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IRRIGATION IJ THE TERRITORIES.^

— ■ j^

EXritdCm FIIOM THE CALGAIU TlUBfWE

I t

«iivt>n asHciioii of country in South-
ern Alhofta and Western AsBinihuia
which can n<»t he tiuc'cestfully farmed
continuonsiv withnnt irrigation ; and
assiiiuin^ for the sake of arfjcniuent
that, in a new ami sparaely nettit>d
country, such as it is, the nece^sai-y
vvoikh can not h« established on a
siiflicientiy lar><e scale without aid
from the Dominion parliament, the
Hrst qui!.-.lion to consider is how far
pariiani nt is in duty l)ound to render
the needed assistance, uni to what ex-
tent it would be justilied in expending
public money for this purtorie.

To reach proper conclusivins on a
matter of so nmoh moment both to
the localities indicated and to the
country as a whoie, we must enquire
what the policy and practice of the
parliament of I Canada has neen in the
past in legard to proiuoting public
improvements and in aiding public
enterorises which, without the assist-
ance of the public monies, could either
not be established at any time or
would still l)e in the womb of the
future.

It is safe to say that during the life-
time of Canada this proposition has
held Kood, namely, that if it was ac-
tually necessary in order to promote
the prosperity of I he country and add
to the general commerce and wealth
that the aid of the govei-nment should
be called in, then such aid should be
forthcoming to a reasonable extent
and within the means of the country.
It is further held in Canadian practice
and experience that if this aid be
granted in money, the government
sh(»uld not expect dividends on its in-
vestment, being content with seeing
the public objects of such assistance
successfully accomplished.

We propose to show, as briefly a^
possible, that if the parliament of
Canada is justified in voting public
money and devising special legislation
fi)r the beneHl of the farmer, the manu-
facturer, the merchant, the miner, the
shipping interests and fishing intertsis
of Eastern Canada, it will be doubly
justified in expending public money in
establishing and operating Irrigation
Woiks in Southern Alberta
and Western Assiniboia. And in
this connexion a glance at some of
the enterprises and legislation sanc-
tioned by parliament relating specially
to the Eastern Provinces, is in order.

1. The Intercolonial Rail .vay of
Canada, designed to promote trade be-
tween tlje Maritime Provinces and the
Province*; of Ontario and Quebec, waa
built by the government alone, im-
m(?diately after confederation, and has
ever since been operated by them at ft
dead loss to the general revenues of
Canada. The government have alto
gether an original construction invest-
ment of some $44,000,000 in the
Inter-colonial Railway and connected
branches. They have paid interest on
that investment at the rate of about 4
per cent., for various periods during
the last 22 years, which would amount
to about another $13,000,000. And it
has, besides, lost in running the road
probably a further $8,000,000. At the
very least the government have
invested up to this time
in the Inten olonial Railway
and its branches .$65,000,000. Still, the
road was considered a necessity to thd
development of Inter-Colonial trade in
the Eastern Provinces ; it has helped
to create a great inter- colonial traffic ;
it has carried the products of those

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

provinces back and forth at a very
cheap rate; and has thus proved a
great benefactor to the country
traversed. Many of its branches are
purely local lines, constructed foi the
convenience and advantage of certain
localities alone, although built solely
out of public funds. Every resident of
the Northwest Territories is taxed to
support the Inter-Colon lal Railway,
and these local branches (including the
Prince Edward Island lines), and to
make good the money sunk in them
and the deficits caused by cheap freight
rates, of which the farmers, millers,
manufacturers, lumbermen, fisheimen
miners and merchants of the Eastern
Provinces receive the principal if not
the sole benefit.

