss
in milk or weight is occasioned by the
attacks of the flies, the coming winter
will see a corresponding gain."

European dairymen buy large quantities
of American feeding stuffs. Experiments
are now being made in compressing bran
into bricks for more convenient expor-
tation. While the success of this line of
work might lead to a still greater expor-
tation of American raw farm products,

the failure of the experiment would be
America's gain. Bran is one of the most
valuable feeds for the dairy. It is
recommended by many feeders as especi-
ally useful for feeding in conjunction
with corn-meal which is concentrated and
tends to "pack" in the stomach. Bran is
cooling and can be used in almost any
reasonable quantity. It is a food rich in
protein and contains a large amount of
the nitrogenous element of fertility in
soils. What is known to be extremely
hard on soil and the chemist has found
that most of the soil strength goes into
the bran. Broadly speaking, therefore,
the extreme folly can be seen of exporting
bran and letting that much fertility go out
of the country to enrich foreign lands,
necessitating the purchase, in lieu thereof,
of artificial fertilizers of all kinds to keep
up our fertility of soil.

Mr. Herbert J. Webber of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture is now in the South
making experiments in the hybridization of
cotton. Abont a year ago the Department
sent out several thousand pounds of seeds
to different parts of the cotton growing
States. These seeds were of Egyptian and
sea island species and from the reports
now being received,, these plants are grow-
ing very well and the officials are much
encouraged in their work. Mr. Webber is
superintending the hybridizing of cotton
which will produce a long, firm staple.

Every year there is about $20,000,000
of Egyptian cotton imported into this
country. The cotton-growers cannot com-
pete with this variety of cotton, but if the
experiments prove successful the farmers
will be able to raise hybrid cotton which
will equal the staple from Egypt. The
department is of the opinion that this new
variety can be grown in all parts and will
prove a boon to the important commodity
of the South.

In many portions of the South there is a
peculiar fungi in the soil which attacks the
roots of cotton and its work is so complete

J27

that it cuts off the water supply from the
plant. This disease is knowh as "wilt"
and in Charleston, S. C.,has been growing
rapidly. The Department has found
several species which will resist the attacks
of this destructive pest and its work along
this line through Mr. Webber will be the
hybridization of these with plants more
liable to be destroyed by "wilt."

A manufacturing company in the
United States recently made inquiries of
the State Department regarding the use of
harvesting machinery in India, in cutting
grass and grain. India is not a hay-
producing country, writes Consul-General
Patterson from Calcutta. The grass is cut
and used green for horses, but is not
cured as hay. The common fodder for
cattle is rice straw. In the vicinity of
Bengal, rice and jute are the principal
crops, and the quantity of grass grown is
extensively grown in the western part of
India for which Bombay is the principal
shipping port.

A colony of vegetarians are living on
Tagula Island, a tiny bit of land in the
Dutch archipelago, about 700 miles south-
east from New Guinea and 1,000 miles
northeast from Australia. Under the

leadership of a Methodist clergyman, the
Rev. James Newlin of Ohio, some seventy
people sailed from San Francisco in 1890
for Hawaii. They believed that a higher
plane of Christianity was to be reached by
a vegetarian diet and freedom from con-
tamination with degenerate mankind. So
they gave up their friends and homes in
the eastern states. Tagula Island was
fiually chosen for their colony, and the
fifty good natured natives there welcomed
the new comers. There have since been
accessions to the colony of people from
England, Australia, and America.

Time and time again has the question of
docking the tails of horses been discussed
and always humanity comes out on top.

All the driving horses in Russia have
long tails and the coachman of an ordinary
Russian carriage takes no trouble to pre-
vent the reins from dropping about his
horse's hind quarters. In spite of. this,
however, the reins rarely become entangled
with the tail, and even if they should do
so the horses never kick. This striking
fact is an eloquent answer to those who
uphold the cruel practice of docking, on the
grounds that otherwise the horse is liable
to flap his tail over the reins.

PULSE OF IRRIGATION.

EDITORIAL COMMENTS.

If these floods could be stored and re-
leased gradually as required for purposes
of irrigation, these dry and barren areas
might be rendered as highly productive as
the land now under cultivation, whose
products are the wonder and admiration of
the world. The people of this state
should get behind the movement to have
the general government adopt the motto of
"Save the Forests and Store the Floods,"
and should demand of their representa-
tives in both houses of congress active
support for measures designed to put it
into effect. — San Jose (Cal.) Mercury.

In the nature of thing? the construction
and maintenance of irrigation works are
public functions like the building of light-
houses or public highways, and the former
can as ill be made objects of commercial
enterprise as the latter. There is water
sufficient for the irrigation of from 75,000,-
000 to 100,000,000 acres depending upon
the methods of conservation' employed.
Probably 10,000,000 people could find
homes on farms and be self supporting if
the water supply should be properly regu-
lated. A better investment was never
made by a government since the world
began. — Philadelphia Record.

The problem that will confront congress
is what methods and measures of legisla-
tion will open and develop the resources
of the arid region, which comprise millions
of acres of fertile lands that are now wastes
for want of fructifying waters that can be
utilized. — Dallas News.

The meaning of the enterprise is one

that ought to enlist enthusiasm. It means
peace and prosperous homes, good citizen-
ship and a very appreciable addition to
our national wealth. It means actual ex-
pansion from within. It means life to a-
vast section that is now dead and deserted.
Some may feel that the enterprise is not
one of national concern. It is the nation's
business to strengthen the nation, and
this can be done quite as surely by devel-
opment from within as by extension from
without. — Boston Transcript.

We have an arid area in our great West
large enough to give every poor man in
the United States a comfortable little
home if only such lands were rendered
habitable and productive by irrigation.
Just now when the nation is taking so
much of "expansion," and the people have
seemingly endorsed the proposition that
we need "more territory," it ought to be
comparatively easy to arouse national ac-
tion to acquire thousands of square miles
of practically " new territory. " — Houston
Post.

Irrigation has long since passed beyond
the experiment stage. It has even reached
the point where little can be done by pri-
vate capital. Yet vast areas of the public
domain remain unclaimed in localities
where land would have a high value if an
artificial water supply were assured the
year round. Without storage reservoirs
they would be barren and useless indefi-
nitely, but once irrigation becomes possi-
ble they will be quickly settled and will
support a much larger population than the
same number of acres of land maintained

THE 1RR1GA T10N A GE.

129

in regions where normal rainfall prevails.
— Philadelphia North American.

The West is a unit in desiring the re-
clamation of its arid lands. Appropria-
tions for this purpose are demanded not
only by reason of the obligation of the
nation to improve its property, but as an
offset to the great sums contributed by the
arid interior for the improvement of the
rivers and harbors of the rest of the
country. T.he work of the National Irri-
gation Association has been mainly a prop-
aganda among the merchants and manu-
factures of the East for the purpose of
arousing them to the importance of open-
ing new markets by irrigation. This prop-
aganda has been remarkably successful. —
San Francisco Chronicle.

The people of the arid region who un-
derstand the irrigation problem desire na-
tional appropriations to be confined to the
construction of storage reservoirs, and, in
a very few cases, to long and expensive
canals, the construction of which is be-
yond the ability of private or state enter-
prise. If the reclamation of the arid region
makes homes for 10,000,000 people it will
more than justify all the expense involved.
— Denver Republican.

The advocates of Federal aid to irriga-
tion declare that the scientific storing and
distribution of water would so regulate the
amount which finds its way to the rivers
as to make extreme fluctuations almost
unknown. Wing dams, levees and rip-
rap would not be destroyed, channels
would not be suddenly choked with sand,
and thus millions would be saved. The
argument is an interesting one, and there
are others in support of irrigation under
government control that are evep more
forcible. — Minneapolis Timzs.

What the nation is asked to do for the
arid lands of the West is just what the
nation has been doing for almost a century
for the low-lying bottom lands of the

lower Mississippi, and that is, to construct
such works for the government of the
water offthe country as will render the
land habitable and tillable. — Albuquerque
(N. M.) Journal Democrat.

The question of irrigation has passed
beyond the experiment stage, and both
theory and practice have demonstrated the
necessity of the reclamation of the vast
quantities of arid land now neglected,
which, as was once said about Australia,
will, "if tickled with a straw, be taught to
laugh a harvest" — the straw in this case
being water. — E. A. Hitchcock, Secretary
of the Interior in Annual Report for
1900.

The great scramble for farm lands re-
ported from Minnesota in the White
Earth reservation, including only four
townships lately ceded for occupation by
white settlers, certainly indicates that the
reclaiming of land by irrigation would be a
popular measure of government. More
than 2,000 people joined in the rush to
secure homes, and for days hundreds of
men waited at the door of the land office
to buy homes at $1.25 per acre. These
are genuine home seekers. — Youngstown
(0.) Vindicator.

Under government supervision and con-
trol irrigation will make a garden land out
of what has bee/i called a desert, and the
entire community will share in the great
benefits. — Minneapolis Progress.

In calling attention to the National Ir-
rigation Congress, the president of the
Pennsylvania State College refers to " the
planting on the soil of a great population
with the employments and habits of rural
life, and yet so compactly settled as to be
able to secure the advantages in the way
of schools, colleges, churches, entertain-
tainments and all that goes to make up
the best social and public life which can
commonly be secured only in the largest
towns. — Aew York Journal of Commerce*

130

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Captain Chittenden of the Engineering
Department of the Government asserts
that there are 75,000,000 acres that might
be made highly profitable agricultural
lands at a cost of $2.00 an acre. It is
probable that in the near future the gov-
ernment will take the matter up. It cer-
tainly seems worth while. — Kansas City
World.

Ordinary business sense demands that
the federal government take up the work
of irrigation. National irrigation enter-
prise would be beneficial in more ways than
one. It would be profitable to the gov-
ernment because it would enhance the
value of government laud. It would pro-
vide an immense amount of work for men
anxious to earn fair wages. It would
build up a great section of the country
that would be a splendid market for
American manufacturers. Government
neglect of irrigation i? criminal — Omaha
World-Herald.

It is eminently wise and proper that the
national government should do its part in
creating proper storage reservoirs and
proper means for distributing water. The
national government should, in my juog-
ment, do its part, for here in the West
the next great stride must be made by
means of irrigation. — Gov. Roosevelt in
speech at Salt Lake, Sept. 21, 19UO.

A national system of irrigation and forest
protection will be a gigantic proposition,
and can be handled with success alone by
the national government. Like the deep-
ening of the waterway channels, the build-
ing of lighthouses and government locks
for the immediate benefit of a few, but for
the ultimate benefit of all, the establish-
ment of a system of irrigation to bring
under cultivation the vast arid tracts of
the West, is also an enterprise within the
peculiar province of the central govern-
ment.—^. Paul Globe.

It is the experience of the whole West
that companies that sell water rights are

not successful; but the farmers' canal com-
panies, where the men who own the land
they irrigate also own the water system,
have been successful. The right to the
use of water for irrigation should vest in
the user and become appurtenant to the
land irrigated, the theory being that the
water necessary to irrigate an acre of land
should belong to the acre of land itself. —
George H. Maxwell.

The construction of storage reservoirs is
no longer looked upon as a scheme to loot
the national treasury, but as a proposition
which bears the same relation to the na-
tion as the improvement of rivers and
harbors, the construction of the Nicaragua
Canal, the building of the Pacific roads
and the laying of ocean cables. There is
no more certain method of promoting com-
merce, domestic and interstate, as well as
foreign and international, than by build-
ing up and promoting the industries of all
portions of the nation. — Denver News.

The country cannot afford to permit the
monopoly of the flowing streams. In
many western localities growers are de-
pendent upon those who by prior water
right control the water supply. It is time
our statesmen were listening to the vast
and important new issues coming up. —
Racine (Wis.) Journal.

The most interesting argument advanced
at the recent irrigation convention is that
the controlling of water sources for irriga-
tion purposes which prevent the great
floods which annually destroy river im-
provements, and that thus federal invest-
ment in irrigation reservoirs would be
federal economy. — Seattle Times.

As the scheme of irrigation like that of
transportation covers many states, it pro-
perly belongs to the federal government.
Here is a million square miles of territory
lying wholly untouched for the want of
moisture. When we remember the fact
that less than 500,000 square miles of

THE IRRIGATION AGE

131

^arable land produce all our grain, hay,
cotton, sugar and vegetables, the impor-
tance of the reclaiming of this vast terri-
tory appears in its true light. — St. Paul
Globe,

The systematic irrigation, through gov-
ernment appropriations of the arid West
would mean a greater advantage to New
'England, beyond a doubt, than any other
measure of national legislation which is
likely to be adopted. — Boston Dispatch to
New York Mail and Express.

The reclamation of one hundred million
acres of arid land capable of supporting
50,000,000 inhabitants has become a na-
tional issue, and it is believed will be
•settled by the present administration,
which is pledged to this end by its party
platform. — Columbus (0.) Dispatch.

The East is much interested in a gen-
eral reclamation of arid western lands.
There is just as much argument to be ad-
vanced in favor of national irrigation in
the West as there was in favor of national
control and improvement of rivers and
harbors. — New York News.

There are many manufactures in Massa-
chusetts, for instance, whose prosperity
and that of those dependent upon them
depend very largely upon the western
markets. They see clearly enough the re-
lation of the reclamation of the West to
the business interests of the East. —
Brooklyn Citizen.

Fortunately for us we still have a domain
of almost illimitable extent which is capa-
ble of supporting a population as large in
itself as that we have at present, once
water is brought to it. Water is all that
is needed to make the now arid West the
garden of the world. The time has now
come when this matter demands the
country's earnest attention. — Chicago
Journal.

One of the greatest physical and
-economic problems that today is attract-

ing the attention of the people of the
United States, is the reclamation of arid
lands. Nor is there another problem, the
solution of which will bring about such
far-reaching and beneficial results. Now
that the presidential question has been
disposed of, the problem of reclamation of
arid lands by the government and for the
people will be in order. — Buffalo (N. Y.)
Enquirer.

Much misinformation exists in the East
regarding the national irrigation move-
ment, and some eastern agricultural papers
even go so far as to oppose the whole
thing, fearing that it will mean an in-
crease of western competition. On the
contrary, the peopling of the now arid
region would furnish a home market for
vast quantities of eastern manufacturers,
and would produce comparatively little
surplus farm crops for shipment to the
East.- — Orange Judd Farmer

The reclamation of the arid iands will
furnish comfortable homes for teeming
myriads of people. Their settlement will
furnish traffic for the railroads and a mar-
ket for endless quantities of manufactured
articles while the surplus products of tb,e
field will be sent to the remotest markets
of the world. The problem is certainly
important enough to command general at-
tention.— Chicago Post.

Irrigation is a subject about which
Americans should be concerned. There
is no movement which could do so much
for the United States as the irrigation of
the arid plains. The Journal hopes that
an effort will be turned in that direction.
There is no work which could so certainly
add to the wealth of the nation. In the
center of the continent lies the grandest
possibilities of the. nation. — Lafayette
(Ind.) Journal.

When the government has done its duty
toward that (western) poition of the con-
tinent, the cities of the Pacific coast will
soon be larger and more magnificent than

132

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

the cities of the Atlantic coast. California
alone will have someday thirty millions of
people, and that day will dawn in the new
century if the government will but act the
part of of a shrewd landlord on the Pacific
coa&t. — Chicago Chronicle.

There is no doubt that vast areas of
land can be reclaimed by irrigation. What
congress has to guard against is schemes
to benefit mere private enterprise at public
expense. The government should control
the distribution and settlement of the land
reclaimed, to permit its people every-
where to share in the advantages to be
provided. A project so guarded will be
beneficent, and the people of every section
of the country can consistently approve of
it. — Springfield (III.) Register.

Any great improvement that will bene-
fit not only the territory adjacent but the
whole country should be made. The
Isthmian canal would do this, and there-
fore should be constructed. Of scarcely
less importance is the proposed plan to re-
claim the vast extent of the arid lands of
the West. The fact that vice president
elect Roosevelt, Gen. Miles and other
prominent officials of the government are
in favor of the great improvement, must
be encouraging. — Cleveland (0.) World.

The government experts have surveyed
the arid lands, measured the water supply
and made estimates as to the cost of in-
creasing or regulating the latter. All that
congress is asked to do now is to make a
beginning. It is believed that such suc-
cess will follow the building of one storage
reservoir that the advisability of others
will never be questioned, and that they
will thereafter be built whenever oppor-
tunity presents and the financial resources
of the national government allow. — New
York Commercial Advertiser.

When in his letter to the irrigation con-
gress Gen. Miles ?aid that private or cor-
porate enterprise could not be trusted
with the water monopoly in the arid re-

gions of the West, he expressed a senti"
ment that will meet with a chorous of ap-
proval in every state and territory where
irrigation is employed. There is work of
great magnitude to be done which would
be impossible to any other agency than the
federal government. — Chicago Times-
Herald.

It is probably true that the millions of
acres of arid lands still existing, which
might be made to blossom as the rose if
water could be turned through them, must
remain arid unless the national govern-
ment takes some action. Enormous pos-
sibilities of material development are
wrapped up in this question. There are
sections of the country where one piece of
land is worth $500 an acre, while land ad-
joining is not worth more than fifty cents;
the difference being that one is irrigated
and the other is not. — Boston Journal.

Tens of thousands of farmers settled
upon small but highly productive farms
would add greatly by their labors to the
agricultural products of the United States,
and would be new, good customers of its
manufacturers and merchants. There is
one reason why so many prominent Chi-
cago business men are interested in this
irrigation question. There is no doubt
that any extensive plan for the reclama-
tion of the arid lands can be carried on to
much better advantage by the general
government than by the states. — Chicago
Tribune.

The problem of the arid land is one of
the prettiest and most promising problems
before the country. The government alone
can secure the preservation of the forests
of the West which are vital to the con-
tinuance of the water supply. It can con-
trol the water supply itself and this no
private corporation can do. Irrigation is
a matter demanding public supervision
and control, and the national government
alone is in a position of carrying on the
work of promoting it. What concerns th,e

THE IRRIGASION AGE.

133

arid lands of the Bocky Mountain region
concerns every part -of the United States.
— Syracuse (N. Y.) Post- Standard.

The government is spending large sums
in aiding in the development of foreign
trade and the opening of foreign markets
for American manufacturers. It is be-
lieved that we should push our goods into
every market of the world and sell them.
The belief is also gaining ground that the
government should develop its home market
for its products and its manufacturers.
This it could do by reclaiming the 75,000,-
000 acres of western arid land and settling
thena with thousands, of industrious home
builders. Eastern merchants are more
than willing to see such an accomplish-
ment. — National Irrigation.

Captain Chittenden's report puts the
area that might be reclaimed at 75,000,-
000 acres. Here is size enough for an
impcrium in imperio; or, if the term of-
fends, a republic within the the republic.
The eastern overflow will need its outlet
for population for many years to come,
and it is that fact which makes this inter-
esting proposition worthy of consideration

in this section. There would be no grea-
risk taken in the proposed expenditure, as
gradually as it would have to be made, be
cause the government could make its own
terms and guard itself effectually againzt
any ultimate loss by the outlay. — Boston
Transcript.

The disadvantage of permitting the-
work of irrigation to be done by private
corporations or syndicates is that the irri-
gation companies secure control of the
water supply. Having done this, they
forever afterward hold the key to the situ-
ation, and unless their plans are compre-
hensive, their construction work sub-
ftantial, and their water rates reasonable
— which conditions are seldom or never
fully realized — they are a hindrance to the
complete irrigation of the dependent lo-
cality. For these reasons the national
government ought to take hold of the irri-
gation problem and work it out on a
thorough and homogenous plan. The
newly elected national administration and
congress are fully committed to the policy
of nationalizing the work of irrigation. —
Chicago Record.

ODDS AND ENDS.

CHRISTMAS IN A RICH FAMILY.

MARIE CONRAD-RAMLO.
If the walls in the old city of
Hamburg had been transparent or,
at least, if people could have
looked in at the windows — the
general verdict of all the curious
would have surely been, "the
Kaunitz home, the house of the
rich wholesale dealer, looks cer-
tainly the nicest. Everything ar-
ranged so thoughtfully, in such a
sweet way — in one word — incom-
parable!"

One would not at first sight have
given credit to the little, insignifi-
cant looking Prau Kaunitz for so
much inventive power, such capa-
bility to appreciate and utilize the
humorous side of life and sbove all
for the infallible taste and tact with
which she arranged everything.

She did not copy the custom of
most families, where a large table
stands in the center of the room
with a large Christmas tree upon it
while under the glistening branches
lie the presents in ugly, prosaical
heaps as though they were on the
counter of a store.

No, in this house, the entire
place was like an immense Christ-
mas table. Halls and stairway,
every room, sometimes oven the
stable was utilized for the placing
of presents. The most precious
gifts, however, were invariably

hidden in the mother's boudoir — a
room that led from the salon
through a door curtained with rich
and heavy draperies; this the chil-
dren knew and waited with all-dis-
guised impatience for the moment
when the velvety portieres would
be drawn aside and the long de-
sired love-token of their mother
would be found.

In this same way the Christmas
tides of many years were greeted
as long as the two children were
at home.

Then all at once things changed,
the house became silent. Amalie,
the blond, pretty daughter, was
betrothed to an immensely wealthy
ship builder of America, while the
son Bruno went to a celebrated
college.

Longingly the mother sought
for the expression of bliss in her
daughter's face, for brimful eyes
and quivering lips. She did not
find it. With dry, questioning
eyes the girl looked at her mother.
"Are you happy my child, '; wrs
the tearful inquiry.

'"'I hope to become happy. I
shall live like a queen. I shall
possess all a human heart can
desire and my betrothed loves
me."

"Yes, yes, he loves you, he wil
make life happy for you." Bu*
Prau Kaunitz knaw thit nona of

THE IRR1 GA Tl ON AGE.

135

the happiness had yet entered
into the girl's heart. She had
accepted her suiter, because her
father had wished her to do so,
and she, the loving daughter, hav-
ing no will of her own, was accust-
omed to be ruled by his victorious
authority.

"Wealth is happiness," the
father had said. "I wish to see
my children rich — I want to see
them great."

"I would rather see them
happy,'-' sighed the mother.

But should she influence her
daughter against this marriage?
No, she could not do it. For this
union was the realization of one of
her husband's most ardent desires!
And Aamlie's intended husband
truly loved her. That was the
reason which silenced her above
any other. "What bliss it must
be to be loved!" It was more than
she, Frau Kaunitz, could grasp.
The little woman had a wide kind
heart opening towards all the
world. But the heart of her hus-
band, the handsome stately Herr
Kaun z, was small, narrow, Phili-
stine. Now she was alone with
him. Her deep, gray eyes, the
only truly beautiful feature of her
whole person, were often filled
with tears.

"Great my son shall be, great
and famous! Law shall be his
profession, not painting nor music
as he would have it. Law leads to
everything. Therefore it is law.
He shall be a Bismark or some-
thing on that order, for we possess
the means to achieve it. Then
he'll be knighted, later he'll marry

a rich daughter of the nobiliiy and

then, then ," Thus dreamt the

merchant and the dreams made
him happier. Frau Kounitz knew
this and she allowed her son to
leave.

To make people happy! That
was always her desire. Only he
who can make others happy may
himself be truly happy. But
Bruno, her cherished son, was not
happy. What could she do? She
thought and thought, all in vain.

There was no more Christmas
joy in the luxurious mansion.
Only the servants received the
expected gifts and the city's chil-
dren of the poor spoke of the
"angel kindness of Frau Kaunitz."
But her home was very quiet. To
a holy child this day was conse-
crated and glorified for Him and,
therefore, will Christmas be a holi-
day for the children for all time to
come. Old people are only happy
on this day if they witness the
happiness of children.

Frau Kaunitz looked sadly
around her in the quiet room
where, in former years, the very
air seemed saturated with christ-
mas whisperings and the scent of
fire and pine.

"Let Bruno remain at college.
The few days short and frequent
vacations are always hurtful.
Mister student readily acquires
the habits of idleness at home and
we need no such sentimentalities
anyway!" So spoke the father,
and when had the "master's"
energetic will not carried the day
in this house?

And Amalie, although she often

136

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

wrote to her good mother explicit
letters, never replied to the
anxious question: "Are you
happy now?"

Bruno thus studied jurispru-
dence. Aside from his studies he
painted, played the piano, wrote
poems and — failed in his exami-
nation. His father raged and
raved: he thundered: "Bruno is

"Good son" the mother inter-
posed, and she was right.

"He—

"He has a great heart."

Herr Kaunitz trembled with
anger. "A son who fails has
never a great heart, don't talk so
ridiculous."

And yet the mother was right
again.

"And he shall be great and
famous in spite of it," the father
snarled.

"Oh that he may be happy,"
whispered she. But the man did
not hear.

' 'Never a painter nor a musician, "
he continued, "they are all poor
devils. A merchant, yes, he may
be that, if law won't go; then he
can at least make money. And
money is power, too. Millions
make famous. When Bruno will
have his millions — he hasn't got
them yet — he can allow himself
the luxury of daubing or thump-
ing."

Thoroughly crushed Bruno
entered his father's presence and
with a painful shock he listened to
this decision.

"Yes" he replied, "I will do
your bidding; I owe you this

obedience, for I brought disgrace
on your name; I know my failure
is a greater affliction to you than
my death might have been."

He paused and waited for a
reply, a refutation but heard only
an undefinable grunt, and he went
away.

He settled down to work in the
office, day and night with untiring
zeal, straining all of his faculties
to their utmost. He wanted to
gain his father's respect, for he
possessed his mother's heart.

Herr Kaunitz could nurse the
symptoms of his gout. Bruno
took his place in many things.
But the deed, the great redeeming
deed, he still lacked, and at last
his opportunity arrived. In the
great Kaunitz store-houses in
Kaiser Wilhelmsland in the South
sea a rebellion had arisen, great
embezzlements were discovered
and quite a large part of the
for-tune was at stake.

The old man could not leave or
he would have been the first to be
on the scene. But the gout just
then troubled him greatly and so
he wailed:

"That requires a man of my
experience, my energy, my cour-
age! But I have no such person."

"I will go there father," said
Bruno.

"You?" Herr Kaunitz grinned
in an unbelieving almost derisive
way, "you would be the last,
whom I would credit with sufficient
intelligence or courage" — Bruuo
blushed. "Enough, father, I shall
go there."

And he he went, settled every.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

137

thing, displaying great prudence
and calmness and started on his
homeward journey, though the
fever had taken hold of him.
Chills and heart were alternately
shaking him and when home at
last, he fell exhausted into his
mother's arms, who saw his pallor
with trembling fear.

"Why did you inflict this on me,
Bruno?" She cried."

"Why did you leave?"

"To save for father a part of his
fortune. Wealth is the only thing
that can make him happy — I went
with the secret hope, he, too,
would some day — if I asked him — "

That was all. They were his
last coherent words, after that
there was only unintelligible mur-
muring, broken sentences and then
his lips and eyes were closed as in
•death.

The mother sat at his bedside
night and day and listened with
breathless attention to everything,
but she could find no connection,
only now and then, the clearly
pronounced name "Regina." She
waited and wondered but nothing
more came than: "Repina, Re-
gina." Sometimes softly, lovingly,
sometimes with a sigh and again in
reproachful accents .

"Who is that? I know of no
such person," thought she. "I
have never heard of her."

And then she would lay her

hand on Bruno's feverish brow.

He took her hand and pressed it to

his lips [first, then to his breast.

The mother prayed, lifted her

right hand as onerdoes with a vow

and her face assuming an expres-

sion of heroic resolution seemed to
be transfiguring into beauty.
Bruno recovered.
His mother asked him without
any introduction whatsover:
"Do you love Regina?"
He looked into his mother's face
with astonishment, but full of
earnestness.

"I do, mother more than I can
describe — as much as man can love
a woman." /

"Why did you never tell me
of it?"

"Oh mother, you never can help
things, anyhow."

He said it quietly and meant no
harm, but the simple words struck
his mother like an awful reproach.
Never- can help things! She bit
her lips in humiliation. He con-
tinued: "And father — well you
know his plans for my future.
Wealthy, distinguished — immeasur-
ably rich must be his daughter-in-
law's portion! He would laugh as
he has never laughed in his life
before, if I should tell him how
poor, how terribly poor, Regina is.
Oh mother say no more of it, I beg
of you — for she too, is so proud,
incredibly proud. Her pride is as
great as her love for me or I
should have gone into the world
long ago to make a living for her
with my incomplete abilities."
"Why — she refuses?"
"Yes, she refuses to bear father's
name against his will. And it
would be dreadful for me to lead
the wife of my heart to an uncer-
tain fate. She, who has always
lived on the dark side of life and
battled with poverty and trouble.

138

THE IRRIGATION AGE

I would make a soft, warm nest
for her and I cannot.''

Ho said no more; she also
remained silent.

*****

Regina's mother who lived at
the city's farthest end did not
wonder a little to see the rich
Frau Kaunitz one day walk into
her shabby home. But even more
astonished was the rich woman
when she met Regina, so beautiful,
so prond, yet of such earnest mild-
ness as a god- sent being, like one
imagines the protecting angels of
the little children to be.

It was hours before Frau
Kaunitz walked with smiling lips
the short distance from the little
house to her carriage at the next
corner. With decisive steps she
entered her husband's room that
day and actually heard, when she
began her tale of Regina, the
brutal, exaggerated laughter which
Bruno had mentioned. Verily,
never in his life before had Herr
Kaunitz laughed like this.

But the woman kept on in a
quiet, resolute manner, though
her weak body shook with a wild
tremor. She gathered all her
strength unto her. With pale
lips she told him, how, as a young
bride she had cleaned his desk one
day and had found a letter from
her guardian, which plainly stated
that the stately handsome Herr
Kaunitz had sold himself to her.
the little, sickly girl. She told
him, that the sale passed through
the hands of her unscrupulous
guardian without her knowledge.
She had thought that her wooer

had loved her and she had not
known that the stately, handsome
Herr Kaunitz was a bankrupt, who
only wished to marry the large
money-bag of the small girl, but
who, to his sorrow, was obliged to
take the "little charmless invalid,"
whom he dreaded, into the bargain.

She had learned all this through
the letter — which she now held in
front of her husband's eyes —
learned it all even in her honey-
moon and thus she had become his
silent, faithful, but joyless wife,
till the children came. The little
darlings had brought her happi-
ness, so pure, so immense, and yet
painful, for the father remained
hard and rough even to them.
Then her beloved daughter Amalie
left her according to his wishes
and she suffered her to go; then
the son went and again she suffered
his departure to place— she ac-
quiesced every thing in slavish
subjection, because she loved the
man wildly, passionately, because
her very breath, her entire life
had been love, a wonderful love of
the hate-worthy man from the
beginning of her married life until
now.

For his pleasure only were the
affairs of the family arranged.
Amalie, Bruno, and she, herself,
sacrificed everything and did any-
thing for his sake. For it was
that which had, in spite of all,
commanded the admiration of the
little woman. The power of his
indomitable will; the firmness with
which he alone of all of them was
endowed. Amalie and Bruno were
his children in appearance by their

THE 1RRIGA TION A GE.

139

imposing statures, but they had
also inherited a part of her nature,
her lack of decision, her weak
will — but also her magnamimous,
childish heart.

Frau Kaunitz spoke long with
her husband. He had never
listened with such patience before.
The heart of the stately man
expandep as he listened, and it
became larger, wider, softer. He
wondered : Can a woman so love a
man a whole life long, who does
not love her, a man of whose
degradation of soul she is con-
vinced? He did not exprese this
wonder, far from it, but he medi-
tated upon it as one does on some-
thing incomprehensible, incon-

vincible, something abnormal.
*****

And Christmas returned once
more.

"Let it pass quietly, mother,"
begged Bruno, "just like any other
gray winter's day. It is only for
children, and we have none."

The mother nodded, Bruno
sighed deeply. He longed for a
home of his own. Both, mother
and son looked straight ahead into
blankness and the eyes of both
grew moist. A bright multi-
colored vision passed through
their minds. A sweet, earnest
wife among a crowd of laughing
children. However, the mother
only said:

"But at least be at home this
evening, Bruno."

"Oh yes. you dear good, mother,
I shall be with you."

Christmas surprises! It re-
mained the little Prau Kaunitz's

specialty after all.

She had to arrange for a few
pleasant surprises for Bruno, even
though she had bade him to desist.
And once more there were christ-
mas whisperings, a hurrying softly
by, Christmas odors and Christmas
glory all over the house as in
olden days.

When Bruno, in coming home
crossed the yard, Fritz, the little
stable boy in full uniform, called
him to the stalls.

There stood a beautiful riding
horse of noble race, a present from
his father. Bruno petted it, smil-
ing, and assended the steps.
There on the clothes-rack in the
upper hall hung a fur top-coapt
for him.

"Ah," he thought, "mother
could not forego it." In his room
there was all the necessary para-
phernalia for painting. easel,
palette and everything in luxuri-
ous, tasteful perfection. On the
grand piano of the salon lay a pile
of new music and so on step for
step a surprise awaited Bruno.

"And now see my Christmas
present," said the mothet, at last
waving with a radiant smile and
triumphant flourishing a bit of
paper. A caplegram from Am-
erica. And Bruno read: Born, a
son yesterday. Now I am com-
pletely happy. Amalie.

"Hurrah — mother!"

"But seek father Bruno," urged
his mother.

"Still more'?. But mother what
else can there be that you can.
give me?"

"Oh there may be something

140

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

else. Just look for it, 'Seek ye
and ye shall find,' says the gospel."

"Really another present? I
have so much already, where shall
I put it all?"

"Oh, you will find some corner
for this present. The last one and
that you know, is always the best,''
replied his mother with a roguish
twinkle and yet a trembling voice.
She pointed to the dividing cur-
tains between the parlor and her
boudoir.

"That's so," said Bruno, "that
always was the holy of holies."

Smiling but almost wearied he
approached the door and drew the
curtain — "Oh God!" he exclaimed.
There stood Regina in her plain,
woolen gown, her rich hair
werathed in myrtle, at her corsage
were fastened myrtle and orange
blossoms. With beaming eyes she
looked at her lover, then slowly
raised her arms toward him.

And now all was forgotten!
The father's hardness, Regina's
sad youth, the mother's years of
suffering — all — everything. The
whole house was full of kindness
and joy. Even Herr Kaunitz had
a joyful smile on his lips. He, too
had received a novel Christmas
joy; he felt for the first time in his
life, what he had never known
before, the consciousness of having
made somebody happy.

"And that is not such a bad
feeling after all," he thought.

"I am the happiest here any-
way," thought little Frau Kaunitz,
for only a mother can be so happy.
Regina's mother knows it and
now, even Amalie knows it and I

hope, Regina will learn it also."

Bruno led his beloved to the
instrument and put his hands on
the keys and like a happy sob
the old Christmas carol broke forth.
"Oh thou happy, oh thou merry,
grace-inviting Christmas tide."

The stately Herr Kaunitz even
could not restrain his lips from
forming a sort of a pout and softly
humming the air, while he walked
slowly up and down the room, his
hands on his back. Frau Kaunitz
looked at him in amazement and
for the first time in her life she
had to laugh at her husband.

NEXT .STAGES OF MAN'S DE-
VELOPMENT.

BY ERNEST MAECKEL.
The first stages of the development of
mankind will be mostly mental, the evo-
lution of a better and finer brain. When
man's brain begins to develop rapidly
there is no further nee'! for great changes
in his body. And yet some physical
changes are still going on. Man will prob-
ably lose some of his teeth, there being
not the use for them that there was, and
there are signs that the little toes will also
disappear, leaving man a four toed animal.

But these changes are of small signifi-
cance compared with our mental develop-
ment. There are, however, tremendous
influence at work in developing mankind-
a vast and fasinating field of stndy. Man
being a product of natural evolution and
development, his institutions must necess-
arily be a like product, and the application
of the theory to political and social econ-
omy, statecraft, and education offers the
most hopeful fields of work for future
thinkers.

Life was never more complex than it is
today, and there is no prophesying the
exact lines of future development. Man
at present seems to be developing or retro-

1HE IRRIGATION AGE.

141

grading in masses-by nations, and yet
under different influence. In Germany
the tendency is all toward the centralizal
tion of power in government, the remova-
of individual responsibility, and the work-
iug together of large masses of men as one
man. In America the tendency has been
different; there the individual is developed;
he has great powers and responsibilitiep-
the man is the unit. Who shall say how
these great influences will work out?

The beautiful and accurate pictures of
animals and plants now obtainable, where
thirty years ago there were almost none, is
an instance of one of the smaller, and yet
important influences of modern life. Pic-
tures convey ideas swiftly and accurately
therefore they serve as a new and power-
ful factor in education, scientific education,
in paticular. A man may become com-
paratively familiar with the animal forms
of the world in a short time through the
perfect pictures now obtainable, whereas a
few years ago it would have taken a
lifetime.

Then there are other influences. In
Europe there is the influenc of what is
military selection, all the younger men
being taken at a certain age, removed from
productive labor or study, and put through
exactly similar traingng for one or two
years, In Americr there is no such
influence. How such training or lack of
it will develop the race is a question to
which the future must furnish the solution.

Medical selection is one of the most
powerfuf modern influences. Medical
science has made great srtides in the last
few years; it saves many lives that other-
wise would have been lost and frequently
it keeps people with dangerous diseases
alive for years. This must not only tend
to bread a sickly race, but it necessarily
swells the population largely, the crowding
bringing with it new and difficult
problems.

The earth is now almost wholly inha.
bited; there are no longer any new places

for immigration and the development of
virgin land- This means the elimination
of that potent influence which has had sq
great a share in the progress of the world
during the last few hundred years. The
contest must npw change. Instead of dis-
covering and settling new continents and
fighting savages, civilized man must set
himself to a terrible new struggle for exis-
tence, between the older nations; for
instance, in commerce and trade, tariffs,
spheres of influence, and so on; and the
strongest, most easily adaptable, most
resourceful, most favored nations will win.

The remarkable, retrogression of the
Latin races during the last few decades is a
striking instance of this new struggle-
especially the retrogression of the once pow-
erful Spain.

The nineteenth century has been the gol-
den era of science — there will never again
be so many discoveries of profound impor-
tance. There are no more great universal
generalizations to be made, like the law of
conservation of energy, the attraction of
gravitation, and the theoary of natural
evolution. The work of future scientists
will deal largely with the application of
the great principles and generalizations
already well known. This does not mean
that wonderful new scientific discoveries
will not be made, but that they will not
have the profound importance of these
laws.

I look for the greateat future develop-
ment in the science of chemistry. Some
day by its aid man will be able to produce
a living substance by artificial processes;
in other words, to make life is not at all
beyond the range of science, strange and
improbable as it may seem. It is only
what plants are doing all the time, taking
so many parts of carbon, hybrogen, nitrogen
and so on, and combining them into the
albuminous substance which we call proto-
plasm, the living substance. Science can
combine these elements just as nature does,
the proportion being exactly known, but

142

THE IRRIGA TION A GE.

not yet to produce life. The album
molecule is complicated. Science does not
know yet how the various atoms of carbon-
oxygen, and so on, which compose it, are
united, and all attempts to solve the prob-
lem of the albumen molecule, what it
really is, and how the elemenns are joined
with it, have been so far without avail.
But I believe firmly that this great question
will some day pe solved. If it is, then the
artificial production of life will be a
possibility.

"I PRAISE THE LOARD, AND ASK
FORGIVENESS."

The United States Treasurer has re-
ceived the following letter, inclosing a
contribution to the Conscience fund:

"GRAND ISLANDS, NEB., Aug. 29, 1899.
Auditor Treasurer, Post Office Depart-
ment, Washington, D. C.

Dear Sir and Brother: — Since I became
a Christian the loard has shown me that
many years ago, when I was postmaster at
Lodge, Platt County, 111., that I fell into
a snare of the devil and yielded to temp-
tation by raising my cancellation, and
wronged the Department out of 65 cents.
He has also led me to make this statement
and ask forgiveness. Inclosed 65 cents in
coin, which I send you as restitution mon-
ey. 1 praise the loard for salvation, and
I leave the results with Him who doeth
all things well.

I am now engaged on mission work. My
wife and I travel together. We visit jails
and preach to the prisoners, also we visit
county poor farms, and carry the gospel to
the poor as taught in the Word. I will
say to you, if you are an unsaved man, let
me exhort you to give your heart to Jesus.
May God bless you, is my prayer. Inclos-
ed find one of my tracts and some others.
Please read all of them with a prayerful
heart. Will praise the loard your salva-
tion full and free. Your brother in the
work for the Master blessedly sacred and
sanctified."

MCCLURE S.

McClures Magazine for January. The
first in a series of memoirs by Miss Clara
Morris.

There is a careful and vivid pen-picture
of the Emporer William, that most inter-
esting figure of contemporary royalty.
A third article of merit is entitled "Great
Achievements of Modern Bridge Build-
ing."

A second installment of Mr. Rudyard
Kipling's new novel "Kim," appears with
illustrations by Mr. Edwin Lord Weeks
and Er. J. Lockwood Kipling. The
short stories cover a wide range, and they,
are splendidly illustrated.

LADIES' HOME JOURNAL.

"The Baltimore Belle Who Made the
Most Brilliant Match of any Girl in
America" is the title of an article in the
Ladies' Home Journal for January.
"Housekeeping in a Millionaire's Family"
"The Little Woman's Play," adapted for
Miss Alcott's charming story, for stage
presentation, and illustrated by Reginald
B. Birch, and two pictorial pages, "A
Winter Service at Church," by W. L.
Taylor, and "The Town Meeting," by
A. B. Frost, are some others of the
leading literary and artistic features with
which the journal begins the twentieth
century. "The Forehandedness of
Lucinda Smith," by "Josiah Allen's
Wife," Elizabeth Stuart Phelp's "The
Successors of Mary the First," "The
Story of a Young Man," by Clifford
Howard, and another "Blue River Bear
Story," by Charles Major, are also among
the many excellent things presented in.
the January journal.

SCRIBNER'S.

iScribners for January contains "The
Sinecure," by E. W. Horning, "Russia of
Today," by Henry Norman, "A Compari-
son of the Armies in China," by Thomas
F. Millard. "The Plague Ships, ""by
Stephen Bonsai, and plenty of other
interesting reading.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

VOL. xv

CHICAGO, FEBRUARY, 1901.

NO. 5

THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN AMERICA,

Victoria When the great bell of St.

the Great. Pauls proclaimed to London
the passing- of Queen Victoria, and later
when the sad news was transmitted over
continents and under seas to all quarters
of the globe, there was only one feeling in
all hearts — that of love and admiration
and tenderest regret and sorrow for one
whose life and name stood not alone for
the sceptered majesty of a great kingdom
and empire, but also for one of the noblest
and purest ideals of womanhood.

Kindred in race and blood, speaking
the same tongue and claiming part of the
same glorious heritage of ancient renown,
A.merica today stands side by side with
Britania at Victoria's bier.

Americans have warm hearts and recog-
nize their friends whoever they may be.
And in Queen Victoria, throughout her
long life, this country always had a firm
friend. In the dark days of civil strife
and war, when some of her statesmen
faltered and declared the union was about
to be dissolved, Queen Victoria was stead-
fast and never ceased to uphold the side
and cause she believed to be for the right
and whose triumph would .mean most for
advancing humanity. It is matter of his-
tory that but for her influence England
probably would have gone to war with the
United States, o/er the Slidell and Mason
affair, and in the early days of the Spanish
American trouble it is now known that

Queen Victoria also expressed to the
president of the United States 'her belief
in the righteousness of America's cause,
and assured him of England's friendship
and sympathy. ';

In Europe, also, her name was a bulwark
of peace. Connected by ties of relation-
ship with most of the crowned heads of
Europe, all European rulers were ready
to strain a point, if need oe? to keep on
terms of peace1 with the empire over which
Victoria ruled.. Like Alexander III. of
Russia, "the peacemaker of Europe."
Queen Victoria's counsel and influence al-
ways were cast on the side of peace. That
events which were too strong for 'her to
overrule led to the South 'African war and
its many disasters was the greatest sorrow
of the closing days of her life. This tra-
gic finale to her reign adds a pathos to
her death, which was probably hastened
by worry and . sorrow : over' the South
African tragedy and events she felt her-
self powerless to control. And it is signi-
ficant of the place Victoria held in the
world ?s heart that not 'one,1 hot ' even the
embattled Boers' of South' Africa, held her
responsible for the mistakes which precip-
itated England's most disastrous war of
the century, or for 'the" cruelties with

which, in part at least, 'it has 'been con-
, .'>j BVfffife ' vj.:rr <)• ; . ,
ducted.

'-' • ' >l['/li A!1" • (3* flcr.a.i_ii • • i

As to her epitaph, that is characteris-
tic and was written by herself against the
time, now1 at hand, when ' she1 should be

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

laid in the marble sarcophagus at Frog-
more beside that of Prince Albert:

"Victoria- Albert,

Here ftt last I shall

Rest with thee;

With thee in Christ

Shall rise again."

The San The committee on Indian af-
CarlosDam. fairs of the senate considered
and favorably reported an amendment
providing $100.000 for the beginning of
work on the San Carlos reservoir in Ari-
zona. If this amendment is made part of
the Indian appropriation bill, it will afford
work for the starving Pima Indians, and
will be the commencement of one of the
best reservoir propositions in the arid
regions, one, too, which will perhaps best
demonstrate the practicability and ex-
cellence of the national irrigation policy.

Irrigation The irrigation debate in the
Debate. house of representatives, in

connection with the river and harbor bill,
brought forth the best showing which has
yet been made in that branch of congress
on this subject.

The managers of the river and harbor
measure claimed that irrigation and the
reclamation of the arid West were not
subjects properly under the jurisdiction of
the River aud Harbor Committee, and
that appropriations for reservoir con-
struction should n^t be inserted in the
River and Harbor bill. The Western
members however took the ground that
the contrl of the floods and regulation of
the flow of the streams by reservoir con-
struction were properly within the scope
of the River and Harbor bill, and the rul-
ing of the Speaker that the amendment
offered was germane to the bill is signifi-
cant.

The reclamation of the arid region is a
question which is strong enough to stand
entirely upon its own foundation and be
treated as a separate proposition. At the
same time the problem of river control and
of the utilization of the flood waters for
irrigation are so inter-related that it is
inevitable that appropriations will ulti-
mately be made along the same lines as they
are for river and harbor improvement.

The sentiment in the House in favor of
irrigation recognition of some sort is be-
coming stronger and stronger and cannot
much longer be successfully overcome. In
the Senate the sentiment favorable to arid
land reclamation is yet stronger. Mean"
time the feeling throughout the country
generally is growing, growing East as well
as West, into a great national movement
which will sooner or later have its way.
The time is approaching. Ic , cannot be
far distant.

Cause for The friends of Irrigation need
Encourage- not fear that because of the
ment- adverse treatment received by

the great number of irrigation bills and
amendments introduced in congress, espe-
cially in the house of representatives, the
national irrigation cause has suffered. It
must be remembered that the irrigation
movement is a new thing in the East.
Prior to the present session of congress it
has hardly been considered seriously by
ten per cent, of the Eastern congressmen.
And it must be remembered that in what
may be considered the early stages of a
new movement, a great mass of literature
and discussion and effort must be put forth
which will serve simply as a means of di-
recting attention to the subject and indi-
cating the variety of interests and purpo-
ses favoring and behind it. When indi-
vidual efforts and attempts at legislation
in the shape of bills introduced and amend-
ments offered in congress become so nu-
merous and insistent as to assume the
nature of a public clamor, then the proper
committee, whether hostile or favorably
disposed to the project, must give the
matter consideration; must gather all the
kindred bills together and formulate from
them a comprehensive measure, and make
a report upon it. This is the situation in
the present short session of congress. Old
and expected legislation is pressing in
great volume for enactment, and congress-
men are not willing, in the limited time
at their disposal this winter, to take up-
exhaustively a new question, nor is it the
purpose of the friends of irrigation to at-
tempt to force the subject. Nevertheless
very congressman now knows that the

THE IRRIGATION A GL

145

question is a coming one and a question
considered to be of great and pressing in-
terest to a large number of people, includ-
ing the commercial sections of the East
with their vast manufactories looking for
a market for their products.

The desultory agitation of this session
on the irrigation subject is serving its
purpose well.

New What would be the result of

Markets, opening any one of the thous-
and valleys of the West which only await
the building of great storage reservoirs
and the utilization of the water saved to
convert them into thriving communities
of small rural homes? A thousand farms

would be quickly created. A thousand
houses would go up, a thousand families
would move into them, and a thousand
farms would want plows and wagons and
machines and harnesses, while a thousand
housewives would want kitchen and house-
hold utensils, and several thousand people
would want clothes and boots and shoes
and hats and books and papers and fifty
other articles. This demand instead of
being supplied once only, would increase
and go on perpetually. And the demand
for these things would go to the producing
East. This is why the reclamation of the
West would help Massachusetts.

CONDITIONS FAVORABLE AND

UNFAVORABLE TO

IRRIGATION.

BY J. ULRICH.

(Continued from last month.)

With the corporation, however, it is different. The opportunity
thus presented for investment was with it the prime consideration. It
was no part of its program to actually improve and farm these lands;
none of the individuals composing its personnel ever expected to make
a home thereon. In most cases they were all non-residents, whose
homes were not even within the limits of the arid region. The object
of their operations -was the acquisition of large bodies of lands and
valuable water franchises, which were to be sold at a profit, after the
development of their proposed irrigation plant, to people who might
desire to improve and actually farm the lands. The actual relation of
the real owners of these enterprises to the properties themselves is
usually even more remote than this. The financial interests are gen-
erally represented by the bondholders, who through the purchase of
bonds have advanced the money for the building of works.

The stock of the corporation irrigation systems is not, as in the
case of the community stock organization, in the hands of the farmers
and actual water consumers under the system; it is held and controlled
by the promoters and organizers of the enterprise. Its affairs are also
controlled by a board of directors, who are elected by a vote of the
stockholders. The executive officers are the president, secretary, and
treasurer, but the details of the executive management usually devolve
upon an officer appointed by the board, who is called the manager
(sometimes the general manager), who lives, or should live, within
easy access to the works. The manager has the appointing of and di-
rects the operations of all the employees beneath him in rank, and is
in fact the local dictator of the policy and management of the concern,

In most cases these corporations own and handle lands as well as
water, the land feature being frequently the most important of the
two. Where they own lands the latter are generally sold in connec-
tion with water, at a price which includes both. The land is rarely
sold alone, since it has no value except in connection with the water,
which usually can not be secured except from the irrigation company.

Under this corporation regime water is not represented by shares
of stock, as it is in the community organizations, but by a " water

THE IRHIGA T10N A GE. 147

right," which is a right to a certain specified quantity of water, or to
the amount necessary to irrigate a certain tract of land, the amount
given for this purpose varying with different companies. The quantity
of water really necessary to irrigate an acre varies widely in different
localities, and again materially with the crop under consideration.
While in Colorado and Idaho a flow of 1 cubic foot per second is
usually furnished and applied to 50 acres of alfalfa, the same volume
will supply the necessities of 500 acres of citrus fruits in southern
California.

The irrigation corporation constructs, operates, and maintains the
main line of canal or other conduit by which the water is diverted
from the river and conveyed to or within easy access to the land to be
reclaimed; and in addition thereto, and particularly where these lands
belong to the corporation, it usually constructs a number of large
lateral branches, which are diverted from the main line at convenient
points and traverse the principal bodies of lands. These are designed
for the purpose of bringing the water within reasonable proximity to
such lands as are located at considerable distances from the main
works. The main canal or conduit necessarily occupies a position
outside and above all the area to be reclaimed. Without these branches
a decided hardship upon some of the water consumers would be in-,
volved in the necessary construction of private ditches of great length
for conveying their water from the main works, a condition which
would tend to place an embargo upon the sale of water. By means of
this arrangement is also avoided the necessity, which would other-
wise exist, for tapping the main line at a great number of points for
the diversion of water for individual consumers, as well as the objec-
tional feature involved in the great multiplicity of private lateral
ditches across the entire body of lands.

The main canal and these principal branches are operated, main-
tained, and controlled, by the corporation, and are patrolled and regu-
lated by ditch riders in its employ.

The settler or farmer who has purchased water rights from the
corporation is generally permitted to divert the water from any point
on the main canal or any of the laterals found to be most convenient,
subject, however, to the approval of the general manager or local
superintendent. In either case a head gate or regulating structure
is placed at the point selected, for the purpose of regulating the
amount diverted. This structure is the private property of the individ-
ual for whose use it is erected, though it is designed and placed in
position by the company, and is controlled and regulated by the ditch
rider, who keeps it locked at the required degree of opening and him-
self carries the key. The ditch conveying the water from this struc-
ture to the land to be irrigated is most frequently constructed, main-

148 1HE 1RR1 GA110N A GE.

tained, and operated by the owner of the land at his own expense. It
is, however, not usually of very great length, and is comparatively
simple and inexpensive. In some cases the company contracts to de-
liver the water at some convenient point on th°, tract of land to be ir-
rigated by it, in which cases all the lateral ditches are constructed
and controlled by the company. This method involves a great addi-
tional expense of management and operation, and is not usually
followed.

The practical results from operations conducted under the cor-
poration regime do not materially differ, so far as the actual user of
water is concerned, from those realized under the auspices of the com-
munity organization. The farmer's success is measured and deter-
mined almost entirely by the certainty and permanence of a satisfac-
tory supply of water at a reasonably price. When these conditions
are fulfilled it makes little difference under what character of organ-
ization he operates, the advantage of one system over the other being
measured by the relative certainty of supply and the expense of get-
ting it.

That the annual cost of water from a large corporation system is
in most cases greater than from the smaller partnership or community
canals is inevitable for several reasons. The latter are nearly always
constructed first and occupy the best locations for cheap diversion and
economical construction and do not usually require such extensive and
costly headworks nor such a long line of expensive canal to be con-
structed and maintained before the irrigable area can be reached.
These are advantages which the earlier enterprises have secured. In
addition to more expensive construction and maintenance in the case
of the larger canals, the salaries of general officers often materially
increase the fixed charges, while the interest on the investment dur-
ing the period between the construction of the canal and the settle-
ment of lands and consequent sale of water rights and the expense
incident to securing such settlements are always very large items of
expense which do not figure in the community systems. More individ-
ual and community canals involve scarcely greater expense in con-
struction and maintenance than do some of the individual and com-
muuity lateral ditches which have to be constructed by the irrigators
to convey their water from the company's main canal to their lands.
So if the completed main canal systems should be turned over free to
the land owners under them, they would have but similar advantages
for irrigating their lands to those which many of the earlier settlers
secured from the natural streams. To offset this added cost of irriga-
tion which often prevails under these extensive corporate canals, the
quality of the land covered by them is often superior to that of the
ands along the river bcttom and adjacent which were settled upon.

THE IRRIGA 11 ON A GK. 149

and irrigated by the cheaper and more easily constructed ditches of
the earlier settlers.

This plan of conducting the business of irrigation development
has its good and its bad features. Through its agency great volumes
of capital have been invested in the development of the agricultural
possibilities of the arid region, much of which if dependent upon indi-
vidual or community resources would have remained unproductive for
many years. It is the corporation enterprises which enlist the inter-
est of a majority of intending immigrants. It is usually a part of their
business to effect the sale and settlement of the lands under them,
and their magnitude usually warrants the expenditure of large sums
in advertising for this purpose. In some cases the results achieved
under these systems not only prove satisfactory to the farmers, but
prove them to be safe and profitable investments for capital. In many
respects these large canals are the best and most economical systems
for the distribution of water to the lands covered by them. These
lands are usually in a large and compact body, which gives many
social and industrial advantages to the settlers upon them. A greater
area can be irrigated with a given volume of water than by means of
a multiplicity of scattered individual and community ditches. Taken
altogether, these large systems have many things to recommend them
and have materially advanced irrigation development and benefited
the land owners under them.

In most instances, however, the investors in these enterprises
have not met with the success they deserve. Many causes have con-
tributed to this result, some of which have already been indicated.
The systems have almost uniformly cost much more than the- first es-
timates, while the area of irrigable land under them, the irrigating
capacity of the canals, and the rapidity with which their settlement
and the consequent use of the water could be accomplished have all
been almost as uniformly estimated. Many years often elapse before
the total discharge of the canal is utilized and before the income from
water sold even meets the fixed charges for management and opera-
tion. Their location is sometimes distant from railway lines, cities,
and local markets, which increases the expense and difficulties of se-
curing settlers. If they follow individual and community ditches near
settlements and markets already established they have later water
rights than the earlier and smaller ditches. This inferiority of
priority lessens the value of the property and is often a source of an-
noyance and expensive litigation with the earlier ditch owners and
with their own consumers, who may have their water supply reduced
or cut off in time of scarcity. Unless those charged with the design
and construction of the works have made a special and very careful
study of the lands, water supply, and prior rights thereto before be-

150 THE 1RR1GT10N AGE.

ginning work, they have little positive information as to the real ele-
ments of value in their investment, and they have not always done
this. The capitalists whose millions have been thus invested have
naturally been more ignorant of the principles involved than the pro-
moters and have often been deluded into believing that fabulous profits
were to be realized through such investments.

In this manner a few irrigation works have been created through-
out the arid region for whose existence there was no warrant what-
ever, whose priority rights to the use of water are practically worth-
less, either for the reason that the supply never existed, or because
the available water had been appropriated long before the proposi-
tions under consideration had been conceived and executed. These
schemes not only work a permanent injury to the interests of legiti-
mate enterprises in this field and to irrigation development in general,
but are a menace to the future prosperity of the immigrant to the arid
region, who, being unacquainted with irrigation practice and unfamil-
iar with the principles involved, can not intelligently determine the
relative merits of the different propositions presented for his consid-
eration, and thus frequently falls a victim to the misrepresentations
of colonization agents, who, through the agency of elaborate and
beautifully executed prospectuses, present the most alluring descrip-
tions of the wonderful opportunities which await the settler who will
purchase a quarter section of land and a water right from their com-
panies— whose canals may, in fact, be perfectly dry for ten months in
the year. Those who have been thus induced to invest their savings
in these arid land,, and worthless water rights may lose not only their
money, but frequently many years of time wrestling with the adverse
conditions growing out of their efforts to farm arid lands without a
sufficient supply of water. They may succeed in eking out a precari-
ous existence for several years, but are likely to find themselves be-
coming poorer with the advance of time, until at last, convinced of
the futility of their efforts and the hopelessness of the prospect before
them, they give up in despair, and, moving to some other locality, be-
gin anew under more favorable conditions, with less money but with
a vastly increased fund of information concerning the importance and
necessity of a safe and certain water right in order to profitably con-
duct agricultural operations in the arid region.

THE DISTRICT SYSTEM.

Another method of constructing or' otherwise obtaining a system,
of works for the irrigation of a given area of land is what is known as
the "district irrigation system." The law under which this system is
carried out originated in California, and although its general features
have been copied, with greater or less modification of details, into the
statutes of some other states, notably Idaho and Nebraska, the opera-

TR E IRRIGATION AGE. 151

tions under the system have been almost wholly confined to the first-
mentioned state. This district law is designed to secure the owner-
ship and control of the water rights and canal systems by the people
of the districts organized under its provisions. A district may be or-
ganized by a vote of two- thirds of its residents, upon an order of the
board of county commissioners, which acts upon petition of a certain
number or a certain proportion of the residents of the territory pro-
posed thus to be organized as a district. After the organization,
bonds for the construction or purchase of the works or property neces-
sary to the object in view may be voted, which bonds become a lien
upon the real property within the district. The interest is paid by
assessments, similar toother public taxes, and the operating expenses
are raised either by assessments, by valuation or acreage, or by tolls
for the use of the water. This system has many theoretical advan-
tages, but its operation in California has not justified the prophecies
of its advocates, and new districts are not being formed under it. The
powers granted the districts seem to have been exercised in many
cases with poor judgment, and heavy bonded indebtedness was in-
curred without corresponding advantages to the land owner in the
form of water for his needs. In some instances the provisions of the
law seem to have been taken advantage of for the purpose of turning
unremunerative existing property and water rights into interest-bear-
ing district bonds. Like other business enterprises, it depends for its
success upon the judgment and honesty of those intrusted with the
management of the business of the districts thus organized.

Each system and locality has its own peculiar features, and the
best location and system is therefore a matter for careful investiga-
tion as to relative advantages, always having in mind, however, the
certainty of the water supply, which is often the most difficult matter
for the newcomer to get reliable information about. As this condition
is the principal factor in successful farming operations, when it is
satisfied such operations intelligently conducted will generally prove
certain and remunerative under any of the plans herein described.

OPERATION OP CANALS.

The owner of an individual ditch operates it as he pleases, subject
only to the state laws governing the diversion and use of water. But
when several persons are interested in the same ditch, the necessity
for some system of control arises. In the case of unincorporated
community canals this control is secured by the selection of a water
master, who is usually one of the owners, to have charge of the opera-
tion and maintenance of the system and the distribution of its water
to those entitled to its use. It is on the large corporation canals,
however, that the necessity for a careful system of operation and
management is most apparent. Many of these canals are more than

152 THE IRR IGA T ION A GE.

50 miles long, and number their water users by hundreds. The Rid-
enbaugh Canal in the Boise Valley, Idaho, furnishes water
to more than 500 farmers. The High Line Canal, in Colorado, has
433 consumers under it; the Loveland and Greeley has 257, and many
other systems are as large or larger. It can thus be readily seen that
the proper operation of such canals involves a very thorough business
organization and careful attention to many important details.

The practical operation of corporation canal systems is, like their
construction, under the control of the executive officer or officers of
the company, but the representative with whom the farmer and irri-
gator comes into most frequent and intimate contact is the ditch rider,
who is generally appointed by the manager or president. His duties
consist in patrolling the ditch throughout the season of actual opera-
tion, for the purpose of seeing that the works are in good repair, and
to superintend the proper distribution of water to the various stock-
holders or irrigators from the system, and are somewhat similar to
those of the water commissioner hereafter described, the main canal
in this case taking the place of the stream, and the contracts or stock
the place of the priority decree. In order to properly distribute the
water the ditch rider is provided with a list of the persons having
water rights from the canal, showing the amount to which each is en-
titled under his contract; or in case of community stock companies,
with a list of the stockholders and the amount of stock owned by each.
Such a list furnishes the necessary data to enable him to distribute
the water according to the quantity or proportion called for by these re-
spective interests.

The larger irrigation systems generally have several distributary
canals leading from the main one and following as nearly as possible
the ridges or highest ground of the areas designed to be watered from
them. Such distributaries obviate the necessity for such long and
expensive individual lateral ditches as would be necessary if all such
laterals diverted directly from the main canal. The expense of indi-
vidual diverting works, as well as the danger attendant upon a multi-
tude of diversions from the main canal, is also much reduced. The
distributaries also generally follow the slopes of the ridges, and do
not have a uniform light grade, as is the case with the main canals.
Sometimes, also, natural drainage channels are followed, thus mater-
ially reducing their cost of construction.

At various points along the main canal or distributary lateral
branches are diverted for conveying the water to the land of the indi-
vidual consumers. As the amount to which each user is entitled is
limited, it becomes necessary to place regulating structures at the
points of diversion for the purpose of regulating the flow into these
laterals. These consist of wooden, box-like structures in which slid-

THE IRRl GA TWN AG E. 1 53

ing gates are placed, by which the size of aperture from the main
canal is regulated and the flow of water therefrom controlled. Where
considerable accuracy of results is attempted, there is also placed in
the lateral ditch below the regulating gates a weir whose flow for all
depths is computed and tabulated, and for the purpose of determining
the depth at any time a graduation scale is so placed with reference
to the weir that the depth can be conveniently and accurately read
off. When it is desired to deliver into a lateral, so arranged, a given
volume of water, it is merely necessary for the ditch rider to consult
his weir tables and find the depth over this weir necessary to dis-
charge the required amount. He then increases or lessens the open-
ing from the main canal by moving the sliding gate in the regulating
structure until the required depth over the weir is realized. This is
the most important duty of the ditch rider, and for its proper execu-
tion he is expected to make a trip daily over the entire canal, or
his division of it, and to examine and regulate the gate of every con-
sumer. He usually travels on horseback or in a two- wheeled cart, and
carries a shovel, a hatchet, a small sharp-pointed bar, and frequently
a number of empty sacks. The hatchet is used to repair structures
and nail on boards which may have become loosened; the bar is for
raising gates which may be difficult to move by hand; and the shovel
and sacks are frequently required for the repair of banks and the
stoppage of holes caused by the work of gophers, muskrats, and other
burrowing animals, whose depredations frequently result in serious
and expensive breaks in the embankments. The holes thus mad*} are
usually small and insignificant at first, but become rapidly enlarged
through the erosion of the escaping waters, and if not stopped event-
ually result in a breach carrying away a portion of the embankment.
The ditch rider, however, is expected to inspect the whole works un-
der his charge daily, and usually detects the leaks by means of the
escaping waters before serious results ensue. Upon the discovery of
a leak thus caused, his first efforts are directed to the location of the
point on the inside of the bank at which the' water enters the hole.
This is frequently detected through the eddy or vortex appearing at
or near the opening. Having located this point, the orifice, if small,
can be closed by pushing into the hole one or two empty sacks; if al
ready too large to be closed in this manner, it can usually be accom-
plished by first filling a few sacks a half or a third full of loose earth
and ramming them into the mouth of the opening into which the water
from the ditch is passing. In this manner holes of considerable size
can usually be effectually stopped in a few minutes.

The regulating gates before mentioned are frequently kept locked,
as already stated, and the key thereto carried by the ditch rider.
When, as frequently occurs, a water consumer has completed his irri-

1 54 THE IRRIGTION A GE.

gation and has for the time being no use for water, he may desire that
it be shut put from his lateral. In such cases he leaves a note tacked
on his head gate, requesting the ditch rider to shut it off at a specified
time, and in the same manner notifies him to turn it on when he again
needs it. The ditch rider gets these messages when he makes his
daily round over the ditch.

Where a ditch does not exceed 12 or 15 miles in length one ditch
rider is expected to patrol its entire length, but upon more extensive
systems several may be required to perform these duties. Where there
are several required the canal is divided into divisions, each of which
is patrolled by a separate rider. In such cases the length of a division
ridden by one man depends upon the character of the duties, varying
materially with the amount of repairs, the danger of breaks and leaks,
and the number of regulating gates to look after. The average length
of a division is, however, from 12 to 15 miles, and the average compen-
sation for the work ranges from $50 to $75 per month, out of which
he must pay his own board and furnish and maintain his own horse
and cart.

AN UNWATERED EMPIRE.

BY GEN. NELSON A, MILES.

My interest in the subject of irrigation began some three decades
ago when, in the performance of official duty, I had occasion to
explore more or less thoroughly that vast extent of sparsely settled
or unoccupied land bounded on the east by the one-hundredth
meridian, on the north by the 49th parallel, on the south by the Rio
Grande, and extending to the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges on
the west. The thought often occurred to me then — and the thought
has grown into a conviction as the years have gone by — that it was
not the part of economy of nature to have this enormous expanse of
land lie inert and waste. Millions of acres were apparently desert,
where the coyote starved and only the cactus and sage bush could
live; yet the soil held within itself the elements of productiveness,
the air was as pure as heaven, the scenery inspiring as a beautiful
picture, the application of the vivifying water the only thing lacking
to arouse its rich potential energies.

Since those early days I have, from time to time, with voice and
pen, done what I could to advocate the conservation of the water
supply of our arid lands and the preservation of the trees, which are
the guardians of the fountains at the waters' source.

Since the foundation of our Government center of population has
been steadily moving westward, the pioneer spirit of the East seeking
homes and independence far a\*ay from the stifling atmosphere of the
large overcrowded cities. This united desire of our people to own a
home rather than to rent one — to be their own landlords rather than
some landlord's tenants — assures the vitality of the great American
Republic. The American farmer is soverign to-day, and the dignity
and independence engendered by his free environment, the health-
fulness of mind and body resulting from the pure air he breathes, the
love of country which home-owning stimulates, make him the pre
server of those beneficial institutions under which we live

It would be a sad day, full of evil portent to the Republic, if
home-building should become unpopular, if gravitation towards the
cities should overcome the outward march into the expansive country,
if tenantry in an over-crowded alley should be chosen in preference
to a free quarter section in valley or upland. Therefore I say the
devising of means whereby the public domain is available for home-
seekers, and the arid lands are made habitable and productive, is now
one of the most important lines of American endeavor. I reiterate

156 THE IRRIGA TION A GE

the saying of the keen satirist and wise. philosopher: That whoever-
could make two ears of corn or two blades of grass to grow upon a
spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of
mankind and do more essential service to his country than the whole
race of politicians put. together.

The utility of irrigation ceased to be questioned thousands of
years ago, and we have the records of successful methods which are
as old as the first pages of written history itself. We have evidence
that the aborigines of the southwest had perfected a system of irri-
gation, and the natives of New Mexico and Arizona, who brought
their methods from Mexico and Spain, handed down their skill to
posterity.

I am not optimistic enough to believe the ingenuity of men
can encompass the redemption of the six hundred millions of acres
which comprise the nation's vacant public lands, but if, as had been
claimed there is water enough for the irrigation of one hundred
millions of acres (providing the supply is economically used), I can
easily imagine ten millions of good citizens finding homes on farms
which are self-supporting. In the state of Texas there are still many
millions of acres of unclaimed acres which would lend themselves
readily to irrigation methods and become valuable to settlers. The
area of this great state may be appreciated by remembering the fact
that if it were populated as densely as the state of Massachusetts
there would be over ninety millions of souls within its borders. But
it is the immense tracts that embrace a large part of Arizona, New
Mexico, Utah and Nevada, much of Wyoming, Colorado, California
and Oregon, and the basin of the Columbia in interior, Washington,
which comprise mainly the public domain.

It appears that private or corporate enterprise cannot be trusted
to control the improvement and reclamation with justice and equality
for all concerned. The states themselves are as yet not financially
strong enough to undertake the task. It seems to me, therefore,
that the plan proposed is the most feasable and just. It is: Let the-
Government build the storage reservoirs and the main line canals,
and the settlors provide the smaller distributing system by banding
themselves together in co-operative organizations.

I believe that Congress is awakening to a sense of the importance
and propriety of lending national aid to the movement. Already
considerable sums have been appropriated for the purpose of investi-
gating hydrographic conditions, measuring streams, making reser-
voir surveys, etc., and I believe that before long the policy of
national aid in the building of storage reservoirs will be established.

The Government has spent over eleven millions of dollars in
improving the navigation of the Missouri river, as its middle course

THE 1RRIGA TION A GE. 157

is through an arid or semi-arid region, and as the necessity for water
transportation increases in direct ratio to the productiveness of the
land through which the river flows, it seems logical and right that
the attention of the Federal authority should now be given to the
conservation, for irrigation purposes, of its surplus flood, which does
such great damage along its lower course when, swelled by melting
snows, its mighty volume bursts through its expensive confines.

The National Government has appropriated, to June 30, 1900, for
•expenditure by the Mississippi River Commission, $37,647,780.17, of
which $15,403,901.87 were expended for levees. There must be added
to this latter item over fifteen millions of dollars contributed by the
states, making thirty and one-half millions expended in efforts to
confine the surplus wealth of vitalizing fluid contributed by moun-
tains until it is lost in the great ocean. Think of the thousands of
farms that could be made productive by the judicious expenditure of
only a part of this great sum. There are able engineers who even
question the wisdom of constructing artificial banks, claiming that
sooner or later the restless flood will break through, and when it does
the damage will be a thousand-fold greater than it would were the
waters allowed to spread as nature permitted.

But there is no question as to the utility of storing up a portion
of the flow of water that runs away in non-irrigation seasons that it
may be available for use during the growing periods. As a distin-
guished United States engineer, referring to the arid region of the
West, reports, ' 'In no other part of the Uuited States, or anywhere
else in the world, are there such potent and conclusive reasons, of a
public as well as a private nature, for the construction of a compre-
-hensive reservoir system."

A PLAN FOR RECLAIMING THE

ARID LANDS OF OUR

GREAT WEST.

BY C. B. PARKER.

After an experience of forty years west of the Missouri river,
and several years of the time in the saddle from Omaha to Portland,
Oregon, from North Dakota to Texas and from British Columbia on
the coast to Mexico and after advocating for thirty years the political
econony and practicability of irrigating by United States Government
this vast enterprise of now worthless land equal in area to ten states
the size of Ohio and thereby reclaiming it to the highest possible
state of productiveness capable of providing homes for and sustaining
a population of 100,000,OOC 'of the over-crowded of our eastern cities
and those coming to our shores from Europe.

The writer was highly gratified as a delegate to the late National
Irrigation Congress that convened at Chicago, Nov. 21 to 24, partici-
pated in by such notables as G3a Nalsaa A. Milas, GDV. Roosevelt,
Secretary of Agriculture, Wilson; Senator Foster, of Washington,
Senator Carter, of Montana, Senator Perkins, of California, and
Senator Beverige, of Indiana, as well as Hons. A. C. Bartlett, James
Deering, Geo. F. Stone, John E. Springer, of Chicago, and Pres.
James J. Hill, of the Great Northern R. R., and Gov. Pettis, of
Arizona, all advocating irrigation by Government Aid.

Congress was memorialized to construct reservoirs by a system
of dams in the mountains and foot-hills for storing the early flood-
waters of summer and President McKinley was telegraphed, asking
his attention to the matter is his next message to congress. Much
discussion was given to the complex question of the impracticability
of elevating water onto much of this more elevated land and the loss
of water by seepage in the ditches of the more sandy regions.

Now these objections, are as the writer believes, fully met and
overcome by the patented invention of Col. Alexander Hoagland, of
Louisville, Kentucky, in his steel channel or canal, concrete lined,
that is thoroughly indorsed as practical from economic and sanitary
standpoints.

Imagine a steel canal, concrete lined, from North Dakota to
Galveston .resting on a concrete foundation, constructed in one-half
the time, at one-third less expense than a dry cacal and supplied with
water in the regions of greatest altitude by Col. Hoagland's pump or

THE IRRIGATION AGE

159

elevator at the rate of 3,000 gallons per minute from artesian wells as
may be necessary.

Some of the advantages of this reservoir retaining] system of

MARITINE SHIP CANAL.

storing the early flood-waters of the mountain streams are: 1st. To
hold in store for use later in the season for irrigation purposes. 2nd.
Preventing the annual damage by floods to crops, property and live

160

THE IRRIGATION AGK

stock in the Mississippi Delta. 3d. As a sanitary measure avoiding
or preventing the epidemics of malaria and fevers that prevail as a
result of the annual overflow of the low lands of the Mississippi
Valley from Omaha to New Orleans. Government has found this to
be one of her perplexing as well as expensive wards to regulate at as
great an expenditure yearly as the cost of hundreds of miles of this
steel canal, and the loss of crops, live stock and property for a single
year would complete our system from the Canada line to Galveston.
Some of the advantages of our enterprise are:

ELEVATOR.

1st. The rise in value of all this land.

2nd. Valuation of crops, fruits and dairy products not over-
looking the poultry industry that now excells in all our great central
western states the entire wheat crop.

3rd. Rents and revenue from water tax.

4th. Freight and traffic for the Railroads.

5th. Happy homes for the millions in our country with the best
climate in the world.

6th. The building of villages, towns and cities.

7th. The opening and developing of the greatest iron and coal
mines, furnaces and foundries in the world for the manufacturing of

TEE IRRIGATION AGE. 161

the steel and iron for our canal on the ground and forever furnishing
employment for thousands in the great Western industrial possi-
bilities.

Was ever such a jigantic or colossal opportunity offered for a
truly American system of "Home Expansion" and development of
these arid lands and the sleeping billions of ore and coal in the
mountains deposited there by our Beneficent Creator and surely this
we have a right to without the humiliation of asking permission of
Great Britain or any other country, as in our much wanted and surely
needed Nicaragua canal.

Irrigating the West is no longer considered a sectional enterprise
but one purely National and we believe this plan of the steel canal
being properly shown to congress, they will see it as practical,
feasable, logical and of sound political economy, promising greatest
returns for the outlay than any plan or enterprise in the history of
•our grand country.

THE DIVERSIFIED FARM.

PROFITS IN CHICORY.

The growing of chicory has become a
profitable industry in the past few years
in the states of Michigan, Illinois, Wis-
consin and Nebraska. The plant averages
six to ten tons of roots per acre, many
getting 15 to 20 tons from an acre, where
the soil is properly prepared and cultiva-
tion perfect. From numerous reports
made on the crop the general cost of grow-
ing an acre and preparing for the market
ranges about $33, and the income at $6.00
to $8.00 per ton runs $50 to $80. The
crop is practically the same as sugar beats
in the yields, cost of growing and income
from a given area. As the uses of chico-
ry are established and increasing among
Americans every year and factories are
being erected in various places for hand-
ling the product the wide awake farmers
have in this another valuable product that
can be successfully handled in almost
every section.

Chicory comes to us from Europe where
it has been used for many centuries. It
was regarded as a table delicacy in many
forms among the ancient Romans, who
used the tops as spinach and the roots for
coffee. The use as coffee has become so
general among the people of Europe, that
the demand is greater than the supply.
This accounts for the rapid increase in
the planting of chicory in this country
during the past three or four years. The
plant is extensively used for pastures for
sheep, and cut and cured tne same as
clovers for hay. Some reports are that an
acre will yield the second year after plant-
ing fully 35 tons of forage and the next
year will increase to 40 or more tons of

good feed. This hay is valuable for feed-
ing sheep and beef cattle. Hogs thrive
on the roots and horses will eat both plant
and roots and be benefitted by the toning
effect on their system.

The soil best suited to chicory growing
is the rich sandy loom, free of stones,
containing little clay and well under-
drained. Land that produces good carrots
or parsnips will yield fine crops of chicory.
The plant takes up much of the earth
elements, especially potash. This plant
needs a fertilizer something like the Irish
potato; a complete mixture should contain
about 8 per cent, each of phosphoric acid
and potash and 3 per cent nitrogen and
500 to 700 pounds per acre is a fair appli-
cation.

The chicory seed should be sown with a
drill in rows 15 to 18 inches apart, and
when the plants appear be thinned to
stand about the same distance as parsnips.
This is for the growth of roots. If only
hay is wanted then the seed may be sown
broadcast and left unthinned. For root
growth about 2 pounds of seed will plant
an acre, but for the hay crop 4 to 5 pounds
may be drilled and even 20 pounds sown
in the broadcast method. May is a good
time for planting. Cultivation is practi-
cally the same as that given other root
crop. Harvesting may be done with a
plow, shovel or specially prepared machine.
The tops should be cut off and used for
forage and the roots stored in cellars or
sent to the factory.

Many people desire to use chicory for
home coffee and cannot purchase it on the
market. Such persons can grow what they
want and dry it as easily as they could

THE IRRIGATION A GL

163

brown coffee and in much the same way.
When mixed with good coffee at the rate
of one part chicory to four parts coffee it
makes a more pleasant and agreeable din-
ner beverage. Where a factory is ap-
proachable there is money in growing
chicory and these are being established in
different sections. If no factory is in reach
then the plant may be successfully cul-
tivated for the hay and the home value of
the roots for feeding and as substitute
for coffee. The farmer who has sheep or
hogs or feed cattle for market will find in
this plant a valuable addition to his crops.
It may be used as a soiling crop on any
worn farm to great advantage. It stands
for years as a forage plant and assists in
reclaiming worn-out land.

JOEL SHOMAKER.

HOW TO CONSTRUCT A SILO.

Mr. John Gould, of Ohio, who is in
this respect well qualified, gives a detailed
statement in the Michigan Farmer. We
have rarely seen a more thorough presen-
tation of the matter. By following close-
ly these directions you cannot go far astray
in building a silo. We quote from Mr.
Gould as follows:

"To start with, a cow wants, in 175
days, about five tons of silage, or 50
pounds a day. This means (to cover all
losses, waste on top, evaporation, etc), six
tons as it falls on the hill in the field, and
will, we think, make five tons of fed silage.
Figure that an acre of good corn planted in
3£ feet rows, 10 to 11 quarts of peed to the
acre, will make 15 tons of silage. Don't
expect 30 to 75. Around silo 20x15 feet
in diameter will hold 60 tons; 24x15 feet,
78 tons; 28x15 feet, 96 tons; 32x15 feet,
105 tons; 30x17 feet, 135 tons. In build-
ing, two smaller silos are preferable to one
very large one, and for summer feeding, a
small one — in comparison — is a necessity,
on account of feeding off quite a thickness
from the surface each day to prevent waste.

''At present the round stave silo seems
to be the much-inquired-after sort. The
experience with them has been quite as
satisfactory as with the most costly framed
ceiled silos. The discovery that freezing
did not in any way injure the silage sur-
face, and that silage was pretty difficult to
freeze anyway, has made the tub silo all
the more popular. As carriers have been
so much improved, and 'man holes' so
easily cut in a round silo, the disposition
is now to make them deep, 30 feet if pos-
sible, so as to get great pressure from the
weight of the silage itself. Staves can be
made of any good timber feee from shakes
— pine, hemlock, spruce, white wood and
cucumber. The favorite width of staves
2x4, and 2x5 inch stuff. A wide stave is
apt to 'buckle'. There is a wide difference
of opinion about whether the staves should
be matched or beveled, or both.

"In silo building long staves are avoided
by splicing the ends of two staves of un-
equal length, so that when in the silo walls,
the splice joint would not all come in the
same circle. The ends of two staves are
made square; both ends are sawed into one
inch, and a tongue, made of a piece of gal-
vanized iron 2x3| inches is put in and the
stave hammered up to a close fit. In set-
ting up the silo, before the hoops are
tightened much, the staves should all be
sprung back to a smooth surface. If
staves are irregular widths, have the out-
side show it.

"Of hooping there is no end of a mixup
between bands, rods and woven wire fence,
the latter having points of much super-
iority over any other. The rods and band
hoops need iugs and threads with double
burrs so that the latter can not pull off,
and when the silo either swells or shrinks,
the burrs can be loosened or tightened as
demanded. The coil wire fence with its
torsion, makes a hoop that gives or takes
up of its own accord, and the silo staves
when dried out are up snug and can not
'fall together' on a hot day by looseness.

164

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Four breadths of wire fence are ample.
Fasten each end of a breadth of fence to two
54 inch Iong4x4-inch hardwood scantlings,
so that when wrapped about the silo the
clamps will come within a foot of each
other. Bolt these two clamps together
with two 1-inch bolts, with secure heads
and double burrs, using at least 3 inch
washers. Put these breadths on 17-inches
apart, so as to have 'man holes' between
and cement. Round out the floor of the
silo, so it will be the lowest in the center;
pound down the clay hard, letting it come
up against the staves over the cement. If
rats bother, and are likely to come up from
underneath, a cement floor would be well.

"Mark out squares for the 'manholes.'
Nail on two cleats and clinch them and
then saw out the 16x18 door. Rough and
clinch strips on outside the hole for a
close jointed 'jam.' Put the door in from
the inside where it was sawed out from,
and the silo is filled, make a little clay
mortar, fill the inside of the jam with it,
push in the door and tack it 'just to stay,'
and one has a close-fitting, air-proof door.
When feeding, dig down to it, kick it in
from the outside, and do not bother with
latches and hinges.

''Do not cover silage with an elaborate
roof. It should not be shingla and pitch
tight. A leaky roof is all the better for
the silage. It would be better if all off
when filling. Silos can go down into the
ground if the fellow wants to throw silage
up out of the silo. Make good, fair stone-
work for wall, and just before getting to
the surface 'jog' the wall out from the in-
side enough to make a slight shoulder.
Set the tub silo on this, then wall up out-
side, but cement to the silo. On the inside,
plaster up to, and a little over the staves,
and one has a close, air-proof 'union' of
stone and stave. Silos of metal, combina-
tion, brick, etc., have not answered the
expectations of their builders. The wood-
en silo of some sort has always proved

best. It is not known whether paint has
paid.''

PRESERVED MILK.

The following bulletin was issued by
the University of Arizona, and treats of
the use of pieservatives in milk, showing
their harmfulness:

"Late in the month of September,
while the weather was yet warm, one
creamery patron was heard to say to an-
other, 'What's that thing for?' indicating
by a motion of his hand, a milk cooler
standing near. Upon being told that it
was a milk cooler, and that both morning
and evening milk was cooled by its use
every day before sending to the factory,
the first speaker replied : 'What's the
use of all thdt trouble? Get a little Pre-
servaline, that will keep your milk all
right and isn't half so much work,' and in
his reply expressed, I am sorry to say,
the sentiment of many creamery patrons.

''The use of preservatives id milk is the
lazy man's substitute for cleanliness. The
fact that it is deemed necessary to add
something to the milk to keep it sweet
until it reaches the factory is evidence of
unclean or careless handling, while the
fact that preservatives are added is evi-
dence of criminal ignorance on the part of
the persons using them.

"It is possible to make good butter or
cheese only when the souring of the cream
or milk is under control of the manufac-
turers. If, then, milk comes to the facto-
ry so adulterated by the use of chemicals
that it will not sour, it is impossible to
make good butter or cheese from it. In
butter making large losses of fat in the
butter have been traced to this cause, and
we have known the entire make of a cheese
factory for several days to be an absolute
loss because a single patron used Preserv-
aline in his milk.

But more important than these finan-
cial losses is the fact that the use of the
preservatives renders the milk unwhole-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

165

some and deleterious to health. The
liquid preservatives most commonly used
depend for their preserving power upon
the presence of formic aldehyde of which
they are in part composed. Concerning
this disinfectant A. S. Mitchell, chemist
for the Wisconsin Dairy and food Com-
mission, made the following statement in
Hoard's Dairyman in 1898: During the
last year a new and most powerful disin-
fectant has been foisted upon the market
as being harmless, and with the advantage
claimed that it could not be detected by
chemical means. This substance is formic
aldehyde, a substance in general use as a
disinfectant and for preserving and hard-
ening dead tissues. Doctors have been
obliged to abandon its use as an antiseptic,
in a very dilute form, for preserving ear
washes and similiar solutions, as continued
contact in dilutions as high as 1 to 10,000
causes the skin to die and peel off'.

''The fact that a solution is strong
enough to kill bacteria in the milk should
be sufficient to deter any intelligent man
with a conscience from adding it to that
which he sells for human food. Because
some of the readers of this article have
used Preservaline or Freezene in their
milk during the past summer without, to
their knowledge, having killed, or injured
the health of any of the creamery s cus-
tomers, is no argument for the continuance
of its use. It should not be necessary to
prove that the substance will cause direct
injury in the doses in which milk is used
in order to establish the fact that it is
harmful. Many cases of sickness and
death have been traced to the presence of
chemical preservatives in milk and the cit-
izens of Tucson are at present investigating
cases in which death is supposed to have
resulted from this cause.

''The laws of twenty-^ix of our states

make this adulteration of milk a crime

punishable by a fine or imprisonment.

Unfortnnately our territory has no law

providing for the punishment of this crime.

All creamery men should, then, be a law
unto themselves and, standing together,
unrelentingly refuse any milk suspected of
having been treated with chemical preser-
vatives or any other form of adulteration.

"The use of chemical preservatives is
the unscrupulous man's substitute for care
and cleanliness, for by proper handling,
milk may be kept sweet until delivered to
the factory, even in an Arizona climate.
A former Timely Hint dwelt somewhat at
length upon the necessity of cleanliness in
handling milk and we would not like to
emphasize more strongly and specifically
the necessity of paying proper attention to
cooling the milk.

"One morning in July the writer stood
at the weight can of a creamery and took
the temperature and tested the acidity of
each lot of night's and mixed night's and
morning's milk delivered. If these lots
of milk had all been handled with equal
care as to cleanliness, the temperature at
which they bad stood through the night,
as indicated by that taken at the creamery
in the morning, might be reasonobly con-
aidered as responsible for their acid con-
dition at that time. The temperatures of
the night's milk varied from 78 to 93 de-
grees F. , and while the variations in acidity
did not conform exactly with those of
temperature, generally speaking, the warm-
er the milk the worse its condition. It is
needless to say that the milk at 9H degrees
was sour; it was so sour that particles of
clabber stuck to the sides of the weight
can as the milk was drawn off. arid yet, the
driver insisted that the milk was sweet
and became profanely abusive when the
weigher politely told him that the milk in
that condition would thereafter be refused.
Other lots of milk with a temperature as
low as 84 degress were sour, indicating
that lack of cleanliness had contributed to
their souring.

"As stated before, this condition of
affairs is absolutely unnecessary. In our
experience at the Experiment Station farm

166

THE IRRTGA'lION AGE.

we have observed that by the use of the
ordinary tin drum milk cooler filled with
well water, which with us has a temperature
of from 70 to73 degrees, milk, may be re-
duced in temperature ten degrees; that by
running it over the cooler a second time
the temperature may be brought down five
degrees more; and that by wrapping the
cans in which the milk stands in wet bur-
lap or gunny sacks the temperature may
be still further reduced to that of the at-
mosphere or lower. During the first
fifteen days in July, including the hottest
days and nights of the season and the hot-
test twenty-four hour period recorded since
the establishment of the weather bereau
in Phoenix, the average temperature of
the night's milk in the morning, under
this treatment, was 71 degrees, which was
less than the average minimum tempera-
ture of the atmosphere for that period. On
very warm nights the temperature of the

milk went several degrees below that of
the surrounding air. Under this treat-
ment the iacrease of acid in the milk
during the night was very slight. The
average per cent of acid in the milk im-
mediately after milking, during the first
ten days in July, was 165 per cent, while
the same milk on the following morning
showed a presence of only 17 per cent of
acid. Milk seldom smells or tastes sour
when containing less than 3 per cent of
acid.

"With these facts to base conclusions
upon we feel safe in stating that, with the
exercise of reasonable cleanliness in milk-
ing and in the care of utensils, and by
taking proper care in cooling, milk may be
delivered at the factory in good condition,
and that there is no excuse based on reason
for what we deem the criminal adulteration
of milk by the use of chemical
preservatives."

PULSE OF IRRIGATION.

DEEP WELLS.

Mr. S. L. Gary writes from Louisiana to
the Rice Industry: '' Irrigation com-
menced in southwest Louisiana six or
seven years ago with canals, and these are
being improved year by year. Three or
four years ago a deep well was put down
at Mermen tau at 148 feet; it proved to be
a flowing. Since then one to two hundred
deep wells have been put down, water ris-
ing to or near the surface. The difficulties
of construction were many; the price of
tubing has doubled and we are experi-
menting with substitutes. Glazed and
perforated tiling may do, and will lessen
the cost considerably. We are now pay-
ing two dollars a foot for six inch wells.
The average depth, 150 to 180 feet, with
five inch pipe and stationary engine will
cost, say $1,200, and will flood one hun-
dred acres, possibly two hundred, experi-
ence will tell. Larger plants will be more
economical. Such wells are being put ten,
twenty and fifty feet apart, united just be-
low water level, say ten feet, making any-
where from ten to thirty feet below the
surface. Then a large pump and engine
can be run by one set of hands night and
day as cheaply as the canals for the same
lift and capacity. The supply of water is
seemingly inexhaustible, the temperature
for use for flooding or drinking, generally
soft for washing, and mineral enough for
a tonic-.

The experiment so far seems to be a
practical success. The why we want wells
is very easily answered. Water is one of
the three essentials to successful farming,
and a vital essential like the soil, moisture
or heat, the successful farmer must own or

control. We want wells to make success-
ful farmers and freeholders. Their success
is the success of all, and their success de-
pends largely upon the farmer's control of
the elements upon his own farm. The
length of his growing season, the value of
his crops per acre, and his control of the
crop conditions on the farm are the great
factors in his success, and the success of
the rest of the community depends upon
his. Here in this prairie region every-
thing seemed to favor the agriculturist,
except that at times in the growing season
there might be a time too dry for rice,
which must be flooded to get best results.
A deep well on each farm fills the bill, and
will give to Southwest Louisiana the most
prosperous farmers in the country.

Wells are used for irrigation in many
countries by different people and with
varying success. The depth of well, the
lift to be made, the quantity and quality
of the water, its temperature and the char-
acter of the soil and subsoil must all be
considered in successful irrigation. Na-
tional Encyclopedia says: "Many such
wells exist in London. Those which form
the fountains in Trafalger square descend
into the upper chalk to a depth of 393 feet.
The most famous artesian well, perhaps,
is that of Crenells, in the outskirts of
Paris, where the water is brought from
the Cault at a depth of 1,798 feet. It
yields 516} gallons of water a minute,
propelled thirty-two feet above the sur-
face; temperature 81i degrees fahrenheit.

"A well in the course of construction at
Pesth yielded at a depth of 3,100 feet
17,500 gallons of water a day of a tempera-
ture of 161 degrees fahrenheit, projected

168

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

thirty-five feet above the surface. One at
Sperenburg, Prussia, is 1,462 feet deep."

Wells have been bored in the great
Sahara desert. There are seventy-five
such wells in one district, 75 degrees
fahrenheit, yielding in all 600,000 gallons
per hour, with the result that several of
these wandering tribes have settled down,
constructed villages, planted date-palms
and entirely renounced their wandering
lives.

Artesian wells have supplied a portion
of the data upon which the internal tem-
perature of the earth may be calculated.
Being below the zone, affected by the
temperature of the seasons, consequently
the water is of constant temperature.
Thus the Grenelle has a constant tem-
perature of 31 degrees, while the mean
temperature of the air in the cellar of the
Paris Observatory is only 53 degrees. By
a series of very careful experiments it is
found that the rise in temperature is i
degree for each fifty-five feet down to
1,800 feet, than i degree for each forty-
four feet.

There are several deep wells in the
United States, one at St. Louis 3,843 feet;
Columbus 1,775 feet; Louisville 2,086
feet, and Charleston, S. C., 1,250 feet.

It is easy to see that the best of these
flowing wells would not furnish sufficient
water for rice on the scale grown in South-
east Louisiana. The Grenelle, 1,798 feet,
only furnishes 516 gallons a minute, while
a ten inch well in Louisian furnishes one
thousand to fifteen hundred gallons, and a
ten inch pump with two to f«*ur wells con-
nected, will yield 4.500 gallons per min-
ute. Seventy-five wells in Africa united
give 600.000 gallons per hour, while our
forty-eight-inch pumps yield 1,000.000
gallons in the same time. Then, our hard
clay soil makes it possible to flood so many
more acres. The flooding of land with
pure wator at a constant temperature just
right for vegetable growth opens up an al
most limitless field for experimenting and

practical farming. It lengthens our al-
ready long growing season. It provides
againstdisaste~,sumrneror winter. Grasses,
the most valuable of nature's blessings,
will be increased in variery and quality,
semi-tropical fruit trees may find special
protection in warm currents of water and
consequent vapor air; two crops of rice
may be quite possible with early and late
irrigation made easy by wells.

Why do we put the wells ten, twenty
and fifty feet apart? Because we are ex-
perimenting, the idea being that we draw
water from a distance and get more. We
began with two inch wells, and now six,,
eight and ten are more used. E. Scharff
of Jennings has a ten inch well just put
down at Welsh, La., 118 feet, water rising
very near the surface, has flooded over
ninety acres of rice in six days' pumping.
To cover ninety acres four inches deep in
six days requires 2,400 gallons of water a
minute. It requires 27,139 gallons to
cover one acre an inch deep.

Artesian does not necessarily mean
flowing, but only water not affected by the
surface. Again, these wells make it pos-
sible to open up every acre in fertile, val-
uable farms of the prairie region of South-
west Louisiana and Southeast Texas.
Who can imagine the beauty and value of
suoh a country — every acre a garden capa-
ble of almost continuous cultivation? This
may sound like fiction, but it is only prose
of the prosest kind, the reality will re-
quire an angel to describe and a Raphael
to picture. '

EDITORIAL COMMENT.

The irrigation problem is too large for
individual initiation. It is a subject that
should be handled by the government. —
jS'aw Francisco Argonaut

In his letter to the National Irrigation
Congress Governor Roosevelt gave vigor-
ous expression to his sympathy with the
movement to preserve the forests and ta

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

make tillable and fertile the now arid
region of the West. About the time the
governor was writing his letter to the Ir-
rigation Congress there appeared in the
Country Gentlemen, the leading agricul-
tural paper of New York, an article urging
the farmers of that state to oppose all
plans for irrigation in the West at govern-
ment expense, not so much because of the
expense as because the reclamation of arid
lands of the West would increase the num-
ber of competing farmers in the markets,
and would thus decrease the profit of the
New York farmers. The narrow selfish-
ness of this is disgusting. It is a part,
perhaps, of the rank conservatism that
would prevent the development of the
country. — Columbus (0.) Dispatch.

There is no greater necessity for the ap-
propriation of money for the purpose of
developing the rivers and harbors of the
country than there is for the expenditure
of a comparatively small amount of gov-
ernment funds in aiding to bring water
upon land that only needs its magic touch
to make it fertile and provide new homes
for citizens of the nation. — Butte Miner.

The necessity of doing something to re-
claim arid lands has been slowly filtering
through the minds of western legislators
for ten years or more. It is time they got
together for a united attack upon the
house and senate committees that deal
with internal improvements. There are
enough congressmen from the West, and
their mentality and aggressiveness are of
sufficient high order to make a stir if they
concentrate their energies. — Spokanf.
( Wash. ) Review.

The reclamation of arid lands is too
vast in its scope and objects for private
enterprise or even state aid. The govern-
ment must deal with the problem sooner
or later. It alone can prevent a ruinous
conflict of interests and conserve the
oceans of water uselessly going to waste.
— North Yakima A'eics.

It would seem to be a good investment
for the government from a business stand-
point, as well as highly desirable for other
reasons. The work is one which private
enterprise cannot well undertake. It re-
quires not only a large capital, but abso-
lute control over the head-waters of some
of the principal streams of the country and
of the region surrounding their sources.
Individuals do not possess this, and there
are objections to granting it to them. The
government, however, can control and
maintain it. — Grand Rapids (Mich.)Press.

One of the greatest movements of the
nineteenth century, one destined to find a
successful issue in the early part of the
twentieth. When this system becomes
general throughout the arid lands of the
West, the entire people of thu country
will share in the prosperous times they
will produce. Thousands of home seekers
will find homes for themselves and their
families. The manufacturers of the East
will find a large field for their products
and will be enabled to employ more men.
These men will consume more of the pro-
ducts of the eastern farmer, and all in all
every section and every industry will be
greatly developed. — Shreveport (La.)
Times.

The general subject is one of great im-
portance. Minneapolis and the North-
west are interested in the proposition di-
rectly. The larger cultivation of the arid
valleys by means of irrigation is sure to be
of advantage, not only to the cities and
towns in the irrigated districts, which
would profit by the increased population
and trade, but to the trade centers as well.
— Minneapolis Journal.

One of the strongest points made in the
Chicago Irrigation Convention in favor of
government assistance to irrigation, was
that it would promote the small farm in-
dustry. The irrigated area is peculiarly
adapted to small farms and unadapted to
bonanza farming. Minnesota lands will

170

THE IRRIGATION AGE,

not go a begging whether the arid lands of
the West are open to settlement or not,
and our reservoir interests can well afford
to join hands with the arid lands interests
in securing such judicious government aid
as may be desired. — Minneapolis Tribune.

The subject is one ©f vast importance,
and one of these days we have no doubt
will receive favorable consideration and
money aid from the government. Tens of
thousands of farmers settled upon small
but productive farms would add greatly by
their labors to the argicultural products of
the United States, and would be new, good
customers of its manufacturers' and mer-
chants.— Pittslurg I'ost.

This work, which is altogether too vast
for private enterprise, it is expected the
national government will take hold of in
the same way that it has spent such enor-
mous sums in river and harbor improve-
ment along the Atlantic seaboard. The
immediate benefit, it is expected, will be
to the West. In a broad way the benefit
will be to the whole country. — Denver
Post.

The irrigation question is not a sectional
one. The East needs more agricultural
lands in the West, that its surplus popu-
lation may find homes. The whole country
will be benefited by the increased produc-
tiveness of the West. The reclaimed arid
lands will support railroads, furnish a
market for manufactured products and en-
able many thousands of Americans to es-
tablish homes. — Minneapolis Times.
• This great work must be prosecuted un-
til the last acre of land and sage brush
susceptible of irrigation is brought under
the revivifying influence of water. The
question may be askea why not allow
private capital to carry on the work which
it has already commenced. The answer is
that private persons cannot control the
sources of supply. Another and more
convincing reason why the national gov-
ernment should solve the problem, instead

of leaving it to individuals and corpora
tions, is that private enterprise has reached
its limit. It has on the whole been a los-
ing business. It has failed financially for
reasons which would not be operative
against the government. — New York Even-
ing Post.

It is justly argued that the national
government and people outside the arid
regions are interested in this movement by
reason of the great value that would be
added to public lands; the protection of
the Mississippi and its tributaries from
floods and the vast additions to trade and
commerce that will be secured by the up-
building of the great West. — Editorial
correspondence, Evansville, (Ind.) News.

The project, if carried out, will be a
benefit to the nation. It will add an
enormous area of very fertile land to the
national domain, which will furnish homes
to a vast population. An additional mar-
ket will be created for our manufacturers,
the railroads will be furnished with addi-
tional traffic, and the wide gap between
the great central valley and the Pacific
slope will be bridged over. Hence there
is a national aspect to the matter, which
renders it entirely proper that congress
should take action. — Toledo Blade.

This is a great problem and must be
carefully considered. It is generally con-
ceded that these lands ought to be re-
claimed. But it will be a costly under-
taking, and perhaps only the government
can undertake it. Moreover, the longer
the work is delayed the more difficult it
will be to do. — Philadelphia Press.

The two general plans that involve all
the others are the storage of storm waters
and reservoirs and the preservation and
extension of the forest. Certainly the
success of the Mormons in Utah shows
how a desert may be made to bloom by
carefully laid plans. The work of the Ir-
rigation Congress is of interest not alone
to the farmers of the far West or to those

THE IRRIGATION AGL\

171

who have interest in arid sections of the
country. — Philadelphia Enquirer.

Governor Roosevelt's suggestions ap-
peared sound and sensible, but every one
of them turned on the postulate of govern-
ment control. And the more the problem
is studied, the more clearly it will be seen
that this is the only way to treat it that
promises satisfactory results. The area
that must be dealt with is too great to be
bounded by state lines, and any practical
plan must ignore them. But this brings
up the greatest problem in the whole
scheme of western irrigation. — Phila-
delphia Public Ledger.

A hundred million acres of good land
are unfit for cultivation, and, in fact, for
habitation, because the rainfall is not suf-
ficient to insure crops. The national in-
terest that is being manifested in reclaim-
ing this big stretch of arid land shows that
work along the right line is progressing
rapidly. The expense of putting this land
into a profitable agricultural condition of
course is very great, but if Uncle Sam gets
back of it, and the right men engineer it,
there will be but little difficulty in creating
a desirable territory for new homes for in-
dustrious farmers. — Drovers' Journal,
Chicago.

As long as fertile, well watered land
with virgin soil remained to be exploited,
naturally but little interest could be ex-
cited over leagues of arid waste known in
the earlier geographies as "the great
American desert." Now that the public
lands in the humid and sub-humid areas
are practically all taken up, it is natural
and inevitable that the problem of dealing
with those neglected portions of territory
should call more urgently for solution. —
Chicago News.

There is an area larger than New York
and New England combined, and the open-
ing of it for successful agriculture would
add much to the productive capacity of

the country. Without doubt the govern-
ment soon will move in that direction, re-
claiming comparatively small tracts from
year to year, until the whole territory is
brought under cultivation. — Troy, N. Y.
Record.

Irrigation is the problem upon which
hinges the redemption of millions of acres
of arid land throughout the western states
and territories. Considerable work has
been accomplished in this line through
the employment of private capital, but if
ever proper results are realized the gov-
ernment itself must take hold of the
matter. — St. Louis Star.

All the West is interested in the plan to
have the government build a system of
storage reservoirs near the headwaters of
streams to use for irrigation purposes.
The idea is that private capital might be
depended on to distribute the waters to
the users. As the government controls
rivers, it could appropriately undertake
the diversion of superfluous water in the
winter and early spring into reservoirs
where it could be stored until it should be
needed in the spring and summer. The
government is the more interested in such
work because it would probably end the
floods that have caused such loss of life
and property. The water which now
swells the Missouri and Mississippi to un-
due proportions at times, would be di-
verted for use in transforming deserts into
gardens.

This new farming community would in-
crease the market for manufactured goods,
and would largely add to the agricultural
wealth of the land. For both these rea-
sons the East as well as the West is in-
terested in the irrigation development. —
Kansas City &tar.

Congress has taken tentative but in-
efficient steps to aid irrigation, granting
the lands to the states which' find them-
selves unable to bear the burden involved
in a large system of irrigation. Money

172

THE JRRTGA1ION AGE.

cannot be raised on them to improve them,
but must be invested before they have any
value. Every argument that has been
made for other national improvements ap-
peals with greater force for this.— St.
Paul Dispatch.

The question of the reclamation of mil-
lions of acres of western lanas by irriga-
tion is no longer a sectional issue — it is a
national one. It is time that the subject
should receive that attention its impor-
tance demands.

The reservoir system will prove the so-
lution of this problem, while abolishing
floods in the Missouri and Mississippi
rivers.

It is a national enterprise and should be
so considered.

It is legitimately the work of congress.
That body should attend to it. — St. Louis
Chronicle.

The Irrigation Congress has intrenched
itself in the broad principle that it is the
duty of the national government to take
care of the arid lands, and it will make a
vigorous — though not necessarily a last
ditch— fight to have congress shoulder the
burden. — Kansas City (Mo.) Journal.

It is proposed to ask an appropriation of
ten million per annum on a " continuous
plan," as is recognized in the river and
harbor work, For ourselves, we think the
possession and occupation of "arid Amer-
ica" more likely to "expand our trade and
give us greater strength among the na-
tions" than the acquisition of all China. —
Jacksonville (Fla>) Times Union.

The first and most immediate benefits
would result to agriculture in the use of
the water to irrigate the arid lands of the
far West. The second result would be
the diverting of tho^e flood waters from the
Mississippi river, thereby relieving the
lowlajids of the valley from the inunda-
tions they periodically cause without such
diversion. While Louisiana has a general

interest in the improvement of the entire
country, and in the promoting of its agri-
culture, this state's special interest is in
the relief from floods from the great rivers
that pour their waters down from the
mountains upon the lowlands. — New Or-
x Picayune.

The national irrigation movement is no
longer an experiment. Its annual con-
gresses have increased in size and impor-
tance for nine years. The object of carry-
ing the convention East is to awaken
eastern interest in the irrigation move-
ment as something which, if successful,
opens an extensive new market to eastern
manufacturers and jobbers. — T'jpeka
Capital.

Slowly but surely the importance of a
national system of irrigation is being im-
pressed upon the United States govern-
ment. The great work being accomplished
by irrigation associations, of which the
National Irrigation Association is the
strongest, will in time be the upbuilding
of the arid West. The government must,
and will in a few short years, take hold of
this important question. — Paso Rohles
(Cal.) Record.

Both political parties have pledged their
support to plans for reclaiming the arid
lands of the West.

The last year-book of the Department of
Agriculture says that private irrigation
has practically reached its limit, and that
in many instances it is proving a losing
business. The reason for this failure
would not exist in the case of government
operations. Eventually every possible
acre of sand and sage brush must be made
productive. — &an Jose (Cal.) Neics.

Private and State enterprise have al-
ready done much to develop the possi-
bilities of some sections. But there are
greater problems to be solved, and the
members of the irrigation congress are
doubtless right in holding that this is

THE IRRIGA I10N A GE.

173

legitimate work for the United States
government itself. No one will object if
the government spends [money to reclaim
arid lands for the benefit [|of bona fide
settlers. — St. Joseph (Mo.} Ntics.

There are not a few people in various
sections of the country, not directly in-
terested in the work of irrigation, who
recognize that every reclaimed acre of land
means a stimulus to -business, and an
eventual benefit to the country — means
more crops, increased population, ad-
vanced civilization, new needs, and con-
sequently a greater volume of business.
What congress has to 'guard against is
schemes to benefit mere private enterprises
at public expense. A project so guarded
will be beneficent, and the people of every
section of the country can consistently ap-
prove it. — Springfield (111.) Register.

Capt. H. M. Chittenden, of the En-
gineer Corps, who has made a careful
study of the subject, asserts that there are
in this country 75,000,000 acres of arid
land which can be reclaimed. This is a
'territory somewhat larger than New Eng-
land and New York together. Consider-
ing the great fertility of irrigated lands, it
will readily be seen» that this reclaimed
territory would support millions of people,
and be a vast addition to the national
wealth and resources. — Boston Herald.

The project is one which would be of
the very greatest benefit, both to the West
and the East — to the West as offering
homes for not less than 10.000,000 people
engaged in farming; to the East in supply-
ing a large home market for manufactures
of all kinds, and increasing to a very great
extent the wealth and resources of our na-
tion— Colorado Springs Gazette.

The day is certainly coming when the
public will realize the importance of fur-
ther developing our land resources. Al-
though the irrigation problem is an old
one in many localities, it is comparatively

new to the country as a whole. These
lands once reclaimed and provided with an
adequate water supply, would become
among the most fruitful and valuable in
the country.-— Sioux City (la.) Times.

There are sufficient and satisfactory rea-
sons for the undertaking this great work
of irrigation by the federal government.
Private enterprise will undertake schemes
that promise early financial returns, but
will do little for the permanent benefit of
mankind. This great work must be prose-
cuted until every barren waste of sand and
sage brush that is capable of irrigation is
made to bloom and blossom like the rose
under the vivifying influence of water. It
is gratifying to note in the eastern press
the assertion that the country will not be
satisfied with anything less. — Tacoma
( Wash. ) News.

There is no doubt that any extensive
plan for the reclamation of arid lands can
be carried on to much better advantage by
the general government than by the states
which have such lands within their bor-
ders. The benefits of so large an addition
to the productive area of the country are
apparent. Tens of thousands of farmers
settled upon small but highly productive
farms, would add greatly to the agricul-
tural products of the United States, and
would be good customers of its manufac-
turers.— Grand Rapids Herald.

The power and duty of the government
to conserve the waters either by forests or
reservoirs arise from the fact that upon
their preservation depends the very exist-
ence of the country. With water we may
have in the arid region prosperous com-
munities, populous states and national
wealth, resources and power; without
water we have deserts, desolation and
death. — Los Angeles Times.

There is sufficient available water in
Spain to reclaim an immense domain. The
government decided in May last to con.

174 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

struct reservoirs and irrigation canals to best be judged from the transformation

enlarge her agricultural area. Certainly that has taken place where only a few

our country ought not to be behind poor, years ago the lizard reigned almost su-

old unenterprising Spain in bringing under preme in his realm of burning desert. The

cultivation her arid fields. — Salt Lake platform (Irrigation Congress) recommends

Tribune. "adequate national legislation reserving

control of the distribution of water for ir-

What would be accomplished were the rigation to the respective states and terri-

national government to undertake the gi- tories. " This should insure prompt action

gantic work of constructing reservoirs and on any feasible plan that may be brought

canals on a scale necessary to bring the to the attention of congress. — Salt Lake

entire arid region under cultivation can City News.

THE RESURRECTION DAY.
By Martha Capps OR vpr.

Blue and cloudlike, in the distance,

Stretched the Gallilean sea,
Tender skies above seemed brooding

Over some glad prophecy;
Reaching out across the future, —

Brightening all the world's dark way.
Hope and promise gave their pledges

On the Resurrection Day.

From the hills of far Judea

Swept a tide of joyful song,
Rocks and trees caught up the chorus

As it swelled and rolled along;
All the earth laughed out in rapture,

Flowers blossomed by the way,
Even Gethsemane's sad garden

Bloomed on Resurrection Day.

Still on Gallilean waters

Shines the sunlight as of old,

Still within that sacred garden

Flowers their fragrant hearts unfold;

Still from nature's holy places
Wandering odors find their way,

While a rapture pure and subtle

Thrills through Resurrection Day.

"Peace be with you," said the Savior,

And the benediction sweet —
Floatidg down the breath of ages —

Waits our longing souls to greet;
Jesus, while Thy gentle presence

Lingers yet beside our way,
Snines toe glory, still reflected,

From the Resurrection Day.

ODDS AND ENDS.

WHAT SHE WANTED.

A huckster was going along on an east
side street early one morning, making the
welkin ring with his sing-song of "Po-ta-
t-o-o-o-es, toma-t-o-o-es. Nice sweet cook-
ing appools." As he drove slowly along
he lifted his eyes to the windows on either
side of the street.

Suddenly there appeared a woman's
head at a window in one of the top flats.
The huckster pulled in his horse and
raised his ear to listen to the commands
he expected would be coming. But the
woman had not the lung power to make
her voice carry so far, and the huckster
called out: "How's that?"

Again the woman called out and her
voice came down faintly. The huckster
didn't know whether she wanted potatoes,
cantaloupes, tomatoes or corn. So he
marked the fourth flat from the corner
and motioned that he would drive around
to the alley. The woman was there wait-
ing for him and called out once more, but
he couldn't understand her.

Gathering a handful of samples of
various vegetables from his stock he
mounted four flights of back stairs and
arrived at the top panting. The woman
stood there awaiting his coming.

"Couldn't hear what you said, lady,"
said the huckster, "so I brought up some
of each kind an' you can pick what you
want an' I'll go down an' get 'em."

"Want?" said the woman, who was in a
towering rage. "Want? I don't want
none of your old vegetables. What I
want is for you to stop hollerin' in front
of this house, or I'll have you arrested.
You're enough to wake the dead. My

husband works all night and he's just got
into a little doze, and goodness knows it's
hard enough to sleep daytimes such
weather as this without a fiend like you
standing in front of the house yelling like
a Comanche. Now you get out of here
and don't you holler no more or I'll get
the police after you."

The huckster stood with set eyes and
drooping jaw, the perspiration dropping
off his chin, while the harangue was going
on. When she had finished he came out
of his trance, and said:

''Is that what you called me all the way
up here for? Send fer yer p'lice, lady;
I'm goiu' to yell to beat the band." And
he went down the stairs and out of the
alley and up the street in front of the
house with four extra links let out of his
throat. And if any person slept on that
street it was under the influence of
opiates. — Kansas City Star.

FEMALE LABOR.

The report which comes from Richmond
to the effect that influence is to be
brought to bear upon the wives and
daughters of workingmen to confine their
own labors to the sphere of their homes,
giving up the places in the factories which
many hold, is rather interesting. It is to
be presumed that these wives and daugh-
ters do not labor in mills and factories
merely because, though having a compe-
tence, they prefer even meagerly paid
employment to luxurious idleness, . but
that they are at work, because if they did
not work they would suffer in some par-
ticular, or in many particulars, in such a

176

THE IRRIGATION AGK

way as to make life considerably less
worth the living. The query is as to
what the agitators of the discontinuence
of employment on the part of these indus-
triously disposed persons intend to substi-
tute as a means of furnishing the objects
of cheir dissuasion with that which they
now secure by honorable labor. It can
hardly be expected that any enthusiasm
which can possibly be excited in favor of
the abstract proposition that wives and
daughter? should not work in factories
will, all alone by itself, satisfactorily fill
the place of substantial clothing and
nourishing food. It is philanthropy or
selfishness that is engaging this crusade
against female labor in Southern mills?

SPOILING A HORSE.

The following satirical suggestions are
made by the Journal of Medicine on
"Kow to Spoil a Horse."

If you have occasion to stop on the
street either do not tie the horse at all, or
tie him to something to take with him if
he wants to get away. If the weather is
chilly it will toughen him to leave him
uncovered; but should you choose to
blanket him, throw the blanket over him
so loosely that the first breeze will turn it
over his head.

A cold wind blowing on the chest of a
heated horse will refresh him greatly, and
if he stands in the gutter with melted
snow and ice running around his heels, so
much the better.

When you return to the stable let the
horse cover the last few rods at the top of
his speed, and pull him up with a loud
triumphant "Whoa?"

And now don't miss the glorious oppor-
tunity of trying the disposition of the
animal. Unfasten all the attaching straps
but one hold-back, and start the horse out
of the shafts. When you see the result
yell like a fiend. The strap that remains

unfastened will first make the shafts
punch him in the stomach.

Then pull all the harness off his back.
If he does not kick it is a sign he is a
good horse — there is no wild horse in
him.

If it is winter and the horse much
heated, either leave him in the stable
unblanketed, or put the blanket on at
once and leave it on. wet, all night.

A draught of cold air from the opening
above the manger to the door behind,
blowing the whole length of his body, will
help to season him. If it is summer slop
his joints with cold water and give him a
couple of swallows to drink — a couple
means any number, from two to a
hundred.

If the horse is tired and exhausted do
not forget to feed him at once. He might
starve to death if you left him for an
hour. A heavy feed of corn will please
him greatly, and a generous allowance of
corn meal will make him look nice and
fat — probably before morning.

A liberal dose of ginger, pepper or
"condition powders" will scare away any
evil spirits that may be hovering about,
and make everything all right.

[f the horse is not dead by the next
morning you can fix him up at your
leisure, and thereafter conscientiously
recommend him as "tough." But should
he be so unreasonable as to die during
the night, you can console yourself with
the reflection that it was not your fault —
the animal was constitutionally weak.

LARGEST MACHINE EVER SHIPPED
OVER THE OCEAN.

The largest piece of machinery ever
exported from this or any country, has
just been shipped to one of the principal
iron works in Germany.

It is a boring machine, capable of
boring cylinders no less than 20 feot in

SHE I B til G ATI ON AGE.

177

diameter. The spindle is 12 inches in
diameter. The machine has a center ele-
vation of 10 feet from the face of the bed
plate. All the movement is controlled by
belt power.

This monster machine weighs over
160,000 pounds, and cost $15,000.

UTTER IDIOT.

Indianapolis Journal: She — Why
should they say stolen kisses are the
sweetest?

He — T think it is due largely to the
natural perversity of human nature. It
is not so much due to the fact of any
sweetness in the mere performance of
osculation as to an inherent desire for
that which is supposed to be unattainable.
Now, for instance, I read an article by an
eminent sociologist on the . "

''It is getting real chilly out here on
the porch. I think we had better go in
the house."

ABENDROTH & ROOT MFG. CO., N. Y.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS.

At the Anuual meeting of the above
named Company the following officers
were elected: Mr. Linus G. Reed, Presi-
dent; Mr. H. C. Kelley, Vice-President;
Mr. F. W. P. Brunig, Secretary and
Treasurer. This completes the reorga-
nization instituted a year ago, and carries
with it an association both of thorough
factory and engineering equipment, also
a Department of Sales which is full
abreast of 20th Century methods.

There was once a wise king who was
awfully curious. He was possessed of a
desire to know everything, and was con-
tinually asking questions. Indeed, his
thirst for knowledge carried him so far
that he wanted to know the age of every
person he met. But, being a king, he
•was exceedingly polite, and would resort
to stategy to gain his ends.

One day there came to the court a gray-
haired professor, who amused the king
greatly. He told the monarch a number
of things that he never knew before, and
the king was delighted. But finally it
came to the point when the ruler wanted
to know the age of the professor, so he
thought of a mathematical problem.

"Ahem?" said the king. "I have an
interesting sum for you; it is a trial in
mental arithmetic. Think of the number
of the month of your birth."

Now, the professor was 60 years old,
and had been born two days before
Christmas, so he thought of 12 December
being the twelfth month.

''Yes," said the professor.

"Multiply it by 2," continued the king.

"Yes."

"Add 5."

"Yes," answered the professor, doing
so.

"Now multiply that by 50."

"Yes,"

"Add your age."

"Yes,"

"Subtract 365"

"Yes."

"Add 115."

"Yes"

"And now, said the king, "might I ask
what the result is?"

"Twelve hundred and sixty," replied
the professor, wonderingly.

"Thank you was the king's response.

"So you were born in December, sixty
years ago, eh?"

"Why, how in the world do you know?"
cried the professor.

"Why," retorted the king, "from your
answer — 1260. The month of your birth
was the twelfth and the last two figures
give your age."

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the professor.
"Capital idea. I'll try it on the next
person I meet. It's such a polite way of
finding out people's ages." — New Ideas.

WITH OUR EXCHANGES.

The charming "Cranford" folks have
been written into a play, and make their
appearance in the February Ladies Home
Journal. Even more dramatic is "The
Beautiful Daughter of Aaron Burr," with
her romance, her supreme happiness and
crushing sorrows all crowded into a few
years. "The Clock by Which We Set All
Our Watches," "The Buffaloes of Good-
night Ranch," "A Woman to Whom
Fame Came After Death," "The Life of
the English Girl," are features of interest.
The last of "The Blue River Stories" is
published in the February journal, and
"The Story of a Young Man" is nearing
its conclusion, while "The Success of
Mary the First" increases in humorous
interest. "Is the Newspaper Office the
Place for a Girl?" is the theme of. Edgar
Bok's editorial symposium, which is made
peculiarly convincing by the opinions of
editors and newspaper women. Caroline
Leslie Field writes of "The Problem of
the Boy;" Helen Watterson Moody, "The
Trying Time Between Mother and
Daughter, and "An American Mother,''
"Why One Man Succeeds and His
Brother Fails." "A Home in a Prairie
Town" and a "Brick and Shingle Farm-
house" give architectural plans and
detail.

THE FORUM.

Of the fourteen articles in the Febru-
ary Forum, the one entitled "The Rehabi-
litation of the Democratic Party," by "An
ex-Democrat," will, perhaps attaact the
widest atttention. In his article, Nationa-
lization of the State Guards," Gen. T. M.
Anderson advocates a judicious combi-
nation of our regular and volunteer estab-

lishments. Hon. William Dudley Foulke
contributes an article entitled "The
Spellbinders," a narrative of the trials of
stump speakers in the heat of political'
campaigns, which is replete with humor-
ous anecdotes. The Lessons of the-
Election — A Rejoinder," by Willis «T..
Abbot, is a reply from a Democratic stand-
point to Mr. Heath's article, "Lessons of
the Champaign," published in the Forum
for December. Mr.'Kelly Miller, the em-
inent negro scholar, a leader of his race,,
writes about "The Negro and Education."'
"The Status of Porto Ricans in Our
Polity," by Stephan Pfeil, is a discussion-
of the vexatious question of the citizenship-
of the residents of our recently acquired-
possession, Porto Rico. Mr. James G.
Whitely, a leading authority on inter-
national law, has an article on the "Monroe-
Doctrine and the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty. 'r
"Should Woman's Education Differ from.
Man's?" is a dicussion of coeducation by
no less an authority than Charles F.
Thwing, President of Western Reserve-
University and Adelbert College. Mr,
Walter Maearthur's article on "The
American Trade-Unions and Compulsory
Abitration," treats of the labor question,
and the proposed innovation of com-
pulsory arbitrtiaon. "The Dark in
Literature," by Richard Burton, Professor
of Literature, University of Minnesota,
deals with the sombre, the brutal, the
terrible — the abnoamal elements of life —
as reflected in masterpieces of poetry and
the drama.

THE IRR1 GA Ti ON AGE.

179

MC CLURE'S.

McClures Magazine for February will
contain a character study, "Croker, " by
William Allen White, in which this
brilliant writer analyzes Tammany's leader
and declares the secrets of his power.
Also "In the World of Graft."

Professor Ira Reinsen, LL. D., will
contribute on account of some "Unsolved
Problems of Chemistry."

A narrative of Hernando de Soto and
his discovery of the Mississippi, by
Cyrus Townsend Brady, will be fully
illustrated.

"Some Recollections of John Wilkes
Booth," is the title for a personal memoir
of Lincoln's assasin by Clara Morris.

The authors represented are Rudyard
Kipling, Robert Barr, Sarah Orne Jewett,

Josephine Dodge Daskam, and Edwin
Lefevre; the artists are Kenyon Cox,
Edmund J. Sullivan, Lockwood Kipling,
Edwin Lord Weeks, Genevieve Cowles,
Charles L. Hinton, Henry Hutt, George
Gibbs, and Frederic Dorr Steele.

THE SATURDAY EVENING POST.

A dozen of the wealthiest capitalists in
the country — men who wield absolute
control over immense business enterprises
— will tell the readers of The Saturday
Evening Post (February 16) why they
remain in the race which they have
already won.

Each of them writes frankly'whether he
makes money for his own sake, for the
sheer joy of working, or to gain the
power with which vast capital invests
itself.

R.EACtlEJ' ' DIRECT

THE fAMOUJ

WINTER mORU

OF THE

JOUTOWLfT

Springe, Hrfc*, "The Carlsbad of America."
Four other noted Mineral Springs within six miles.
HllStin (The Capital City),

Noted for its Famous Water Power and Artificial Lake, navigable forthirty-five miles.

San HntOniO, The Alamo City and Home of Old Missions.

Galveston, Corpus Cbristf, Hraneae pass, Rocfcport,

The Famous Beach City, Deep Water Harbors and Shooting and Fishing Points.
Dallas, "fort CttOrtb, ROUStOn, The Big Commercial Cities.
]MC£fCO, The Egypt of the New World, and
California, The Golden Gate.

ELEGANT TULLMAN BUFFET SLEEPING CARS.

RECLINING CHAIR CARS (Seats Free of Extra. Charge}.

PULLMAN TOURIST SLEEPING CARS AND ELEGANT DAY COACHES.

TOURIST TICKETS NOW ON SALE VIA THIS LINE AT GREATLY REDUCED RATES,

FOR ILLUSTRATED AND DESCRIPTIVE PAMPHLETS, TIME FOLDERS, MAPS, ETC., CALL ON
OR ADDRESS ANY AGENT OF THE COMPANY, OR THE GENERAL PASSENGER AGENT.

C. G. WARNER,

Second Vice-president,

RUSSELL HARDING,

Third Vice-Pres't and Gen'l Manager ,
ST. LOUIS, MO. —

H. C. TOWNSEND,

Gen'l Passenger and Ticket Agent,

RICHARD YATKS, GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

VOL. XV

CHICAGO, MARCH, 1901.

NO. 6

Irrigation National irrigation is being
In Russia, pushed by Russia. The gov-
ernment contemplates undertaking large
irrigation works in western Siberia. In
the districts of Tomsk and Omsk alone no
less than 833 artesian wells have been
bored during the last four years at a cost
of $300,000. Furthermore, there have
been constructed in the government of
Tomsk, in 74 different districts, altogether
276 miles of canals, while 85 miles of river
beds werrt cleaned from mud, thus reclaim-
ing through irrigation large areas of
country.

Egyptian It is reported that but for the
Reservoirs, improvement effected recent-
ly in irrigation in Egypt, the unprece-
dented failure in the Nile flood ^this year
would have caused greatly increased dam-
age to the Egyptian cotton crop. All the
fine, long staple cotton in Egypt is raised
under irrigation. The construction on the
"Nile reservoirs" is pushing forward rap-
idly toward completion, and the low Nile
of 1899-1900 has greatly facilitated the
work. Ten thousand men are now em-
ployed at Assouan and ten thousand more
on the lower river at the Assiout reser-
voir. Twenty thousand men laboring on
storage reservoirs in the arid region of
the United States would mean the win-
ning of a new West.

A Western Some hundred prominent dai-
Fight. ly Eastern newspapers recen -

ly have editorially expressed views favor-
able to a system of national irrigation. It
would seem that the East is well in line in
wishing the development and reclamation
of the great area west of the hundredth
meridian, and that it is realized that such
a, development would benefit the entire

country and be a national benefit, aiding
to the general wealth and power of the
Nation. While the East is thus willing
to assist and co-operate, it expects, of
course, that the West will make its own
fight. Every local Western organization
of whatever character — chambers of com-
merce, clubs, business . associations —
everything with a president and a secre-
tary should discuss and take action upon
this question of national irrigation and
Government appropriations for the build-
ing of storage reservoirs, and then stand
ready to co-operate with the National
Association, for whatever procedure is
necessary.

Ornamental It was somewhat contradicto-
Plank. ry to hear Representative

Mondell, of Wyoming, urging the recla-
mation of the arid lands, in the house of
representatives, and in invoking the arid
land reclamation plank of the Philadelphia
republican platform, and "Uncle" Joe
Cannon, of Illinoia, and Representative
Grosvenor, of Ohio, repudiating this plank
as "ornamental," not binding,. etc. If the
eastern republicans of the house are not
very careful and do not soon wake up to
the situation, they will get into an em-
barrassing tangle over the arid land irri-
gation question, which is growing strong-
er and stronger with each day.

The opportunity was just right in the
house, had the democrats as a whole been
alive to the situation and to the strength
of the irrigation question, for the demo-
cratic party to place the republicans in a
bad predicament, for the key-note of the
Western irrigation question is "home-
building," and the republican party has
heretofore always championed this class

184

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

of settlement. The demacrats, by now
favoring this idea themselves of providing
homes in the west for thousands of Amer-
ican citizens, could with entire consistency
charge the republicans with having for-
saken their old-time policy for that of
colony-building.

Irrigated In the irrigation debate in the
Homes. house of representatives Rep-

resentative Bell, of Colorado, stated that
he had served on a special committee
which went to the arid west to investigate
conditions of labor and capital, and that
they found in Utah the best labor condi-
tions of anywhere in the United States.

"Why, "he said, "did we find there the
best condition of labor? The reason given
was that the men employed in the coal
mines and in the metalliferous mines and
everywhere else had small homes on this
irrigated land, and whenever there was a
shortage of work the miners of Utah went
to their little homes and cultivated their
land. A family can raise more on one
acre of good fertile irrigated land, in my
judgment, than can be raised on an aver-
age of three or four acres in the Eastern
states. This condition quadruples the in-
ducement for laboring men to make homes
on this land, and causes them to take a
lively interest in their reclamation."

For Small Congress is beginning to re-
Settlers, cognize that the national irri-
gation propaganda is not a scheme to irri-
gate vast tracts of private lands at public
expense thereby putting money into the
hands of speculators and those already
well able to take care of themselves; but
that it comtemplates the reclamation and
putting upon the land of Itona fide settlers
— home-builders. When this idea becomes
firmly grounded in the minds of Eastern
men— that the land is not to be reclaimed
and then jobbed away in large tracts, but
that it is to be safe-guarded so that it will
become available for the small settlers
who wants to take up forty or eighty acres,
and build a home upon it and stick his
plow into the soil and let the water follow
his furrow, then there will be very little
opposition to storing, by the Government,
of the flood waters of the West, so as to
make it available for such use.
' Such a policy carried out would people

the arid West with the same class of hardy
citizens as the early pioneers who settled
the great Mississippi valley, carving out
for themselves and their children, homes
in the wilderness, and making and creat-
ing their living and prosperity from the
soil.

Tolstoy s bring us the sad

Farmer and intelligence that Count Leo
Philosopher. Tolstoy, the military leader
who abhors war, the landlord who be-
lieves the present holding of land in pri-
vate ownership to be wrong in every way,
the nobleman who dresses in the garb of
the humblest peasant, the literateur and
art critic, who plows his fields and cobbles
his own shoes — the cables tell us that this
wonderful and good man is dead at his
home farm, Yasnaya Poly an a, Russia.

Perhaps no better idea of the character
and order of mind and heart of this man
has been given to us than that which
Edward A. Steiner contributes when, in
Farm and Fireside, he describes a recent
visit to the great humanitarian, and re-
peats his interview with the greatest
writer and thinker, perhaps that Russia
ever has given to the world. Of the farm
and its relations to life, Count Tolstoy
said to Mr. Steiner:

"The truly happy life can be lived only
on the farm, away from the struggles of
the markets, content with what the earth
brings forth, living upon God's bounty,
asking nothing of men and giving them
everything they need. Tell your 'farmers
and farmers' sons," continued the great
thinker, "to cling to the soil, to live sim-
ply, purely and lovingly. Tell them not
to forsake' the country because they are
lonely; there is no loneliness like the lone-
liness of the city, and there is no sweeter
companionship than that which they may
have with God in the field. Tell them
that labor alone enobles, and that obedi-
ence to Christ's law alone brings salvation.
There is no greator curse than money,
and there is no greater blessing than to
live the Christ-life."

Who, witnessing the strife and selfish-
ness of the modern commercial spirit, but
hopes that some day the world, following
out that divinely instituted order — first
the simple, then the complex, then a re-
turn to the simple — will return, like some
weary prodigal, to the arms of the great
Earth-mother, glad to be at peace with it-
self once more and engaged in the whole

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

185

some and enobling employment of drawing
sustenance from her bosom? This is what
the Russian prophet sees, and he urges
the farmer to stay on his farm, the truest
and best mode of life.

We hear much of political or state socia-
lism in these days — and we must be care-
ful to say state socialism, when we mean
this order, for many of the best people in
the world favor great social changes who
utterly abhor the idea of state socialism.
Tolstoy evidently is one of these, for when
Mr. Steiner asked him, "Isn't socialism a
preparation for an ideal state? Tolstoy
replied with much spirit:

"No, indeed not; it is just the contrary.
It will regulate everything — put every-
thing under law. It will destroy the indi-

vidual; it will enslave him. Socialism be-
gins at the wrong end. You cannot orga-
nize anything until you have individuals.
», You are making chaos instead of cosmos.
You will breed terrorism and confusion
which only brute force will be able to
quell. Socialism begins to regulate the
world away from itself. You must make
yourself right before the world around
you can be made right. No matter how
wrongly the world deals with you, if you
are right the world will not harm you, and
you may bring it to your way of thinking.
The modern labor leader wishes to liberate
the masses while he himself is a slave."

Mr. Steiner concludes his interesting
and valuable account by saying: "I could
gather no points on 'how to farm' on Count
Tolstoy's estate — we far surpass him in
that; but he might teach us, as he has
taught me, 'how to live. ' '

IRRIGATION IN THE PHILIPPINES.

MANY VALUABLE LANDS IN CONDITION FOR
DEVELOPMENT.

BY G. D. RICE.

The writer arrived in the Philippine Islands at the outbreak of
the war and after two years sojourn through the principal islands has
concluded that there are some very excellent opportunities here for
the development of the rice, tobacco, cocoanut, and other lands if
properly irrigated. There are vast tracts of uncu Itivated lands in all
of the islands, many of which appear to have no owners other than
the few native squatters who have built little bamboo and nipa shacks
upon them. There is no doubt that much of this land could be turned
to profitable advantage in the raising of the tropical products. There
are certain periods of the year when there are abundant rainfall and
no irrigation is required. This season lasts from July to the middle
of winter. The remainder of the year is very dry. I recollect that
the first year I was here that not a drop of rain fell in the valleys of
the southern islands of the group from Christmas to July. The earth
was baked hard and all farming products dried up. I saw places where
hundreds of acres of products could have been saved if properly irri-
gated. I noticed that the native farmers strove hard to save their
crops by weak irrigation. At some places they hauled water for a
mile or more in bamboo buckets or caribo drag sleds. In this way
they would manage to keep a small portion of the lands irrigated, but
the greater part of the crops would go to ruin, being sun burned. I
saw women and children carrying water day after day to save farm
crops all through the months of March, April and May. This carry-
ing of water is tedious work and the labor expended would not pay,
only that the ruling rates of wages here for farm labor is only about
ten cents per day. Thousands of acres of crops which are ruined every
year through the dry season could be saved with irrigation, and it is
possible to irrigate the plantations of the Phillippines for the reason
that most of them are situated in the low valleys. There are numer-
ous water supplies in the mountains and these could be tapped for the
water and the same carried to the points desired through piping. The
scheme has been worked successfully in many sections, and I saw that
the natives were using bamboo piping for the purpose. The hollow
bamboo il slipped one end over the other and a secure union made by
means of wrapping with hemp.

THE IRRIGATION AGE 187

In some places the native farmers were irrigating by means of
deep sunken wells, but this is a tedious work as the water has to be
elevated about 100 feet from below the surface. The ground becomes
very hard and dry in the course of two or three months sunning with-
out moisture, and the little water which the natives are able to apply
counts for hardly nothing.

SYSTEMS OF UNDERGROUND STONE PIPING.

I observed that on some of the plantations they were using water-
corrying systems built up by using sand stone piping. This sand
stone of the Philippines is soft enough to permit hollowing into pipe
form with crude tools and it makes a good water conductor. Again I
saw soap stone pipes. There are strata of soap stone in the country
among the clay deposits and some has been located by the coal miners.
The stone is useful to irrigating farmers for making pipes. The pot-
ters of the islands also make piping which is being used by the farmers.
This form of piping is perforated with holes and the water oozes out
at different points.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE FARMS.

There are very large plantations of rice, tobacco, sugar cane,
chocolate, coffee, peanuus and other products in these islands awaiting
proper development by irrigation. At present many of the planta-
tions are in a state of idleness owing to the continuance of dryness
which might be overcome if the water supplies of the country were
properly utilized. The sugar lands of the country are very promising
and there are chances for Americans and others to make considerable
money at this work alone. I have seen abandoned sugar plantations
which might be worked to advantage if under proper management,
which are for sale at almost nothing. I know of discharged soldiers
who have bought up deserted sugar works and plantation and engaged
in the business with trained overseers in charge, and who have made
money the first year. There are hundreds of idle sugar grinding
mills distributed throughout the country which were deserted at the
beginning of the present war. In many cases the ladrones and free
booters of the islands have played havoc with the machinery by re-
moving the brass work and salable parts, but in most instances the
steam plant and the grinding machinery can be put into working shape
at slight cost. I have observed fully equipped steam plants, with
good boilers, engines, pumps and grinding and conveying machinery
abandoned in the islands, and ready for some claimant, the property
having evidently belonged to one of the insurgents, who either lost
his life in battle, was captured, or ran away, not daring to present
himself as the owner of the plant. Such plants have been taken up
by first comers, the lands properly irrigated, the cane crop produced
and harvested, the grinding machinery put into order, and money
made in large amounts.

188 THE IEEIGTION A GE.

It has been due largely to antiquated machinery that the sugar
interests of the islands have never paid as they should. Even under
the conditions which existed for years previous to the war, the sugar
mill owners made very large amounts of money. I have stopped for
weeks with some of them, and their homes are fitted with modern con-
veniences, the sons and daughters have been educated in Spanish
schools, one hears piano playing, and there are indications of general
prosperity. Then one may go to the sugar mill and there find the
source of revenue for the family to consist of a broken down old shack
in which animal traction is the power, and in which naked natives are
employed at sugar making after the crudest of style. Yet these sugar
mills have been and are now little gold mines to the owners, and many
of the proprietors are immensely rich and spend much of their time
with their families traveling abroad. With such good profits on the
sugar cane crop under the crude methods used, the opportunity for
increasing the profits by using modern machinery would be very great.
There is a good future of sugar growing in the islands, and the most
important advancement will be made when better systems of irrigation
are introduced.

COFFEE PLANTATIONS AWAITING IRRIGATION,

The first operations in the Philippines towards the development
of the coffee plantations should be in the direction of irrigation. The
writer rode for many days through coffee lands which were in bad con-
dition and partly abandoned because of the extra dryness of the sea-
son, while in the mountains nearby there were many pools of water,
formed by numerous brooks, which might be utilized if the proper
apparatus were employed.

In taking up new coffee lands in the islands the natives clear away
the undergrowth, and the coffee berry is planted and some sort of
shade is arranged for, as the full power of the hot tropical sun would
destroy many of the young plants. The next season the plants are
arranged in rows with alleys between. As the plants attain growth
the poorest are thinned out. Coffee raising in the Philippines has
paid some of the larger investors extremely well. I know of some
recent comers who have made considerable money by starting planta-
tions and afterwards selling them at high values.

In some of the plantations on the island of Panay they have ar-
ranged for irrigating the lands by pumping water from the rivers by
means of crudely designed windmills. The mills are made something
after the style of the old mills employed 100 years ago for turning the
grinding rolls of flour mills. At one place the water raising device
was erected from a series, of buckets arranged to be run up full of
water from the river and back empty by means of animal traction.
All sorts of water-lifting devices are employed. There were few good
pumps in service, although I saw some which had been imported from

THE IRRIGATION AGE 189

Spain. The water is raised from the river lever to reservoirs, and
from the latter it is conveyed by means of bamboo pipes or home-made
stone or clay pipes to the fields where the water is distributed to best
advantage in the rows of coffee plants.

MILES OF TOBACCO.

I rode through miles of tobacco country on Luzon, in the valley of
Cagayan. When modern methods of irrigation, machinery and man-
agement are introduced the tobacco crops of this section of the Philip-
pines will not only be doubled but improved in grade. This valley is
drained by many streams emptying into the Rio Grande de Cagayan.
In this valley the river forms the natural irrigation for a good portion
of the year. The dry portion is what should be looked out for, and
this could be arranged if there were proper equipments available.
The rainy season this river overflowed the entire valley and the plan-
tations were submerged. When the river gradually settled to its for-
mer level, a deposit of rich residue remained which greatly improved
the soil and made the following crop exceedingly profitable. The
plowing and breaking of the soil begins in October. During December,
January, February and March the dryness of the season is felt and it
is during this period that artificial irrigation is needed. There are
hundreds of natives employed in this valley and thousands of Chinese
coolie labor. Many Americans and other foreigners are engaged in
the tobacco growing interests here, and all suffer from lack of rain for
the plantations during the dry season. During this dryness many of
the workmen are thrown out of occupation, and if there were means
for introducing irrigating establishments, these men would be avail-
able for service in putting in plant and piping.

CHOCOLATE.

The Philippines have been noted for the cocoa bean for many
years. There are large plantations in operation at the present time,
on which tons of the cocoa bean are produced yearly. In addition to
the wholesale production of cocoa, there are very many families who
devote a portion of their lands to the private raising of the cocoa bean.
The extensive farms which have been planted from year to year
have in many instances proved failures due to the lack of regular and
proper irrigation. Some foreign capitalists undertook to go into the
cocoa bean raising business on Panay island a short while ago, and
much money was invested in laying out the plantation and putting in
the needed equipment of tools and machinery. The first year was an
unusually dry one and the enterprise failed. Other instances might
be noted of a like character. The climate is particularly adapted for
the growing of the cocoa bean and very many housewives earn con-
siderable money by having small patches of the plant about their
homes. The cocoa bean is gathered in the shell in the fall and is
spread in the sun to dry. Next comes the baking, after which the

190 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

grinding is done. During the grinding of the substance some of the
chocolate makers add sufficient sugar to sweeten the article, making it
useful for commercial purposes. There is a great future for chocolate
production in the Philippines, and when the problem of irrigation for
the dry lands during the dry season is solved, there will be some good
opportunities for the investment of capital in this line of products.

PEANUTS.

There are also large and uncultivated peanut farms in the Philip-
pines. For some reason the Philippines labor under the belief that
the peanut groves of the islands do not require much attention, and
they give no time or work to the care of the same, except when it is
time to collect the fruit. The peanuts as grown here now are small
and inferior, but could readily be developed into a staple and superior
fruit. The peanut lands are very wild in appearance, showing little
indication of civilization. The native peanut collectors live in bamboo
and nipa shacks near the peanut farms and during the harvesting col-
lect the peanuts in large mats. These mats are spread in the sun so
that the peanuts can dry out thoroughly, after which they are sacked
and shipped to the nearest market. The market places of the country
thrive in nearly all of the cities and towns, and the products of the
plantations are sent to these places for purposes of selling. The
prices obtained for the peanuts are very low, and it would pay enter-
prising individuals to employ agents to go about the country buying
up peanuts and shipping them to some of the sea ports, there for sack-
ing and shipment to other countries.

ORANGES.

Orange groves are everywhere, most of them thriving without any
attention on the part of the proprietors of the lands. One may trav-
erse for long distances through great orange-laden trees and not see a
native. This is during the period of grewth. As soon as the fruit
begins to ripen the different owners of the lands appear and commence
to gather the fruits. These native appear to expect that the groves
will yield abundantly even though no attention is given to the irriga-
tion or care of the trees. The majority of oranges of the islands have
an acidity property which could be gradually worked off by proper
cultivation.

LEMONS.

Lemons are somewhat scarce in the Philippines, due to the infer-
iority of the grade produced. The only trouble with the species of
lemons grown in the Philippines is that the fruit is shrunken and
small, due to utter lack of cultivation and care for many years. The
Filippino lemon grove owners have done little else than collect the
fruit. Often they do not go to the trouble of doing even this much,
and the hogs of the country subsist upon the growth.

THE IRHIGA TWN A GE. 19 1

MANGOES.

The mango farms of the Philippines are among the important
features of interest. These great, rich farms would be very profitable
if the natives knew how to hancSVe the crops to advantage. The fruit
is sweet and nourishing and is eaten by foreigners to a large degree.
The shipment of the fruit to Japan and other countries has been car-
ried on recently with good returns. The native labor, however, is
shiftless, and the fruits are often rendered inferior by the crude meth-
ods of labor used. One of the first steps towards the improvement of
the Philippine farms by irrigation and cultivation should be the intro-
duction of tool with which to work. One will see farmers down on
their hands and knees turning the soil with crude wood devices. The
plows are all wood and inferior in workmanship. There ought to be
a large number of plows sent here as well as general farming tools
and machinery. Some of the poorly paying plantations could be
turned to profitable account if this were done.

FEDERAL IRRIGATION TALK.

AN INTERESTING STATEMENT ON THE SUBJECT

OF INTERIOR.
BY SECRETARY HITCHCOCK.

One-third of the whole area of the United States, exclusive of
Alaska and the outlying possessions, consists of vacant public lands
open for entry and settlement under the homestead act. This one-
third includes some of the richest agricultural lands of the world,
capable of producing enormous crops under the influence of an almost
cloudless sky. There is one obstacle, however, which prevents its
utilization, and this is the scarcity of water at certain times and seasons.

There is a considerable amount of water throughout this vast ex-
tent of public lands, but it is so situated or distributed that artificial
means must be provided for conserving the floods and distributing the
needed supply to the thirsty lands. When this is .done there will be
opportunities for thousands or even for millions of homes within the
portion of the United States now almost uninhabitable. The creation
of these homes would add enormously to the material wealth of the
nation and the utilization of this vast area as farming land will in no
way reduce the value of the lands now cultivated. The crops produced
within the arid regions are entirely distinct in their nature from those
of the humid east, and seek other markets. More than this, the pos-
sible population of the country west of the Mississippi will vastly
enhance the volume of trade and manufacture throughout the rest of
the country, and will make more valuable the productive areas adja-
cent to the great manufacturing centers of the east.

* * *

In my annual report I have given a general estimate of the extent
of the public lands and of the irrigable area. In round numbers it may
be said that nearly six hundred million acres of land remain .west of
the Mississippi river. There is water sufficient for the reclaimation of
at least 74,000,000 acres. A still larger area can probably be brought
under cultivation through the complete conservation of floods and
pumping of waters from underground. This, however, can be accom-
plished only through a wise system of laws providing for an adminis-
tration of the lands in accordance with their available water supply.
By wise action the many millions of acres can be made capable of sup-
porting a great population, but by neglect but a small portion of this
land can be utilized. .

That this vast acreage, capable of sustaining and comfortably sup-
porting under a proper system of irrigation, a population of at least
50,000,000 people, should remain practically a desert is not in harmony

1 HE IRR1 GA 7 ION A GE. 193

with the progressive spirit of the a^e or in keeping with the possibili-
ties of the future.

What can be accomplished depends upon the varying conditions in
each of the localities named, and what should be attempted also depends
upon the returns to be expected. In other words, the fundamental
question is whether it would pay to store and control the storm and
flood waters, which, by proper irrigation, may add increased wealth
and provide happy homes for willing workers.

The average cost per acre of a properly constructed irrigation sys.
tern necessarily varies and depends upon local conditions. The re-
markable results, however, accomplished in the valley of the Nile in
practically redeeming Egypt from a state of bankruptcy should en-
courage a most liberal consideration of the question of irrigation. It
is desirable that such reasonable expenditures be made by the Federal
government, as well as by the States, as will gradually, but as rapidly
as possible, insure the blessings consequent upon a well-defined and
executed system of irrigation.

* * *

Under a joint resolution of March 20, 1888, directing the Secretary
of the Interior to make an investigation of that portion of the arid
lands of the United States where agriculture is carried on by means
of irrigation, as to the natural advantages for the storage of water for
irrigation purposes, with the practicability of constructing reservoirs,
together with the capacity of the streams and the cost of construction
and the capacity of reservoirs, and such other facts as bear on the
question of storage of water for irrigating purposes, a number of res-
ervoir sites were selected and approved by the department.

These sites were intended to be used in connection with a general
plan of execution under the control and supervision of the United
States. No appropriation has as yet been made by Congress for the
inauguration of such a system, but provision has been made for the
gauging of the streams and determining the water supply of the United
States, including the investigation of underground currents and arte-
sian wells in the arid and semi- arid regions; and the results of such
investigation, which has been conducted under the supervision of the
director of the geological survey, have been brought to the attention
of Congress through the medium of reports, in which the best meth-
ods of utilizing the water resources of the arid and semi- arid sections
are set forth.

The importance of the reclamation and utilization of the arid pub-
lic domain has attracted greater attention during the past year than a"
any previous time. A large correspondence has arisen in the diffe-
rent bureaus throughout the department, and especially with the geo-
logical survey, which, through its hydrographic branch, has been ac-

194 1HE IRRIGTIOX AGE.

cumulating data bearing upon the water supply, the location of res-
ervoir sites, and the methods and cost of bringing water to the land.

* * *

The interest of the public is manifested in a practical way by the
formation of associations in different parts of the country intended to
promote the examination of the resources of the countty in its water
and forests. Large sums of money have been subscribed for dissemi-
nation of information concerning these waters, and also for co-opera-
tion with various bureaus, notably the hydrographic branch of the
geological survey. The appropriation for this latter office was in-
creased by the last Congress from 150,000 to $100,000, and this sum
has been further enlarged by popular subscription, as just noted. A
still further increase commensurate with the importance of the subject
is being urged by commercial organizations and firms and by citizens
who have contributed their funds to the furtherance of this work.

Developments of irrigation have proceeded almost wholly along
the lines of building small individual ditches and co-operative ditches.
The opportunities for extending and multiplying these are, however,
limited, as the lands most easily accessible for water supply have
already passed into the possession of individuals. There remain large
bodies of public land for which water can be obtained only at a great
expense, although the cost per acre may not exceed that of the small
systems. Further extension of the irrigable area rests in the building

of great storage reservoirs and canals.

* * *

Progress in the construction of these large works of reclaimation
has come practically to a standstill, as it has been found by experi-
ence and shown by statistics that these reclaimation works have not
been made a source of individual profit. Capital has been induced to
undertake the construction of such works in different parts of the
West, but almost without exception these have been financial failures,
while the small co-operative ditches built by the land owners have
been conspicuously successful. The large works, while sources of
loss to their owners, have, on the other hand, been of great advantage
to the committees and to the State as well as to the nation, but it is
improbable that investors will continue as a philanthropic enterprise.

The cause of financial failures of these works of reclamation has
been in the fact that the owners cannot secure to themselves the in-
crease in value which has taken place directly or indirectly through
the building of the works. In some respects the case is comparable
to that of a city whose harbor has been improved. The land values
are increased, but the work if carried out by private enterprise may
not be remunerative to the builders. It is evident that if further
reclaimation is to take place it must be through Govermental action.

THE IRRIGA TION A GE, 195

The importance of providing under wise administration homes for
many millions of citizens is so great that some steps should be taken
toward completing our knowledge of the extent to which the arid lands
may be redeemed.

EDUCATING THE EAST.

BY COL. H. B. MAXSON, SECRETARY.

For the first eight years of its life the National Irrigation Con-
gress met annually in the West. The attendance at its sessions was
largely composed of representative men of the West, and every phase
of the great problem of the reclaimation and settlement of arid Amer-
ica was discussed and considered in its deliberations.

At the Eighth Annual Session, held at Missoula, Montana, it was
decided to hold the next session of the Congress in Chicago/ The
reason for this was that the West had practically become united in
favor of the adoption of a broad national policy for the preservation
of the forests and the storage of the floods.

The subject was then brought before the people of the East
through their commercial organizations. The merchants of Los
Angeles began the work by correspondence with several thousand of
the Eastern merchants and manufacturers who find a market for their
goods in the city of Los Angeles, a city which is such a magnificent
object lesson of the marvelous transformation that water will work in
the West.

The merchants of St. Paul and of Omaha next took up the work
of organization through correspondence with their business connec-
tions throughout the East, and a large number of the leading merch-
ants and manufacturers of the great city of Chicago have extended to
the movement their strong influence and support, and have likewise
taken up the matter by correspondence with other Eastern merchants
and manufacturers.

As a result of this work the membership of the" National Irriga-
tion Association now comprises nearly one thousand of the leading
mercantile firms and manufacturing concerns of the United States, and
has a membership extending from California to Maine, and from Min-
nesota to Texas. Agricultural, commercial, horticultural and labor
organizations, from one end of the country to the other, have strongly
endorsed the national irrigation movement by resolutions, and given
to it their earnest aid and co-operation.

Through a gradual evolution national irrigation has finally crys-
tallized into a movement which is essentially national in its broadest
sense, and the organizations that are now enlisting in the cause are

196 THE IKRIGA TION A GE.

not promoting it from any local or sectional point of view, but from
the conviction that the planting of American civilization and the build-
ing of homes for one hundred million new citizens under the American
flag in places which are now waste and desolate is a national purpose,
Which demands support from citizen and statesman, from merchant
and manufacturer, from farmer and factory operative, and from every
class of the people and section of the country, because the far reach-
ing and widespread benefits from the reclai (nation of this vast area of
virgin territory would create a new national prosperity in which all
would share.

To the newspapers of the country is largely due the credit for the
remarkable progress which the national irrigation movement has
made, because, without regard to party or section, the almost unani-
mous and united support of the press has been given to the movement.

The great political parties of the country in their platforms in the
last campaign both endorsed it, and hence the movement is in no sense
partisan or political. It rises to the1 highest and the purest patriot-
ism, and the motto of the movement, "Save the forests, and store the
floods," is one in which every citizen, no matter to what political party
he may belong, may enlist and fight as a soldier in the cause of the
conquest and subjugation of the deserts of arid America.

THE FOREST AND THE STREAM.

LETTER FROM HON. JAMES WILSON, SECRETARY

OF AGRICULTURE, READ BEFORE THE

NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS

AT CHICAGO.

Pressure of official duties prevents my presence at your Congress,
and I am. exceedingly sorry. It would give me great pleasure to meet
you, and to discuss the two great agricultural problems of the West —
wood and water. But the work of preparing my annual report keeps
me in Washington, where I hope I shall not be less useful to your
cause than I should be if I came to Chicago.

The Department will be represented by several of its scientists,
and to what they will have to say I invite your special attention.
Through its search for economic plants that will thrive with little
water, through its studies in the use of water for plants that need
more, through its soil investigation, its forest work, and in many other
ways, the Department of Agriculture is working at the problems
which you are met to consider. These problems are national in their
scope, and it is most fitting that they should be studied by the agen-
cies of the National government.

The water and forest problems are essentially and primarily ones
o? conservation and use. The waste of water in floods and the waste
of forests by fire are parallel losses, each contrary to the best interests
of the nation at large, and each preventable by well-known means.
"Save the Forests and Store the Floods" is an appropriate motto for
your Congress.

The vast developments which you are planning can become per-
manent only by the junction of wise conservation with energy; and the
natural resources, which have cost you nothing, must be protected
and husbanded with the same trained care which you are making
ready to bestow upon vast systems of artificial works for irrigation.

The chief dangers which threaten your plans — one the failure to
secure the building of these great works, the other the failure to pro-
tect the forests from which your waters come — are best met, like most
of the dangers which threaten our country, by the broad diffusion of
wise principles and ways of thought among the people. The two sis-
ter organizations which are striving for the objects you have in view,
The National Irrigation Association and the American Forestry Asso-

198 THE IRRIGATION AGE

elation, are perhaps the most useful agents at your command for this
purpose. Use and support them to the full, and see to it that in every
city, town and village, East and West, the people understand the vital
interest of the whole nation in the protection and wise use of the for-
est and the stream.

IRRIGATION RESOURCES.

"Exclusive of Alaska and outlying possessions," said Mr. F. H.
Newell, Hydrographer of the Geological Survey, in speaking of what
'is possible in the United States in the way of irrigation reclamation,
"one- third of the whold United States is vacant and at the disposal of
Congress. For the most part it is open to homestead entry and set-
tlement, and much of it consists of land possessing great fertility ex-
cept for the lack of water. In different sections are to be found moun-
tain masses from which come perennial streams whose waters are now
used to some extent to moisten the parched lands. At intervals there
occur local storms or floods inundating large tracts. There is availa-
ble water for the reclamation of a considerable portion of this arid
land if it could all be saved and put to use.

"Work has been undertaken by individuals and by corporations to
construct ditches, canals and reservoirs to supply the lack of moist-
ure. As a rule the smaller works taking water from perennial streams
have been not only successful, but sources of great profit to the own-
ers; the larger works, however, almost equally without exception,
have proven financial failures and their owners have become bank-
rupt. The great works, built in the hope of securing a certain and
permanent revenue drawn from the farmer, have impoverished the
owners, and the latter unwillingly have become benefactors of the
public.

"The lesson is being slowly but certainly taught that reclamation
on a large scale cannot be made a source of profit except under extra-
ordinary combination of circumstances. The great storage reservoirs
and canals are comparable in one sense to lighthouses and harbor im-
provements; they are necessary and worth far more than they cost,
but under the existing state of civilization they cannot be made to con-
tribute exclusively to the welfare of the builders. The indirect gain
or unearned increment of value is so widely diffused that the general
public reaps the larger reward.

"We are confronted with a situation," concluded Mr. Newell,
"where there is a vast amount of fertile land to be reclaimed and con-
siderable quantities of water to be conserved and brought to this thirsty
land. By such action millions of homes can be created and the com-

THE IRRIGATION AGE 199

monwealth enormously strengthened by the addition of a producing
population where each head of family owns and lives upon his farm.
To bring about this happy result it is impossible to trust to speculative
enterprise, because of the fact that profits cannot be made in the con-
struction of a work unless the population becomes tenants of a great
land - owning monopoly . ' '

Public funds must be wisely used in the construction of works of
reclamation, and this will surely come about when the people of the
country are fully conversant with the facts. These facts are being
obtained by the investigations of the United States Geological Survey
in the water resources of the country and the extent to which the arid
lands can be redeemed by irrigation. The Survey is doing excellent
work.

GUY E. MITCHELL.

THE DIVERSIFIED FARM.

In diversified farming- by irrigation lies the salvation of agriculture.

PEACH CULTURE.

The peach growing districts of the Un-
ited States are somewhat limited and the
crop is never equal to the market demand.
This insures goo pdrices and makes the
business of growing peaches very profitable.
In many cf the districts of the western
states peaches return an average of $400 to
$600 yearly from an acre. Some successful
growers report having harvested as high as
$1000. annually from well established
peach orchards. The trees usually stand
about fourteen feet apart making at least
160 good trees on an acre. These bear
from five to twenty boxes each and the
market seldom falls below fifty cents a box.

Peaches can be grown for family use in
almost every state, but for planting a com-
mercial orchard the soil, climate and mar-
ket conditions should be favorable. The
trees will stand qold weather, making a
succecs in New York. Michigan, and all of
the northwest states. The site should be
protected as much as possible from cold
winter exposure and where the winds will
not have a strong force in destroying the
limbs Thin, sandy a*nd rocky soils will
give very good peach crops but it always
pays best to fertilize the lands. At plant-
ing time the land should be fertililed by
using plenty of potash, phosphoric acid
and nitrogen, and annual applications will
prove beneficial.

There are several choice varities of
peaches for early medium and late crops.
In planting an orchard one must bear in
mind that fruits must be of good size, fine
color, excellent flavor and suitable for ship-
ping some distance and being displayed on
fruit stands. The old tested varieties
should therefore be selected and planted in

preference to some new species that may
have only imaginary qualities. Alexander
Amsden, Rovers, Troth, Hale. Lcuis. St.
John, Mountain Rose, Crawford Early,
Foseer, Old Mixon, Stump. Elderta, Craw-
ford Late, Reeves, Wager, Fox Seedling
and Beers Smock are probably the best for
all seasons. Full descriptions of each may
be found in the nurserymen's price lists,
that every peach grower should have.

The new idea of planting closely and
pruning the trees low and bunchy seems to
be the most profitable. Trees may be had
from nurserymen in sections near where an
orchard is to be planted, thus insuring
that they are acclimated. Two year old
trees are generally preferred as they have
better roots and can be pruned properly.
Peaches are heavy consumers of plant food
and therefore if the quantity is expected
to be large and quality good, liberal doses
of fertilizers mustpe annually applied; the
most economical plan is to furnish the
nitrogen by growing clover or cow peas be-
tween the rows the Potash and Phosphoric
Acid can be applied before the peas or clo-
ver are sown and worked in well; about 250
Ibs. Muriate of Potash and 400 Ibs. Acid
Phosphate per acre would make a fair app-
lication. Besides the nitrogen furnished
the ptas or clover keep the land well sup-
plied with organic matter, whieh is an
important matter.

Peaches are generally marketed in
boxes weighing twenty pounds each.
These sell on the market for from fifty cents
to $2.00 according to the demand for the
fruits. They should be neatly packed and
of a uniform size and color. The orchard
may be made a success several miles from
a large city, if good transportation facilities
are at hand. If the peaches are hauled

THE IE El G ATI ON AGE.

201

very far in wagons they should be packed
tightly in the bed and the wagon have
springs to prevent too much brusing. A
little over-ripeness may result in spoiling
a box for market. It is necessary that
every specimen be solid when picked and
placed in the box. The surplus if any
after all the markets have been supplied
may be evaporated, canned made into jel-
lies or even into peach brandy, all of which
finds a ready sale on every market.

The peach tree has several enemies
and must be cared for or it will soon be-
come unprofitable. The orchard should be
cleanly cultivated every year for at least
six seasons after planting. Such crops as
peas, hairy vetch, red clover and similar
food collecting plants are food for the peach.
The crops are harvested and weeds and
objectionable plants are kept down. The
San Jose scale may be killed by spraying
with a mixture prepared expressly for that
purpose. The borers and yellows are treat-
ed by special means that may be obtained
from any books necessary for guidance in
his work before planting a commercial
orchard.

JOEL SHOEMAKER.

PREPARING CORN FOR PLANTING.

A. S. McCallen. writes in Orange Judd
Farmer. "The belief that anybody can
grow corn is a fallacy and I have witnessed
efforts almost as primitive as those of the
Indians, who plowed the ground, with a
stick and left the crop to be taken care of
by nature. Any yield of corn less than 30
bu per acre is poor, 30 to 50 bu is fair,
and 50 to 70 bu is only good, while 60 to
100 bu is easily possible. To obtain a good
yield with favorable climatic conditions,
the following must be well understood and
intelligently treated: Soil, preparation of
seed bed, seed planting and cultivation, I
will try to present briefly the correct ele-
mentary knowledge, derived from my own
experience and the experience of others,

upon all these subjects but the last, reserv-
ing that for a later article.

Corn is one crop that cannot be overfed.
The plant is a great feeder and will not
thrive where only quack grass and bull
nettles flourish. If your land is poor don't
plant it in corn with the idea of building
it up. Soil that is too poor to grow a fair
crop of potatoes should never be planted to
corn unless in the course of crop rotation
to prepare for some other crops which may
build up the soil.

When to plow for corn will depend upon
the kind of land. If it is sod land or new
land that has never been plowed, it is bet-
ter to plow it during the fall or early winter,
than prepare for planting with disk or pul-
verizing harrow. Replowing in the spring,
fall or winter plowed land would give best
results. With any other kind of land
start the plow as early in April as the soil
is in prime condition for plowing, which is
when the particles are dry enough to
separate readily under the pressure of turn-
ing the furrow. Never plow when the soil
is wet and sticky. It is better to be a few
days or weeks later in the planting than to
plow the land wet.

Lay off the land with a view to drain-
age and ease in doing the work. If the
fields are rolling, so that open furrows are
not necessary for drainage, make but few
and fill these in harrowing.

Plow deep while the sluggard sleeps, and
you shall have corn to sell and to keep, is
a good rule for the corn grower. Most
soils should be plowed six to eight inches
deep. The object is to form a deep bed of
loose earth in which the roots of the corn
may feed and obtain moisture during the
season of growth. It is important that the
plowing should be well done. Cut no more
soil than the plow will turn and have the
furrows clean and straight. Put every
thing on the surface out of sight.

Harrow, drag, or otherwise pulverize the
surface when dry enough to work well
without sticking, and do not be satisfie

202

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

until your field is level and in condition for
a potato patch. Decide on what variety or
varieties of corn you will grow and be
guided in your selection by the demands of
your market, the yield and the feeding
value of the different varieties. Select
sound well matured ears of uniform size
and color, remembering the law of nature
is. that like begets like. Any farmer can
steadily improve the quality and increase
the yield by selecting the best specimens
of a certain type of corn he wishes to grow.

As a rule the earliest planting makes the
best corn. The planting, however, should
be delayed until the seedbed is warm
enough to readily germinate the grains and
frosts are scarcely to be expected. From
April 20 to May 20 covers the period when
corn sh,ould be planted, although earlier or
later plantings may sometimes do equally
well. Shallow planting will give the best
results. The corn will come up better and
quicker and will make a better growth.
One to one and one half inches is about the
right depth. It is a mistake that deep
rooting of the corn plants depends on deep
planting. If the eeedbed is rightly pre-
pared the corn roots will take care of them-
selves. If there is lack of moisture at time
of planting a greater depth may be
necessary.

It doesn't pay to get in a hurry when
preparing to plant corn. I mean by this
it doesn't pay to leave anything undone
that ought to be done in order to gain time
that you may beat your neighbors.

Tests made by agri exper stas have gen-
erally resulted in more bushels of corn per
acre from planting in drills 16 tol8 in. apart,
than planting in hills. In these tests, how-
ever, the cultivation has been very thor-
ough, so that the drilled corn had as good
a chance as that planted in hills. The
greater ease and thoroughness of cultivating
corn checked or planted in hills is much
in favor of that method of planting. The
better method for most farmers is that of
checked-rowing or planting so as to admit

of cultivation two ways. I think about the
only reason most farmers have for drilling
their corn is that is more easily and
quickly done than checking.

Do the easy and the rapid methods of
farming always pay? Let each corn grower
as he plans his work for the coming
season which marks the first year in the
new century destined to be greater than all
the past, decide to practice intensive cul
ture with this great staple of American
agri not more acres but more bushels."

RENTING THE FARM.

The old farmer who has moved into
town to please his family and because he
has a vague notion that he ought to retire
is often a pathetic sight. His occupation
is gone, and with it the interests of a life
time. He enters a new environment and
feels himself shrinking in importance as
the days go by. With the removal of all
obligations to busy himself, he often falls
into the habit of doing nothing a good share
of the time, and hugs the chimney corner
when he is not gossiping with old cronies
at the village. store. He grows old rapidly
and from being a man of some distinction
in the community he rapidly deteriorates
into the class of superfluous individuals
who contribute nothing to society. Such
is not necessarily the fate of all men who
retire from the active management of farms,
but it occurs frequently enough to afford
plenty of examples. One wonders why
they are so easily persuaded to relinquish
an active life, yet the reasons are abundant
enough if one takes the trouble to investi-
gate. Perhaps the children are growing
up and clamor for greater scholastic advan-
tages than the district school affords, and
better society. They unite to persuade pa
that he is getting old, that he needs a rest
and that he ought to rent the farm and
move to town where Jack may eventually
secure a clerical position and Mary learn
dressmaking. His life has seemed to him

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

203

monotonous and filled with hardships, and
he, too, thinks a change would be agreeable.
So he rents the farm but he never feels
like a man among men after. In later
years when the farm has deteriorated under
a succession of tenants and has finally been
sold for half its value, when the pleasures
of clerical life have begun to pall. Jack
enviously thinks of the good old times on
the farm, and wishes he had not been so
eager to sell his birthright. The man who
removes with his family to the village but
who continues to superintend the work on
his farm or farms, is in a very different
situation. For him life loses none of its
interest. He has a sense of security in
the thought that in adversity there is al-
ways the farm to fall back upon.

Some agriculturists claim, however that
no man can farm profitably at long range,
that is. after he has ceased to reside on the
farm. We are not prepared to yield the
point in the face of some conspicuous ex-
ample to the contrary, but if we admit it
for the sake of argument the case against
the farmer who abandons his farm is the
stronger. Would it nor pay better in the
end to employ more help and to provide
horses to convey his children to and from
the high school and places of amusement,
or better yet send them to college, but keep
their home and its associations unchanged.
A telephone is an easy and comparatively
cheap vehicle of communication which any
farmer who Is rich enough to retire can well
afford, and there are many luxuries possible
to the farm home that will not only make
it tolerable to young people, but attractive.
Those who have had even a slight acquain-
tance with frontier farmers who usually
live five or ten miles from a railroad, will
acknowledge that among them were some
of the most sociable people they ever knew,
people who knew how to entertain and be
entertained. The hospitality of the south
in ante-bellum days, and the social inter-
course between plantations many miles
apart, made that part of our country

famous.

A social disposition will find opportun
ties even on a farm and it seems a pity to
exchange its independence and freedom
and the beautiful associations of a life so
close to the heart of nature, for what often
proves to be a more cramped and less
healthy existence in town.

It is natural and right that the farmer
who has satisfied his material ambitions
should thenceforward desire to take life
easier, but there is a vast difference be-
tween resting and rusting. — Farmer 's
Review.

OPENING OKLAHOMA RESERVA-
TIONS.

The announcement that considerable In-
dian land will be thrown open for settle-
ment in So Okla has resulted in a great
deal of inquiry. The opening of these
reservations is of course in the hands of
the TT. S. dept of interior. It seems that
the land to be thrown open to settlers
forms a^part of the Comanche. Kiowa and
Apache reservations. It is situated in
the extreme southern part of the territory
on the boundary of Tex. and consists of
about 3,000,000 acres. There are 3000
Indians, each of which will receive 160
acres. Then 480,000 acres more are to be
reserved for grazing land for common use
of the red men. The remainder, about
1,560,000 acres, will be offered to settlers
under the general ^land law. Any citizen
who has not already taken advantages of
the homestead act can secure 160 acres by
living on it from five to seven years and
making certain improvements, or by pay-
ing $1.25 per acre, as is always the case.
Honorably discharged soldiers and sailors
have the first choice.

The demand for farms in this section
seems to be very great, if the letters of
inquiry coming in are any indications'
An attempt will be made to parcel out
farms so that every acre will be occupied
by actual settlers. The dept. of interio

204

THE IRRIGTION A GE.

will attempt to prevent the disorder which
usually accompanies the opening of new
lands. It was expected that the reserva-
tions would be opened about July of this
year, but according to a recent act of con-
gress the allotment to the Indians did not
begin until Dec. of last year and not end
until Aug of :01. As this tract cannot be
opened until six months after the end of
the allotment poriod. it is now pretty cer-
ta;n that the opening will not occur until
late in the spring of '02. As the dept. of
interior has charge of this work, those in-
terested should write to Sec. Hitchcock,
Washii.gton, D. C., for full particulars.

DIVISION OF FORESTRY.

The Division of Forestry of the U. S.
Department of Agriculture has selected
from its working force two trained lum-
bermen with some knowledge of forestry,
to be sent to the Philippine Islands in
eompliance wilh a cable request of the
Taft Philippine Commission. The per-
sons selected for this work are Mr. Grant
Bruce, formerly a State forester in New
York, and Mr. Edward Hamilton. Both
of these men are expert lumbermen with
some training in forestry, and have been
selected in view of their special fitness for
the Philippine work.

A bu*eau of forestry was established in
the Philippines in April, 1900. with Capt.
(Sreorge P. Ahern, Ninth United States
Infantry, in charge. The work of this
Bureau has convinced the Taft Commission
of the great importance of the timber lands
as a natural source of wealth and of the
necessity of putting the Bureau on a sub-
stantial footing and handling these wood-
lands under scientific forest methods.
Furthermore, it is evident that the cutting
of timber under proper regulations will
provide a large and increasing annual re-
venue to the Government. It has been
found necessary to permit the cutting of
timber to supply the present pressing

needs, but care has been taken at the-
same time that the cutting should be done
in a manner that would work no injury to
the future growth of the forests. These
considerations led the commission to cable
to Washington for trained foresters to
assist in putting the service on a more
satisfactory footing.

Under the Spanish adminstration the
timber lands of the Philippine Islands were
in charge of a Department of Forestry
which was organized in 1863. The per-
sonnel of this Department was made up of
expert foresters, rangers, clerks, draughts-
men, etc. , the higher officials being selected
from the Spanish Corps of Engineers.

After Capt Ahern was appointed he re-
ceived authority to employ a small number
of foresters, rangers, and clerks; by Sep-
tember his office force had been doubled:
in order to handle the work of the Bureau
properly. The call for activity on the part
of those in charge of the Bureau of Forestry
was emphasized at once by the lumber
famine in Manila and other important
towns, owing to the destruction of build-
ings in the war, and the increased demand
for good dwelling houses resulting from
the large influx of Americans. For these
reasons the felling of trees and the market-
ing of lumber had to begin soon after the
establishment of the Bureau. Captain
Ahern is in constant communication with
the Division of Forestry, for assistance and
cooperation with the Philippine Bureau of
Forestry.

The work of that Bnreau was confined
for some months to the Island of Luzon,
but recently has been carried to other
points in the Archipelago. The present
plan of the Bureau is to cover all the im-
portant forests as the development of the
working force will .permit. One great
drawback which is retarding the work of
the Bureau, is the lack of capable and
active subordinate officials. It is difficult
to find men familiar with the forest con-
ditions and the uses of the woods of the

THE IRRIGA110N AGE,

205

Philippines, who are entirely satisfactory
in other respects. It is believed that the
best means of securing a competent and
efficient force is to employ new men and
train them on the ground as speedily as
possible. In this work Messrs. Bruce and
Hamilton will be able to render valuable
assistance.

The Bureau was recently reorganized so
as to consist of an officer in charge, an
inspector, a botanist, chief clerk, and ste-
nographer a translator, a law clerk, a record
clerk, 10 assistant foresters and 30 rangers.
It is the intention of the officer in charge
to work up a forest service on the lines of
the work carried on in the U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture, through its Division
of Forestry. The wholesale destruction of
timber will be stopped, and the cutting
will proceed under regulations looking to
the future yields of the forests. The fire
question will receive close attention.

Captain Ahern. in a recent report, calls
attention to several obstacles in the way of
immediate success in lumbering in the
Philippine Islands, the most serious draw-
backs being lack of good roads and skilled
labor. Forest roads and river driveways
are almost unknown, and present methods
of lumbering are slow and expensive. The
natives, he finds, are not skilled workmen,

and though receiving very low wages,
their work is found by no means cheap
when one considers the cost of felling and
hauling a cubic foot of timber to the ship-
ping point.