2. Take the Canadian canals as an
example of a necessary but non-divid-
end paying expenditure. These have
been constructed by the Government
of Canada at a cost of not less than
$60,000,000, exclusive of repairs. They
were constructed in order to overcome
the obstructions which Nature had
placed in the path of successful naviga
tion of the St. Lawrence, Ottawa and
other rivers and waters in the prov
inces of Ontario and Quebec. (The
cost of the Sault Ste. Marie canal, un-
tlnished, is not taken into account).
They have not paid even working ex-
penses, to say nothing of the cost of
construction, or the interest on the
capital put into them. Still, they are
regarded as one of the most valuable
of the Dominion's assets ; they have
certainly tended to cheapen the rates
of transportation for the products
mainly of Ontario and Quebec ; and
<^hey thus render a great public service.
To the loss of capital and interest and
in working expenses, on these canals,
the people of the Northwest contribute
every day of their lives, and will for
all time.

3, Next in order we refer to Parlia.
ment's Piotectiye Policy. This policy
was adopted 15 years ago by Parlia-
ment without reference to Northwest
interests ; and in fact the Northwest
Territories had nothing (whatever to

Biiy m regard to its acceptance, not
having repreHentation in Parliament.
Without entering into a controversy
as to the merit-' or demerits of a Pro-
tective Policy foi- Canada, it may he
held that, whatever its advantages
may be, it is not eriously denied that
Protective Duties mean a conHidernble
tax on all consumers — that is, on all of
the five millions and odd of people con-
stituting our Dominion population.

The party favoring this policy— about
one halt of the whole of tne population
—maintain that these duties are im-

fiosed for the benefit of the country at
arge. While they may bear hard in
some quarters — especially in the North-
west— it is claimed that they have
been instrumental in adding an iin-

Kortant element of national strength,
y rendering us to a ccmsiderable ex-
tent independent of the manufactured
products of tther countries. It is
further claimed that these duties build
up the towns and cities of the Eastern
Provinces, and the claim cat. not be
denied. At the best, the advantage is
mainly sectional ; what there is goes
chiefly to the Eastern Provinces which
do the manufac.uring for the whole
Dominion ; and for the gain chiefly of
the Eastern Provinces we in this west-
ern country are specially taxed under
a Protective Taritf designed for the
genet al advantage.

4. There is the bonusing of Railway
Companies and Steamship Linef^ The
Canadian Parliament has done this on
a matjnificent scale. Steamship lines
are subsidized to carry passen^e s and
mails and natural and manutactured

Eroducts to China and Japan, — to
Ingland— to Australia — to the West
Indies. Not only so but the Provincial
Governments are supplied from the
Dominion chest with the funds to suo-
sidize subsidiary Unes of steamers on
all their coasts. This is done to stimu-
late trade, cheapen the cost of freight
and travel, and conduce to the general
prosperity of the country.

It is the same with Railways. To
say nothing of the subsidies to the
great lines of communication, such as
the Grand Trunk, the Canadian Pacific
and other lines that received enormous
subsidies and bonuses, there have been
heavy subsidies to ei'ery line of railway
built in any of the provinces, many of
which (besides the Inter-Colonial
branches) are purely local lines, even
the names of which are not known
outside of the province in which they
are constructed. These roads were so
assisted ny the Canadian Parliament

exi

e«>i

ou
ke
he
lae

1

I

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

r

bucait-ie tUuy were declareti ro be
necessary to the deveiopruenc (if th<»
tributary country and il8 corauierce.
Tbey were intended "to give the farm-
ers access to the best markets," to
cheapen the cost ot transportation of
farm products, lumber, coal, minerals
store Kill '<ls, etc., and thus "promote
the progress and development of the
country." It is claimed that in this
way successive Dominion KoverumentH
have rendered an immense service to
the agricultural and commercial in-
terests of Canada; and it is not proposed
to dispute the claiui. We do know
that in the Northwesr we are helping
to pay what it has cost the Federal
Gi)verr me.it to thus promote the pub-
lic good. This cost to the country has
been something enormous, there hav-
ing been paid in bonuses to railways by
the Canadian Parliament from first to
la»i, no less a sum than $145,000,000 io
$160,000,000 in cash, beside-i land
grants amounting to 50,000,000 acres,
equal in value to at least another
$150,0(X),000. Thi<^ is in addition to un-
paid loans to railways of over $21,000,-
000.