The forest lands of the Philippine
Islands, it is estimated by Captain Ahern,
cover 40,000 acres; larger in extent and
greater in value than the forests of India.
There are 385 species of timber-producing
trees, and about 50 more species as yet un-
classified. Included in the above list are
very hard woods, capable of taking a beau-
tiful polish: woods that resist climatic
influences and the attack of white ants;
still others that are especially suited for
sea-piling or for use as railroad ties.
There are many varities of trees producing
valuable gums. oils, and drugs; rubber and
gutta-percha are abundant in Mindanao
and Tawi-Tawi; while at least 17 dye-woods
are found within the limits of the Archi-
pelago. Cocoanut palms grow without
care or cultivation throughout the Islands.
There are also many varieties of palms,
bamboo, canes, and rattan which are of
commercial value and will afford profitable
employment to native labor.

Mr. Bruce and Mr. Hamilton have
sailed from San Francisco for Manila on
the transport Indiana.

PULSE OF IRRIGATION.

GOVERNMENT BUILDING OFFICIALS
MAKING WATER RECORDS.

Prof. Elwood Mead, who for the past
two years has been the Government expert
in charge of the work of irrigation experi-
ments, is in Washington and will remain
there during the remainder of the winter.
While there he will have charge of the is-
suance of various reports of his depart-
ment, material for which was gathered
during the last season in the field. In
speaking of the work of the irrigation in-
vestigations, Prof. Mead says that two
general lines of investigation are being
pursued. First, the study of laws and in-
stitutions relating to irrigation in different
regions; and, second, the determination of
the actual use made of the irrigation
waters.

This work is clearly differentiated from
that of the geological survey, which deals
with the determination of the. water sup-
ply of steam gaugings, and the location of
reservoir sites by topographical surveys.
The survey deals with questions of irriga-
tion above th« canal; this office deals with
those below the canal. That is, the De-
partment of Agriculture deals with the
distribution of water and its use by farm-
ers and horticulturists. Every effort is
made to avoid duplicating the work of the
survey. In several States this office is
working alongside the survey, and a defi-
nite field of work is being covered by each
agency. Work has been done or is in
progress this year in seventeen States and
Territories.

Arizona — Measurements of the duty of
water in the Salt River valley by a special

agent and in co-operation with the Arizona
experiment stations.

California — A comprehensive study of
the water rights, irrigation laws and prac-
tices, and the distribution and duty of
water on eight typical streams in different
parts of the State,' as follows: Salinas
river, San Joaquin river, Yuba river, Los
Angeles river, Susan river, Sweetwater
river and Cache river.

This work is conducted by special agents
of the department, and in co-operation
with the California Water and Forest As-
sociation, the University of California and
Leland Stanford University. The Califor-
nia Water and Forest Association has con-
tributed over $5000 to these investigations.
This is the most comprehensive investiga-
tion regarding irrigation laws, customs and
conditions which has been undertaken in
this country. A report on this work is
now ready for publication.
* * *

Colorado — A report on the rights of
water from the Big Thompson river, show-
ing how water rights are established and
protected in Colorado by the State engi-
neer, and a study of the system of the
storage of water on the Poudre river, by a
special agent of the department.

Hawaii — A report on the irrigation sys-
tem of Hawaii by the director of the
Hawaiian experiment station.

Idaho — Measurements of the duty of
water on canals in southern Idaho, in co-
operation, with the State engineer's office.

Montana — Measurements of the duty of
water on canals in different parts of Mon-
tana, and special experiments regarding
the amount of water required by different

THE IRRIGATION AGE,

207

crop?, in co-operation with the Montana
experiment station.

Nebraska — Measurements of the duty of
water, in co-operation with the Nebraska
experiment station.

Nevada — A study of the water-right sys-
tem in Nevada and measurements of the
duty of water, in co-operation with the
Nevada experiment station.

New Mexico — Studies of the duty of
water in Pecos valley and Mosilla Park, in
co-operation with the New Mexican Irriga-
tion Commission and experiment station.

Texas — A study of the amount and
character of the sediment deposited by irri-
gation water in the canals and ditches in
co-operation with the Texas Agricultural
college. Observations of this kind are be-
ing made in several States, but the work is
all in charge of the Texas agent

Utah — Investigation of the distribution
and use of water from the Jordan river and
tributaries and the Weber river by special
agent of the department and in co-opera-
tion with the State engineer and the city
engineer of Salt Lake. This is a great en-
terprise, in which the State and city are
co-operating financially.

Washington — Measurements of the duty
of water in the Yak i ma valley in co-oper-
ation with the Washington Agricultural
college.

Wyoming — Measurements of the duty
of water and study of losses from evapora-
tion and seepage by special agents of the
department and in cooperation with the
Wyoming experiment station.

Missouri — Practical trials to determine
the usefulness of irrigation in co-operation
with the Missouri Agricultural Experi-
ment station.

New Jersey — A study of the practical
results of attempts at irrigation already
made in New Jersey, and experiments
with reference to the extension of this
work in co-operation with the New Jersey
Agricultural Experiment station. A re-
cent report on this work shows that irriga-

tion has been profitably employed by a
number of practical farmers and truck-
growers.

South Carolina — Experiments in irriga-
tion in connection with the experiments
in tea culture at Summerville under the
direction of this department.

Wisconsin — Experiments to determine
the usefulness of irrigation in a wide area
of sandy lands in northern Wisconsin in
co-operation with the Wisconsin experi-
ment station.

* * *

The plans for the work during the com-
ing year include additional investigations
in California and Utah. The investiga-
tions so far have been only in restricted
regions in different States and Territories.
It is desired that the scope of the investi-
gations be extended on the duty of water
and water rights. It is also desired to ex-
tend the investigations to the humid
region, continuing and developing enter-
prises already begun and adding studies
with a view to improving irrigation and
the culture of rice and other crops in
South Carolina and Louisiana. Also to
extend the work so that the irrigation sys-
tems of foreign countries may be studied
with a view to utilizing the results of their
experiments in our irrigated regions. It is
also desired that the problem involving
drainage should be studied. Drainage sys-
tems and laws are already needed in our
irrigated regions. These should be based
upon the experience already obtained in
some of our prairie States and elsewhere.

MEEKS AND DALEY DITCH.
The San Bernardino Transcript reports
that the owner of the Meeks and Daley
ditch, which starts at Colton and runs
down through the Agua Mansa neighbor-
hood, are preparing to enlarge the ditch in
order to make room for more water, or
rather intended to do so before Judge
Campbell granted a temporary injunction,

208 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

as the result of a suit which was filed by inches of water. The plaintiffs claim that

P. J. Stockman and Olive A. Byrne, exec- they will suffer great injury by the defend-

utors of the will of Matthew A. Byrne, ants tearing up large quantities of land

deceased, against W. E. Pedley et al. The upon either side of the ditch. They have

ditch, which runs through lands of the also cut off the plaintiff's supply of water,

plaintiff, has a capacity of 850 inches, and which they use to irrigate the alfalfa. Be-

the owners are proceeding to enlarge it in sides the injunction, the plaintiffs ask for

order tnat it maY carry an additional 400 damages to the amount of $500.

A VALENTINE.

By Martha Capps Oliver.
Alack-a-day! when hearts are cold

And naught but love can warm them,
And trusty bolts have barred them fast

That no device may storm them,
What chance has Cupid but to wait —

Although In terror quaking,
To watch for some unguarded point,

A secret entrance making.

Alack-a-day! when he has gained

Admittance through some portal,
What chance of flight, or safe escape

Has any helpless mortal?
For Cupid scatters tinder round,

'Tis made of smiles and glances —
And sets his torch of love a-light,

As slyly he advances.

Alack-a-day! the mischief 's done —

And hmv, there is no telling, g
No word, was said, no step was heard

Within the heart's lone dwelling;
For what are bolts, and what are bars,

And resolute resistance —
For Cupid always has his way 7

And wins by sheer persistance.

Alack-a-day! for worse and worse

The plight is ever growing,—
The heart no more contends with fate,

The flame of love is glowing.
Heigho! the fires are roaring now,

Still higher, brighter, faster,
The seige was long — the end was sure,

For Cupid will be master!

HELEN WADSWORTH YATES.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

209

HELEN WADS WORTH YATES.

The recent quadrennial elections
which carried into office the Hon.
Richard Yates as governor of
Illinois, carried also into the execu-
tive mansion a charming woman,
his wife. Of Mrs. Helen Wads-
worth Yates, the new first lady of
Illinois, little is now known by the
general public because her husband
is a new figure on the larger politi-
cal horizon. Previous1 to her ac-
cession to the dignity of the first
lady of the state, Mrs. Yates led a
quiet domestic life in her delight-
ful Jacksonville home. She is now
in the fierce light that beats about
the life of political leaders and the
public in general, and the women
of Illinois especially are interested
in her.

Mrs, Yates is fitted by education,
training and distinguished lineage
to .grace the proud position she
holds, and before her four years as
mistress of the executive mansion
are over she will add another bright
page to its history which other
brilliant women before her have
helped to make. Those who have
come in touch with Mrs. Yates and
felt the genial warmth of her gen-
erous nature, who know her tact
and have perceived her strong men-
tal grasp upon affairs feel that she
will add strength as only an able
woman can to the administration
that has begun so auspiciously for
her distinguished husband.
D Americans are proud to boast
that here a man stands upon his
own feet and that distinguished
ancestry [cannot put a man into
position his own merits cannot win.

This is true. But the pride of an-
cestry is as strong within our
breasts as among the aristocrats of
the old world, and we point with
pride to those numerous examples
among our men of prominence
where the strength and power of
race has extended from generation
to generation. Gov. Yates, the
son of a governor, comes of no
more distinguished Hue than his
wife, who traces her ancestry back
through successive generations of
men distinguished in every line of
endeavor to a strong eld Puritan
who came to America when the
persecution of Cromwell's Ironsides
made England too small to hold
them, and beyond him through
English sires to the time when
another, and the first known, fight-
ing Wadsworth won a crest at the
battle of Aquicourt. Something of
the spirit that induced that stout
warrior to write upon his shield
Aquila non captat muscas, "the eagle
does not catch flies," has stirred
every later generation of Wads-
worth, who have never stooped to
small things.

The first of Mrs. Yates' family to
land in America were William and
Archibald Wadsworth who landed
in Boston harbor some time prior
to 1632. William .became a man of
prominence in the colony and from
him Mrs. Yates' family descended.
The descendants of William and
Archibald successively took their
places in the young country as men
of affairs and helped to make its
history. When the Revolution
came on the Wadsworths took their
place in the army and added luster

210

'1HU IRRIGATION AGE.

to the family name. Among those
who rose to high rank was Mrs.
Yates' great-grandfather, General
Elijah Wadsworth. About this
time another of the family was
president of Harvard college.

When the first tide of emigration
set toward the great West, the
Wadsworths were among those who
came to battle with all the hard-
ships of pioneer life. Edward
Wadsworth, grandfather of the
wife of the present governor,
settled in Ohio and served as cap-
tain in an Ohio regiment in the
war of 1812. The warlike strain
was in all their veins to such an
extent that some of the family were
to be found wherever fighting was
to be done. When Decatur humbled
the Tripoli i an pirates Lieut. Henry
Wadsworth, a youth of nineteen,
lost his life in the attack. Another
patriot of the family was Gen.
James D. Wadsworth of Geneseo,
N. Y., a millionaire, a philan-
thropist and a patron of the arts.
When the Civil War came on he
first outfitted a ship of supplies
and presented it to the government
and then offered his services in any
capacity. Made a brigadier gen-
eral in 186J he fought with great
dash and courage until a bullet at
the battle of the Wilderness ended
his brilliant and patriotic career.

In all the long line of distinguished
sons of the Wadsworth blood the
one whose fame has gone the
broadest and who has writ his name
the highest on the scroll of honor,
the nations great poet Henry Wads-
worth Longfellow stands first. His
mother was a daughter of Gen.

Peleg Wadsworth and the poet's
middle name was for his mother's
family. Thus the author of Evan-
geline was a cousin not far removed
of Mrs. Richard Yates.

Archibald Clark Wadsworth, Mrs.
Yates' father was born in Ohio and
moved to Jacksonville at an early
age. There he engaged in business,
and there his whole life has been
spent. In 1848 he married Delia
Witherby, a member of an old Ver-
mont family. The Wadsworth
family always has been prominent
in the commercial and social life of
their home town. There in 1865
the present governor's wife was
born.

Mrs. Yates received her educa-
tion at the Illinois Womans' Col-
lege, one of the numerous educa-
tional institutions of a city which
takes pride in styling itself the
Athens of Illinois. Taking a high
rank in the intellectual pursuits of
the school, Mrs. Yates graduated
to take her place in the social life
of her home city. Nor did the
duties of society banish her inter-
est in deeper things. She at once
became interested in those ques-
tions that are agitating educated
and progressive women today, and
became an earnest member of sev-
eral clubs devoted to the pursuit of
what is best in literary, musical
and economic lines. The Wednes-
day Musical Club, Household Sci-
ence Club and the Jacksonville
branch of the Daughters of the
Revolution claim Mrs. Yates as a
member. In the clubs she wag a
gifted and earnest , worker, in
society she was talented and popu-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

21

lar. In 1888 she was married to
Richard Yates then a young law.
yer struggling for a foothold in his
profession. As a matron Mrs.
Yates became a leader and the
Yates home in Jacksonville was
noted for its delightful hospitality
and the charm of its quiet refine-
ment. Two daughters have come
to add to cares and joys, Catharine,

Yates last month there was a pleas-
ing family picture that touched
tenderly upon the heart strings of
everyone who witnessed it.
Grouped around the young incom-
ing governor sat his beautiful wife
and two pretty children and the
proud mother who had sat on that
same platform forty years before
holding him in her lap while his

DOROTHY AND CATHERINE.

aged nine, and Dorothy, aged five.
Today there is not a happier nor
more interesting family circle in
the state than the one that occu-
pies the highest position in Illinois
political life.

In the pomp and ceremony at-
tending the inauguration of Gov.

father was inducted into office.
The yojmger of the governor's
children did not understand the
nature of the long program that
was conferring honor upon her
lather and dreadfully boring her.
Finally childish impatience could
stand the strain no longer and she

212

THE IRRIGATION AGE

began to cry for "papa to stop
reading and go home with her."
But papa couldn't just then stop
unfolding his plans for the govern-
ment of the state and it was not
until grandma's fan became of
startling interest that the little
one's eyes were dried.

An unusual sight that presented
itself during the inauguration was
the presence upon the stage of no
less than four ex- governor's wives.
Around Mrs. Yates sat her mother-
in-law, the wife of the first. Gov.
Richard Yates; Mrs. Tanner, wife
of the outgoing governor, and Mrs.
Oglesby and Mrs. Fifer.

At the governor's reception in
the evening at the executive man-
sion Mrs. Yates made her first ap-
pearance in that social capacity
she will be called upon to exercise

during the next four years. A bit
of sentiment had caused her to
wear for this function the gown in
which she was married, and no fair
and blushing bride ever looke.d
handsomer or prouder than Mrs.
Yates as she received the congrat-
ulations of the immense throng
that passed before her. With her
occupancy of the governor's officia]
residency all classes are pleased.
The masses are pleased with her de-
mocratic spirit and unostentatious
bearing, the great number of club
women are pleased that one of their
number should have risen to dis-
tinction, and the aristocrats repre-
sented by the Daughters of the
American Revolution are proud to
see the representative of the na-
tion's blue blood occupying a sta-
tion befitting its purity.

OUR RAILROADS AND SOME

THINGS THEY HAVE DONE

FOR THE COUNTRY.

BY C. B. PARKER.

With a certain class of would-be politi-
cians or guardians of the better interests
of the dear people, such pessimistic cries
as "the cruel monopoly of the railroads,
extortionate charges of fare and traffic,
railroad legislation, or favoritism of the
corporations by Congress and State legis-
latures, carrying or passing friends free
and charging their foes and the masses
fare," are often heard. Now there may
be much of truth in these charges, and the
writer is inclined to believe there is, for
railroads are born and operated by men,
and human nature being much the same
everywhere, we have selfishness as well as
generosity to contend with, and we believe
that one blessed with a happier optimistic
spirit can see in the railroads of our coun-
try the greatest boon given to man, and
not alone in the development of the coun-
try, but of manhood, morals, the schools,
churches, and all that makes life worth the
living.

A PEW OBSERVATIONS AND PERSONAL
REMINESENCES.

During the winter of 1844-45 it was our
fortune (or otherwise) to make the journey
from Geneseo, N. Y. , to the then far west
delphi, Indiana, via Erie. Cleveland. Toledo
and Fort Wayne. These were the good
old days of prehistoric railroads. Our
modus was a team and wagon; time re-
quired, 30 days, suffering and discomfort
non-computable. Then our parents found
very cheap land there worth $3 and $5 to
$10 per acre. Years later the railroads
came, and twenty-five years ago those

lands were worth $50 to $100 per acre-
Later, during the '60's, it was the writ-
er's mission to make the journey from
Otflaha, Neb., to Portland, Ore.; again in
advance of railroads this required six
months time, and not an acre of the land
passed over was considered worth the tak-
ing as a free gift from government, and
the roaming bands of wild Indians were
chasing the countless millions of no wilder
buffalo to the delight of the miserable
cyote, that flourished on the slain or crip-
pled buffalo, as would the politician crying
railroad monopoly off the corporations,
could he.

Later the railroads followed our pioneer
wagon trail, and now the tourist or emi-
grant can make the trip in palace cars in
three days, for $30, and see fine towns and
cities all along the way, and as fine farms
as are in Ohio, Illinois, or New York, and
worth $30 to $100 per acre. And Nebraska
forty, years ago only a "howling desert"
territory, is to-day the leading. State of
the Union, as to railroads, schools and
churches, and ranks as No. 1 in lowest
percentage of illiteracy of any State in the
Union.

While it is true the Northern Pacific
Co. first broke Nebraska's virgin soil for
railroad purposes, to the B. & M. or exten-
sion of the C. B. & Q. must be given the
credit as the great industrial as well as
moral reform promoter of the great West.
If asked how as to moral reform, we an-
swer, in building and causing to. be built
more towns, schools and churches than all
other causes; by giving employment to
more brainy young men and developing
them into financial and industrial giants.
Along this line the railroads have done

214

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

more, and have a greater number of able
men than all other industries, including
the profession of law, as to enforced mo-
rality. All employees are required to ab-
stain from the curse of drunkenness, in-
cluding moderate drinking.

As to favoritism and passes for friends,
it is one of many ways of showing grati-
tude to friends, and we are frank to con-
fess we like the plan. For several years
we never were refused a favor asked along
this line; during the past ten years we
have traveled many thousand miles and
paid full fare for every mile, not asking
favors in an instance, hence this is not
offered as recompense for pist favors, nor
are we to any extent mixed in politics or
railroad ''favoritism," but only that jus-
tice may be meeted where so justly due.
And if it be true that hundreds of averi-
cious minds have extorted millions unjustly
from the masses, it is equally true that
hundreds? of thousands of better inclined
men have come up from a job at $1.25 a
day on the section to $3.000 or $10.000 a
year with comfortable homes arid happy
families; and the way is open to any sober,
industrious young man to "go up" just as
fast as he is worthy of promotion; and for
every politician that rides on a free pass
may you all worthy philanthropists,
preachers, lecturers and reformers be fa-
vored as well as the poor and afflicted.

Stand up for the railroads.

LIVELY RACE IS WON.

Because Her Majesty, the Queen of
England, had urgent need of divers im-
portant documents of state contained in
256 sacks of mail from far-away New Zeal-
and, seventeen men emptied a loaded ex-
press car in seventeen minutes «t the
Grand Central statitin to-day, and then
skilled drivers drove three teams headlong
through the city streets to catch the steam-
ship Campania, scheduled to sail for Liver-
pool at 11 o'clock

The fast special mail that brings letters
and packages from the uttermost parts of
the Occident to N*w York and the rest of
the effete East was ten minutes late, and
that meant a record-breaking trip to the
big Cunarder lying at pier 51, North River.

Uncle Sam's dash through the city was
successful, for the mail caught the steam-
ship just before the lines were cast off,
and Queen Victoria's prime minister will
get his letters in good time.

The race against time began in SanFran-
cisco the day before Christmas, when the
256 sacks of mail, 15 of which were from
New Zealand, the rest coming from Aus-
trailia, arrived at the Golden Gate. The
mail steamship left Melbourne on Nov. 30,
touched at Sydney on Dec. 1, Auckland
five days later and Honolulu on Dec. 17.

Long before its arrival word was carried
about that the mail contained documents
from the New Zealand government that
should reach London by Jan. 5. It was
a long race across an ocean and a conti-
nent, and Uncle Sana's officials determined
to do their best to rush the mails through.

Messages were flashed across the coun-
try, and the steamship line, working in
connection with Superintendent Maze of
the foreign mail service, arranged for the
delivery of the bags aboard the Campania.
A tug was made ready to carry the mail
from the foot of Fortieth street if neces-
sary, but it was rushed aboard the train
that was to speed it east. Across the
plains and mountains it flew in a special
express car, which was piled to the roof
with the heavily laden sacks.

Across the Mississippi and into Chicago
the train flew, and then the car was shift-
ed to another train that carried it through
Cleveland to Buffalo and thence to Al-
bany. The special mail o?er the New
York Central whirled it down from Albany
to New York without a stop.

At the Grand Central annex stood a
force of men under Chief Mail Clerk Ed-
ward Herr waiting for the bags. Station

THE IRRIGA110N AGE.

215

Agent Downer and Foreman E. N. Edell
of the Grand Central station had every-
thing clear at this end. Three mammoth
wire-screened vans stood in Depew place,
each with a pair of horses that had a re-
cord of thirteen minutes from the Grand
•Central station to the Christopher street
ferry.

The special mail puffed on track ten
minutes late. Its time of arrival is 10
o'clock. Uncle Sam's representatives
sprang at the sealed mail car, and the
doors flew open.

Then it rained mail sacks for seventeen
minutes. The car was shifted into the
canal along the side of th» baggage rooms,
and the sacks were flung first on the bag-
gage room floor, and thence into the mail
wagons backed up to the doors on the
other side.

Amid a bedlam of shouts, yells of offi-
cials checking off each sack as it was flung
in, and a running to and fro of other men
giving special directions for the route to
the steamship, the mail was loaded up.

Across Forty-second street to Eighth
avenue the wagons flew down Eighch ave-
nue to Fifteenth street, across Fifteenth
street to Tenth avenue, and thence to
Twelfth street, bringing up at the Cunard
.pier as the crew of the Campania were pre-
paring for the final order to cast off.

The queen's mail came from New Zeal-
and in a ship that was making her maiden
voyage over the South Sea route, the So-
noma. Built by the Cramps, she flies the
American flag, and she is called "the
flyer of the Pacific." In its career around
the world the mail covered some 18,000
.miles.

TAKING AN INVENTORY.

All successfull Business men annual in-
•voice their stock; they are not simply sat-
isfied with a bank account which shows
'that they are grov/ing in financial strength;
•ut the stock on hand is gone over that

just what is on hand may be known and
also what its present value, whether it has
advanced or depreciated, whethe certain
classes of stock are ready or slow sale and
all like considerations that the yearly in-
ventory reveals to the thorough going
business man.

The farmer usually knows how many
head of horses, cattle, tfheep and pigs are
on the farm and can closely estimate tiie
bushels of wheat oats or corn and the
quantity of timber but these are not the
most valuable facts that an invoice on the
farm should disclose. But rather, how
many acres have been required to sustain a
given number of cows sheep or pigs. What
are the yields per acre, what the profitable-
ness of cerfain kinds of grain, what the
farm knowledge gained from the experiment
patch, what has a well systematized corp
rotation done for the- farm, what has the
flock of hens done towards lessening the
cash outlay for household expenses, what
has the garden paid, what has been the ac-
tual amount paid in cash or trade for fam
ily expenses, what expenses have been in-
curred for farm machinery and repairs, are
there unncessary fences on the farm, what
disposition has been made of manure, and
like questions should be answered as the
season's harvest reveals the contents of
storehouse and barn.

When the merchant has completed his
inventory he immediately prepares for the
new stock and its sale, thouSh he may give
the impression of doing little; if he is to
enlarge his business he is at work; so the
farmer known by his thrift and fine farm is
known, when harvesting his crop, planning
by the light of his own experiences and by
gaining knowledge from those of other
farmers preparing for the crops of another
season. The history of excessive yield 'al-
ways reveals that the soil was studied, the
seed carefully selected and the most intell-
igent cultivation gtven. If the inventory
the farmer makes shows where mistakes
have been made as well as cuccesses scored
it is accomplishing its purpose. — Colman's
Rural World.

WITH OUR EXCHANGES.

31 CLURE.

The March issue of McClure's Magazine
contains a character study of Edward VII.
written by George W. Smalley. Theodore
Roosevelt. Vice President, contributes an
article in which he describes clearly the
personalities of some who have labored
with success in New York City for "Re-
form Through Social Work." An article
by Ida M. Tarbell is entitled "The Dis-
banding of the Union Army." Among
the other contents this month are, "What
We Know About Mars," by Edward S.
Holden; "Billy's Tearless Woe," written
and illustrated by Frederic Remington;
"The Law of Life," by Jack London;
"Dan McCarthy," by J. Lincoln Steffene,
and other short stories including an in-
stallment of "Kim," by Rudyard Kipling.

THE FORUM.

The March number of the Forum con-
tains an article on "British Rule in the
Dominion of Canada," by Sir John G.
Bourinot. "What of the Democratic
Party," "The Growing Powers of the
President" by Mr. Henry Litchfield West,
''Labor Conditions in Switzerland," by
Walter B. Scaife. Felix Volkhovsky, once
a Siberian exile, has an article on "The
Hopes and Fears of Russia," "The Nations
in Competition at the Close of the Cen-
tury," by Jacob Schoenhof, "The Career
of King Edward VII.," by Mr. J. Castell
Hopkins. Other articles are: " The Sup-
erintendent from the Primary Teacher's
Point of View," by Alice Irwin Thompson;
"Tabloid Journalism': Its causes and Ef-
fects," by Mr. Maurice Low; "Homicide
and the Italians," by Napoleone Colajanni ;
" The Boer War; A Study in Comparative
Prediction," by Mr. Herbert W. Horwill,

and "The Machiavelli of Chinese Diplo-
macy," by Robert E. Lewis.

THE LADIES' HOME JOURNAL.

"The only American Girl Who Ever
Married a King," ';The Loveliest of All
Kentucky Girls," "The Anecdotal Side of
Theodore Roosevelt," and "The Author's
Reading at Bixby Centre." by Kate Doug-
las Wiggin, will have a wide reading in
the March Ladies' Home Journal. And
"The Gibson Play," too. Edward Bok's
editorials and Helen Watterson Moody's
"Girls Who 'Go In' for Something" are
helpful in counsel, and will be profitably
read. "The Story of a Young Man" is
completed in the March Journal, and "The
Successors of Mary the First" presents
new and extremely funny complications
and vexations. "A Successful Country
House at Bryn Mawr. " "A Suburban
House for $6500"; a page picture showing
"The Old Stage and the Turnpike," of W.
L. Taylor's "The Last Hundred Years in
New England" series, and "Through Pic-
turesque America"-rtwo pages of photo-
graphs of views in Cuba and Porto Rico.
A feature of the March Journal is Eugene
Field's "Armenian Lullaby, "set to music.
SCRIBNER'S.

In Scribners' for March Richard Hard-
ing Davis leads the number with an account
of a-journey "Along the East Coast of
Africa." Thomas F. Millard contributes
to this number a concluding article on "The
Settlement in China." Henry Norman's
Russian article in this number is of un-
usual timeliness in that it deals 'with the
personality and the achievements of the
greatest administration in Russia, the
famous Minister of Finance, M. de Witt.
Allied to all these articles which show ther

THE IEE1 GA Tl ON A GE.

217

political changes is an illuminating paper
on "The Transfomation of the May (1825-
1900)," by Joseph Sohn. One of the
strongest factors in our own development
is written of by Arthur Henry, who has
studied the immigrants as they land in this
country. In fiction there is another Raffles
story by Hornung.

A few months ago a story in this maga-
zine entitled "The Green Pigs" called at-
tention to a new humorous writer. This

issue contains another story by the same
author, Mr. Sydney Herman Preston. It
is entitled "Our Two Uncles," and is a
laughable farce- Frederick Palmer writes
a story turning on army life in the Philip-
pines. Bradner Matthews contributes an
essay on "The English Language in Am-
erica," and Alexandre Sandier, art director
at the Sevres manufactory near Paris,
writes of its work as applied to architec -
tural decoration.

Burlington

PERSONALLY CONDUCTED
TOURIST PARTIES TO

Leave BOSTON every Tuesday
Leave CHICAGO every Wednesday
Leave ST. LOUIS every Wednesday

Comfortable and Inexpensive

CELECT PARTIES leave Boston every Tuesday via Niagara Falls
and Chicago, joining at Denver a similar party, which leaves St.
Louis every Wednesday. From Denver the route is over the Scenic
Denver and Rio Grande Railway, and through Salt Lake City.

Pullman Tourist Sleeping Cars of a new pattern are used. They are thoroughly com-
fortable and exquisitely clean, fitted with double windows, high-back seats, carpets,
spacious toilet-rooms, and the same character of bedding found in Palace Cars. They
are well heated and brilliantly lighted with Pintsch gas. Outside they are of the regu-
lation Pullman color, with wide vestibules of steel and beveled plate glass. Beautifully
illustrated books on California and Colorado, with maps, train schedules and com-
plete information can be had from any of the following Burlington Route agents :

E. J. SWORDS

379 Broadway

NEW YORK CITY

W. J. O'MEARA

3O6 Washington Street
BOSTON, MASS.

H. E. HELLER

632 Chestnut Street

PHILADELPHIA, PA.

T. A. GRADY

211 Clark Street

CHICAGO, ILL.

C. D. HAGERMAN

7O3 Park Building

PITTSBURG, PA.

VOL. XV .

CHICAGO, APRIL, 1901.

NO. 7

No Market
in China.

The state department has
made public one of the last
reports of Consul Wildman of Hong Kong,
who is credited with having, sent Aguin-
aldo to Admiral Dewey in the Philippines
and who with his family was lost aboard
the Rio de Janerio in San Francisco har-
bor a short time ago. The report states
that there is no market In Southern China
for American agricultural machinery. Its
agricultural land is divided into small
holdings, many of which are not over an
acre in size, and very few running over
ten acres. Every available inch of this
land is under cultivation and the planting
and reaping is all done by hand. Where
plows are used they are of home manufac-
ture and are as primitive as those of bib-
lical times. The majority of the peasan-
try, Mr. Wildman says, live at the rate of
from 2 to Scents a day, and even if they
could afford to purchase modern American
farming machinery there would be no
room to use it. Grain is either trod out
of the straw by water buffaloes or whipped
over an open tub. Even if an entire vil-
lage should combine to buy an American
thrashing machine it would be considered
too wasteful both in the way it mangles
the straw and the grain and in its expen-
sive upkeep. In southern China there are
no horses except the diminutive China
pony, and, as the agricultural country is
mostly flat there is no way to utilize water
power. As for steam, it is an impossibil-
ity, fuel being one of the most expensive
Chinese luxuries. Labor has almost no
value and flesh and blood are the cheapest
n°rs on the market.

More Land in Within a short time the tract
Oklahoma to of land known as the Kiowa,
Be Opened. Comanche, and Apache reser-
vations, one of the few left in the Indian
Territory, will be opened to settlement.
It comprises abcut 4,000,000 acres, lying
between southwestern Oklahoma, Indian
Territory proper, and Texas, and is re-
ported to .be rich and productive land.
Nearly 1,000,000 acres will be apportioned
to the Indians, leaving about 3,000,000 to
be opened to white settlement. For those
contemplating taking up land it is im-
. portant to know that the rush system has
been abolished. Notice of the opening
will be advertised, and application must
be made to the officer in charge of the re-
servation, who will award the lands by
lot. Those drawing allotments will know
where their land is located, and can make
the necessary filings, while those drawing
blanks will have to return home. It is
estimated that the opening up of this re-
servation will add about 30,000 to the pop-
ulation of Oklahoma, giving that Terri-
tory considerably over 400,000 people — a
number which has an important bearing
upon the question of Statehood.

New Method Next season an entirely new
of Irrigation system of irrigating orchards
will be introduced in the vicinity of On-
tario, Ore. It will be applied to the land
that is above the canals. Water will be
hauled in wagons to where it is wanted.
At the root of each tree will be placed a
ten-gallon water- box. This box is to be
filled once every two weeks during the dry
season until the tree is five years old. To
fill these boxes, on the basis of twenty

220

THE IRRIGA TION A GE.

acres of orchard it will require 30,000 gal-
lons of water. This will take a team and
one man six days. The soil will be culti-
vated thoroughly, and about three times
as deep as is usual.

It is claimed by advocates of the new
system that fruit raised with a dry surface
will be far superior to that raised with
surface watering. The spider and moth
will not be attracted by damp soil. The
usual water rental is $1 per acre for sur-
face watering. It is claimed under the
new system that two inches of water will
irrigate twenty acres of bearing orchard.
It is proposed to grow melons in the same
way, the water-box at the melon-root, of
course, being smaller. It is claimed that
melons in this country are not of the best
quality, on account of lying on moist
ground and becoming the prey of the dif-
ferent kinds of insects. Under the new
system, the melon rests on a dry surface,
colors naturally, ripens evenly, is not filled
with water by evaporation, has an even
and regular rind, ships better, and keeps
better in the market. — Northwest Maga-
zine.

Rural Mail The rural free mail delivery
Delivery. has come to stay, and may
now be accepted as an essential feature of
our vast and wonderfully reliable postal
system. There is no reason why the citi-
zen of the thickly settled farming com-
munity should not have his daily paper or
his mail flung into his front yard by one

f Uncle Sam's mail carriers, instead of
having to quit his work to go to town and
receive it at the hands of the indifferent
boss of the general delivery window. In
fact the government has been willing
enough all along to get out into the coun-
try with free delivery mail service, but it
was not believed, until recent experiments
had been made, that it could do so with-
out loss to the postal branch.

ugrutitude There are indications of the
Cubans. grossest ingratitude on the

art of the Cubans toward the United
States. Our country went to their relief
in the hour of their dire extremety, and
forced the Spanish heel off their neck.

hey did little toward their own libera-

tion. The United States did it all, and
has cared for them and helped them ever
since, so that they are getting on their
feet, and now they show little or no gra-
titude toward us. At the opening of their
constitutional convention they did mani-
fest a little appreciation of our help; but
now they seem loth to grant anything-
asked. They think they are able to get
along without us, and that we ought to be
glad that we were allowed to serve them.
Possibly they may yet come to their senses
without putting us to the necessity of
forcing them to act with some spnse, as
well as gratitude.

Benjamin Since the day when it was

Harrison Dead, announced that Benjamin
Harrison was suffering from pneumonia
there have been fears that he would not
recover. These fears were not without
cauce. His rugged constitution, temper-
ate, well-ordered life, and the skill of
faithful physicians could not save him.

There have been American public men
who have enjoyed popular affection in a
greater degree than Benjamin Harrison.
Nature did not bestow on him the peculiar
qualities which won for Clay and Blaine
the devotion of their followers. On the
other hand, no prominent American has
possessed in a higher degree than the
eminent Indianian the great qualities of
sincerity and integrity. They gained him
the respect of the American people. With
these were united mental abilities of a
high order. Happy accidents may have
contributed much towards making the
grandfather President of the United
States. Not accident but native ability
and hard work lifted the grandson to that
position.

The rebellion made a soldier of him for
four years, and he was a good one. Nature
designed him for a lawyer, and he was a
great one. It was because he was so good
a lawyer and held the bsnch in such high
esteem that the judicial appointments
made by him during his administration,
were of such uniform, excellence. He tol-
erated no interference when making them.

As a Senator he was indefatigable and
thorough in the discharge of his duties..

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

221

So was he as Presicent. He performed
with dignity, conscientiousness, and cour-
age all the duties which devolved upon
him. All he did was done in strict ac-
cordance with his convictions.

At the close of his term he withdrew
from the field of political activity and gave
himself up to the law. The Venezuelan
boundary dispute was one of the important
cases in which he took part. He was
counsel for the republic before the arbi-
tration tribunal which met at Paris. He
took little part in the discussion of politi-
cal questions until the controversy arose
as to the constitutional statis of our insular
possessions. His convictions compelled
him to differ from the policy of his party
and he was too sincere a man to hide his
views. As he was an admirable constitu-
tional lawyer the public listened respect-
fully to his arguments even when it did
not agree with them. The general ex-
pressions of sorrow which his death has
called forth show in what high esteem he
was held.

The country has lost a man who served
it well in war and in peace, to whose name
no scandal attached, and whose sincerity
never was questioned.

Rice Prof. Elmond Mead and Prof.

Culture Frank Bond, experts in the

Department of Agriculture, are making a
tour of Texas and Louisiana in the inter-
est of rice culture. In an interview in the
Houston Post, Prof. Mead said:

"About four years ago congress made
an appropriation for the study of irriga-
tion and created the position of expert in
that line, adding it to the agricultural de-
partment. For three years thereafter the
expert studied irrigation in the arid reg-
ions, where crops are never grown to any
extent, save by the assistance of irriga-
tion.

"Last} ear the department took up the
investigations in the humid and sub-humid
territory, and taught the farmers in Mis-

souri, New Jersey and Wisconsin to make
several blades of grass grow where none
had grown before. Every place the agri-
cultural department has assisted in this
matter has been benefited.

"We have decided to see what assist-
anco we can render the rice growers of
Texas and Louisiana, and Prof. Bond is
here for that purpose. He will spend
most of the summer here investigating the
system you have of cultivating crops of all
sorts, especially rice. Prof. Bond will
study the question in all its phases. The
canals, the flow of water, the expense, the
sort of machinery, etc., will all be thor-
oughly tested and a bulletin issued by the
government upon that subject.

"I know of no place that needs expert
service of this sort more than does this
territory. It is a country of wonderful
possibilities. Rice culture as carried on
here is far ahead of the little portions of
South Carolina which grow it There
they cultivate it by hand, and from the
time the seeds are sown until the cereal is
reaped and threshed and bagged the most
primitive methods are used. It is cut with
a hand sickle and sown and hauled off with
an ox, shod with raw-hide shoes— the
shoes are to keep the ox from getting lost
in the mud. As carried on there it is not
profitable at all.

"Prof. Bond will investigate the quan-
tity of water it requires to irrigate an
acre. We find that there is a great dif-
ference of opinion on this score. Some
use, for instance, six gallons a minute,
while others use thirteen, and so on.
This will be tested. He will measure the
losses by evaporation. The bulletin which
will be issued by the government will
give all the results of these experiments.
Also the complete rice district of the
Southwest, the value of the crop, the
money invested and other things relative
thereto."

IRRIGATING INDIAN RESERVA-
TION.

SPEECH BY HON. WILLIAM M. STEWART, OP
NEVADA, IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED

STATES.

The policy of irrigating Indian reservations for the benefit of
Indians is established. The only argument adduced against this
amendment arises from the fact that it may incidentally benefit white
men, and of course white men, if they live in the West, have no rights
which certain persons, whom I will not name, are disposed to respect.
In this same bill we find a provision for Indians:

For construction of ditches and reservoirs, purchase and use of irrigating tools
and appliances, and purchase of water rights on Indian reservations, in the discre-
tion of the Secretary of the Interior and subject to his control, $100,000.

It seems to me, when it is so clear from the conceded facts that
this reservoir ought to be built for the sole benefit of the Indians, that
it is a very poor reason for objecting to it that it will also enable some
white settlers to get homes. There will be more water in the reser-
voir than the Indians will need. This surplus water will irrigate
enough government land outside the Indian reservation to return the
whole cost of the reservoir. It will cost the Government nothing to
restore their water to the Indians.

The only excuse they could find to delay building the reservoir for
the Indians is this scheme to put a pipe in the dry bed of the stream
and catch underflow. That has failed again and again. It is nothing
but a temporary makeshift. Everybody who has seen, those schemes
tried knows that. It is a waste of time to experiment with it.

The little Indian inspector who wanted the handling of this money
is the only authority quoted by the Senator from Connecticut [Mr.
PLATT] against this proposed plan. They are always small when you
put them at great work.

Mr. SPOONEK. Unless they agree with you.

Mr. STEWART. Unless they agree with you. Of course that
would magnify them very much, because it would be some evidence
of good sense.

Mr. SPOONER. Strong evidence.

Mr. STEWART. This region of country where this reservoir is pro-
posed to be built is historic ground. Before any race which we now
know of inhabited that country large irrigation works were estab-

THE 1RRIGA T10N A GE. 223

lished and cities were built. On one of my earliest trips in that region
crossing frcm north to scutb, I passed several old ditches higher up
than any now used. I spent seme time trying to gratify my curiosity.
We found the ruins of these old cities, with pottery there and every
evidence of an advanced civilization. It is a remarkably fertile region
with water. Without water, of course, it is a desert. Along the river
there are several tribes of Indians — the Pimas, Papagoes, and Mari-
copas — who carried on their industries. They were a good people.
They were irrigators and farmers before the white people went into
the country. They remained friendly to the people of the United
States during all the Indian wars.

Their villages were a refuge for the pioneers of that Territory
when a white man's life was hardly safe anywhere else in the Terri-
tory from the murderous Apaches. Now we are taking care of the
Apaches. They are fat and sleek. But the friendly Indians must
starve because they could not protect themselves. They are the
wards of the Government. If they had been white men they would
have gone into court and prevented the diversion of their water. "But
the Government did not protect them, and now their water is gone
and we are told we can not build this reservoir because we might, in
addition to doing justice to the Indians, reclaim some desert Govern-
ment land and provide a few homes for white men.

These Indians were never dependent on the Government until
their water was taken from them. They are not roving Indians; they
are farmers. They cultivated their little farms and made a living for
themselves, and they will do it again if we give them back their water.
If we do not, they must starve or be fed, and to feed them makes beg
gars and mendicants of them. But some people would seem to prefer
that Indians should starve or beg or be made paupers, if necessary, to
prevent the Government getting back the cost of the reservoir from
settlers on Government land. What is their wrong about the Govern-
ment getting its money back? What is there wrong about irrigating
some desert land so white settlers can cultivate it? Will a few more
white men's homes do any harm?

The Government report (Storage of Water on Gila River, Arizona,
by Lippincott, House Document No. 351, Fifty-sixth Congress, first
session) tells all about these Indians and the way they have been
neglected. Here is what it says on page 9:

The Gila River Indian reservation is occupied chiefly by the Pima and Maricopa
Indians and a limited number of Papagoes. The first knowledge we have of these
Indians is obtained from a narrative of Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish explorer, who
visited this region about the year 1536, after an adventurous journey overland from
Florida. This traveler describes them very much as they are to-day. They occupied
the same lands as at present, and have evidently long been industrious and success-
ful farmers and irrigators, as they continued to be for many years after the acquisi-

224 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

tion of Arizona by the United States. Their average wheat crop was about 2,000,000-
pounds a year, besides which corn, pumpkins, beans, sorghum, and vegetables were
raised in large quantities. They manufactured ollas, or earthen jars, and baskets,
and wove very fine blankets and cotton fabrics. They lived in small villages and
held their lands in severally.

The Pimas have always been friends of the whites and enemies of the Apaches.
They gave succor and assistance to the early white settlers, and their door? were
always open -to peaceable whites or Indians when hard pressed by the savage foe. It
is their boast that their hands were never stained by the white man's blood. It was
under such conditions that they were joined, about a century ago, by the Maricopas,
who came at fugitives from the more powerful Yuma tribe. When the belligerent
Apaches gave trouble to the settlers, the United States troops sometimes obtained
substantial aid and comfort from the Pimas in the way of subsistence.

The agriculture of the Pima Indians was carried on entirely by irrigation with
water diverted from Gila river. These tribes have always supported themselves, and
their progress toward civilization has been regarded as one of the encouraging feat-
ures of the Indian problem. During the last ten years, their irrigating water having
been taken away from them, they have lapsed into indolence, want and vice.

Their condition of prosperity, industry, and independence continued until by
the settlement of the Gila valley above the reservation the water supply was partly
cut off and began to be deficient for the cultivated lands on the reservation.

On March 27, 1895, Mr. J. Roe Young, United States Indian agent at Sacaton,
made a terse statement of the case to the Indian Bureau, closing his letter with the
following recommendation:

"What is best to be done I do not know. I recommend, however, that a compe-
tent, thorough and skillful engineer, well acquainted with irrigation questions, be
employed to ascertain and report, first, whether or not under existing conditions a
supply of water adequate to the needs of these Indians can be obtained and retained
permanently, and then, if such a supply can be obtained, what is the best, most feas-
ble, practicable, and economical method of doing so.

"To properly do this the engineer should examine carefully the past and present
condition and flow of the Gila river, the amount of water which formerly passed
through this reservation, and the amount we are now receiving; the number and
amount of inches of water for which charters for ditches have been granted in the
different counties through which the Gila flows, and the amount of water taken out
under these charters, together with the number of such charters now legally in force;
the underground currents and rock strata along the river, and all matters which
taken together may lead to some solution of this question. I have been unable to
get an estimate of what amount such an investigation and report will cost, but I
would suggest that the sum of $5,000 be set apart from any appropriation available
for this purpose. Competent and first-class engineers, with ability to make such a
report as this case requires, are scarce and high priced, and they have to be well
paid. It would be money thrown away to employ a man not thoroughly posted.

"This matter should be taken up soon, in order that we may know what to
expect for next year."

Mr. Elwood Hadley, who is now (1899) the Indian agent at Sacaton, in describ-
ing the present condition of the Indians of the Gila River reservation, writes as fol-
lows, under date of September 25, 1899:

"Approximately 6,000 Indians— Pimas, Papagoes, and Marieopas — are depend-
ent for their subsistence upon the lands of the Gila River reservation, which reser-
vation contains 357,120 acres. It ia estimated that half of the land could be made
productive with water to irrigate it. The water supply in the Gila river the present
season, owing to its use for lands above us, has not been sufficient to irrigate 1,000
acres. Fully half the crops planted have not produced enough for seed. This land,
is very fertile. The condition of affairs here shows that in the past three years there
has been a large falling off in the wate'r supply for irrigation. The reason is apparent
in the absorption of the water by additional cultivated lands above.

"I notice in the Indians a restlessness as they realize their helpless condition,.

THE IRRIGA I ION A GE 225

and am often confronted with the solicitous queries, What are we to do? If we plant
•what we have, what assurance hive we of getting it back? Under favorable condi-
tions these Indians, being agricultural and pastoral, would soon become independent,
prosperous, civilixed citizens. Otherwise, discouragement, hunger, and destitution
are their lot. A nomadic life being taken on, their old tribal nature asserts itself,
and the expenditures hitherto made and being made by the Government for their edu-
cation and improvement prove a curse to them rather than a blessing.

"It is now necessary to issue considerable subsistence to the Indians whose
crops have been a failure, and this aid will have to be largely increased under the
existing limited water supply. A supply of water would permit of the Pima board-
ing school establishing a model farm, greatly reducing the cost of maintaining the
school of 200 pupils, and be a most valuable educational factor in the school life of
the pupils. The available Indian labor in the construction of the reservoir is an
important factor, as it is much better to provide them labor with pay than keep them
as paupers. These Indians are willing to work and their moral status is good.
Their attitude toward the United States has always been friendly. They have saved
the Government in protecting the early settlers from the ravages of the Apaches.
They have kept themselves within the bounds of law and order, and they are now
left upon the desert without water. Humanity speaks, economical administration
for the sustenance of the Indians speaks, and nature in her wise provisions says:
'Let man's means and intelligence be made operative, that these Indians, whose
claims are meritorious, be reinstated in self-sustenance and lifted to the plane of
prosperous American citizens."

Again (page 17):

In order to determine the amount of water that will be required for the Indians
on the Gila River Indian Reservation, Mr. Elwood Hadley, United States Indian
agent at Sacaton, was requested to make a statement on the subject. In his reply,
dated October 12, 1899, he writes:

"It is estimated that there are nearly 4,500 Pima and Maricopa Indians on the
reservation dependent for their subsistence upon its lands. South of this reserva-
tion, in the country lying between the Southern Pacific railroad and the border line
of Mexico, it is estimated that there are nearly 2,000 nomadic Papagos, who derive
mueh of their subsistence from the Pimas of this reservation (Gila River) in exchange
for their labor. The Pimas are liberal and kind to their more unfortinate brothers,
and give them a share of their products in return for their labor in harvesting the
crops.

"The estimated number of Indians under my care is as follows: Pimas, 4,200;
Maricopas, 350; Papagos, 2,700; total, 7,250.

"The number named above who live on reservations away from here would gladly
come here if they could be furnished with water. It is estimated that 2 acres of
land will sustain an Indian."

There has been an investigation of this matter. All the matters
that the Senator from Connecticut complained of have been investi-
gated. I read again from this report:

In November 1895, the Secretary of the Interior instructed the Director of the
Geological Survey to detail a civil engineer to make the examination recommended,
and Mr. Arthur P. Davis, hydrographer. was accordingly assigned to this task, in
which he was assisted by Mr. Cyrus C. Babb, assistant hydrographer, and Mr. J. B.
Lippincott, resident hydrographer for California. Six months of time and $3,500
were expended in the field on the preliminary investigation, and a report was sub-
mitted in 1896, entitled The Report on Irrigation Investigation for the Benefit of the
Pima and Other Indians on the the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona.

We find in the appropriation act of two years ago the following
provision:

226 THE IRRIGA TION A GE.

For ascertaining the depth of the bedrock at a place on the Gila river in Gila
county, Arizona, known as The Buttes, and particularly described in Senate Docu-
ment No. 27, Fifty-fourth Congress, second session, and for ascertaining the feasi-
bility and estimating in detal the cost of the construction of a dam across the river
at that point for purpose of irrigating the Sacaton Reservation, and for ascertaining
the average daily flow of water in the river at that point, $20,000, or so much thereof
as may be necessary, the same to be expended by the Director of the United States
Geological Survey, under the direction of the Secretaay of the Interior: Provided,
That nothing herein shall be construed as in any way committing the United States
to the construction of said dam. And said Director shall also ascertain and report
upon the feasibility and cost of the Queen Creek project mentioned in said Senate
document.

Under this appropriation a preliminary investigation has been
made, and the following summary is given to show that the Govern,
ment can get its money all back from the land (p. 94):

Total water supply to be delivered to the point of diversion from San

Carlos reservoir for irrigation each year ............... .acre-feet .... 241,396

Estimate requirement for Indiana 40,000

Remainder available for irrigation of public domain or private lands

acre-feet 201,396

Assume a duty of water of 2 acre-feet or 24 inches in depth used each
year on each irrigated acre; this would permit the irrigation of lands

outside the reservation to the extent of acres. . . . 100,698

There are 289, 211 acres of arid public land in the district to be supplied
from this system. Assume that the water is given to the Indians with-
out cost to the Government and that these 100,698 acres must pay the
total cost of the works, then the necessary charge per acre for the re-
maining water rights to be sold would be $10.24

It is believed that the public lands with this water right could at this
rate, be sold within a year.
If 3,000 Indians have to be fed by the Government at a cost per ration

' per day of 10 cents, the annual expenses would be $109,500

The capitalization of $109,500, at 4 per cent, would represent the practi-
cal permanent expense of feeding these tribes This is equivalent to a
permanent Government debt, which would be liquidated by this con-
struction, of : ... $2,737,500

The value of the 100,698 acres of irrigated public lands that would be

taxable would be $50 per acre, or a total of $5,034,900

The saving, without expense to the Government, by irrigation of 20,000

acres of lands belonging to the Indians, has been shown to be . 2,737,500

Total increase in value without public expense $7,772,400

There will also be a large increase in value of taxable town property
not estimated upon.

The report that came in is very elaborate. They examined all the
modes of supplying the reservation with water. It is. presented here
[exhibiting] with plats, and with a full detail of surveys, and they
come to the conclusion that this is the only feasible and practical way
of irrigating it. They have to a great extent estimated the cost.
They spent the $20,000 in making this examination. The amount was
entirely inadequate to complete the examination.

This provision simply proposes to complete the investigation and

1UK IRRIGATION AGE. 227

the surveys for the purpose of ascertaining the cost, and, in order that
the United States may be protected, the amendment proposes to with-
draw from settlement a large tract, which is practically desert land,
but which would be pounced upon by all sorts of schemes if there was
an idea that it was to be irrigated. It will probably irrigate one hun-
dred of a hundred and fifty thousand acres of land, capable of support-
ing fifty or a hundred thousand people. It Is a great enterprise. The
ditch necessarily goes through it, and before the ditch is located it is
necessary to withdraw the land, so that the Government can hereafter
dispose of it.

This commits the Government to nothing that it is not already
committed to, It directs the prosecution of the investigation, and in
order to compete the investigation and at the same time protect the
United States it is necessary to have a survey showing where the ditch
will be and what land will be irrigated. So the. amendment proposes
to withdraw the land until the survey is made and until all the esti-
mates are in.

You cannot make a complete contour survey with a little money.
It takes considerable money. A hundred thousand dollars will be
required to survey this, and then you will have the proposition before
Congress. It is simply carrying out the policy of Congress already
settled upon. It involves nothing further than having the facts of
this great enterprise fairly brought before Congress. Then, that be-
ing done, if it is thought that the policy of irrigating by the Govern-
ment shall not be adopted, Congress can provide for the sale of this
enterprise to private parties, the land will be reserved, and there will
be something for the Government to sell.

Mr. BEVERIDGE. May I ask the Senator from Nevada a question?

Mr. STEWART. Certainly.

MR. BEVERIDGE. I understood the remarks of the Senator from
Connecticut to be directed to this point, and I think they were very
pertinent: Why should the investigation be confined to this particu-
lar method of irrigation:* Wny should it not parmit any method of
irrigation that may be wise to be investigated?

Mr. STEWART. There is a pamphlet here showing why. They
have already gone on. There is no other method".

Mr. BEVERIDGE. The Senator from Connecticut says the other
methods have not been exhausted.

Mr. STEWART. He thinks they have not. I think they have.

Mr. PLATT of Connecticut. Will the San ttor par jait ma? Wny is
the clause which was contiinel in the original authority to investigate
left out of this provision? It provided that nothing in it shoull co n-
mit the Government to this enterprise.

Mr. BEVERIDGE. If I understand

228 THE 1RRIGA TWN A GE.

Mr. THURSTON. Mr. President-
Mr. STEWART. One at a time.

Mr. THURSTON. That suggestion was not made in committee this
year, and I see no reason^why there would be an objection to adding it.

Mr. BEVERIDGE. Then that would meet the point made by the
Senator from Connecticut. I was about to ask the Senator from
Nevada whether it is true that all other methods of irrigation have
been tried and have been cast aside as inadequate?

Mr. STEWART. You will get some water, some underflow, but
there were men before the committee who said that the underflow is
now down 3 or 4 or 5 feet deeper than it was a few years ago. You
cannot get a permanent supply in that way.

Mr. BEVERIDGE. I understand that the Senator from Nevada
says he will accept that amendment.

Mr. STEWART. I want to say something, if you will let me have
the floor for a while.

The policy is established that we should irrigate for the Indians.
We give them vast tracts of land, and we may spend three or four
hundred thousand dollars a year irrigating for them, and we have it
conducted under inexperienced men, Indian inspectors or something
of that kind; yet if by any possibility the irrigation benefits the white
man, then it becomes a monster. That is the extraordinary feature of
the opposition to this measure. They say you can not irrigate to help
the Indians if by any chance there may be some irrigation for white
men too. Agriculture has been conducted more by irrigation than by
rainfull in this world. All ancient agriculture was by irrigation.

Mr. BEVERIDGE. No.

Mr. STEWART. Pretty nearly all was by irrigation. Only recently
have they undertaken to subdue countries where there was rainfall.
See the great irrigation works in Africa and in Western Asia. All
those great civilizations were by means of irrigation. Two-fifths of
the entire area of the United States requires irrigation. It is a vast
empire where you can make homes for 50,000,000 people, if irrigated,
and it will not be nearly so thickly populated then as were ancient
countries. You see ruins of the irrigation plants of the ancients; they
are being excavated now, and other people are taking an interest in it.
In Egypt they are excavating old irrigation works, which show that
the Sahara Desert, or a large part of it, was once irrigated, to the won-
der of t-h'e world. There is masonry there that cannot be surpassed
to-day. It is being developed everywhere.

Here we have a country of immense possibility, and because this
improvement may be used for the benefit of white peopl^ there *s
objection to it. If it could not be used for white people, if it could not
benefit white people, there would be no objection to it. There is no

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 229

objection to irrigating for the Indians. But here, according to the
report, the Indians cannot be successfully supplied without at the
same time providing more water than they need and benefiting white
people. The Senator says: How can you build this reservoir without
injuring the Florence Canal Company? The canal company took it
from the Indians, but the settlers under the canal bought their land
of the Government. It will be hard to take the water away from them
and give it back to the Indians now. That would ruin the white set-
tlers. Nobody proposes to do that.

But by building this reservoir the Government can provide new
supplies for the Indians, so as not to injure the white settlers under
the canal. Justice can he done to all parties, no one will be injured,
and the Government can get all its money back. But that seems to be
what they object to— that and the possibility that some of the desert
might be irrigated to make homes for some more white men.

Mr. SPOONER. The whole subject of irrigation is a very large
one. We have a Committee on Irrigation, have we not?

Mr. STEWART. Yes.

Mr. SPOONER. Is the Senator from Nevada chairman of it?

Mr. STEWART. No.

Mr. SPOONER. He was at one time.

Mr. STEWART. Yes.

Mr. SPOONER. Now, if the Government is to be committed to the
scheme of irrigation — it may be a good thing — why is not a bill brought
in here, an independent proposition, which can be debated?

Mr. STEWART. Because the Senate is not sufficiently educated.

Mr. SPOONER. That is the way to educate it. Why is it always
done on some provision in an appropriation bill?

Mr. STEWART. So that we can talk about it and discuss it.

Mr. SPOONER. All you want, then, is talk?

Mr. STEWART. No; I want you educated. I want to accomplish
something. If I can educate you and get you to understand it, you
will be the most enthusiastic friend of irrigation in the Senate.

Mr. SPOONER. Very likely; but every attempt to inaugurate this
system has been by stealth.

Mr. STEWART. It is not done by stealth.

Mr. SPOONER. We discussed one proposition at the last session of
Congress which was under the guise of improvement of navigation.

MR. STEWART. Let me tell you something-
Mr. SPOONER. It was perfectly obvious—

Mr. STEWART. Let me tell you something perfectly new to you,
that you do not know.

Mr. SPOONER. I will not say that I do not until I know what you.
are going to say.

230 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

Mr. STEWART. You will hear it right now. We are spending
$10,000,000 in the river and harbor bill to improve the navigation of
the Mississippi river, when we all know that that is not the purpose.
It is to protect the lands there. We know that is the purpose. A
great many things are done by indirection. I should not be surprised
if my friend the Senator from Wisconsin has done some cunning things
by indirection. He does not always tell what he is after. I am will-
ing to say that I should like to see this experiment tried, because it is
the only way of supplying the Indians, and in addition it may illus-
trate a great principle. There should be no objection to it.

Mr. SPOONER. As a lawyer I have not always informed m\ an-
tagonist what I was about, but as a legislator I have endeavored to be
frank and not to seek in legislation to accomplish anything by indirec-
tion.-

Mr. STEWART. I am not seeking to accomplish anything by indi
rection.

Mr. SPOONER. Every time this irrigation proposition comes before
the Senate, instead of coming at an early day in the session and in the
form of some well-defined plan, reported by the Committee on Irriga-
tion, so that we can consider it and be educated by the Senator

Mr. STEWART. It would take a long time to educate you. We
could not get a hearing.

Mr. SPOONER. It would take a long time, perhaps, to be educated
by the Senator from Nevada.

Mr. STEWART. Yes.

Mr. SPOONER. But it always comes under cover.

Mr. STEWART. Who is making this speech?

Mr. SPOONER. If you do not want me to interrupt you, I will not.
But it always comes under cover.

Mr. STEWART. No; it does not come under cover. It does not
always come in that way. Here is a proposition in this bill for irrigat-
ing Indian land. It has gone through every time, but there is objec-
tion to this because it may incidentally irrigate other lands. It is a
proposition where you can not irrigate the Indian lands without irri-
gating other lands, and because you cannot do it, are you going to let
the Indians starve? There are over 5,000 Indians there. There is no
way of getting a permanent supply of water unless you build the res-
ervoir, which will provide more water than the Indians need, which
can be used for irrigating some other Government land. Therefore,
rather than benefit the white man, you will not have a survey and you
will not have an investigation.

Nobody is going to undertake this enterprise unless the land can
be reserved. If the lands are not withdrawn before the survey is
made there will be obstructions in the way. Nobody will do it, private

THE 1RRIGA TION A GE. 231

parties will not do it, the Government will not do it unless it can have
the benefit of the irrigation when it comes. This bill provides for
that.

I desire to say to the Senator from Connecticut and the Senator
from Wisconsin that Eastern people are not so universally against the
improvement of this vast region as you might suppose in the first
instance. Nearly the entire press of the country advocates the re-
clamation of these arid lands.

A more direct wav of improving the Mississippi would be to make
lakes in the mountains, and you would not require so large an annual
appropriation for the Mississippi. I have no doubt that great results
can be accomplished by storing the water to mitigate the floods but
the objection is raised that it will benefit lands in western Kansas and
Nebraska, and probably western Arkansas — in fact, all through the
West and on the Missouri river and its tributaries. That, they say,
must not be done. You must let all the floods come down if by stop-
ping them you would reclaim the arid lands. They say that must not
be done. Better to have the floods, they' say, than to reclaim any of
the deserts— and so the floods keep on coming.

You do not make objection, and I do not make objection, to build-
ing up the banks to protect the people from overflows. I believe it
ought to be done, and if that is the only way in which those States can
be protected I am in favor of doing it. But if you are going to protect
them by building up banks, why not do it also by building the reser-
voirs. You may say it is doing it by indirection, but you put the
appropriations in the river and harbor bill to build up the banks, and
I am in favor of doing it, not because ic is necessary for the improve-
ment of navigation, but because it is necessary to protect those great
States from overflows. That is why it is done. And if the appropri-
ation to build the ba.nks goes in the river and harbor bill, there is no
reason why the appropriation for the reservoir should not go there
too.

Now, here is a case where you can not successfully irrigate the
lands for the Indians — we have had the investigation and we have
reports on it — without this great reservoir and canal. Nobody will
undertake that work unless the land is withdrawn. You can not make
any progress toward it unless you have a survey and the withdrawal
of the land. You have to make a contour survey and withdraw the
lands, and then undoubtedly you can find many persons and many cor-
porations, if you are willing to let it be monopolized when you have
surveyed it, to take it off the hands of the Government. It ought not
to be monopolized. The Government ought to do it. But that coun-
try ought not to be always a desert. It is the grandest enterprise I
know of to reclaim a very large amount of land which, when it is re-

232 THE 1RR I GA TION A GE.

claimed, is worth from thirty to fifty dollars an acre. It is marvelously
productive; you will build up a prosperous community there; and these
incidental benefits that come from it should not be an objection to the
building of that reservoir.

The tronble I have found is the general fear that legislation might
be enacted which in some way would develop the West. You make
Indian reservations without paying any attention to the white people,
and you exclude the latter from them. You protect barbarism; you do
anything but give the whites a fair show. You must admit this ought
to be done for the benefit of the Indians; and it is absurd to say that it
must not be done because it might also benefit the whites.

There is no reason why this experiment should not be conducted
to its consummation. Let us know what can be done. This water
may be taken out on either side of the river. There is a vast region
on each side of the river that may be irrigated. As soon as you deter-
mine where it shall be, unless you withdraw the land, there will be
scrip and all sorts of obstructions in your way. So in connection with
this investigation we have the land withdrawn; and that is all there is
new in the proposition. It is merely carrying on further the former
investigation which was ordered. We have the preliminary report of
it. It is just finishing up this investigation, and it is provided that
there shall be a sufficient survey to enable the Department to deter-
mine what lands will be irrigated, and then if it must be done — if you
will not let the Government do it — you can turn it over to private
parties.

It will be a square proposition, after the investigation is made,
whether the Government will do the work, notwithstanding the fact
that it does benefit white people. That will be the question then.
That question does not arise now. We are committed to the policy of
making this investigation, and why should it not be completed? The
other modes for supplying it have been exhausted. We went down
there with an appropriation of $20,000 last year to feed the Indians
because their lands could not be irrigated. If their land could have
been irrigated by the water that can be reservoired there, they would
not have neeeded to be fed.

Mr. TELLER. The appropriation was $30,000.
Mr. STEWART. We appropriated $30,000 to feed the Indians be-
cause their lands could not be irrigated. The Indians would have
accomplished it themselves if they could have done it. They got along
all right before their water was taken away frjm them They are
industrious and intelligent Indians, and there is no trouble about that.
Tney would have done all this themselves if it had been practicable.
The fact that it was not done and we appropriated $30,003 to feed them
shows that it could not be done. They can build the ditches to carry

THE IRRIGATION AGE 233

the water to their farms, but they cannot build this reservoir them
selves. If it was being built they could do much of the work on it
and earn wages to keep them until the reservoir is completed. Then
they would have the water again.

Now, it is said the reservoirs will fill up. There are various mod-
ern methods of keeping reservoirs clean. Land in India has been
irrigated for thousands of years and reservoirs have been filled up, but
they have methods of cleaning them, methods of sluicing them out. I
believe we can keep these reservoirs entirely clean. The report from
Mr. Schuyler (Senate Document 152, Fifty-sixth Congress, first ses-
sion) says they can, and he investigated that very proposition for the
•Government. We can not reclaim any of our desert lands unless we
keep the water flowing. Of course there must be an aqueduct at the
lower part of it to let the water out. That water can be sluiced off, so
as to go down and keep it clean' That is the modern theory. The
idea that we can not maintain a reservoir is a proposition against any
irrigation.

This is the most magnificent place in the United States for an ex-
periment. Let us know the facts before any large amount of money
is spent. It will require only $100,000 to make the necessary surveys
and secure the dam site. When that is done, the Government is not
committed at all. If they find that because it benefits the whites it
ought not to be done, it will be time enough to stop them. But to stop
before an investigation is made, on the theory that it might benefit
somebody besides the Indians, although it may be the only method by
which the Indians can be supplied, and I think it is, is absurd. You
have got to feed these Indians or irrigate their land. It may be that
you will think when the survey is made that it will be better to feed
them. That may be the result, but before you make the determina-
tion that it is better to feed them than to have the work done, you had
better hesitate, particular]y since you have undertaken it.

You have got a partial report, and to make the report available
for any purpose it will require an appropriation of another hundred
thousand dollars. The appropriation of $20,000 went as far as it could,
but they could not make for that amount any survey that would be
complete enough for practical purposes. You have ascertained the
facts for $20.000, and they have done a great work, more than is usu-
ally done for that amount of money. They have exhibited the facts,
and they have come to the conclusion, as they say here, that this is
the only method to irrigate the Indian reservation. Let us know the
extent of it, what it will amount to. Then we will determine what
shall be done.

I have no doubt if you should give the land which could be irri-
gated to a private corporation the work would be done. There is no

234 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

doubt about that. There may not be many parallel cases to this, but
in this case the land that will be irrigated will pay for the expense of
the reservoir and the ditch many times over, because it is exceedingly
valuable. You will hardly find another place such as that in the world.
Let us have the facts about it and then let the Government advertise
for bids to do it if the Government does not want to do it itself. I
would not be in favor of doing that. I think the Government ought to
do it. But it ought to be done in some way, because here is a place
for from 50,000 to 100,000 people if the land is irrigated.

The people of the West have good cause to complain when the
people of the East object to ordinal y appropriations for the Indian
service because it may benefit the whites. Senators talk about this
being an entering wedge. I am not in favor of any entering wedge,
but I am in favor of investigating and determining whether we can not
stop the flow that goes down the Mississippi and keep the water up
there and irrigate the West. I am in favor of some experiments.
This would be an object lesson worth trying. Great Britain has spent
in India over a hundred million dollars in irrigation works, and has
continuously spent it, to help develop that country.

These are great enterprises, and they demand a very large ex-
penditure, The debt of India consists in irrigation works and railroads
to develop that country, and they have made it very productive. If it
had not been for the irrigation works the famine there would have
been universal. Famine comes there on account of drought.

The West will in time be teeming with population. It is bound to
come. Two-fifths of the area of the United States is not going to
remain a barren waste when everybody knows that it can be reclaimed
and be made the most productive land in the world. One acre of irri-
gated laud will produce as much as four acres of any other land. You
can go into any State of the Union you please, and on land properly
irrigated you can raise a maximum crop every year, and generally two
or three crops with the water that comes down and fertilizes it.

This is a great proposition, and it would not be doubted at all if it-
had not been condemned as an evil purpose, and the charge made that
somebody wanted to swindle the Government; that somebody wanted
to rob the Government. When I see $80,000,000 in a river and harbor
bill to benefit every little creek and harbor all over the country, and
when I see 110,000,000 of that going to protect the farmers in the
Mississippi Valley, which ought to be done, I do not think it is a crime
to suggest that some of these waters might be kept in reservoirs
above, and thus relieve that river and spread the ferrility over a vast
region, which will be more fertile than any other we have. Irrigated
land is the best land: The time will come when there will be a teem-
ing population in those mountains. It may come slowly, but I do not

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 235

think it ought to be condemned as a crime, and the people of the East
do not think so either. I will ask also to insert in my remarks com-
ments and papers on the subject of irrigation from every section of
the country.

[The editorial extracts on the national irrigation policy have
already been published in THE AGE.]

I should like to have Senators read those views and see to what
extent the country is being educated. Fault is found because an asso-
ciation of people are in favor of this great enterprise, and we have
objections about irrigation associations. There are a great many asso-
ciations. There are mercantile associations, and there are associa-
tions in favor of the improvement of rivers and harbors. I remember
when I was a boy there were meetings held in favor of internal im-
provements, and they were addressed by orators from all parts of the
country.

It was an issue whether there should be any internal improvements
at all or not. That policy has been established, and see what it has
done for commerce. There was the organization of associations every-
where to promote internal improvements which we now have as a set-
tled policy, and it should be no crime now to advocate the improvement
of this vast section, two-fifths of the whole area, which is known to be
fertile. That should be agitated. It should be discussed in the news-
papers, as the question of internal improvements was thirty, forty, or
fifty years ago. It is not a matter of reproach. It is legitimate Amer-
ican enterprise; it is legitimate American thought, and it ought to be
heeded.

I have not introduced bills to make special appropriations for
dams, reservoirs, etc., because the country was not prepared for it.
It takes time for the country to wake up to it. The first bills that
were introduced to improve rivers and harbors were beaten in Con-
gress. But the necessity for it grew as commerce grew, and the neces-
sity for utilizing this vast heritage of two- fifths of the whole area of
the United States for the coming population will grow stronger and
stronger. Whatever may be said, something will be done, and it will
be honorably done. There is no indirection about this proposition.
This proposition comes straight to investigate a matter where it is
necessary for the Indians, and in that investigation and in those sur-
veys there may be an incidental benefit to the whites if it is carried
out.

I am certain that it will be carried out. It will nearly double the
population of Arizona. It will be a great object lesson. If the Gov-
ernment is not disposed to carry it out somebody will. If the lands
can be used and protected and the opportunity is given, why should we

236 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

be accused of indirection and trickery and all that because we are in
favor of giving proper attention to a great subject? The greatest sub-
ject now agitating the minds of the people, so far as this country is
concerned, is whether we can irrigate that vast region and populate it
as thickly as Indiana and Illinois. Although we will always have
waste lands there, there are valleys you can populate much more
thickly than those States. More people can live on the same area of
irrigated land than can live where you depend on a rainfall. You can
have the thickest kind of population where you have irrigation.

The people all over the country, not in the arid region alone, are
looking to this as a heritage of America where American enterprise is
to go, and from which great results are to come. To accuse men of
bad faith, and all that because they are in favor of what is for the
manifest interests of the country is something which I reject and repel.
There has been nothing done in connection with this question which
should reflect upon anybody as honorable men. This proposition was
commenced two years ago. It has progressed thus far. The question
is, Shall the investigation be completed and the proposition be put in
a position where Congress cau do it, or should somebody else do it?

I do not care how much talk there is about the flow and about get-
ting the water there, you have now got to support the Indians at the
rate of $30,000 a year, and if the Government went on with this enter-
prise it would give them all employment. They will work. They are
good Indians and they have been accustomed to work. There will be
no trouble about that. They go off to find work. I know them well.
They are Indians who have always had "a local habitation and a
name" where they live; and if- you give these Indians an opportunity
to work they will do so; and if you give them back the water for their
farms they will cultivate them and make a living for themselves. If
you feed them you make paupers of them. You have no right to do
that. They were never beggars. They always took care of them-
selves, and we must give them that same chance again. It would be
a great wrong to make beggars of them. Let them work and earn
.their own living from their little farms. That is what they want.

If Congress will not authorize the Government to do it, let us give
the contract to other parties to build this dith, and make it a condition
that these Indians shall be employed. But that question is to be de-
termined when the result of this investigation comes in. I do not
think that the investigation should be stopped for the bare fear that
it might illustrate the possibilities of developing that country and bene-
fiting mankind, and showing what vast resources we have. Because
the possibilities are good that may come from the investigation 1 do
not think should be stopped.

Nothing is asked from the Government of the United States ex-

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 237

cept money for the investigation, and the question as to whether the
Government shall undertake the work of building the dam is entirely
open and remains so. I would not ask the Government to build the
dam without having it perfectly understood why it was done. The
reason should be always given. Everything should be frank, as it is
in this proposition. I say now that I shall never argue that the Gov-
ernment is committed to this proposition because this is done, but if it
illustrates a great idea, shows the road to wealth, to prosperity, to
progress, to the place to make homes for people, nobody will be sorry;
and the Senator from Connecticut will be delighted, because he is a
good man at heart. He is full of prejudice, but he is not as bad a man
as he tried to make us believe he was. He does not hate the West.

I believe all these people who are opposing it are pretty good, but
they have been living in a certain locality and they get in ruts. They
have not seen that country. Let them go there. I should like to
bear what they would say then. A handful of Mormons went into the
desert, and it looked as if living there was impossible. The history
of the opening of the country at Salt Lake is the most interesting part
of the history of the United States. They learned to irrigate the land
and they have made it a rich State, a garden spot, and they have set
an example which has done good everywhere. When, without money,
poor as they were, foot-sore and hungry as they traveled over the
plains, they could stop there and build up such a country as that, it
shows what can be accomplished. When you see them in their homes
now it makes you glad that the pioneers, if they were Mormons, did
such great work.

It was because they were Mormons that they had a faith which
held them together, and they accomplished great results and built a
great results and built a great State. Now, when such results are
shown to a person who goes there a good deal of his prejudice must
melt away, and a good deal of your prejudice will melt away when you
see what irrigation accomplishes. Go to Colorado and see what irri-
gation has accomplished there. You can see what they have accom-
plished in various Western States. You see beautiful fields, rich
fruits, and everything produced by irrigation. Follow it up and see
how much land remains unirrigated, and you see what vast opportuni-
ties are spread out to American enterprise. When you see all that
.you will commence studying how we can devise some legislation that
will facilitate this great work.

It is proposed now that we shall take some money out of the
Treasury and irrigate the lands for the Indians, and this investigation
is to determine how much money may be needed and whether it will
all come back to the Treasury from the Government land which will
be irrigated with the surplus water in excess of which the Indians

238 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

need. There are over 5,000 Indians who have got to be provided for.
Either they must be fed or they must have the means of irrigation.
The amendment provides for completing this investigation. The last
investigation, which was carried as far as the money went, gives maps
of the dams and everything that could be done with that money, but
now it is found necessary before it can be accomplished to have more
money to complete the investigation and test the foundation for the
dam, and I believe we should have more money. I do not believe Con-
gress will quit this investigation until the investigation is completed.

BILL WILLIAMS FORK DAM.

ONE OF THE MOST STUPENDOUS WORKS OF
THE NEW CENTURY.

In this mining district of Arizona, mention is seldom made of the
great agricultural possibilities of the fertile arid plains and semi-
tropic valleys of Arizona. Much of this land goes under the general
mishomer of "desert," and at certain seasons of the year its parched
appearance gives color to the justice of the name; but, as a matter of
fact, the sun shines on no more fertile laud, and all that is needed to
make that land a wilderness of flowers and foliage is water. With
water, there is absolutely no element or chance about the wonderful
productiveness of this soil. All Arizona knows this, for each and all
of them have crossed parched wastes one week and returned the next,
after a rain, to see the same lands a waving mass of green and growing
foliage, refreshing to the air and beautiful to the sight. The rapidity
of such growth is something marvelous.

With water, that verdure becomes permanent; without it, its
duration is short lived. Where such land has been brought under
irrigation, prosperous communities have been established, and towns
and even cities have sprung into being, while the bounteous products
of that soil have brought a reign of comfort and plenty whore before
desolation prevailed and the demon of isolation reigned.

These remarks were prompted through the accidental obtaining
of the information that one of the most stupendous irrigation, mining
and electric power generating projects ever put on foot in America is
about to materialize in this section or country, under the ownership
and management of a syndicate of eastern moneyed men, the corpora-
tion being known as the Plomosa Water & Power Company, of which
company Wells H. Bates is president. Mr. Bates has worked for
years to bring this grand enterprise into existence, and no one is bet-
ter posted than he on the wonder which plenty of water will work in
this land of mineral and agricultural wealth, where water— and only
water — is the needed open sesame to all that man most desires here
below.

Haying gotten the eastern end of the project well under way, Mr.
Bates came west some weeks ago, and left Prescot a few days ago for
the Bill Williams Fork of the Colorado. Prof. Church, a civil and
mining engineer of world wide reputation, is now en route from New
York city, and will join Mr. Bates on the Bill Williams Fork, where

240 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

the party will thoroughly explore the country, taking about six weeks
time to do it, after which a most exhaustive report may be looked for,
including more details as to the great undertaking which is no less
than a water storage dam to impound the waters of the Bill Williams
Fork for purposes of irrigation and the generating of electric power
for use in the rich mining region of which the dam will be the center,
and also to supply light and power for the to be populous centers of
the fertile citrus belt of valley country below.

As the Courier understands it, this darn will be located at a point
in northeastern Yuma county, close to the southern line of Mohaye
and the western line of Vavapai, while the agricultural land and great
beds and bars of auriferous gravel lie in Yuma county. The whole
section between Bill Williams Fork and Tyson's Wells is said to be
gold bearing.

Before the last storms commenced, and after one of the most con-
tinuous and depressing drouths ever experienced in Arizono, Bill
Williams Fork contained a flowing sheet of water 100 feet wide and six
inches deep.

The dam will be 125 feet high and will create a lake eight miles
long and two miles wide, storing 21.000,000,000 cubic feet of water-
more storage capacity than is possessed by all the combined water
storage dams of the state of California. For three miles below this
dam the maine irrigation pipe conveying the water to the valleys
below will be suspended high in mid air, spiked to and along the sides
of the perpendicular walls of stone peculiar to the massive natural
scenery of that weird and wonderful section of country. Directly be-
low and tributary to this water so piped lies 500.000 acres of fertile
land situated in one of the mildest and most even climates in America,
and wherever touches this land all growths valued in the semi-tropic
zone will spring up almost spontaneous. Here, the man with the hoe
need not be bowed down or miserable, for nature herself has provided
so many of the elements of success that little labor will be needed to
perfect the plan. The valleys to be irrigated are Cullens valley,
Desert valley, and Piomosa valley. There are also tributary to this
dam almost limitless beds of gold-bearing gravel, the gold taken from
which is coarse and high grade.

The company now owns 10.240 acres of this gold-bearing gravel,
and there is 30,000 acres of what is known as the desert placers. The
existence of great veins of copper and gold bearing quartz has long
been known of in this section which, owing to its isolation, is as yet
almost a virgin field, so far as mining is concerned. The water power
will be used to work great dynamos, which will supply electric power
to all that section, which will, beyond any question, in the not distant
future support a population of not less than 20,000 people, and

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 241

arrangements are even now taking shape for the colonization of this
modern Eden with thrifty people who will take hold of the wonderful
advantages there offered and make homes for themselves and bend
their energies to the increase of the necessaries of life for all mankind
and make the before waste places the beauty spots of the earth.—
Prescott, (Ariz.) Courier.

THE DIVERSIFIED FARM.

In diversified farming by irrigation lies the salvation of agriculture.

PROFITS IN PEARS.

Pears are generally neglected in plant-
ing a commercial orchard, and one of the
most profitable fruits forgotten. Those
who have had years of experience in grow-
ing the pear find it pays handsomely if
properly handled. The pear orchard re-
quires about the eame soil as that demanded
by the apple. The trees thrive in all ap-
ple growing latitudes and may be grown
on any good orchard land. A sloping,
well drained hillside with a clayey forma-
tion is best suited to pear growth. If the
climatic and protected conditions are fa-
vcrable the trees may be profitably grown
in river or creek bottoms where there is
plenty of humus. It is necessary that a
quick, healthy growth be obtained in order
to get early bearing and prevent the rava-
ges of parasites and fungus diseases.

Both the quantity and quality of pears
are greatly influenced by plant food. Pears
are heavy consumers of potash and respond
well to liberal applications. It is neces-
sary, though, to see that a sufficiency of
phosphoric acid and nitrogen are applied.
If a complete fertilizer is used, it should
contain say 9 per cent each, of phosphoric
acid and potash and about 3 per cent of
nitrogen, and can be used at the rate of
about 800 Ibs. per acre annually.

Another economical plan for fertilizing
the pear orchard is to grow clover or peas
to furnish the nitrogen, and in turn fertil
ize these with phosphoric acid and potash;
about 200 to 250 Ibs. of muriate of potash
and 300 to 400 Ibs. of acid phosphate per
acre can be broad- casted and worked into
the soil before the peas or clover are sown.
- his produces a heavy growth of the

legume, which in turn will keep the soil
well supplied with nitrogen and organic
matter.

There are many varieties of pears both
the dwarf and standard. The Wilder is
one of the most popular early kinds, hav-
ing many strong friends among the orch-
ardists. The Bartlett is probably the most
popular of any and is one of the best bear-
ers. Among others generally planted are
the Flemish Beauty, Clapp's Favorite,
Seckel, Lawrence and Winter Nellis. By
planting the different varieties there is a
more perfect blossom fertilization and the
fruits continue ripening from midsummer
until late in the fall. Trees may be had
from any responsible nurseryman in any of
the fruit-growing centers. It is well to
get those grown near home and thereby
have them acclimated. They range in
price from five cents to twenty-five cents
each. Small trees are generally preferred.
Pear trees may be planted as close as
fifteen feet apart either way for the stan-
dard, and ten feet for the dwarf. They
should be pruned in a conical form and
kept free from disease. Annual spraying
with a preparation of lime, sulphur, lye
and salt destroys the scale and red spider.
The blight is something more troublesome
and harder to conquer. A thrifty growth,
gained by clean cultivation and liberal
manuring of the needed elements of plant
food will insure the orchard against the
blight and similar diseases. A pear orch-
ard should be kept clean of noxious weeds
and grasses. If not cultivated it is well
to mow the weeds two or three times every
summer.

The picking and marketing of pears is

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

243

•equal to one-half the battle in making a
success of the orchard. The fruits should
be marketed a few days before ripening.
If in doubt as to when they should be
picked, take hold of a pear and gently
raise the fruio straight up above the stem,
if ripe the fruit will snap from the branch.
They should all be picked in the same
manner, leaving the entire stem on the
fruits. In some markets pears must be
wrapped separately in tissue paper, and
packed in boxes weighing about forty
pounds each. Other markets demand the
open baskets. Winter pears may be picked
in October or November and put in boxes
for Christmas. They seldom sell for less
than two cents a pound, and even some-
times go to double that price.

JOEL SHOMAKER.

PLUM CULTURE.
Plum culture is one of the profitable
industries for general farmers and fruit
growers. The trees come into good bear-
ing in five or six years from planting and
the fruits are always saleable at fair and
remunerative "prices. An eight year old
plum tree will generally bear four or five
bushels of good fruit annually. This is
marketable in the fruit centers at an aver-
age of one to~two cents a pound. I am
familiar 'with several plum growers who
claim that the trees bring from $3.00 to
$10.00 each every year. They may be
planted as close as sixteen feet apart either
way, making the crop of an acre one of
profit.

Any good orchard soil will produce plum
trees and return most satisfactory divi-
dends on the investment. A rich pro-
tected location is best suited for some
varieties, while a creek bottom or natural
.wooded place is adapted to the hardy na-
tive or wildljfruits. The plum is a hard
wood tree that takes up much plant food.
The ashes are- rich in potash, which is an-
nually consumed by the tree and fruit
growth. A good fertilizer for plums would

be 400 to 600 Ibs. of ground bone and 200
to 250 Ibs. muriate of potash per acre, ap-
plied annually, broadcasted and worked
well into the soil:

There are several excellent varieties of
plums, each having its own claims for su-
periority. In the northern and western
States the Greengage, Lombard and Wash-
ington are preferred. One grower recently
said his Greengage trees had brought him
$10.00 each for many years, by drying the
fruit and selling much the came as prunes.
In the middle section of States the Wild
Goose, Yellow Egg and similar American
varieties are probably the most profitable.
The Japan plums, among them being the
Abundance, Red June and Burbank are
popular and good sellers in the southern
districts. Some growers say these varie-
ties will produce fine specimens the second
year after planting.

Plum trees may be obtained from any
nurseryman at prices ranging about twenty
cents each. The small trees are cheapest
and generally give the best satisfaction.
They cost less and are more liable to live
and become acclimated than the older
ones. Some of the native varieties, like the
Pottawatamie, may be planted in clusters
with fair profits assured. They fertilize
their blossoms better and bear more un i
form fruits when grouped in similar varie-
ties. Some successful plum orchardists
keep poultry in the groves to rid the trees
of the curculio. Ordinary insect enemies
may be destroyed by spraying with arsen-
ical solutions similar to those used in the
apple orchard.

The marketing of plums is an important
item that growers must keep in mind. The
fruits will generally stand shipping to a
considerable distance. Regular boxes pack-
ing about twenty pounds are advisable for
market. If not sold green the plums may
be cut open with a knife and evaporated
either by improved methods or drying in
the sun. In either case the dried fruit
sells well and brings good returns. Where

244

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

the market does not justify the handling
of green plums, and dried ones are not
practicable, the fruits may be canned and
sold at satisfactory prices. If well handled
the plum orchard is one of the most profit-
able. JOEL SHOEMAKER.

NUT CULTURE.

The growing of nut trees is one of the
most profitable and much neglected indus-
tries. As an iuvestment against the mis-
fortunes of old age there is nothing that
offers better and safer security than a few
acres of the leading hardwood nut trees.
They are ornamental and valuable for
shade and windbreaks around the home,
orchard or barn, and every year of growth
adds to their commercial value. The ruth-
less destruction of native forests has neces-
sitated a reform in the tree planting mat-
ter, and bounties are offered in some States
for the man who will plant trees on his
farm. The farmer who will give ten acres
of land to tree culture and plant the nut-
bearing varieties, will gain more annual
wealth than the banker who loans money
or the capitalist who carries life insurance
policies for investments.