5. Ill various other ways the system
of bonusing, aiding, promoting, stimu-
lating, has been carried on at the
public expense. Public monies and
public lands have been freely given as
long as Parliament could say: "This
is done to promote the development
and help on the prosperity of the coun-
try." Take a f€W additional instances
of (special legislation and special
expenditures "for the general advant-
age."

The Government, for instance, main-
tain at great .expense Experimental
Farms bringing in little or no revenue;
they have Dairy Commissioners trav-
elling and educating the people in
cheese and butter making, and they
actually engage in the manufacture of
butler to show 'how to doit." The
expense and labor are incurred for the
general advantage but espe iaily for
the beni>tit of the farming population.
Bounties are paid to fi.-^hermen out of
the public funds. A Fishery Intelli-
gence BureHU is maintained during a
considerable poition of the year to
notify fishermen on the Atlantic coast
of the appearance of schools of fish at
certain points. Fish Hatcheries are
maintained at great expense in all the
Provinces. All these expenditures are
claimed jo be for the general good, al
though the advantage may seem to b •
largely local in the practical working
out. l.iO Post OflBce Department i-s
kept up to a state of efflcienf^y at a
heavv annual loss, the deficits for the
last 2ti years aggregating $13,000,000;

but the advantage loth>« public war-
riors the extra expeudituro. Manu-
facturers are paid out of the treasury
drawbacks on their products exported
from the country; and although thitt
may look as if more for the individual
than the general good, no complaint
is made. Lighthouses and Buoys and
Beacons are erected at all important
p(»ints on the coast and in interior
waters for the special protection of
shipping. There is no direct cash re-
turn to the treasury but the interests
of navigation and commerc? are hell
to warrant the expenditure.

Thp system of granting Government
aid where it is actually needed, and
even where such aid makes mainly for
local advantage, having been sti etched
to fjover so wide a field, why should
the line be drawn at Irrigation? Why
should the government lands and the
government monies not be utilized to
promote the development of the coun-
try and the interests of agriculture and
trade in this certain and invaluable
way ? Bringing water to arid lands
means bringing wealth to the country;
adding to the prosperity of the country;
ensuring the yield of crops; rendering
the- farmer independent of the draw-
backs of climate. Are these gains not
as important to the interests of the
country as a whole as the cheapening
of transportation in cert<ain districts or
Canada ? If it is wise to run the Inter-
colonial railway at a public loss in or-
der that the Ontario farmer may mar-
ket the product of his farm cheaply in
the Maritime Provinces, and that the
latter may have cheap food, on what
principle can the Dominion Parliament
refuse to come to the farmers' and the
country's aid in Southern Alberta and
Western Assiniboia by establishing
Irrigation Works which will ensure
crops in every season ? If the Goyern-
ment and Parlinment consider it wise
and profitable, in order to build up
inter colonial trade, to transport coal
from Nova Scotia to Dntario and
Quebec at a dead loss for every ton
carried over their railway, and if they
think it just to tax the country as a
whole for the benefit of this special
trafBc, what excuse can they offer for
not lending a helping hand to bi ing
into abundant fertility a large area of
country which only needs this assist-
ance to become the garden of Canada?
Is it more advisable that the Gov-
ernment funds suould be expended on

'^*^ IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIVCS.

local railways in the Bast, which in
some cases have no uxcuse (or bein^,
than it is to nialce an earnest effort to
give priceless value to niillionH of ncies
of valuable lands to which nature has
denied a generous rainfall ? And how
long do our Eastern fellow citizens
suppose we will remain content to help
make up the deficiency on such tran-
sactions as we have indicated, 'f we
are refused this act of justice on pre-
cisely the same lines of public policy ?
Either abolish all bonusing, make
every investment by the Government
pay a dividend, or extend to this cc^un-
try in connexion with the crying want
of a considerable area of i erritory, the
same generous principle which has
been applied so liberally in the east.