Among the many varieties of nut trees
are the walnuts, hickory nuts, pecan, fil-
berts, butternuts and chestnuts. Walnut
and hickory timber is always in demand,
and the prices are increasing every year,
because of the timber becoming scarcer.
The original investment for planting out a
hardwood grove need not be very great, and
in a few years the income begins. Some
chestnut trees will produce $5 to $10 each
year, and begin bearing within five years
after planting. The filberts will yield
profits w'thin three or four years. Hick-
ory trees will bear nuts in five to eight
years after planting. In addition to the
nuts that may be harvested every year, a
hickory tree will always sell at from $2 to
$10 to wood workers, blacksmiths and oth-
ers needing such timber.

The best line of treatment for nut trees

in the way of fertilizing is to make an an-
nual application of about 800 Ibs. per acre
of a fertilizer analyzing 8 percent each of
phosphoric acid and potash and 2 per cent
of nitrogen; the fertilizer should be broad-
casted and then worked well into the soil.
Instead of the above. 400 to 500 Ibs. of
fine ground bone, and 200 to 250 Ibs. of
muriate of potash could be substituted
with advantage. If a systematic line of
fertilization is not followed, the soil will
become exhausted of its natural fertility,
and the yields will fall off. It is much
easier to keep up the fertility of soil than
to restore it after it has once become ex-
hausted.

The land for tree planting should be
thoroughly cultivated and plowed deep be-
fore time for setting the trees. Spring-
time is the best for planting most nut vari-
eties. They may be obtained from nurs-
erymen at very low rates if purchased by
the hundred or thousand. One year old
trees are probably the best and cheapest.
Black walnut seedlings ten inches in
height may be obtained for two or three
cents each, butternut fur five cents, and
American sweet chestnuts and shellbark
hickory for the same price. If planted in
groves ten feet apart either way the trees
will grow straight and the timber be more
valuable. At this rate 500 trees will plant
an acre. Some of the finest nut groves in
the United States are planted in rows
standing not more than four feet apart,
making about 3,000 trees on an acre.

Nuts possess certain food values that
cannot be overlooked in every farmer's
family. Chopped nut meats are relished
for nut sandwiches, and nut salads are re-
garded as delicacies. Many nuts are used
in the making of cakes, confectionery and
creams. There are many ways in which
the farmers' boys and girls can make hand-
some profits from the nut groves. The
pleasure of owning a tract of land that
grows every day into wealth is a boon to
be desired by every man. There are nu.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

245

merous hilly slopes, deserted fields, unused
spots in creek bottoms and on slopes about
the farm and house that can be used for
this purpose. The money value of a place
will be enhanced a hundred fold in a short
time by the systematic planting of nut
trees, whose profits may be counted as cer-
tain as the seasons come and go.

JOEL SHOMAKER.

BUILDING UP A DAIRY HERD.
A good dairy herd cannot as a rule be
bought. It must be built up by the owner
through careful breeding, selecting and
feeding. Excellent dairy heards can be
ruined about as quickly as anything else
in this world. In the hands of a man who
does not understand the animals, and who
fails to appreciate their good points, the
herd will degenerate so that within two
years their value is lower by one-half than
at first. On the other hand, many an
otherwise apparently poor herd can be
brought up to a high point of efficiency
through the skill and sympathy of a good
breeder, feeder and selecter. There are
latent points in most herds which require
the appreciative eye of an expert to detect
and bring out. I have time and again
found in what looked like scrub cows most
excellent breeding and dairy qualities, but
these had been so overcome and lost by
general neglect that the animals appeared
to be nearly worthless. I make it a point
to examine the individual cows of different
herds for sale, and in this way I am often
enabled to make selections that are worth
considerable to me. but nothing practically
to the owner. The lack of appreciation in
some owners is shown by the way they will
praise the qualities of some particular ani-
mal in the herd, which for some reason
appeals to them with considerable force,
but which in reality possesses far less act-
ual merit than some unworthy looking
scrub. Now it is the height of skill to be
able to go through a herd of scrubs and
barnyard cows and pick out here

and there animals that possess unusual
qualities. Yet every herd, no matter how
poor apparently in material, has one or
more such animals. If the dairyman un-
derstands his business let him go around
the country and pick up his material. He
must first understand his business thor-
oughly and not be misled by appearances.
If he can make his selections with unerr-
ing skill he is bound to find the work profit-
able. Such cows only require the right
sort of feeding, care and breeding with/
good bulls to make their progeny excellent
dairy cows. Building up the dairy herd
in this way is both profitable and interest-
ing. One feels that he is getting some-
thing for nothing, or rather that he is re-
ceiving pay for his skill and knowledge in
judging animals. — A. B. Barrett in Min-
nesota American Cultivator.

THE FARMER'S WORKSHOP.

Every well equipped farm should have
a shop which can be warmed, where much
repairing of farm implements, harness, etc.,
may be done. The man handy with tools
will be able to make many conveniences
for the household if a place is provided
where such things may be done at "odd
moments," when outdoor work is not ad-
missible. Such conveniences greatly facil-
itate the work both in the house and at
the barn, and are not provided because
there is no suitable place in which to make-
them or leave them in the partially-finished
stages. To purchase them outright is of-
ten not to be thought of on account of
limited means.

The workshop will enable one to put all
implements in readinesa for use, and the
time to prepare for war is in time of peace.
The tools needed for farm repairing will
be better cared for if a place is provided
for them and for using them. Than, too,
in such workshop the boys may be taught
lessons of thrift, economy and industry,
and it gives them an opportunity to expend
their activities on stormy days. This fea-

246

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

ture of farm life will receive greater em-
phasis during the new century, for learn-
ing properly to use tools is being urged in
the newer education, and our manual train-
ing schools will give us boys that not only
know Greek and Latin and numerous"olo-
gies," but will also know how to properly
use tools. The tool chest and the work-
shop will then be a necessity. The train-
ing of hand and brain is the only true edu-
cation, and many of our agricultural
colleges are emphasizing this fact and giv-
ing an opportunity for such instruction in
manual training as will render the boys
skillful in the use of tools. — Coleman
Rural World.

NEW METHOD OF PURIFYING MILK.

Professor James Snow of Penn Yan, N.
Y., aided by Z. C. Keeney of Chicago, has
discovered and perfected a process for
ma'ting cow's milk absolutely pure, free
from tuberculosis, and so perfect in condi-
tion when delivered to the consumer that
it is richer and healthier than when taken
first from the bovine. This is the claim
made, and practical tests are to be made at
an early date at Springfield, Wis., where
a rectifying plant is to be erected and milk
destined for Chicago treated before being
delivered to the city consumers. Profes-
sor Snow is the discoverer of the process
by which unfermented grape juice is pro-
duced, and Mr. Keeney has devised with
him the mechanisms for the purification or
rectifying of milk. Springfield, Wis. , has
been selected for the first test house loca-
tion because of its being the center of a
great milk shipping district.

Dr. Adolph Gehrmann has analyzed a
sample of rectified milk and made this re-
port upon it:

"The microscopical examination of the
sample of milk No. 7,020 has shown the
presence of micrococci, bacilli and sarcinae
and an absence of bacillus tuberculosis."

Thomas Toby of the Santa Fe road's eat-
jng house and dining car system was also

given a sample for practical test. He re-
ported:

"While manager of the Creamery Rest
I handled rectified milk successfully. I
gave it a nine days' test in an ice box and
at the end of that time found it as sweet as
the first day it was received from the
dairy. The test was under most unfavor-
able circumstances, there being two severe
thunderstorms during the nine days."

Professor Snow began working on the
rectifying process in 1894. and about 1898
became satisfied that a new and perfect
way of purifying milk had been discovered.
Practical tests of his discovery were made
here, the machinery needed was con-
structed here, and H. T. West, who has
the promotion of the company which is to
treat the milk hereafter, began his work.
In treating cow's milk fresh from the ani-
mal the rectifying process does not con-
dense it, does not take anything from it
but disease germs, and adds nothing to it
but greater health-preserving properties.
This Professor Snow unqualifiedly claims.
He says:

"I have worked on the theory that ajl
milk first taken from the average cow is
impure, necessarily must be so, and that
these impurities could be removed."

He claims no more for rectified milk
than that when served to the consumer it
it of the same grade and quality as though
it came from an absolutely healthy cow of
the finest breeding, fed with the purest
food and kept under extraordinarily good
conditions.

The average dairy cow is not so kept.and
all milk coming from it needs treatment,
in the opinion of Professor Snow. The
most to be feared from cow's milk is tuber-
culosis and the disease germs which come
from unclean stables, unclean farm hands,
impure drinking water and impure foods.
After being taken from the cow the milk
is handled in a sloppy manner, hauled in
dirty wagons to dirty stations, and brought
to the city in dirty cars. Milk so handled

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

247

cannot be treated with antiseptics, because
forbidden by the law, and antiseptics are
dangerous to the health. Professor Snow
is strenuously against their use in any
manner. He also opposes the process of
"preserving milk," in which embalming
fluids are used. His aim is to take out of
milk, by a simple and natural process, all
germs that will cause typhoid fever, diph-
theria, dysentery and the other sicknesses
so often traced to impure lacteal fluid. .

His process of "rectifying" is a secret.
But the milk is first put through a treat-
ment with heat and then a treatment with
acid. Then the milk is cleansed, so that
all impurities are taken from it and it is
ready for the market. No la^ge plant is
required for the work. The milk is not
sterilized, because that destroys its value
for butter making. It is delivered to the
market fit for any purpose. It can be
whipped into any form of ice cream, and
will not sour from electrical disturbances
nor thunder storms, will not ohurn into
fatty globules when on the cars and in mo-
tion, and is disease free. The mechanisms
invented by Mr. Keeney will rectify and
make ready for the market from 100 to
1,200 gallons of the milk in from thirty-
five to fifty minutes. A plant costing
$15,000 to erect will handle 25,000 pounds,
or 300 eight-gallon cans of milk per day.
Chicago's daily receipts of milk are about
.25,000 eight-gallon cans.

A can of the rectified milk was shipped

200 miles by rail, moved from one depot
to another and passed through a thunder-
storm in hot weather. At the end of three
days it was still fresh and sweet. The
cream from rectified milk can be used with
all of the higher grade of flavors in mak-
ing ice cream, such as the vanilla bean and
the like. -Rectified cream is odorless.
Diseased butter cannot be made from rec-
tified milk, nor diseased cheese. Mr.
Keeney says of it :

"No extraordinary claims are made for
the milk, except that when it leaves our
process, which is simple, it does not con-
tain a single germ injurious to the human
body. For commereial purposes it gives a
cream hitherto unknown to manufacturers.
It nullifies the bad stable, bad cow food,
bad handling. It makes it possible to give
weak and ailing children pure milk at all
times. It puts on the table sweet, whole-
some and fresh milk from which no
strength-giving property has been taken
That is all there is to rectified milk and all
we claim for it. The discovery is one of
the most important of the age and we pur-
pose to give Chicago the first benefit of it.
Professor Snow is a chemist of high stand-
ing, and his success with unfermented
grape juice indicates what he must have
discovered in the direction of milk. We
hope to begin operations at Springfield at
a very early date, and to eventually purify
all the milk brought into Chicago."

PULSE OF IRRIGATION.

A PRIVATE IRRIGATION SYSTEM.

It has recently been reported that Mme.
Modjeska contemplates selling her beau-
tiful country place in Orange county and
returning to her native land. A first-classs
ierigation system has lately been con-
structed on this propsrty. A writer in
the Santa Ana Blade says:

"This system is worthy of more than
passing mention, as its completion is a
work of greater magnitude than has been
before attempted by any private individu-
al in Southern California, although stor-
age dams have been constructed at various
points by corporations. In brief, the
system here referred to is intended to util-
ize the waters of an overflowing mountain
stream, and for that purpose a concrete
dam has been built at a point near the
mouth of a canon, through which the
stream finds its way, and at the precise
spot where the almost perpendicular walls
converge so as to leave but a comparative-
ly narrow opening, but form a basin above
capable of holding millions of gallons of
water. The walls of the canon at this
point are of solid rock, and in deep niches
cut for the purpose, the ends of the dam
are firmly anchored on either side. A
technical description of the structure and
the system of which it forms a part is as
follows:

"The dam rests on solid rock, an excava-
tion of eight feet in depth having been
made for the purpose. As it is the design
o'f the owners to eventually carry it to a
height of forty feet above the ground sur-
face, the foundation was made twenty-five
feet thick, calculated to be sufficiently
heavy to stand the strain of forty feet of
water, or 350,000,000 feet.

''As an additional safeguard it is built
in a curvilinear form, with a radius of 100
feet, which adds materially to its strength.

The present height of the dam is twenty-
eight feet above the bed rock, or twenty
feet above the surface of the ground, the
profile showing a thickness of four feet at
the top. The length at its present height
is seventy feet. A scouring gallery, 2Jx4
feet is provided near the bottom, closed by
an iron gate. The plan is to keep this
gate open during the winter storms, per-
mitting the flood water to pass through,
thus preventing the reservoir from filling
with sediment washed down the canon from
the mountain sides. This gate will be
closed in the early spring in sufficient time
to fill the reservoir with clear water.

"The dam was built entirely of concrete
and stone; 350 barrels of cement and 500 ,
cubic yards of sand, gravel and rock being
used in its construction. It had a severe
test during the recent storm, the reservoir
filling and the water flowing two feet deep
over its entire crest.

"A ten-inch iron pipe was laid through
the dam for the purpose of drawing off
water for irrigation purposes, and a three-
inch pipe is provided for carrying domestic
water to the residence, half a mile distant.
Water for irrigation purposes is to be eon-
ducted from the reservoir through a ten-
inch cement pipe, made on the ground
from material at hand, and flumes laid
along the mountain side. This plan is
adopted in preference to open ditches to
avoid waste of water by seepage and evap-
oration.

;The successful completion of this un-
dertaking, it may be remarked in passing,
will doubtless be but the beginning of.'

1 HE IRR1 GA 110 N A GE.

249

many such enterprises, for in the moun-
tains east of Santa Ana are many such
canons, the waters of which may be im-
poun ed in like manner for use in irrigat-
ing the adjoining mesa lands. Among
these may be mentioned Trabuco, San
Juan and Silverado, besides many others
of lesser importance, but in all of which
sufficient water might be secured to add
many times to the value of adjacent lands,
the probable cost of such an undertaking."

— Ca I ifo rn ia Minor.

WATER FOR CORONA.

The stockholders of the Corona Irriga-
tion Company met Tuesday for the pur-
pose of electing officers and otherwise
perfecting their organization. T. P.
Drinkwater, president; T. C. Jameson, vice-
president; L. R. Curtis, secretary, and M.
Terpening, treasurer. The board of direc-
tors, previously elected, consists of the
following named gentlemen: Daniel Lord,
L. R. Curtis. T. P. Drinkwater, T. C.
Jameson and George W. VanKirk.

This completes the work of organization,
and hereafter all the proposed develop-
ment work for the purpose of securing an
increased supply of irrigating water for
Corona will be conducted by the new com-
pany. It will make all purchases of lands,
construct canals, pipe lines, etc. The
company is now in a position to prosecute
the contemplated work with vigor, and it
is the purpose to push matters as fast as
possible.

Work on the water-bearing lands in the
Perris valley is already progressing under
the supervision of A. F. Call and John
Megginson. and the indications thus far
are all for the best. It is stated that the
wells already completed will yield an aver-
age of 150 inches each by pumping. The
water is found at a depth of seventy feet
and it rises to within twenty feet of the
surface, making pumping comparatively
easy, not requiring heavy machinery. The
boring of additional wells will continue un-
stil enough water has been developed to

secure the company in any possible emer-
gency.

Contractors are going over the territory
with a view to making bids for the con-
struction of the necessary pipe and canal
line to convey the water from the wells to
the head of the present pipe line in the
Temescal valley. The new line will -be
twenty-nine and one quarter miles in
length, and will be principally open ce-
ment ditch, pipe being used only where
absolutely necessary in crossing canyons
and traversing steep hillsides, and along
certain county roads. The capacity of the
proposed canal will be 800 inches, and the
system complete will cost about $150,000,
exclusive of water-bearing lands.

The right of way is now secure, the
company having been granted permission
Wednesday by the supervisors to run the
line along certain public roads in the Third
and Fourth districts, and few obstacles re-
main to overcome. The work of construc-
tion, when begun, will be required to be
completed inside of three months. — Cor-
ona (Cal.) Courier.

ARROWHEAD RESERVOIR.

The Arrowhead Company has been
spending more energy and money of late
on the reservoir project in Little Bear val-
ley than ever before.

Work on the tunnels is being prosecuted
as rapidly as possible, and now work on
the great dam is about to begin. It has
been stated by officials of the company
that over 300,000 worth of cement has
been purchased, and that the thousands of
barrels will be conveyed to Little Bear
valley at an expense of almost $50,000.
They will soon attempt to sink a dam down
to bedrock. It is expected that when the
tunnels and dam are completed and the
water let in the valley, pressure of 10,000
horsepower will be obtained. This is far
greater than the combined pressures of all
the other reservoirs in the San Bernardino
mountains. — San Bernardino Times-
Index.

ODDS AND ENDS.

WHERE THEY KEEP HOGS PENNED.

He climbed into the trolley car and sat
down at the outer end of an empty seat.
A few blocks farther on a stout woman
with a basket full of stuff tried to get on.
He helped her put the basket under the
seat, and sat along to the middle, letting
her have the end place.

Passengers on the other seats bent curi-
ous glances upon him.

At the next stop a young woman with a
baby wanted to get in. The other seats
were full. At the risk of life, limb and
baby, she swung herself up the step by one
hand, squeezed past the market-woman's
portly form, knocking off the hats from
the row of people in the seat ahead, and
was about to worm her way past the first
named passenger, when he surprised her
by sliding along. She gave him a mis-
trustful "Thank you."

"What was wrong with me back there,
to make everybody stare and whisper so?"

Th# conductor was a mannerly man.

"Oh, nuthin' much," he said. "But I
guess you're from the country all right,
ain't you?"

"Yes," said the stranger; "from away
back in the country; never rode on cars
like these before."

'I thought not," said the conductor.
Never mind, you'll know better another
time. I'll just give you a pointer. When
you get into an open car, always sit at the
first end. Keep the outside seat. It isn't
quite so comfortable as it is to move along,
but it's town manners. Make everybody
else climb over you — big and little, old
women and babies — everybody. They're
used to it. But never on any account

move along to accommodate anybody in a
street-car."

"I think." said the stranger softly as he
hastened off to his train, "that I'll stay on
the old farm. We have plenty of hogs
there, but we keep 'em penned and don't
have to associate with them." And the
conductor scratched his head and grinned.
— Northwest Magazine.

THE PLACE I ONCE CALLED HOME.

As the low and lipgering shadows steal
softly to the night.

I tread with silent footsteps toward a wel-
come parlor light;

A light that seems far brighter than the
stars in heaven's dome,

The light that lights the parlor of the
place I onoe called home.

I long to swing the portal that's been
closed to me for years;

Lo, the window's dim and frosty; no, no, it
"Ms my tears!

For I see, in loving silence, the family sit-
ting there,

And mother knitting absently beside an
empty chair.

In a gentle retrospection. I chase the tears

away.
And lure to fading memory that sunny

summer day
When I started out, light-hearted, with

blessings and advice,
To those distant fields of fortune, with fate

to cast the dice.
I remember I was picturing myself, as off

I went,
Well — that somehow I was destined to be

the president.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

251

And how mother rudely shattered that

castle in the air,
As she sobbed, "Whatever happens, I'll

keep your empty chair."

A score of years have flitted to the limbos

of the past:
I stand with courage vanished, where all

wand'rers stand at last,
At the threshold of the homestead, there,

with a long-drawn sigh,
Praying for a word of counsel on the way

that sinners die;
Pleading just for food and shelter, and a

mother's loving kiss,
And a father's grip of friendship, for a

hope that's gone amiss —
Pleading from a heart that's welling in a

breast o'ern'lled with strife,
For love to shed its lustre on the shadow

of a life.

Shall I enter? Can I enter?— with failure

in my pack,
And vainly try to turn the hands of life's

old timepiece back,

To the happy days of childhood, to boy-
hood's magic spell
With the linnets in the orchard, watching

windfalls as they fell;
With little brother Willie, riding every

day to school
Down the daisy-dotted meadow, astride

our lop-eared mule;
With all the other children romping in our

wildtime play,
With the little bed to go to when daylight

stole away?

I know they'd gladly greet me, if I'd only

just walk in,
And surprise them with my presence.

Alas, I can't begin
To muster up the grit I had, for all my

courage went
With the vision of the future when I'd be

president,
But 0, mother! mother!! mother!!! do come

and ope the door,

Hold out your arms to take me 10 the

happy days of yore,
Help lay aside the burden of my trouble

and my pain
That my bent and sunken shoulders can

never bear again!

When the sun marks noon of lifetime,

when once the morning's done,
And from dawn we turn relustant to face

the setting sun,
We grow more worldly, somehow, for our

hearts turn callous-like,
And don't seem much to notice, then, the

stumps along the pike;
And, once the journey's started, might as

well trudge on ahead —
So I'll keep ever moving and not bring to

life the dead,
Nor the hopes that peaceful slumber, nor

break the mystic air
Of the memories bright that linger around

the empty chair.

— Robert Mackay in Success.

THE MAN BEHIND THE BAR.

The man behind the gun may have a nerve

that's No. 1,
He may rush, without a tremor, on the

foe,
But the danger he must face is only as the

merest fun

Compared with other terrors here below.
When the women get their hatchets and

set out

To scatter costly glassware all about —
When the wrought-up Mrs. Nations madly

go to jam and jar —
When they hammer down the windows

and the doors,
When they spill the firewater on the

floors,
It is worse than common warfare for the

man behind the bar,
ind he's lucky to escape without a scar

It may be a thrilling moment for the man
behind the gun

252

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

When the decks are cleared for action,

out at sea,
But it's forty times more thrilling when a

dozen women run
Through the streets, d;ad set on letting

liquor free —
When they hold their spattered skirts

up and begin
To cut the hoops and knock the stoppers

in —
When they open up the cases where the

fancy juices are —

When they fiercely rush to tear the fau-
cets loose —
When they render the free lunch unfit

for use —
Then there's always something doing for

the man behind the bar
If he hasn't wisely sprinted fast and far.

O, the birds are sipping whisky from the

cow tracks all around,
See the streams of seltzer spurting here

and there!
Behold the cloves and coffee that are

spilled out on the ground —
Yonder goes a leather dice-box through

the air!
There are new demands for hatchets

every day;

Newer faces are appearing in the fray,
And there's terror in the places where the

drink dispensers are,
For the sounds of falling mirrors swiftly

spread —
The men who lift the schooners drink in

dread,

And from Kansas to Chicago folks are go-
ing forth to mar

The features of the man behind the bar!
— Fresno Republican.

THE BAD BOY.

His hair is red an' tangled, and he has a

turned-up nose;
His voice is loud and strident, and it never

gets repose;
His face is full of freckles, and his ears

are shaped like fins,

And a large front tooth is missing, as
you'll notice when he grins,

He is like a comic picture from his toes up
to his head —

But his mother calls him "darling" when
she tucks him into bed.

It is he who marks the carpet with the

print of muddy boots;
And rejoices in a door-bell that is pulled

out by the roots.
Who whistles on his fingers till he almost

splits your ear,
And shocks the various callers with slang

he chanced to hear.
He fills the house with tumult and the

neighborhood with dread —
But his mother calls him "darling'' when

she tucks him into bed.

— Washington Evening Star.

KIPLING'S LATEST POEM.

[Mrs. Beerbohm Tree is nightly reciting
this poem at the Palace Music Hall in
London, receiving $500 a week for her
services and contributing this to the sol-
diers' fund. One Thursday night recently
her plea. "Pay, Pay. Pay," met with such
a warm response that she was almost
driven from the stage by the hail of silver
thrown by the enthusiastic audience.]

When you've shouted "Rule Britannia."
when you've sung "God Save the Queen.
When you've finished killing Kruger
with your mouth,

Will you kindly drop a shilling in my little
tambourine

For a gentleman in khaki ordered
South.

He's an absent-minded beggar and his
weaknesses are great,

But we and Paul must take him as we
find him;

He is out on active service wiping some-
thing off a slate,

And he's left a lot o' little things be-
hind him.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

253

Duke's son — cook's son — son of a

hundred kings.
(Fifty thousand horse and foot go

ing to Table Bay).
Each of 'em doing his country's

work (and who's to look after

their things?)
Pass the hat for your credit s sake —

and pay— pay— pay!

'There are girls he married secret, asking
no permission to —

For he knew he wouldn't get it if he
did;

There is gas and coal and vittles and the
house rent falling due,

And its more than rather likely there's
a kid.

There are girls he walked with casual;
they'll be sorry now he's gone.

For an absent minded beggar they will
find him;

But it ain't the time for sermons with the
winter coming on —

We must help the girl that Tommy
left behind him.

Cook's son — Duke's son — son of a

belted Kul
Son of a LjHiubeth publican — it's all

the same today;

Kach of 'em doing his country s
work (and who's to look after

the girl?)

Pass the hat for your credit's sake,
and pay — pay — pay!

There are families by thousands far too
proud to beg or speak.

And they'll put their sticks and bed-
ding up the spout,

And they'll live on half o' nothing paid
'em punctual once a week,

'Cause the man earned the wages is
ordered out.

He's an absent minded beggar, but he
heard his country's call,

Anr1 his regiment didn't need to send
to find him.

He chucked his job and joined in — so the
job before us all

Is to help the home that Tommy's left
behind him.

Duke's job — cook's job— gardener,

baronet, groom —
Mews of palace or paper-shop —

there's some one gone away,
Each of 'em doing his country's
work (and who's to look after

room?)

Pass the hat for your credit's sake
and — pay — pay- pay.

Let us manage so as later we can look him
in the face

And tell him — what he'd very much
prefer —

That while he saved the empire his em-
ployer saved his place,

And his mates (that you and me)
looked out for her.

He's an absent minded beggar, and he may
forget it all;

But we do not want his kiddies to
remind him

That we sent him to the workhouse while
their daddy hammered Paul.

So we'll help the home that Tommy's
left behind him.

Cook's home — home of a million-
aire—

(Fifty thousand horse and foot go-
ing to Table Bay),

Each of 'em doing his country's
woi k— (and what have you to
spare?)

Pass the hat for your credit's sake
and pay — pay — pay!

Burlington

Leave BOSTON every Tuesday
Leave CHICAGO every Wednesday
Leave ST. LOUIS every Wednesday

TOURIST PARTIES TO

California

Comfortable and Inexpensive

QELECT PARTIES leave Boston every Tuesday via Niagara Falls
and Chicago, joining at Denver a similar party, which leaves St.
Louis every Wednesday. From Denver the route is over the Scenic
Denver and Rio Grande Railway, and through Salt Lake City.

Pullman Tourist Sleeping Cars of a new pattern are used. They are thoroughly com-
fortable and exquisitely clean, fitted with double windows, high-back seats, carpets,
spacious toilet-rooms, and the same character of bedding found in Palace Cars. They
are well heated and brilliantly lighted with Pintsch gas. Outside they are of the regu-
lation Pullman color, with wide vestibules of steel and beveled plate glass. Beautifully
illustrated books on California and Colorado, with maps, train schedules and com-
plete information can be had from any of the following Burlington Route agents :

E. J. SWORDS

379 Broadway

NEW YORK CITY

W. J. O'MEARA

3O6 Washington Street
BOSTON, MASS.

H. E. HELLER

632 Chestnut Street

PHILADELPHIA, PA.

T. A. GRADY

211 Clark Street

CHICAGO, ILL.

C. D. HAGERMAN

7O3 Park Building

PITTSBURG, PA.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

VOL xv .

CHICAGO, MAY, 1901.

NO. 8

The President The transition from barron
and Irrigation, alkali wastesto scenes of rich
vegetation and luxurient growth, the re-
sult of irrigation, must have impressed
the president and his party with not only
the great productivity of irrigated land,
but with the significance of the word
"irrigation" to the western country.

In viewing the fertile valleys of the
southwest, rich from the fruits of the or-
chards and the crops from the fields, and
dotted with prosperous homes and thriv-
ing towns, where a few years ago barren
plains starved the cactus and the sage
brush, did Mr. McKinley realize that the
reclamation of the arid West carries with
it the creation of a great and populous
empire within our own territory? The
wonderful irrigated belts of the West are
but an earnest of the transformation of
this region, which would follow the in-
auguration of a policy of national recla-
mation by which the flood-waters now
wasted would be saved for the use of the
farmer.

It is hoped that the President, on his
trip, has arrived at an appreciation of the
question which of all others is most vital
to the people of the arid region, namely,
water.

Sugar from Henry Oxnard. who may be
Water. s&^ to ^ t^e original beet

sugar man in the United States, says Na-
tional Irrigation for May, states that sugar
beets reach their highest degree of perfec-
tion, commercially, under irrigation. In
sugar content, purity, and yield per acre
the greatest excellence is produced by giv-
ing the crop the moisture needed at just

the right time. The sugar beet industry
in this country is a young giant, and the
irrigated beet area is rapidly increasing.
Destitute A recent Arizona dispatch
Indians. states that the Gila river on

the Sacaton reservation is again dry, and
this being the source of irrigation no grain
will be harvested by the Pima Indians
Great destitution, the dispatch states, will
ensue, and government aid will be required
to relieve the situation.

This was the proposition which Congress
was asked to take up last session but re-
fused For centuries — as far back as we
have any record — these Indians had grown
their irrigaten crops, one of the few Indian
tribes which had never cost the United
States Government a moment of anxiety.
Some years ago the! white settlers began
to divert the waters of the Gila river
above the lands of the Pima Indians; they
were even encouraged to do so by the Gov-
ernment. There has not been enough
water for both, and as the Indians are not
citizens but only wards of the government
their rights have been totally neglected
and for several years past, as more and
morf water has been taken out above
their crops have been practically absolute
failures.

Congress was asked at its recent session
to make some permanent provision
whereby the Pirn as could be restored their
birthright — given back the water stolen
from them — through the construction of a
storage reservoir along lines approved by
government experts, but no action could
be secured. So the Indians are going on
retrograding, being forced to become beg-

254

1HE IRRIGATION AGE.

gars, thieves, and Government paupers,
where once they owned their own farms,
reared their own families, and had
their own tribal government. It
is hoped by every one familiar with
the subject that Congress will see
the justice, wisdom, and absolute econ-
omy of making these Indians self-sustain-
ing through substantial irrigation con-
struction.

Large

The government of India is

frrigatioa undertaking some irrigation
Construction. WQrks which win a(W jarge

areas of reclaimed land to the many mil-
lions of acres which the British govern-
ment has'already placed under irrigation.
The total cost of this present development
will be somewhat upwards of forty mil-
lions of dollars. The water used is the
melted snows from the great Himalayan
range.

Demands The time will come when the
Investigation. millionsof acres of fertile land

now uninhabitable for lack of water will
be needed for homes and as an outlet for a
rapidly increasing population. With the
pressure which is always behind a measure
conferring local benefits it will be decided
long before the real necessity arises that
the people need more room, and as a gen-
eral principle it can safely be left to the
influences of such pressure to accomplish
all that is necessary in extending the ha-
bitable area. It is equally certain how-
ever, that in time money will be spent by
the government for the reclamation of arid
lands, and in view of this there is one step
congress should take which admits of no
delay. The possibilities of water conser-
vation should be fully determined, and all
government land which will come under
the influence of works to be constructed
later on should be reserved from settle-
ment or entry.

. . .. An impression prevails in the

Irrigation

Means east that irrigation will ex-

Growth, clusively benefit the west.
This is an error. Irrigation will benefit
the country from the Atlantic to the Paci-
fic. Irrigation means settlement. The
presence of an additional large and flour-
ishing population in the west will lead to

Irrigation
Must be
Pushed.

an increased demand for eastern manufac-
tures. It is a mistaken policy to retard or
delay settlement of the arid lands of the
west because somebody believes it will be
of no benefit to other sections of the coun-
try. Any one familiar with history is in a
position to refute such a claim as prepos-
terous.

There are some seven months
before the next session of con-
gress, which wili be the long
or unlimited session. There were some
good little fights made in the recent short
and limited session on the irrigation ques-
tion, and in the common long session there
will be some better ones. The West has,
in a word, scored, but it has not won, and
it must prepare for some vigorous fighting
before it can win. There will be no ex-
cuse in the next congress for not thresh-
ing the subject out. Congress bas had its
notice and it will not do for leaders to
cla4m that new legislation is being attempt-
ed and that there is not time to think out
and discuss a comprehensive plan. The
best plan in the range of human possibili-
ty would be antagonized by some eastern
men, but in the future they will be com-
pelled to come out into the open and state
their bill of particulars. , Generalities will
not suffice.

On the other hand, it behooves the
people of the West to get together very
close on this irrigation question. It be-
hooves them to stand shoulder to shoulder
like twin brothers, and to present an un-
broken, unanimous front. There are
seven months' interim. That period
should be employed in smoothing out any
differences which may now exist on this
subject a ndgetting into absoltue accord
upon the policy to be presented by the
West looking to its reclamation through
government assistance. It should also be
spent in organizaaion. Without organi-
zation nothing can be accomplished; with
organizatio" everything.

Is it to be supposed that the West
would today be fighting vainly for its
rights if it had been thoroughly organized?
Suppose every organization of every kind
in the arid States and Territories had con-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

255

eluded to put forth every energy to secur-
ing some specific action by the Genera]
Goverment, does anybody believe that this
action could yave been denied? The West
has not put forth its energies in any gen-
eral way to secure the inauguration of a
policy of national irrigation which shall
eventually reclaim 75,000,000 acres of
desert.

There has been a partial wave of West-
ern enthusiasm this winter on the quess-
tion of national irrigation. — a realization
that the West was not even abreast of the
tide created by Eastern manufacturing
interests, — and even this has made the sub-
ject the most prominent new legislation
before Congress.

Now what if the West actually organizes
itself this summer and fall — organizes as
though this were to be a fight upon which
its life depended?

Why the next Congress would simply
buckle down to the work and consider the
question and pass upon it and act.

And after all the newspapers can ac-
complish a good half of this work.

Palestine was at one time in a high
state of cultivation. By the Mosiac Insti-
tute, after the exodus from Egypt, the
lands were divided among the adult males,
each receiving from 16 to 25 acres. The
fields were wtered from canals and con-
duits communicating with the brooks and
streams. When, through the vicissitudes
of war and rapine, these irrigation works
were destroyed and life rendered insecure,
agriculture declined. What was at one
time a fruitful land of plenty under irri-
gation, today is practically a barren waste.

Here is what an Arizonian says of Salt
river, which was once known to the coun-
try in general only as a mythical stream
for the navigation of disappointed political
candidates. He remarks: "The most in-
teresting proposition in Arizona to-day is
the effort to dam Salt river for irrigating
purposes. Within sixty miles of our city
the river flows through a deep canyon.
By damming the river this would make a
natural resei-voir. There are fully 1,500,000
acres of land that could be irrigated."

Keep
Fighting.

"If at first you don't succeed
try, try again," is a good mot-
to, but "Never Quit" is a better one. It
tells in two words the unyielding tenacity
of purpose that will bring success to the
national irrigation movement.

In the session of congress just closed the
senate fully recognized the national im-
portance of the irrigation movement.

In the Indian appropriation bill the sen-
ate amendment appropriated $100,000 to
complete the surveys and preliminary
tests of the foundations for the San Carlos
dam in Arizona.

The chairman of the house committee
on Indian affairs, Mr. Sherman, of New
York, defeated it in the house and in con-
ference.

The senate increased the appropriation
for irrigation surveys by the geological
survey from $100,000 to $200,000.

The chairman of the house committee
on appropriations, Mr. Cannon, with Mr.
Moody, defeated this increase in (Confe-
rence.

They declared themselves on the floor of
congress in favor of state cession, though
it involved a repudiation of the platform
of the republican [party in the last cam-
paign. That platform declared:

"In further pursuance of the constant
policy of the republican party to provide
free homes on the public domain, we re-
commend adequate national legislation to
reclaim the arid lands of the United States,
reserving control of the distribution of
water for irrigation to the respective states
and territories.

These declarations are utterly irrecon-
cilable with btate cession.

The senate amendment to the river and
harbor bill appropriated about $300,000 for
reservoirs in Wyoming and South Dakota.

The bill, as it was prepared by the hous»
committee, carried appropriations aggre-
gating $60,000,000. The senate cut this
amount down to $50,000,000.

Twice the bill was sent to conference
and twice Mr. Burton, chairman of the
house committee, and the house conferees,
refused to concur in the reservoir amend-
ments. They were ready to pour money
out of the treasury with reckless waste-
fulno ss for work on insignificant c

256

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

and streams in the east, but unwilling to
spend a dollar for reservoirs in the West.

They, no doubt, thought the senate
would yield, as it did on the Indian bill
and the sundry civil bill,- but in this in-
stance they reckoned. without their host.

The whole river and harbor bill was de-
feated in the senate by Senator Carter, of
Montana. He held the floor in the senate
for the last twelxe hours of the session,
and mercilessly exposed the methods by
which the bill had been made up and the
wasteful prodigality with which-it appro-
priated millions upon millions for unim-
portant or impracticable schemes.

The arbitrary and iinreasoning opposi-
tion of the chairman of the house commit-
tees cannot continue for long to stand in
the way of the reclamation of the West.
The sentiment of the country favors pro-
gress, and this sentiment is rising like an
ocean tide, slowly it may be, but steadily
and surely, and it will sweep away with
an irresistible force the opposition of a
few men who seem willing to use their
temporary power to stultify their party.

But between now and the next session
tireless and unceasing work must be done
to broaden the influence and extend the
organization of the National Irrigation
Association. Success can only come to
this great movement through the wide-
spread campaign of education and organi-
zation which this association is carrying
on.

Impounding During the discussion of the
irrigation1* River and Harbor bill in the
House of Representatives, Mr.
Mondell, of Wyoming, suggested that less
money be expended on the Mississippi and
Missouri rivers in constructing works for
the prevention of overflow, and that it
would be better to expend the money in
constructing dams and reservoirs to re-
ceive the water of the tributaries of those
rivers in the arid region and impound it
for purposes of irrigation.

Nearly fifty years ago Messrs. Humph-
reys and Abbott, officers in the engineer
corps of the army, were appointed to in-
vestigate the physics and hydraulics of the
Mississippi river with a view of devising

the best plan to prevent overflow of that
river and its tributaries. Among the sub-
jects to which they gave attention was the
construction of reservoirs to hold back the
water produced by the melting of the snow
in the mountains near the heads of the
Yellowstone, Platt, Arkansas and other
tributaries which contribute so largely
to the volume that debouches into the sea
through the channel of the Mississippi.

Their report was in substances that the
plan would have some effect in preventing
overflow — nothing was said in regard to
the value of impounding the water for irri-
gation purposes. It was a subject that was
notthenin the.minds of the people, as there
was such a vast unoccupied public domain
that did not require irrigation to make it
productive. The region liable to overflow
without preventive works compromises
about 20000,000 acres, and the great'
thought was to secure it to occupation and
cultivation.

For nearly twenty years there has been
a Mississippi river commission, created to
secure those 20,01)0,000 acres against sub-
mergation, and annually a considerable
sum has been appropriated to carry out the
plans the commission has devised. The
plans comprise building dykes to narrow
the channel, where there was shoal water
(and it is only shoal where the channel is
broad) on the well known principle that
narrowing the channel increases the velo-
city of the current; and its erosive power
at the bottom, revetting the banks where
necessary to prevent caving, and in low
places building levees. The^e works have
been of value in preventing inundation,
and in facilitating navigation. These ex-
penditures have been made under the
constitutional power to promote the gen-
eral welfare by aiding navigation and con-
sequently commerce.

It seems logical that if congress has
power to protect a section against too.
much water, it has like power to aid a sec"
tion that hts not enough — that if it is ne-
cessary to construct works to preserve
land to cultivation by keeping water from
it, there is equal power to conserve water
to be supplied to land that will otherwise
remain nonp oductive.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

257

It is a good thing to make 20,000,000
acres a Bailable for occupation and produc-
tive, but how much oetter thing it is to
extend favor to ten times as much. Ex-
pending money to build great reservoirs
and creating lakes, more than miniature,
would be killing two birds with one stone
— it would keep water where it is most
needed: and from places where it is not
needed and at times is a curse.

If half the sums that have been expended
in preventing overflow of the Mississippi
bottoms, had been invested in impounding
water for irrigation several times 20,000,
000 acres would by this time be covered
with productive fields and happy homes,
that are now wastes, and without occu-
pants. The peop!e of the arid region are

digging into the bowels of the earth to find
water, and erecting pumping plants to
bring it to the surface, but it is not in the
larger part of the arid domain that water
can thus be obtained, while there is a
quantity that comes from above in snow
and rain that runs away, rendering little
or no service to man. All that is wanted
is for man to create the means that will
utilize and preserve it. The means re-
quired are large and the general govern-
ment can best afford to supply them. No
enterprise now before the American people
will so greatly promote the common well-
fare as to make the arid region habitable
and productive to the utmost practicable
extent. — Rural Calif ornian.

A GREAT IRRIGATION ENTER-
PRISE.

The Emperial Press, California, says: The most extensive irriga-
tion system to be found in America is now in process of construction
in the eastern portion of San'Diego county, this State.

The land to be irrigated comprises a portion of the delta of the
Colorado river, more generally.known as the Colorado desert. It is
estimated that there are fully 500,000 acres of arable, irrigable lands
under the flow of the canals of this system in this State and more than
half as much more in Lower California.

These lands are naturally very fertile, being composed of the allu-
vial deposits of the Colorado river made during past ages. The sur-
face of the country is very level, generally free from brush and usu-
ally free from gulches or any other kind of unevenness that would
require much expense to overcome.

The Colorado river furnishes the water in abundance. It is stated
by competent engineers that there is enough water in the Colorado
river to irrigate 8,000,000 acres of land and there is not to exceed
3,000,000 acres to be irrigated within the reach of the waters of that
stream.

A peculiarity of the stream is that high water always comes in
June and low water in January. The river at the railroad bridge at
Yuma is always about nine feet higher the last week in June than it is
in midwinter. This gives the most water in summer when the most is
required for irrigation, and the least in winter, when little is required.

This stream probably more closely resembles the celebrated Nile
than any other river in the world.

The waters of the Colorado river carry a very large amount of
commercial fertilizers. A careful study of this subject by the United
States experimental station connected with the Territorial University
of Arizona demonstrates the fact that an acre foot of water from this '
river contains commercial fertilizers to the valued at $3.41. So that a
tract of land irrigated during the season with water enough to cover
the ground three feet deep would receive fertilizers to the value of
over $10 per acre, and this fertilizing material would cost nothing ex-
tra over and above the cost of the water.

It is this kind of material that has made the soil of this great delta,
and therefore it is very fertile and must of necessity forever remain

THE IRRIGATION AGE 259

so when irrigated by this water — no matter how much it may be
cropped.

This being the character of the land and water, the next thing is
to bring them together.

Public attention has been directed to this great desert for the last
half of a century.

In 1856 Dr. O. M. Wozencraft of San Bernardino commenced his
work of exploring the desert and preparing plans for reclaiming it by
means of water from the Colorado river. He applied to Congress for
a land grant to assist in the work, and secured a strong endorsement
from the Committee on Public Lands of the House of Representatives.
He also applied to the State Legislature of California and secured the
state's interests in the lands of that county, but the civil war of 1861-5
put an end to this program and the project was allowed to sleep until
the past few years.

In 1896 the California Development Company was organized under
the laws of the State of New Jersey, with headquarters in New York
City. This company purchased the Hanlon Heading on the Colorado
river adjoining the international boundary line, purchased 100,000
acres of land just below the line extending from the Colorado river on
the east to the mountains on the west, in order to secure a right of
way for the canal, and spent many thousands of dollars in surveys for
the canals from the river to the lands to be irrigated in what was com-
monly known as the New River country.

Early in 1900 this company was reorganized and its headquarters
was moved from New York City to Los Angeles. George Chaff ey
became president of the company and its Board of Directors was sel-
ected with a view to pushing active construction of the irrigating
system.

C. R. Rockwood, who had spent eight years of his life in studying
this problem, much of his time in the field, was retained as chief engi-
neer of the reorganized company.

In order that the entire energies of the Califofornia Development
Company might be devoted to the construction of the irrigation sys-
tem, the Imperial Land Company was organized to act as an agency
to colonize the lands to be reclaimed. S. W. Pergusson was made
general manager of this company, and the work of opening up the
desert was begun in April, 1900, and this work has been pushed ever
since.

A hotel was built at Flowingwell Station on the Southern Pacific
railroad — this being the most convenient station to be used as a base
of supplies.

A camp was established at Blue Lake, about forty miles to the
south, and a stage line was inaugurated between these two points.

260 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

The country between Salton river on the east anl New river on
the west was surveyed, as most of the stakes and mounds of the orig-
nal government survey had been lost.

Imperial water Company No 1 was incorporated as a mutual water
company to secure water for its stockholders from the California De-
velopment Company. This company was intended to irrigate 103,000
acres of land located between the two rivers mentioned.

Imperial Water Company No, 2 was incorporated to irrigate about
90,000 acres of land north of No. 1.

Imperial Water Company No. 3 was incorporated to irrigate about
25,000 acres of land near the boundary line.

Imperial Water Company No. 4 was incorporated to irrigate 12, 500
acres of .land originally included in the territory of No. 2 company.

Recently Imperial Water Company. No. 5 has been incorporated to
irrigate 100,000 acres of land on the east side of the Salton river,
which tract is now known as Eastside.

All of these companies are mutual in character, having been incor-
porated to furnish water to their stockholders only at cost, so that no
one could get water from any of these companies except by purchas-
ing stock in one of them at the rate of one share to each acre of land.
A contract between each company and the California Development
Company provides for a perpetual water supply delivered at the inter-
national boundary line at a cost of fifty cents per acre foot, or about
two cents per inch for a twenty-four hours' flow.

The stock of these companies was to be sold for the benefit of the
California Development Company and for the creation of a fund to
construct the distributing system of canals and ditches for the several
mutual companies.

The water stock of the various companies is being sold at $11.25
per share.

Under this program for cheap land and cheap water rights, and
cheap water rights perpetually, people began to flock to the desert and
secure lands and purchase water stock.

During the past year over two hundred persons have secured land
under the desert act and taken water stock for the same in the various
companies.

A number have also taken up homesteads and purchased the water
stock. Some have taken school lands and others have located Forest
Reserve scrip. In all over 100,000 acres of land have been secured by
those who have purchased water stock for the same.

The town of Imperial has been established about twenty eight
miles south from Flowingweli, between the Salton and New rivers, on
the road to Blue Lake. Here a general merchandise store has been
established by W. F1. Holt; a hotel has been opened for accommodation

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 261

of the traveling public; lumber is on the ground for a church building
and the services of a minister have been engaged.

W. F. Holt is building a telephone line which will be completed .
from Iris, telegraph station, via Plowingwell to Imperial in a few days.

Imperial has been formed into a school district, and it is the inten-
tion to erect, the present season, a school house to cost §5000, as it is
estimated that the school next winter will require two teachers. This
large school district, which is about fifty miles square, will have to be
cut into several smaller districts next year.

In the hills to the west of this great valley, .the out-cropping and
seepages of oil are said to be the very best to be found in the State,
and during the past few months over 500,000 acres of this oil territory
have been filed upon for oil purposes, and already several rigs are at
work going down deep for oil. In one well, at a depth of 400 feet, a
supply of artesian water was struck. This was at the junction of the
Carriso and San Felipe creeks, on the western edge of the desert.

As regards climate, in summer it is hob, in winter, lall and spring
it is delightful. The summers are about the same as those of the Salt
River valley in Arizona. The nights as a rule are not too warm for
comfort in the summer months. The atmosphere is so very dry that
the heat which at mid-day runs above a hundred in the shade for
weeks at a time, is not oppressive.

As to crops, this will be a general farming country, with alfalfa a
staple, and the fattening of cattle will be a leading industry. This
will be the greatest cattle fattening country in- the United States.
More cattle can be fattened here on a given area and at less expense
than in any other known section.

Eventually it will be an early fruit country. This industry will
develop gradually. It is probably too cold for citrus fruits in most
localities, but deciduous fruits and raisin grapes will develop here to
perfection.

So much for the country, the soil, the climate, the productions and
the work already done to make this counlry habitable, bub nothing
will succeed without water.

The California Development Company commenced work last Aug-
ust on the main canal at Hanlon Heading on the Colorado river.

A large dredge was purchased, having a capacity to handle 3,000
cubic yards of dirt every twenty-four hours. This dredge, which is
forty-five feet in width, has worked its way down towards the Salton
River channel, digging the canal as it went, for a distance of nearly
ten miles, so that now the water is running down from the Colorado
river through the canal into the Salton river channel to a point where
it is being diverted into the canal again near Cameron Lake, about
fifty miles from Hanlon Heading.

262 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

A hydraulic dredge has also been constructed with which to pump
the silt, that may settle from the water, back into the Colorado river
again. This dredge is now at work near the temporary heading of
the canal. The permanent heading has not as yet been constructed.
Below the permanent heading there will be a large settling basin in
which all the coarser matter in the water will settle. This basin will
be about half a mile long by a quarter of a mile wide. The lower head
gates now being built are located just below this basin, and a tempo-
rary heading a mile below the permanent heading and just above the
lower headgates is now being used to take the water from the river
into the canal.

For several months past a large force of teams and Fresno scrap-
ers has been at work constructing the main canal that is to furnish
water to that portion of the desert between Salton and New rivers.
This main canal is seventy feat wide and will carry four or five feet of
water. By the first of June the water will be at the town of Imperial
and the distributing canals will be completed as rapidly as possible, so
that by next winter those who are located between these two rivers
will be able to have the water delivered to their lands. Many of the
settlers will be able to procure water this summer for summer crops,
such as sorghum, Egyptian corn and other similar crops.

Recently a steam excavator has been brought to Imperial and will
be set to work to assist in dredging the distributing system of canals
and ditches, and the work will now progress more rapidly. The work
with teams has been very expensive, as hay has cost $30 a ton and
grain $35 a ton, and with feed at these prices, one hundred and seventy
horses have been kopt busy on the works for months. This has been
in addition to nearly as many more employed on the canal near the
Colorado river.

During the past year an immense amount of work has been done
under great difficulties. The worst is now over. The water will soon
be delivered. The public confidence in ultimate success has been ex-
traordinary.

It was hoped that the water could have been delivered to the set-
tlers in time for active work in cultivating their lands this season,' but
unforseen obstacles delayed the work for a few weeks beyond the ap
pointed time.

This is the record of a year's work. The public are asked to scan
it carefully and pass judgment

EARLY IRRIGATION.

The most prominent feature in the history of the gradual growth
and development of man, is agriculture. Having its origin in neces-
sity its development of man is agriculture, advancement to the highly
civilized plans he has obtained. Beginging with the use of nuts
fruits, roots and game obtained in the wild state, the requirements
became more exacting, for man is in nature never satisfied. The re-
sort to planting and growing for themselves the different fruits which
the early inhabitants of the earth had been accustomed to use. was
but a natural outcome of observing how seeds sprouted, grew and pro-
duced the very articles of diet with which they were familiar. The
increase of population in the "Cradle of Man," gradually forced the
weaker tribes into the great deserts to the west. Here they encount-
ered the hardest conditions, finding nature -against them in a land
where water was scarce and where no vegitation could grow except in
the immediate vicinity of springs. It was under rigorous conditions
that the desert tribes lived and grew in numbers and strength.

By reason of their surroundings and the hard struggle for exist-
ence, these people became fatalists. Under the later influence of the
Koran their fanatical instinct were aroused and they went forth to
the conquest of the worid, to convert all to the doctrines of Moham-
med. They are today a sturdy wiry race, but from the first their
training has been in the hard school of adversity. Theirs was not a
land flowing with milk and honey, but what they raised was by the
•abundant sweat of the brow. The culture of their simplest necessi-
ties meant indefatigable and patient labor.

From time immemorial irrigation has been practiced by man in
aid of agriculture; in fact the birth of agriculture was in irrigation.
The idea undoubtedly originated in the apt illustration afforded by
the oases in the deserts. Here, with surrounding sand, hot, blister-
ing, drifting sand, absolutely devoid of vegetation, the hardy sons of
the desert were wont to seek the grateful shade. Beside the springs
they could lie in the shadow of the date palm, and sleep the sleep of
the weary, rising, refreshed and ready for the next journey which was
measured from oasis to oasis. It was but natural for man to ^bserve
that where springs and water were plentiful vegetation throve. By
the cultivation of the larger of these oases they raised the food nec-
essary for their simple diet. When they needed more land for agri-
culture, it was but natural to attempt to moisten the soil. To secure
water for this, wells were dug. From these the water was drawn by

264 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

hand and carried in leathern bags to the little patch which they in-
tended to cultivate.

Where the desert extended along the banks of a river, as the Nile
or the Euphrates for instance, the water was plentiful. It but need-
ed to be applied to the land to procure the crops needed by man. The
sculptures of ancient Egypt contain figures of men with a yoke upon
their shoulders bearing water pots. This was of course only possible
where the water was near at hand. Sculptures of a little later date
shows the use of the bucket and lever — known as the shadoof by the
Arabs — the simple well sweep of our older country homes and still
used for irrigating in many parts of Egypt, Arabia, Persia, and India.
It consists of a pole pivoted upon an upright with a skin bucket fast-
ened to one end and a weight upon the other. With this the water
can be raised to the height of eight or ten feet into a trough from
which it flows into a small tank or surface reservoir. Where the
water has to be raised to a great height it is accomplished by a series
of shadoofs, one above the other, each depositing the water in a tank
immediately above, from which it is again raised eight or ten feet and
so on until it is finally on the level of the land sought to be irrigated.

As civilization progressed, ditches or troughs by easy transition,
replaced the man with the bucket as the means of leading the water
into land. Ridges a few inches in height were raised around small
patches of ground and the water was permitted to run in until the soil
was covered when the gap was closed in this square and an opening
made in the next. After a long apprenticeship man gradually acqui-
red a knowledge of mechanics and the application of the forces of
nature to his own ends. Crude water wheels were constructed which
were propelled first by human labor and later by oxen, cows, donkeys
or camels and finally by the current of streams.

The need was water! water! water! No matter how laborious the
task,, water must be gotten. So by these methods, against over-
whelming odds, man's struggle with the forces of nature has continued
for untold ages. And today, through the application of the principles
discovered by our predecessors in irrigation, we see millions of acres
of soil, worthless otherwise, reclaimed and made fruitful. Experience
has shown that where the water is under control better and larger
crops can be produced than on lands where nature has been most
bountiful in furnishing rainfall. In the latter regions, rain often
comes at inopportune times and again fails just when most needed by
the maturing crop. Failure or partial failure is frequent in the most
favored regions; under modern systems of irrigatio.i it is impossible.

IRRIGATION IN PERU.

Senor Raman Estacia, who is a visitor to this country from Peru,
can talk very interestingly about his home under the equator, the land of
the Incas. "I am in the United States," said Senor Estacia, "to study
the results of your plunging civilization and to note those American
inventions which would help us in my country. The discovery of Am-
erica destroyed Peru as it did Mexico. The Peru of today is a small
part of the ancient empire. At the time of the conquest, the Span-
iards found the land in a high state of cultivation. While naturally
in a large part a desert, owing to very scant or no rainfall between
the mountains and the coast, the natives by their superior wisdom and
foresight of their Incas had brought water immense distances and ren-
dered arable vast stretches of country. The ancient irrigation of Peru
was very wonderful.

"Water was conducted by means of canals and subterraneous
aqueducts executed on a grand scale. They were built of large slabs
of freestone nicely fitted together with cement. The water supply
came from some elevated lake or natural reservoir in the heart of the
mountains, and was fed at intervals by other basins which lay on the
route along the slopes of the sierras. Passages were cut through
rocks (and the Peruvians had no iron tools) and almost impassable
mountains were turned; rivers and morassesVere crossed and appa-
rently impossible feats of engineering were accomplished simply to se-
cure water for the irrigation of fields and gardens. Some of these
canals were very long. That of Condesuyu was between 400 and 500
miles in length.

"By latent ducts or sluices, the life giving fluid was led to the
tillable lands along the line of the canals. In some instances the land
was flooded, while in others the water was made to run in furrows be-
tween the rows of growing maize, tobacco and other crops. Each
occupant of land was allowed a certain quantity of water by the law of
the empire. Overseers for the government had charge of each dis-
trict, and saw that every man received his proper amount, and test
the canals were kept in repair.

"That the government understood the dangers of floods and book
steps to prevent them, is shown by some of the works still extant.
Notables is the still visible tunnel near Casamasca. While the waters
of this were used for irrigation, the heavy rains and melting snows of
the mountains would cause an overflow. To protect the irrigation
works and the settlements along the route, a tunnel was excavated in

266 THE IRRIGATION AGE

the mountains to give an outlet, in another ditection, to the waters of
the lake when they rose to a height to threaten inundation.

'•At the coming of the Spaniard, the land eyery where teemed with
evidence of agricultural wealth," said Senor Estacia, reflectively. To-
day the greater part of this paradise has reverted to its original arid
condition. Here and there where some old dirt filled and long-for-
gotten tunnel leaks a little moisture, the rank vegeatation of our
tropics, in contrast with the surroundings arid wastes, shows the
power of irrigation.

This gives rise to the reflection that the Spaniards, wherever
their star of chivalry or repacity for wealth led them, have destroyed
and never created. Their coming has always been a curse to the peo-
ple they conquered. Chivalric and recklessly brave, they yet consid-
ered the civilization and population of the New World as but barbaric
and pagan and fit only for destruction.

But these native people, benighted and heathen, had battled with
nature, learned the most adverse circumstances. They made use of
mountain lakes and natural reservoirs, wherein were stored the waters
of the rainy season and the melting snows, to be used during the dry
season.

We have today in California, Colorado. Arizona, New Mexico,
Utah and the Northwestern States, millions of acres of land, the pro-
ductive capacity of which is beyond compute, which can and will be
reclaimed eventually. Great mountain gorges forming natural reser-
voirs, can be used for storage purposes, and the land, today will be-
come an empire of agricultural wealth, worth far more fabulous sums
than the rich mines adjacent to them.

MINNESOTA FOR IRRIGATION.

While nature has poured forth her waters so copiously over Min-
nesota that its 7,000 lakes and numerous water courses leave it no di-
rect interest in the extension of the irrigation systems, it has a close
interest in a wisely conceived and economically executed policy of
irrigation, says the Pioneer Press, Montana, Idaho, and Washing-
ton are all tributary, in a business sense, to this State.

The growth of their populations and the prosperity of their peo-
ples are important factors in the growth and prosperity of Minnesota.
A national policy that promises to cover the arid lands or the reclaim -
able portion of them with prosperous cultivators and their families is,
therefore, a policy of considerable importance to the Twin Cities and
other communities in this State.

In Montana alone there are some 93,000,000 acres, of arid land
practically uninhabitable and worthless. But of this area it is esti-
mated that 10 per cent., or some 9,300,000 acres, is capable of reclama-
tion. There is, in other words, sufficient water available to convert
this area into fertile farm land.

It has been estimated by those interested in this project that this
area, on the theory that forty acres would support a family of five,
would make room fora population of 1,165,000. This estimate of
eighty people to the square mile is not intended, of course, to represent
the immediate population that would take homes on the reclaimed area.
It represents the capacity of this land, and considering the popularity
of such lands is by no means impossible that such a population
might at no distant day be found on what is now practically a desert
that contributes nothing to the wealth of the Northwest and takes
nothing from it.

Big and little industries throughout the country, from the rail-
roads to the individual laborer, have something to gain from the devel-
opment of these practically empty and waste regions of the Western
States.

In one sense it is no less important than the encouragement of
railroads, one of whose principle functions is to establish new commu-
nities and make business for the older ones. A railroad to the heart
of Sahara could not enrich the community from which it started.
Population is the foundation of all business, and every family settled
in the regian tributary to Minnesota's railways is so much gain to
Minnesota.

DISASTROUS RESULTS FROM DE-
STROYING THE FORESTS OF
NEW YORK AND PENN.

NOT ONLY AT HOME BUT CLEAR TO THE EAST.

BY C. B. PARKER.

Nature's laws versus man's selfishness and covetousuess.

Under the former all things work for good and in perfect har-
mony; under the latter the equilibrium of order seems lost in chaos
and confusion, discord and too often calamity follow in the train of
wars, pestilence, famine, drouths, floods, etc.

After an absence of more than fifty years from our native land,
New York State, the writer was privileged to spend the last year in
the haunts of his boyhood days from Rochester, N. Y. to Binghamton
and in Northeast Pennsylvania at Williamsport, Troy and Tomauda.
We were surprised at the climatic changes as wrought by the denud-
ing of the grand old forests of pine and hemlock with the irreparable
and disastrous results of controverting those stable and useful moun-
tain streams from useful mill power and stock water as well as being
notorious the world over for their finest of trout fishing. Under
nature's or God's plan the great forests of timber held the heavy snow
fall of winter as a gradual reserve of supply for these streams, and it
melted gradually during the spring and supported the streams to a
nice flowing condition of usefulness all the seasons, and the hum of
the mill was heard the year round in every neighborhood, and great
was the sport in fishing for the speckled trout; but, alas, the greedy
lumberman has stripped the hills of timber, and the snows now melt
all of a rush with the spring, and the little streams once so placid and
useful now are wild rushing torrents, overflowing their banks and
destroying property for a time, and as the snow is gone they ran dry
and present only a rocky bed the balance of the year, not even afford-
ing stock water, and many a natural spring and good well has "gone
•dry" during the past two decades; ana notably, nature ever true to the
laws of cause and effect, just in proportion as these floods have pre-
vailed in the north so have our rushing streams caused the Ohio, the
Mississippi and their tributaries to overflow more than in earlier days.
And now for the remedy. Unfortunately this generation can re-
ceive but little comfort or relief, for it hath been written, "the soul

THE IRR IGA TION A GE. 269

that sinneth it shall die." "The sins of the father are visited unto
the third and fourth generation," etc., but it lies within us to do
much to relieve the hardships we have imposed upon generations yet
unborn by constructing dams in thousands of those northern and New
England hollows and holding in store for later in the season much of
the spring overflow thereby avoiding the rapid swelling of the streams
below. Also the forests should be protected from further extermina
tion, and every man as he fells a tree should plant two and keep them
alive, and while growing a forest may seem discouraging as a slow
process, let us bear in mind those we have destroyed were once planted
for us, and it matters but little by whom.

But the quickest and greatest relief that has suggested itself to
the writer for those along the Mississippi delta is possible by adapt-
ing Col. A. Hoagland's patented steel ship canal or aquaduct to a sys-
tem of relief by tapping a river at different points and relieving of its
overburdened supply of water and conveying in another direction; for
instance, at a point about 100 miles above New Orleans on the Missis-
sippi, f j om La Place to Lake Poutchertrain is but four and one-half
miles, and this lake is on a level with tide water at the Gulf, or nearly
so. Now while it would not be practical to open the level and dig a
ditch or canal to drain off a portion of the river to relieve the congested
condition from here to New Orleans, but the writer fully believes it to
be entirely practical and perfectly feasible to open the land at a point
say ten or twelve feet below the danger line, and place Col. Hoagland's
canal or aquaduct on the surface of the ground, say 300, 400 or 500 feet
wide and ten or fifteen feet deep, and thus drain off water sufficient
to relieve all danger of overflow below this point, and the loss to crops
and money expended by government one year would pay for and com-
plete the aqueduct.

After a careful examination of Col. Hoagland's aqueduct and a
conversation with different civil engineers that pass upon it as a prac-
tical invention, we fully believe it is a means capable of proving a
solution of this problem that has cost so much of time in Congress the
past twenty years, and so much of money with s© unsatisfactory
results.

LOUISVILLE, KY., April 20, 1901.

Editor IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111., Dear Sir: — I have with more
than ordinary interest noticed in the February number of the AGE,
communications on irrigation by Gen. Nelson A. Miles, of the United
States army; one by Ulrich, your own editorial and still another arti-
cle by Dr. C. D. Parker, all of them, to some extent, grouping the re-
sults of the recent irrigation convention held in Chicago, and each
one referring to the importance of calling on the government of the

270 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

United States to assist the inhabitants of the "irrigation states,''
Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, Oregon,
Washington, Western Kansas, Nebraska and Texas, in utilizing some
portion of the melting snows and storm water by housing the same in
reservoirs for irrigation.

There seems no longer any doubt about vast bodies of sheet water
underlying much of the land comprising the states referred to. These
facts are confirmed by the construction of some ditches paralelling
the streams in the valleys they traverse, and so far these are the re-
sults of private corporations. They serve, however, to confirm the
existence of sheet water. This sheet water comes from two sources-
living springs of water throughout the Rocky mountains, and from
rains and the melting of the snow. The springs as a matter of course,
flow the year around, and constitute the main supply of sheet water
and is, as a matter of course, flowing day and night. The additions of
rains and snow occur only during the heated months of the spring and
summer, but in order to give the inhabitants of each state a part of
these waters it is conceded to be the duty of the general government
to devise some means for getting at the real body of water and bring-
ing it to the surface of the ground, and then by some means distribut-
ing it to the farmer.

The method that is being discussed more fully than any other at
the present time, is the building of reservoirs and storing these storm
waters from snow and rain and holding the same for distribution
through ditches among the farmers during the irrigation season.

I perhaps feel a little more interested in the article of Dr. Parker
than the others, as I am the inventor of the maratime aqueduct canal
and the water elevator referred to by Dr. Parker, as a means for bring-
ing the sheet water to the surface of the ground and putting it into a
concrete channel that guarantees no loss from seepage. I am now
solicited for a description of my plan for getting at and concentrating
on the plains for irrigation, this sheet water where it is nearest th'e
surface of the ground.

I have this to say: excavate to within a few feet of sheet watar a
series of open cisterns or reservoirs, 40 ft. square and then dig ditches
of equal depth for half a mile to the right and left of these cisterns,
and in these ditches drive into sheet water say LO ft. apart, lines of
drain pipes with strainer. These ditches will have foundation and
walls of concrete, making a slight fall from the outer end of the ditch
to the reservoir or cistern, thus causing the water as it flows from each
drain pipe to enter the cistern, from which water elevators will lift the
water into the irrigation canal. I am assured by persons familiar with
sinking wells on stock farms and ranches in Nebraska and Kansas,
that is a majority of these wells the water is reached through drain

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 271

pipes driven into the sheet water, and the deeper they go the stronger
the flow of water. In many cases the water rises near the surface of
the ground, and if, as I suggest, concrete cisterns were constructed
before the drain pipes are driven into sheet water, these wells become
artesian and the water will flow over the floor of the cistern and it is
by this means the government will get at the flow of water in the
mountain springs and from rain and melting snows of the Rockies.

These concrete irrigation canals need not be over six or eight
feet deep, and perhaps not that depth, by 30 or 40 ft. in width. Judg-
ing from the experience of concrete pavements, the expense of these
canals need not be over $10,000 per mile. Now that the government
has received from the owners of these lands their value and they are
not remunerative for the want of moisture, it would seem to be the
duty of the government through irrigation to aid in making them
available for raising a crop.

Again, the certainty of a crop under a ditch, the owner of each
farm would gladly pay a tax of $2.00 and $4.00 per acre to the govern-
ment for water, and the government would in this way be reimbursed
to some extent for the outlay in building the concrete canal. I cannot
imagine any duty on the part of our government more sacred than
putting within reach of the toiling millions of the farms in the states
we have referred to, the means with which to make a living, while
they do live, and when the farmer dies leaving his family in posession
of the means of maintaining his wife and children.

I can only say, let the government construct a few miles of con-
crete canal, build a reservoir with side ditches and sink in the same,
drain pipes and bring the sheet water to a given center, and by means
of elevators, lifting the water into the ditches in any desired quantity.
We shall no longer be experimenting by sending into the clouds- bal-
loons and exploding dynamite in vain], efforts to force rain from the
clouds, especially when there is within ten and twenty feet of the
surface of the ground on territory extending fully 1000 miles each way.
an abundant supply of water for grain, grass, garden and fruit
harvests.

ALEXANDER HOAGLAND.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. April 23rd, 1901.

MR. ALEXANDER HOAGLAND^ Louisville, Ky. Dear Sir: — I have
beeen dealing in and selling pumps and sinking wells in the various
parts of the country for the past 13 years. I have examined your
newly devised plan for concentrating^ sheet water in reservoirs by
means of bringing up the sheet water through a series of strainers or
drive points, and am convinced that the plan is entirely feasible, and
I can see no good reason why the government should not give the de-

272 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

vice a practical trial and test in connection with building reservoirs in
some of the irrigation states. It has long been known to dealers in
wind mills that when wells are driven in sheet water in western val-
leys, the fountain head being above the pipes the water of its own
gravity will flow up and out of the pipes, and if they are used on an
extensive scale, the supply of water thus received would readily irri-
gate large bodies of land. I wish you the entire confidence of the
government in your simple and feasible plan of making the water
available in all of the irrigation states. Your constant efforts in de-
vising a mode of makiug the vast lands which are almost a desert into
valuable farming and stock raising farms should be highly commended
by the thinking people of the entire west.

Yours Truly,
BRINTON PUMP & PLUMBING Co.

(Signed) G. G, BRINTON, Prop.

ALMOST.

Did you ever live in the land Near-

By
On the fringe of the forest they

call Almost,
Where the ships drift homeward

from By and- By
All laden with wishes from the

Wonder Coast?

Where the music is sweeter than

Ever Was,
And flowers are fairer than Ever

Could Be,
Where the only language is Ohs!

and Ahs!

To tell of the beauties we almost
see?

From this blest invisible land Be-
yond,
Just over the border of sorrow

and stress,
Come notes of a nocturne memory

conned

Like the lingering joy of a dream
caress.

Did ever a soul in its farthest flight
Wing its way to the wonderful

city Somewhere

On the shore of this shadowy coun-
try quite?

Yet ever and always we are
almost there

THE DIVERSIFIED FARM.

In diversified farm/no- by irrigation lies the salvation of nyrrlcnlttire.

CITY MILK.

Chicago physicians have long felt
the need of pure milk for infants
and invalids, but much feeling has
not resulted in much activity. Doc-
tors are not hasty about going into
the dairy business. There is at
least one dairyman, however, who
has given ear to the doctors' great
need, and has given much attention
to suggestions made by the Chi-
cago profession. This man is Mr.
H. B. Gurler. a dairyman of 20
years' experience, and a man of
very unusual observation.

"Pure milk" was a subject of
mutual interest and discussion be-
tween Mr. Gurler and a number of
physicians at the May meeting of
the Chicago Medical Society. It is
the object of this article to report
some of the most important things
^brought up at that meeting.

Cattle should have wholesome
food; well ventilated barns during
the winter months, and open range
in summer time. Cows fed upon
decaying vegetables, distillery
slops, and supplied with water
containing decaying lanimal and
vegetable matter, give most un-
wholsome milk. Cows which are
suddenly changed from ground to
pasture food frequently cause diar-
rhoea in the nursing calf, and like-
wise an infant may suffer gastro-
intestinal derangement by feeding

on milk from such cows. On ac-
count of reproductive influence,
cows should be milked no longer
than a period of nine months, until
another calf is born.

Among other sanitary conveni-
ences of the barns of Mr. Gurler's
dairy are ventilation pipes, sewer-
age and cement floors, which floors
are flushed daily. Milking is per-
iormed in a most cleanly way.
Sometime before milking the cows
are groomed, the udders are washed,
and milkersare required to wash
their hands. The milk pail is cov
ered with a fine strainer, containing
absorbent cotton, so that strain-
ing is performed in the act of milk-
ing. The first milk in each teat is
rejected, since bacteria may be
found in this first milk. All uten-
sils used in handling milk are ster-
ilized by steam in a sealed room, the
temperature of which is kept at
212° Parenheit for 30 minutes, As
soon as the milk is obtained, it is
run through a centrifugal machine
to separate cream. The object of
this process is to enable the dairy-
man to so mix the cream and skim
milk that milk containing 4 per
cent fat may be obtained. The
separator also eliminates mucus, or
any foreign matter that may have
gotten into the milk. The milk is
then cooled to a temperature of 45°
Farenheit; bottled, wood pulp stop-

THE I R RIG A T10N AGE.

pers being used, and date of bot-
tling is stamped on each seal. The
milk is kept at a temperature of
35° Farenheit till delivered to con-
pumer. It is from 12 to 36 hours
old when received by customers.

In order to aid the physician to
prescribe any desired percentage
of fat, proteids and sugar, a table
has been printed on cards for direc-
tion in the use of definite quanti-
ties of Gurler's milk, 16 per cent
cream and sugar. The quantity of
modified food which can be pre-
pared according to this table is
limited to 24 ounces. Mathemati-
cal calculation proves this table to
be very accurate, and correct re-
sults are obtained in desired per-
centages by following the direc-
tion of it.

Regarding tuberculosis among
his cows, Mr. Gurler says: "I have
seen many cows that no one would
suspect, react to the tuberculin test,
and prove to be tuberculous at the
post mortem. At the first test of
my herd, 3 per cent of the 133 cows
were found to be tuberculous.
Once each year the tuberculin test
is applied to this herd, and percent-
age of diseased cows, each time, is
much below the first test, owing
to the care taken in keeping tuber-
culous cattle away from the heard,
.Cows thus diseased are promptly
killed.

Veterinarians consider the tuber-
culin - test very satisfactory, and
are striving for larger privilege in
examining cattle. Just here the
physicians have an important in-
terest also, and, when possible,
should aid the veterinarians in

obtaining such privilege. It is easy
and very important for physicians
to recommend to their patients
those dairies which are under vet-
erinary inspection. Every physi-
cian meets with a large number of
cases of tuberculosis where hered-
itary history throws no light upon
the etiology of this dreaded dis-
ease. This applies especially to
tuberculosis ostitis, so frequently
afflicting children. Tuberculous
milk is certainly a great source of
infection.

The following are causes of im-
pure milk, which is the kind sold
by ordinary city milk dealers:

1. Unhealthy cattle; improper
food and care of cows.

2. Uncleanly milking and care
of dairy utensils.

3. Impure atmosphere where
milk is1 kept in small stores.
Small dealers also water and drug
their milk.

4. Old milk, which is more dif-
ficult to digest and is more favor-
able for growth of bacteria.

5. Long distance transportation
which increases age of milk from
24 to 72 hours and so agitates it
that the proteid and fat are rend-
ered more indigestible.

6. Warm temperature which
favors growth of bacteria.

7. Improper care of milk by
consumer.

THE CULTURE OF PECANS.

The pecan is one of the most profitable
nuts that can be grown in the Southern
and Western States where the soil and
climate arc both adapted to such trees.
The tree begins bearing at an early age and

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

275

continues for an indefinite period without
requiring much care in pruning. Paying
crops may be harvested when the trees are
from eight to ten years old. The trees
will yield from one bushel to twenty every
year during the lifetime of the planter.
The nuts are always in demand at prices
ranging abont one dollar per bushel when
sacked or barrelle'd for the market. As
the trees may be set as closely as an apple
orchard there is certainly money in the
planting of such a grove, in addition to the
value of the timber which is equal to al-
most any of the hard woods for commercial
uses.

Pecans belong to the hickory nut family
and are always in demand on the city
markets. The trees are forest plants grow-
ing to the height of 75 to 150 feet, having
wide spreading branches and oval top that
make them ornamental as well as profitable.
Nuts are borne much the same as the
hickory and are ablong in general appear-
ance They vary in size so that the
weight ranges from 25 to 100 for a pound.
The shells are very thin making the nuts
easily cracked. The trees are native to the
country south of parrallel 40 in the United
States and are rapidly coming to the front
as commercial productions. Texas, Ken-
tucky and Missouri are noted for wild
pecan growth but the commercial world
is supplied almost entirely from Texas,
Louisiana and California.

The soil best adopted to pecan culture
is probably the sandy loam of river and
creek beds, where there is plenty of leaf
mold and the plant food necessary for hard
wood trees. Experienced men report
sandy loam with clay subsoil the best while
the lands' of swamps comes next in impor-
tance. The clay soils give earlier crops
but the nuts are small and unsale-
able.

This tree, like all of the hardwood vari-
eties, needs liberal supplies of Potash, and
it is well to make annual dressings of not
only Potash, but Phosphoric Acid and

Nitrogen as well. One Ib. each of muriate
of potash and Acid Phosphate and i Ib
of Nitrate of Soda per tree would suffice.
The best way, though, in fertilizing any
orchard is to fertilize the entire area and
for this plan, about 200 Ibs. of Muriate of
Potash and 300 Ibs. Acid Phosphate and
150 Ibs. of Nitrate of Soda per acre would
be a good application. The Potash and
Phosphoric Acid can be broadcasted and
worked well into the soil, and the Nitrate
of Soda used as a top dressing.

Pecans may be propagated from seeds
which can be planted the same as other
nuts. Probably the quickest and cheap-
est plan is to transplant nursery grown
trees. They may be purchased at reasona-
ble prices from those having nut trees for
sale. Small ones are the most preferable
as they will live better. Forty feet apart
is wide enough to plant the trees. This
will give 40 trees to the acre and insure
from 200 to 1000 bushels of saleable nuts
every year after the trees come into good
bearing. Clean cultivation is necessary
for the first few years after planting a
grove. If the space between the trees is
planted to cowpeas, velvet beans, melons
or similar crops and a complete fertilizer
used on the cover crops the trees will hasten
to maturity and become profitable in a few
years. As the trees develop the cultiva-
tion between rows may cease but it is neces-
sary to continue feeding the old trees with
plant foods.

There are several varieties of pecans
coming from improving the old native
trees. The Stuart, Van Deman, Centen-
nial and Frotcher are the most popular.
The points to be considered in planting
any varieties are the quality in flavor,
plumpness of kernel and soft shell. Trees
should be planted so as to assist in fertili-
zing the blossoms of those that otherwise
would not bear fruits. Sometimes graft-
ing of superior varieties is successfully
accomplished, but it is better to get only
first class trees at the start and care for

276

7 II E 1RRI GA I ION A GE.

them properly and thus be insured good
profits when they bear.

THE VELVET BEAN.

The velvet bean is one of the most re-
markable legumes ever introduced in the
southern states. It came originally from
Tndia as an ornamental vine and has sud-
denly become prominent as a forage plant
and soil reviver os great worth, Under
favorable conditions the vines grow 30 to
50 inches in length and yield two to three
tons of excellent hay per acre. Some
farmers have harvested 30 bushels of
beans from an acre and secured profits
greater than any other bean or pea crop.
As a fertilizer there seems to be nothing
equal to the velvet bean, and the part it is
destined to play in agriculture is certainly
a subject of commendation.

A light sandy soil is best suited to the
velvet bean, and the richer it is in humus
and plant food the better. Fall or winter
plowing is advisable, and early spring
planting is more successful than later in
the season. A bad, weedy field can be
easily and cheaply reclaimed by sowing
to velvet beans as the vines will choke
out all foul weeds and grasses.

This plant belongs to the legume family
and possesses a common property of draw-
ing its own nitrogen from the atmosphere.
In fertilizing the Dean, therefore, only
phosphoric acid and potash have to be ap-
plied; from 15 to 20 Ibs. muriate of pot-
ash and 300 to 400 Ibs. acid phosphate
per acre would make a good annual dress-
ing for the velvet bean. These materials
can be well worked into the soil and they
will promote a heavy growth of the crop
which means an absorption of a large
quantity of nitrogen and organic matter.

The velvet bean is a small mottled brown
and white seed which is very rich in pro-
tein. It grows in pods borne on clusters
two to three feet apart on the long vines.
Kach pod contains from three to six beans.
A long season is necessary to mature the

beans, hence the crop is more profitable in
the extreme south. The value of the
vines for pasturage in the fall and plowing
under as a green manure is so great that
it pays well in the central and northern
states. Many analysis of the vines have
demonstrated their richness in soil foods.
An illustration comes frqui the Louisiana.
Experiment station where 4,113 Ibs. of
velvet bean vines and leaves contained
93.4 pounds of nitrogen, while the roots
and fallen leaves were equally rich in this
plant food.

In planting the velvet bean many prefer
drilling in rows four feet apart, dropping
beans in hills two feet apart. About two
inches is sufficient depth to cover the
seed. If the -soil is rich the distance
apart in rows may be made to five feet and
the hills widened to three feet. In the
northern sections of the country the seed
may ba planted more thickly than in the
south as the vines will not grow so rank,
and beans are not expected to mature.
The chief uses of the northern crop are
for pasture and hay, but the beans are
valuable even for these alone, without any
seed ripening. Where the vines grow
thrifty a disc harrow or eolling cutter will
be necessary in plowing under the crop
for its fertilizing qualities.

As a food product the velvet beans are
relished by ir.any peopje. They are more
difficult in threshing and cleaning than
the ordinary field pea or bean. If ground
and used for feeding cattle, sheep and
hogs, the bean meal makes a rich concen-
trated food equal to any of the peas or
beans. About sixteen quarts of seed will
plant an acre at the average distance sug-
gested for hills. The seed may be ob-
tained from any aouthern dealer at prices
ranging about five cents a pound. On ac-
count of its method of collecting nitrogen
from the air it is a fine cover plant for
orchards and vinyards There is probably
no single plant that will be found as pro-
fitable for enriching the spice between

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

277

trees and at the same time driving out ob-
noxious weeds and grasses.

JOEL SHOMAKER,

BOOM BEET CULTURE.
C. F. Saylor of Iowa, the special agent
in Chicago for the beet sugar investigation
of the department of agriculture, has sub-
mitted his report to Secretary Wilson
He says this year shows a very active ten-
dency toward the institution of new beet
sugar enterprises. Next autumn, he says
Michigan will have three new factories and
Ohio, Indiana, New York, Colorado,
South and North Dakota and Illinois will
install new factories, making 138 through-
out the country now in contemplation. A
conservative estimate, he says, is that
there will be forty-two beet sugar factories
in operation throughout the United States
by the end of next autumn. Everything
indicates that the industry is thoroughly
established throughout the country. Even
in the incipiency of the industry the fac-
tories have shown good protits. They
have maintained themselves without any
apparent real contest with the sugar trust.
The sections of the country that seem
most adaptable to the industry are where
conditions call for new resources, as in
Michigan, where there has been a large in-
crease in the last three years, largely due
to the waning of the lumbering industry
of that region. There will be fourteen
factories there 'next season, California is
the leading state in production, with eight
factories, including the largest in the
world. The immense amount of pulp and
refuse left after the extraction of the sugar
appeals especially to the farmer and the
corollary industries that gr>w out of farm
products. No feed is so valuable and so
cheap for the dairy and stock-feedi .g in
this country as beet pulp. These facto-
ries turnout from 45 to 50 per cent of the
original weight of the beets worked in the
form of refuse or bi product. Sugar beets
seem to respond especially to cultivation

n the arid regions, where they have given
better results than any other crop. The
arid section has been enabled to cope with
other sections of the country where the
crops have been produced by natural rain-
fall, not in the amount of tonnage per
acre, but in the higher sugar contents and
the purity of beet. The results in Utah
have demonstrated the feasibility of the
central plant idea, with branches scattered
at numerous points for performing some
detailed parts of the work.

HOW I MAKE PRIZE BUTTER.

I use good milk only, and I have a rather
hard time getting it. The milk is heated
in the receiving- vat to about seventy-five
degrees and finished in the little tempering
vat. When it reaches eighty-six degrees
it is run through a separotor, skimming a
thirty per cent cream. I use a starter and
this, with the hand separator cream, brings
the percentage of fat down to twenty-six
or twenty-seven per cent, which I consider
about right to secure that high, delicate
flavor so well liked in our markets. My
aim is to stir the cream every half hour,
ripening at a temperature of from sixty-
eight to seventy degrees, and as the degree
of acidity advanc« s the cream is gradually
cooled down so that it stands at churning
temperature at least six hours. The cream
will show from sixty-two to sixty-four of
one per cent of acidity with alkali tablets
at the time of churning.

The cream is churned at from fifty-three
to fifty-four degrees, and breaks in forty to
forty five minutes. The butter comes in
granules the size of wheat grains. The
buttermilk is drawn off immediately, and
the butter washed in just enough water to
float it. The churn is given a few revolu-
tions with the engine at full speed.
The water is drawn off directly, as I think
it very essential to making a high-flavored
product not to let it soak in water. The
butter is well drained, put on the table-
worker. saUeu with one ounce of fine salt

278

THE 1RRWATJON AGL.

to the pound of butter, worked, and put in
sixty-pound tubs, and is then ready for
market. — John Metzer, Kansas.

Mr. Metzer starts with his proposition
just where it must always start if fine but-
ter is made. "I .use good milk only.''
There is also great significance in the clos-
ing part of that sentence. Every patron
of a creamery should read it over and think
on it long. Here it is: ''And I have a
rather hard time getting it." That is the
universal cry among creamery men and
cheese makers everywhere. In Canada
and Wisconsin and in New York it is just
the same. Everywhere they say:

"The farmers are not particular enough
to send us good milk. They don't seem to
understand the value of good milk in mak-
ing high-priced butter and cheese. They
don't seem to realize the importance of
clean cows, clean stables and clean milk
cans. They demand that we shall make
first-class butter and cheese out of milk
that is made foul by the filthy habits of
certain of the patrons. And there we
stand. We simply cannot make such

goods unless we have clean milk. If we
ask the patrons to unite for the sake of
their own profit, and force the dirty ones
to reform their course or leave, they will
not do it. They seem to act as if they
had rather lose a good bit of money every
year than to offend some of these dirty fel-
lows who are lowering the value of the
general product all the time."

The above is the burden of complaint
that we have heard from thousands of but-
ter and cheese makers for years, and it is
still being uttered. The Wisconsin Dairy
School is one of several in the nation that
is turning out hundreds of bright, neat and
capable young butter and cheese makers.
But what can they do with dirty milk?
What can they do with a patron who is
naturally nasty in his habits and prac-
tices? The fact is, the patrons of every
cheese factory and every creamery ought
to form a solid body of sentiment and re-
sistance against the dirty members of their
own flock. It is these men who keep
down the prices of butter and cheese.—
Hoard's Dairyman.

ODDS AND ENDS.

THE DELINEATOR

The June Delineator covers many varied
interests of the home. It shows the latest
styles for Ladies, Misses, Girls and Little
Folks, several pages being illustrated in
colors so as to give a correct idea of color
combinations. The ever practical dress-
making article describes the construction
of the new Di Vernon waist. Summer time
comes it: for its share of attention by spe-
cial articles being devoted to material for
cycling skirts, to summer dress fabrics and
to a number of new and pretty surf habits
or bathing stits. Summer Millinery is also
illustrated in colors. The problems of
Moving Day and after are dealt with very
thoroughly by Margaret Hall and the eti-
quette required on the part of those who
have moved into a new neighborhood is
indicated by Mrs. Frank Learned in her
Social Observances Department. Pastimes
for Children, all sorts of fancy needlework
for summer hours, indoor decorations and
other varied interests corns in for attention.
The wonderful benefactions of Baroness
Clara De Hirsch, who a:ded her husband
in giving away $100,000,000, are described
and illustrated by Sara K. Bolton. The
short stories of the minth are by Elmore
Elliott Peake and William McLeod Kaine.
A collection of antique silver is described
in a special article devoted to the subject
by N. Hudson Moore. The illustrated
Cookery dealj with birthday parties and is
very beautiful.

There is much else of interest in The
Delineator; a publication that safely claims
for itself that there is no magazine publish-
ed that can meet the needs of all women
at so many points

SCRRIBNER'S.

Henry Norman, M. P. resumes his ar-
ticle in the June Scribner's. The origin
and traditions of the Scotch universities
are little known in this country, and will
be described by Prof. John Grier Hibben,
ofPrinceton, who visited them a year ago.
Mrs. Kate Douglas Wiggin's amusing
seriel, "The Diary of a Goose Girl," is
continued. Ernest Seth-Thompson will
begin another of his animal biographies
the hero this time being a mountain sheep
known as "Krag the Kootenay Ham."
Walter A. Wyckoff, the author of ''The
Workers," onced worked on the Union
Pacific .Railroad as a section hand, and he
will describe the incidents of that exper-
ience.

MCCLQRE'S.

Mrs. Elizabeth Stuart Phelp^'s drain i
''Within the Gates," begun ia McClure, s
Magazine for May, is continued in the
June number. Josiah Flynt contributes
a new ''World of Graft" article called
"Boston, a Plain-Clothes vlan's Town."
In 'The King's Gold," Robert Barr relates
more of the incognito rambles of King
James V. of Scotland, in the highways and
byways of his Capital. An article by that
clever essayist, E. S. Martin, entitled
"Women" which is handsomely embel-
lished with numerous half-tone engravings
from celebrated portraits of beautiful wo-
men of former times. The author of ''The
Women and her Bonds" Mr. Lefevre, con-
tributes another Wall Street story. An
exceedingly important discovery, is made
public for the first time in an article cal-
led "Geology and the Deluge," by Prof.
Fredrick G. Wright, of Oberlin College.

280

1HE IRR1GAIION AGE,

THE GENTLE FILIPINO.
I have chases the fierce Apache

Through his God- forsaken land:
I have tracked the daring horse-thief

Where his footprints marked the sand;

I have summered with the robbers

Down at Conep-by-the-Sea,
But the gentle Filipino — say,

He beats them all for me.

He beats them all for me, my son,

*The whole immortal lot,
In his slushy, mushy country,

Where the climate's good and hot.

I have tracked the red and yellow, .

And I've tracked the wild and tan
But the gentle Filipino is

The high, low, jack and game.

With his timid little manner
And his sweet and loving smile;

And his easy way of swearing that
He loves you all the while.

With a white flag on his shanty
Hanging out to catch the eye,

And his little rifle ready
To plunk you by-and-by —

For to plunk you by-and-by, my boy.

To shoot you in the back,
And to slip away as swiftly as

A sprinter down the track,

To come around when they plant

Just to drop a little tear.
For the gentle Filipino is

A tender-hearted dear.

He's as gentle as a kitten,

And his pastime, as a rule,
Is to shoot the flag-of-truce man

As a sort of April fool.
And if he can find a tree-top

To climb to with his gnn,
And pick ofi the lad that's wounded-

Then he knows he's having fun;
He knows he's having fun, boys,

A grand, good time all 'round —
They look so awkward tumbling

From the stretchers to the ground..

And it is such fun to shoot them
And kill them where they lay,

For the gentle Filipino loves
His sweet and childish play.

And I know I am a blacksmith,
'Cause the pamphlets saj's I am;

But I think I'll keep a fighting
Just the same for Uncle Sam —

Just the same for Uncle Sam, boys

And just bear this in mind:
And that the watch-dog's better than

The cur that sneaks behind.

And I'll try to bear up somehow
Under this my murd'rous taint,

For the gentle Filipino

Is a darned queer kind of saint.

JOSEPH L. AGNELL.

Company E. Fourth United States Infantry.
Manila, P. I., March 19, 1901,

A WOMAN'S WORK.
When breakfast things are cleared away

The same old problem's rising,
For she again pits down to think

Of something appetizing.
The dinner she must soon prepare,

Or give the cook directions,
And great is the relief she feels

When she has made selections.

When dinner things are cleared away

The problem that is upper
Is just the same with 'one word changed —

''What can I get for supper?"
She wants to give them something new,

And long is meditation,
Till choice is made, and then begins

The work of preparation.

That "woman's work is never done"

Has often been disputed,
But that she's worried is a fact

And cannot be refuted.
The worry over what to eat

Is greatest of these questions,
And glad she'd be if someone else

Would make the meal "suggestions."

— Pittsburg Dispatch.

I BRIG A TION AGE. 231

COLORADO BEN.

Ben Davis was a handsome youth, but dry as any chip,

For Nature gave him gaudy clothes, but let the flavor slip;

And underneath his gaudy clothes he wore a pumpkin heart,

A painted turnip , dry as bran, he went into the mart —

A hypocrite — a Pharisee — a fraud in royal guise,

Without a single drop of juice — a liar of great size.

And those who bit his bloodless flesh were prompt with gibe and curse.

They came with solid chunks of prose — the poets threw their verse.

Ben Davis heard their stinging words, they rankled in his mind,

They cut him to his mealy heart; they forced him on to find

Some place where better quality might grow beneath his vest:

He followed Greeley's old advice, and took himself "out West."

On Colorado's sunny plains, where clouds are seldom seen,

Beside an irrigating ditch, he donned his coat of green.

The blood grew warmer in his cheek, and, In the warm sunshine

Of mounrain air, his flesh absorbed the flavor of the vine.

Ben Davis! Colorado Ben — apoligies are due

From one who has, in former days, hurled ragged verse at you!

Wise hogs would hardly eat you for the second time back East,

But, from Westward ho! with Baldwin you are reckoned not the least.

You "grew up with the country" where are mellow fruits — and men.

Now go up head! Good luck, old boy, oh, Colorado Ben!

— R. A'. Yorker.

THE OLD HOME IS SOLD.

"We sold the dear old home to-day,"
The old folks wrote mj, far away;
The house, the garden and the lands,
All now belong to strangers' hands.
The orchard father pruned with care,
Will luscious fruit for others bear.
The rose that grew near mother's door,
Will bloom for her, ah! nevermore.

0, 1 had hoped the time might come
When 1, once more could see my home;
Could tread again those paths of yore,
That lead down by the river's shore.
I look back through the past and see
A picture dear to memory.
A home of joy with father and mother
An unbroken band were we together.

Yeaps rolled on, and we drifted apart,
Out into the world to make a start.
Sad partings came, and one by one

282 THE IRRIGATION AGL.

We went away and left them alone.
Yes, all alone were the old folks left
In a saddened home, of joys bereft.
Lonely they toiled together each day —
But the home is sold, they're going away.

Their forms are bent with age and care,
Furrowed their cheeks, silvered their hair.
•Like a storm-tossed ship they drift with the tide,
Almost in reach of the other side.
Father of mercy, we ask of Thee,
Pilot them gently o'er life's rough sea;
And, when their stormy voyage is o'er,
Anchor them safe on the other shore.

And now, old home, we say to you
A long farewell, a fond adieu.
Thy walls will echo never more
The songs we sang beloved of yore.
No more from distant parts of earth,
We'll meet again around thy hearth.
No more within thy sacred shrine,
Join in the tune of "Auld Lang Syne."

— Written for Greens Fruit Grower by Mrs
D. C. Weltner.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

VOL. XV .

CHICAGO, JUNE, 1901.

NO. 9

„__ , In no country in the world has

Extensive
Irrigation agriculture ever attained to

the comparative dignity found
in Peru by the Spanish conqueror?. Agri-
culture is admitted to be the backbone
of the United States, and statesmen and
politicians, especially at election times,
manifest great friendliness and affection
for the farmers; but the ancient Peru-
vians, nobles and plebians alike, were
all actual tillers of the soil, The Inca
himself did not disdain to set the ex-
ample, and each season on a certain day,
attended by his court, the monarch turned
up the fresh earth with a golden plow.

Ancient Peru included a large part of
Chili, and husbandry was pursued by the
Indians on principles truly scientific. Agri-
culture was the basis of the political insti-
tutions; and remarkable provisions existed
for the distribution of the land in equal
shares among the people. Government
assistance rendered productive every acre
of available land. Much of the country
was arid, and to reclaim this the Incas con-
structed reservoirs and canals on a magni-
ficent scale. Prescott, in his ''Conquest
of Peru," describes irrigation works of
splendid proportions and fine efficiency.
Some of the canals were of great length,
carrying water to the coast valleys from
mountain reservoirs hundreds of miles
distant. He mentions one canal in parti-
cula r as nearly five hundred miles long.
The building of these long aqued ucts called
for some remarkable engineering, the re-
sults of which in many places are plainly
visible today.

These works of the Incas, however, were
-e stroyed or suffered to decay by the Span-

iards, whose desire was only for gold.
Nevertheless, fhere yet remain a few sec-
tions under the ancient irrigation. A re-
cent consular report describes several val-
leys teeming with tropical luxuriance, sit-
uated between parching deserts, irrigated
by water flowing through the old water-
courses of the Incas, but coming from un-
known distances.

Under the ancient order, the greatest
care was exercised that every occupant of
the land should receive his share of water.
The quantity allotted to each tract of land
was prescribed by law, and royal overseers
superintended the distribution and saw
that it was faithfully applied. There was
no waste and there wa§ no speculation in
water nor over- appropriation, and there
was no conflict of water rights. Although
the Peruvians probably did not enjoy some
of the privileges of the irrigators of the
United States, they also doubtless escaped
many of the vexations.

Several of the Western papers
have sounded the note of warn-
ing in the matter of the waste of artesian
water supply. Flowing or artesian well
all receive their supplies from vast under'
ground reservoirs, the same reservoir sup-
plying many wells. During the past two
years thousands of new wells have been
bored, tapping these underground reser-
voirs, and complaint is now made that
wells are allowed to flow on even at times
when no use is made of the water.

The result is that the underground re-
servoirs are becoming diminished in vol-
ume, and wells which flowed freely a few
years ago have now no water. The good
advice is given that legislatures enact laws

waste of
Water.

284

I BE IRRIGATION AGE.

requiring owners to cap their wells when
the water is not actually needed for a use-
ful purpose.

There is more of truth than
fiction, more of practicality
than poetry in the representations of Mr.
George H. Maxwell, Executive Chairman
of the National Irrigation Association
when he says:

"It would accomplish the colonization
of the West, and -the creation of a great
market for manufacturing: it would result
in the employment of labor, the develop-
ment of mining, in assistance to naviga-
tion, the prevention of floods, and in relief
for the congested condition of our cities in
supplying material for thousands of rural
homes.

The great stimulation of business and
production incident to the colonization of
the Middle West, where men went out and
took up from 160 to 640 acres each, and
made homes for themselves, would be
small compared with what would occur if
100,000,000 acres of arid land, which would
be inexhaustibly fertile, were given water
and divided into 10 to 40-acre highly cul-
tivated farms."

Eastern Lead- The defeat of the great

crs Less

Arrogant. River and Harbor Bill, car-

rying its $50,000,000 of appropriation, has
caused no little bitterness of spirit among
those who had favored the resulting im-
provements to the various rivers, creeks,
and harbors included in the bill.

The suggestion has been made that East-
ern men who have been favorably disposed
to the irrigation measures proposed for
the West will be alienated therefrom by
this method, <which has been denounced as
a dog-in-the-manger policy on the part of
Senator Carter, who held the floor of the
Senate for the last twelve hours of its ses-
sion, and thus prevented the passage of
the bill, because, they say, the House re-
fused to allow the irrigation amendments.
Senator Carter expressly stated that he
undertook the defeat of the measure with-
out any motive of revenge, but because he
believed it to be his patriotic duty to work
his utmost to prevent such wasteful and
extravagant expenditures, and to draw the

line against such abuse as had crept into a
policy of national improvement.

That the River and Harbor Bills, which
have come to be generally known as "Gov-
ernment pork bills," have grown to be out-
rageous extravagances, is well recognized,
and it is probable that the defeat of this
measure will be a warning to Congress to
in future eleminate these ridiculous bo-
called national aids to navigation where a
channel to be improved starts with only
six inches of water (as was the case in one
instance in the defeated bill), and to frame
the bills on the lines of improvement to the
great harbors and waterways which really.
affect the whole United States, and at the
same time to recognize the sentiment of
the country, which demands that the great
arid area of the West, lying like a vast
fortune in trust, shall be developed and.
made to contribute its share to the nationa
wealth.

Mostly Gov-

connection with the much-

eminent Land.discussed proposition for th
Government to provide storage reservoirs
for irrigation in the West, it is interesting-
to note the large proportion of public land
yet remaining in some of the Western
States and Territories. Jn Arizona, 76
per cent, of the land belongs to the Gen
eral Government; of California, with all its
great private developement, 58 per cent, is
public land: of Montana. 78 per cent, re-
mains public, in Utah, 89 per cent, belongs
to the United States: in Wyoming, 86 per
cent; in Idaho, 89 per cent., and in Nevada
95 per cent, belongs to the Federal Govern-
ment.

With title to all this vast acreage yet
remaining in the General Government, it
would seem to be the part of wisdom for
that Government, to provide the means for
its improvement and settlement.

Differs from "The forestry and irrigation

the American

Way. problems in almost all the

countries of the old world are solved by the
respective governments. The compara-
tively small country of Sweden," says Na-
tional Irrigation, "owna nearly 20,000,000
a^res of forest lands, the income from
which maintains numerous forestry school

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

285

besides yielding a handsome revenue to
the State. Germany and France both have
extensive forestry departments, and Spain
controls all irrigation works. The general
government is always the logical manager
of both class- es of such work, for successful
irrigation development depends not only
upon proper supervision, but likewise upon
a comprehensive forestry system which
will protect this important source of irri-
gation supply."

Machinery for ne adoption of pefroleum as

Irrigating. a fuel by some of the western
railroads and the discoveries of the vast
California oil deposits direct special atten-
tion to this question of fuel in the western
States where coal is such an expensive
commodity. It would seem that the Cali-
fornia and Texas oil fields may supply the
West with motive power, and the discov-
ery of oil is hastening the adoption of oil-
using engines.

In many of the smaller irrigation sys-
tems power is employed extensively in get-
ting the water to the land. Where coal
and wood are expensive it is often ad van,
tageous to use engines operated by gosoline-
distillate, kerosene, or crude oil.

A recent visit to the large Chicago ware-
houses of Fairbanks, Morse & Co., showed
a great number of types of engines and
pumping machinery used in irrigating —
petroleum engines, and those using gaso-
line, kerosene and distillate, steam engines,
boilers, windmills, etc.

"If a considerable quantity of water is
desired, but it is necessary to raise it only
a short distance, "explained the sales-man-
ager, "then a centrifugal pump would be a
desirable type. If, however, water is to
be taken from a greater depth than would
be available for an ordinary suction pump,
a good machine would be a combined en-
gine with gear and box forming a part of
the engine, the base being extended and
arranged to carry the gearing. A special
form of clutch is used for disengaging- the
gear to facilitate starting, or so that the
engine may be used for other service with-
out disconnecting the pump.

"Another interesting method of pump-
ing from a well is seen in the work of a

Money for

Irrigation.

combined engine and air-compressor. The
water is literally blown out by the air
forced into the well. A pipe is placed
within the well casing and as the air is
forced into that pipe the water is forced
out in a continuous stream.

"This particular engine," remarked the
manager, pointing to a modest-looking
machine, "will pump out 42, 000 gallons per
hour.

"The development of pumping machin-
ery in the United States within the last few
years has been remarkable. We have
reached a high degree of perfection in this
as well as most other classes of machinery,
and American pumps and engines easily
lead the world."

The creation of an arid land
reclaimation fund, from the
proceeds through the sale of western pub-
lic lands, to be used in the construction of
irrigation works, is a proposition which
will commend itself to every interest. The
people of the West should, of course, sup-
port it to a man, while there can certainly
be no opposition from Eastern Congress-
men.

Irrigation and When the President said in
Immigration New Mexico that irrigation
meant immigration he struck a responsive
chord in the breasts of Western people.
We have paid out an enormous sum for
our outside expansion the past three years,
and shall have to pay out more yet. We
have borne the burdens of expansion with
scarcely a knowledge that a burden ex-
isted. To provide for home expansion by
irrigation of the arid lands of the West
would entail no burden whatever. The
sum required would scarcely make an ap-
preciable difference in the annual expenses
Of the Government.

For years we have been appropriating
vast sums of money upon the theory that
the improvement of rivers and harbors is
a natural and proper task for the Govern-
ment. There is just as much reason for
the Government to render habitable and
productive its millions of acres of waste
land. We are dyking the Mississippi, and
millions of dollars have been expended to
keep that wayward stream within its nat-

286

THE IRRl GAT ION AGE.

ural channel. To be sure this has been
and is being done on the theory that it is
necessary for the improvement of naviga-
tion, yet every intelligent citizen knows
that the real object sought is the protec-
tion of the adjacent lands from overflow.
The Mercury recognizes this as a perfectly
proper object of Government expenditure,
as it does also its kindred work of making
productive the waste lands of the West.
It also recognizes the face that in a meas-
ure both objects might be secured by a
new plan of operation, that of building im-
mense impounding reservoirs at the head-

waters of the Mississippi and other streams
whose floods do annual damage to the lands
along their banks. Improvement of rivers
and harbors and irrigation of waste lands
are indeed kindred matters, and should be
treated as being upon exactly the same
footing with the general Government, and
in a large measure both might be secured
by the same outlay of money. The West
will make itself felt in Congress on this
subject until its position in the matter has
been recognized as the correct one and
this neceseary work has been taken up by
the Government. — San Jose Mercury.

IRRIGATION IN HAWAII.

BY WALTER MAXWELL, PH. D., in Bulliton 90, De-
partment of Agriculture.

The precipitation of atmospheric moisture is very uneven and ir-
regular over the surface of the earth. There are zones that are marked
by annual deluges, and there are vast areas upon which rain rarely
falls. These rainless areas are not confined to conditions peculiar to
specific latitudes, but are found in the tropical regions of India and
Africa, over the wide plateaus of North America, and in other locali-
ties having widely varying climatic conditions.

The regions of small rainfall are very generally distinguished by
lands of great natural fertility. This is due largely, on the one hand
to the absence of great rains that leach out the elements that feed
plants, and on the other hand, to the relative absence of crops, which
results from lack of rain. Among the most productive tracts upon
the earth to-day are regions that were naturally arid, but which have
been rendered productive by irrigation. These tracts include the
Punjab and other vast districts of India, the great basin of the Nile in
Africa, and large semiarid areas that have more recently been brought
under cultivation in the middle and western United States.

The failure of the natural rainfall to produce crops may be due to
the insufficiency of the total precipitation, as in regions in India,
Africa, and other lands, where it does not aggregate 10 inches per
year; or it may be due to the seasonal distribution, as in other parts
of India and Africa, in northern Queensland, and some of the Pacific
islands, where a heavy and almost the whole precipitate, takes place
within two or three months. In speaking of the agriculture in parts
of the Himalayas; Mr. Buckley says: "Where the rainfall varies
from 50 to as many as 100 inches in the year, crops grown on the ter-
races in the mountains are matured in the dry season by artificial irri-
gation.'' In some localities in northern Queensland the annual rainfall
reaches and exceeds 100 inches, yet the sugar-cane crop has to linger
through an annual arid period which greatly reduces the yield, while
upon the Pacific islands of Hawaii, despite the winter rains, many of
the most fertile lands would be useless without the prevailing practice
of irrigation. Irrigation, consequently, is playing an increasingly
important part in modern intensive agriculture

The history of irrigation covers methods of applying water to
'>crops. inducing the crudest efforts of the peasant and the great sys

'1HE lUmGA'HON AGE.

terns executed by governments or corporations, such as are in opera-
tion in India, the United States, and in the valley of the Nile. Certain
of those systems are vast, and have been instituted under the pres-
sure of meeting great emergencies. To-day India is using irrigation
upon a stupendous scale in grappling with the calamity of famine.

Economic irrigation requires the consideration of physical laws
which were unknown to the authors of primitive method-;, and waich
have not been generally observed in establishing the huge system of
irrigation already mentioned. Some of the physical laws which u nder-
lie any rational practice in the application of water to crops are briefly
considered in the following paper.

EVAPORATION OF MOISTURE FROM WATEll SURFACES AND SOILS,

The movement of moisture is constantly going on, The simplest
evidence of this movement is seen in rainfall and in the evaporation,
from water and soil surfaces.

The factors that have been given the greatest prominence as exer-
cising a controlling action upon evaporation from soil and from the
surface of water are the temperature and the relative humidity of the
air- This view is amply sustained if the examination is confined to the
action of these factors during the extreme season of the year There
is no question concerning the greater evaporation of moisture from,
soils and waters during the months of summer, when temperatures are
high and the amountof atmospheric moisture is also relatively smaller
than during the cold season, when the temperature is lower and the
humidity of the air greater. This is demonstrated in many localities
by the excess of water that accumulates within and upon the soil in
winter and the droughts that, obtain in the summer. There are local-
ities and regions, however, that are so fortunate as to hwe the great-
est rainfall during the season of greatest evaporation and consequent-
ly the greatest plant growth. Setting aside the differences concur-
rent with the seasons and confining observations to the relative actions
of the several factors -during the summer, it is then found that the
temperature of the air and the amount of moisture that it contain ;
are not the most dominant factors in the control of evaporati m. As
already said, they are factors, but their combined effeats do not com-
pare with the effects of wind. Not only in the matter of irrigation,
but also in the location and exposure of reservoirs this fact is of lead-
ing importance. In view of this the writter carried out a series of
evaporation determinations by means of evaporators, at the same time-
keeping a record of the temperature and relative humidity of the air.
These observations were made as a part of a study of the factors that
control the rational irrigation of the sugar-cane on the Hawaiian
slands- The form of evaporator used was small agalvanized iron pan..

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

li inches deep and having a superficial area of 120 square inches. The
evaporator was placed under the covered stand where the meteorolo-
gical instruments were located and between the dry and wet bulb
thermometers, thus having the same protection from the sun and the
same exposure to the wind as those instruments. At 7 o'clock on the
morning of the first day 500 grams of water were weighed into the
evaporator, and at the end of each twenty- four hours the weight was
taken and recorded and the volume made up again to 500 grams.
These observations were made daily throughout the year. A second
evaporator similar to the first was placed in a barn 30 feet distant
from the other. The large doors of the barn were kept open day and
night to allow of air circulation, but any violent air movement was
rigidly guarded against. The purpose was to secure the same condi-
tions of the temperature and humidity of the air as those surround-
ing .the evaporator placed outdoors, but to eliminate the factor of
wind. The data furnished by the tivo evaporators were taken and re-
corded in the same manner and with the corresponding readings of
thermometers. The results of these observations covering a period
of two hundred and seventy days, reduced to monthly averages, are
given in the following table:

RELATIVE EVAPORATION FROM WATER SURFACE EXPOSED TO THE WIND AND PROTECTED FROM

THE WIND.

Month.

Exposed to the wind

Protected from the wind.

Tempera-
ture of
air.

Humidity
.of air

Evapora-
tion.

Tempera-
ture of
air.

Humidity
of air

Evapora-
tion.

April

°F.
74 4
76 0
770
78 3
73 7
768
753
71 0

Per cent.
77 4
802
83 6
77 3
738
804
80 1
832

Per cent.
285
27 2
225
258
300
243
235
233

<>F

78 7
80 3
81 3
83 0
82 4
80 6
78 8
74 1
)

Per cent.
77 4
802
83 6
77 3
738
80 4
80 1
83 2

Per cent.
11 7
113
101
131
125
100
92
9 4

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

Average

75 9

795

256

79 9

76 5

108

A relation may be noted between the temperature and humidity
of the air and the amounts of water evaporated, but the important
fact revealed by the table is the contant and great difference in the
amount of water evaporated from two pans. The total amounts of
water lost during the eight months by the exposed and protected
evaporators were, respectively, 33,480 grams and 14,175 grams.

The outdoor evaporator lost 136 per cent more water that the in-
door evaporator. The vast difference is wholly due to the action of
the wind, to which the former was exposed, and it occurred in spite of
the fact that the indoor temperature was uniformly 4 degrees higher
than the outdoor temperature.

290 THE JRRIGATION AGE,

The differences in the amounts of water given off by the outdoor
evaporator on different days bear some relation of the differences in
the temperature and humidity of the air. They are too great, how-
ever, to be accounted for by those factors alone; they were, in fact,
largely due to different velocities of the wind. By way of improving
this, we make use of the data recorded during the month of Novem-
ber. During the first ten days of that month the average daily evap-
oration, under the constant action of the northeast trade wind, was
33.7 per cent. During the following eight days, when the wind direc-
tion was south and the air was almost still, the average evaporation
was only 13.2 per cent. During these eighteen days the maximum
evaporation under a very high wind reached 41. 2 per cent, while upon
another day, no motion of the air being observed, the evaporation
•was only 8.1 per cent. In the course of these twenty day the temper-
ature variations were very small.

From the determinations that have been recorded it may be seen
that the monument of the air is the paramount factor in controlling
the rate of evaporation from water and soil surfaces. Soil whose sur-
faces are exposed to the actions of strong driving winds will give up
more moisture, and.will therefore need more- water, than areas in shel-
tered locations. Water surfaces exposed to the sweep of the wind lose
heavily by evaporation. Economy of water therefore, dictates that
reservoirs be built so as to have the greatest depth and the least sur-
face, and that they be located so as to be sheltered from the direct
action of pervailing strong winds.

TRANSPIRATION OF MOTRTURE BY VEGETATION.

The volume of water evaporated from the soil and the volume
transpired by the plant during its growth are the controlling factors
in determining the total water required in the production of a crop,
and therefore the quantity of water to be supplied by irrigation.

Water enters very largely into the structure of all living organ-
isms. It is not only the agent which makes possible the mobility of
other constituents of the plant, conveying them from one location to
another, but it enters in large proportion into the structure of the
organism itself. Consequently plants and trees at all times hold a
great volume of water, the supply of which is constantly replenished
by the water taken up by the roots and as constantly depleted by the
moisture given off into the air by means of transpirtation. It is these
quantities that we require to know something definite about.

The waters of the Hawaiian Islands are of excellent quality, if
they do not come in contact with the sea inflow or with soils having
high contents of salt, due to the overflow of the sea at some earlier
period. In some localities, however, contamination by sea water has

THE IRR IGA TION AGE. 291

gone so far that the water is destructive to vegetable life. In most
instances the deleterious agent is common salt; in others there is a
mixture of common salt with chlorids of magnesium and calcium. The
latter are most injurious to plant life and, in lowlands, lying almost
level with the sea, where there are no means of getting these salts
removed, their impregnation renders the soil useless.

A considerable portion of the water supyly for irrigatron in the
Hawaiian Islands is derived from the underground flow. Ground
waters, on account of the considerable proportions of certain highly
desirable elements they contain, may be very valuable for application
to crops. On the other hand, because of the large amount of sub-
stances inimical to plant life held in solution in some cases, they may
be quite unfit for irrigation. Numerous instances of the unfitness 'of
such waters for plant use are furnished by other countries, and special
examples have been found by the writer upon the Hawaiian Islands.

DUTY OF WATER.

By the term "duty of water," as used in this bulletin, is under-
stood the volume of water that is required to mature a given crop in
given conditions of soil and climate. That the duty of water can not
be a definite factor, the water being in equal demand and rendering
the same service in all locations, has been amply indicated by the facts
stated in preceding paragraphs It has been shown that there are
locations where the volume of water directly evaporated from the soil
is double the amount removed in other locations and under totally
different conditions of climatic exposure and action. Further, it was
shown that soils themselves vary extremely in their powers to take up
and retain moisture, which affords another illustration of the factors
that determine the service of applied water in relation to the crop. If
a given volume of water is applied to a soil of low absorptive capacity
and with a small retentive power, loss occurs by seepage on the one
hand and -by extreme evaporation on the other, thus causing a large
expenditure by the soil and a minimized service rendered to the crop.
Again, crops may vary between very wide extremes in the volume of
water they consume per unit of substance formed, and consequently
in the volumes necessary to bring them to maturity.

IRRIGATION PRACTICE ON THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

The chief crops that are grown by the aid of artificial irrigation in
Hawaii are rice and sugar cane.

The lands used for rice are the lowest flats found at the outlets of
valleys and close on the sea. Irrigation is practiced upon all these
lands, but no means of determining the volume used per acre have
been adopted, and data are not at hand bearing on the question.

Sugar production is, relatively speaking, a recent matter so far as

292

THE IRRIGATION AGE

the present volume of production is concerned. So late even as 1880
the output is recorded as being 30,000 tons, while the production
in 1889 was 282,807 tons. The part played by artificial irrigation
it the production of the Hawaiian crop is seen from the following
statement:

Tons.

Sugar grown by natural rainfall ., 116,382

Sugar grown by irrigation 166,425

The area to which water is artifically applied is yearly increasing,
and in two years more than two- thirds of the crop, which is also vastly
increasing, will be grown by aid of irrigation.

The richest lands upon the islands are those lying toward and a
little above sea level. In most of the districts, however, the rainfall
over the low-lying lands, and especially upon the leeward side, is ut-
terly insufficient to produce the sugar crop. Until the practice of
irrigation was adopted these lowlands were useless, but now they are,
beyond comparison, the richest and most productive.

The primary source of water upon the Hawaiian Islands is rainfall,
Two unfavorable conditions attend its precipitation: (1) The maximum
quantity falls during the cool season, when the crops are not in a state
of,maximum growth and able to make use of it, and (2) the chief pre-
cipitation is over the mountain areas, where the water falls, soaks
down into the rock strata, and runs largely to the sea, unless arrested
and returned to the land. An illustration of the variation of rainfall
with altitude is afforded by the following table:

VARIATION OF RAINFALL WITH ELEVATION.

....

Rainfall at

elevations of

Rainfall at

2.000-3,000

sea level

feet

(2!4 miles

from sea).

Inches.

Inches.

82

118

28

179

The apparently disadvantageous circumstance of heavy precipi-
tation at maximum elevations has been turned into a special advantage
by engineering means. In certain districts the water is collected by
small ditches over the mountain areas, where it falls, and is conducted
by main ditches or by the flumes down to the cane-bearing lands be-
low, over which it is distributed by gravity. Where the rainfall can
not be easily collected over the mountain areas, the water which sinks
down into deep substrata is tapped and arrested at or near sea level,
where it is found running toward the sea. In places where the lava
rock strata run out before reaching the sea the water comes to the

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 293

surface in springs, but the great body flows out or is held in under-
ground reservoirs at varying depths, and has to be sought for by
means of wells, from which ihe water is lifted and forced up to con-
siderable elevations by high- duty pumps, where it is distributed,

The pumps that are in service on the islands are chiefly of Ameri-
can build, and are in some instances of large capacity. Their duties
range from the small lifts of the centrifugal pumps to those raising
12,000,000 gallons per 24 hours.

The amount of water applied in the irrigation of Hawaiian sugar
cane is controlled mainly by the volume of the supply. Concerning
the volume that is considered necessary and that is taken as a basis of
estimation in calculating the water required by any given plantation
and the capacity of the pumps necessary to lift and apply it, reference
is had to the data contained in a report on investigations made in 1889

'by Messrs. J. D. Schuyler and G. F. Allaidt, civil engineers. The
data and the views contained in that report were made the basis of
operations by the authorities quoted, and they are still the views and
represent the practice of those men who were on plantation at the
time of the publication of the report in 1889. Other views and other

' methods are now coming into practice which are based more largely
upon the principals set forth in the earlier paragraphs of this report
and upon results obtained in actual experiments in irrigation. These
will be spoken of later. The report referred to says:

It seems to be the general practice here [island of Oahu] to irrigate "plant1
cane every three or four days for the first month after planting or unttl it has made
a strong growth of root and stalk. After that a watering i? given every seven days
for a time, diminishing to one watering every ten days, which is continued for about
fifteen months from the time of planting, or until the maturity of the cane. It is
customery to eease irrigation from one to three months before cutting. If, as in
some districts, the cane did not mature short of eighteen to twenty months from
time of planting, the period of irrigation would be from fifteen to eighteen months.
In making our estimate we have assumed that fifteen months of irrigation would be
the average required for sugar cane on the leeward slopes of this island [Oahu].
Three waterings per month is the least that is considered safe to apply to keep the
cane growing without check. In localities corresponding in position and climate to
Honouluili it is customary to maintain this periodical irrigation regardless of the

- rainfall. The rain may at times exceed the quantity applied artificially, but irriga-
tion is performed as usual notwithstanding, in order that there shall be no break in
the waterings. It seems to be generally understood by all planters that the depth of
each watering shall be at least an average of 3 to 4 inches over the whole surface.

• Where the intervals between waterings are ten days and the depth applied is 4
inches, 1 cubic foot of water per second will perform a duty of 59.5 acres. With
intervals of seven days and the same depth applied, 1 cubic foot per second would
irrigate but 41.6 acres, or 55.5 acres if the depth applied is but 3 inches.

At this place it may be convenient to state, for the use of persons

who judge by the standard of rainfall, that 1 cubic foot of water per

; second is equal to a flow of 294,700,032 United States gallons in fifteen

s months, and that if this volume were applied to 41,6 acres that would

294 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

be equal to 7,108,173 gallons per acre, or a rainfall of 210 inches per
year and 262 inches to mature the crop.

The report proceeds to give examples, and begins with the Ha-
waian Commercial Company's plantation at Spreckelsville, island of
Maui, of which it says:

The record for the calender year 1888 shows that there was delivered to the
plantation the following quantity of water:

Cubic feet.

From the Haiku ditch 1,175,000,000

From the Waihee ditch 919,000,000

2,094,000,000

Or 15,700,000,000 gallons. The rainfall during this period was 19.08 inches.

With this water there were irrigated 2,000 acres of ''plant cane" and 600 acres
of "ratoons" (volunteer second crop). In addition. 400 acres of seed cane were irri-
gated once a month, consuming a quantity roughly estimated at 70,000.000 cubic
feet. The remaining 2,024.000.000 cubic feet would be equivalent t<> a constant
' average flow through the year of 64.18 cubic feet per second, which, divided into
2,600 acres, would appear to give an average duty of 40.5 acres per cubic foot per
second, and to indicate that the mean depth applied was nearly 18 feet in the aggre-
gate (22 feet, or 264 inches, for the crop period of fifteen months)

The report states that the explanation for "this seemingly low
duty" may be found in the fact that the water was also used for cattle,
domestic, and other purposes.

Mr. Hugh Morrison, general manager of the plantation at Spreck-
elsville, states, as an epitome of his experience, that 11,000 cubic feet
per acre applied every seven days will produce the very best results
in growing sugar cane. Covering'the period of fifteen months already
stated, that amount was equal to 5,348,200 gallons per acre, or a rain-
fall of 197 .inches, which with the 19.08 inches of actual rainfall makes
a total of 216.08 inches to produce the crop. The report continues:

Mr. Morrison further adds that it is almost impossible to put on too much water
of course within reasonable limits), and that the more water is applied, without go-
ing to extremes, the greater the yield He has obtained a yield as high as 10 tons
of sugar per acre in localities sheltered from the wind. The average yield *of 1888
on 2,000 acres of plant cane was 5| tons of sugar per acre; the raroon crop averaged
3§ tons per acre.

On the Wailuku plantation, island of Maui, where the water supply is very
abundant and in excess of the needs of the plantation, the consumption is equal to a
duty of about 50 acres per cubic foot per second on plant cane and 60 acres on ra-
toons.

On the Hamakuapoko plantation, Maui, where the average annual rainfall is re-
ported as 36.2 inches, the amount applied is stated by the superintendent. Mr.
James Cowan, to be 10,890 cubic feet per acre to each watering. The intervals be-
tween waterings are seven days, and consequently the duty of water in continuous
flow is 55.5 acres per cubic foot per second.

This amount is equal to a depth of 195 inches, which, with the
natural fall of 35.2 inches of rain, is equivalent to a total rainfall of
230.2 inches to mature the crop, or 184.2 inches per annum. Contin-
uing, the report says:

THE IRRIGATION AGE 295

In making up these figures, however, Mr. Cowan qualified them by saying that
hey are for the full capacity of the ditch, which is not always full when required,
and is only partially compensated for full flow by the rainfall. * The ave-

rage yield of the plantation is given at 5.6 tons of sugar per acre for plant cane and
4 tons for ratoon crop. * * He summarizes by stating that to raise 1 pound

of sugar requires about 51.8 cubic feet of water.

There are so many elements of uncertainty included within the
foregoing statement that it must be coasidered as merely an approxi-
mation to the truth. The report further states:

On the Kekaha plantation, Kauai, water is obtained by pumping to a height of
18 to 36 feet, en average of about 27 feet. The delivery of the water is contracted
for at the rate of $35 per acre per unnum. The contractor is required to deliver
sufficient water to irrigate 700 acres every ten days to an average depth of 4 inches
at each watering. The duty thus performed, presuming the quantity contracted for
is fully delivered, would be 59? acres per cubic foot per second. The pumping is
done during ten hours each day. The three pumps required to have a capacity of
7,000,000 gallons per day each. Coal costs $11 per ton at the pumps. A very un-
usual yield is reported from this plantation. Ratoon crops for seven consecutive
years are said to have produced an average of 5 tons of sugar per acre each year.

In summing up their observations, Messrs. Schuyler and Allardt
say that a greater duty than 60 acres per cubic foot per second can
not possibly be considered safe; or in other words, at least 5,000,000
gallons per acre are required to make the crop.

The data and conclusions furnished by Schuyler and Allardt have
been given at length, for the reason that they formed the basis of
computations some ten years ago and are still followed by the older
plantation authorities. During the past six months two persons who
are connected with the opening up of new plantations assured the wri-
ter that those estimates ''were not conservative enough to be safe,
and that in their calculations and provisions they were providing for
not less than 6,000,000 gallons^of water per acre for the crop. The
more conservative estimates of those gentlemen are not based upon
any ascertained knowledge of the requirements of the soil and crop.
They are merely the result of a wish to be safe. As a consequence,
when the basis of 6,000,000 gallons per acre for the crop becomes the
practice, some other gentlemen of conservative mind who also wish to
be safe will appear who will think 7,000,000 gallons a necessary provi-
sion. At present the practice upon the plantations is not resting
upon ascertained requirements which can be arrived at only by the
aid of a knowledge of the physical laws that have been set forth and
by actual tests involving the determination of the amount of water
that the crop during the different stages of growth requires in given
conditions of soil and climate.

STUDY OF IRRIGATION AT THE HAWAIIAN EXPERIMENT STATION,

In view of the absence of established data bearing upon the actual
requirement of the sugar cane in the conditions of soil and climate of
the Hawaiian Islands, and also on account of the great variations that

296

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

obtain in the practice of irrigation, the writer determined upon a
series of tests which should be carried out along lines of strictly eco-
nomic purpose, but controlled by the aid of such physical and chem-
ical observations as were previously shown to underlie any system of
rational irrigation

The Hawaiian Experiment Station is located in the suburbs of Hon-
olulu and comprises five acres of land. In laying out the area into
divisions and plats special provisions was made for the use of irriga-
tion water. The water supply is that of the city municipality, and it
is laid on by iron pipes with very numerous faucet discharges. The
distribution is made by means of rubber hose, thus controlling the
delivery at any place or time.

The topography of the field is favorable for irrigation; its surface
being relative level.

The soil is exclusively derived from the decomposition of basaltic
lavas. There is a depth of 15 inches of tillable earth resting upon a
porous subsoil- an understratum which is composed of chips of lava
stone, scoria, and black sand. The total mass of soil is thus relatively
small, 1 acre to the depth of 15 inches weighing 4,368,825 pounds.
The constituents of the soil are shown in the following table:

ANALYSIS OP SOILS AT HAWAIIAN EXPERIMENT STATION.

Soil constitutents

Amounts
present

Soil constituents.

Amounts
present

Per cent.
9 526

Per cent
5 515

Combustible matter.. . <

9 347

Alumina

12 540

Insoluble silica.

15 660

Manganese oxid ..

145

Solublb silica

17 058

Lime. . .

861

Titonic acid (TiO)

2 460

Magnesia

821

Phosphoric acid

1 050

Soda

175

Sulphuric acid

164

Potash

581

Carbonic diocid

080

Nitrogen

IS

Chlorin . .

Trace.

Ferric oxid . .

23 630

Total ....

99 go

Continued.

IRRIGATION IN CONGRESS.

If the leading minds of the country were asked to seriously dis-
cuss the topic: "What is the greatest question in the United States
awaiting solution?" it is probable that a very few men living east of
the Mississippi would think of "national irrigation" in this connection.
To most of such the subject is new and unstudied. It will bear study;
it will bear the most searching scrutiny, and the more studied the
more it is seen to be a question of exceptional breadth and of truly
great possibilities and far-reaching importance to the nation.

The query that many eastern people are now making is: "What is
this irrigation problem before Congress? Is it a legitimate one for
the Government 1o consider? Is it one whose support will be a bene-
fit to the country? Along whai, lines is it drawn? In short, is it a
question of really national import?

Its western advocates, regardless of political affiliations, claim
that it is the most important national question to-day. Eastern legis-
lators, regardless of party, are inclined to smile broadly at this
assertion.

If the internal history of the American Republic is studied care-
fully, however, the conclusion will be reached that national irrigation,
properly wrought out, is likely to shortly come to the front as one of
the most important national questions of the day. It embodies, in its
truest sense, the question of home-building, and the American people
have been, up to the present time, essentially a nation of home-build-
ers. In no country in the world is the desire for home-building so
strong. The wish to own and have and live in homes has led thous-
ands of Americans to endure trials and hardships, and brave dangers
almost beyond conception. This controlling wish of the American
people has conquered a continent. The hardy pioneer with his family
and his earthly belongings stowed in his wagon, looking for a home,
has accomplished this. The locomotive has only followed the prairie
' schooner.

Now, what has this to do particularly with irrigation? Simply
that the opportunity for home-building under the old order has disap-
peared. New, cheap homes, within the means of the hardy settler,
are, under favorable conditions, no longer available. The opening
here and there of a strip of good land to settlement, such as Oklahoma,
and the following rush of immigration, attests to this and also to the
fact that the country is still full of home seekers. Where, then, will
they now turn?

298 THE IRRIGATION AGE

The new homes of the future must be found on irrigated lands.
There are, according to accepted Government reports, some 74, 000, 000
acres of rich western land capable of irrigation if the western waters
are properly conserved. Irrigation is not an experiment in the United
States, and there is no question raised as to the feasibility of this
reclalmation, but irrigation development in a private way has reached
its limits. But, since under irrigation, yields are very large, a few
acres of this land would generously support a family, so that with the
lands irrigated rural homes would be provided for millions of citizens,
waiting and anxious to go upon them.

The advocates of the national irrigation policy urge that the Gov-
ernment should, where possible, build storage reservoirs to catch the
flood waters of the western streams and thus provide for the reclama-
tion of these lands. The Newlands bill, now before the House Irriga-
tion Committee, and its counterpart, the Hansbrough bill, on the Sen-
ate side, provide for the setting aside of the proceeds from the sale of
public lands in the arid States and Territories as an "arid land reclam-
ation fund," to be used for building such reservoirs, and that the cost
of such construction shall be put upon the land reclaimed by them,
and the land then offered for sale by the Government in small tracts
to bona fide settlers, upon easy terms.

Who will come to the support of such a policy? More people and
a greater diversity of interests than supported the homestead act, and
such legislation would be even more popular than the free home enact-
ments. What other proposition is before the country upon which
labor and capital can better unite and which they can support, hand
in hand, without clash or jealousy? Every labor union in the United
States, which has discussed the question, has unanimously supported
it; every combination of capital, of whatever sort, which has consid-
ered it, has given it unqualified endorsement.

The opening of the vast area of western lands by irrigation would
provide cheap homes, certain of returning the owners a comfortable
livelihood. It would create a valuable and growing market for every
kind and description of manufactured product, and would thus be
favored by all classes of manufacturing and commercial interests in
the country. It would insure cheaper living in the West, which would
result in the opening of numberless mining properties whose grade of
ore is not sufficiently high to warrant development under present
wage conditions. It would create a demand for transportation which
would bring to its support every railroad interest.

Can any proposition ever before the American people claim the
support of a greater diversity of interests than the irrigation and rec-
lamation of the vast and waste areas of arid land under an honest

THE IKhlGAlON AGE. 299

policy, which would insure their settlement in small tracts by genuine
home-builders?

The theory of State cession grew out of the old idea that the
National Government never would do anything for the reclamation of
the arid public lands. Nothing is more certain now than that the
Federal Government will inaugurate a policy for their reclamation,
and the necessity for State cession is thus withdrawn. The reclama-
tion of the arid public lands could not be accomplished by their ces-
sion to the States for many reasons.

The rivers are mostly interstate streams. Those rising, for in-
stance, in Colorado and Wyoming flow into or through seventeen
States and Territories. The States have not the financial resources.
They will not provide the necessary capital by direct taxation. It
cannot be raised by bonding the land. This has been tried and failed.
The States cannot raise the money by the issuance of State bonds
The people would not vote them in any of the States, and many of the
States have already reached the limit of indebtedness under their
constitution.

Again, the history of all State land grants has been that they are
squandered, and the purpose of the grant is not accomplished. Past
experience is a warning against State cession for this reason. Con-
ditional State cession is utterly impracticable. No conditions could
be imposed which would not be evaded, and the confession that con-
ditions are necessary is the strongest argument against State cession.
More than all this, tnere is a bitter antagonism to State cession in the
West which is so deeply rooted that the West itself would repudiate
such a policy. This was demonstrated in the last two sessions of
Congress by the large number of strong petitions coming from the
West in opposition to State cession. In the East the opposition is
still more intense, and it is certain beyond question that no general
policy of State cession could ever be passed through Congress.

This being so, and it being beyond question possible to secure the
inauguration of a broad policy for the reclamation through the Na-
tional Government itself of the arid public domain, the wise policy
for the West is for the people of that section of the country to stand
united in urging the speedy inauguration of the national irrigation
policy. The two, however, cannot go together.. State cession would
kill the national irrigation movement. The strongest argument to
induce the Government to undertake the construction of reservoirs
and irrigation works in the arid region, is that the Government is the
largest land-owner in the West. If the Government parted with the
land and gave it to the States, it would be upon the theory that the
States could take the lands and build their own reservoirs and irriga-
tion works. This they fail to do, and enormous detriment to the
West would inevitably result by such a disposition of the lands.

IRRIGATION IN HAWAII.

Irrigation is transforming the Hawaiian Islands. On Mauri, one
of the larger islands of the group, an engineering feat has just been
successfully carried through that has not its equal in the Pacific
Islands. To supply water to the Spreckelsville plantation a canal
has been dug along the slopes of the great crater of Haleakala, and
by it a stream of water flowing 50,000,000 gallons daily is brought a
distance of twenty-two miles and thence distributed over the planta-
tion lands.

It was no ordinary undertaking, the building of this great canal,
for in those twenty-two miles from Kailua Gulch to Spreckelsville
there are gulches and canyons by the score, each of which had to be,
crossed, and there are a dozen or more high ridges, to pass through,
which it was necessary to dig tunnels, some of which are nearly half
a mile in length.

The most striking feature of the "ditch" is the manner in which,
it is carried over numerous gulches which scar the sides of the great
extinct crater. Some of these gulches are very deep, and their sides
are nearly perpendicular. To cross them pipe lines are used, not
stretched across on trestles, but following the less expensive and
more stable method of dropping into the gulches and allowing the
water to flow on the principle of the inverted siphon. Of these
siphons there are twelve along the line of the ditch, winding up and
down like huge serpents, all constructed of quarter-inch pipe, forty-
four inches in diameter. The most striking of them crosses Maliko
Gulch, a gash in the slope of the volcano which stretches nearly from
the summit to the sea, and which is 350 feet deep and less than a
quarter of a mile wide. Across this gorge it seemed next to impos-
sible to carry a siphon, but it has been done, and the works are in
successful operation.

THE DIVERSIFIED FARM.

In diversified farming by irrigation lies tbe salvation of agriculture

SUGAR BEETS.

At the present time there is no subject
which is attracting so much atttntion in
the agricultural world as sugar beets. A
few years ago this crop was not known in
the United States, but last year there was
beets enough raised to supply 35 factories
in this country, and more are being raised
for new factories every year. Every agri-
cultural journal is taking up this subject,
and farmers all over the country are ad-
vised to try this crop. Since the people
of Utah demonstrated that beets could be
successfully raised under irrigation, the
arid states have become greatly interested
in this crop and before many years, these
states will become great sugar producers
as was predicted by H. W. Wiley in a
government bulletin issued in February
1899. The results which have been at-
tained in Utah and Colorado the last' few
years demonstrated that these states are
particularly adapted to this crop and that
there is a great future for the sugar in-
dustry here. Last year two factories were
built in the southern part of this state,
and the best five year's crop of beets ever
produced in the United States was grown.
Such results have given a great impetus to
the industry there and are attracting at-
tention elsewhere. A year ago, when this
industry was being agitated there, the
farmers were afraid to take hold of this
new business. They were making good
money raising melons, and were loath to
make a change, but when a factory was
promised, the progressive farmer signed
contracts for five years and determined to
give the crop a trial. They were assisted

in every way by the sugar company, and a
splended crop was the result. This year
the American Beet Sugar company at Rocky
Ford have more than doubled their acre-
age. In one small district alone, the con-
tracted for over 1500 acres, where they
had 536 last year. Farmers who followed
the advice of the field superintendents,
cleared from $10 to $100 per acre. The
way they have increased their acreage
shows they are well pleases with the crop.

At Lehi, Utah, last year they had a
short crop because of the scarcity of water,
but the year previous they planted 960
acres of beets, which yielded an average of
16i tons per acre, or a total of 15,840 tons,
at $4,50 per ton, brought $73,530. The
cost to produce this crop, including the
work done by the farmer, was $32,600.
This left them a net profit of $40,930.

The people of northern Colorado are
fortunate in having a factory located in
in this part of state, so the farmers can de-
monstrate what they can do with this crop.
Everything at present points to a success.
We have the soil, the climate, the water,
the favorable natural conditions, and if the
farmers give this crop the careful atten-
tion they give to other crops, then success
is assured, and other factories will be
erected here. But in spite of the success
that has been made around them, many
farmers are still afraid of this crop and are
willing to let the other fellow make the
start. It is true the potato is a splendid
crop here and will never be entirely sup-
planted by sugar beets, yet that is no rea-
son why we should not have another good
crop, one which pays well and has an ab-

302

THE IRRIGA T10N AGE.

solutely sure market and a fixed price.
There are many good farmers who have
faith in sugar beets, and have already con-
tracted so there will be many fields of beets
in the vicinity next summer and if these
are planted on suitable land and given pro-
per care we will harvest some splendid
crops in this section. But beet farmers
must not forget that beets must be planted
on good land and not on land that will not
produce other crops.

If the people of this vicinity want a
sugar factory, they now have a splendid
chance to secure one, If they demonstrate
to the world they can grow sufficient beets
of the proper quality to supply a factory
then they can get one, but capitalists will
not invest their money unless they are
reasonably sure of getting good returns. —
Walter L. Webb, in Greeley Tribune

UTAH WHEAT IN EAST.

Several weeks ago a few carlords of
Utah wheat were shipped East as an ex-
periment. Says the Semi-weekly Tribune.
It has always been claimed by Eastern
millers that the irrigated wheat of Utah
was not as good for flour as the product
raised without irrigation. They gave an
excuse for this the fact that there was
much more water in the Utah wheat than
in the hard wheat of the East. Bakers of
this city seemed to have become imbued
with this idea, too, and so they imported
some of the hard wheat flour of the East
to mix with the soft-wheat flour of Utah.
The result was a very superior quality of
bread, it is claimed, and this Utah wheat
was sent East to allow the bakers there to
test its worth in conjunction with their
own. The experiment has proven to be
satisfactory, and as a consequence there is
quite a demand for Utah wheat in places
where the result has become known.
"There are probably 10,000 bushels of
Utah wheat going out daily, " said a shipper
yesterday, "and it reaches points as far

east as Connecticut and as for south as
Tennessee. The value in the mixtuse of
the two seems to be that the soft wheat
grown in irrigated countries gives a flavor
to the bread, when it is judiciously used,
that cannot be obtained when all hard
wheat is u«ed; and on the other hand, the
hard wheat gives strength and color to the
bread that cannot be had here without its
use. I look for very good results from the
experiment.

KEEPING IN THE OLD RUTS.

M. F. Jackson, of Pes Moines county
Iowa, writes the following to the Prairie
Farmer.

We all know how hard it is to get a load
out of old ruts. It takes great effort on
the part of the team. So it takes unusual
effort for men to get into new ways of do-
ing things. We are prone to do as our
fathers did. We love to follow in the good
(?) old ways and tell of the profits made
when we were young. We read of the ex-
periments made at our agricultural colleges;
we wonder at the reports, but often fail to
profit by them. This can be said of many
farmers who read agricultural papers. We
are advised to harrow corn before it comes
up and after it is up, but many are sure
such a course would be disastrous; their
fathers never harrowed corn. Last year a
neighbor had corn up four inches high.
The weeds were showing thickly. He had
no help and said the weeds would get ahead
of him, he feared. I advised him to har-
row it with his three-section harrow. It
would cultivate the corn, and be death to
many of the little weeds. He could cul-
tivate the corn easier and better. There
was no trash on the field, but he was &ure
harrowing would cover up and tear up his
corn, doing more harm thon good. He
would keep in the old rut. Too many far-
mers keep their hogs in rather small en-
closures, while they know the hogs would
do much better if they had green feed, for

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

303

hogs are grazing animals. But hogs can-
not be turned into pastures for the stock
law has spoiled all our fences for hogs.
There seems to be no other way — so they
think — but to feed corn and water. There
is no money to buy slop stuff. All the
money is needed for something else. Last
year a man had no pasture for his hogs for
it had been overstocked and the grass was
all killed out. Something must be done.
He penned up his twelve sows and let his
forty-five pigs run free. He sowed oats
and rape on one three-acre lot and disked
them in as early as the ground would work
well. His hogs were turned into this lot
about May 15-20 and they had plenty of
green feed till late in July. His small
lots were shoveled and sown thickly to rape.
How the pigs enjoyed the sweet, tender
rape as the lots were successively opened
to them! Now he added shorts slop and
continued it. Another lot of three acres
was plowed and fined. Early potatoes and
sweet corn were planted. At the last
plowing rape seed at the rate of three
pounds per acre was cultivated in. The
potatoes were dug and the pigs were turn-
ed in in August. The sweet corn lasted
• them a month and they had no care save
being watered. The rape continued grow-
ing till heavy frost, and the pigs ate it un-
til December Twelve calves were turned
in for two weeks to help save the rape: and
then much of it froze down. This man
got out of the old rut of feeding corn only,
and thinks it paid him $50 to $100. He
never had pigs do better. They had all
the corn they could eat quickly. My
clover all killed out. Plans for pasturing
a .carload of calves were seriously disturbed.
I wanted my farm to pasture them so that
Iwould not have to hire pasture as I had
often done before. Twenty-eight acres of
pasture had been prepared for them; four-
teen acres were old meadow of clover and
timothy, and fourteen were new in clover.
The clover was all killed and the part in
clover was bare ground. One peck of

timothy and clover seed and two bushels
oats were sown to each acre and disked
in. The old meadow was left to itself-
The young cattle were turned in the latter
part of May and they staid over five months.
I cut six tons of timothy hay. This was
not big pay, but it beat six per cent and
the cattle were at home. Farmers would
do well to experiment more. Profit by the
experience of others. Few of us do as well
as we can, nor as well as we might if we
turn more of the things we read into
practice.

THE MATTER OF POTATO PLANTING.
Nearly every farmer is interested, to a
more or less extent, in the matter of grow-
ing potatoes, whether he grows merely a
sufficient amount for home consumption,
or wheather he grows a large acreage for
the purpose of marketing. It is interest-
ing to note the results of experiments made
by many potato growers in the method of
planting, For instance, in the planting at
different depths in rows from two to three
feet apart and twelve inches apart in the
rows. It has been ascertained that this
method of planting produces large yields,
and the crop can be cultivated with ease.
Level cultivation is recommended, and
but very little soil is thrown on the po-
tatoes. Potatoes will develop more rap-
idly in warm soil than in that which is
colder, consequently as the soil for the
first three or four inches of the surface is
warmer than in tLe three or four inches
lower down, the condition of shallow plant-
ing are more favorable, and it has been
demonstrated that level cultivation and
shallow planting is the best for many soils-
On the other hand, much of the success of
shallow planting will depend upon the
moisture of the soil. If the season is very
dry the first two inches of soil may be so
dry that the potato will not take root
rapidly, and the season of growth will thus
be shortened, but such a season will not
occur more than once in five years. From

301

THE IRR1GA1ION AGE.

results carried on at some of the experi-
ment stations, it seems reasonable to con-
clude that where the soil is not dry the
best results may be obtained from shallow
planting. In any case early planted pota-
toes will probably succeed best when
planted shallow, and in places where the
spring is late, or where the ground is cold,
best results will always be had from shallow
planting.

DIVISION OF FORESTRY.

Interest in scientific forestry is rapidly
increasing in the South. A preliminary
examination has been made by the Divi-
sion of Forestry of the U. S. Department
of Agriculture of the largest forest in Polk
and Monroe counties, Tennessee, owned
by Senator George Peabody Wetmore, of
Rhode Island. The examination has es-
tablished the suitability of this tract to be
handled under practical forest methods.
Work will now be begun and pushed in
making a working plan for the forest,
which contains 84,000 acres of hardwood
timber.

The Division has also received from the
South two other important requests for
expert assistance in forest management,
both from owners of private tracts. The
first is from the Okeetee Club, which
owns 60,000 acres of Shortleaf Pine land
in Beaufort and Hampton counties, in
South Carolina. Mr. Overton W. Price,
Superintendent of Working Plans in the
Division of Forestry, will make a pre-
liminary examination to ascertain whether
a working plan for the tract is feasible.

In addition to Shortleaf Pine, this tract
contains Cypress in the swamp lands, and
also some hardwood timber. The Okeetee
Club's tract borders on the Savannah
River; with markets by water aod rail at
no great distance.

The other request to the Division for
assistance comes from northwestern Geor-
gia, where a preliminary examination of

16,000 acres of Shortleaf pine is wanted..

The Division of Forestry, through its-
section of tree planting, lias succeeded in
arousing widespread interest in the sub-
ject of tree growing on the plains of the
upper Mississippi Valley. An agent of
the Division has recently returned from
that region and reports that the farmers in.
the terriiory west of the Mississippi and
north of the 40th parallel of latitude are
awaking to the importance of planting
trees, especially for economic purposes.
The planter? of this section are anxious to-
avoid the mistakes made during the opera-
tion of the Timber Claim Act. The groves-
now being planned are designed to be
permanent features on the horneste;ids.

To that end, the farmers will use a^
greater proportion .of long-lived, slow-
growing speeies than formerly. The de-
mand for such hardy, drouth-resisting
species as the Hackberry, Green Ash,.
White Elm. Bur Oak, Red Elm, Red
Cedar, and Western Yellow Pine (Bull.
Pine) promises to be greatly increased
during the next few years. The greatest
present difficulty with which the prospec-
tive tree planter has to contend is the fact
that commercial growers of nursery stock
are not supplied with this kind of mat-
erial. The nurseries still carry large quan-
tities of the short-lived kinds, such as
Boxelder, Cottonwood, Maple and Willow,
but are short on the more valuable species.

The planting of conifers on the prairies
of the West during the past has not been,
attended with general success. This is
owing to the use of eastern and introduced
kinds that are not adapted to the country.
There is abundant evidence, however, that
the Red Cedar and Western Yellow Pine
(Bull Pine) will thrive throughout this
section. The desirability of evergreens-
for wind-breaks on a bleak prairie should
lead owners to turn their attention to these
hardy native species.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

305

A matter of considerable interest is the
forthcoming publication of the working
plan for township 40, in the New York
State Forest Preserve. This working plan
as published will contain maps, illustra-
tions, tables, rules for cutting, and esti-
mates of stand. It will be of especial
value not only to people interested in for-
estry, but to lumbermen as well, since it is
the result of careful investigations by a
practical forester and a practical lumber-
man.

The working plan for Township 40, is
the first made by the Division of Forestry
for State land in the Adirondacks. The
Division at the request of the New York
Forest, Fish and Game Commission for
expert assistance undertook to make work-
ing plans for the 1,250,000 acres of wood-
land composing the Adirondack Forest
Preserve, of which the working plan for
~ Township 40 is the first. This work is
• being done with a view to obtain a regular
income from the State forests in case of
the repeal of the constitutional clause
which now prohibits lumbering on State
lands. Systematic cutting under skilled
forest management would benefit the fu-
ture growth of the forests, improve their
present condition, and give the State a
large and increasing annual income.

pany, all with headquarters at Towanda,
Bradford County, Pennsylvania, have made
application to the Division of Forestry for
assistance in preparing a plan to prevent
the occurrence of annual forest fires on
their properties. Mr. H. McC. Curran of
that Division has been sent to investigate
the matter and report upon the conditions,
in order that the Division may be prepared
to offer advice for the prevention of fires.

The State Line & Sullivan Railroad
J Company, and the Long Valley Coal Com-

Among the recent applicants for advice
and assistance in the management of its
woodlands is the Moose River Lumber
Co., which owns a tract of 16,000 acres in
the Adirondacks (N. Y.). This tract is
mostly Spruce land and is situated in Her-
kimer County. The preliminary examina-
tion has already been made by one of the
experts of the Division of Forestry and
the working plan \rill be prepared this
spring. It will contain estimates of the
present and future yields of timber on the
tract, and will also make recommendations
regarding the lumbering. This applica-
tion, taken with those which have been
received from other owners of private for-
est lands in the Adirondacks during the
last two years, brings the total area of
private land in that region, for which
working plans have been requested, up to
more than 400,000 acres. On 140,000 acres
these plans are already in operation.

ODDS AND ENDS.

THE STAR TROTTER

BY MURT H. BASSETT.

"Take her to the Washingtonian
Home for a month and get the
"dope" out of her," ordered his
honor, as Officer Morierty ambled
out of the dock with "Cocaine Meg, "
of Plymouth Place. "Now, Mr.
Prosecutor." continued the court in
a lower tone, as he cast his eye
down the trial sheet, "what the
duce is this next name?"

"You've got me there," replied
the alert young lawyer, giving his
cuffs an extra twist, and fastening
his eyes on the trial sheet over
which the police judge was puzz-
ling, his brow wrinkled with per-
plexity. "It looks like O. K-y-a-n-
y-a-n," slowly spelling the name.

"I know as much as that, con-
found it, but that don't elucidate to
my confused intelligence the pro-
nunciation," retorted his honor
with a trace of irriscibility in his
tone.

The hum of conversation and
shuffling of feet had by this time
hushed in the Harrison street sta-
tion police court, the usual noise of
the dingy temple of justice hushed
to a subdued, expectant surprise at
the unusual lull in business while
the colloquy between the magis-
trate and his adviser proceeded.
Time enough had been wasted in

the busy whirl of Harrison street
to have sent six "Hop" fiends to
the Bridewell. Seven stalwart po-
licemen, "the very foinest," stood
with their backs to the clerk's desk
waiting for their cases to be called,
and each beat a subdued tatoo with
their clubs on the spike-like pal-
ings, and each had a look of impa-
tience on his face.

"Indade, Oim iv th' opinyon, ye's
honor, that th' nex' case is me own,"
remarked Officer Doherty, leaning
over the railing dividing the trial
dock from the raised diaz where sat
the purveyor of justice. ' 'Th' same
is an ould mon I bagged on the
Hubbyard place lasht night. Oi
think his name is Cayenne, an' tis
he that is a pippery wan, himself."

"That name will do as well as
any," remarked the court and he
proceeded with the broken thread
of business by calling the case in a
loud tone.

Slowly and with faltering steps
a decrepit old man, with snow-
white hair and beard, the latter
long, pointed and unkempt, moved
forward in response to the beckon-
ing finger of Officer Doherty. He
was a spare piece of humanity. He
had once been tall but was now
stooped and bent with age; his fin-
gers were long and bony. His com-
plexion was swarthy, yet sallow, as

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

307

of those peoples whose ancestry
have made their homes for centur-
ies and generations beneath the
scorching suns of the tropics. His
nose was like the beak of an aged
eagle, while his small, black, resfc-
less eyes glistened nervously be-
neath shaggy brows. In his right
hand he carried a greasy red and
yellow turban, removed from his
head in deference to the court.

"Well, officer," said the court,
merely glancing at the trembling
culprit, and resuming the brisk
brusqueness that was his habitu-
ally, "What have we here? What's
the trouble with the aged one:"'

"Yer honor," rattled off Officer
Doherty, "This mon was stoppin'
iviry wan on Sthate street an' was
bumpin' thim fer th' coin an' I
copped him. I think the ould mon
is a habitou of Wan Lung's jint
that was closed up lasht wake."

"Most high and noble Judge,
learned arbitrator of the disputes
of man, the blue- coated minion doth
me wrong," spoke the prisoner.
Canst I be heard, most noble judge,
for my cause?

On receiving the assent of the
court, coupled with the admonition
that "Time is money," the old man
spoke as follows:

"It is mete, most mighty judge,
that I should recount to your wise
and learned ear the wonderful story
of my life. Know then, that I am
Omar Kyanyan, son of Indaranth
Kyanyan, the great ruler and mah-
arajah of Sanganphore in India,
and last in power of a dynasty that
traces its lineage to the time when
the leaves first turned green, when

even the sacred Veddas of our loved
land were young, and Bramah him-
self, in form of man, meditated on
the mountain tops and in the for-
ests of Hindostan. One hundred
and forty years ago my mother
brought me forth in the diamond -
studded and gold-cealed room of
the maharajans. Early I studied
and learned of the magi and of
them was taught the mystic, occult
symbols of the brotherhood. Great-
ness was mine by birth and happi-
ness by attainment, for on reaching
the lusty season of manhood I clove
as the wild fowl to his mate to Ir-
myrallis, the beautiful, known as
the "forest flower," daughter of the
rajah of Bengal. But greatness
and happiness were brief. The
hated scarlet-coated warriors of
the Woman of the West took from
me my domain. This I could have
suffered and borne, but when they
dishonored my sacred religion, and
a scoundrel they called "Sergeant
Brick," because his hair was the
color of the clay, baked long and
hard in the heat of the great fires,
tore my "Forest Flower" from my
arms, I joined my cause with those
who swore to rid our land of the
hated hirelings who carried the
death-dealing missiles immersed in
the grease of the condemned, un-
clean swine."

' 'Your tale, I must admit, is some-
what interesting" interrupted the
judge, "but it is stringing out un-
usually long for Harrison street
station. Can't you get to the point ?"

"Yes, sahib— most honored and
O, most noble Judge, thou hast
spoken wisdom, and thy words drop

308

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

on my weary soul like the sweetest
dewdrops on the parched soil," re-
plied the culprit, "but though the
tale be somewhat long, yet my
wondrous story will well entertain
you, have you but patience to hear
your unworthy servant to the end.
Know, then, that our courage
availed but little against their cun-
ning, and Siva must have been on
their side. We were soon conquered
and our land laid waste. I, O, hon-
ored Judge, was among those con-
demned to be shot from the yawn-
ing mouth of the cannon. Then,
before the hated lines of the ruffian
red-coats I was jammed into the
immense gun, and the fuse was ig-
nited. 1 passed through an age of
apprehension and suspense, then
followed a terrific detonation.
There was a glare as fiery red as
the burning waters in the bowels of
the mountain crater. The immense
gun hunched on its haunches like
the elephant on the long pull. I
seemed to be burned and torn, and
then I shot upward through space
and consciousness was lost.

"How long I was bereft of sense
is past my ken, but it must have
been for hours, for when I gained
sensibility I was floating through
the realms of space. The cool, re-
freshing breeze of heaven was fan-
ning my fevered brow. Where am
I? Where am I going? These ques-
tions rushed through my mind, but
were unanswered. I was moving.
It seemed to me my progress was
upward. My motion was a gentle,
undulating one, as of a person float-
ing upon the gentle billows of a
friendly sea. I felt as light and

airy as the leaf, dried by the hot
caress of the sun and separated
from the parent stem, tossed by the
zephers of autumn. On, on, on, I
traveled, and the thought fastened
itself in my mind that I was the
soul of my former self moving
through the refreshing interspace
to meet another earthly shell and
take up ray abode in a new tene-
ment. The down that is wafted
from the thistle could float no more
lightly than I. and lulled by the
cadences of space I fell asleep, but
to awake again and feel the same
sweet abandon. I cared not for
food or drink. The freedom and
ease of the bird, the eagle that
soared above the rocky crags and
rose and fell on the ripple of the
breeze, was mine. Elysium was
mine it seemed, and could I float
for everlasting ages in this same
sweet way no greater bliss could I
ask.

"At last I fell into the softest,
most gentle slumber. My rest and
dreams were like those of the babe
that sways in the grass hammock,
soothed by the croon of the happy
mother, when the torrid air pene-
trates even the tangled meshes of
the banyan, but is cooled by the
moistened curtain of the bungalow.

"From this sweet slumber I
awoke at last to the music of lutes
more charming far, it seemed to
me, than those I had imagined are
heard in paradise. Gently repos-
ing on a soft sward I opened my
eyes in wonder, expecting to find
that I was but the victim of a happy
dream. But I found myself the
cynosure of a swarm .of people.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

309

People they were of bright counte-
nances and attractive dress, but dif-
fering in every way from those I
had known in life; for it seemed to
me sure now that I was through
with earthly life and had entered
upon a celestial existence. They
were formed in lines of manly
beauty, the style of dress of each
being identical with all others — a
rich, soft purple gown that swept
in easy folds from shoulder to heel.
Their skins were blue, not the cold,
har.sh blue of earth, but the hea-
venly soft tint of the summer sky.
Their eyes were a deep, glowing
red, beaming with warmth and
kindness, like the traveler's fire
upon the bleak mountain. Their
hair was ringlets of yellow, rival-
ing the sheen of gold. Clustered
thick around me their appearance
was pleasing.

"To my eager, excited questions
they quick gave answer, and though
their tongue was new it was not
strange; I readily and quickly un-
derstood. I was first kindly in-
formed that to them I was a
stranger from the far-off earth, and
that I had fallen upon their planet,
which they called 'Emusra.' Fur-
thermore they told me that they had
watched my progress through
space and since I had left the earth
they had by aid of their powerful
instrument directed my course
through space, being anxious to re-
ceive a visitor from ejarth. I readily
learned that they were adepts in
science for they quickly showed me
their Universe Searchers, small
instruments that one could hold in
the hand easily and view the min-

ute doing of mankind on the far
away planet which I inhabited and
from which I was unkindly thrown.
But, most noble judge, it would
take ages for me to tell you all
about those people. They lived and
had their beings in a different, a
higher, grander sphere than ours.
Their mode of living was reduced
to a science. Instead of food and
drink their sustenance was happy
thought, and they were far above
the grosser forms of life, physically
as well as mentally.

"I found that 'Emusra' was the
scene of peculiar conditions. It
was but a small dot in space being
but 100 miles in diameter. Day
followed night very quickly, each
being but a little more than an hour
in duration to my mind but to these
people the diurnal change was
equivalent to ours and their days
and years were quickly spent. One
thing I early noticed and that was
that there was an extreme number
of beautiful birds, myriads of them
in the trees above and that they
were posessed of the powers of rea-
son and speech in even greater de-
gree than the men and women. I
was shortly told that the birds were
living the after life, or in other
words were the souls of those who
passed from life as a human in
'Emusra'. No one died on Emusra
but was 'restricted.' The planet
was densely populated, so much so
that methods were taken to thin
out the people. At certain places
pn the planet were 'Restricters.'
These were large machines of the
nature of catapulets worked by in-
genious mechanical devices. Every

310

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

morning a certain number of 'Emus-
rans' were 'restricted' by being
placed on these machines and shot
upward into space at a startling
velocity. Thus was the population
kept within bounds, and without it
they assured men that there would
soon be not even standing room on
the planet. There was no mourn-
ing among friends and relatives
when an 'Emusran' was 'restricted,'
for the next morning that one would
appear in the form of one of the
beautiful birds overhead and hold
refined converse and association
with the loved ones left behind.

"Age was the test for candi-
dates for 'restriction' — and in test-
ing for age years were not counted
— for they reasoned that a man may
be old in years yet young in vigor
of life. So the test of senility was
the number of hairs in the heads of
the people, silvered by time or
trouble, either cause being deemed
sufficient to entitle the candidate to
restriction. Here it might be re-
marked, parenthetically that there
are no hairless- headed people in
'Emusra.' The candidate for the
offices of the catapult was first sub-
mitted to the hair counter, an in-
genious piece of mechanism that
counted the grey hairs in the head
as quickly noble judge, as you
would snap your prosperous finger.
If two thousand silver hairs were
found the candidate was placed
upon the 'Restrictor,' and his trans-
mogrification accomplished.

"Brief indeed, twenty days, forty
hours, earth time, was my stay
among these people, when at last
submitting to the examination as

they who inhabited that planet
must submit, I was found to be
eligible to the 'restrictor.' With
pleasurable anticipation of a happy
after life in a new form, I stepped
upon the catapult. The mechanism
was touched and I, as I had seen
many 'Emusrans', shot upward
again into space.

"Prom that moment, Most Noble
Judge, I lost consciousness again.
I remember no more until y ester
e'en, as the sable shades of night
were falling I found myself floating-
and splashing upon the waves of
your noble lake. Crawling upon
the shore I wandered through the
streets of your wonderful city.
Meeting a pedestrian I inquired of
him my whereabouts. He told me
this is Sheecauga in America. Just
then your minion of the blue coat
seized me, and after confinement in
a noisome dungeon for the night I
was brought into your noble pres-
ence."

The "court" sat back on his
throne of justice "paralyzed" in
wonder. The clerk found voice
and pronounced the trembling cul-
prit the "prince liar, or the wonder
of the ages." Officer Doherty shook
his head in wonder, while the hold-
up men, the panel gang and all the
combings from the vice-ridden dis-
tricts had a look of awe-struck won-
der on their faces, at the grewsome
tale of the maharajah.

Just then a farmer, who had been
held up at a stock-yards saloon of
his money received for a consign-
ment of cattle, and who was pre-
sent to testify against his assail-
ants, stepped forward and said:

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

311

"Jedge, this man is the biggest
liar in the state. I hev knowed him
for twenty year. His name is Bill
Jimplin an' he used to run a livery
stable down to my hum, Newton,
Ellenoy. Five year ago he moved
to Chicago. Bill uster tell some
purty big yarns but this beats any
I ever heard him tell afore."

"Omar Kyanyan, or BillJimplin,
started to angrily expostulate a
denial, but the court stopped him.
"you may go," said his honor, ''get
out of here quick."

The Star Trotter lost no time in
ambling out of the court room and
soon trudged out of view on Harri-
son stseet.

Prof. Elwood Mead, of Cheyenne, Wyo..
who lost an arm by falling beneath a street
car in Washington, is reported as gaining
steadily and will be out of the hospital
soon.

For several days, ever since his arrival
in Washington, in fact, Mr. Mead has been
very busy before the Industrial Commis-
sion, and at the same time making pre-
parations for an extended trip through
Italy, where he expected to study the
Italian method of irrigation, said to su-
perior to our own, with a view of intro-
ducing their advanced practices into this
country. He had planned to sail in about
two weeks. Many inquiries were made at
the hospital today as to his condition,
«very one expressing deep regret at his
misfortune.

ABOUT EXCHANGES.

SATURDAY EVENING POST.

The Saturday Evening Post of June 8
contains an article by Chas. Emory Smith,
Post- Master General of the United States,
entitled "How Conkling Missed Nomina-

ting Elaine." It is a bit of inside history
concerning these two noted enemies that
will be of interest to all who remember the
"plumed knight" and his ambition to be-
come president. A serial story of absorb-
ing interest is that of "Calumet K" — A
Romance of th6 Great Wheat Corner, by
Merwin- Webster, the third installment of
which is given in this number. S. W. Al-
lerton contributes "Business Methods in
Farming," and Frank G. Carpenter tells
us of "The Japanese Emperor at Home."

THE DELINEATOR.

The Delineator for July gives the usual
fashion plates and hints on what is worn,
and also an article on the Pan-American
exposition. With this are given a number
of beautiful illustrations, some of them in
colors of the exposition buildings. "A
Dream of Red Roses" and "According to
the Code" make up the fiction department.
M'CLURE.

Are women better than men? This is a
question that E. S. Martin asks and ans-
wers in an article entitled, "Women," in
McClure's Magazine for June. No better,
only different; or if better, merely in a ne-
gative fashion. They drink less, smoke
less and certain of their emotions are less
strong than corresponding emotions in
men. Women are what men make them,
and while men are still appreciably far
from perfection r why, women will be still
a little short of the angels they are some-
times represented, and what is worse, ex-
pected to be.

LADIES HOME JOURNAL.

Maxfield Parrish's fine decorative design
on the cover of the Ladies Home Journal
for June forms a fitting introduction to a
remarkably attractive issue. Among the
most interesting features of this [number
are a double page of pictures, entitled
"Where Golf is Played," showing some of
the handsomest country club houses in
America; a series of curious "Love Stories
of the Zoo " told by Clifford Howard; the

1HK IRRIGATION AGE.

first installment of afacsinating new serial,.
"'Aileen." by Elizabeth Knight Tnmpkins;
a touching full page picture of "The Pass-
ing of the Farm," by W. L. Taylor; the
queer experience with "Some People I
have Married,' by the Rev D. M. Steele,
ami a vigorous article on "Women as
"Poor Pay," by Edward Bok. Numerous
other .articles of general and, domestic in-
terest fill out the rest of the number.

SCRIBNER'fe.

An unpublished diary by Faancis Park-
man; the great historian, will appear in
July Scribners, followed by Senator
Hoar, in his estimate of great orators that
he has heard, places Edward Everett at
the head of all American orators. The ro-
mantic beauty of Sicily by Prof. Kufus B.
Richardson. John LaFarge, will describe
an aristocratic family of Tahiti, whose
sons and daughters have been educated in
Europe and speak all the languages of
civilization while preserving many of the
traditions and customs of their barbaric
ancestors. Leroy M. Yale has been all
his life an ardent fisherman. He tells,
with rare literary skill, the story of a
quaint New England character, "Uncle
David," from whom, as a boy, he learned
the art of fishing and hunting. A mem-
ber of the Coast and Goedetic Survey, G. R.

Putnam, will tell of a trip which he took
in out-of-the-way portions of the Yukon
Delta in Alaska. Mrs. Julia C. R. Dorr,
the aged poet, will have a pnem on her
summer garden. Mr. Setori-Thomp.son's
biography of ''Krug, the Kootenay Ram,"
will be concluded.

WOOD VATEB PIPE.

An artistic pocket catalogue of \Vyo-
koff's Wood Water Pipe can be had free
upon application to A. Wyckoff & Sons Co.,
101--111 E. Chemming Place, Elmira. New
York. It described the different kinds of
Wood pipe manufactured by them, the
uses they nave put to and gives a \n\\g list
of names of parties who are using them.
The price is cheaper, and it is easier to
handle than iron pipe, as it is made in
lengths of from four to eight feet, and
can be laid by an ordinary laborer, no
special tools being required. Write for

W ANT ED— Ladies and gentlemen to introduce
the "hottest" seller on earth. Dr. White's Klec-
trical Comb, patented 1899. Agents are coining
money. Cures all forms of scalp ailments, head-
aches, etc., yet costs the same as an ordinary
comb Send 50c in stamps for sample. G. N
ROSE, Gen. Mgr., Decatur, 111.

WANTED— Business men and women to take ex
elusive agency for a 8tate, and control sub"
agents handling Dr. White's E'ectric Comb."
$3.000 per month compensation. Fact. Call and
I'll prove it, G. M. ROSE, Gen. M«r , Decaiur,IH.\

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

VOL. xv .

CHICAGO, JULY, 1901.

NO. 10

Covenmcnt The Geological Survey is ruak-
Survey. jng surveys of reservoir sites

in various sections of the arid region.
There are many fine opportunities for
mountain storage of the waters now wast-
ed in floods, as every western man knows
— storage which would later render barren
plains and valleys fertile and smiling with
crops and dotted with small homes.
Against the time when this saving of a
valuable commodity must be undertaken,
the determination of the best reservoir
sites should be made and the sites, with
their adjacent drainage basins, should be
reserved for such use. This work the
hydrographers of the Survey have been
engaged upon for some ten years, and
hundreds of great natural basins, lacking
only dams to be converted into lakes have
been surveyed and reserved by the Govern-
ment. This is work of the utmost im-
portance to the future of the west and of
the whole country, and it should be vigor-
ously prosecuted. In the west water is the
measure of land values. It is essential
that these sites and their accompanying
watersheds should be preserved from de-
forestation and misuse.

The Increase Conservative people who have
in Population, thought the estimates that
the western half of the United States
would support 50,000,000 people if its irri-
gable lands were all reclaimed, to be ex-
travagant and visionery should not lose
sight of the fact that large centers of
population result from dense agricultural

communities. It is generally admitted
that 75,000,000 or 100,000,000 acres of
highly productive land can yet be re-
claimed through irrigation. Probably
more than this acreage can eventually be
cultivated since new sources of under-
ground and other water supply are being
continually discovered, while at the same
time the utilization of water is being re-
duced to a much more economical basis.

But the occupation of any great tract
of land by small farmers and fruit grow-
ers means the development of cities and
towns innumerable. Denver, for instance,
is a good-sized city, which derives its sup-
port largely from irrigation enterprises.
It is a product of irrigation, and there are
hundreds of other such centers, all of
which would develop enormously in popu-
lation with a comprehensive system of
irrigation an established fact.

Thus the population of the arid region
may be destined to an increase far beyond
what the actual increase in western culti-
vatable acreage might indicate.
Worthless as There are millions of acres of
a Gift. lands in the arid regions that

belong to the Government. That land
now is utterly worthless. The Govern-
ment has been offering to give it away for
the last thirty years if anybody would go
and live on it. No one will take it even
as a gift. Let the Government use its
credit to put up irrigation reservoirs, get
water onto these dry acres, and then in-
vite the settlers to come, provided that

314

THE IRRIGATION AGE,

they will pay the cost of irrigation. See
how they will flock there in unnumbered
thousands. There would not be a vacant
acre left in five years, if men only had to
pay the actual cost of irrigation to get a
title to the land.

If the great desert stretches of the arid
west are ever to be reclaimed and made
into comfortable and productive homes
for the millions who will seek them, the
Federal Government will necessarily have
to take the lead and build the storage irri-
gation reservoirs.

Destroyed the The change in the face of na-
Source. lure caused by the destruction

of the mighty forests of Lebanon has per-
manently impoverished the entire region
involved. The Judean valley was rendered
arid, and Palestine to-day can support but
few people because her water courses have
been dried up, for the great trees which
sheltered the snows and kept the pitiless
sun from reaching into the heart of the
springs have been destroyed utterly, and
are without successors.

Irrigation in The Bussian Government ex-
Russia, pends considerable sums annu-
ally for purposes of irrigation, and the re-
sults obtained have proved very successful.
The plan adopted, where there are no riv-
ers, is to construct dams or series of dams
across valleys or gullies, and thereby form
reservoirs, in which rain or melted snow is
collected and stored. From these ponds
it is an easy mattar to run the water to and
spread it over lower levels. The Steppe,
which is absolutely flat in but few places,
lends itself easily to this system, the great
drawback to which is, of course, the initial
cost, which can be borne by only a few
land owners, a large number of whom have
been obliged during late years to hypothe-
cate their estates in copsequence of .the
succession "of Bad crops.

Haze* S. - . lii'icbi$»n.'s f ampus r af. p r.m

Pingree,'. ^.gpyejnor. <iied at the Gjan,d

Hotel, London, June 18,t His death, is

particularly sad on account of his absence-
from the home he so longed for, which was-
shown by his oft-repeated inquiry, "How
soon can I start for home." For months
Mr. Pingree, accompanied by his son, H.
S. Pingree, Jr. , familiarly known as "Joe,"
had been touring South Africa and the
continent of Europe, partly for pleasure,,
partly with a view to enlarging the great
shoe business which the enterprise and
thrift of the father had built up. He ex-
pected to be at his home ere this, and just
as he was about to start he was stricken
down with the fatal malady, and now only
the coffined remains of Michigan's great-
hearted governor may be received by his-
family and friends, where they had hoped
to extend to him, in the full flush of life
and health, a glad and cordial welcome
home.

The career of Hazen S. Pingree was an
unusual one. Born on his father's farm at
Denmark, Me., August 30, 1842, he re-
mained there his father's helper until 14
years of age, when he was sent by hia
father to Hopkinton, Mass., to learn the
trade of a cutter in a shoe shop. He was-
19 years of age when the civil war broke
out, and it is only an evidence of the char-
acter that has made his name memorable
that he was a volunteer in the First Massa-
chusetts infantry. He was one of the men.
captured by Mosby, the guerilla, and five
months following were spent in Anderson-
ville prison, an experience from which he
never fully recovered and to which it is-
believed his untimely death is due. The
West offered tempting invitations to a man,
of Pingree's native ability, and at the close
of the war he came to Detroit. There he
worked in a produce market until he had
amassed the little fortune of $460, and
with; this he bought a shoe.. shop that was-
rapidly going .down. This factory grew
until 1,000 men were employed land an an-
nual business o;f more than .$l,OOQ,OOp, wag.
transacted. ,-.,... . •• ^ r. •

- .::.'. *' ; •'• v ••.••' ••. . • •

rlHE IRRIGATION AGE.

315

A New Appli- -^n interesting example of the
cation of Elec- value of electricity in making
tricity. profitable, old industries which

have fallen into decay, is to be found in
the valley of the Yuba Kiver, California,
which was years ago the scene of an ac-
tive search for gold. As much gold as
could then be profitably found was se-
cured and the locality abandoned ; but the
advent of electricity has created a new
and unusual activity there. Many miles
back in the mountains a large water plant
has been constructed for the generation of
electricity; by means of the power from
this source, the people along the lower
and sandy parts of the valley have begun
to use huge machine dredges to work the
old abandoned placer mines. These
dredges scoop up the gravel in which gold
is thought to exist, pass it back to be sep-
arated and deposit it on the ground be-
hind them. It is an unusual and exceed-
ingly interesting sight to see these great
machines eating their way into the earth.
They stop at nothing but work along
steadily through fields and orchards and
leave behind them as complete a picture
of desolation as one could expect to find.
The operators are said to be making a
good thing out of it as the power is cheap
and the findings of the precious metal is
sufficiently large to bring very good re-
turns. The work was lately watched with
much interest by some of the members of
the United States Geological Survey who
were making a general reconnoisance in
that region.

Irrigation ^he constantly increasing en-
West Means thusiasm in the western arid
Benefit East. states over the reguits and

possibilities of irrigation is a happy omen
for the whole country. Hundreds of
square miles of territory, before desolate,
have been brought under cultivation in
this way. Cultivated country means a
demand, for the necessities of life. Many
necessities and most of the luxuries of
life, and a large part of the agricultural

machinery of the country are made east of
the Mississippi Eiver. Hence irrigation
means a growing flood of eastern supplies
to western markets. Again, irrigation
means wonderful production ; hundreds of
carloads of high priced fruits, ready for
shipment each year, from tracts that were
poor sheep pastures before. The East
wants these car loads of fruit; Europe
wants them, and across the country for
thousands of miles the railroads carry
them. Hence irrigation means two long
lucrative hauls of freight, the supplies
west and the products east, and the divi-
dends of thousands of stockholders in the
East and West alike reap the benefits.
There are many other benefits from irri-
gation, but these are enough. Irrigation
is not a sectional matter ; it is a great Na-
tional Question.