Now the tens of millions of dollars
already simk in bonuses, the hundreds
of millions or more paid by the people
to engraft the protective systsm on
the Dominion, the uncounted millions
spent in the construction of great
public works which do not bring in a
dividend, are gone for ever. What-
ever the gain to the country at large
in commercial advantages or the sav-
ing individually to the citizen in the
cost of living, one thing is certain, the
Government Treasury will not see one
dollar of this money returned to it, No
such loss to the Treasury will result
from Government financial aid to irri-
gation in Southern Alberta or Western
Assiniboia. There will be no loss
but an absolute gain from t he start.
The Govei-nraent with its millions of
acres, as the largest land owner in the
country, will be providing a cash mar-
ket for every acre of its land that it
irrigates — lands which will then
command the highest prices of
any that will be open to purchase.

Outside of its own lands, the Gov-
ernment will not irrigate an acre of
railway or private land without
making the owner pay for the water;
and if it be objected that the Govern-
ment should not be dealing in water
or engaging in unusual transactions
of that character, the answer is very
simple.— Refer to the Blue Books and
note the Government's transactions
with the mill owners and factories
that line its canals; look at 'ts business
transactions with all the merchants
and shippers per railway from Quebec
to Halifax and throughout the Mari-
time Provinces; and take notice of its
dealings as nearly the greatest land
proprietor of the Continent, with the
thousands who buy or homestead pub-
lic lands and lease its timber and
mineral lands. This objection, there-
fore, is one calling for very slight

consideration and is no' to lie
enteitninid for a moment in
view of the great beneHts to
accrue from the government having it
in their power to (l> in a large way
afid for te«»s of thousands of people a
work which private capital can not
yet possibly overt/Ike.

Tlie incidental j^ain to the govern-
ment from l)eing in a posiLi«)n to
supply water to l heir arid and at pres-
ent worthless lands will be enormous.
Thus of thousiJinds of fiirmers in the
United States give the preference to
irrigated lands over ail others, and
any number cf these stand ready to
enter this country (where local tax-
ation is so light conipaii'd with the
heavy burthens they are compelled to
hear in their |»:e-enl: htmus) and to
buy these lanas at reasonat)le prices;
and it is a safe prediciion that Canadi-
ans too will give a preference to such
lands. Our iriigated lafuls would be a
new and fresh attract iwri to all nevv
comers Tlie Dominion would be
strengthened by the flow of popul-
ation into Sou' hern Albetfa. and
Weatern Assiniboi t, which wojiI I tet
in at ontie. And thousands «)f new
settlers would come f:om outside to
contribute to the t(»n>umi)lion of
duty-paying goods, thus swelling the
Dominion revenues at once.

What would be the gain to Central
and Southern Alberta and Westeri:
Assinttioia ? Siinply incalculable.
Towns such as Cilgary, Macleod.
Lethbridge and Medicine Hat wool i
be suri-ouniecT by a num m-ous and
prosperous agricultural poptilation,
whose crops would be ensvired from
year to year beyond all peradvenMire.
At the railway or trail crossings of all
our large j-ivers would soring up small
towns, to be the local centies of pros-
perous settlements. ('heese making,
butternmking, straight farming,niixed
farming, stock raising, fl.mr milling,
and kindred industries would flourish
beyond all precedent in (Canada. A
prosperous farming population would
establish the future of the towns and
create a trade that could not be taken
away. Whatever may be done in
farming or dairying? in other parts of
the Dominion would be excelled here,
where the rich soil only awaits the
fertilizing influence of our mountain
waters to produce eveiy thing that can
be produced from the earth, not ex-
. epting the finest fruits. What are now
the most arid paits would then be the
the most fertile; and lands now un-
occupied, which can not even be given
away, would then be the most valu-
able. The cost of production of beet.