Lean Cows Tlie United States Geological
and Irrigation Survey has been making some
valuable studies on the Great Plains, west
of the Mississippi River, in connection
with artesian waters. What this vast
section needs above all things is water,
and it has been estimated that millions of
dollars would be added to its value if only
a reliable supply could be found. An
interesting illustration of the bad
effect of the lack of water, during
the summer season, is found upon the
cattle ranches. The great herds of cattle
which roam on the Plains sometimes have
extreme difficulty in finding water, especi-
ally in time of draught. Their usual
drinking places may be miles away from
where they are obliged to graze, and it is
not at all unusual for them to travel all
night or even longer, from the one to the
other. As a result of going these long
distances at frequent intervals stock be-
comes poor and thin, and the profit of
cattle raising is thereby much impaired.
Water bearing rocks are known to exist in
large quantities under the whole region of
the Great Plains which ought to yield an
abundant supply. The work of the Gov-

316 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

ernment Survey has been an attempt to all the people. There will be larger op-
locate these strata and find whether it is portunities than ever before, and the re-
practicable to attempt to reach them. If wards will be greater than at any time in
they can be found without too deep bor- the world's history.

ings, not only will the grazers receive a Irrigation has already achieved miracles

great benefit, but land will become valu- in the far West and it is only in its begin-

able for high class agriculture and the ning. Millions and millions of people will

support of a large population. find beautiful homes on what are now arid

plains. Water will make the deserts

Leader of the This country, with its seventy- ,, ,., , . -c,, ..

* bloom like a garden of Eden, just as it
wono. five millions now leads the , ,-r>. ., , ,, , -nv

has at Riverside and other places in Cali-
civilized world. But with so vast a conti- . m, ,, .„ , ,, ,,

forma. Thus there will be on the other

nent, the resources of which have merely . , , ,, ,, ,, ,

J side of the Mississippi, in the course of

been touched, it is certain that it has only ,. , .. ,, , ,. ,

J time, as great a population as that which
passed the first great stage of its distinc- . , , -,-, ,.,

stretches eastward. Every year the centre
tion. The new century opens a vista of , , ,. , v-,

of population moves westward. Every
growth in material and political things , , ., . » .„

decade this rate of movement will grow
that invites the highest ambition of schol- ...

swifter,
ars and statesmen, and the best energies of

BY THE WAY.

Life's a journey,

Not so long,
Try to ease it

With a song.
Birds, though busy

On the wing,
Pause a little

While they sing.
Music soft

The traveler hears
If he doesn't

Close his ears.
Teeming nature

Still finds room
For the fragile

Flow'rets bloom.
Loveliness

The traveler spies
If he doesn't

Close his eyes.

— Washington &tar.

IRRIGATION IN HAWAII.

(Continued from last issue.)

The power of this soil to take up water is 48.5 per cent. The cli-
matic conditions have already been amply discussed, since the data
contained in the earlier paragraphs of this work bearing upon the
evaporation of moisture from water and soil surfaces and the trans-
piration of water by the sugar cane were all observed and recorded at
this station.

By the mode of applying water in use at the experiment station
every gallon of water that goes onto each experimental plat is meas-
ured and recorded. This exactness is absolutely necessary not only in
order to note the action of the water, but also that of other factors
upon the development and results of the crop. Consequently the
records of rainfall and the measurement of the water applied furnish
the total water at the disposal of the crop in the course of its growth.

Two crops of cane have already been grown upon the experiment
station grounds by the aid of irrigation. The first crop was planted
in July, 1897, and harvested 20 months later. The second crop was
planted in June, 1898. and is now being taken off (March, 1900.) The
period of irrigation, however, extended from the time of planting
until November of the following year, making some 17 months during
which water was applied. Unless the weather is extremely dry, the
cane does not receive water several weeks previous to its being cut,
in order to induce a more thorough ripening. Excess of moisture
operates to keep the cane immature and induces new shoots to appear
and grow, thus injuring the crop.

In the followihg table are recorded the amounts of water the crop*
received during the years specified as rainfall and by irrigation:

AMOUNTS OF WATER RECEIVED BY CROPS AT HAWAIIAN EXPERIMENT STATION.

Month.

1897-98.

1898-99.

Rainfall.

Irrigation

Rainfall.

Irrigation.

JUly . .

Inches.
063
1.02
4. IX
2.07
2.11
.88
6.18
8.04
10.39
1.21
.84
260
.94
1.58
.88
1.75
1.32

Inches.
3.0
3.0
1.5
3.5
2.0
3.5
00
1C
0.0
1.0
4.6
2.0
5.0
5.5
6.5
4.5
1.0

Inches.
0.94
1.58
.88
1.75
1.32
1.86
1.00
3.75
3.98
.85
2.01
.88
.17
1.90
.75
2.92
.47

Inches.
4.0
4.0
4.0
3.0
3.0
2.0
4.0
1.5
3.0
4.0
4.0
7.0
7.0
9.0
8.0
6.0
3.0

•October

April ...

-May . .

July . .

November

Total

46.56

48.0

26.01

78.

318

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

From the data in the rainfall columns it is seen that the most of
the rain falls during the cooler months of the year, which are the
months of minimum plant growth.. This is a special climatic draw-
back. The most advantageous combination of climatic conditions
is the concurrence of high temperature and maximum rainfall, or a
moist, hot season, and a dry, cool season, which combination occurs
in the sugar zone of Queensland. It is very apparent that water does
not possess a maximum value if it falls during the cool season and
when the crop is not in ful] growth and able to make use of it. For
this reason a less value and importance have to be ascribed to the
rainfall of these islands than might otherwise be.

The table shows that, during the years 1898 and 1899, the rainfall
covering the period of seventeen months was only 26,01 inches, or 18.3
inches per annum. It should also be understood that the extra defi-
ciency in the rainfall can not be measured by the simple amount of
that deficiency, for the reason that, instead of the cloudy, wet days
when the rain should have fallen, dry days of high evaporation
occurred, thus aggravating the natural situation and causing a greater
need for the water supplied by artificial means. When the totals x>f
the data contained in the table are brought together, it is seen, how-
ever, that the difference in the total amounts of water consumed by
the respective crops are not material and no greater than has been
reasonably accounted for.

TOTAL WATER RECEIVED BY TWO CROPS OF SUGAR CANE.

Crop period.

Rainfall.

Irrigation

Total.

1897-98..

Inches.
46.56
56.01

Inches.

48
77

Inches.

94.56
103.01

1898-99

Before proceeding to furnish the full results of the two crops
attention may be called to the comparative value of the water which
fell as rainfall and that of the water applied in irrigation, taking the
sugar equivalent as the expression of value. It is possible to do this
by the use of data obtained during the season of 1897-98, when tests
were carried out in the experiment field under identical conditions of
soil, cultivation, and fertilization. In these tests twenty plats of cane
were grown by the aid of irrigation in addition to the rainfall, and
eight tests were made without any irrigation (PI. IV,) the results
being as follows:

YIELD OF IRRIGATED AND UNIRRIGATKD CANE.

N um ber of tests.

Rainfall.

Irrigation

Yield of
sugar per.
acre

20...

Inches.

46 56

Inches.

48

Pounds.
24 735

8 ,

46.56

.-.,• .1,090

Difference in favor of irrigation

__ — _—

i 23,155-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

319

Nothing could show more conclusively than these figures the
necessity of irrigation under the existing conditions, and the enor-
mous sugar-equivalent value of irrigation water applied systematically
to the cane during the season of maximum growth, which is the sum-
mer season. An equal volume of water falling in heavy rains during
the cool season, when growth is slow, is largely lost through percola-
tion and produce a comparatively small value in sugar.

The following tables contain a statement of the crops of 1897-98
and 1898-99 and of the value of the water applied by irrigation. A
brief table is first given showing the average weight of cane and
yields of sugar for the two seasons:

YIELD OF CANE AND SUGAR AT HAWAIIAN EXPERIMENT STATION.

Crop period.

Number
of tests.

Yield of .
cane per
acre.

Yield of
sugar per
acre.

1897-98 .

20
15

Pounds.
166,562
192.440

Pounds.
24,755
27,133

1898-99 .

These are the results in cane and sugar per acre of crops that
were about nineteen months on the ground and subject to systematic
irrigation for seventeen months.

The relation of the crops to the total volume of water received
both as rainfall and by irrigation is as follows:

WATER REQUIRED TO PRODUCE 1 POUND OF SUGAR.

Crop period.

Rainfall.

Irrigation

Water
per acre.

Yield of
sugar per
acre.

\Vater re~
quired to
produce 1
pound of
sugar.

1897-98

Inches.

46.56

Inches.

48

Gallons.

2,567,682

Pounds.
24,755

Pounds.

865

1898-99 *

26.01

1 1

2,797,133

27,133

859

The volumes of water consumed by the cane per pound of sugar
made during the growth of the two crops are very nearly the same.
During the growth of the crop of 1897-98 some of the rainfall occurred
in heavy precipitations, and it was ascertained that water escaped
through the subsoil and was lost. During the production of the crop
of 1898-99 none of the water received, either from rainfall or from
irrigation, was lost in this manner. No single rainfall exceeded 1
inch, and in irrigating no more than 1 inch of water was applied at
any single watering.

It is seen from the preceding tables that the maximum quantity
of water applied artifically during a season of extreme drought was
77 inches during a period of seventeen months, or 2,090,858 gallons of
water per acre, to make a crop containing 27,133 pounds of pure sugar

320

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

per acre. These results are the average of fifteen tests, which were
made under identical conditions of soil, cultivation, and fertilization.
The following table brings together the estimates of the duty of
water in the Hawaiian Islands contained in the report of Schuyler and
Allardt, previously referred to, and the results of experiments made
at the Hawaiian Experiment Station by the writer:

DUTY OF WATER IN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

Water applied per
acre per crop.

Yield of
sugar per
acre.

Water re-
quired to pro-
duce 1 pound
of sugar.

Depth.

Quantity.

According to Schuyler and Allardt:
Spreckelsville (1)

Inches.

2S2.oo

216.00
23020
198.20

94.56
103.01

Gallons,
7,114,348
5,865,264
6,250,850
5,381,428

:J.5(J7,682
2,797,133

Pounds.
11,100
11,100
11,300
12,000

2i,755
27,133

Pounds.

5,345
4,407
4,013
3,740

865
*59

Spreckelsville (2) ....

Hamakuopoko

Kekaha

At the experiment station:
First crop (1897-98

Second crop (1S98-99

In the above table the yields of sugar per acre as given are higher
than stated by the plantation authorities. For Spreckelsville the
yields as stated were "for plant cane, 5.75 tons of sugar per acre; the
ratoon crop, 3^ tons per acre;" for Hamakuapoko, "5.6 tons of sugar
per acre for plant cane and 4 tons for ratoon crops," and for ratoon
crops at Kekaha "5 tons of sugar per acre for seven years." These
figures express the amounts of sugar per acre obtained by the mills
and marketed, and not the full amounts produced by the soil. As a
correction, and to make the figures comparable with the statement of
experiment station yields, 20 per cent has been added to the amounts
given by the plantations. This may be rather too much, but it has to
be remembered that the mills ten years ago did not obtain as much
sugar from the cane as they do to-day. However, the figures of yield
as given are probably a little in favor of the plantation.

In comparing the data contained in the table it is again to be re-
membered that the figures furnished by the plantations state what
was actually being done by those plantations. The experiment-station
data show what has been done and what it is possible to do, where
the irrigation is carried out according to scientific principles and
where the conditions are under coutrol. Upon a large plantation the
conditions can not be controlled to the same extent as is possible with
experiments on limited areas. This in no wise lessens the force of the
fact that plantations are wasting huge volumes of water in their
practice of irrigation or removes the necessity of examining into and
determining the location and causes of the waste.

The figures contained in the last column of the table show the
pounds of water received from rainfall and irrigation per pound of

THE IRRIGA 1 ION A GE. 321

sugar grown. Instead of using sugar as the standard we may use the
total dry substance of the crops in its relation to the water received
per acre. The exact data furnished by the station's experiments
enable this to be done:

WATER, USED TO PRODUCE 1 POUND OF DRY SUBSTANCE.

Crop period.

Water re-
ceived per
acre.

Dry sub-
stance
produced
per acre.

Water re-
quired to
produce 1 Ib
of dry sub-
stance.

Pounds.
21,414.457

Pounds

98,725

Founds.
216

la(te qq

23,328,089

110,087

212

By "dry substance produced per a jre" is meant the total amounts of water-free cane and
leaves produced by 1 acre of ground. During the crop period 1897-98 some rainfall water was lost
by percolation through the subsoil, but how much was not ascertained. During the growth of the
crop of 1898-99 no water was lost. Two hundred and twelve pounds of water were used, therefore
to produce a pound of dry substance.

The most fertile plantation upon the Hawaiian Islands last year
yielded 20,500 pounds of sugar per acre, and according to the esti-
mate of the manager, consumed a little over 5,000,000 gallons of
water per acre. On this plantation a less volume of water propuced
double the quantity of sugar that was obtained at Spreckelsville and
Hamakuapoko; consequently the waste of water at those places must
have been great. Upon this fertile plantation, however, there are
ample evidences of past excessive irrigation and waste. The volume
of water used per acre was double that used at the experiment station-
to produce less sugar per acre.

A small crop of say 30 tons of cane or 4 tons of sugar per acre can
not in its growth consume the volume of water demanded by a crop
of 80 tons of cane or 10 tons of sugar per acre. Lt can consume only
a fixed portion of that volume. The same principle applies in the
demands made upon the soil for plant food. The large crop absorbs
more of the soil constituents to compose its substance and promote its
growth. Water is only one of the essential factors which control the
size of the cane or other crop. The depth and fertility of the soil,
the fertilizing elements supplied, and the extent of cultivation are all
potent factors affecting production. It has already been shown in a
previous paragraph that the growth of the cane and the amount of
water used during increased growth, as indicated by the increased
transpiration of water by the cane, are very noticeably influenced by
the action of nitrogenous fertilizers.

DISTRIBUTION OF WATER.

In the Hawaiian Islands sugar cane is irrigated exclusively by
ditches and forrows. In laying out a field to be planted in sugar cane
the first step is to make a survey of the area and to determine its con-

322

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

tour. The notes of the survey will show the direction in which the
cane furrows shall be constructed and also show where the laterals
which feed the furrows should be located. On uneven ground the
furrows are curved in order that the grade may be kept uniform.

If a field is practically level— and there are vast areas of relatively
level land in locations where cane sugar is likely to be grown — the
furrows are dug straight through the field. The most level field,
however, usually has a dominant decline in some direction which is
usually determined by the general formation of the lands of the
region. The Hawaiian Islands are .of volcanic origin, and hence the
general slope of the land is from the craters to the sea. The country
is mountainous in the neighborhood of the volcanoes. The slopes
become flatter as lower levels are reached, until the decline apparently
disappears in the lands bordering on the seacoast. The latter have

FIG. 2.— Irrigation of sugar cane on level land by means of laterals.

been deposited by streams running from higher lands. In spite of the
flat appearance of these lowlands they generally have a decline
toward the sea which is not only sufficient to make the distribution of
water a simple matter, but also to effect the discharge of underground
water. This, however, is not always the case, the writer having
several tracts in mind where the ground water can not find a dis-
charge owing to its service being but slightly above the level of
high tide.

THE IRRIGATION AOL. 323

The diagram (fig. 2) shows a field that is furrowed for planting
and has subditches dug for the distribution of water. The furrows
are made at right angles to the fall of the land and the distributing
laterals are constructed at right angles to the furrows, or parallel
with the natural water flow.

As the diagram shows, the main ditch feeds the laterals and these
feed the furrows. The laterals discharge into the furrows on each
side, the water flowing one-half of the distance between laterals in
each direction. The furrows in the diagram are between the rows of
cane. In the Hawaiian Islands the cane is generally planted and
kept in furrows and not ridged up, and the water is applied in those
furrows, running in and out around the cane stalks. In other coun-
tries visited by the writer, where irrigation is required during a part
of the growing season, the cane is more generally upon the ridge and
the water is applied between the rows of the cane, as shown by the
diagram. The practice is controlled by such factors as the nature of
the soil, the rainfall at specific seasons, and the related questions of
drainage.

In the diagram (fig. 2,) the lines indicating the rows of cane are
assumed to be 5 feet apart, which is the usual distance. In some
situations, owing to local causes, the distance between the cane rows
may be as much as 6 feet or as little as 4£ feet. The distance between
the laterals is assumed to be 30 feet, which means that the water is
intended to flow only 15 feet from each side of the laterals that are
feeding the furrows. The lines running midway between but parallel
with the laterals represent earth dams in the furrows. These limit
the length of flow of the water from the laterals on each side. Only
lands having a very even surface can be laid out upon the simple plan
of the diagram.

Before speaking in detail of the methods of applying water, one
other system will be described. This provides for the direct dis-
charge of the water from the main ditch into the furrows. The
system (fig. 3) has been observed by the writer, its results considered,
and it is mentioned chiefly to show its essential defects.

In the system illustrated in this diagram (fig. 3,) the water supply
is from a main ditch of considerable size (a width of 5 to 8 feet has
been observed,) which feeds the water furrows between the rows of
cane direct, as illustrated by the arrows in the diagram. The cane
rows are drawn straight through the field. The water flows parallel
with the rows of cane and not at right angles to them, as shown in
diagram (fig. 2.) Consequently the water has to distribute itself by
flowing from the main ditch to the opposite end of the field. As
already remarked, this system of distribution is exemplified in order
to make clear its very palpable drawbacks, which will be briefly
explained.

324

THE IR RIG All ON AGE.

Volume of the application. — Schuyler and Allardt, in treating of
this subject under the conditions of the Hawaiian Islands, state that
*'it seems to be generally understood by all planters that the depth of
each watering, i. e., the volume of each application, shall be at the
least an average of 3 to 4 inches over the whole surface of the ground."
The same authors quote one of their witnesses assaying "11,000 cubic
feet per acre every seven days will produce the very best results
in growing sugar cane/' That volume is equal to 3£ inches of water
over the whole ground per weekly application. Another example
from the same authority gives "10,890 cubic feet per acre to each
watering every seven days." This volume is equal to an application
of 3 inches of water over the whole ground once a week. When the
small rainfall was added to the amounts applied by irrigation upon the

Mam Water Ditch

FIG. 3. — Irrigation of sugar cane on level land by direct discharge of the water from
the main ditch into the furrows. .

plantation spoken of by Schuyler and Allardt, then the average appli-
cation per seven days over the stated period of fifteen months or
sixty- five weeks appeared as follows:

DEPTH OF WATER APPLIED TO SUGAR CANE DURING SIXTY-FIVE WEEKS

FALL AND IRRIGATION).

Plantation.

Wuter
applied
per acre.

Mean
application
per week.

Sprecklesville (1)

Inches.
262.0

Inches.

4.03

Sprecklesville (-)) .... . .

216.0

3.32

230.2

3.54

198.2

3.05

1HE IRRIGATION AGE. 325

The figures in the outer column indicate the average depth of
application per week during the growth of the crop, which is given as
sixty-five weeks. Concerning the value placed upon the rainfall,
Schuyler and Allardt say, ''the rain may at times exceed the quantity
applied artifically, but irrigation is performed the same as usual, not-
withstanding, in order that there shall be no break in the continuity
of the waterings."

HOW I WILL CONQUER THE NILE,

BY SIR JOHN AIRD, ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF.

Within a short time "the uprising of the Nile," the yearly over-
flow which from time immemorial has inundated the country bordering
on the patriarch of rivers, will be a thing of the past. Modern engin-
eering skill has overthrown nature and the tradition of centuries, and
in the future, no matter how great the freshets of water, the Nile will
never flood its banks; two great dams, Assuan and Assiut, stand as
impregnable barriers.

The damming of the Nile, now successfully approaching comple-
tion, is one of the most stupendous engineering feats of modern times.
So far over twenty millions of dollars have been expended in pushing
the work, and fully five millions moro will be needed to complete it.
An army of workmen representing all nationalities has been busily
engaged, and like magic a city has sprung up at the site of the opera-
tion. It is difficult to convey a clear conception of the magnitude of
the work. It must be seen to be appreciated in its immensity.

Thousands of workmen are busily engaged making mortar, mov-
ing the blocks of granite or placing them in their proper positions.
Steam engines are continually passing along the line of railway, which
covers ten miles, bringing men and materials. Steam cranes and trav-
elling trolleys are hard at work in every direction; and a feeling of
admiration comes over one at sight of this toiling mass of humanity,
so perfectly drilled and directed that by no chance does one man inter-
fere with or retard the work of another. It seems like one huge loom
working out some great piece of tapestry, which is gradually approach-
ing its completion. Scotchmen are very numerous at the barrage, as
somehow they always are in undertakings of this kind in all parts of
the world, their sterling qualities being especially valuable when deal-
ing with native races.

A great army of masons is constantly busy cutting and dressing
the blocks, each one of which is measured and surveyed by competent
pspectors, who initial it before it is passed as fit to be used. In the
early days expensive machinery was sent out from England to expe-
dite the cutting of these blocks, but it was subsequently found that
the old way of splitting the stone by means of wedges was, after all,
the best and easiest, and a great deal of the machinery has not even
been unpacked. Our best masons are Italians, but there are mechan-
ics of many nationalities, all working together in perfect accord.

In the matter of stone we were very fortunate; -in fact, but for a
£ieat piece of luck the work would not be anywhere near completion.

1HL IRRIGATION AGL. 32r

and would have cost a great additional sum. I refer to the find of our
granite right here in the bed and along the banks of the river. I had
calculated on having to ship the greatest part of the material for
stonework. I was aware that a certain kind of granite was to be
found in this vicinity, but did not believe that it would be hard enough
or of sufficiently good quality to be available. When we commenced
excavating there were unearthed what apparently seemed inexhaus-
tible quarries of as fine a granite as could be found anywhere on the
globe. This saving in time and money can scarcely be overestimated;
for not only is high-quality granite expensive, but the difficulty of
transportation would have entailed enormous outlay, not to speak of
irritating and expensive delays while waiting for material.

The total extent of the dam is one mile and a quarter, of which one
mile and an eighth of the foundation is finished. Temporary dams,
enabling the remaining section to be put in, are now carried across
the channel. Pumps for getting in the permanent dam foundations
will be started immediately. The whole of the granite masonry re-
quired for the dam is cut and ready to be laid in place. The parapet
alone remains to be prepared. The portion of the dam remaining to
be built is that across the well-known western channel. This will be
the most difficult part of the entire work, but, profiting by experiences
gained thus far, I feel confident that I can cope with any problem that
may arise.

The first great difficulties to contend with were those connected
with the foundations of the dam. Although advantage was taken of
Ihe numerous large rocks stretching across the river, it was found
that between them were serious faults or fissures, in which it was
necessary to go down great distances before arriving at a sound
bottom. Speaking generally, in many places the depth of the founda-
tions amounts to twice the height of the superstructure. The founda-
tions have now been completed to within a distance of about a hundred
and fifty yards of the west bank. Each portion of the bed of the river
has had to be dammed and cleared of water before the work could
proceed, in order that it should be perfectly sound and lasting. This
has, of course, caused an immense amount of labor.

There are altogether one hundred and eighty sluices. On the
shore ends these are in a double tier, but they are single in the central
portion. These will, of course, be opened and shut by hydraulic
power. The upper sluices are not carried to the actual top of the
dam, which would thereby be weakend, but are openings in the work
with a continuous line of masonry above them. The locks are to be
•erected on the west or uncompleted side, and will be of immense
^strength and adequate capacity. Many of the sluices where the pres

328 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

sure is expected to be greatest are lined with iron frames, the castings
of which have come from Glasgow and Ipswich.

The height of the structure from low Nile level will be about
sixty feet, and the slope of the stonework on the down side will be
two yards in every three, in order to meet the enormous pressure of
the water. On the upper side it will be nearly perpendicular. You
can readily understand these precautions to secure strength, when
you hear that there will be times when the dam will be called upon to
withstand the tremendous pressure of a discharge of fifteen thousand
tons of water per second. Such an overwhelming avalanche would
sweep away like chaff an ordinary structure. The dam will control
the great river for one hundred and forty miles.

At Assiut the giant regulating dam across the Nile approaches
completion, the foundation being practically all in position, leaving a
portion of the superstructure to be completed. The sluice openings
here number one hundred and nineteen, all sixteen feet wide. This
dam is somewhat similar in principle to the well-known barrage near
Cairo, but the details of construction are entirely different, as the
foundations are guarded against undermining by a complete line of
cast iron and steel piling above and below the work. The barrage
itself is constructed of high-class masonry, instead of brick- work as
at the old barrage.

As a supplementary work to the reservoirs-dam is the new head-
work to the Ibramieh Canal, consisting of a regulation of sluices and
a lock. To permit of the commencement of this, a division channel
has had to be constructed for the Ibramieh Canal, where four to five
thousand men are engaged in cutting. The work here is now practi-
cally completed.

The greatest source of delay with which we have to contend has
been the annual flood of the Nile. This suspends the work from three
to four months, during which everything is covered with watSr. As
this recedes repairs have to be done to any damage which may have
been effected; but with the exception of some of the rails being dis-
placed and a few timber balks being washed away, very little harm is
done, and that little is very speedily rectified, and the work renewed
with fresh vigor at the point where it had to be abandoned.

Our army of employees, ranging from skilled engineers, whose
salaries run into thousands, down to the humble laborer who makes
four shillings per day, during their long stay have built up quite a
little city at Assouan. Every effort has been made to further their
comfort. Habitable barracks have been erected, and airy dwellings
built for the large staff. A hospital has been fitted up, attended to by
two doctors, with all the necessary assistants and appliances. In
works of this character accidents are occasionally unavoidable, and

THE IRRIGA 1 ION AGE. 329

every provision has been made for their immediate and skilful treat-
ment. There is also a building set apart for infectious cases, such as
small-pox, where the patients are separated at once' from the other
work-people and thus the risk of contagion is avoided. A club has
also been started for general recreation, and some highly successful
entertainments have been greatly assisted by voluntary performers
from among the visitors at Assouan.

THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
SHOULD AID IRRIGATION.

A meeting was held by the members of the Chamber of Commerce
and Real Estate Exchange of Denver, CoL, May 29th, to listen to an
address by George H. Maxwell, executive chairman of the National
Irrigation Association.

Mr. Maxwell said that what he wished to urge more than any-
thing else was that the business men of the West should act together.
If they did not, there would nothing more come of any movement than
came of the one started ten years ago, when nothing was done.

"Congress," said Mr. Maxwell, "ten years ago appropriated $10,-
000 for the making of surveys and the beginning of the work. The
plan fell down and went to pieces for no other reason than that the
business men of the country, the men who had the most to gain, never
came together, and allowed the whole thing to be destroyed by per-
sons who had special interests.

The whole problem, Mr. Maxwell said, he found to be one of
organization. If the business men of the entire West, not of one State
or one locality alone, should agree on a proposition, and take care that
it should be a sound one, when they should all pull together the force
would be irresistible. The irrigation problem had passed beyond the
stage where private enterprise or even State aid would be of avail.
There was only one resource and that was to have the national gov-
ernment take it in hand. It was too large to be handled by any other
power or authority.

"Suppose," said Mr. Maxwell, "that you could wake up to-morrow
morning with the positive knowledge that this country was entirely
changed and was a humid one. There would be such a rush to take
up the lands of the State that in ten years Denver would be a city of
more than a million population. Well, by bringing all interests
together, as it now is, you can put twice the population on those lands.
The result we want to accomplish is to put as much population as we
can on the arid lands of the West. It is hopeless to try to get it done
by private capital. The work must be on so vast a scale that returns

330 THE IRR1 GA 11 ON A GE.

cannot be expected in a time that will make it a profitable investment.
Where systems can be built by settlers they have been built. The
Carey land act is a failure because the people of the West do not see
how it is possible to reclaim the lands by it. The law to make irriga-
tion districts and issue bonds on uncultivated land has been tried and
has failed. There is no recourse or resource except the national treas-
ury. If anyone brings up an objection to the national proposition, ask
them to present a better.

"Draw a line through the center of the United States and the
whole country west of it, excepting only a narrow strip along the
Pacific coast, is an arid region where irrigation is needed. Denver is
the hub of this wheel. It is the center of the region, which has one-
tenth or less of the population of the United States. If the national
irrigation policy is carried out this territory would have more popula-
tion than all the United States has now. We can double the popula-
tion of the West in five years, and the East would never miss a man,
woman or child. "

Mr. Maxwell urged unity of action, stating that there could be
nothing done unless there was absolute harmony and unity. No
national law, he said, would ever interfere with the present manner
of distributing water under the laws of the State or with any existing
water rights. There was no sentiment in the East, he added, against
any equitable manner of storing and distributing water. There was
objection to any plan that would place the stored water in the hands
of large companies and not in those of actual settlers. It might be
neeessary in some districts for the Government to store water and
assist in the construction of the canals to carry it to places where it
could be placed in the hands of actual settlers.

"This is what we are asking for," said Mr. Maxwell. "First, an
appropriation of $250,000 every year for surveying and laying out the
work, selection of sites and preparations for giving water to actual
settlers. Second, a direct appropriation in the river and harbor bill
to build reservoirs, just as they have been built on the headwaters of
the Mississippi. Third, that where the government builds these res-
ervoirs they shall not conflict with any vested rights/'

'Mr. Maxwell paid his compliments to Representative Mondell of
Wyoming, claiming that the gentleman had opposed every effort made
to reserve public lands for actual settlers. The only bill that was put
through Congress was, Mr. Maxwell stated, pushed through by east-
ern men on the House committee. They saw that it would benefit the
country, and ior that reason they were in its favor. In conclusion,
the speaker assured the gentlemen present that, if they should adopt
a plan favoring settlers and not large cattle and other companies, the
eastern Congressmen would aid them in every way possible.

CONVICTS FOR ARID LANDS.

SENATOR DIETRICH OF NEBRASKA HAS A
UNIQUE IRRIGATION SCHEME.

An open letter to His Excellency, Ex-Governor of Nebraska, Hon. C. H. Deifcrich,

now U. S. Senator.

LINCOLN, NEB.
Oov. Deitrich, Dear Sir.

I read with great pleasure and approval your late invaluable
article on the subject of ''Irrigation of our arid lands of the west" as
it appeared in the Kansas City Star; and as a co-worker in the common
cause of the best interests of humanity and philanthrophy, I take
great pleasure in expressing to you and the world at large my appre-
ciation of your zeal in this the greatest enterprise that is before the
American people, and I take great pleasure in reproducing it for the
benefit of other readers through the pages of that invaluable medium
of exchange of thought, the "IRRIGATION AGE," published at Chicago
by that prince of good fellows, Hon. J. E. Forrest.

And we here submit your article in full :

"In the next Congress an effort will be made to place all peniten-
tiaries under federal control and utilize the energies of all, except the
most desperate criminals, in the contruction of irrigating trenches and
reservoirs for the reclamation of the arid districts in the West. Sen-
ator C. H. Dietrich of Nebraska is the sponsor of the scheme and is
now preparing a bill which he will introduce into the next Congress
to bring about the desired change.

"Recently a conference of congressional members from several
states with arid lands was held in Omaha. Senator Dietrich gave a
brief outline of his scheme and the congressmen who were present
pledged support to the measure. As a result of the meeting Senator
Deitrich hastened to Washington to begin work on the bill. He will
have the hearty support of the Nebraska delegation, regardless of
party affiliations, and they will try to secure additional aid from the
representatives from the other arid states.

"Senator Dietrich proposes to divide the United States into dis-
tricts, in each one of which a federal prison will be maintained. To
the federal prisons all convicts will be sent. The authorities at each
penitentiary will be required to select all orderly, well behaved con-
victs for labor in the arid regions. These men are to be provided with
citizens' clothing and taken to the scene of their labors, where they
will be treated as ordinary workmen. Good conduct, and according

332 1 HE IRR1 GA1ION A GE.

to the plans of Senator Dietrich, greatly shorten the length of the-
original sentence. Besides, the prisoners will be allowed a fair month-
ly sum for their services and the total amount will be given them
when they are discharged. In this way the task of redeeming the
barren lands in the Western states could be cheaply and economically
done by men who are now pining in confinement. A vast increase in
wealth would result, contends the senator. The convict would be
greatly benefited because the pure air, wholesome food and interest-
ing labor would make his surroundings more cheerful. The demoral-
izing atmosphere of the prison would be counteracted. Short term
men and those whose criminal instincts are not prominently developed
could labor together and the worst feature of prison life, the dissemi-
nation of evil desires, would be eliminated.

HOW HE WOULD EMPLOY SOLDIERS.

"To guard the prisoners, the idle troops and cavalry squads could
be pressed into service. The district in which the convicts labor, ac-
cording to the plan of Senator Dietrich, could be guarded by a strong
picket line of soldiers. The latter would rarely come in contact with
the convicts and would, he says, receive valuable training 'in scouting.
In camp a detailed record of the delinquencies of the convicts could be
kept. For pardons, good prison records would be absolutely indis-
pensable. Senator Dietrich is confident that by this method insurrec-
tion would be unheard of and attempts to escape would be made
rarely.

"Civil engineers and government experts are relied on by the sen-
ator to outline and direct the work. By careful selection the convicts
would be sufficiently skilled to perform all of the labor required. He
has devised no method for determining in what section of the country
the work would be done, intrusting that feature to the government's
civil engineering department.

"Senator Deitrich was first prompted to devise the scheme on hu-
manitarian grounds. Twenty- five years ago he was working as a day
laborer in the swamps of Arkansas and Mississippi. At that time the
convict camp, with all its terrors, was in vogue. The prisoners were
compelled to do the most exhausting labor on a diet of bacon, corn-
bread and river water, with only a few hours devoted to sleep and
rest. Nearly all the convicts wore the ball and chain. The inhuman
treatment and loss of energy, as well as the unsanitary conditions,
vividly impressed the future senator. Prom that time until the pres-
ent he has never ceased to meditate on a plan for improving prison
conditions.

HE'S AGAINST PRISON WALLS.

' According to his theory, confinement within prison walls detract

THE IRKIGA T10N A GE. 333

from the strength of mind and body. The moral atmosphere is tain-
ted and cantaminating. There is no distinction made between the
most debased criminal and the man who erred through the strenuous
pressure of unfortunate circumstances. He claims that out of the 33,-
000 criminals in the United States, 25,000 are detained within the
prison walls on account of the defects of the present system. In prison
the convict is frequently employed in time-killing drudgery, argues
the senator. His labor benefits neither himself nor the state. When
the prisoner is released, mind and body are botl^ weakened by confine-
ment. Reproach and contempt follow as a matter of course. Under
such circumstances there is no chance for the discharged prisoner
who wants to lead an honest life. He cannot make a living in compe-
tition with his fellows. Vagrancy and fresh crimes are the inevitable
results.

"By labor, in the arid regions, the convicts could work in the open
air. Their surroundings would be the most healthful. The labor, in-
sists the senator, would be pleasant and less onerous than in the
prison. In the continual change of scene, the men would forget the
past and no longer brood over their mistakes or plot revenge. It
would induce them to forget their condition and the wages paid would
be of assistance when the day of assistance when the day of discharge
came."

Knowing you as I do, Dear Governor, 1 am not surprised at your
originating this novel and humanitarian plan of constructing this
grand work, at the same time relieving so much mental as well as the
physical sufferings of that unfortunate class of our people, viz, the
criminal and convicts of our prisons; but, Dear Governor, will you
pardon me for a kindly criticism of a few sections of your article, and
consider the substitutes I may suggest as they appear more practical
to me.

For forty years I have advocated the idea and it being the duty
of the general government to construct the reservoirs and main canals
to furnish or supply the water for this purpose of reclaiming these
arid lands of the west, and providing homes for 100,000,000 people
where now but a few thousand exist .

Nine years ago I advocated this principle in the National Irriga-
tion Convention, and have since, but never until at our very zealous
and harmonious session at Chicago last winter did this plan meet with
general favor, and at that session after brief discussion by delegates
from Massachusetts, California, Arizona and North Dakota and near
all the intermediate states and territories this method was adopted
and President McKinley was memorialized to lay the matter before
Congress, asking for an appropriation to begin the work.

Now, Dear Sir, you propose to have this work done as far as may

334 THE .IRRIGATION AGE

be practical by convict labor, taking them from the federal prisons,
clothing them in citizens' garb, and guarding them with soldiers to
keep them at work and guard against insurruction and escape, and to
pay them for their labor, while this savors nicely of a humanitarian
spirit, and the writer would not discourage it, could he see it to be
feasible, but, dear sir, after a familiar acquaintance of twenty-five
years with the character of convicts in our Nebraska penitentiary, we
are of the opinion that it would require at least two mounted and
armed soldiers to watch one average convict during the day and at
night I fear three-fourths of them would escape taking the soldiers'
horses with them.

Again, dear Governor, bear in mind there are thousands of
loyal and good men and women, too, that have never violated the
laws of the land and brought down upon themselves the condemnation
of law, if any class are to be favored why not these honest and indus-
trious toilers of the West that have for years struggled against adver-
sity to reclaim this arid country and make for themselves homes, while
the convicts have stolen their horses and cattle by day and night.
Let these do the work for pay.

"Prison walls are demoralizing,'' you say, to which we respond a
most hearty amen! So, too, Governor, are the environments of the
average homesteader on the plains struggling for an existence for his
family, and to see his crops fail year after year for want of water.
Your humble servant gave five years of the best of his life's efforts to
improving a farm of 1,500 acres in western Nebraska near twenty
years ago. We started a settlement twenty miles from a post-office
or blacksmith shop, hired money of an Eastern loan company to make
our improvements. In five years we had four timber claims improved,
300 acres nicely cultivated, 2.000 fruit trees planted and dead for
want of water, the best buildings in the county, a new county organ-
ized, Perkins, a railroad, the B. & M., running through our land,
a county seat town, Grant, but a half mile from our land; the
loan company had all our land but 320 acres (and they were insolvent),
and we gave up the struggle of endeavoring to succeed in agriculture
under a shortage or insufficiency of water; we left the premises of as
fertile land as the best in Illinois or Iowa, the purest and best air and
delightful climate with far more experience than we took there and
$5,000 less money — a wiser, if a sadder man; and ours was the experi-
ence of thousands of as industrious and worthy men and women as
can be found anywhere. And, dear Governor, "We love that country
so, is why we hate her faults," lack of water only, and though we may
never be allowed the privilege, duty, or pleasure of another effort at
redeeming as we once tried by the toil of our hands and the sweat of
our brow, we feel with you it is a commendable enterprise in which to

THE 1RR1GA T10N A GE. 335

do our best by pen and voice and prayer, and sir should we succeed,
generations yet unborn will rise up and call us blessed.

In the August issue of IRRIGATION AGE I will endeavor to show
why Col. A. Hoagland's patented steel canal or flume should be
adopted for this work in lieu of a dug canal. Meantime I am, sir, in
all good works and deeds,

Yours very truly,

C. B. PARKER.

A DIPLOMAT.

You have heard the tale, perchance,
How an ancient King of France

Of his baker made a minister of state ;
For his majesty, 'tis said,
Liked a certain kind of bread,

Which no baker in the land could dupli-
cate.

But one day he took a bite,
When upon his royal sight

Burst an insect they had baked into the

bread ;

Cried the monarch, "Ha, a roach !
Bid the pastry cook approach,

He shall answer for this outrage with
His head."

When the baker viewed the bug,
He made answer with a shrug:

"Tis a rasin, sire I put into the food.'
Then he praised its luscious taste,
And he swallowed it with haste,

And he smacked his lips as though he
thought it good.

And the monarch, reconciled,

To his courtiers turned and smiled,

"I confess," he cried, "at length I've

found my mate.
Such a diplomatic head
Shouldn't waste time baking bread".

So he forthwith made him minister of

state.
- -Milton Goldsmith in Harlem Lijc.

THE DIVERSIFIED FARM.

In diversified farming by irrigation lies tbe malvation of agriculture

SUGAR BEETS.

Extracts from Bulletin 63 Experiment
Station, Colorado:

Mr. Frank Watrous, in charge of the
substation at Rockyford, grew beets in
1890, '91, and '92, and records the results
of his experiments in bulletin No. 21.
The season of 1890 was spent in groping
after facts, and the product, though en- .
couraging, was not large. The yield ob-
tained ranged from eight to seventeen tons
per acre. Some of these yields were from
half acre plots, others estimated from
•ingle rows.

In 1891 an experiment in irrigating
beets was made, from which Mr. Watrous
concludes that, in an ordinary season, one
irrigation during the growing season is
sufficient to produce the best results both
as to tonnage per acre and saccharine mat-
ter contained. Four plots of one-fourth
acre each were planted to Vilmorin beets.
Plot 1 was not irrigated; plot 2 was irriga-
ted once; plot 3 was irrigated twice; and
plot 4 was irrigated three times. The dates
of irrigation are not given. The results
are:

Plot 1. Yield: 9 tons per acre. Sugar:
14.25 per cent. Purity: 80.5 per cent.

Plot 2. Yield: 10.8 tons per acre.
Sugar: 15.2 per cent. Purity: 84.3 per
cent.

Plot 3. Yield: 9.9 tons per acre. Sugar:
14.22 per cent. Purity; 79.5 per cent.

Plot 4. Yield: 9.9 tons per acre. Sugar:
13.0 per cent. Purity: 76.0 per cent.

In 1892 the plots were 1-1000 and | acre
each, four of the sixteen plots being I acre
each, four of the sixteen plots being i acre

in area. The yields from the I acre plots
were 18 7 tons, 20.5 tons, 25.0 tons, and
25.7 tons per acre, and the sugar percent-
age 15.18, 16.7, 15.9, and 18.9. The co-
efficient of purity was between 82 and 85.
The yield from the 1-100 acre plots was
somewhat higher, as was to be expected,
the sugar content ranging from 13 to 15.8
per cent, and the coefficient of purity from
76 to 85.

The plan of culture adopted as the re-
sult of the three years study is as follows:
After land had been plowed, harrowed,
and made quite smooth, even, and free
from lumps, stones, or trash, seed was
sown with an ordinary hand drill, sowing
eighteen pounds to the acre, covering an
inch or less in depth, in double rows one
foot apart, separated by a space two feet
wide. Then, with one horse and a shovel
plow, a trench was made in this space, the
dirt being thrown on both sides to finish
covering the seed. The rows are worked
over quickly with a rake or hoe, and the
seeding is complete. Beet seed requires
considerable moisture to produce germina-
tion, hence, in a dry spring, water may be
turned in these ditches and beets brought
forward, independent of dry weather.

To facilitate irrigation, rows should not
be more than three hundred feet in length,
preferably less. It should not be neces-
sary to drench the upper end in order to
moisten the lower end.

Proper cultivation consists in hand hoe-
ing or working with a fine-toothed cultiva-
tor, the surface of the ground being stirred
as soon after irrigation as practicable.
From experience at this Station it seems
safe to state that the more careful cultiva-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

tion, with the proper amount of water
when needed, the more sugar per acre.

Bulletin No 36 discusses the genera*
outlook for the sugar industry in Colorado1
The question of market for the sugar
which might be produced in the State is
answered as follows: ''To produce ^he.
sugar consumed by the inhabitants of Col-
orado would require five factories of large
size, employing two hundred men each,
who with their families, would represent
about four thousand people. It would re-
quire the growing of sugar beets on fifteen
thousand acres of land, and add more than
three hundred dollars to the income of each
of two thousand farms."

Touching the question of profit, the
writer says: "If prices are such as to
make the business profitable anywhere,
then it will pay in Colorado."

The irrigable portions of Colorado below
5000 feet in altitude and east of the Rocky
Mountains, possess the best possible cli-
mate for the growth of sugar beets, as do
many of the valleys of the western portion
of the State, but the parks of Colorado are
too cold for the sugar beet to be grown with
profit.

The common cause of failure among be-
ginners is a lack of thorough preparation of
the soil. The plowing should be done in
the fall, subsoiling to fifteen or eighteen
inches. If this is done, a thorough har-
rowing just before planting will be all that
is needed.

If the plowing is done in the spring it
should be delayed until just before plant-
ing. The planting is done with a drill.
An ordinary wheat drill may be used, but
there are special drills for planting beets.
Twenty-four inches is recommended as the
distance between rows, being none too far
apart for irrigation.

The quantity of seed recommended to be
sown is at the rate of twenty pounds to the
acre. This quantity is large, but advisable
in order to get a full stand. The seed
should be put in about an inch and a half

deep. If the ground is thoroughly wet a*-
the time of planting half an inch may suf-
fice.

If the plowing is done in the spring
it may be advisable to irrigate the ground
thoroughly before plowing, and thus insure
a good supply of moisture in the subsoil.

If, after the seed is sown, the weather
is so dry that the seed has to be "irrigated
up," the chances of a profitable crop are
slight. The seed can be successfully "ir-
rigated up" by running a furrow six inches
from the drill and allowing a small head of
water to run until it has wet the seed by
soaking sideways.

The planting may be done from the last
of March till the middle of June. Sugar
beets sown the first of May will be ready
for harvesting about the first of October.

The first cultivation should take place as
soon as the plants are up enough to enable
one to follow the row. Whatever imple-
ment is used, it should merely scratch the
surface of the ground, leaving it level and
killing the small weeds without throwing
dirt onto the young plants. The weeds
must be kept down. The ground should
be cultivated after each irrigation to level
the ground and make a dirt mulch on top
to preserve the moisture.

The beet crop in Colorado will need one,
and possibly two or three, irrigations. The
last irrigation should be given about six
weeks before the crop is mature. In 1895
a heavy rain in September kept the beet
crop in full growth, until frost, and pro-
duced a crop with much less than the usual
amount of sugar.

The plants should be thinned when they
have four leaves, leaving but one plant in
a place. The distance between plants
chould be eight to ten inches. There is
generally but little difference in the weight
of the crop in cases where the beets stand
six, eight, and ten inches apart. It is
easy to grow beets weighing five pounds
each, where the soil is rich, by thinning to
twelve inches, but such beets are inferior

338

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

to beets averaging less than two pounds for
sugar, and also for stock feeding.

In thinning, the plants are cut out by
means of a sharp hoe, leaving bunches of a
few plants each, which must be thinned to
a single plant by hand.

The soil of Colorado is generally rich
enough to grow several crop 3 of beets with-
out fertilizing, but it must eventually be
fertilized in order to maintain the yield.

In case alfalfa ground is broken up beets
should not be grown on it the first season,
but rather a crop of wheat. This will put
the soil in better condition and will rot the
alfalfa roots. It is not advisable to grow
beets more than two years in succession on
the same ground. Alkali ground may be
an exception.

If barnyard manure is used to fertilize
he soil, the beets can advantageously fol-
low a crop of corn.

The best varieties are the Kleinwansle-
bener and Vilmorin.

The harvesting is done either by means
of a beet puller or by plowing a furrow
near the beets and pulling them by hand-

The topping is done by means of a heavy
knife. Topping machines have, as yet.
not been successful.

The factories work on beets hauled di-
rectly from the field up to the time freez-
ing weather sets in. Beets to be used in
the latter part of the season should be pro-
tected from freezing; for this purpose they
may be put into shallow pits and covered
wkh straw and dirt, either near the factory
in pits provided by them, or in the field.

The cost of growing an acre of beets va-
ries in different parts of the country, the
size of area planted, the condition of the
ground, etc. The range is from thirty to
forty-five dollars, or from two to four dol-
lars per ton.

About eleven tons of sugar beets per
acre at four and a half dollars per ton is a
fair average crop, with a possibility of a
much larger yield. Compared with alfalfa

or wheat, the return seems large, but much
more labor is required to produce it.

Sugar beets have a high value for stock
feeding. They have been fed at the Col-
lege with good results, except where fed to
steers. The beets seem to be too watery
for profitable feeding to steers where the
feeding is done out of doors in cold weather.
It is advisable not to feed them to fatten-
ing lambs for the last six weeks before
marketing, grain being preferable at this
period, so that the flesh and fat may har.
den for shipment.

The tops are good feed for all classes of
farm animals. They may be fed at once,
as soon as harvested, or put in a silo and
fed through the winter.

The next record of results occurs in bul-
letin No. 42. In 1897 we made an effort to
enlist persons in different parts of the
State in the raising of sugar beets. The
Station has already established beyond any
doubt the adaptability of both the soil and
climate of this section of the State to the
cultivation of the sugar beet, and also of
that of the Arkansas valley, where the sub-
station at Rockyford is located, but no co-
operative work, including all sections of
the State, had been entered upou. The
Station received from the Department of
Agriculture at Washington, five hundred
pounds of beet seed, and from A. Keil-
holz, Quedlinburg, Germany, two hundred
pounds. This seed was sent to six hun-
dred and eleven persons residing in forty-
seven counties of the State. Most of the
analyses of these beets were made by the
Department of Agriculture in Washington.
The State was divided into five sections, as
follows:

1. The valley of the South Platte and
its tributaries

2. The Divide south of Denver, where-
crops are raised without irrigation.

3. The valley of the Arkansas.

4. The valley of the Grand.

5. The San Luis valley.

The varieties used were the Kleinwan.

'LHE IRRIGATION AGE.

zlebener, Vilmorin. and the Imperial
White. As there were one hundred and
six samples of the Kleinwanzlebener va-
riety out of the one hundred and twenty-
five recorded, no distinction is made be-
tween the varieties in this summary.

The percentage of sugar in the samples
from the Platte valley ranged from 11.5 to
20.0, the coefficient of purity from 73 to
86, and the orop in tons from 9 to 47.

The percentage of sugar in the samples
from the Divide section, growth without
irrigation, ranged from 11 to 18, the co-
efficient of purity ranged from 71 to 87
and the yield in tons from 9 to 22.

The percentage of sugar in the samples
from the Arkansas valley ranged from 12
to 20; coefficient of purity from 73 to 86,
and the crop in tons from 12 to 40.

The samples from the Grand valley
showed percentages of sugar ranging from
12 to 19, coefficients of purity ranging
from 74 to 86, and crops from 15 to 42
tons.

The samples from the San Luis valley
showed percentages of sugar ranging from
11.5 to 17.9, coefficients of purity from
74.2 to 86.9.

The time of ripening of beets in Col-
orado will vary, of course, but the average
of the samples taken between September
25th and October 10th is 14.1 per cent
sugar and 80.7 per cent purity, which is
an excellent grade of beet. To get the crop
to ripen is the principal aim of the beet
grower. The mort important factor in this
is that the beet shall be kept growing all
the time from the sproutiug of the seed
until the harvest. Some of the conditions
on which the ripening of the crop depends
are beyond the control of the grower. In
Colorado it is true in general that the crop
will not ripen until the vigor of growth has
been checked by frost. The best means
of determining whether a crop is ripe or
not, that is, in condition to go to the fac-
tory, is by means of an analysis, but a
good judgment can be formed by cutting a

beet and noticing the rate at which the cut
surfaces darken.

The increase in percentage of sugar and
coefficient of purity during ripening is-
about three per cent for the former and
about five per cent for the latter.

Some very suggestive facts relative to
methods of culture were observed during
this year's study. Certain principles of"
beet growing have come to be considered
as essential to the production of the best
beets. These principles were violated by
most of the growers of beets this year, it
being their first experience, and yet they
obtained good results. It is said that beets
should never be planted on new ground.
This was violated with good results, giv-
ing, in one case, beets of 15.2 per cent
sugar and 82.4 per cent purity, and in an-
other 19.4 per cent sugar, and in others^
the beets were above the average. Ground
which had been broken but one year gave
uniformly good results. So, too, in regard
to time of plowing and sub^oiling. All
writers on sugar beet culture agree that
beets should not be planted on ground that
has been recently manured. Sixteen per-
sons report manuring with stable manure..
The crops were late in ripening, but with
three exceptions, the quality was good.
The results as a whole indicate much more
gain than loss from the application of
stable manure.

The hardest part of beet raising is to get
a full stand all over the field. The poor
growth of the seed is due to lack of mois-
ture, too deep planting, and poorly pre-
pared ground. The lack of moisture cao
be overcome in two ways — by irrigating
before or after planting the seed. The
latter seems to be more promising as a
general method. Of fifteen persons trying
this method, eight report having obtained
a thick stand, being twice as large in pro-
portion as those reporting a thick stand by
depending on rain or the original moisture
in the ground.

Mr. Geo. H. West of Greeley, contri -

"340

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

'buted an interesting article, published in
bulletin No. 4'2, containing the observa-
tions and conclusions of his study of the
subject, which he designates "Growing
Sugar Beets for Factories." Mr. West
studied this subject in Nebraska, Utah,
and New Mexico. Of the growing of beets
in Nebraska he says: The farmers are
largely Germans, with some Russians.
Women and children work with the men
in the fields. Where a large acreage is in
beets, the thinning, weeding, hoeing, pull-
ing, and topping is done by contract. La-
borers receive from fifteen to twenty dol-
lars per month, the usual wages by the day
being one dollar and board. On contract
work the rate is from fifty cents to one dol-
lar for boys; one dollar for men and wo-
men, without board. For a man and team,
two dollars and fifty cents per day; for
man and horse, one dollar and seventy-five
cents. Land rent from three dollars and
fifty cents to six dollars per acre.

The average yield in 1897 was 7.25 tons,
and the sugar extracted by the factory at
Norfolk was 10.95 per cent. The percent-
age of sugar in the beets was 13.1 percent,
purity 81.5 per cent.

The Grand Island beet raisers averaged
•8.1 tons per acre. The average percentage
of sugar in the beets in 1897 is said to
have been 12.87, and purity 79.5. The
percentage of sugar obtained from these
'beets by the factory was 8.72.

The tables given show that in 1897 the
factories at Norfolk and Grand Island
treated the largest tonnage and made the
highest saving attained up to that year.
The range of farm wages is from fourteen
to twenty dollars per month, with board;
and from one dollar to a dollar and a quar-
ter by the day. Women aud children gen-
erally work on the contract plan. Many
girls get a dollar a day in the beet fields,
and prefer it to house work. Boys from
ten to eighteen years of age receive from
fifty to eighty cents per day, a man and
team two dollars and fifty cents, and a man

and horse one dollar and seventy-five cents
per day. Contracts can occasionally be
made, as in Colorado, at two dollars per
day for man and team. Land rentals
range from four dollars to seven dollars
per acre. The crop of 1897 is said to have
been reduced fully one-third by drought.
No beets are grown by irrigation in Neb-
raska.

At Lehi. Utah, the conditions are said
to be ideal for the growing of beets and
running a sugar factory. The farms vary
from five to forty acres in extent, and fully
nine-tenths of them are worked by the
owners. Mortgages are rare and the far-
mers prosperous. The women do not
work in the fields, and the girls seldom
work there unless at home. Much of the
hand labor is done by boys. The average
acreage per grower is less than four acres.
The highest average yield per acre was in
1896, 13.4 tons. The average per acre
from 1891 to 1897, inclusive, was 9.44
tons. The highest average percentage of
sugar in the beets was. in 1896, 13.9 per
cent. The average percentage from 1891
to 1897, inclusive, was 12.4 per cent. The
average percentage of sugar extracted,
1891 to 1897 inclusive, was 8.46. Land
rentals range from $7.50 to $15.00. The
soil shows a great diversity about Lehi,
but is generally a heavier soil than the up-
lands of northern Colorado.

The Eddy. New Mexico, sugar beet fac -
tory has been run for two seasons only,

1896 and 1897. The valley, though a nat-
ural fruit garden, lacks the farming popu-
lation, and perhaps, too, the close, careful
cultivation and knowledge of irrigation of
the other farm districts of Colorado. In

1897 they grew 1,900 acres of beets; yield,
three tons per acre: percentage of sugar,
14.2; purity, 80 per cent; percentage of
sugar extracted from the beets, 10.53.

The average cost of growing and deliver-
ing a crop of beets at Norfolk, Nebraska,
is $26.50 per acre; the average profit
$11.04. The yields range from five to fif-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

341

teen tons per acre. The net returns vary
from a profit of $29.00 to a loss of $7.55
per acre. At Grand Island, Nebraska, the
average was $28.73 per acre, and the ave-
rage profit $9.27. The yield varied from
five to twelve tons per acre, and the net
results from a profit of $17.00 to a loss of
$12.00 per acre. Mr. West puts the aver-
age cost of growing and marketing sugar
beets in Nebraska at $30.00 per acre, and
statts that the officials of both factories
put it at the value of seven tons of beets,
or $28. 00.

The average cost of growing beets in
Utah, not including land rentals, is put
at $32.50 per acre. The average yield is
stated at $10.1 tons, but the yield for 1897
was 6.75 tons. Improved beet cultivating
implements had not, at that time, been
introduced into Utah, and this, with the
higher land rental and cost of irrigation,
raises the actual cost to probably $40.00
per acre.

Relative to the profits of beet culture,
Mr. West says: Large yields are regular-
ly obtained by those farmers who do thor-
ough, clean work, and intimates that
therein lies a big secret of success. i:

It is also pointed out that the labor
question is a most serious problem in this
industry. It is too important to be en-
tirely passed over, even in a summary
such as this.

Concerning the feeding of pulp to cat-
tle and sheep he gives results obtained in
Nebraska and Utah. At Lehi the pulp is
placed in silos with addition of about one-
half per cent, of its weight of salt. The
cattle always have access to plenty of hay,
pulp, and water. They never feed a
pound of grain in fattening the stock, un-
less the pulp gives out.

John Reimers, Grand Island, Nebraska,
had had three years' experience in feeding
pulp to cattle. He fed fifty pounds of
pulp, twenty pounds of corn meal, a little
bran, and oil cake, and the usual amount
of hay per day, as a full ration. Hake

Bros., also of Grand Island, fed lambs a
mixture of four pounds of pulp to one or
one and a half pounds of corn meal, be-
sides hay, as a full ration. The results
are highly satisfactory. The pulp is said
by- Superintendent Geu. Austin, of Lehi,
to give the best results after fermenting
in the silos for thirty days, and shou
not be fed sooner than this.

The experiments made in 1898 are
grouped as follows in bulletin No. 51:

1. Different dates of planting. Re-
sults in favor of early planting in respect
to yield, sugar content, and purity.

2. Planting on freshly plowed ground
as compared with planting on ground
plowed a few days before planting. Re-
sulted in favor of planting on freshly
plowed ground by 2.3 tons in yield, two
per cent, in purity, and a slight excess in
sugar.

3 Seed irrigated in planting as compared
with that not irrigated. Results obtained
on the College Farm showed no advantage
from tliis piuclicu. The soil \vu> a uaher
heavy loam ami was inoi^t at planting
time. Guod results have .been observed
from tins |>ract ce on lighter soils.

4. Soakinjr seed before planting. Re-
sults did not show any gain from the soak-
ing of the seed.

5. Sowing at the bottom of a three-
inch furrow. The resulting stand was not
so good as that obtained by sowing at or-
dinary depths. The yield was once as
good and twice poorer than that from sim-
ilar rows of ordinary planting. The per-
centage of sugar and purity were not per-
ceptibly different from other plantings.

6. Different depths of planting. The
depths at which the seed was planted
were from one-half an inch to an inch and
a half. The first series, planted May llth
in a wet soil, showed no difference, but
the later planting, made May 27th when
the soil had dried out considerably,
showed an advantage in favor of the deep-
est planting, amounting in comparison

342

1HE IRRIGATION AGE.

with the shallower plantings to more than
one-third of the crop. The stand, yield
and quality were all better than in the
cases of shallower planting.

7. Transplanting. Transplanted beets
are usually ill-shaped. The yield may be
good, percentage of sugar and purity high,
but the method would not be a financial
success.

8. Different distances of thinning. The
results obtained show that the distance
apart of the beets, from four to ten inches,
has but sligh£ influence on the quality of
the crop as to sugar and purity. In a
general way the thicker stand tends to a
larger yield, but there are exceptions to
this statement.

9. Different dates of thinning. The
results show that the thinning of beets
can be extended over a period of two
weeks without injury to the crop.

10. Variety tests. Six varieties, Zehr-
ingen; Vilmorin's improved, grown in
Russia; Kleinwanzlebener, grown by Vil-
morin; Pitschke's Elite; Vilmorin's
French, very rich; and Schreiber's Elite
were grown side by side with Kleinwanz-
lebener, strain not given, with almost
identical results in percentage of sugar
and purity, the sugar ranging from 15 to
17.20 per cent., and the purity from 76 to
81.9. The average of all the samples
analyzed in this test is 16.04 per cent,
sugar, and 78.9 purity.

11. Number of irrigations. At Rocky-
ford, beets were grown without irrigation,
with one, and with four irrigations. This
experiment was of little value, being de-
feated by the unusually heavy rains of
that season.

At Pueblo, Mr. C. K. McHarg applied
water to one-half of some experimental
plots twice after the 20th of August, the
other half receiving none that date. The
two later irrigations produced an increase
of one-seventh in the weight of the crop,
and the percentage of sugar was increased;
beets from the half irrigated late, con-

tained 16.42 per cent, sugar, 81.0 purity,,
and thos^ from the other half contained
15.79 per cent, sugar. 81.7 purity.

12. American grown seed vs. imported,
seed. Two samples of American grown
seed were used, one grown in Utah and
the other in New Mexico, both were
strains of Kleinwanzlebener beets. The
imported seeds were the Original Klein-
wanzlebener, Vilmorin. Mangold and
Elite Kleinwanzlebener.

The Elite Kleinwanzlebener and the
Vilmorin were sent us by the U. S. De-
partment of Agriculture as the best beet
seed that they could get. The Original
Kleinwanzlebener was selected by the
Utah Sugar Company as, in their judg-
ment, the best brand of seed on the mar-
ket from which to raise their own seed.
The Utah grown seed produced a^ large a
crop and one richer in sugar and purity
than the average of these three. It ex-
cels its parent strain in richness and pur-
ity, and is but little inferior in quality of
crop.

The New Mexico seed equals the Vil-
morin and is not far behind the original
Klein wanzleLener.

The germinating quality qf the seed is
quite satisfactory.

In 1899 the questions whose solution
were attempted were:

Does it pay to subsoil? The results of
ten tests made at this Station show an
average gain of 18 per cent, in the weight
of the crop as the result of subsoiling.

Is it advisable to plant the best seed
very early? The average crop from ten
plots sown between April 10th and 20th
was 27.7 tons; from ten plots sown be-
tween May 1st and 10th was 24.3 tons;
from ten plots sown between May 15th
and 26th was 20.5 tons; and from ten plots
sown between May 31st and June 10th
was 15.3.

The percentage of sugar in these vari-
ous crops scarcely differed at all, 0.76 of
one per cent, being the maximum differ-

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

«nce, and 3.2 was the maximum difference
in purity. The difference in crop, how-
ever, is very decidedly in favor of very
early planting.

The question of the distance between
rows is recurred to again, and a former
recommendation is repeated, i. e., making
the alternate spaces between rows nar-
rower and wider. The distances advo-
cated are eleven and twenty-seven inches.
The chief advantage claimed is in irrigat-
ing, also an increase of crop.

IRRIGATING UP THE SEED.

Twelve experiments were made with
irrigating up the seed, and a like number
without irrigation. Of the twelve experi-
ments with irrigrtion none failed, of those
without irrigation two failed. The crops
from the twelve irrigated at the time of
planting averaged 26.3 tons to the acre.
The crops from the ten plots which came
up, but which were not irrigated at the
time of planting, averaged 25.4 tons to
the acre.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEETS.

The earliest observations on this sub-
ject seem to have been made by Prof. C.
P. Gillette in 1894, when he records the
•leaf hoppers Gnathodus abdominalis, Pla-
tymetopius acutus, and Agallia uhleri, as
doing injury to beets in the vicinity of
Grand Junction, also a mealy bug, Dacty-
lapius solani, as infesting the crowns of
the plant. The next mention of injury to
beets by insects is in 1897, when the
writer's patch of beets was seriously in-
jured by the leaf hoppers Agallia uhleri,
A. sanguineolenta, A. cinerea, and the
striped beetle Systena taeniata. Later
Monoxia puncticollis. and also the blister
beetle, Macrobases unicolor, did some
•damage.

In 1869 the beet army- worm (Laphygma
flavimaculata) made its appearance near
•Grand Junction, and was very destructive.
It did not appear in injurious numbers in
this locality in 1900. Prof. Gillette and
his assistant, Mr. E. D. Ball, found but

few specimens of either the first or second
brood. Prof. Gillette (Thirteenth Annual
Report of the Colorado Agricultural Ex-
periment Station) says of this failure of
the insect to appear the second season:
The very sudden appearance of this insect
which had never before been considered
injurious, in such destructive numbers,
and its equally sudden disappearance, is
quite remarkable. Particularly is this so
from the fact that the fall brood of worms
in 1899 were but little parasitized, and the
moths matured in enormous numbers.
The latter must have failed, for some rea-
son, to winter over. These worms ap-
peared on some experimental patches of
beets at Lamar and Rockyford in 1899,
and the first brood appeared in destructive
numbers in 1900. The worms began to
appear during the first week in June, and
were abundant by the 14th, when spray-
ing was begun. Late planted beets were
not injured by them, except where they
were planted near patches of weeds or ear-
lier beets. The poisons were effectual,
especially where two sprayings were made
with Paris green.

Other insects mentioned by Prof. Gil-
lette as having been observed on beets and
not already mentioned, are Nysius angus-
tatus Coften called false cinch bug), more
or less abundant everywhere, in some cases
causing beets to wilt and die. Deilephila
lineata was found as an occasional feeder,
especially where purslane was allowed to
grow. (Mr. Ball's notes.)

MONEY IN HORSE-RADISH CULTURE.

The cultivation of horse radish is one of
the profitable fields neglected by market
gardener and general farmer. In the vi-
cinity of large cities men who give the
business the proper time and attention
clear $300 or more an acre every year. If
the roots are sold in the open market these
figures are obtained, but when ground and
put in cans for use, the profits run up to
early one thousand dollars an acre. The

344

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

demands are never supplied in the large
cities, and but few of the smaller towns
ever have the roots or salad on the mar-
ket. No farm should be without at least
some plants of the horse radish as it is a
most valuable appetizer aud healthful food
assistant.

The Bohemian and Bavarian horse rad-
ish is found on all hotel and public eating
house tables of Europe. It is served in
whole roots, thin shavings or the grated
salad form, and is regarded as one of the
most important items of expenditure for
customers. The best roots come from
Bayersdorf, where the growers report get-
ing from $250 to 300 an acre from the pro-
duct. They harvest as many as 10.000
roots from an acre and leave the mother
root to come out the following season and
make additional crops. The little village
has a population of probably 1,500 people
all depending on the growing of horse rad-
ish and enjoying perfect prosperity.

Horse radish requires a good, rich loam
containing little clay to insure a successful
crop. In Europe a soil that has been first
loosened by a crop of clover or other long
fibrous roots, and left in a condition to
supply abundant nitrogen is preferred for
the root crop. The growers of the United
States say. that a tract of land formerly
cultivated to cabbage or similar clean
crops, is best suited to horse radish plant-
ing. The soil should be moist and not
wet, deeply plowed and well pulverized.
A fertilizer containing about 9 per cent
Potash and a similar amount of Phosp-
horic Acid with 4 percent nicrogen should
be applied in the spring, when the plants
are set. An other good mixture per acre
would be 300 to 400 pounds of ground
bone and 100 pounds of Muriate of Pot-
ash. Annual applications of similar fer-
tilizers must be made.

The American plan is to plant small
cuttings of roots in rows about 18 inches
apart either way. the roots being covered by
6 or 8 inches of earth. In Europe the

long roots are set in holes leaning at an-
angle of about 35 degrees. This is done,
so that the shoots may be rubbed during
the growing season by the thumb and fore*
finger, to break off any sprouts or warts
that might form and thus make the roots
clean and clear. It also gives the harvester
a better opportunity for cutting out the
roots and leaving the original mother stalk.
It is not ueccessary in our country to rub
the roots, but if they are planted after the
foreign plan, they can be harvested morti
easily. Our markets do not demand the
whole root, so that thej need not be per-
fectly smooth to grate.

Cultivation of horse radish is an essen-
tial feature and the profit depends much
on the way this is done. The ground
should be kept loose on the surface and
the weeds and grasses kept well cleaned
out from the beds. If several shoots come
up from the root the smaller ones should
be carefully broken off to prevent the
strength of the plant coming to the top
rather than the root. Good roots will
form each year and the new ones should be
cut out in the fall or early in the spring,
before the plants are too far advanced in
growing. A Mattock is generally used in
digging the roots for home use or the mar-
ket. The leaves are first cut off and a
stroke made on either side of the plant to
bare the roots when those wanted are cut
off. leaving the mother root about one foot
beneath the surface.

Marketing is best done by grinding or
grating the roots and thus preparing them.'
for the table. In the cities however the
whole roots are in demand, at from eight
to fifteen cents a pound. The grower will
soon learn which is the best way to get
into market and supply the demand ac-
cordingly.

THE CULTIVATION OF TEA.
Tea culture is nne of the established in-
dustries of the Southern portion of the-
United States. Experiments conducted.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

345

for the past ten years have fully demon-
strated that the commercial tea can be
produced and that at least 400 pounds
may be taken from an acre. The most ex-
tensive tea gardens are operated in South
Carolina where 50 acres are planted and
produce an average of 400 pounds per
acre. In the oriental isles some of the
most successful tea growers get 1,000
pounds from an acre. The tea plants will
stand cold as low as zero and are, there-
fore, adapted to nearly all of the great
South.

The different grades of tea used consist
of the leaves of the Camellia tea. The
original plant comes from Assam in North-
ern British India. It grows luxuriously
often attaining a height of 25 feet. The
leaves are a bright green, measuring 9
inches in length and four inches in width.
The trees were transplanted in Japan and
became more stunted, the growth being
small or large in proportion to the heat or
cold in which it grew. It requires a rich,
well drained soil, containing plenty of
plant food, where the rainfall is abundant
"and the climate not too severe.

There are about fifty varieties of tea
that have been acclimated to other coun-
tries beside the hot valleys of India,
Among them are the Darjeeling, Kangra.
Kumaon, Ceylon, Formosa, Chinese and
Japanese. Seed comes from China and
Japan and costs from 50 cents to $1.00
per pound. There are approximately 400
seeds in a pound. The seed should be
planted early in the Fall, on light, sandy
soil, to the depth of two or three inches.
If the rainfall is not enough to keep up
good, perfect moisture, artificial irrigation
should be applied. The seeds germinate
in early spring and plants will reach a
height of 6 to 8 inches during the first
summer.

The soil for the tea crop should be

thoroughly pulverized and put in good con-

ition before transplanting the trees. It

is essential, of course, that a sufficient
amount of plant food be supplied, as the
tea needs nourishment, the same as any
other plant. Both the quality and quan-
tity will be influenced by the kind of fer-
tilizer applied. A suitable mixture for
tea would be about 400 to 500 pounds of
a complete fertilizer, which should analyze
3 per cent Nitrogen, 7 per cent Phosphoric
Acid and 8 per cent Potash; in place of
this from 300 to 400 pounds of Bone Meal
and 150 pounds of Muriate of Potash can
be applied per acre. The fertilizer should
be broadcasted and then thoroughly mixed
with the soil.

Leaves may be plucked from the trees
the second year. Crops will increase every
season for a number of years, the trees-
probably being at their best in six or seven
years. The yield of tea bush generally
ranges about 5 ounces of dried tea, ready
for market. Leaves are generally picked
by children who receive 50 cents per day
for their work. It requires 4 pounds of
green leaves to make one pound of the
dried product. Picking may be made
every ten days or about twenty times dur-
ing the season.

The tea is prepared for market by being
rolled or fired to make the green or black
teas of commerce. For these purposes
machines are employed. These are manu-
factured especially for the purpose and
may be made by the grower with but little
expense. The work of tea growing is new
but is worthy an investigation by every
farmer in the Southern States. The im-
mense volumns of tea imported every year
makes a great amount of money sent to-
foreign lands which should be kept in the
South. As the Southern portion of our
country is rapidly developing into one of
the richest sections of the world, aud tea
is one of the natural products of the soil
and climate, it should bocome one of the
money-making crops.

JOEL SHOMAKRR.

346

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

FERTILIZING THE ORCHARD.

The orchards of this country are the
most neglected of any of our crops. It may
seem strange to some to call an orchard a
«rop, but that is what it is. It is grown
for the purpose of producing something
for use or sale just as other crops are, and
it is a notorious fact that this crop is
more neglected than any other we grow.
Prof. L. H. Bailey, of Cornell, recently
said some things about orchard manage-
ment. He said:

Good drainage, natu.al or artificial, is
essential to success. Trees are impatient
•of wet feet.

Good tillage increases the available food
supply of the soil, and also conserves its
moisture.

Tillage should be begun just as soon as
the ground is dry enough in the spring,
and should be repeated as often as once in
4en days throughout the growing season,
which extends from spring until July or
August.

Only cultivated crops should be allowed
in orchards early in the season. Grain
and hay should never be grown.

Even-howed or cultivated crops rob the
trees of moisture and fertility if they are
allowed to stand above the tree roots.

Watch a sod orchard. It will begin to
fail before you know it.

Probably nine-tenths of the apple or-
chards are in sod, and many of them are
meadows. Of course they are failing.

The remedy for these apple failures is
to cut down many of the orchards. For
the remainder of the treatment is cultiva-
tion, spraying — the trinity of orthodox
apple growing.

Potash is the chief fertilizer to be ap-
plied to fruit trees, particularly after they
come into bearing.

Potash may be had in wood ashes and
muriate of potash. It is most commonly
•used in the latter form. An unusual ap-
plication of potash should be made upon
tearing orchards, 500 pounds to the acre.

Phosphoric acid is the second important
fertilizer to be applied artificially • to or-
chards. Of the plain superphosphates,
from 300 to 500 pounds may be applied to
the acre.

Nitrogen can be obtained cheapest by
means of thorough tillage (to promote nitri
fication) and nitrogenous green manures.

Barn manures are generally more econo-
mically used when applied to farm crops
than when applied to orchards; yet they
can be used with good results, particularly
when rejuvenating the old orchards.

SOIL MAPS.

The Department of Agriculture at Wash
ington will soon issue soil maps which will
enable the farmer wherever he is located to
determine just what crops will bring him
the largest returns. They are printed in
colors, the meaning of the different colors
fully explained and suggestions as to rela-
tive values of soils and their adaptability to
crops offered for the guidance of the tiller
of the land.

The magnitude of the work may be
understood when it, is known that the en-
tire country will be included. The vast
single map which will represent the coun-
try as a whole will indicate each ten-acre
plot by a square one-eighth inch in size.
But each farmer will be able to procure a
chart of his own neighborhood on a larger
scale, so that he can arrange his planting
in accordance with the suggestions which
it conveys. The work is done by town
ships to start with, and these are put to-
gether to make counties, which are finally
assembled to form complete maps of states

Hitherto the business of farming has
been to some extent guess work; the far-
mer formed a surmise as to what crop-
were best for him to try. and did his plant-
ing accordingly. Henceforth it may be quite
different. He may study the government
map, and from it may obtain advice based
on the highest scientific knowledge as to
what will be best for him to grow. Then

rl HE IRRIGATION AGE.

347

he can go ahead with a reasonable certainty
of satisfactory results. In the first place,
the soil map will show what kind of agri-
cultural industry any given locality is best
adapted for, whether fruit raising, vege-
table growing, dairying, or general farm-
ing. The value of this to home-seeking
folk, who desire to engage in certain lines
of production, cannot be overestimated.
Then, after the general location is deter-
mined he will find the specific place on
which he best may succeed by consulting
the detailed description on the map of just
the piece of land required.

The map will call attention to certain
troubles of soils which have been investi-
gated through chemical analyses. One of
these is acidity, which has an important
influence upon farming over large areas*
another is excess or deficiency or certain
elements of plant growth, which can be
supplied by fertilizers; and yet another is
alkali. As for alkali, seience has ascer-
tained both the source of it and the remedy.
It comes usually from wash from the
mountains, from salts carried on to the
land by irrigation, or from deposits laid
down at a period when the land was sea
bottom. The remedy is to under-drain the
land and wash out the alkali and to pre-
vent the accumulation of seepage water in
the subsoil.

The map will give a basis for the intro~
duction of new crops from abroad by show-
ing what areas are specially adapted to cer-
tain kinds of plants. It was incidental st
this investigation that the important fact
was ascertained that real Sumatra tobacco
could be grown in the Connecticut valley,
a discovery which will put millions of dol-
lars into the pockets of American produc-^
ers. In these days of rapid agricultural
development it is of the utmost importance
to encourage in every possible way the in-
troduction and spread of new industries,
such as truck growing, fruit culture on im-
proved principles, etc., and the soil map
here described has an obvious and impor-
tant bearing upon all such problems.

It is along these advanced lines of agri-
cultural development that the department
must do its most important work. It is
gratifying to note the order and consis-
tency with which the work is being pressed
toward certain definite results — toward the
continued extension of the scope of our
agricultural products on the one hand and
the acquirement of power to produce from
a given piece of lano the utmost of which
it is capable of yielding, on the other.
With such a wealth of intelligent thought
and effort directed in its interest. Ameri-
can agriculture must steadily rise to higher
ground.

GEM FROM PHILIPPINES.

A Denver lady is in receipt of one of the
best souvenirs that has yet come from the
Philippines, says the Chattanooga (Tenn.)
News. It is a New Year's card sent by a
.relative, who is commanding one of the
volunteer regiments.

The card, or rather album, is a home-
made affair, evidently altogether his own
handiwork. On every other page is a
verse of poetry, not the ordinary doggerel
of the average youth, but real poetry. On
the alternate pages are camera views of
scenes in the land of the Orient. The
leaves are neatly bound together with a
piece of blue ribbon, and on the cover are
pen sketches, very artistically done, while
the whole is most attractive.

The verses are as follows:

Oh ! the big round moon's a-fillin' all the

camp with silver light,
And among the ferns and bushes dodge

the fireflies big and bright,
And the boys rolled in their blankets sleep

as silent as the dead,
And the night wind rustles softly in the

palm leaves overhead.

I can near the guard a-walkin' and off

somewhere, pretty far,
There's a native woman singin' and a-

thumpin' a guitar ;
And the music sets me dreamin' and my

thoughts are bound to roam
To the girl that sings supraner in our

meet'n' house at home.

Bound me bends the feathered grasses

with the dew a shinin' wet,
And the palm tree 'gainst the skyline

makes a ragged silhouette.

And that old guitar a-plunkin' isn't just a

concert band,

And she sings in Filipino, so I do not un-
derstand.
But there's magic in it surely, for it takes

me far away,
Till the smell of tropic flowers turns to

that of new-mown hay,
And I'm lis'nin', carried somehow over

miles and miles of foam,
To the girl that sings supraner in our

meet'n' house at home.
I'm a-sittin' dressed for Sunday in the old,

familiar pew.
And I hear the parson ironin', like he

never would get through ;
I can see the sunshine streamin' through

the window's colored stain.
And I smell cologne and camphor; yes,

and pep'mint. plain as plain.
I can hear Aunt Hannah coughin' ; I can

hear old Jenkins snore,
And the hymn book pages rustle as the

people thumb 'em o'er;
And I hear the sweet notes risin' upward

towards the heavenly dome,
As that girl, she sings supraner in our

meet'n' house at home.

But the old guitar stops playin' and the

singin' it stops too,
And my Sunday clothes are turnin' khaki

brown and army blue ;
And the church in old New England is

once more a forest black,
Full of Malay heathens, hopin' they may

shoot me in the back.

But I thank the native woman for the com-
fort of her song,

And I hope the mail boat's hustlin' that's
a-comin' from Hongkong,

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

349

For I know it brings a letter, o'er the

South Pacific's foam.
From the girl that sings supraner in our

meet'n' house at home.

MILE A MINUTE SNUB.
We worked for Bill McKinley, and we

hustled for him fair;
We argued and we quarreled till he landed

in the chair;
We pointed out the future; 'twould be

glorious and grand
If folks would only recognize that he could

save the land ;
But when he got to Bowersville upon this

western trip

His train slid by our station
At a

mile a minute

clip.
Why, when we read the papers — how he

planned to come this way —
We bought a bunch of banners and got

ready for the day ;
We put flags on the deepo and put up a

speaker's stand

And bought a lot of musie for the .Bowers-
ville brass band.

And when the engines whistled we pre-
pared to let 'er rip,
But the train went by us people
At a

mile a minute

clip.
WTe're done with Bill McKinley. He's a

emperor — that's what —
To pass the men that made him like they

wasn't on the spot !
Yes. sir. He's lost his chances when they

was within his reach.
We've got some unused fireworks — and —

I — had — prepared a speech —
A few short words of welcome, but McKin-
ley got too flip

When he rattled by our station
At a

mile a minute

clip.

ABOUT EXCHANGES

SCRIBNER'S.

For July contains a "Tour in Sicily," by
Bufus B. Richardson; "Parkman at Lake
George," Francis Parkman ; "Uncle David,"
by LeEey Milton Yale; "Krag, the Koote-
nay Earn," Part II, by Ernest Seton-
Thompson, author of ''Wild Animals I
have Known"; "When Gitchigamme
warned the Muscovite," by Sewell Ford ;
"Some Famous Orators I have Heard," by
George F. Hoar; "Passages from a Diary
in the Pacific— Tahiti," John La Farge;
"The Delta Country of Alaska," G. R.
Putnam; "Homesick," Julia C. R Dore;
"The Diary of a Goose Girl— Chaps. IX.-
XI," by Kate Douglas Wiggin ; "Matthew
Arnold," by W. C. Brownell ; "Dawn at
Venice," by Martha Gilbert Dickinson;
"The Field of Art,"— Daumier to Forain.
LADIES' HOME JOURNAL.

Seldom has a better chance for "stay-at-
home traveling" been offered than in the
Ladies Home .Journal for July. From
West Point, as pictured by George Gibbs
on the cover, readers may go with W. L.
Taylor to see "A Busy Boston Street at
High Noon;" next try "Goin' Fishin' with
Joe Jefferson" in Florida; then travel out
West with Ernest Seton -Thompson to see
"The Mother Teal and the Overland
Route" ; next go along the Atlantic coast
to find out how the places "Where our
Country Began" look to-day; then seek
Northern Michigan to hear "The Story of
a Maple Tree," by William Davenport
Hulbert ; next visit an Eastern magazine
editor's office and enjoy the good-humored
raillery of "The Case Against the Editor,"
by Edward Bok; and finally see what
"The Country of Sheridan's Ride" looks
like nowadays. There are many other
articles of equal interest on various sub-
jects.

SATURDAY EVENING POST.

Twenty-five years ago, when "Elbow
Room" and "Out of the Hurly-Burly"
were the successes of the day, Max Adeler

350

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

suddenly ceased writing. For a quarter
of a century he was proof against the
blandishments of editors, but Avithin a few
weeks he has completed a new series of
humorous stories which show him at his
best. Tales of Old Turley. which will
appear in early numbers of Ike Saturday
Evening Post, are wonderfully droll stor-
ies of the quaint characters in an old-
fashioned country town before the war.
Local politics, school committee fights,
church squabbles and women's clubs lend
themselves admirably to Max Adeler's
humorous touch, and form the basis of
some of the cleverest stories that have
been written for many a day.

MCCLUKE'S MAGAZINE

for July contains ''Long Distance Baloon
Racing," by Walter Wellman, the new
sport as practiced by the French. Illus-
trated by W. R. Leigh; "With Mrs. Ken-
worthy's Assistance,'' by Pascal H. Cog-
gins; illustrated by Henry Hutt; "The
Story of the Declaration of Independence,"
by Ida M. Tarbell, illustrated with authen-
tic portraits and fac-simile autographs of
the signers; "Within the Gates." by Eliz-
abeth Stuart Phelps. Act III. end of
drama Illustrated by Harry Fenn ; ' 'Two
of a Kind." by Ellsworth Kelley; illus-
trated by Orson Lowell; ':Recollectionsof
E. L. Davenport." by Clara Morris; illus-
trated with a portrait; ''The Loon," by
William Davenport Hulbert: illustrated
by W. M. Hardy; "Kim." by Rudyard
Kipling, chapters XI (continued) and XII;
illustrated by Edwin Lord Weeks;
"Praesto," a poem, by T. E. Brown;
"Governor Odell of New York," by Rollo
Ogden, a business man in politics; "The
Striker's Story," by Frank H. Spearman.
McTerza and the Railroad Kiot; illus-
trated by Jay Hambidge; "Hare and Tor-
toise," by George Madden Martin, How
Emmy Lou Spelled Down tho Second
Reader; illustrated bv Charles L. Hinton.

THE FORUM.

The July Forum is opened by important
articles on political problems of the day.
The first, by Mr. W. C. Jameson Reid, is
"A Plea for the Integrity of China." as
against the attempts of European powers
to secure its partition for their own advan-
tage. Congressman H. S. Boutell shows
the bearing of ''Tho Sale of Texas to
Spain" upon the question whether all ter-
ritory acquired by the government be-
comes ip so facto "an integral part" of the
United States. Other political articles
are contributed by Oscar W. Underwood,
who protests against "The Corrupting
Power of Public Patronage." and by Mr.
Walter Macarthur. who gives an account
of ''The Movement for a Shorter Working
Day." Five articles deal, more or less;
with educational subjects. President
Thwing, of Western Reserve University.
brings together the opinions he has gath-
ered from graduate correspondents re-
specting "The Shortened College Course.'
Mr. Jacob Schoenhof quotes the example
of European and English enterprise to
stimulate this country to pay greater at-
tention to ''Higher Technical Training."
Mr. John Corbin puts the question. "Is
the Elective System Elective?" and shows
that in many cases the object intended by
this system is not fulfilled. Mr. R. Clark
points out "Certain Failures in School
Hygiene." which be has noticed in various
schools in several States. Prof. A. D. F.
Harnlin. of Columbia University, offers "A
Plea for Architectural Studies" on account
of the valuable contribution they make to
general culture Other articles are :
"Medical Practice and the Law." by Mr.
Champe S. Andrews; ''The Ethics of
Loot, "by Dr. Gilbert Reid; "The Liberal
Party, a Menace to English Democracy."
by Mrs. Mahood; and "Religious Journal-
ism in England and America," by Mr.
Herbert W. Horwill.

WANTED— Ladies and gentlemen to introduce
the "hottest" seller on earth. Dr. White's Elec-
trical Comb, patented 1899. Asrents are coining;
money. Cure* all forms of scalp ailments, head-
aches, etc., yet costs the same as an ordinary
comb Send 50c in stamps for sample. G. N
ROSE, Gen. Mgr., Decatur, 111.

WANTED— Business men and women to take ex-
clusive agency for a 8tate, and control sub-
agents handling Dr. White's Electric Comb.
13.000 per month compensation. Fact. Call and
I'll prove it, G. N. ROSE, Gen. Mj?r., Decatur.Ill.

THE IRRIGATION A

VOL. xv .

CHICAGO, AUGUST, 1901.

NO. 11

The Man The author of the leading ar-
From India. ticle -n thig number) Mr. E

H. Pargiter, has been in the employ of
the English government for the last 26
years in northern India in the construc-
tion and management of irrigation canals.
At present lie is traveling through the
United States, and if he is suited with
the outlook and prospects, may locate
here permanently. The article is too long
for one issue, consequently it will be con-
tinued in following numbers until com-
pleted.

Artesian

Water

Discovery.

In the West oil and water, it
seems, go hand in hand, not-
withstanding their natural an-
tipathy to one another. The search for
petroleum on the Mohave desert in Cali-
fornia has resulted in the development of
a supply of artesian water which is des-
tined in time to prove of more value than
oil. The discovery, says the Sun Fran-
cisco Chronicle, has been made near Vic-
tor, a mining town located in the heart of
the desert on the Colton-Barstow branch
of the Santa Fe system, midway between
those two places. Prospecting for oil has
been in progress there for weeks, as it is
on the line of the supposed extension of
the Kern river belt. Three wells have
struck a strong artesian flow of water within
the past week. All of them are repre-
sented to be gnshers. The last of the
three penetrated the water belt at a depth
of 185 feet, and it is yielding a steady
stream of 215 miner's inches. It emerges

from the earth with such force that up to
the present time the owners have failed to
cap the pipe, and the flow is consequently
unrestrained.

This fortunate discovery has given a
new and unexpected value to the land and
revolutionized the prospects of that deso-
late region. If the water belt is found to
underlie the whole desert it will doubtless
become one of the mjst productive agri-
cultural districts in the State. All that
the soil in that section needs to make it
produce crops of any kind is moisture.
Wherever the soil could be irrigated it
has yielded generously. But the avail-
able water supply has been so scant that
it has been impossible to cultivate more
than a few small areas scattered widely
apart along the edge of the great barren
waste.

Homes for Mr. A. H. Naftzger, the Presi-
Toilers. dent of the Southern Califor-

nia Fruit Exchange, recently testified
before the Industrial Commission at Wash-
ington. Mr. Naftzger, whose business is
dependent almost solely upon irrigation,
made some interesting statements regard-
ing the subject. Among other things, he
said:

''It has been carefully estimated that
under a system of national irrigation sev-
enty-five million to one hundred million
of acres of lands now practically desert
and worthless could be reclaimed and
made productive. It would be nearly or
quite impossible to do this without Gov-

352

1HE IRRIGA1ION AGE.

eminent aid. If Government aid be ob-
jected to on the ground that the develop-
ment of these arid lands would bring them
into productive competition with, and tend
to decrease values of farming lands in the
Eastern States, the answer is, first, that
the development of any portion of our
country is incidentally a benefit to all;
but more specifically, if these desert lands
should be watered, vast quantities of ma-
chinery, implements, and other manufact-
ured goods will be required by the settlers
upon the lands, practically all of which
manufactured goods would have to come
from Eastern States. This alone, I think,
would more than compensate for any
otherwise possible depreciation of Eastern
farming lands, occasioned by increased
Western competition. If the West shall
have more water, the East will have more
trade.

"But these Western lands would for the
most part be devoted to a different class
of products than those of the Eastern
States, increasing interstate commerce
and developing home markets in both
directions.

"Again, who can say that these Western
lands will not be needed for homes for the
overflow of Eastern cities and towns. Un-
der the rapidly developing economic and
industrial conditions now astonishing the
world, and particularly by reason of the
introduction of the 'community of inter-
est' idea, having for its ostensible object
economy in both production and distribu-
tion, there is strong probability that many
who are now wage earners must in the
near future obtain their livelihood by cul-
tivation of the soil. The Government
owns these arid lands, and it is certainly
not unreasonable nor improvident that it
should expend some of its revenues in
making them irrigable. "

The Nile and Egyptian agriculture has only
the Missouri. reached its high state of per-
fection through the aid of irrigation; AH

of the land under cultivation — over 6,000,-
000 acres — is irrigated. That which i&
not irrigated is a desert. Egypt,
with its world-famous Nile, has many
pages in the history of the world, so that
irrigation may be said to be one of the
prime history-makers of the world. It has-
been stated that the irrigated land of
Egypt supports a population of over
5,000,000 people, and at the same time
pays a national debt one-half as large as-
that of the United States.

With all its fame the Nile does not
water nearly as much territory as could,
one of our own rivers. The Missouri, in
time to come, may, too, have its place in
the history of the world. Agriculture
brings industry and industry begets peace.
The Missouri and its tributaries are sus-
ceptible of supplying water for many
times the area supported by the Nile.

An Irrigated On the small island of Madeira,
isiaid. west coast Of Afrjcai) irrigation

is practiced more extensively, in propor-
tion to the area of the island, which is
only 120 square miles, than in any coun-
try in the world; fully one-half of the
island being under water systems, Ma-
deira is in reality an irrigated patch in
the ocean, growing splendid crops.
Canals have been constructed with care
and skill, some of them sixty or more
miles in length. The thrifty farmers have
on their land reservoirs, into which they
collect their share of the water when it i»
delivered to them, and from them distrib-
ute it to their crops as desired.

The Reclama- The irrigation problem is one
!l°!jc=r]ein' °* tne most important ques-
tions before the people of this country.
It is of vital interest to the West, for stat-
istics show that the population of many of
the country districts of the West is not as
great at the present time as it was tea.
years ago. The people have been attracted
to the cities and the cities have increased
in population. While Congresi at its last

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

353

session did nothing for irrigation, the sub-
ject was more generally discussed than
heretofore, and a foundation was laid for
practical advance in the immediate future.
The idea of the reclamation of arid lands
is better, understood than ever before, and
the question is now in shape for a good
reclamation bill. If the people of the
West will see that Representatives are
elected on a stout irrigation platform,
there is little doubt that a bill looking in
the right direction can be passed.

The opposition found in some sections
of the East to the reclamation of the arid
lands is not well taken. A little consider-
ation will show the most obtuse mind
that the development of the West is to the
direct advantage of the eastern half of the
country. It is to the advantage of the
farmers of the East, as the Western peeple
buy the products of the Eastern factories,
and the workers of the factories are pro-
vided with food from the farms of the
East. More money will be put into the
pockets of the East by the reclamation of
the arid wastes than is taken out, many
times over. A wider market is what the
East needs and it is presented in the pro-
posed irrigation of vast tracts west of the
Mississippi river.

The general plan of reclamation is to
start upon a few well-defined irrigation
projects which are too large for private
enterprise. Storage reservoirs present a
good beginning and the Government
should undertake no reservoir which does
not have a capacity for irrigating at least
100,000 acres of land.

Spain now has 18,000,000 people.
Spain is a semi-arid country which bor-
ders on the ocean. Nevada and Utah,
with the proper application of water which
is actually available in those two States,
can maintain as great a population as that
of the interior of Spain. Colorada has
3,000,000 acres of land under ditch, but it
is possible to double the area if reasonable
methods are applied.

The problem of the reclamation of our
arid lands is a large one, and those who
have not been through the West and stud-
ied it can hardly realize its great national
bearing. — National Irrigation.

Irrigation in Consul Norton, at Harput, Ar
Turkey. meniaf has made a report to
the State Department showing the great
possibilities for irrigation in Turkey, and
calling attention to the fact that the Otto-
man government is anxious to undertake
some experimental artesian well borings.
Much of this region, Mr. Norton states*
was under irrigation and had great agri-
cultural wealth 2,000 years ago, but the
entire deforestation of the mountains has
stopped the water supply and rendered
the land unproductive. The Turkish
government is now wisely undertaking to
reclaim some of this territory.

The Desert An exhibit made in the June
Watered. igsue of j\fational Irrigation

of the development of Eiverside and Red-
lands, California, which was prepared by
Mr. Charles E. Richards, of Los Angeles,
and which shows what a few years of irri-
gation will do for a sage-brush desert,
presents an impressive object lesson to the
easterner who has business connections
with the West. Merchants who at pre-
sent find a market in the western States
for a thousand dollars' worth of their
goods annually would sell ten thousand
dollars' worth if those arid lands were ir-
rigated with the waters now running use-
lessly away.

The building of storage reservoirs by
the Government would make populous
many such desert spots as were Riverside
and Redlands only a few years ago.

Americans are growing great
quantities of rice. The Secre-
tary of Agriculture says that we can not
only grow all our own rice, but that we
can profitably export it. There is in
Louisiana and Texas what might be called
a rice boom. In Louisiana over 100,000

Irritated
Rice.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

seres are under irrigation for this crop,
while Texas is developing very extensive
acreages. The possibility of using im-
proved machinery is largely responsible
for this. The oriental method of harvest-
ing the crop is for a laborer to wade into
the rice slough with a sickle and reap a
fraction of an acre a day. The Louisiana
and Texas method is to plant the rice in

plats surrounded by small levees or fur-
rows, into which plats water is then
turned. When the rice is nearly ripe, the
levee is broken down and the water al-
lowed to run off. In a few days, when the
rice has ripened, the soil has dried suffi-
ciently to allow a machine harvester to go
upon the land and do the work of many
men.

Some men take life serious, some as a

jest,
However they take it, each thiaks his

the best,

And each tries to make the best of it.
I am one of those mortals who thinks

it all fun,
And laugh with the rising and setting

sun,

Take things as they come, for the fun

of it.

I laugh with every bright, sunny day —
When clouds shed tears, I laugh them

away

Its best to make the best of it.
Who cares for my sorrow? The world

loves a smile
To drown its own misery — it's cares to

beguile,
So I laugh with the world, for the fun

of it.
There are times when I feel "blue

devils" creep

Upon me till my soul would weep.
But I laugh and make the best of it.

"JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT."
BY J. M. W. EANDEGG.

A smile that I meet but adds to the

spice
Of life, and makes earth paradise,

And I smile right back, for the fun

of it.

And as I am wandering, mile upon mile
O'er roughly hewn paths of this planet,

I smile,

Not minding, but making the best of it.
When I cast in my chips, below or

above,
Where we're all put to work, coal or

clouds to shove.

I shall think it's all for the fun of it.
So I throw to the winds all trouble and

care
And go through the world to do or to

dare

Whatever betake, make the best of it.
A man lives but once, and the time is

So short
When death leads him out to some

lonely, strange port.
So I laugh while I live, for the fun

of it.

IRRIGATION IN INDIA AND
AMERICA.

BY E. H. PARGITER, OF THE IRRIGATION BRANCH, PUBLIC WORKS
DEPARTMENT, PANJAB, INDIA.

The writer of this article, after passing through the three years'
course of theoretical study and practical training at the Royal Indian
Engineering College at Cooper's Hill, England, (being one of the stu-
dents who entered this college when it was first started in 1871), went
out to India in 1874 as an assistant engineer in the Irrigation Branch
of the Public Works Department in the Panjab Province. He has
spent his whole service since then in that Province on the design, con-
struction and management of many of the Irrigation Canals, large and
small, in different parts of that Province.

It will, perhaps, be as well to explain here briefly the system of
the Indian Public Works department. All buildings and works
required solely for troops and military purposes, belong to a separate
Military Works Department, which is worked and engineered chiefly
by officers of the Corps of Royal Engineers. All buildings and works
required for civil or general purposes, are in the charge of the Public
Works Department, which is now worked and engineered chiefly by
civil engineers, together with some Royal Engineers, and other mili-
tary men trained as engineers, who have chosen to take up service in
this department, while they can be spared from military duty.

The Department is divided into three separate branches, quite
independent of each other, viz. : the Railway branch, the Irrigation
branch, and the Roads and Buildings branch. There is but one rail-
way branch for the whole of India, under one Director, quite irrespec-
tive of the different Provinces, so that a railway engineer may be
transferred from one part of India to any other part at any time; and
railways are constructed and worked in sections that are in no way
fixed by the boundaries of Provinces. But there is a distinct Irriga-
tion branch, and a distinct Roads and Buildings branch in each Prov-
ince, each under its own chief engineer, who is secretary to the Local
Provincial Government for his branch.

Transfers from one branch to another are not frequent or usual,
so that the majority of the engineers who enter the Department
remain each in the branch in which he commenced his service, and
they should become in time more or less experts and specialists — in
their particular lines of professional work. This separation of the
-branches has been found necessary for efficiency, for both in railway

356 1 HE IRR1 GAIION A GE.

and in irrigation work an engineer requires a great deal of special'
knowledge and experience. He must have several years' training on
the construction and management of railways and canals beiore he is
fully competent to design, construct, or manage a railway or irriga-
tion canal to the best advantage. Hence arises the advisability of an
engineer beginning at the bottom of the ladder in either department
and steadily working his way up. He by degrees becomes better fitted
for and also obtains, in course of time, the charge of more and more
important works, according to the experience gained and the abilities
displayed by him.

There is another point of considerable importance that concerns
the Irrigation branch especially, more than the other branches, and
makes transfers of engineers from one Province to another most
inconvenient. This is the fact that the engineer in charge of a com-
pleted and running canal has not only to look after the canal and its
distributaries and maintain them in proper working order, but has
also to arrange for the due allotment of water to every estate or hold-
ing, for the measurement and record of every acre irrigated and for
the proper assessment with water rates of all fields watered and crops
grown thereby. These duties bring him into constant and close com-
munication with the irrigators, who are mostly simple village folk;
and it is highly desirable, for the most efficient and economical man-
agement of a canal, that he be in close touch, and be able to converse
freely in their own language with the country village people.

Now the language of the village people in one province is very
different from that in another province. The universal official lan-
guage, Urdu or Hindustani, is known only by educated people and
those that have lived in connection with such. But the simple coun-
try people, living in small villages scattered over the country, and
getting little or no education beyond what their isolated life and self-
sufficing communities require, speak only their own dialect and can
understand but little of the ornate Hindustani, the vocabulary of
which is largely made up of Arabic and Persian words, quite foreign
to the native dialects of India. An European official, after some years
residence in one Province, should have to some extent acquired the
language of that Province, and be able fairly well to understand and
make himself understood by the people. But if he should be trans-
ferred to another Province, he at once finds himself among a new
people, speaking quite a different language, which he cannot under-
stand nor express himself in. Therefore, though as an engineer his
efficiency is as great as before, as an administrator it is very much
hampered. Hence on account of the languages of the country, trans-
fers from one Province to another are inadvisable and not usual;
while for the sake of professional experience and efficiency, transfers

THE 1RE1 GA T10X A GE. 357

from one branch of the Department to another are not advisable and
are sparingly effected.

The different Provinces of India, each ruled by its Governor or
Lieutenant Governor, with Secretaries for the various departments of
the administration, are in some respects comparable to the different
States of the Union of the United States of America; and the Govern-
ment of India, to the Federal Government of the United States; after
making full allowance for the very important and distinguishing
point of difference, that the Government of India is mainly bureau-
cratic, while that of the United States is representative. Again such
powers of local self-government as a Province has, have been dele-
gated by the Government of India, which is in all matters supreme,
and always retains in its own power the appointment of Provincial
Governors and their chief officials and Secretaries.

This supremacy of the Government of India over the administra-
tion of the Provinces effectually safeguards the country against an
existing and useful irrigation canal being deprived of its water supply
from a river, by the construction of another canal higher up the river
in perhaps another Province. For no such canal can be constructed
by any private person or company without the express permission of
the Government; for it is laid down in the law that the Government
is the sole owner of all the water in all natural streams and lakes,
and every project for a canal would have to receive the sanction of
the Government of India, before any expenditure could be incurred by
a Provincial Government on its construction. Before that sanction
could be given, the report on the project would have to clearly show
that, either no existing rights or interests would be injured by the
construction and working of the proposed canal, or that if any such
injury would result, full compensation or reparation was provided for.
As a matter of fact, no private canals of any size or importance exist
in North India. There are a few small ones whose supply does not
appreciably affect the volume of water in the rivers that feed them.
And in the case of all Government canals full investigation is made,
and care taken to provide against any detriment to existing irrigation
rights. In this respect the solicitude of the Government for the pro-
tection and well being of the people is strikingly paternal, and even
grand-motherly at times. The improvement of the country and the
colonization of the waste lands is slow but sure. All this is in strik-
ing contrast with what has taken place in the Western States of the
United States, where irrigation is a necessity for the cultivation of the
country. Private enterprise, not only unrestrained, but encouraged
and allowed full scope for the development of its schems, has rapidly
engraved the face of the land with numerous canals and ditches and
turned grass prairies and barren unproductive tracts into green fields

358 7 HE 1RRIGA 7 ION A GE.

and smiling orchards. Within the borders of any one State ample1
provision can be and generally has been made to protect and safeguard
the rights of first users against usurpation, of the water supply by
later comers. But where the sources of a river, whose water is util-
ized in a State for irrigation, are not within that State, but in another
State, it may always happen, and has happened repeatedly already,
that the residents of the latter State can divert the water to their own
use and purposes, and absolutely deprive the users of it in the other
State, of all right to it. An over-ruling supreme power in such cases
certainly appears to be called for, and could without difficulty be
vested in the Federal Government, or in a kind of Board of Arbitra-
tion formed by the States concerned. Such an arrangement should
give confidence to owners and users of existing irrigation facilities
and also to prospectors and constructors of new canals and ditches
that their property would not be liable to become worthless, and their
labor and money thrown away. If the boundaries of States requiring
irrigation canals could have been fixed carefully along the great
watersheds of the country much inconvenience and loss would have
been saved and litigation prevented. Lines of latitude and longitude
can never form such satisfactory geographical boundaries as the nat-
ural physical features of a country do. Creation was not made to cor-
respond or fit in with them in any way. To force States or countries
to regulate their boundaries in exact accordance with them tends to
cripple the States and countries and deprive them of necessary mem-
bers and extremities, which, falling within the border of another
State of generally a different agricultural type, are of little use to the
rest of, that State and have their capabilities and resources neglected,
1 or even made to suffer by adverse legislation. Such boundaries form
a kind of bed of Procrustes, compelling different physical types of
natural creation to conform to the same human legislative pattern.
It may be now too late to make any alterations of State boundaries;
but their inconveniences in the matter of allowing the same water
supply to belong to different States might be minimized by the pro-
vision of some controlling or arbitrating authority. The people of
America have already effected such wonders and overcome so many
difficulties, that they should find it quite feasible to arrange something
satisfactory in the settlement of disputes and troubles as to water
supply for irrigation purposes.

In States where the water of streams is not required for irriga-
tion, riparian rights to the use or ownership of the water may reason-
ably be upheld. But where the water is absolutely, necessary for
irrigation purposes in order that the land may be cultivated and
inhabited, it really becomes the life blood of the country, which with-
out its vivifying influence permeating everywhere is -as a dead body,

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 359

lifeless and useless. To make a mass of flesh a living, working body,
the blood must not simply flow through a few main arteries, but must
be conducted throughout the whole body, and;penetrate to every cell,
from main artery to branch arteries, and then to capillaries. Simi-
larly, in an arid country, the water in a stream or river should not be
held to belong to the land forming its banks alone but to every por-
tion of land to which it can be conveyed. The river artery can dis-
tribute its life-blood to canals or ditches as branch arteries; and these
in their turn to laterals and watercourses, as capillaries, to be con-
veyed to every field and to make the land a living, producing country.
Under these conditions, riparian rights are an anomaly, and require
to be superseded by the right of the whole neighboring land to the
beneficial action of the water. The lands bordering a river will always
retain the natural advantages they possess of proximity to the source
of the supply of water and the consequent power to bring the water
on the land with a small expenditure of labor and money; but that
they should be given or allowed to claim the exclusive right to the
use of the water in arid regions is really indefensible. To insist that
the law of water rights applicable to and permissable in States with
ample rainfall must necessarily be applied to arid States is to enact
again the old story of Procrustes and his bed.

It should be clearly understood that meteorological conditions
vary very much throughout the great plains of North India. The
regular rainy season lasts from the middle of June to the middle of
September, and during this time the monsoon from the Bay of Bengal
gives the Province of Bengal a heavy rainfall sufficient to grow rice
with extensively without the aid of irrigation. As the monsoon
sweeps up country to the northwest, along and parallel to the Hima-
laya range of mountains, it gradually parts with its moisture and the
rainfall decreases as it proceeds. Throughout the Northwest Prov-
inces the rainfall is sufficient for maturing ordinary crops; but as the
Panjab is reached, the belt of country lying to the South of the Hima-
layas receives just enough rain for growing crops on, but the tracts
further to the South and Southwest obtain very little and are desert;
for the rainfall diminishes with the distance from these mountains.
Wherever the average annual rainfall is less than 15 inches cultiva-
tion becomes impossible without irrigation from wells or canals.
About four-fifths of the total annual fall comes in the three months of
the hot weather rainy season; of the remaining portion nearly all
usually comes in one or two spells of several days each, in December,
January, or February. Occasional showers are received at other
times. In the belt of country which receives a little less than 15
inches of annual rainfall, a plentiful crop of fine grass grows, suffi_
cient to support large herds of cattle and flocks of goats and sheep>

360 THE IRR1 GA 11 ON A GE.

while in local hollows which receive the drainage from surrounding
higher lands, and so become well saturated with water, crops can be
grown, aided by irrigation from wells, where the depth of the spring
level below the ground is not too great, the water being raised in a
chain of earthen pots on a wheel, worked by bullock power; lifts up
to 50 or 60 feet are sometimes worked.

In the Province of Bengal there are some canals, large and small,
constructed by the Government. In most years these do compara-
tively little irrigation, as the rainfall is amply sufficient for the crops
grown by the people; and then these canals often do not even pay
their working expenses, much less any interest on their capital cost.
But in one or two years out of ten or eleven years the rainfall is defi-
cient, and then the cultivators are glad to avail themselves of the
supply these canals afford. They therefore serve as protective works
against the ill consequences of years of scarcity or famine; and
though they do not pay as a commercial speculation when only their
revenues from assessed water rates are considered, yet they enable
the people to tide over bad years, and keep up the cultivated area,
land revenue, and trade, to their usual amounts. Thus the Govern-
ment finds it worth its while to maintain these canals every year in
good order for their indirect results, and to keep up the full estab-
lishment necessary for working them, as it is impossible to foretell in
what year they may not be balled on to supplement a poor rainfall.

In the Northwest Provinces irrigation canals begin to pay com-
mercially by bringing in a good net revenue after paying all working
expenses and interest on the capital cost of construction. The river
Ganges is tapped by two large canals; one, the upper Ganges canal
takes out at Hard war, at the foot of the lower hills, where the great
plain is entered by the river; and the other, the lower Ganges canal,
takes out much lower down in the plains. These are both on the
right or south bank of the river, where the slope or fall of the land is
favorable for irrigation by flow or gravity.

The river Jumna is tapped by two large canals, taking out of it
opposite each other, one on each bank. The eastern Jumna canal on
the left bank is in the Northwest Provinces, and the Western Jumna
canal, on the right bank, is in the Panjab Province. These also tako
out near where the river emerges from the lower hills into the great
plains. Another canal, the Agra canal takes out below the city of
Delhi.

While these canals irrigate every year a large area, many culti-
vators taking canal water regularly for the more valuable crops, such
as sugar-cane or rice, which require water for a longer period or in
greater quantity than the rains supply; still a very large area of land
•within the tract of country commanded by the canals is cultivated in

1HE 1RRIGA 7 10 N A GE. 361

most years by means of the rainfall alone, or with the assistance of
wells, ordinary grain and fodder crops being grown. But whenever
the rainfall is deficient much of this land takes canal water in order
that crops may be sown or matured. The people have only to send in
a written request to the engineer in charge of the canal for water for
their land, and arrangements are at once made to supply the water, as
much more being taken into the canal at its head from the river as
may be required, up to the full carrying capacity of the canal, or* the
quantity available in the river if this is less. In such years, the area
irrigated by a canal and the revenue received from the water rates
assessed thereon, are largely increased above the average; and the
canal returns a satisfactory income to the Government besides avert-
ing the loss that would be caused by the land being thrown out of cul-
tivation for a time.

The great rivers, from which the canals of North India are sup-
plied, have their sources far back among the high snowclad ranges of
the Himalaya Mountains. During the generally constant and often
heavy rains of the rainy season, from the middle of June to the middle
of September, these rivers are in flood. After the cessation of the
rains they are at their lowest level and with their least volume of
water. The cold weather rains from December to February cause
them to rise a little for a time and sometimes produce freshets in them
for a day or two; but they fall again very soon when those rains have
ceased. At the same time more or less heavy falls of snow take place
in the higher mountains. In the beginning of March, when the power
of the sun appreciably increases, these snows begin to melt and cause
the rivers to rise gradually. As the season advances and the beat
increases, the snows melt faster, so that the continual rise of the riv-
ers is steadily maintained until the rainy season begins, by which
time the snows are largely exhausted. This rise is at the rate of
from 1 to 2 or 3 feet a month during March, April and May; and by
the time the rains begin the rivers are from 3 to 6 feet higher than
their cold weather level. During the rainy season heavy falls of rain
in the hills cause floods to come down suddenly, making a river to
rise sometimes several feet further in one day. These fluctuations
are frequent throughout the rainy season. The greatest floods pro-
duce a rise in a river of from 10 to 16 feet above its cold weather level,
in its course through the plains, while its width is increased from less
than a quarter of a mile to as much as 4 or 5 miles in the case of the
largest rivers, and the volume of 'water is increased nearly one hun-
dred fold.

These rivers are peculiarly well adapted for feeding irrigation
canals. They are high throughout the hot weather months, when
water is most in demand, and give then a practically unlimited supply,

362 THE IRRIQA110N AGE.

far in excess of what is required for irrigation. During the cold
weather less water is required, and the whole supply of a river is
often dammed up. at the weir and taken into the canal or canals taking
out of the river above its weir.

As, however, the beds of the rivers are pure sand to a great
depth, there is a large underflow below each weir, and this comes out
on to the river bed again at some distance downstream, again forming
a flowing river, though of greatly diminished volume.

In years of drought, when the rains in the plains fail, the rainfall
in the Himalaya mountains, though very much less than usual, is still
always in sufficient quantity to make the rivers rise and give them a
fairly good supply, more than enough to fill to their fullest capacities
all the canals at present constructed and supplied from them. Hence
the first canal along a river never suffers from want of water during
the rainy season; others lower down its course, where there are no
weirs to raise and impound the water, may receive a less supply than
usual owing to the river level being lower than in years of good rain-
fall, but the river supply is not all utilized. Such canals are small
and occur in series and will be described further on as Inundation
Canals. A weir cannot be provided for each one, as the cost would be
out of all proportion to the benefit to be gained, and is absolutely pro-
hibitive. But the question of amalgamating a series of these canals
and giving them all one head with a weir in the river, is now coming
under consideration in the Irrigation Department of the Panjab as a
practical scheme,

(TO BE CONTINUED.)

STORAGE RESERVOIRS.

SPEECH OF HON. FRANCIS G. NEWLANDS, OF
NEVADA, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESEFTATIVES.

Mr. Chairman, when the chairman of the Committee on Rivers
and Harbors was speaking I interrogated him regarding the following
item: "Reservoirs at the headwaters of the Mississippi River: For
continuing improvement, $300,000." I asked him what purpose those
reservoirs served. His answer was that they were supposed to serve
the interests of navigation; that they were on the headwaters of the
Mississippi and were intended to increase the flow of the water during
the summer season, but that in his judgment legislation with Defer-
ence to this matter had been unwise and inefficient to accomplish the
purpose intended. I have since inquired of the gentleman who repre-
sents Minnesota, and he informs me that for a distance of nearly 200
miles the flow of this river is materially increased by these reservoirs,
that the water is 8 inches higher than it otherwise would be, and you
all know what that means with flat-bottomed boats on the headwaters
of these great rivers.

Now, Mr. Chairman, it is the view of the Committee on Rivers and
Harbors that the appropriations reported by that committee should
be confined entirely to navigation and that no items relating to irriga-
tion should be inserted in a river and harbor bill. I submit that this
is a narrow view of the jurisdiction enjoyed by this committee. The
rules of the House refer to that committee all bills relating to the im-
provement of rivers, and I submit that a public work on a river,
whether with a view to promoting navigation or irrigation, is an
improvement of a river, and that the committee has jurisdiction of the
subject-matter. This view has been taken by the Senate upon numer-
ous occasions, and two years ago the Senate conferees strenuously
though unsuccessfully insisted upon an amendment to the river and
harbor bill which was intended to provide for the construction of res-
ervoirs at the headwaters of the Missouri River, with a view of pro-
ducing a steadier flow of that river to the Mississippi, into which it
emptied. The interests of both navigation and irrigation can often-
times be met by the same improvement.

What improvements are required in our rivers? In the first place
the navigable rivers are subject to floods, and we seek to prevent the
overflow by constructing levees. Immense sums have been expended

364 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

on the lower part of the Mississippi in an effort to confine the stream
and to prevent overflow of the adjoining land. Another character of
improvement is the dredging of the rivers for the purpose of meeting
the period of drought in the summer when th« rivers are low and
when bars and shallows obstruct navigation. The flow of the lower
Mississippi is increased by the flow of the rivers tributary to it. Some
of them, like the Ohio, taking their source in the humid regions, and
others, like the Missouri, the Arkansas, and the Platte, taking their
source in the arid regions from the snows of the mountains, and it is
contended that by storing the flood waters in the mountain regions,
caused by the rapid melting of the snows in the Spring, a large pro-
portion of the flood in the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers can be
prevented and a more equal and sustained flow of the rivers thus
promoted.

It should be remembered that the waters stored in these reservoirs
are not the only waters which will be held back during the flood sea-
sons* The character of all the mountain streams in the arid region is
that they are torrential during April, May and June aad that they are
reduced to almost nothing in the following months. Large areas of
arid lands lie within reach of these streams, but the condition of the
flow during the hot months of July, August, and September limits the
area of reclamation; for whilst the waters of the early spring and
summer months is sufficient for the requirements of vast areas of land,
yet if the waters were diverted over them and crops were planted,
they would lack water at the period of greatest want when the crops
were ripening for harvest.

The storage of water above enables a larger utilization of the flood
waters which are unstored, and storage insures a supply during the
period of greatest drought. The result would be that for every acre-
foot of flood water stored there would be four or five acre-feet of flood
water taken out over the arid lands, thus diminishing the flow of the
streams tributary to the Missouri and Mississippi during the torren-
tial period, and these great plains, now arid, would themselves be
made the storage reservoirs of vast quantities of flood waters which
would otherwise rush down to the Mississippi, so that effectual stor-
age will not be confined simply to the artificial reservoirs, but will be
extended to these large areas of land which will be reclaimed and
which will absorb annually a volume of water at least two feet deep
over the entire surface. The diversion and overflow of flood waters
over the arid lands above would diminish the overflow in the Lower
Mississippi and would diminish the cost of the levees intended for
protection of the adjoining lands. The water carried over the arid
lands above would penetrate the soil and would seep gradually back
to the rivers and keep the streams below fuller during the hot month

THE IRRIGATION AGE 365

than they would be had not this water been diverted or stored. Thus
a saving will be effected in the dredging of the shallows intended to
relieve as against low water as well as in the construction of the
levees intended to relive as against flood water.

We content that by the construction of storage reservoirs at the
head waters of these rivers in the rocky mountains a large proportion
of the expenditures for levees on the lower Mississippi will be saved
and that a more equal flow of the main river will be maintained, and
thus the expense of dredging during the hot season will be greatly
diminished. Navigation, like^ irrigation, requires that the streams
should maintain an equal flow; that they should not be torrents at one
season and attenuated threads at another.

The evils which attach to both navigation and irrigation are the
same, viz., that the streams are overflowing at a time when the water
is not needed and they are attenuated threads at a time when the
water is most in demand; and we of the arid regions contend that
both navigation and irrigation can be promoted by the storing of
these waters at the sources of these mountain streams which are trib-
utary to the great navigable rivers.

We also contend, even assuming that the river and harbor bill
should be confined to improvements essential to navigation, that the
proper place for appropriations for storage reservoirs on the rivers
tributary to our navigable rivers is in the river and harbor bill, as
they tend to promote navigation, although having a very much larger
value in the promotion of irrigation.

But all the rivers in the arid region are not tributaries to naviga-
ble rivers. Upon what theory, then, should the Government proceed
to store water on such rivers? Our contention is that irrigation is a
public use, just as navigation is; that it is subject to the control of the
law, and that the congress of the United States, under the "general
welfare" clause of the Constitution, can do anything in the way of in-
ternal improvement that is calculated to promote the general welfare,
and that the general welfare is promoted by maintaining an equal and
sustained flow of a stream for irrigation as well as by maintaining it
for navigation.

Besides this, the United States Government is the owner of 600,-
000,000 acres of land in the arid region, of which 100,000,000 acres can
be reclaimed by a gradual process of storage extending over fifty or
one hundred years. The reclamation of these lands will make more
valuable the remaining pastoral lands, which are now used in common
by all the stock-raising interests in the West. The Government un-
doubtedly has the power to look after its own property — to survey it,
to mark it by section posts, and to put it in condition for settlement
and sale; and if the maintenance of an equal flow in the rivers running

366 1 HE IRRIGA TION AGE.

through its lands is essential in order to enable its lands to be re-
claimed by settlers, it can take such measures as it deems advisable
for the purpose of making the waters available to settlers.

Large areas of lands along these rivers have already been taken
up by settlers, and they have been able to solve the easy problems of
irrigation, consisting simply in the diversion of the waters over the
adjoining lands, but they are not able to control the torrential flow
which ha's its source perhaps hundreds of miles away from those set-
tlements, nor have they been able to store the water so as to maintain
the supply during the hot season of Ju\y and August, when water is
essential to the ripening of the crops. The limit of reclamation and
settlement has been reached unless the Federal Government, acting,
as it can, without regard to State lines, make> a scientific study of
each river and its tributaries and so stores the wate:' as to prevent the
torrential flow in the spring and to increase the scanty flow in the
summer. By doing this its arid lands will be made available for set-
tlers, and it can, if it chooses, secure compensation by a charge upon
the lands.

It is estimated that there are about 600.000,000 acres of arid pub-
lic lands in the West, and of this about 100,000,000 acres can be
reclaimed if storage is afforded. It is also estimated that the storage
of water will cost from $2 to $10 per acre-foot; the average probably
would be about $5 per acre-foot. The cheaper forms of storage would
doubtless be attempted first, and the more expensive forms of storage
would only be taken up years hence, when the pressure of population
and the increased value of the lands would warrant the expenditure.

A convenient argument against the immediate prosecution of this
work is that we have no estimate of its ultimate cost. Our answer is
that if the Government had halted at the threshold of any great pub-
lic work for inquiry as to what the prosecution of like work would cost
within one hundred years, the estimate would probably have para-
lyzed the action of Congressional bodies. For instance, when the first
river and harbor bill was introduced, suppose some captious member
of Congress had demanded a halt until it could be ascertained what
the total cost over a period of one hundred years would be. I imagine
that the statement, verified subsequently by events, that in one hun-
'dred years nearly $400,000,000 would be expended on the river and
harbor bill would have staggered the imagination, and yet this amount
has been expended and the country has not felt it.

It is impossible to forecast the future and state exactly what the
storage in the arid regions will cost; but assuming that 100,000,000
acres of land are to be reclaimed; that this land on an average will
require annually 200,000,000 acre-feet of water, and that at least four
fifths of this will be supplied by the flood stream, and that one-fifth

THE IRRIGA TION A GE. 367

will be supplied by the stored water, we will require within the next
fifty or one hundred years a storage capacity equal to 40,000,000 acre-
feet of water — that is to say, a storage equal to covering 40,000,000
acres 1 foot deep, or 1,000,000 acres 40 feet deep. Assuming that
the average cost of this would be $5 per acre-foot, the total cost
would be within a period of fifty or one hundred years about
$200,000,000.

Expenditures of the settlers upon their lands would far exceed
this; it would probably average from $10 to $40 or $50 per acre,
dependent upon the cost of the main canals, the level or broken char-
acter of the ground, and the difficulty in leading out the water from
the river. But thing is assured, and that is that every acre of land
reclaimed would be worth at least $50, and, as 100,000,000 acres are to
be reclaimed, we would have a total increase in the wealth of the
country in land alone, without improvements, of $5,000,000,000 by the
expenditure upon the part of the Government of $200,000,000, and we
would have a country opened up for the surplus population of the East
and the middle Western States.

There are two ways of legislating upon this work. One is to pass
annually a bill similar to the river and harbor bill, providing, first, for
the construction of projects which have been surveyed, estimated, and
reported favorably, and, second, making appropriations for surveys,
estimates, and reports as to projects that are contemplated. Such
appropriations would come out of the National Treasury and would be
raised from general taxation, just as the appropriations in the river
and harbor bill are.

Another method would be to fasten the cost of the Government
work of storage upon the public lands susceptible of reclamation.
Such a plan would involve the ereation of an arid land reclamation
fund in the Treasury, into which all moneys received from the sales
of public lands in the arid and semiarid States would go. The receipts
from the sales of public lands last year amounted to about $3,000,000,
and including commissions and fees, to $4,000,000. So the sum avail-
able for the first year would be about $4,000,000. Provision should
be made for investigation, surveys, estimates, and reports by the Geo-
logical Survey of various projects, and upon approval of a project by
the Secretary of the Interior he should be authorized to withdraw
from entry the lands in the reservoir sites and to withdraw from entry,
except under the homestead act, all land susceptible of irrigation by
reason of such project. He should then be given power to contract
for the work; no contract to be made unless the money is in the fund'
When the project is completed the total cost should be ascertained,
and the price of the lands susceptible of irrigation and of the water
rights attached thereto should be so fixed as to compensate the fund

368 TEE IRRIGATION AGE.

in ten annual installments, thus maintaining th« perpetuity of the
fund for progressive work.

If the report should show that lands already setlted required
stored water, power should be given the Secretary of the Interior to
sell water rights to such settlers upon the same terms as to new set-
tlers. Right of entry under the law should be limited to 80 acres, and
the sale of the water right to existing settlers should be limited to an
amount sufficient for 80 acres; the purpose of this being not only to
prevent the creation of monopoly in the lands now belonging to the
Government, but to break up existing land monopoly in the West by
making it to the interest of the owner of a large tract of land made
more valuable by the possibility of securing stored water, to divide up
his land and sell to actual settlers. The bill should be so framed as to
make its operation automatic, progressive, and complete, to guard
against improvident projects, to prevent land monopoly, to secure
homes for actual settlers, and to promote the division of the large
tracts of land which, under the unfortunate administration of State
and national Laws, have been created in the West.

Under this plan the West would reclaim itself without calling upon
the general taxpayers for a dollar.

It has been suggested that the cession of the arid lands to the
States would produce the same results, and would relieve the Federal
Government of a great work. My answer to this is that the Govern-
ment has no right to abdicate the great trust imposed upon it by the
ownership of 600,000,000 acres of land,upon which the homes of un-
born millions are to be made. It cannot afford to intrust these lands
either to the ignorance, the improvidence, or the dishonesty of local
legislatures. The experience of all the Western States has been that
the grants of land made by the Federal Government to the States for
the purpose of education or local improvement have been maladminis-
tered and have resulted in the concentration of immense holdings of
land in single ownership.

This country has to-day 70,000,000 of people; within one hundred
years it will have 300,000,000 people. The pressure for land will be-
great.

Imagine the discontent and disturbance which will result from
an improvident administration of these great areas easily capable of
supporting 100,000,000 people.

Besides this, the physical conditions are such as to prevent States
from dealing with this question. The arid region must be considered
as a unit, regardless of State lines. Each unit should be a main river
and all its tributaries. The plains to be watered may be in one State;
the sources of the river which is to water them, and the only available
sites for reservoirs, may be in an adjoining State. No State can act

I HE IRRIGA 1 JON A GE. 369

outside of its own boundaries, nor can it clothe its citizens with suffi-
cient power so to do.

The National Government, by reason of its national character, is
alone capable of taking hold of this interstate question and solving it.
Nor can this undertaking be intrusted to private or corporate enter-
prise. Storage enterprises are of such magnitude as to require im-
mense capital. Their purpose is to bring about a union of the water
with the land, and no corporation can successfully operate unless it
has a grant of an immense area of land. This involves all the evils of
land monopoly or subjects the enterprise to all the expenses connected
with promotion, bond selling, etc. The speculative element must be
entirely eliminated; the purpose is to create homes for the people, to
make the waters of the West available for the reclamation of arid
lands by actual settlers, and to eliminate entirely the speculator and
the capitalist.

The cession of the arid lands would furnish no relief to the State
of Nevada. Nevada is an impoverished State. It was brought into
the Union just at the close of the civil war for the purpose of aiding
in reconstruction legislation and before it had the population and
wealth which is usually regarded as essential to the assumption of the
burdens of statehood. It came in reluctantly. It was persuaded by
the leaders of the republican party to accept statehood as a patriotic
duty. It is true Nevada has produced more mineral wealth than any
other State in the Union. It has produced $600,000,000 in gold and
silver, more than one-fourteenth of the entire stock of gold and silver
in the world to-day, and yet it has not profited by it; it is too near to
San Francisco. The promoters of Nevada enterprises were San Fran-
ciscans and the profits went to San Francisco, where they built up
stately edifices and inaugurated world-wide enterprises. But very
little of that wealth was expended in anything relating to the perma-
nent, substantial, and harmonious development of Nevada.

The railroad status also affected it unfavorably. As a rule trans-
continental lines are built through uninhabited country, and then they
build up that country by the promotion of settlement. The Central
Pacific road was unfortunately involved in a controversy with the
Government, and instead of pursuing the usual policy of building up
the country which it traversed, the aim of its owners was to divert its
business to the Southern Pacific, and to advance the region traversed
by the Southern Pacific at the expense of the country traversed by
the Central Pacific. It was contended that the Central Pacific was
worthless, because it was built through a worthless State, and that
Nevada was simply a good foundation for a bridge from Ogdea, Utah,
to California,

Then came the depressing effect of our financial legislation, which

370 THE IRR1 GA TION A GE.

resulted in the fall of the price of silver from $1.29 an ounce to 60
cents an ounce. You can readily understand that in mining enter-
prises, in which the operating expenses amount to from one-half to
three-fourths of the gross receipts, a fall of over one-half in the price
of the product of the mines would absolutely suspend and destroy
silver'mining. Prior to that time conditions were speculative. Farm-
ing itself was speculative, commercial life was speculative. Little
was done during that period of tremendous mining output in the way
of building the foundation of harmonious and proportionate growth.
The result is, that under all these discouraging conditions Nevada has
declined in population since 1880, while the population of the other
intermountain States and Territories has nearly trebled. No one who
is familiar with that region can contend for a moment that Arizona is
equal to Nevada in its mineral or agricultural resources, but railroad
and other conditions have been better there, and that territory has
advanced from a population of 35,000 in 1880 to a population of nearly
150,000 to-day, while Nevada has declined from 65,000 to 45,000.

In addition, Nevada is in debt $300,000. It has reached the limit
of its debt under the constitution of the State. How was that debt
contracted? It was contracted when it was a Territory for money
borrowed by that Territory in fitting out troops for the civil war — a
war claim which has constantly been recognized by the Senate of the
United States, but which has been rejected by this body.

Now, assuming that cession of the lands should be made to
Nevada, how could she utilize them? The only thing she could do
would be to turn them over to corporations and syndicates, and we
would then have a repetition of the land monopoly which now so un-
fortunately exists both in California and Nevada as the result of
grants to those States by the Government for educational purposes —
a land monopoly which in itself prevents settlement and which ulti-
mately will create indescribable discontent.

Then, again, the physical conditions of Nevada would prevent the
utilization of such cession. Three of the most important rivers of the
State — the Truckee, the Carson, and the Walker — have their sources
in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, These rivers flow
through the western part of the State into great lakes in the sink of
the desert, where their waters lie unutilized. The problem is to pre-
vent these waters from flowing into these lakes in the lowest part of
the desert and to hold them back in the mountains above in artificial
reservoirs.

The plains to be irrigated are in Nevada; the reservoir sites are in
California. All the sources of the water supply of these rivers are in
California. To cede the plains to Nevada and to cede these mountain
lands to California would tend to absolute divorce between the water

THE IRRl GA TION A GE. 371

and the land, and jet these waters are useless to California as there
are no plains in California on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains. That region is entirely mountainous.

Now, the torrential flow of these rivers has increased in late
years. Why? Because the Government has, permitted these moun-
tains to be denuded of their forests. The forests are the natural pro-
tectors of the great snow banks, which in themselves are natural res-
ervoirs of water. If the forests remain, the snows melt much more
gradually, and thus a more equal flow of the streams is maintained,
permitting a wider extent of agriculture; but as these forests are de-
stroyed and the snow banks are exposed to the fierce rays of the sun,
the result is a great flow of water in the months of April, May and
June, and no water when it is most required. The consequence is
that the lowest flow of the streams limits the area of land that can be
brought under cultivation. You cannot make your calculations with
reference to the flood flow of- the stream, because that is maintained
only during the early months, and if you measure your reclamation by
that flow your lands would be without water in July and August, and
so it is that reclamation by private enterprise of lands adjoining these
streams has been necessarily limited by their periods of lowest flow.

The problem is to prevent this water from flowing into these
great lakes in the desert and to store them in the mountains in places
naturally adapted for reservoirs, and thus maintain an equal flow of
the streams throughout the agricultural season, instead of having a
rushing torrent at one time and no water at another,

Nevada is reproached to-day because she is impoverished, and yet
she is prostrated because the Federal Government has neglected its
duty. Ninety-five per cent of the lands in Nevada are public lands?
which pay no taxes of any kind for State or local government, and the
owners of the other 5 per cent have to administer the laws and the
police and the .road building of the entire State. Nevada and Utah
are similar in topography, in soil, and in general resources. They
have an area equal to that of Spain. Spain is entirely cultivated by
means of irrigation, except along the seashore. Spain supports
17,000,000 people. If a liberal policy were pursued in Nevada and
Utah of preserving the fores ts, of conserving the flood waters, and
utilizing the natural resources of those States, they could easily main-
tain an equal population. Within one hundred years this country will
have 300,000,000 people, and the proper development of this arid coun
try, the home of millions yet to come, should be an essential part of
the govermental policy.

Now, I ask, who should undertake this work? Who can undertake
the work? The view of the people of the arid region is that this is a
public work of internal improvement which ought to be undertaken by

372 THE IRRIGATION AGE

the Government of the United States. It resembles in character the
old canals that were constructed years ago, or the interstate roads
that were constructed by the General Government, or those improve-
ments that have been made for a number of years in dredging our riv-
ers and improving our harbors — public improvements intended for th&\
general welfare; improvements from which the Government does not
expect a direct reimbursement, but simply the general advantage that
comes to the entire country and the general welfare from the promo-
tion of enterprises of this kind. And inasmuch as the rivers of the
arid region as a rule are not navigable rivers, and the only public use
to which we can put them is irrigation, not navigation, we claim that
a fair and equitable distribution of the benefits of Government requires
that these streams should be maintained in equal flow by the system
of reservoirs to which I have alluded.

But we also claim that this is not simply a governmental matter
in the ordinary sense, buo that the Government itself occupies the
position of proprietor, pursuing the usual obligations of land proprie-
tors, it is its right and its duty to put these lands in condition for set-
tlement.

By so doing it can continue the traditional policy of the
country, which has been to open up the public lands for settlement,
restricting the number of acres to be granted to each individual, the
purpose being to promote home building amongst a free people. And
these arid lands have particular advantages for that kind of settle-
ment; for if you will only see to it that moisture is applied to them by
these artifical methods, you have the most scientific system of agri-
culture that can be conceived.

Mr. STEELE. Is there any timber at the head waters of those
streams that would protect the banks?

Mr. NEWLANDS. Oh, yes; there are forests at the heads of these
streams, though in some cases th( forests have been largely cut down.
Still, they protect in a great degree the streams, and our whole
scheme involves not only the construction of reservoirs, but the pres-
ervation of forests by having a rational cutting of the trees instead of
an indiscriminate and destructive cutting.

Mr. SHAFROTH. Allow me to state that the general character of
all the mountainous regions where it is proposed that these reservoirs
shall be constructed is that they are in timber. The snow which falls
there is retained somewhat, yet not sufficiently retained to let it fall
equally.

Mr. STEELE. I understood that that was the case generally, but
I was not sure as to its being the case in Nevada.

Mr. NEWLANDS. It is true of the three streams I have spoken of
in the western part of the State that have their source in the Sierra

THE 1RRIGA Tl ON A GE. 373

Nevada Mountains. It is not true to the same extent of the Humboldt
River, which takes its source in the eastern part of the State.

Now. the question is, Who should do this work? We claim that it
is a matter of govermental and Federal legislation, and that in addi-
tion it is an obligation that rests upon the Government as the owner
of these vast areas of public lands which can be opened up to settle-
ment. As I was remarking, irrigation is the most scientific method
of agriculture. We cannot determine the amount of moisture falling
from the heavens; we cannot regulate it; we cannot 'control it. There
may be too much; there 'may be too little. But as to water that is
taken from a stream by a ditch, and distributed over lands at low
level, there can be an absolutely scientific adjustment of the moisture
to the requirements of the soil. When you have a rich soil and a sun
that is kindly, if you add the necessary moisture, you have all the
conditions of a most abundant cultivation — so much so that in that
region 40 acres of land properly irrigated will sustain a family better
than 160 acres of land in the Middle or Western -States; and under cer-
tain characters of cultivation 10 or 15 acres of land will support a
family.

Mr. MORRIS. Mr. Chairman, before the gentleman sits down I
should like to ask him a question. The gentleman began his remarks
by reading the item in the river and harbor bill providing for the res-
ervoirs at the head of the Mississippi River and upon that he based
the remarks which he has made. Does not the gentleman know that
those reservoirs were constructed entirely for the purpose of increas-
ing the navigability of the Mississippi River?

Mr. NEWLANDS. So I understand.

Mr. MORRIS. And therefore came within the rule laid down by
the chairman of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors.

Mr. NEWLANDS. I understood the chairman of the Committee on
Rivers and Harbors to say that these reservoirs were provided for the
purpose of promoting navigation. I have also understood, however,
that they were put there for the purpose of increasing the power on
that river, but I may be mistaken as to that. However that may be,
I still insist that when you can join the two uses, when you can pre
vent the floods and increase the equal flow of these rivers by the stor-
age of the water, you are promoting a purpose which is within the
province of a river and harbor bill.

Mr. MORRIS. I simply want to correct the impression which may
have been produced by the gentleman's remarks as to the committee
having gone outside of its plan of making the bill.

Mr. NEWLANDS. Oh, no; I simply called attention to the fact.
The reservoirs had been constructed there, and the reservoirs which
we wish will serve the same purpose as those, for they will not only
promote the reclamation of arid lands, but they will also tend to the
maintenance of the equal flow of the streams.

CONVICT LABOR FOR ARID

LANDS.

BY E. H. PARGITER.

Under the above heading, in the July number of the IRRIGATION
AGE, was published a criticism by Mr. C. B. Parker on Senator C. H.
Dietrich's proposal to employ the convict labour of the penitentiaries
of the States on the construction of canals and reservoirs needed for
the irrigation and pettlement of arid lands in the Western States. In
this article Mr. Parker takes exception to the proposal, mainly on the
ground that there is to be had an abundant supply of free labor, thou-
sands of men ready and willing to come and do the work; and that the
claims of these men to be given whatever remunerative employment
there is going must not be lost sight of or subordinated to other
claims, in the otherwise reasonable and praiseworthy endeavor to im-
prove the conditions under which our convicts at present labor. He
also points out the most obvious difficulties and dangers to be met and
overcome in safeguarding a large number of desperate criminals, and
in preventing their escape or finding opportunities for further crime.

It has been well said that whenever it is proposed in America to
undertake or attempt any new enterprise, in which Americans have
had no practical experience, they look around the world to see where
such an enterprise has been attempted or is being best carried on; they
then make a thorough study of its ways and workingsito ascertain its
good points and also its defects and failures, if any; and then, when
starting it in their own country, try to go one better by continuing to
avoid possible defects and by improving on previous methods. Now
in this matter of the useful and profitable employment of prison labor
on great public works, such as a large canal constructed in arid and
almost uninhabited lands, North India furnishes us with examples in
point, and so we can turn to it in our search for experience. This ex-
perience goes to show that under certain conditions there is ample
room, and there is a good opportunity for the useful and profitable
employment of convict labor as well as almost unlimited free labor on
such a work. The requisite conditions are, first, that a large amount
of unskilled labor can be concentrated at one place and kept at work
there for a considerable time; and, second, that a site and materials
for housing them economically while at work at that place can be
secured. On the large canals of North India these conditions are
found at and near the head works of the canal. Here its channel is
widest, and in deep digging giving a very large quantity of earthwork

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 573

in excavation in the first few miles; and there is also a great deal of
work to be done in the river, on the weir, and on training and protec-
tive embankments or other works. It is the custom, then, in India to
allot these works with the entire excavation of the first six or eight
miles of the main canal to prison labor. A temporary jail is built in
a central position within the length of work allotted and organized for
the reception and maintenance of from 1,500 to 2,000 prisoners, with a
trustworthy and fully qualified superintendent and staff of guards.
The convicts are marched out every morning to their work and
marched back every evening to the jail, where they can be securely
housed for the night. They never have more than four or five miles
distance to walk to their work, and seldom so much. There is enough
work to employ them for several years around the jail; so that the
expense of constructing it is fully repaid in the end by the value of
the work done.

In the excavation of eight miles of a canal with a bed width of
from 150 to 200 feet and with a depth of digging of from ten to twenty
feet, there is sufficient work to employ 1,600 prisoners for some years.
All their work is done by spade and barrow or basket; the soil dug
out by spade is carried away either in baskets on the heads of men or
in wheelbarrows: it is not the object to save labor by the use of
machinery, but to employ as much labor as possible; the value of the
work done by each man exceeding the cost of his maintenance, and so
bringing in a profit to the Government, if possible. The convicts are
secured against escape by having chains from, the waist to the ankles;
these prevent their running or moving fast, while leaving them quite
free for work or for walking; and they are looked after by guards
with firearms or other weapons. Any attempt at mutiny or escape
can be promptly suppressed.

In India these temporary jails are built of adobe or sun dried
brick, with the cheapest and simplest timber roofs, doors and win-
dows, and the work of construction is mainly carried out by convicts
brought to the place, and kept there, before the coming of the main
body of convicts. When the work these men have been brought for
is completed, they are removed to some other canal to be similarly
employed there for the next few years. The adobe walls of the jail
are left, and the useful timber either sold or removed for the next
jail.

While convict labor is thus being employed, the whole of the re-
mainder of the canal system, including several hundreds of miles of
canal, branches, distributaries (Laterals), and all the buildings,
bridges, or other works, is being done by paid free labor, usually on
contracts. The Indian Government system allows of both kinds of
labor being fully employed; for the system contemplates the con-

376 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

struction of many great public works, another being commenced as
soon as one is completed.

For the same thing to be practicable in America, it is necessary
that the Federal Government, which alone is able to do so, should
arrange for the construction of large canals or reservoirs in arid
lands, where all kinds of labor are required, and temporary sites for
jails or penitentiaries can be obtained at no great cost. It would not
be necessary to mass together so many convicts as can be done in
India, but the requisite condition appears to be that they be employed
sufficiently long in one place to render worth while the construction
of safe quarters for them, where they can be securely housed every
night. The safe-guarding of criminals is an essential feature of use-
fully employing them; and it follows from this that they be not re-
quired to work at such a distance from their quarters, as to prevent
their going from and returning to them every day. A large reservoir
might easily give a few hundred convicts employment for two or
three years. Convict labor could thus be employed on large concen-
trated works, while smaller or more scattered works would be avail-
able for free paid labor.

The further question of rewarding convicts for good labor is be-
yond the scope of this article, which only attempts to show how,
when and where convict labor may be usefully and profitably em-
ployed. But good use might well be made of the opportunities avail-
able for improving the status of a convict, and of holding out to him
promises of reward for good conduct and faithful working to orders.

J •

THE DIVERSIFIED FARM

SSSSSSQQSQQQQSSQQ

i.

In diversified farming by irrigation lies the salvation of agriculture

THE NEW BUREAU OF FORES-
TRY.

On the first of July the Division of For-
estry and three other scientific divisions
of the U. S. Department of Agriculture
were advanced to bureaus. This was pro-
vided for by the last session of Congress,
which appropriated for the expenses of the
Bureau of Forestry during its first year
$185,440. The appropriation of the Divi-
sion of Forestry during the year just
ended was $88,520. For the year 1898-99
it was $28,520.

These figures show how rapidly the for-
est work of the Government has expanded
of late, and also how well it has commen-
ded itself to Congress. There was a time
when the practical value of the scientific
investigations carried on by the Govern-
ment was not fully understood, and far-
mers were inclined to think that the money
spent on experiment stations and chemical
laboratories was of little benefit to them.
Now the case is very different. The im-
provements in agriculture due to the work
of the Department have increased the value
of the farm products of the country by
many millions of dollars annually. As
this kind of work has proved its practical
utility, Congress has shown itself generous
toward it. The readiness with which Con-
gress has increased the appropriations for
the Division of Forestry is the best evi-
dence that forestry has proved its impor-
tance from a business standpoint.

The change from a Division to a Bureau,
and the larger appropriation, will make
possible both an improved office organiza-
tion and more extended field work. The
Bureau will be provided with a much

lager office force and will be organized in
three Divisions. But field work, not office
work, is what the Bureau exists for. This
work has been going on during the last
year from Maine to California and from.
Georgia to Washington. It includes the
study of forest conditions and forest prob-
lems all over the country, the giving of ad-
vice to owners of forest lands, and the
supervising of conservative lumbering op-
erations which illustrate forest manage-
ment on business principles. This work.
can now be greatly extended. Private
owners of some three million acres have
applied for this advice, which in every
case requires personal examination, and
about 177,000 acres have been put under
management. This land is in many tracts,
large and small, and is owned by individ-
uals, clubs, and corporations. Several
State governments have also asked the
aid of the Bureau. But the greatest de-
mand is that of the Department of the In-
terior of the National Government, which
has asked for working plans for all the
Forest Reserves, with the enormous total
area of about 47 million acres.

FERTILIZING THE ORCHARD.

The orchards of this country are the
most neglected of any of our crops. It
may seem strange to some to call an or-
chard a crop, but that is what it is. It is
growni for the purpose of producing some-
thing for use or sale just as other crops
are, and it is a notorious fact that this
crop is more neglected than any other we
grow. Prof. L. H. Bailey, of Cornell, re-
cently said some things about orchard
management. He said:

378

1HE IRRIGATION AGE.

Good drainage, natural or artificial, is
essential to success. Trees are impatient
of wet feet.

Good tillage increases the available food
supply of the soil, and also conserves its
moisture.

Tillage should be begun just as soon as
the ground is dry enough in the spring,
and should be repeated as often as once in
ten days throughout the growing seasons,
which extends from spring until July or
August.

Only cultivated crops should be allowed
in orchards early in the season. Grain
and hay should never be grown.

Even-hoed or cultivated crops rob the
trees of moisture and fertility if they are
allowed to stand above the tree roots.

Watch a sod orchard. It will begin to
fail before you know it.

Probably nine-tenths of the apple or-
chards are in sod, and many of them are
meadows. Of course they are failing.

The remedy of these apple failures is to
cut down many of the orchards. For the
remainder of the treatment is cultivation,
spraying — the trinity of orthodox apple
growing.

Potash is the chief fertilizer to be ap-
plied to fruit trees, particularly after they
come into bearing.

Potash may be had in wood ashes and
muriate of potash. It is most commonly
used in the latter form. An unusual ap-
plication of potash should be made upon
bearing orchards, 500 pounds to the acre.
Phosphoric acid is the second important
fertilizer to be applied artificially to or-
chards. Of the plain superphosphates,
from 300 to 500 pounds may be applied to
the acre.

Nitrogen can be obtained cheapest by
means of thorough tillage (to promote
nitrification) and nitrogenous green man-
ures.

Barn manures are generally more econ-
nomically used when applied to farm crops
than when applied to orchards; yet they

can be used with good results, particularly
when rejuvenating the old orchards.

BEET SUGAR IN MICHIGAN.

The Bay City Sugar Co., of Essexville,
which has the largest factory of its kind in
Michigan, has begun operations for the
season. The beet shed has a capacity for
10,000 tons, and upward of 7,000 tons
have already been delivered by the farm-
ers.

There is excellent prospect of another
sugar factory being erected at Essexville
by outside capital. It will cost $1,500,000,
and will be the largest sugar mill east of
California.

It is proposed to utilize the Boyce. Pen-
niman and Boutwell tracts of land, cover-
ing several hundred acres, underlaid with
coal, which will be mined solely for the
use of the mill.

IMPROVING FARM VALUES
WITH IRRIGATION.

The universal use of irrigation in the
West has practically revolutionized farm
values in many regions. These methods
of supplying the crops with water are
many, but they all show an amount of
adaption to conditions that proves the ex-
istence of Yankee genius here yet. There
are more varieties of windmills for pump-
ing up water than one could describe
in a week. These windmills are not ex-
pensive affairs, but in most cases are built
of ordinary articles picked up on the farm
or in secondhand shops. They perform
the work required of them satisfactorily,
and tha| is all one can ask of them. The
construction of a good working windmill
on any farm, and a pumping attachment,
with irrigation canals and reservoir, adds
100 or 200 per cent to the value of a farm
in a region where summer droughts are
heavy drawbacks to farming. With little
extra work during the winter season it is
an easy matter to make such improvements
on almost any farm. The system can be

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

379

-enlarged and extended season by season,
and the farm gradually enhanced in value.
A farm that has a fair home-made irri-
gation plant is practically independent of
the weather. The farmer is then sure of
his crop no matter how hot or dry the sea-
son may prove. The great benefit derived
from an irrigation plant is so apparent that
it seems strange that so few are in exis-
tence. It is not always necessary to build
a windmill for irrigation, for there are of-
ten natural advantages which any farmer
can avail himself of. When brooks flow
through farms they furnish in the winter
and spring seasons an abundance of wa-
ter, but when summer advances they often
dfy up and prove of no earthly good. The
question of importance is how can such a
stream be converted into use for irrigating
the plants. It would not be so dfficult if
a reservoir was dug and built on the farm,
so that the water could be stored. Such a
reservoir could easily be increased in size
each year, and with the water stored in it,
what would prevent digging ditches to
carry the water to the fields when needed.
Some will say that such work represents
an immense amount of labor; but if the
farmer intends to live permanently on his
farm, will it not pay him to do a little to-
ward the improvement each year, even
though it may take ten years to complete
the job? He can rest assured that he is
increasing the value of his farm fully ten
per cent every year, a fact which he will
realize when he comes to sell it. — Profes-
sor James S. Doty, New York.

RECENT WORK OF THE DIVI-
SION OF FORESTRY.

The result of the work of the Division

has been to turn practical forestry in the
United States from a doubtful experiment
into an assured success. Special studies
of some of the most important trees, com-
mercially, have been made, from which
can be calculated their probable future
yield. Cheap methods of harvesting the
present lumber crop without inj'uring the
productivity of the forest have been put in
operation. Such concerns as The Great
Northern Paper Company and The Deer-
ing Harvester Company have been led to
undertake conservative management of
their forest properties. Meanwhile, the
work of tree planting, particularly in the
almost treeless Western States of the
plains, has been furthered; the relation of
the forest to the volume of streams,
erosion, evaporation, and irrigation have
been studied; matters connected with irri-
gation and water supply have been investi-
gated; hopeful progress has been made in
the direction of regulating grazing in the
Western reserves in a manner fair both to
the important interests of .cattle and
sheep owners and to those who look to the
reserves as a source of continuous supply
of wood and water; and studies of forest
fires were conducted with a view of reduc-
ing the great yearly loss from this source,
a loss which has been estimated at $50,-
000,000.

Field work is to go on this summer in
17 States There are in all 179 persons en-
gaged in the work of the Bureau. Of this
number 81 are student assistants — young
men, largely college students, who expect
to enter forestry as a profession, and who
serve during the summer on small pay for
the sake of the experienced gained.

PULSE OF IRRIGATION.

A Striking Contrast.

One of the members of the United
States Geological Survey recently called
attention to a striking contrast in the de-
velopment of the country lying on each
side of the boundary line between Oregon
and Idaho. In southwestern Idaho, near
Boise City and the state line, there is a
considerable section well developed by irri-
gation. Owing to the combined advan-
tages of the rich character of the soil, the
favorable conditions of the climate and
irrigation, this district contains some of
the best fruit growing country in the
world. Just on the other side of the
state line in Oregon along the Malheu and
Owyee rivers exactly the same conditions
exist — rivers, soil and climate — with the
exception of the application of water to
the land by irrigation, the vital condition.
In consequence this section, though but a
few miles distant from the other and just
as capable of high development, is a des-
ert country. Here is the whole important
question of irrigation in the arid West in
a nutshell, with its homes, farms and in-
dustry; without it, a desert.

A Curious Result of Irrigation

Experienced irrigators of the arid lands
of the West say that where the character
of the soil is loose and sandy, as it is in
many parts of the central valley of Cali-
fornia and often elsewhere in the West, it
drinks up the water put upon it in a most
astonishing way. Thousands and thou-
sands of gallons are run over and quickly
absorbed by the thirsty soil when irriga-
tion is first begun, and this may be con-
tinued for two or three years if the soil is

deep. After several years of continuous
soaking, however, during which time the
ground has taken in great quantities of
water, it reaches a condition approaching
saturation, when it no longer needs more
to make it suitable for crops, and the ques-
tion may even become one of getting rid
of the surplus. It is a well known fact
that the country where Fresno, in South-
ern California, stands to-day, was origin-
ally a desert, arid waste where sheep had
to scramble for a living in a good year and
frequently starved to death in a dry one.
To-day there are thousands of acres of
land under cultivation there and the prob-
lem is no longer one of irrigation, but of
drainage; and there is being now seriously
agitated in the San Joaquin Valley the
question of the construction of a great
drainage canal to drain off the irrigating
water. In the city of Tulare when the
white people first went there, water could
not be found in wells at depths less than
75 to 100 feet below the surface of the
ground. To-day it is impossible to pump
a well dry; it is even difficult to puuip it
down a foot; 10 or 15 feet below the sur-
face the country seems to have become a
great sponge. The reason for this rather
surprising result of irrigation is that waler
introduced upon a given tract, sinks into
the soil and in the course of years widely
overflows, its boundary, thoroughly moist-
ens the adjoining lands and completely
changes the character of the whole sec-
tion. The significance of this result is
that though at first investments in irriga-
ting plants give returns for but a limited
area, in the course of years the same
plant will have opened up for occupation

7 HE JRRIGA 7 ION A GE.

381

and cultivation a much larger area than
was originally expected. This view of the
matter is interesting and suggestive of the
possibilities of present irrigated lands in
the next generation. Data concerning the
conditions are being brought together by
the Geological Survey as part of its in-
vestigation of the extent to which the arid
land can be redeemed.

An Inter- State Complication.

An interesting complication, which has
arisen in the growing demand for water
in the West for irrigation purposes, was
noted in a recent reconnoissance made by
the United States Geological Survey in
Western Nevada. This part of Nevada
receives very little rain, and hence is a dry
and unproductive land. But so wonderful
are the possibilities of development in a
seemingly dead country by means of irri-
gation, as has been illustrated time and
time again in other sections of the West,
that even this inhospitable tract could be
brought under cultivation and made suit-
able to sustain a good population if devel-
oped by irrigation. But it seems that the
rivers in western Nevada all rise on the
eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevadas, on
the Californian side of the line. Indeed,
this boundary seems to ha>ve been origin-
ally drawn so as to include all the good
land available on the east up to the border
of the interior desert. Thus California
controls the headwaters of these streams,
and with all the conservatism born of im-
aginary lines, the Californian settlers are
slow to allow the erection of storage reser-
voirs and irrigating plants which are needed
to give the Nevada settlers the water they
require.

Like everything else time will straighten
out this difficulty, which is serious enough
now, and Nevada will get its water, but
the instance as an example of the hin-
drances in the way of progress is interest-
ing and suggestive.

Brigham Young's Peaches-

In connection with the widespread and
growing interest in the irrigation of west-
ern . lands which, through the energy of
the western people and the helpful co-
operation of the United States Geological
Survey is doing so much to develop the
arid lands, the following information which
has recently come to light regarding the
baginnings of irrigation in Utah, will be
of interest:

About fifty-four years ago the Mormons
went into that territory, then dry and un-
productive, and immediately "began to im-
prove it. They laid out Salt Lake City on
a broad and comprehensive plan and,
among their very first improvements, in-
troduced water from the hills for use in
their houses and gardens. Four years
after they had become settled, or about
the year 1851, President Fillmore sent a
party of federal officers to take charge of
the territorial government. Among them
were the secretary and treasurer of the
t erritory, judges of the supreme court and
several Indian agents. The wife of the
secretary, among many interesting remem-
brances of her stay at Salt Lake City,
mentions the fact that the irrigating
ditches used by the Mormons ran as they
still do along the sides of the streets like
gutters, and that through them constant
streams of clear water were flowing. These
ditches furnished the water for the gar-
dens about the houses and was diverted
wherever each householder needed to use
his supply. On one occasion, the secre-
tary's wife states, Brigham Young, with
much pride, brought her one of the first
four peaches which had ripened in his gar-
den under irrigation, saying that he wished
her to have the honor of eating it.

Irrigation Means Population.

The steady, persistent demand for gov-
ernment aid to make possible the exten-
sion of irrigating systems in the arid West
is yearly becoming more arid more uni-

382

1HE IRRIQA1ION AGE.

versa!. It is not a subterfuge of politics,
but a real economic necessity. Nothing is
more clearly brought out in the figures of
the population of the various states, which
the census bureau has just published, than
the disparity in numbers of the population
of the eastern and western states. Some
of the comparatively small eastern states
far outstrip their western sisters, which
have room enough ai:d to spare for half a
dozen of them. Idaho, Colorado, Nevada
with only one or two persons, or in case of
Idaho only a fraction of a person, to each
square mile territory is not a strong show-
ing. To be sure these states have much
land unsuited to the life of large popula-
tions, but there are millions of acres scat-
tered along the river valleys which could
easily be made habitable and extremely
productive by the introduction of water to
the dry lands. From all sides rises the
cry for action. Nebraska has just had an
enthusiastic irrigation congress; reports
come from Texas and New Mexico of a
scheme to use the waters of the Rio
Grande; Colorado has an established ex-
ample of the benefits of such work, and
California owes much of her agricultural
prestige to the reclaiming of her great cen-
tral valley by irrigation. The western
states are enthusiastic; the United States
Geological Survey is helping, and there
are sure to be beneficial results of a wide-
spread national character.

Irrigation by Electricity.

Frederick H. Newall, chief hydrogra-
pher of the government geological survey,

has given his unqualified indorsement to-
the plan for irrigating the arid West by
electric power, and predicts that the inno-
vation will add untold acreage to the irri-
gated land. The scheme seems feasible
and should result in even more good than
Mr. Newall now expects.

The plan is a very simple one, by which
the water is made to generate its own dis-
tributing power. The streams in the
mountains will be used to run the ma-
chinery at the powerhouse, and the elec-
tricity thus generated will be transmitted
to the field below, where it can be applied
to an electric motor operating a centrifu-
gal pump whieh will lift the underflow
from the stream to the surface and distrib-
ute it over the surrounding land as re-
quired. The farmer turns on his motor
and the water flows. When he has enough
he shuts it off and prevents useless waste.

The practicability of the scheme has
been demonstrated by the number of plants
already in operation in the San Joaquin
valley, where it is claimed that the water
is being pumped at a less cost than that of
gravity ditches. Colorado presents many
opportunities for installing plants in the
canons economically, and the benefit will
be widespread when such plants are in-
stalled. The ultimate development of this
class of work must rest largely upon water
conservation, the restraining of the spring
flood to supply a continuous discharge dur-
ing the summer months, keeping the power
plants in operation as well as furnishing
water for the ditches. — Colorado Weekly
limes.

ABOUT THE INDIAN.
The total expenditure by the Govern-
ment on account of the Indian service
from March 4, 1789, up to and including
July 30, 1900, has been $368,358,217, ac-
cording to the annual report of Commis-
sioner of Indian Affairs William A. Jones.
The expenditures for the fiscal year ended
last July amounted to $10,175,107. Of
this amount at least $3,330,000 was de-
voted to the cau!*e of Indian education.

The report reviews the changes in the
system of the purchasing of supplies, by
which the supplies are bought in open
market shipped by common carrier at tar-
iff or better rates, and estimates that this
saves 20 per cent in cost.

Under the head of obstacles to self-sup-
port of the Indians, the report deprecates
the ration system, annuity payments and
the leasing of allotments. The ration sys-
tem, says the report, is the corollary of the
reservation system. The Indian popula-
tion of the United States is about 267,900,
of which 45,270 receive a daily ration.
The ration issued and its value vary ac-
cording to the tribe. Nearly two-fifths of
the number receiving rations belong to the
great Sioux nation. The ration has been
gradually reduced the past few years, in
accordance with the policy of the Indian
bureau.

If the Indians' claim for full ratons as a
right is conceded the commissioner pre-
dicts that the time when they will be self-
supporting lies in the very distant fnture,
if it comes at all. A number of Indians
also are assisted by occasional issues and
at several agencies the old and indigent
are provided for. Altogether there are
57,570 Indians receiving subsistence in

some degree, exclusive of Indian children
in boarding schools. The Commissioner
urges that the indiscriminate issue of ra-
tions should stop at once. The old and
helpless, he says, should be provided for,
but rations should be issued to the able-
bodied only for labor, while those who
have been educated in Indian schools de-
pend entirely on their own resources.

Annuities distributed last year aggre-
gated $1,507.543, the per capita ranging
from $255 down to 50 cents. The report
says that the large money payments to the
Indians are demoralizing in the extreme.
They degrade the Indians and corrupt the
whites; they induce pauperism and scan-
dal and crime; they nullify all the good
effects of labor. Unscrupulous people in-
duee the Indian to go into debt and then
when the debt has accumulated and the
Indian's credit is gone, pressure is brought
to bear by the creditors upon the Govern-
ment to pay the Indian so that he can pay
his honest debts. The state of things
growing out of the surroundings at the
agencies is a scandal and disgrace.

There is now in the treasurey to the
credit of the Indian tribes $33,315,955.09,
drawing interest at the rate of 4 and 5 per
cent, the annnal interests amounting to
$1,646,485.96. Besides this, several of
the tribes have large incomes from leasing
and other sources. It is a safe prediction
that as long as these funds exist they will
be the prey of designing people.

The ultimate disposition of the Indian
funds is a subject for the most serious con-
sideration. In some cases they are small
and in other very large. With respect to
the former, they can, as a rule, be paid
out to the Indians with little, if any, evil

384

IffE IRR1GA1ION AGE.

consequences. With respect to the latter,
their proper disposition is more difficult.
It is admitted that great wealth is a source
of weakness to any Indian tribe and pro-
ductive of much evil. Two remedies have
been suggested.

First — The gradual extension of these
funds, setting aside a sufficient sum to
maintain the, reservation schools a definite
period of years — say twenty-one — and then
•dividing the balance per capita and paying
each member of the tribe at certain ages
their share.

Second — As a corollary to this, division
of the land belonging to the tribe per
capita. The remedy proposed would al-
most invariably immediately relegate the
Indians to proverty, though the remote re-
sult might be for them to work to save
themselves from actual want.

The general pleasing of their allotments
by the Indians to white men is denounced.

There were 250 Indian schools of all
kinds conducted by the Government, and
an increase of 1412 pupils in enrollment
and 1142 in average attendance shown
over the previous year. About 8000 of
the 34,000 eligible school children are
unprovided for. Compulsory education of
the Indian children is strongly indorsed
and Congress is urged to authorized the
Commissioner to place every one of school
age in some school, the selection of the
school to be left largely to educated Indian
parents.

The report controverts the commonly
accepted theory that by constant contact
with the whites the extinction of the In-
dian is only a matter of time. It says it
can be stated with a great degree of con-
fidence that the Indian population of the
United States has been very little dimin-
ished from the days of Columbus, Cor-
onada, Raleigh, Capt. John Smith and
other early explorers. The first reliable
Indian census was in 1870, and certainly
since then the Indian population has been
nearly stationary, whatever decrease there

is being attributable to Indians becoming
citizens.

Reviewing Indian Territory affairs, the
report says there are 50.000 children of
white parents there who should hare
schools, and that thousands of these child-
ren thus deprived of education are growing
up in vice and ignorance, already filling
the United States jails at Muscogee and
other points with youthful criminals. The
cost of education will not be excessive
compared with results. School benefits
also should be extended to the 4250 Choc-
taw frcedmen. Government control of the
schools in .the Chickasaw Nation is advo-
cated.

What's A Mule Fit For?

The question is so often asked by farm-
ers who have never used mules on their
farms, preferring horses, that we shall giv«
a few of the merits possessed by our long-
eared friend.

The mule is an easy animal to raise.

He doesn't eat much as compared with
a horse.

An energetic mule will make a trip
quicker than ahorse, though he may not go
fast — the secret of his speed is his uniform
gait, steady and persistent.

You hardly ever see a sick mule; he
seems practically immune from the dis-
eases which attack horses.

A mule can endure more hardship than
a horse, will pull more in proportion to his
size, and will "stay with it" longer.

A mule is easier "broken," or trained to
work than a horse, and is more reliable
after initiated.

If a team of mules runs away they look
out for themselves, and though they may
make some close turns and go through a
needle's eye, so to speak, they usually
come out unharmed.

We would rather plow corn with a team
of mules than with horses; they break
down less corn and turn around quicker.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

385

Hot weather affects the mule less than
the horse.

A good, honest business mule is worth,
and will command, a good price any day in
the week.

The usefulness of a mule continues
longer than that of a horse.

The mule is not handsome, doesn't make
a good roadster, isn't stylish, doesn't "do
himself proud" if hitched to a fancy yellow
wagon or cart, but what he lacks in ap-
pearance he makes up in actual usefulness
on the farm. — Tennessee Farmer.

British from any of its ports, is a very im"
portant one, and if the New Orleans suit
results in settling that, it will go on record
as one of the most notable judicial proceed-
ings in our history.

The Mule and the War.

According to the terms of the injunction
suit filed by the Boer representative at
New Orleans, the success of the British in
South Africa depends entirely upon their
getting their regular supply of mules from
the Louisiana metropolis. The complaint
says that "the war can be- carried on by
Great Britain only through the renewal of
its military supplies from this port (New
Orleans), and when these supplies cease
the war must end."

This is the most pewerful tribute to the
efficacy of the American mule yet recorded.
Old soldiers of the civil wa-r are full of
reminiscences of the importance of the
army mule in that struggle, and we know
that he was a great factor in Cuba, and is
so now in the Philippines. But no one
ever before asserted that the ability of a
great empire like that of Great Britain to
carry on war depended upon the limited
supply of mules that could be obtained
from a single American port.

The indispengability of the mule in war
operations may be freely admitted, but
New Orleans is not the only port from
which this sturdy, long-eared animal can
be shipped. It may be "reckoned" that
so long as Johnny Bull has money he will
get a supply of mules somewhere.

The question as to whether the United
-States violates its neutral obligations by
^permitting the shipment of mules for the

Mark Twain's Double.

There are in this country a number of
clubs, situated in various cities, whose
mission in life is to give good dinners and
do amusing stunts after they are consumed.
The parent of these clubs is the Clover
Club in Philadelphia. Then there is the
Gridiron in Washington, the Whitechapel
in Chicago, the Tavern Club in Boston,
and a number of others. Yesterday at the
Murray Hill hotel, P. R. Dunne, of Bos-
ton, told of a recent meeting of the Tavern
Club. "Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain),"
said Mr. Dunne, "was the guest of honor.
He had some other engagements that even-
ing, and so he arranged with the club to
come there after the dinner and make a
speech. No one, however knew this save
the managers, and, as the event proved,
they kept the information successfully to
themselves. When the dinner came off
Twain occupied the seat of honor next to
the host, and the dinner went smoothly on
its accustomed course from oysters to cof-
fee. Then came the speaking, and Twain
made one of his very best efforts when his
turn came. He had just finished when the
door opened, and to the uttera stonishment
of most preseut there entered the exact
counterpart of the last speaker. The two
men were identical in appearance, and
when the newcomer spoke it was noticed
that their facial expressions were the same,
as, too, were the intonations of the voices.
The two Dromios could not have been
more exactly alike, and the dumfounded
members stared open-mouthed from one to
the other, all at sea as to what it meant.
The president of the club relieved the sit-
uation by introducing the two men. 'Mr.
Samuel L. Clemens,' said he, suavely, re-
ferring to the most recent arrival, 'permit

386

THE IRR1GA210N AGE.

me to present you to Mr. Mark Twain.'
The last named advanced across the inter-
vening space and grasped the real 'Mark
Twain' cordially by the hand. "Believe
me, Mr. Clemens, I am delighted to meet
you at last,' he assured him earnestly.
'Throughout a long life I have been con-
stantly taken — rather mistaken — for you.
I am glad to meet you at last face to fac«.
It is a privilege I had never expected to
experience. When you have done ill in
this world the blame has always rested on
my shoulders (which, thank God, are
broad enough to carry even that load.)
When I have done well, you have received
the credit.' And then the tumult broke
forth. Of course, it was a hoax. The
few who knew that Twain would be late
had taken advantage of that fact, and had
rung in a substitute. A fellow member
had been so cleverly made up to look like
Twain, and had so thoroughly enacted his
part, that for a full two hours he had fooled
a number of the cleverest men in Boston.
Many of those present knew Twain well,
and one or two were intimate friends. —
New York Tribune.

A Juvenile Opinion.

Since ma's got Christian Science, us kids
is dead in luck —

No hot old mustard plasters upon our
chests are stuck;

She never puts no ginger upon the stove
to boil,

Nor doses up us children with that old cas-
tor oil;

She just says: "Look here, children, no
need for you to squall.

You think your stomach's aching?
There's no such thing at all."

Since ma's got Christian Science, she

doesn't use a whip
To punish us, but simply takes puckers in

her lip,
And thinks and thinks right at us, until

she near goes blind,

And then she says she's whipped us by

whipping in her mind.
That is the absent treatment, but any one

can see
That it don't make connections with such

a boy as me.

But pa — now he is dif'rent. When he's at

home he'll say:
"You children best be careful not to be

bad today."
And you bet we are careful, 'cause pa he

says that he
Will give us switchin' science kot from the

willow tree,
And, as for absent treatment, why he

says, with a wink:
"I'll 'tend to all the switchin' — ma can

stand by and think."
— Josh Wink, in Baltimore American.

Susan Van Doozan.

I'll write, for I'm witty, a popular ditty,

To bring to me shekels and fame,
And the only right way one can write one
today

Is to give it some Irish girl's name;
There's "Rosy O'Grady," that sweet
"steady lady,"

And dear "Annie Rooney," and such,
But mine shall be nearly original, really,

For "Susan Van Doozan" is Dutch.

"Oh, Susan Van Doozan, the girl of my

choos'n!

You stick to my bosom like glue,
When this you're perus'n' remember I'm

mus'n'

Sweet Susan Van Doozaa on you;
So don't be abus'n my offer, and bruis'n

A heart that is willing to woo
And please be excus'nr not cold and re-

fus'n',
Oh, Susan Van Doozan, please do!"

Now, through it I'll scatter — a quite easy

matter —
The lines that we all of us know,

THE IRRIGATION AGE. 387

How "the neighbors all cry as she passes With generous slices of country cured

them by, pork.

'There's Susan, the pride of the row!'" Their lips they would smack in extrem*

And something like "daisy" and "setting satisfaction,

me crazy''- Unloose the top button that served on

These lines the dear public would miss — their jeans

Then chuck a "sweetheart" in, and "never To give them more room when they got

to part" in the right action

And end with a chorus like this: Upon the loved layout of bacon and

"Oh, Susan Van Doozan! before I'd be

]os'n' The women their faded sunbonnets would

One glance of your eyes of sky blue, *ie on>

I vow I'd stop us'n' tobacco and booz'n'— And seek for the treasure in lane and

That word is not nice, it is true— in wood>

I wear out my shoes'n', I'm losing my The tender y°ung mustard, the sweet

roos'n'— dandelion,

My reason, I should say, dear Sue— And other Sreen thinS8 that thev knew

So please change your views'n', become my e Sood>

own Susan From out the great pot they the fruit

Oh, Susan Van Doozan, please do!" of their labors

—Joe Lincoln, in L. A. W. Bulletin. Would stack for the feast in the wait'

_ ing tureens,

The fragrance borne forth telling all of

BACON AND GREENS. ^ neighbors

The sweet songs of springtime are merri- The tale of the dinner of bacon and

ly ringing greens.

Out on the soft breezes with musical

,, New Yorker s may dine on hot birds and
swell :

m, , cold bottles,
The amateur poets are everywhere sing-

The Jerseyites feast on the succulent

In lines that sometimes rhyme remark -

, , ,, Ohicagoans send down their ravenous

ably well. throttles

They sing of the birds that inhabit the

, Most liberal swallows of home-doctored

bowers >

The brooks that are babbling mid fair " . '

, St. Louis may feed on corn pone and mo-

rural scenes,

IftSSPS

The grass-covered meadows, the trees and

The Bostonese revel in brown bread and
the flowers,

But never a warble of bacon and greens.

But none of these foods fit for angels

O ; that was the dish that our forefathers surpasses

relished The old-fashioned fillin' of bacon and

When called in at noonday from field of greens.

their work— — James Barton Adams.

A big dish of greens with its bosom em-

bellished

* WTH OUR EXCHAGES.

5 WWWW W V* W VWl W WWW WWW WW W W W^VWW VWVQ^VV

SATURDAY EVENING POST.

Baron Munchausen was the first travel-
ing man, and my drummer's expense ac-
counts still show his influence.

Adam invented all the different ways in
which a young man can make a fool of
himself, and the college yell at the end of
them is just a frill that doesn't change
essentials.

It't the fellow who thinks and acts for
himself, and sells short when prices hit
the high C and the house is standing on its
hind legs yelling for more, that sits in the
directors' meetings when he gets on toward
forty.

Pay day is always a month off for the
spendthrift, and he is never able to real-
ize more than sixty cents on any dollar
that comes to him. But a dollar is worth
one hundred and six cents to a good busi-
ness man, and he never spends the dollar.

If you gave some fellows a talent
wrapped in a napkin to start with in busi-
ness, they would swap the talent for a gold
brick and lose the napkin; and there arc
others that you could start out with just a
napkin who would set up with it in the
dry goods business iu a small way and then
coax the other fellow's talent into it.

I alwrys lay it down as a safe proposi-
tion that the fellow who has to break open
the baby's bank for car-fare toward the
last of the week isn't going to be any Rus-
sell Sage when it comes to trading with the
old man's money. — From the letters of a
self-made merchant to his son, now appear-
ing in the Saturday Evening Post,
LADIES' HOME JOURNAL.

Evidently no effort has been spared to
make The Ladies' Home Journal for Aug-

ust a positive boon to its readers during
these warm midsummer days. Its light,
readable articles, bright stories, clever
poems, charming music, and numerous
beautiful illustrations afford the easiest
and pleasantest kind of entertainment for
leisure hours. Enchanting views of the
lovely scenery in the Engadine Valley and
among the Swiss and Italian lakes, as well
as such delightful articles as "The Singing
Village of Germany" and ''What Girl-Life
in Italy Means," allure the thoughts to
foreign lands, while there are timely sug-
gestions about "the Picnic Basket, ""Keep-
ing a House Cool in the I)og-Days," and
"Sea-Side Toys and How to Make Them."
Other thoroughly interesting contributions
are "The First White Baby Born in the
Northwest." "My Boarding-School for
Girls," and the usual serial and depart-
ment articles. By the Curtis Publishing
Company, Philadelphia. One dollar a
year; ten cents a copy.

SCRIBNER.

For September contains "The Wrong
House," by Raffles; "The United States
Army," by Gen. Francis V. Greene; "The
Clock in the Sky," by Geo. W. Cable;
"The Voice of the Sea," by Thomas Nel-
son Page; "A Burro Puncher," by Walter
A. Wyckoff; "The Poor in Summer," by
Robert Alston Stevenson.

WANTED— Ladies and gentlemen to introduce
the "hottest" seller on earth. Dr. White's Elec-
trical Comb, patented 1899. Agents are coining
money. Cures all forms of scalp ailments, head-
aches, etc., yet costs the same as an ordinary
comb Send 50c in stamps for sample. G. N
ROSE, Gen. Mgr., Decatur, 111.

WANTED— Business men and women to take ex-
clusive agency for a State, and control sub-
agents handling Dr. White's Electric Comb.
$3,000 per month compensation. Fact. Call and
I'll prove it, G. N. ROSE, Gen. Mgr., Decaturjll

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

VOL xv .

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER, 1901. NO 12

The Draught The experience of the present
an Eye Opener year because of the drought
will be liable to change the views of some
of our congressmen in regard to irrigation.
Missouri farmers are losers this year by
$100,000,000, Kansas as much more, Neb-
raska nearly as much, while Arkansas and
Iowa are heavy losers. They are pointing
to the great results of irrigation in Colo-
rado and other states, and &rc now willing
to concede the benefits of irrigation.

Plenty of
Water.

Prof. Newell says that the
water power in the Yuba river
is picked up by electricity and made to
light even the city of Stockton, more than
one hundred miles away. But on the
way, where the wire crosses the valleys',
the farmers run pumps by it to irrigate
their lands. Now, while it would be most
difficult to turn many Eastern rivers into
canals through which to irrigate the soil,
it would be comparatively easy for the
farmers to join and obtain power enough
from many of the streams to run pumps to
irrigate vast areas of land, and in that way
we expect the first efforts toward exten-
sive irrigation will be made in that region.
That will interfere with no riparian
rights; it will foul no streams, and when
the irrigation season is over, the power
can thresh the wheat, bale the hay, saw
the wood, light the house and stables, and
farming will be exalted.

In the same way we suspect that mighty
areas of desert in the arid belt will be
brought under cultivation, for, as a rule,
there is plenty of water below the surface

of our desert lands. The Snake river can
supply power to run a million pumps, and
there is water power enough in Utah to
turn a world. The next twenty years will
make a transformation in this West, and
this year's sorrowful experience ought to
quicken the minds of Eastern people to
cause them to try never to be quite as
badly left again as they have been this
year.

Reclaiming the A recent dispatch from
ZuyderZee. The Hague indicates the

enterprise of the Hollanders in the mat-
ter of land reclamation. The government,
it is stated, has introduced a bill in parlia-
ment for the reclaiming of 113,666 acres
from the Zuyder Zee, at an estimated cost
of 95,000,000 florins. The scheme will
add 2,000,000 florins, or about $800.000,
to the budget annually for the next fifty
years.

The Nile The erection of the Nile dam
Dam. by the British Government

will form a lake with a capacity of over a
billion tons of water. When the sluice
gates are open, while the Nile is at high
water, something like five million tons of
water will rush through every hour.

Irrigation Irrigation is rapidly coming to
in Canada. t^e front in t^e rcgion Of ijgilt

rainfall in Western Canada. Some 660,-
000 acres of land were reclaimed during
the past year, and canals were constructed
to the length of 525 miles.

The Prospects Great will be the glory of the
of irrigation. west when she shall have at-
tained to her full stature through the re-

390

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

clamation of her arid domain. It is now
very generally conceded that a national
irrigation policy is the only means by
which such a result can be effected. The
growth of this movement throughout the
country has been a phenomenal one dur-
ing the past few years.

The national movement is now of such
magnitude that it is gaining strength of
its own impetus. We failed to get our
appropriations from the recent Congress,
but that is not as much our fault as it is
due to insufficient time afforded by the
short session of Congress. Notwithstand-
ing, we have taken a long step forward
and I am confident that at the next ses-
sion there will be enacted a great part of
the legislation we require.

The best evidence of this feeling is that
only two years ago Congress laughed at
the idea of a national irrigation law, but
during the last session it was con-
ceded to be a mere question of time. I
have talked with many Congressmen who
will not say they are in favor of the move-
ment, and with many who are openly op-
posed to it as it stangs now. and they have
told me flatly that if we would seek direct
legislation and appropriation instead of
pursuing the course of tacking our meas-
ures on the general appropriation bill in
the form of amendments, they would
stand with us. They one and all admit
that it is a question of a short time when
an irrigation act will be put through. The
bills favorable to us, which were returned
from committee this winter, came before
the House two (lays before adjournment
and consequently too late.

My own conclusion and judgment is that
our absolute success is merely a matter of
organization. If well organized now I am
convinced that our policy will be fully in-
augurated at the next session. If we are
apathetic we may lose all we have gained.
Qur strongest opponents are eastern agri-
culturists, who believe erroneously that
western development will result in dis-

astrous competition, and an even stronger
class that believes the Government domain
•hould be ceded to the States and the
States forced to stand the expense of re-
clamation— something few States, if any,
could afford to do.

Untiring work and effort must be the
keynote of the work.

Increased Interest It is surprising to note the
in irrigation. interest the metropolitan
papers take in irrigation in the West and
the conservation of the flood waters which
run unchecked to the sea. This should
lead to an education of the people in cor-
rect lines, and result in beneficiaf and
needed legislation. That it is more and
more the subject of editorial comment in
the city journals is a cause of congratula-
tion. The time should not be far distant
when every irrigation possibility will be
utilized to the utmost capacity. An anci-
ent civilization has recorded in our South-
west its belief in irrigation, and if any one
doubts its value let him read the lesson
taught by the ruins of great cities and
mighty peoples, once living where now a
desert reigns supreme. Until we equal
the record of the past, an education is
needed in irrigation matters.

Chinese
Canals.

In the great Empire of China,
notwithstanding the vast anti-
quity of her alphabet and records, the
distribution of water by canals dates back
into the fabulous period. Forty centuries
of recorded history do not describe the
methods first in use which even then were
old. Chinese irrigation of to-day, though
entailing enormous labor, yields three full
crops a year and the soil asks for no inter-
val of rest.

A thousand years before the birth of
Christ, the Chinese record has it, the
Wou-Weng caused to be constructed hy-
draulic machines of simple design and
working, which were successfully used for
filling storage reservoirs, and as a conse-
quence, agriculture flourished. Some 800

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

391

years later, or about 250 B. C., the great
Teheng-Ko canal was constructed to di-
vert the waters of the King River, by
which fully a million acres of arid land
were made highly productive. This, Chi-
nese history states, so increased the wealth
and enriched the monarch that he was en-
abled to transform his Kingdom into an
Empire.

The Wealth "In the new West," said
Mr. Wantland in his address
at the Transmississippi Congress at Crip-
ple Creek, "the main lines of railway are
already provided. The pioneer lines were
not constructed because the products of
the country they crossed justified the ex-
penditure. There were profits in the days
when the first trans-continental road was
built. This was done when the great pos-
sibilities of the West were only talked of
by dreamers; now, 'All wise men agree
that beyond the Mississippi lies the great
wealth of the days to come,' and the
prophets of today tell us that the great
trade to be developed in the lands beyond
the Pacific will call for all the grain which
can be raised in the irrigated valleys of
the Pacific Coast states.

"In a report to the 56th Congress on
the Free Homes Bill, the Committee on
Public Lands said:

' ' No legislative enactment ever placed
upon the statute books of the nation has
been more lauded than the free home-
stead law of the United States. Under its
beneficent provisions the hardy sons of
New England, the thrifty young men of
the middle and western states, and the
sturdy immigrants of the Old World
poured into the fertile, unoccupied regions
of the West, and by the labor of their
hands they transformed the forests into
fruitful farms and changed the almost
limitless plains of prairie grass into billowy
fields of waving grain. Cities and towns
sprang up in this territory as if by magic,
churches and schoolhouses are found at
every crossroads, and no more valuable

and loyal citizens can be found in all the
commonwealth than the original home-
steaders and their descendants. It was a
poor man's law; poor men availed them-
selves of its advantages, but the fabulous
wealth they have created for themselves
and the nation is beyond computation.'

'The arguments in favor of paying a few
millions of dollars to Indians in order that
additional lands in reservations could be
thrown open to homestead entry free apply
with double force in favor of appropria-
tions by congress to assist in the reclama-
tion of arid lands farther away from the
great centers of population in order that
home-builders may be given an opportunity
to make a living in the mountain and
Pacific Coast states, where irrigation is
necessary.

"If it is good policy to buy off Indians
and open the 12,000 homestead tracts in
Oklahoma, for which 100,000 struggled,
the business men of the West may con-
sistently urged that it is right to put water
upon 40,000,000 acres of arid lands, upon
which a million families can raise grain
and fruit on forty acre farms. But unless
the merchants and manufacturers and
heavy taxpayers of the West realize that
it is their burden, and get behind the ef-
forts of the National Irrigation and other
associations working for improved condi-
tions, many of us will be a long time dead
probably before the western members of
congress will get together and secure the
necessary strength to push through con-
gress the needed legislation.

"Trade follows the flag, but it also fol-
lows the irrigation reservoir and the ditch,
if they carry water at the right time.

"If organization can be substituted for
talk; surveys for theories, reservoir build-
ing for resolutions, and the homelesa
from other states be brought into our val-
leys and given a chance to build up homes
under favorable conditions, then we may
justly claim it to be true that 'The West
is the most American part of America. ' '

392

1HE IRR1GA1ION AGE.

Mining It will n°t be contended by

Development. thoge who put forward the

claim that the reclamation of the West
through irrigation will work to the detri-
ment'of the eastern farmer; that it would
benefit the farmers of New England, New
York or Pennsylvania, if every human
habitation west of the Alleghenies were
blotted out of existence, and every farm in
that great region made desolate in order to
remove competition.

Those who have studied the resources
and possibilities of the West realize fully
that agriculture, as it will be worked out
on the irrigated lands, is but an incident
of the gigantic production of which the
West is capable, and the possibilities of
which are today really so little known.
The mineral resources of the arid region
are so vast, including the great produc-
tion of oil, which is now beginning to be
developed, that agriculture will be more a
stimulus to mining development than any-

thing else . In the arid West, where liv-
ing and transportation as a rule are expen-
sive, only the comparatively high grade
ores can be profitably worked. The tre-
mendous mining resources of the country
can never be fully developed without
cheap food and cheap transportation, and
these the West will never have until it
has irrigation. Nothing could possibly
benefit the East more than the develop-
ment of the wealth of the Western mines.

The evolution of the wind-
mill, from the huge clumsy
machine of the fourteenth century, or
from even the windmill of fifty years ago.
to the present improved, light, rapid
running but powerful form of today, has
been as remarkable as any feature of irri-
gation development, and the American
windmill of the present is no unimportant
accessory to the great irrigation systems
which are being year by year projected
and completed throughout the West.

Windmill
Evolution.

IRRIGATION IN INDIA AND
AMERICA.

BY. E.-H. PARGITER, OP THE IRRIGATION BRANCH, PUBLIC WORKS
DEPARTMENT, PANJAB. INDIA.

(Continued from last month.)

But after the cessation of the scanty rains in the mountains, in a
year of drought, the rivers soon fall very low, and become quite in-
sufficient to supply the demand for water from them. The supply
that each canal obtains has to be very carefully distributed, and
economically used, so as to allow of as large an area as possible, be-
ing irrigated. This is now done by running each distributary or
branch, full, for a few days at a time; all getting thus a supply in ro-
tation. This, fortunately, can easily be done during the cold weather
months — as a rotation period of one month can be given, it not being
necessary to water the crops then grown, oftener than once a month.
During the hot weather months it is necessary to allow water to be
given every fifteen days at most; but then the supply is ample, and
can be given, usually, whenever wanted, without having to carry out
any system of working the different branches in rotation in order to
economize the supply.

Having already mentioned the canals supplied by the Rivers
Ganges and Jumna, there remain in upper India those supplied by the
five rivers of the Panjab, viz. : the Indus and its tributaries. Each of
these rivers now has, or will in course of time have a large perennial
canal taking out on its left or south bank, near where it commences its
long course through the great plains; with a permanent weir across
the whole width, able to dam up the whole cold weather discharge, if
necessary, and turn it into the canals. Lower down the courses of
these rivers in the very arid tracts of country in the South West Pan-
jab, and in the province of Sindh, there are numerous small canals on
both banks, called inundation canals, as they are chiefly designed to flow
only during the hot vreather months when the rivers are in flood. In
Sindh some of these are large and important canals, and have a fair
supply during the cold weather months also, so they are really per-
ennial, not inundation canals, though usually classed as inundation
canals, because their system of working more nearly resembles that of
the latter, than that of the former.

Of the large perennial canals alluded to, three are completed and
irrigating large tracts of country; the Bari Doab Canal from the River
Ravi was first commenced, soon after the annexation of the Panjab,

394 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

and has been working for more than thirty years, though some of its
branches were not ready till much later; then the Sirhind Canal from
the River Satlej was taken in hand, and has been working for seven-
teen years; and next the Chanab Uanal from the River Chanab, just
completed, though some branches have been working for several
years- The next canal to be opened will be the Jhelam Canal, from
the River Jhelam. This has been lately commenced, about three
years ago, and is expected to take five or six years in construction
from its commencement, before it will be sufficiently ready to be
opened for irrigation.

The circumstances and designs of the first named of the above
canals, are very similar, and show the site on a river that engineers in
India 30 years ago considered it necessary to select for the head works
of a large perennial canal. This site is the point where the river
leaves the lowest mountain ranges, and enters the great plain of
North India. Here the river bed is permanent, and narrower than in
its course further down through the great alluvial plains in which, as
the river when in flood erodes its banks to a large extent, a very wide
bed has been cut in the course of centuries. The wier or dam across
the river at the site selected, would be shorter than further down,
while there is always an abundance of good building stone in the
mountains close by, and the river bed is full of boulders of all sizes,
admirably adapted for paving and flooring, and pitching (or riprapp-
ing) the sides of works and channels.

The disadvantage of such a site for the head of a canal, are,
firstly, that for the first few miles of its course the canal is in very
deep digging, and the cost of the large quantity of earthwork in ex-
cavation is considerable; and secondly, that the canal has to cross
several hill torrent and drainage channels that fall into the river.
The crossings are very troublesome and expensive to construct; and
the subsequent training of the torrent channels leading to and from
the crossings, needs constant attention and frequently a heavy ex-
penditure on spurs and riprapping. These channels are usually dry,
except immediately after heavy rain, when they are filled with a rush-
ing, raging flood of water, the drainage from the lowest range of hills
to the river. This water is heavily laden with sand and sediment,
and cannot be taken into the canal for fear of choking it up with the
sediment that would then be deposited. Also the amount of water
brought down would often be much in excess of the capacity of the
canal. Hence each drainage channel of any considerable size must be
provided with a syphon crossing, to pass it under the bed of the canal;
or with a super-passage, to pass it above, wherever the canal is in
such deep digging that the bed of the torrent is well above the full
supply level in the canal. The foundations of these syphons and

THE 1RRIGA Tl ON A GE. 395

super- passages are necessarily very deep, and are always much below
the subsoil water or spring level. Consequently, pumping to a very
great extent, and sometimes for a long time, has to be carried out
both before and during the construction of the foundations; entailing
heavy expenditure.

Thus to counterbalance the smaller cost of the head and river
works, there is the greater cost of the main canal channel, the long
time occupied in its construction, and the heavy annual maintenance
charges, besides the great inconvenience, or even danger, that would
ensue on the failure or destruction of any syphon or super-passage,
or the breaking into the canal of any torrent. Consequently, for the
later designed large canals, such as the Chanab and Jhelam Canals,
the sites for the head works have been selected much lower down the
courses of the rivers, where there are no hill torrents to be crossed,
and where, as the river bed is not very deep below the ordinary
ground level of the land bordering it, the depth of excavation is not
excessive, and there are no special difficulties to be overcome in the
construction of the main canal. Though the length of the weir across
the river is great, nearly a mile in the case of these two canals, and
long lengths of strong earthen embankments are required, with much
stone or brushwood pitching (or riprapping) on their slopes, wherever
they have to meet the force of the stream, yet on the whole there are
no special difficulties of construction or maintenance. Earthwork
also in India is done very cheaply and rapidly; and thus, this system
is found to be more satisfactory and to give less trouble, than the
former one of keeping hill torrents under control, conducting the
waters across the canal, and seeing them safely off the premises and
on their way into the river.

Both the Sirhind and Bari Doab Canals are now valuable proper-
ties and sound investments, bringing in to the government a hand-
some net revenue, after paying all expenses of working, maintenance,
and annual interest on the capital cost of their construction. As they
commence at the foot of the hills, they first traverse for some 60 to
80 miles, the belt of country in which in most years of average rain-
fall, no irrigation is necessary, though here some irrigation is done
by cultivators who grow the more valuable crops which require many
or frequent waterings. The demand for water is comparatively small
in ordinary years in these upper reaches of the canal; but should the
rainfall be deficit, or too long delayed, the demand suddenly becomes
great: and as it can be supplied, the area irrigated, and the revenue
derived from the water rates assessed, are largely increased. The
revenue of the canal in this tract may thus vary very considerably
from year to year. South of this belt where cultivation is precarious
or impossible without irrigation, the demand is always great, but may

396 THE IRRIGATION AGE.

be relieved for a few days or even weeks occasionally by a good gen-
eral fall of rain. In these middle and lower reaches of the canal, the
cultivators know they cannot depend on getting enough rain on which
to sow and mature a crop; therefore they readily take canal water
early each season before the rainy season commences, and are pre-
pared.to pay the full water rates for it whatever help in the way of
rain may follow. But in the upper reaches, those who intend grow-
ing ordinary grain and fodder crops during the hot weather months,
will wait for the rains to begin in the later half of June, or early in
July; and if they obtain good rain by then, they commence plough-
ing and sowing, knowing that if the rains continue normal until well
on in September, their crops will be matured and are safe, without
any assistance in the way of canal irrigation being required. But if
the rains do not commence in good time, as usual, and a drought en-
sues, they cannot wait very long, or the sowing season will pass
away; but by the middle of July must take canal water if they are to
.grow as good crops, and to as great an extent as they need. Again it
sometimes happens that good rains commence early, and the cultiva-
tors plough and sow rejoicing; but after a time, the rains fail and
a long drought ensues during July and August.- The crops begin to
droop and dry up; and to save them their owners are forced to have
recourse to canal water, for which they are glad and willing enough
to pay the water rates, where they are unable to give irrigation from
wells by life.

In the tract of country traversed by each of these two canals, the
upper portion was thickly populated and largely cultivated before the
construction of the canal; the middle portion was moderately popu-
lated and cultivated, with much waste land interspersed; while the
lower portion was mostly uncultivated waste land with a very sparse
population. When the canal was completed, and irrigation com-
menced, the existing population could easily obtain all the water it
needed, and irrigation in the upper reaches was freely allowed, or
even encouraged, in order to dispose of the water available. But by
degrees cultivation increased in the middle and lower reaches, by the
existing population gradually increasing and extending the area it
could manage to plough and sow; and by the advent; of newcomers
who bought land, or were given grants of land by the government as
rewards for past good service. The government has, by this means
been able to pension and reward, at a small cost to itself, great num-
bers of soldiers and civilians, who thus have become useful and profit-
able members of society instead of being non-productive on money
pensions alone. With the demand for canal water thus largely in-
creased in the middle and lower reaches, the supply available in the
rivers for both these canals during the cold weather is very much be-

1HE IRRIGATION AGE. 397

low the demand; and it has become necessary to refuse irrigation
largely during the cold weather in the upper reaches. This is not
such a great hardship to the people as it might at first sight appear;
for in consequence of the canals having been in flow, and irrigation
practiced for so many years, the subsoil water spring level has risen
considerably, and is near the ground surface. Irrigation from wells
is therefore easy and profitable; there are many wells in this tract of
country which have fallen into disuse, since canal water was obtain-
able, and these can be readily brought into use again, while new ones
can also be constructed at a small cost. Again the cessation of irri-
gation for half the year will check the too rapid rise of the spring
level toward the ground surface, while the general use of lift irriga-
tion from wells will even lower the spring level again to some extent;
so that the soil will be saved from becoming 'saturated, and be kept
wholesome, fit for use, and inhabitable.

The tract of country, to irrigate which the Chanab Canal was con-
structed, was almost entirely barren waste and uninhabited jungle;
this jungle consisting of certain plants, shrubs and low trees, which
grow with very little rain to nourish them. It had not been claimed
by anyone at the time of the settlement of the Panjab after annexa-
tion, and therefore all the proprietary rights to it fell to the govern-
ment. The rainfall is too scanty and uncertain to allow of cultivation
and the only inhabitants were owners of herds of camels, cattle and
flocks of sheep and goats, which managed to find a sustenance on the
grasses that grew after rain, and on the jungle growth. Camels and
goats can subsist entirely on the leaves of shrubs and trees. The
subsoil water was at far too great a depth below the ground surface to
a low of irrigation by lift from wells. Hence the land was new land,,
virgin soil, uncultivated for centuries; and before the advent of canal
water, was practically valueless. But directly irrigation was practic-
able, by canal water being made available, its value at once rose to
about $15 per acre, in the open market.

There being little or no population on the land to utilize the
canal water, government had. concurrently with the construction of
the canal, to colonize and to bring settlers on to the land; so that as
soon as the canal should be open for irrigation there might be irriga-
tors to make use of the water. Accordingly settlers were invited to
come from other districts, which, having been inhabited and cultivated
fully for generations, had been congested and needed an outlet for
their surplus population.

There was no difficulty in obtaining new colonists; they came
freely; the colonization officer, specially appointed to allot land to
them, had rather to exercise discrimination, and select the most suit

398 THE IRRIGATION AGE,.

able; those acquainted with agriculture, and ready to work themselves
as farmers, being taken on at once.

This system of constructing a new canal in waste land, and colo-
nizing the land by new settlers has already been tried on a smaller
scale, and had answered very successfully in the Panjab, in two other
places where inundation canals were constructed. The people having
seen or heard of these, were quite willing to come where there was a
perennial canal, and felt assured that their future prospects as colo-
nist would be quite safe. When the construction of these two canals
was determined on, it was quite a new experiment in colonization in
North India and no certainty was felt that sufficient colonists of the
right stamp could be induced to come without great attractions, and
valuable considerations being held out. Among the conditions there-
fore, put forward, was the promise, that every colonist would be al-
lowed to purchase outright the full proprietary rights in his land for
a very low value, about $2.00 per acre, if he should prove himself
able within a few years, to bring it all under cultivation. It was not
long however, before the government found that in so doing it was
virtually giving away for next to nothing much valuable property.
The land became worth several times that value, and purchasers were
willing to pay the full value. . The government therefore, naturally,
reasonably and wisely determined in future cases to retain the pro-
prietary rights in its own hands, or to sell land only at its full value
as land with assured irrigation rights and facilities,

There were other strong reasons why the government should keep
the ownership of the land in its own hands rather than sell it. When
any lots of land were sold or leased to men who were not themselves
real colonists, wishing to settle on and farm the land, such men
brought in tenants from outside and rented the land to these to culti-
vate. Now the prospects of tenants on this rich virgin soil, with an
abundant and assured supply of water for flow or gravity irrigation
were far better and safer than those of tenants in neighboring places,
where cultivation had to be carried on chiefly by lifting water from
wells by bullock power; or where there was a less certain means of ir-
rigation from the old inundation canals to obtain which irrigation
also much time and labor had to be spent on annual silt clearances in
the canals and distributaries. Consequently these places were largely
deserted by their tenants for the new colony lands; and the owners of
the former loudly complained of being ruined by their tenants being
attracted elsewhere, and their land being thus abandoned and thrown
out of cultivation. Government also lost the land revenue assessed
on these lands as cultivated land. It became therefore necessary to
see that the colonization of new land did not tend to throw other land
out of cultivation. If the new land was sold or leased to capitalists,

'LEE IRRIGA 1 TON A GE. 399

or owners of land elsewhere, such had as a rule, no scruples or con-
science whatever as regards attracting tenants from other estates
which needed them, but would unhesitatingly take any they could
get, regardless of their thus ruining other landowners With them it
was naturally as might be expected a case of every one for himself;
but governmeat, as the custodian of the interests and well being of
all, as well as of its revenues, as naturally found it necessary to take
precautions when allotting land, and to make sure that its new colo-
nists and tenants were really obtained from the congested districts
from which emigration was desirable. The civil colonzation officers,
therefore had plenty to do; while the engineers were at work con-
structing the canal, with its branches, distributaries, village water-
courses, and all the numerous works on these, he was at work investi-
gating the means and circumstances of applicants for land, and allott-
ing to each only as much as he was likely to be able to make full
use of.

When the Chanab Canal was ready for opening, government of-
fered for sale by auction, a good many thousand acres of land, in es-
tates of varying size. There was good competition for these among
the leading capitalists and large landowners of the Panjab, and the
average price per acre realized was about $15. Though government
intended to keep the ownership of most of the land in its hands, yet
it sold these estates, situated in different parts of the tract of country
to be irrigated, under the impression that wealthy and influential
purchasers would make trustworthy and good landlords, would im-
prove their land to the best advantage, would treat their tenants well,
and altogether would be model landlords, and that their estates would
be model ones and patterns for all the smaller owners and tenants to
form their own by; that the great mass of the colonists would be
benefitted by having a good and well cared for estate near them to
imitate; and that these model landlords would be leading and repre-
sentative men for the whole Canal Colony. But the result proved
far otherwise than was expected. These landlords', as a rule, cared
little or nothing for the display of any public spirit, or disinterested-
ness, but cared much for getting quickly all the profit they could,
Their estates were rack rented, crops were grown as fast as possible,
with the result of speedily impoverishing the soil; and very soon in -
stead of being models of how to do it, they became rather object les-
sons or how not to do it. The landlords pi ef erred, as might be ex-
pected, to live on their old established estates, or in their city homes,
where they had every comfort and convenience about them, rather
than set up a new residence in a fresh country, where they could not
readily obtain many of the luxuries they were accustomed to, and
would have to live among strangers. The government therefore pre-

400 THE IERIGA1ION AGE

f erred to be itself the model landlord, and give its tenants valuable
occupancy rights on their estates at a fair rent if they proved them-
selves good tenants.

(Continued next month.)

THE ISLE OF MEMORY.

BY J. A. EDGERTON.

From out the overarch of gray

I see a golden clime;
And there the silver ripples play,
And there the blue waves chime;
Where you and I together,
In sweet and stormy weather,
Floated for a little way

Adown the Stream of Time.

There is a glory lost to view,

A loveliness withdrawn;
The skies have never seemed so blue,
So beauteous the dawn,
As in the happy old time,
As in the glad and gold time,
When life was new and hearts were true —
The days that now are gone.

Since you have gone away, my sweet,

The world has been so gray;
My life has never seemed complete,
As in that early day.

There is a measure scant, dear,
From the soul's hidden want, dear
A yearning nothing else will meet,
Since you have gone away.

I've sought to find in other eyes

A surcease for my pain —
In other scenes and other skies,
But I have sought in vain;
For whatso'er I do, love,
My heart returns to you, love.
The sad and sweet old memories
Come back to me again.

The years have been so long, dear heart,

I thought I might forget;
But the night silences impart
To me the old regret.

Old dreams come o'er me thronging,
The old and nameless longing.
The spirits of the dead past start
To life around me yet.

VALUE OF IRRIGATED LAND.

PROF. ELWOOD MEAD TESTIFIES ABOUT IT BE-
FORE THE UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL
COMMISSION.

The following is the testimony of Prof. Elwood Mead, irrigation
expert of the Department of Agriculture, before the United States
Industrial commission, as to the value of irrigated land.

" The value of irrigated land is governed by nearness to markets,
by the climate which governs the kinds of production, and the dis-
tance and cost of railway transportation to the great markets of the
world. In southern California and around Phoenix, Ariz., where you
can raise citrus fruits and other high priced products, irrigated land
reaches a value as great as is found anywhere in this country, or per-
haps in the world; there lands having no improvements except the
orange orchards, have sold as high as $1800 an acre and perhaps
higher — but I have seen lands that sold for that price in southern
California — and water has a corresponding value. Water rentals
reach to figures that would be impossible elsewhere in those sections.
I know of instances where water rents for $45 an inch a year, and
where- the rights to it reach as high as $1000 an inch. Now, when you
come to the northern part of that arid region, the portion that com-
petes with the agricultural districts east of the Rocky mountains,
there you get into cheaper water supplies and cheaper lands.

"Throughout the greater part of the arid region it will always be
largely devoted to the growing of live stock and to gardens to supply
the mines and the manufacturing and commercial centers of the re-
gion. After you have satisfied your local market then you have not
anything but the furnishing of the winter supply for live stock as a
basis for any large development. The greatest industry throughout
the greater part of the arid region is live stock, and that today is
largely based on the use of the remaining public lands and the private
lands that have passed out of the hands of the government or the rail-
roads as a grazing ground. Formerly it was the practice to turn
cattle and sheep loose on those grazing lands and let them go from
youth to old age without ever having any care or shelter — simply
turning them loose winter and summer. They earn their subsistence
off the open range. But that is now giving away to the practice of
feeding in winter. That is not voluntary; it has been forced.

"The over-pastuting of the public and private grazing lauds has
made it impossible to depend on them for the winter's food supply^

402 THE IRRIGATION AGE. -

and you have to provide for it; and therefore you have to depend on
the irrigated lands, and those lands to be available have to be dis-
tributed throughout the range country because when the storms come
in the winter you cannot supply stock 50 or 100 miles from a railroad,
even if you had an unlimited supply of feed at the railroad. It is im-
possible to transport it; you must store it where it is needed, and the
needs of the livestock business have been one of the greatest incen-
tives to irrigation and furnish one of the best markets for crops grown,
principally native hay and alfafa. Those are the two leading general
crops. I do not think corn can ever become a general crop under irri-
tion. It is grown in restricted areas as a part of the system of rota-
tion, in places as a cultivated crop; but there is a considerable portion
of the arid land where it is too cold nights. That is a characteristic
of the arid region that it is too cold nights to make it a corn-growing
region. Besides, alfafa is a better stock food, and you could not grow
corn at a profit if you had to ship it out.

"Now the same thing is true of wheat. Unless there shall be a
market in the East so that you can get it to the ocean without exces-
sive railroad charges, there will never be any large development of
the wheat growing industry in the irrigated regions. You cannot
grow it and ship it out. The great bulk of the wheat grown now is
consumed at home, and in a good many of the arid states they do not
raise enough to supply their home demand, do not begin to raise
enough. Montana, Wyoming and Idaho are all importers of flour.
They are considerable importers of oats. They have not reached the
point where they supply the home demands, and this is true of nearly
all those states, that the development of mining the precious and use-
ful metals and the growth of the home demand for the local food
supply is going on now faster than the extension of irrigation. Fur-
thermore when we have done all we can, there will not be 10 per cent
of the territory west of the 100th meridian, uatil you get over into the
rainy districts on the Pacific coast, that can ever be brought under
cultivation. Either there is not the water or it is not available; you
cannot make use of only a small fraction of the Columbia. It is ques-
tionable whether we can ever utilize all of the Colorado, and it is
doubtful if we can make a complete utilization of the Missouri.

' 'The system that ought to be adopted is to attach, if possible,
the grazing to the irrigated lands; give a man who has 160 acres of ir-
rigated land a preference, a perfect right to lease a certain area — and
not a very large area — of the contiguous pasturage so as to have the
pasture lands divided up as irrigable lands are into small holdings. I
would not permit anybody to lease more than four sections. Now,
that is not a popular doctrine in the West today. That is not popular
with the men who use it because they keep much larger areas. It

THE 1RRIGA1ION AGE. 403

•would require a readjustment of the range stock business as it exists
at the present time. But I do not believe it would greatly promote
the creation of homes; it would add immensely to the security and
value of the irrigated farms, because you get 50 or 100 miles away
from a railroad or very large town, mining towns, and ability to use
the range in connection with your irrigated land is just about as nec-
essary as a water supply to make it profitable. You can not grow
hay 50 miles from a railroad and haul it to market; it does not pay.
As it is now, the men who do thai,, sell their oats and hay to the range
stockman, but it would be a better plan if they could each one of them
have a little interest in the grazing lands for their own stock and feed
their own products to their own stock.

"To show how legislation without any expenditure of funds can
promote both the development of a country and its propensity after it
is settled, we have an illustration of that in what is known as the
Carey land law. The Carey act gave to each state the right to con-
trol one million acres of land if they would accept the conditions of
the grant; and five states accepted it. The reason for this was to
overcome a difficulty in the existing land laws. You can take a,
country like along these canals there that is subject to the operation
of the public land laws, and you began to survey a ditch, and before
the survey ended there was a .filing on that land. The minute that
you begin to set your stakes out there it becomes manifest that a
laige portion of public land is going to have a canal, that uhere is go-
ing to be an expenditure of several hundred thousand dollars to build
that canal, and the expenditure of that money adds to the value of
every acre of that land. The very minute that it is seen that it is go-
ing to be irrigated under the homestead law, now men will rush in
who never have been farmers, who do not expect to be farmers and
who simply seek to share in the unearned increment. They file on
that land, and when the canal has been completed the land is all filed
on, and it is very largely filed on by people who have no other object
but to be bought off. They are perfectly willing to sell out for a con-
sideration, or they will hold on in the hope of selling, but the result is
that the lands are kept out of the hands of men who would settle on
them. It is directly a tax on the inan who does come in to occupy
them. He has to pay more for them, or the canal company has an en-
terprise on its hands with no revenue coming from it because the
lands are held by noncultivators. Now that is the objection to the
homestead law and its operation in the arid region. It does not re-
quire, in addition to living, cultivation; if it did, the homestead law
would be an ideal law. Now, two of the states, in accepting this
grant, framed what I believed to be the true land law of the arid
resrion.

404 THE TRRIGA TION A GE.

"There is going to come a time, and that time is here now, if de
velopment is necessary, when there will have to be an expenditure of
public funds in order to secure certain kinds of development. There
are rivers like the Missouri that I do not believe it will ever pay
within our lifetime to take the water out of those streams because it
will cost so much that the land will not pay for it. Irrigated land and
the value of irrigation improvements is measured by the value of lands
in the Mississippi valley or the value of irrigated lands under cheaper
works, and you can go only just so far with private enterprise. Now
there are prospects there that have been serving some time that it
would pay as a public work perhaps to do it, because in bringing
land that is now worthless into a condition of productivity, you create
homes, you create taxable values that the public gets the benefit from
that the private investor does not share in, and there is the argument
in favor of state or national aid to certain classes of important works.
And there are certain kinds of works that never will be built by pri-
vate enterprise until they get that aid. But there are a great many
works that, if there would be better laws, would be built by private
investors without loss. You wculd by better legislation very greatly
promote development without any appropriations of money.

''The first canals were taken out of the sluggish streams that
flow into the Gulf of Mexico; but when the importance of the value of
the rice product becomes established, and lands rose in value from $5
to $50 and $100 an acre it became manifest that those streams would
not supply the need of water; and they began looking about for other
sources of supply. They found one by putting down wells, so that
the pumping stations to supply water from the rivers are being sup-
plemented now largely by wells. Hundreds of wells are going down
throughout that portion of Louisiana and this year a study is being
made to determine the source of that water supply. If it is simply
that the subsoil is filled with water and it can be pumped out, it will
soon be exhausted; but there is a belief that it is being reinforced
from the Mississippi. There was a conjecture at the time I was there,
but a study is being made to ascertain if it be true. If it be true,
there will be a capacity for indefinite extension by wells of water.

"The success of rice growing there after the long period in which
we had been continually shrinking in our rice production, has led to
increased interest along the Atlantic seaboard. For years the rice
growing there, if not unprofitable, has not been sufficiently profitable
since the war to lead to any extension. In fact there was a constant
decline. Old canals in use long before the war were going out of
operation; but that is now being extended and the question now is
whether they can adopt the Louisiana methods.

"Rice cultivation in the Carolinas is largely after the methods

THE IRRIGATION AGE 405

prevailing before the war. The crop is harvested by hand— cut with
the sickle and bound by hand. The reason it is so much more suc-
cessful in Louisiana is the application of modern machinery. The
crops there are cut with a self-binder. There have been economics
brought into the field labor, and the methods of applying and dis-
tributing water are patterned after the West rather than after the
Carolinas. There is an economy in the distribution of water, and
there is another very marked economy in the harvesting of the crop.
An industry that was not before remunerative has been made exceed-
ingly profitable.

"The southern territory is also likely to develop irrigation in the
growing of forage crops. Alfalfa grows in the south. It will not
grow in the middle east; it freezes out in the winter and does not seem
to thrive, but it will grow and live through and become a perennial in
Louisiana. There seems to be quite a field for the use of irrigation in
the growth of alfalfa and other forage crops in the South wherever
you can get water at sufficient cost.

"Now the same questions arise in the East, where development
has gone far enough, that have arisen in the West. In the South the
question has arisen between the different canals as to who has the
better right if they pump out more than they will supply. They will
in time have to establish some system of priorities there. They wiU
have to determine how they are going to operate under the doctrine
of riparian rights. That is an unsettled question there as yet. On
one of the streams last year so much water was pumped out that the
river changed its direction and ran up stream for a distance of fifty
miles. The current changed and ran back, and salt water came in
from the Gulf and ruined the pumps farthest down the stream. Those
are matters that will require adjustment. If there should be in the
East any considerable demand on the streams, the right to take water
from eastern streams will be called in question, so that the economic
and legal phases of this question have already ceased to be sectional .

"There is a very large district, reaching from the Gulf of Mexico
to the Canadian border, where this question needs to be studied. It
embraces western Texas western Kansas, western Nebraska and the
western Dakotas These states were first settled up in the humid
part. They were settled up and became states or settlements quite
sufficiently important in the western arid or semi arid part to render
irrigation problems important. They are in some respects among the
best parts of the arid region, because ditches can be built at small
cost. It is a country well adapted to the distribution of water, and it
only requires a comparatively small amount of water to supplement
the rainfall. As you go farther west, if you have only ten inches of
ainfall and an increased evaporation, you must supply more moisture

406 THE IRRIGATION AGL.

by irrigation than where you have twenty inches of rainfall and less
evaporation; so a given amount of water will irrigate more acres there
than farther west.

"In that region we have two questions. In the Dakctas it is very
expensive to bring water from the Missouri river, and in Nebraska we
have the uncertainty at the present time regarding the state law— as
to whether you could proceed under it. Nebraska is comparatively
well supplied with water. The North Platte is a stream that cannot
be utilized to any great extent in the West. The Loupe is a good
stream, and they have in these two rivers an opportunity for a very
large development. As you go south of that the difficulty in Kansas
is the question as to the extent of the underflow, and whether it is
practicable to get some means of pumping it up.

"Again the regulation of streams that rise in a country to the
West. When you go south into Texas you have still a different ques-
tion In southern Texas there is a considerable territory that can be
irrigated from springs and wells, and this applies all the way through
Arizona and New Mexico.

"A great many streams are torrential in character, carrying an
immense flow in character, carry ing an immense flow of water and then
running down to nothing. You must store these streams in order to
make much use of their waters, and the problem of storage is a com-
plicated one. It involves the question of the sediment in these south-
ern streams, the salt. It is an important question to build a reservoir
in the channel of a river, and when you have a large investment in
houses and people settled there, to have your reservoir fill up and you
have to move out. It is simply a waste of money and a waste of
energy. That is a question the Department of Agriculture is study-
ing, and arraugments have been made with the Agricultural college
of Texas to gather samples from these streams ana see what would be
the probable result of letting the mud they carry deposit on the soil."

BY "OLD IRRIGATION," IN THE REFLECTOR,

ABILENE, KAN.

Again in the cycle of time, the people of central Kansas find
themselves face to face with conditions of aridity, hot winds and crop
shortage, that recall vividly the disastrous seasons of 1860, 1874 and
subsequent years, and emphasize now as then the necessity of artifi-
cial aid in the distribution of moisture, if we would have reliable and
satisfactory results from crop returns.

In memory of the unmerciful joshings meted out to the advocates
of irrigation in recent seasons of favorable conditions and excessive
rainfall that threatened to develop a species of web-footed bipeds we
trust that our friends will not be severely critical if we take advan-
tage of the present atmospheric status to score a few innings by way
of reprisal and to even things up generally.

The spasmodic, incomplete and unsatisfactory efforts at irrigation
during periods of drouth in the last decade and the prompt abandon-
ment of such effort on the first indications of rainfall, is proof conclu-
sive that the people of central Kansas have no relish lor a persistent
and systematic movement along those lines, such as is practiced in
the more arid regions of the west, where irrigation is an absolute
necessity and where conditions make it a case of "Root hog or die."

We are forced to the conclusion that our people would rather trust
their crops to the lottery of atmospheric change, accept what they
, can get and be satisfied, or develop into a knocker with this evident
reluctance to adopt a system of intense farming. It is manifest that
if we are to have increased humidity in central Kansas it must be
brought about by some other method than that of individual effort
through the medium of pump or diverted stream, presumably by a
change and betterment in climatic conditions. Can such a change be
accomplished and how? We answer unhesitating, yes, by the conser-
vation of storm waters through a system of artificial lakes, storage
reservoirs, catch basins, dams and ponds, as outlined by Elwood
Mead, Major Powell, officials of the coast and geodetic survey and
other eminent civil engineers, advocates for the reclamation of the
arid west.

When the general government shall take the matter of reclama-
tion well in hand (as it will in the near future) complete the system of
segregation so auspiciously begun, and construct the necessary res-
ervoirs throughout the vast area bounded by Old Mexico, Oregon and

408 1HEIRRIGA TION A GL .

the sixth principal meridian, it will yield a superficial area of surface
water exceeding that of the entire chain of northern lakes combined;
with such an expanse of area for evaporation, precipitation and in-
creased rainfall is inevitable,

It is computed that in this vast territory there are more than
100,000,000 acres of barren arid land that can be transformed into
ideal farms and ideal homes for more than 50,000,000 people. Public
sentiment is rapidly crystalizing into the belief that it is wise states-
manship for the entire nation, and the duty of the general govern-
ment to reclaim this arid land as rapidly as possible. And now that
we have a senator who has the ability to present and the nerve to de-
mand of congress a recognition of western rights; a senator who will
stand shoulder to shoulder, "cheek by jowl" with the Carters of the
U. S. senate, to arrest and divert to a better use the extravagant and
wasteful appropriations for the protection of the lower Mississippi
plantations under the guise of "river and harbor improvements," we
may hope for a speedy fruition of this wisely conceived design for de-
velopment. " Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished."

While we sincerely believe that it is possible under the reclama-
tion to increase the guage of rainfall and minimize the hazard of farm-
ing in central Kansas, we abate no jot or title of our declaration that
it is economy and to the best interest of every farmer to have a plant
of sufficient capacity to irrigate his orchard and truck patch, and as
much more as possible. Let us irrigate.

THE DIVERSIFIED FARM.

In diversified farming by irrigation lies tne salvation of agriculture

BIG HORSE CONTRACT.

One of the busiest places in all Texas
at this time is Polk Bros.' stockyards at
Forth Worth, where the British govern-
ment is receiving the purchases of horses
and mules made for the army in Africa.
The present contract is for 2.100 head of
horses, and on Saturday last over 900 of
this number had either been accepted and
shipped, or were in the pens waiting in-
spection. The agents of the British gov-
ernment are at present inspecting and re-
ceiving 300 animals a week, the amount
paid out being from $12,500 to $14,000 on
each of the two pay days. This money
finds its way to a number of counties iu
Texas, and some of it goes to people out-
side of the state. At the present rate of
progress, it will take four or five weeks to
complete the contract.

The Polk yards now have quarantine
pens, and all arrangements have been com-
pleted for handling cattle north of the
line. All the Jersey cattle, save one have
been sold, and the lone Jersey has been
put in a stall so that no possible contact
with cattle coming in can occur. It is
understood that the inspectors who have
been operating at the Union stockyards
will also look after the Polk yards.

Arrangements have been made at the
yards for a sale pavilion, and the intention
is to have thoroughbred cattle, horses
and mules sold there at specified times,
but for the present Mr. Polk and all
hands are kept busy looking after the
Tiorses for King E'dward VII.

FARMING CHEAPENED
Between 1855 and 1894 the improve-
onent in agricultural implements and ma-

chinery was such that the time of human
labor required to produce a bushel of corn
on the average declined from 35| cents to
10i cents. The greatest advance was
made in the shelling of the corn, formerly
done by hand. In this case the machine
operated by steam shelled a bushel of corn
a minute, while in the old way the labor
of one man was required for 100 minutes
to do the same work. The amount of
human labor now required to produce a
bushel of wheat from beginning to end is
only ten minutes, while in 1830 the time
was three hours and three minutes. Dur-
ing the interval the cost of labor required
to produce those results declined from
17£ cents to 3J cents.

In 1830 a heavy, clumsy plough was
used, the seed was sown by hand, and was
harrowed into the ground by drawing
bushes over it; the grain was cut with
sickles, hauled to a barn, and threshed
with flails; the winnowing was done with
a sheet attached to rods, on which the
grain was placed with a shovel, and then
tossed up and down by two men until the
wind had blown out the chaff In the
year 1894 the ground was ploughed and
pulverized by a disk plough, the seed was
sown with a mechanical seeder drawn by
horses, the reaping, threshing and sacking
of the wheat was done by a combined
reaper and thresher drawn by horses, and
then the wheat was ready to haul to the
grainary.

In the case of the corn crop the money
measure of the saving of human labor re-
quired to produce it in 1899 as compared
with its production in the old-time man-
ner was $523,276, 642; wheat, $79,194,767;

410

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

oats, $52,866,200, rye, $1,408,950; barley,
$7,323,480; white potatoes, $7,356,820;
hay, $10,034,868. Total, $681 471,827.
And yet the improved machines by which
this has been accomplished have come
into use only to a limited extent. They
are mainly adapted only to use in farming
on a large scale under the most favorable
circumstances.

Comparing retail prices — the prices paid
by the farmers for machines and imple-
ments— it is shown from tables of com-
parison that in the case of one manufac-
ture, surreys selling for $225 in 1880 sold
for $85 in 1900; top buggies with a price
of $90 in 1860 and $60 in 1880, sold for
$43 in 1900. The corn drills of 1880 sold
for $12; those of 1890 for $8. Harrows
declined from $15 in 1880 to $10 in 1890;
plain float spring-tooth harrows from $20
to $10: disk harrows from $27 to $18.
Six-foot twine binder harvesters were sold
in 1880 for $325 and in 1890 for $120, and
the "combined" harvester was sold for
$150 in 1880 as against $65 in 1900. The
price of mowers in one establishment de-
clined from $100 in 1860 to $40 in 1900;
in another from $160 to $40, and in still
another from $120 to i$45. — Leslies
Weekly.

RICE CULTURE AND PROFITS.

Oswald Wilson, special field agent of
the division of statistics, department of
agriculture, read the following paper on
''Rice Culture and Profits" before the
Cotton Growers' Association at the Farm-
ers' Congress.

Rice is the greatest cereal product in
the world, considered from a commercial
standpoint, and as an article of food.

We can only realize its magnitude and^
importance when considered in compari-
son with other cereals. Wheat is a great
cereal and the so-called staff of life. It
has a wide range of production, being
grown in nearly every country on the
globe. The total production of wheat in

the world for 1899 reached the stupendu
ous amount of $2,723,407,000 bushels,,
which would make 6,500.000 carloads,
with a market value of $1.399,100,000.
But this does not come up to rice.

Corn is a great crop and in 1899 the
world produced 2,634,109,000 bushel?,
valued at $833,400,00.

These are two great staple cereals, but
their combined production will not come
up to rice. We must find another.

Take oats. The world's production in
1899 reached 3,212,689,000 bushels. This
immense pile of oats had a market value
of $708,170,000.

Here we have the three great staple
grain crops of the world, with an aggre-
gate production of over eight and a half
billions of bushels and a market value of
nearly $2,940,670,000. But this does not
equal rice.

Just a moment think of the immense
number of people engaged in the produc-
tion of all the wheat, corn and oats in the
world, time employed, acres of land tilled
and machinery used. Add to this the
people employed in marketing the grain,
on railroads, in mills, and laborers to
handle it, and we have a greater army
than the combined soldiers of the world.

Rice, with its 74,074,369,193 pounds,
valued at $2,962.974,781 is greater by
more than $20,000,000. Again, rice is the
principal article of diet of 800,000,000
people, or more than 54 per cent of the
entire population of the world, while the
other cereals combined only supply 46
per cent. Which is the greater cereal?

Coming nearer home, we find that rice
has been produced iu the United States
for nearly three centuries, but only of late
years has it reached much development.

During the past ten years 20,000 per-
sons from the north aed west have been
attracted by the demonstration of the fact
that irrigation in conjunction with meth-
ods successfully applied years ago in
wheat growing in the prairie states, would.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

411

make rice-growing equally successful. The
result is the existence of a practically new
industry in Louisiana and Texas, with a
capital of $5,000,000 invested in 100
canals, 1500 miles in extent, and now
capable, under present water conditions,
of flooding 900,000 acres, and increasing
each year.

After securing a location possessing the
soil and economical lay of the land requis-
ite to an economical irrigation, it will re-
quire approximately $10 per acre to equip
an irrigating plant and prepare the fields
for seeding. As local conditions and re-
quirements differ, an accurate estimate
cannot be given that will govern all locali-
ties, but the prospective farmer can figure
on this amount.

The cost of producing a crop of rice is
approximately the same as a crop of
wheat with the cost of irrigation added,
which is one-fifth of the crop. This is
the price charged by canal companies for
the use of water.

The average value per acre of rice is
$30. less the water rental of $6, leaving
$24 to the grower.

A moment's comparison with the great
cereal crop of the United States will show
how fortunate the rice grower is. The
average value per acre in 1900 was: Corn
$9.02, wheat $7.61, oats $7.63. Then an
acre of rice paid the farmer as much as
three acres over each of corn, wheat and
oats.

Next to the production, milling the rice
is very profitable, and is a subject of suf-
ficient importance for an extended dis-
cussion.

Learing out the value of the plant, the
capital invested and operating expenses,
we can give the gross profits of milling.

In milling 100,000 bags of rice of an av-
erage weight of 183 pounds, for which the
farmer received $3.35 per barrel, making
a total of $325,000; would give, merchant-
able rice 10,273,000 pounds, valued at
$335 per 100 pounds, $395,520; brewers'

rice, 875,000 pounds, $15.400; polish,
$5,300; bran $90.22; gross value of milled
product $425,242; gross profit $90.242.

To those interested it will be easy to
ascertain the net profits in milling.

Rice is the m^st profit ible commodity
handled by the railroads. It pays about
four times as much as cotton in revenue.
The most vital question to the human race
is that of food. Next to having food is
that of its cost. The cost of food applies
not alone in dollars and cents. In other
words, it is of the highest importance that
we obtain the greatest amount of the life-
sustaining energy from our food with the
least tax upon our systems.

There is no one article that will supply
all the demands of our body. There is no
complete food in any one article. We re-
quire a variety. At the same time the
laws of life demand this variety at the
least expense of vital energy and in this
rice excels all other articles of food. It
contains more nutriment than beefsteak
and potatoes with a less tax on the human
system for digestion. Its commercial price
places it in the reach of any one. It is no
new food. The very fact that 56 per cent
of the population of the globe use it make
its reputation secure.

We believe that die production of rice
in the United States is in its infancy.
With the exception of Mexico, our crop is
a mere bagatelle of the world's production.

We believe that rice will be grown all
over the southern states wherever man can
control irrigation.

We have the soil, the climate and, bat-
ter than any Oriental country, we have
American skill and labor. Today the rice
farmer of Louisiana and Texas is cuiti-
vating 100 acres to the Oriental's one acre

Will there be overproduction? We think
not. The Oriental countries show but a
slight increase in the past five years, not
as great as the population has grown.

Again, we are opening up an immense
territory of rice eaters in our island pos-

412

1 HE IRR1 GA2ION AGE.

sessions. The United States will become
a great consumer of rice.

FRUITS ON THE FARM.

Following is a paper by E. W. Kirk pat-
rick, of McKinney, read before the Cot-
ton Growers' Association at the Texas
Farmers' Congress:

No farm is complete until it is well sup-
plied with all fruit growing trees and
plants that are adapted to its soil.

The occupants of a farm cannot enjoy,
in all its completeness, the pleasures of
home life without fruits. Every soil
adapted to the growth of grain or grass will
produce fruit. No class of productions
require less care than fruits, and none give
better returns in wealth, happiness and
good cheer.

The orchard and the vineyard are more
than the art and poetry of the farm; they
give rich returns in substantial wealth and
add attractions which lend additional mar-
ket value.

The ease .with which rare seeds and
plants can be grown in waste places along
the fences, the roads, the streams, barns
and pastures and the immense beauty and
value they would add to every farm should
induce every farmer to plant most liberal
quantities.

In addition to the material or money
values attaching to ''fruits of the farm,"
many other charming qualities exist in the
aesthetic, moral and sentimental sides of
the orchard of home. When children
have opportunity to follow the growth of
trees and plants, and bee Dine familiar with
the development of bud, flower, and fruit,
and enjoy the sweet pleasures of nature's
rarest art galleries, music-halls and cafes,
they build recollections of their sacred
home which anchor them against the temp-
tations so ofttimes fatal to passionate
youth.

Who can measure the wealth added to
home by a plentiful supply of fruits, flow-
ers and shade, the help and strength lent

to a wearied wife and mother by these so-
journing angels.

The trees lend their strength and grace
to the arms and hearts of boys and touch
our girls with dimpled roses. These con-
stant and permanent sentinels guard our
servant animals against both frigid blasts
of winter and burning heat of summer.
They invite the sweetest warblers to sing
the song of universal welcome.

When a farmer feels the enchantment of
fruits on the farm it leads him on to
flowers on the farm and fowls on the farm,
and bees and fish and fountains, and walks
and lawns, and all these bring joy to the
household and honor and fame to the
farmer.

Every farmer should plant a few trees
of best known varieties, and by having
bees to aid in cross-fertilizing the flowers,
the seeds will produce many new and val-
uable varieties for any person who will
plant and cultivate them. This is one of
the many charming reasons why we should
have fruit on the farm.

There are more than ten million acres of
fruit lands in Texas which could give a
profit of $100 per acre per annum, thus
adding a billion dollars to current income
each year, and this is another reason why
we should have fruit on the farm.

When a man asks one of God's angels to
be his wife and neglects to have fruit and
flowers at the home, it is cause for action
in divorce, and is a warning to those who
have no fruit on the farm.

AGRICULTURAL INDEPENDENCE.

Secretary Wilson said to the Washing-
ton correspondent of the New York &un a
few days ago:

"There is no doubt that this country,
within a few months, will be in a position
to ignore every other nation on the globe
in the matter of food products. We will
produce within our own domain every-
thing that goes upon our table and upon-
our back*. We will then be, commercially

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

413

and industrially, almost independent of
the other nations of the world. Hence
any trade combination which may be ef-
fected against us will count for nothing.
Whenever we get ready we can come pretty
near starving any other nation. Therefore
an effective combination against us will be
an impossibility.

"The principal product purchased is
sugar, which comprises nearly one-fourth
of the total of products imported. The
department in the past has been making
experiments to ascertain in just what sec-
tions of the country sugar can be raised to
such an advantage as to obviate the neces-
sity of going to foreign markets to com-
plete our supply. We want to raise beets,
as therein lies the principal source of the
sugar product. Within the United States
there will be over forty beet-sugar factor-
ies in operation by next fall. They will
be situated in almost every state along the
northern border from New York to Cali-
fornia. I believe that within a few years
we will produce all the sugar we require,
and we will then be in a position to ignore
the foreign product. Our experiments
have shown that the sugar produced from
our quality of beet is much richer than

that manufactured in foreign countries.
Our product, therefore, will be much more
desirable. When this result shall be at-
tained the sugar trust will, in my opinion,
vanish for the reason that the trust refines
imported brown sugar, while all the Amer-
ican factories will finish the product and
placo it ;n entire readiness for sale on the
markets.

"We are now succeeding admirably in
the production of tea in the United States,
it is only a question of a short time when
we will be able to raise all the tea de-
manded for use in this country. Our new
possessions will aid greatly in the produc-
tion of some of these tropical products."

The New York Times says:

"It was the opinion of George Washing-
ton that the farmer who grew what he and
his required was the happiest and most
independent man on earth. It is good,
too, for this nation to be independent of
all sources save its own for the actual
necessities of its life and activities. Its
political independence is helped and as-
sured by the possession of lands so dis-
tributed among the climates that ships
may find in it own ports the various car-
goes that supply its wants."

PULSE OF IRRIGATION.

IRRIGATING SMALL TRACTS.

In several valleys of Montana the own-
ers of small tracts of land are putting in
windmills and small gasoliue engines.
This is noticeable in the Jefferson valley.
At Whitehall several residents of the
town are driving wells and erecting wind-
mills, and one citizen has installed a small
gasoline engine for pumping water on his
lawn. With the increase of the culti-
vated area and the settlement of the state
the era of wells and pumping devices for
irrigation purposes will increase. For a
small tract the windmill has been found
satisfactory and during the next twelve
months it is a safe prediction that 500 to
750 windmills will be installed in Mon-
tana towns and on farms.

On the larger places where it is neces-
sary to lift more water than the capacity
of a windmill, gasoline engines will be in-
stalled, and in that way water will be
assured.

In many places where running water is
not available for all, good wells abound
and abundant water can be had with no
greater lift than 20 to 30 feet. — Montana
Stockman and Farmer.

WINTER IRRIGATION.
Prof. A. J. McClatchie, who is so well
and favorably remembered by the fruit
and dairy men of Southern California, has
just issued a very valuable bulk-tin re-
garding winter irrigation. This gives the
result of very important experiments per-
formed by Prof. McClatchie. He finds
that deciduous trees, especially the peach,
which were very thoroughly irrigated in
winter, grew better and gave more fruit
than those not irrigated but which re-

ceived the usual summer irrigation. This
was in the Salt River valley, where they
have almost no rains. Often water can
be had cheaply and in abundance in win-
ter whereas it is scarce and expensive in
summer. This makes these experiments
very suggestive and may well lead to indi-
vidual experimentation on the part of the
most of our deciduous orchardists. We
know that in seasons of copious rainfalls
our deciduous trees often do well with no
summer irrigation. Why. then, should
we not fairly soak the ground in winters
of light rainfall, if water can be had at
little or no expense? This is certainly a
matter of no slight importance. I would
advise all interested »to send for the bul-
letin. Address Experiment Station, Tus-
con, Arizona. — Col. Cultivator.

WATER AND CANE IRRIGATION IN
QUEENSLAND.

The following important letter from Dr.
Maxwell on the subterranean water supply
of the Bundaberg district is furnished by
the Department of Agriculture:

Bundaberg, March 5th. 1901.

Sir — I have the honor to make a further
brief notice of the water and irrigation
questions, of which I have spoken on cer-
tain previous occasions. At this time
some remarks will be confined to investi-
gations that have been made during the
past two months at the Woongara division
of the district of Bundaberg. As stated
by me some three months ago, the indica-
tions were that underground water should
be found beneath the coastal lands, and
near the sea, at very shallow depths.

The location where the present investi-
gations are being pursued is upon the

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

415'

Qunaba estate, owned by the Queensland
National Bank. With others, this loca-
tion offered good conditions for putting
the matter of underground water to the
test. Moreover, one of the many small'
shallow wells found in the district "was
already on the place, having been sunk by
the previous owner, Mr. Barton. This
old well, by use of a steam pump, was
yielding some 4,000 gallons of water per
hour. Upon deepening the source by
means of larger bores, the output was in-
creased to 33,000 gallons per hour. It
was found advisable (for reasons to be ex-
plained at a later time when reporting
more fully upon the question) to sink a
new shaft, and to drive bores of larger
dimensions down to the water-bearing
stratum. This new shaft, located about
100 yards from the smaller old one, has
been a great success in itself; while also
indicating the area of distribution of the
water-carrying stratum. When the clayey
stratum was pierced by the bores, which
entered the gravel water stratum, the
water rushed up with astounding force,
rising some 14 feet above its confined
level. A pump was put down and worked
by a Fowler ploughing engine, and at the
same time the pump in the older well was
kept running at its maximum duty. The
united services of the two pumps gave a
total of 70,000 gallons per hour, or an out-
put of 1,680,000 gallons per twenty- four
hours, and without any effect upon the
supply or upon the quality, which was
carefully controlled by the laboratory.

It may thus be said that the question of
underground water has been settled by
systematic tests. The depth at which the
water is, and will be, found is determined
by the depths of the strata or deposits
overlying the water bearing stratum, which
are various. In the present example, the
water is found, and rises to within 28 feet
of the land surface. Concerning the sup-
ply, the indication 3 appear ample for a
volume covering the needs for irrigation of

the Qunaba estate. The indications, how-
ever, are of such a nature as to give prom-
ise of a supply for much more extended
uses in the Woongarra district.

The cost of the investigations, so far, is
very small, being only one tenth of the
amount set apart for the purpose by the
owners of the estate. This is a most mat-
erial point. It is due, however, in large
part, to the interest and careful working
of the estate manager, Mr. J. Cran, and
to his capable engineer.

Acknowledgement is due to the owners
of the Quanaba estate for providing the
facilities and funds for these tests to be
made, the result of which may be very far-
reaching in the Bundaberg and other dis-
tricts. We are also specially indebted to
the manager of the Queensland National
Bank's concerns, at Bundaberg (Mr. Eas-
tick), for having the tests pushed so rap-
idly; as it was expressly important that
the whole matter should be settled if pos-
sible before any great and continuous fall
of rain. As it is, the results have been
attained after a period of drought almost
hitherto unknown.

The results of irrigation of cane so far
condueted by Messrs. Gibson and Howes,
at Bingera, have led them to determine
upon a vastly greater scale of irrigation,
and an order has been placed by them for
a pump to lift 10,000,000 gallons of water
for daily distribution. Such courage and
enterprise are very invigorating, and of
great good to the country.

I hope to be able to speak later of irri-
gation possibilities in certain localities of
the Isis. Very different modes will have
to be followed in the several districts with
their dissimilar conditions.

At Bingera, the water is lifted directly
from the river; in the Woongara it must
be raised from underground; while in the
Isis the impounding of storm water ap-
pears to offer the surest and cheapest
source of supply. — I have, etc., Walter
Maxwell, Director Sugar Experiment Sta-
tion. — Queenslander.

416

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

THE DAY WE IRRIGATE AND WHAT
IT HAS BROUGHT TO THE

AMERICAN PEOPLE.
About 126 years ago the people of this
country numbered only a few millions and
were colonists of Great Britain. Today
we are fast nearing the hundred million
mark and are the proud and happy sub-
jects of the Standard Oil company and the
Sugar Trust. To say that our progress in
many ways has been phenomenal is stat-
ing the case tamely indeed. There is no
parallel in history for what we have done
and are doing. The nearest thing to a
parallel I can think of at the moment was
the matter of the Romans who, having
conquered the world, gave the wealth of
the empire to Nero to enable him to get
on an extended imperial whiz — whieh he
did. With "life, liberty and the pursuit
of the Filipinos" as our motto there is no
telling what we will do in another hundred
years Just as apt as not in 2001 we will
have swallowed up China and have the
laundry business and wooden idol industry
of the world well in hand, or China will
have swallowed us and some pig-tailed
emperor will have built a lot of speckled
awnings around the Washington monu-
ment to make an ornamental pagoda and
be using the capitol building as a joss
house. Of course there is no immediate
danger of this, but it might happen. Civ-
ilizations are peculiar. They go up hill
slowly in an ox-eart, but go down on a
toboggan "ker-zip" and stick half up in
the mud. Had some one told Augustus
Caesar that some day a hirsute barbarian
would ride victorious into Imperial Rome,
fodder his horses in the temples of the
gods and chop up the statuary with a meat
axe, the prophesy would have appeared
very funny to him. His successors, how-
ever, failed to see the fun. The barbar-
ian got between them and the joke. The
way the American people have been whiz-
zing along and getting their wealth all up
in a wad in New York has probably made

th3 shade of the Caesars smile to think
how easily a great leader with a million
men might hog. the whole thing. But let
that go. We are talking now of our na-
tional growth. We have during the past
hundred years done what all the world in
all the known past had never dreamed of.
We have yoked up the two mysterious
elemental giants, steam and electricity,
and swept across the world in a chariot of
glittering progress. We have learned how
to build railroads, and water stocks, and
capitalize wind and syndicate a hole in
the ground; We have harnessed Niagara,
civilized the Indians (that is the dead
ones), whipped Mexico, admitted Texas,
organized Tammany hall and reduced
politics to one narrow channel with a bar-
rel at one end and a blow-hard at the
other. We have had a war of our own,
have licked Spain with one hand tied be-
hind us, have subdued Guam island and
planted our imperial eagles on the adobe
palace of Honolulu. We have struck oil
in every newspaper in the United States,
found golden California, demonetized sil-
ver in Colorado and produced the populist
party and the Omaha platform. We have
learned to play baseball and football and
faro and craps and progressive euchre, and
to gamble in stocks and make oleomargar-
ine and moonshine whisky and to dodge
taxes and carry sixshooters and to wear
bicycle suits and br'ght red belly-bands;
and in many ways have we accumulated
the ornamental regalia of a higher civiliza-
tion. We have elevated the stage from
Shakespearian coarseness to refined vaude-
ville and midway productions of current
theatricals; have banished polygamy from
Utah and paesented Porto Rico with a
beautiful new tariff, having many frills
and ruffles and warranted not to rip, ravel
or tear- We have produced more colonels,
published more books and printed more
newspapers than any country in the world.
We can pour a great man's speech into a
funnel and grind it out of a brass horn

THE IRRIGA2ION AGE.

417

hundreds of years afterward- We can
telegraph a criminal's picture thousands
of miles so distinctly that the police offi-
cials can tell what kind of hair oil he uses.
We have annihilated tim« and distance,
made billionaires, built vast cities, fertil-
ized deserts, subdued forests, fenced the
plains and have made the buffalo, the

wild Indian and the naked truth hard to
find. We have learned how to make but-
ter out of beef suet, olive oil out of cotton
seed, silk out of cotton, fur out of sheep's
wool and social and political leaders out of
men who get rich — in any way, just so
they get rich and don't get caught. — Aus-
tin, Tex. , Semi- Weekly Statesman.

HAIN'T NO BETTER THAN

When I hear a feller talking, as I hearn

the other day,
Finding fault about the Bible in a mighty

pompous way.
Tellin' all about the burdens his religion

used to be,
Then I wonder war he better than a feller

ort tew be?

Tellin' how he went a tremblin' and a fear-
in' all the way,

Tellin' fear uf fire an' torment was the rea-
son made 'im pray,

When he didn't love his Maker, and he
loved his sin, ye see;

Then for sure, he warn't no better than a
feller ort to be.

A FELLER ORT TEW BE.

Ef be didn't love his Maker and he loved.

hisself the most,
Shure he hadn't no religion to begin with

fer to boast,
For he made hisself his idol — like the

hethen — do you see?
An' we know sich hain't no better than a

fellor ought to be.

Ef he hadn't in his bein' any revrcnce for
the One

Who can care for all creation, from a Mi-
crobe to a» sun,

Ef he didn't mind a takin' that great name
in vain, ye see,

Sich a feller warn't no better than a feller
ort tew be. — L. C. H.

ODDS AND ENDS.

DOOM OF THE GREATEST GAMBL-
ING CITY ON EARTH.

Shrewd and thrifty and sporty King
Leopold of Belgium has seen somewhat
the same sort of handwriting on the wall
that Belshazzar saw. He personally may
not have been weighed in the balance and
found wanting, but the great gambling
tables in Belgium have been, and a frac-
tion of every franc bet thereon — in Ostend
at least — ultimately found its roundabout
way into the King's deep pockets.

Belgium has come to the conclusion,
artir long and rather bitter experience,
that gamling tables pay no one except the
proprietor. Hence, the passage of a
stringent law that is of more public inter-
est .than has generally been supposed, for
it means that the greatest gambling hell of
our generation has come to the end of its
rope, and that one of the most prosperoua
cities in Europe is in danger of collapse.

One usually thinks first of Monte Carlo
in connection with continental gambling,
but as a matter of fact the beautiful
Riviera resort has been, for the last few
years, only an amateur beside Ostend and
Spa. It was mostly a show place where
the passing tourist risked from five to a
hundred dollars for the fun of the thing,
or where an occasional millionaire droppe 1
a few thousand dollars and forgot to men-
tion it, or won an equal sum and was
heralded as the man who never could lose.
Ostend was different. The gamblers
made more of a business of it there, and
last season the total sums changing hands
over the green cloth at Ostend aud Spa
were perhaps double the amounts distrib-
uted by the Monte Carlo croupiers. Like-
wise the average amount of the bets at

average.

In the last season, only three months
long, the tables at Ostend alone made a
net profit of $1,400,000, after turning over
to the municipality a third of a million in
taxes. On top of that each club found it
profitable to pay out of its own pocket $16
of each initiate's fee of $20. Ostend was
the real gambling center of the world.

The story of gambling in Ostend is sig-
nificant, and every American municipality
could study it to its own benefit. A few
years ago any one could leave London at
night and be busy losing his sovereigns
the next morning on almost any corner of
Ostend, at any kind of a game of chance,
without the slightest let or hindrance.
Ostend and Spa did not object to that at
all, but when the rich men's sons at home
began to squander their patrimony at the
local tables, when Belgium society women
lost their own and their children's for-
tunes, when suicides and forgeries grow-
ing out of losses at gaming became startl-
ingly frequent, parliament rose in its vir-
tue and passed a law closing all the small
dens, and permitting only strangers to
lose their money in the big clubs.

Thereafter, no resident of Ostend might
gamble in any Ostend clubs. He had to
go to Spa or Namur for his sport and be
enrolled as a stranger. Any visitor to Os-
tend who wanted to try his luck had to go
through the formality of joining a club. If,
however, he happened to be a guest at one
of the leading hotels controlled by the
"Compagnie des Grands Hotels," in which
King Leopold is heavily interested, his
application could be rushed through in a
night, and could be seated at rouge et no]r

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

419

without loss of time, at a luxurious "pri-
vate" club under the watchful eye of the
police, and the parental care of the govern-
ment inspectors. If he lost his fortune
and wanted to take his own life, the mat-
ter could be arranged without making un-
due noise.

Tens of thousands of dollars changed
hands every hour in the season, and Os-
tend and Spa and the lesser Belgium towns
to which the same privileges were ex-
tended flourished and waxed fat. The
losses of the gamesters made Ostend in
particular one of the most progressive of
cities outside of Buddapest. King Leo-
pold's hotels were crowded, and famous
men and gorgeously appareled women —
countessess, demi-mondaines and nouveaux
riches alike — stood in line waiting for
seats at the gaming clubs. The luxury
and extravagance of Osteud last season
outstripped that of any city of its size in
the world.

But in the shadows behind all this
feverish gayety and reckless display the
records of crime and despair grew larger
and blacker until public opinion became
aroused despite the wealth that the for-
eigners were losing and that Belgium was
winning. Ostend, Spa, Dinant, Chimay,
Namur and the other towns that had
rushed in to get some of the plunder stood
aghast when a bill was brought into the
legislature a few weeks ago suppressing all
gambling. With some modifications it
was passed, in spite of the fierce opposi-
tion and powerful lobbies of the interested
parties.

As the law now stands, all games of
chance in public places for stakes are for-
bidden, except when the stakes do not ex-
ceed the value of the refreshments taken
by the players. Social and private clubs
are not considered as public places, and
their legitimate members may gamble as
much as they like, but the stranger who
tries to get a temporary membership for
he purpose of gambling will hereafter find

himself confronted by dues and initiation
fees that will keep him out.

While the bill was up for consideration
Ostend wept and wailed that she would be
ruined, and that heavy government inter-
ests would go down with her in the gen-
eral smash. The doleful statement was
not seriously denied, either. Yet the
amendment to exclude Ostend and Spa
from the general provisions of the bill was
defeated by a vote of 97 to 16, although it
is generally understood that King Leopold
supported the amendment with all the
power he could muster. Now these cities
are trying to get the disaster postponed for
five years. Ostend has a magnificent
beach, and its Casino or Kursal has many
attractions aside from gaming tables. It
is the favorite resort of the gay old King,
and its hotels are some of the best in
Europe. But its natural attractions are
not equal to those of Blankenburgh, its
rival and neighbor, or to those of Spa, the
oldest watering place in Europe, with a
record running back into the thirteen hun-
dreds. Without the gaming tables to give
it life next summer the chances are it will
plunge abruptly from the top wave of
prosperity to the depths of ruin, unless
some way can be found to initiate stran-
gers temporarily into the local clubs with-
out payment of prohibitory fees. The fact
that hotel values have not collapsed indi-
cates a sly expectation that some way will
be found to dodge the law.

But public opinion at large in quiet,
staid, orderly Belgium has turned against
the gaming table, and even if Ostend man-
ages to "save its face," as the Chinese say,
its day as the successful rival of Monte
Carlo and the world's most glittering
gambling joint has apparently passed for-
ever

Whereat Neighbor France smiles con-
tentedly. France never could see much
harm in gambling, and has had few scru-
ples about it in any form, from national
lotteries down to licenses for green- covered

420

THE IRR1QAI10N AGE.

tables in the back rooms of corner
grogeries.

One result, therefore, of the great re-
formation in Belgium will be a boom at
Dieppe, for that is the public gambling
place nearest to London, and directly in
the path of the money-laden American
tourists who swarm between London and
Paris each season. Unless the picturesque
French town is too greedy it is likely to
become one of the most famous resorts in
Europe before long, and its ''petits
chevaux'1 will bring in more money than
the town authorities will know how to
manage.

At present those ;' petits chevaux''
make monkeys of the folk who hazard
their francs on them, for the chances
against the bettor are 12J per . cent,
whereas in the games at Monte Carlo the
margin in favor of the bank is only lj per
cent or in many cases 1 per cent. I have
watched the players at the Dieppe Casino
with close attention on several occasions,
and would risk a guess that not one person
in ten leaves the place a winner. The
piles of coin in the croupier's boxes grow
as steadily as in the cashier's till of a
great dry goods store and change color
from the white of silver to the yellow of
gold as regularly as if the transformation
were effected by machinery.

In all probability Dieppe will take ad-
vantage of the situation and widen her net
with rouge et noir and baccaret, but at
present the nine little horses suffice to
drain her visitors of their pocket money.
They run in concentric circles on a board
eight feet in diameter, and the six-inch
iron steed that stops nearest to the line
after making half a dozen circuits is the
winner. Stretching out from the minia-
ture racetrack are the long, green-clothed
tables, with sections corresponding to the
number of the horses, and other sections
for combination bets. You place your
franc on No. 8, the track-master turns his
crank and proclaims, "Les jeux sont

faites!" in tones that sound like the last
despairing wail of a swimmer whose
strength is gone. A moment of breathless
silence while the little horses tear around
in their circles, then the track master's
despondent sing-song, '' Numero huit."
There is an instant crash of the croupier's
rakes and the sound of the clinking of
silver, as if hundreds of money bags were
being shaken madly, and there on the
green cloth before you is your franc, with
six others added unto it. That looks like
good business, and not until later in the
evening does it appear that even if one
sticks to the lowest limit and bets only a
franc at a time the sport costs on the aver-
age 20 cents for each five minutes, which
proves expensive in time.

Dieppe's casino is a handsome, roomy
building, that stretches along one of the
finest bits of beach on the Normandy
coast. Back of it are the summer homes
of many of the French aristocracy, and
shining white in the hot sun and against
the blue sky is a row of hotels that charge
fierce prices in the short, gay season, and
are moderate enough just before or just
after. A few miles back is the magnifi-
cent ruin of Argues, perched high on a
table land, whence narrow windows in the
great fortress or from the top of its thick,
mossy covered walls you can look for miles
up and down the fertile valley far below.
Bathing in the morning, a siesta in the
afternoon and gambling or loafing at the
Casino in the evening are about all that
one can do, or that one wants to do, in
the hot days when Dieppe is at its gayest.

Further up the coast is noisier and less
aristocratic Boulogne, and here, too, is a
casino and the " petits chevaux " and bets
for any sum you like, whereas at Dieppe
the limit is 5 francs. Boulogne, too, has
an eye on Ostend and is hoping eagerly
for the downfall of the Belgian Vanity
Fair. CURTIS BROWN.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

421

AT THIRTY-FIVE.
At the age of 35 a woman is usually
either a philosopher or a fool. Fool or
philosopher, according to the way she
views the past and faces the future.

At 35 — neither young nor old — her po-
sition corresponds somewhat to that of the
lanky, growing girl, who is too old to play
childish games but too young to do up her
hair and put on long gowns. It is the
awkward transition period. The woman
of 35 has come to the parting of the ways.
Having reached the outskirts of youth,
she has not yet crossed the border into
middle age.

Now, verily youth is a beautiful thing,
and no woman parts with it willingly. Yet,
willy nilly. part with it she must at 35.
The fool is she who struggles and fights
against the inevitable. The philosopher
she who looks the situation squarely in
the face and accepts it — if not cheerfully,
at least with an imitation of cheerfulness
that passes muster for the genuine article.
She looks into her mirror, sees the mature
figure, the double chin, perhaps, and says
to herself:

'The arrangement of my hair is too
girlish; makes me riduculous. It's time
for me to give up baby-ribbon effects."

We all know the woman on the wrong
side of 30 who refuses to admit her age,
who regards herself and wishes others to
regard her as something between dear 20
and delightful 25. Her mirror might
shout "35 " every time she gazed into it,
yet she would go on making the toilet of
20. Having ears, she refuses to hear.
Having eyes, she sees — yes. she sees the
lines and crows' feet, but puts them to
rout, so far as she is able, with massage,
cold creams and complexion brushes.
Those which will not be smoothed away by
such means she conceals under powder,
rouge and one of those flimsy veils which
make the plain woman pretty and the
pretty woman a vision of loveliness.

In war paint and feathers she looks

young — quite young to the casual observer.
But this woman is a cheat, a fraud, and
her youthful appearance a delusion. Al-
though she elects herself a member of
youth, she cannot, without making her ef-
forts nil, "go in" for tennis, golf," rowing,
bathing, and all those forms of outdoor
sports which make Miss Twenty fascinat-
ing in spite of disheveled tresses. Those
same sports make Miss Thirty-five a fright.
Poor fool! She can't be young, and she
won't be old, so — after the fashion of the
donkey who starved to death between two
haystacks — she has neither the pleasure of
the one nor the other.

The fool — being a fool — cannot under-
stand that the philosopher has pleasures,
and that they are broader, deeper, better,
and more satisfying than those which
should appeal only to honest but frivolous
young womanhood.

It goes without saying that the phil-
osopher has brains, and these she uses
with profit to herself and others. Merely
by turning her thoughts to other things
than those connected with personal adorn-
ment, her mind and character broaden.
She becomes less selfish — noble. She
thinks and reasons more. Books that
were once read carelessly take on a deeper
meaning. The beauties in nature and art
she feels and enjoys as never before.
Sorrow and suffering of all kinds awaken
her sympathy and pity. She condemns less
readily, and forgives more quickly than in
the days when impulse— good-natured or
otherwise — alone governed her actions.
She finds friends — true, staunch friends —
in both sexes, and in all sorts and condi-
tions of men, women and children.

Our philosopher has not yet forgotten
the joys and woes of childhood. She still
feels an interest in gay and effervescent
youth. She glances backward at the past.
Ah, how quickly the years have fluwn!
Then toward the future. And the glance,
reveals old age in a new light, and makes
her tender and pitiful to the physical in-

422

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

firmities which so often come with declin-
ing years. She is still at the zeneth of life.
But the sunrise was so short a time ago,
and the sunset will be equally as quick in
coming. Though the ene was beautiful,
the other may be glorious. Of all her
friends this philosopher appreciates most
those who are wiser and older than herself,
for she finds them the most unselfish, the
most helpful of any.

Should this woman be pitied? Not at
all. The very cream of life is hers.

So be wise all ye women of 35. Give
up trying to cheat the years. At best it
is a nerve-disturbing, soul-destroying,
heart-breaking business. Give it up. You
will lose little and gain much, for you will
exchange brass for pure gold. Stand aside
for younger sportsmen — or women, rather.
Take yourself out of the field while you
may do so with dignity. Why wait to be
thrust forth amid jeers and laughter? —
Los Angles Sunday Times.

HE MET HIS MATCH.

"Never cross question an Irishman from
the old sod," advises one of the foremost
railroad attorneys, of the age. "Even if
he dues not think of an answer he will
stumble into some bull that will demoral-
ize the court and jury, and whenever a
witness tickles a jury his testimony gains
vastly in its influence.

"Ve>, I'm speaking from experience.
The only witness who ever made me throw
up my hands and leave the courtroom was
a green Irishman. A section hand had
been killed by an express train and his
widow was suing for damages. I had a
goon case but made the mistake of trying
to i M i In- main witness inside out.

"In hi? quaint way he had given a
gra, me .l.-x-Hptiori of the fatality, oc-
casi n.idv -hedding tears and calling on
tin- xrimi.s "quotes the Detroit F.ce Press.
'Aiming ••! her things he swore positively
t*h" ' •"• I'icomotive whistle was not
souml'd until after the whole train had

passed over his departed friend. Then I
thought I had him.

' 'See here, McGinnis,' said I, 'you ad-
mit that the whistle blew?'
" 'Yis, sor; it blewed, sor.'
' 'Now, if that whistle sounded in time
to give Michael warning, the fact would be
in favor of the company, wouldn't it?"

'Yis, sor; and Mike would be tistifyin'
here this day.' The jury giggled.

' 'Never mind that. You were Mike's
friend, and you would like to help his
widow out; but just tell me now what
earthly purpose there could be for the en-
gineer to blow that whistle after Mike had
been struck.'

" 'I preshume thot the whistle wore for
the nixt mon on the thrack, sor.'

"I left and the widow got all she asked. n

LATEST TROUSERS RECIPE.

"A year or two ago, "said a young man
to a friend, "I spent a few weeks at south
coast watering places. One day I saw a
machine which bore the inscription 'Drop
a penny in the slot and learn how to make
your trousers last.' As I hadn't a great
deal of money I thought an investment of
a penny to show me how to save the pur-
chase of a pair of trousers would be small
capital put to good use, so I dropped the
required cuin in and a card appeared.
What do you suppose it recommended to
make my trousers last?"

"Don't wear 'em, I suppose."

"No."

"What did it say?"

''Make your coat and waistcoat first."

SAND.
I observed a locomotive in the railroad

yard one day
It was waiting in the roundhouse where

the locomotives stay;
It was panting for the journey, it was

coaled and fully manned,
And it had a box the fireman was filling

full of sand.

THE IRRIGATION AGE.

423

It appears that locomotives cannot always

get a grip
•On the slender iron pavement 'cause their

wheels are apt to slip;
And when they reach a slippery spot their

tactics they command
And to get a grip upon the rail they

sprinkle it with sand.

It's about this way with travel along life's

slippery track,
If your load is rather heavy and you're

always sliding back;
So, if a modern locomotive you completely

understand,
You'll supply yourself at starting with a

good supply of sand.

If your track is steep and hilly, and you
have a heavy grade,

And if those who've gone before you have
the rails quite slippery made.

If you ever reach the summit of the upper
table-land,

You'll find you'll have to do it with a lib-
eral use of sand.

You can get to any station that's, on life's
schedule seen,

If there's fire beneath the boiler of ambi-
tion's strong machine.

And you'll reach a place called Flushtown
at a rate of speed that's grand

If for all the slippery places you've a good
supply of sand. — Sel.

THE OLD FAMILIAR FACES.

Oh, those old familiar faces, how they
linger in the mind,

How the recollection of them 'round our
mem'ry is entwined.

There's a man in Keene, New Hampshire,
who was going to die for sure,

Till he swallowed sixteen bottles of Dead
Shot Consumption Cure;

Down in Linden, Alabama, lives that well-
know blacksmith's wife.

Who, by means of Filler's Pellets, found
the pathway back to life.

Both their faces linger with us, and re-
fuse to go away,

For in many advertisements we can see
them every day.

Up in Tuttle, Colorado, dwells a famous

miner who
Lost two legs in one explosion. Jones's

Life Saver pulled him through.
And in Manly Junction. Iowa, two section

hands reside,
Who, by using Johnson's Tonic, keep this

side the Great Divide.
In the town of Burton, Texas, is a man

who the M. D.'s

Said would die in twenty minutes. Ran-
som's Oil cured his disease.
We can see them all before us, though

they live so far away,
For their portraits all are printed in the

papers every day.

And the babies! Ah! the babies, sitting

on their mothers' knee?,
While the man who takes the picture

smiles and says, " Look pleasant,

please!"
How the pudgy little features are engraved

upon our hearts,
Though the little ones that own them live

in very distant parts.
What a wilderness of babies we have

lately come to know,
Who've been saved by foods aud mushes,

clear from Maine-to Mexico.
We have never heard their wailing nor

their prattle and their play,
But we know them, for we've seen them

in the papers every day.

— Portland Oregoman.

HIS FERVENT HOPE.

Mrs. Sleepyize — "Henry, the alarm
clock just went off."

Mr. Sleepyize — "Thank goodness; I
hope th' thing '11 never come back. "-
Columbus (0.) State Journal.

THE IRRIGA1ION AGE.

SOME RESOLUTIONS.

I've made some resolutions, not so many —

just a few,
For I have a certain habits I've decided

to eschew,
I've made a memorandum of some things

I shouldn't do,
And marked the path of rectitude I'll

struggle to pursue.

* -x- * * * *

I have resolved to smoke no more — I'll
give tobacco up;

I'll cease to look with longing eyes upon
the tippler's cup;

I'll even shut my toddy, as a kind of en-
t'ring wedge,

And in a year, perhaps, I'll be prepai-ed to
sign the pledge.

I seldom swear, but I've resolved, hence-
forth, to use no word

That may not, by the most refined, with-
out offense be heard.

I never play a game of chance, because I
have no skill.

But for the sake of conscience I've re
solved I never will.

I'll be more economical about the way I
dine,

And I've resolved to worship less at pleas-
ure's gilded shrine.

I'll go to church on Sundays, once again
I'll learn to pi ay.

And I've a list of creditors that I've re-
solved to pay.

If these few resolutions I can keep, a
snug amount

I'll have in hand next year, wherewith to
start a bank account.

And I've resolved, if I should live this
model upright life,

To take unto myself a sweet and charm-
ing little wife.

But there may come temptations that I
cannot well resist,

So one more resolution must be added to
the list;

Therefore it is hereby resolved that,
should I chance to fall

And break one resolution. I'll resolve to

break them all.
— Lawrence Porcher Hext in Leslie's

Weekly.

WANTED— Ladies and gentlemen to introduce
the "hottest" seller on eaith. Dr. White's Elec-
trical Comb, patented 1899. Agents are coining
money. Cures all forms of scalp ailments, head-
aches, etc., yet costs the same as an ordinary
comb Send 50c in stamps for sample. G. N
ROSE, Gen. Mgr., Decatur, ill.

WANTED— Business men and women to take ex-
clusive agency for a State, and control sub-
agents handling Dr. White's Electric Comb.
$3,000 per month compensation. Fact. Call and
I'll prove it, G. N. ROSE, Gen. Mgr , Decatur.Ill