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

mutton, cheeso, butter, hay, irrain,
ere, vvuuld bu ruduced to a luininiuui,
theexporieiH (M)f ulliriiKated cniiiitries
buin(< repeati'l here.

When one ounsiderM for what futile
pur(>i>s(^-< uri.i recklesa experiinetittt
the public money of Cauad* has bi-en
expemlfil in the piiHt, there ia no rea-
son tor any false inode^ry on the purt
of Alberians or AHsiniboianfl in put-
thiK forward, respectfully but firmly,
a claim on the parliament of the lio-
niinion for the I'xpenditurs of a
rea onabU^ sum in the construction of
Iriiration worlis. We huve the beat
country undei the sun, and we asR the
K'lvernment to help u:!i (as they have
helped other provmces and districts)
in itu development. We nslc this not
merely for our own advantage, but for
the general K^od of the country,
which is deeply iniei-ested in the pros-
porous buildmur up of this portion of
the Dominion. We ask for equitable
treatment and the frank consideration
of our wishes. We know our wants
and necessities hotter than others can
tell us : and we claim that, beyond all
things necessary t'O the prosperity of
Southern Alberta and Western As-
siniboia, stands this question of the
construction of Irrigation Works, and
that' by the government of the Dorain^
ion.

» ^ >

[No. 2 ]
Having made a claim upou the Do-
rainion Parliament, for the general
geod of the country, to aid Southern
Alberta and Western Assiniboia by
the construction of Irrigation Works,
it is in order to show what Irrigation
has done for other countries. Al-
though the application of the ptinciple
may be new- in Canada, Irrigation is a
very old method of promoting agricul-
ture in many parts of the world. The
utilization of the overflow of the Egyp-
tian Nile by means of canals and
ditches and t^mbanknients, dates very
many centuries hack, and travellers to
this day tell u.s uf the wonderful crops
they have seen secured over great areas
in that country 'ly means of irrigation,
the methods being none of the best
and the intelligence of the farmers be-
ing below par. Irrigation in India has
been followed ever since Europeans
knew anything of the land, and there
are found the remains of gi'eat canals

and waterways which must have been
cudstructed at enormous cost far back
in the ages, and were allowed to
become useles-4, ' Many of these canal*
have been restored and are now dolnff
over again, under British rulers, the
great work which ceuturies ago they
performed under native pi inces. That
Irrigation plays a great part in the
development of the agricultural inter-
ests of India may bet inferred from the
fact that under the goverument of that
country there has been expended in
the last twenty-five ynars over $150,*
000,000 in reclaiming land or making it
secure to the cultivators by new water
supply works, and that in this way
Irrigation has added to the cultivable
area not less than 30,000,000 acres in
the period mentioned. More than half
of this hu.s been accomplished in thn
last tif teen years. As regards the wis-
dom of the investment we have it on
good authority that "the profit thereon
is large, though obtained from indirect
methods, such as land revenue and the
increase for industry found in the
security and peace of the Empire. A
considerable proportion of the works,
however, have yielded a fair per cent,
of profit for several years on the large
capital invested. In the Northwest
provinces, for example, where the Ad-
ministration has been able to concern
itself with some simple questions,
though of great magnitude, such as
the reclamation of new land, the restor-
ation on purely engineering grounds of
old works, the renewal and settlement
of land workers or lyots, and the fram-
ing and execution of simple laws and
regulations based on old customs and
rules, the direct profit resulting on
capital in vojited has been sufficient to
satisfy the oiost exacting of investors.
As nearly all know, the cultivated land
in China, especially in the vicinity of
the great rivers, yields larger returns
than any wheie else in Mie world. This
is due mainly to Irrigation in which
the Chinese are singularly proficient.
In Italy Irrigation is a very old story.
Though the greater part of Italy is

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

blessed with a generous rainfall, Irri-
gation is carried on even in thotie most
highly favored districts more success-
fully than elaewhertf in Europe. The
Italian government hasspentenormous
Buma in providing the great canals,
and it is no uncommon sight to see
canal rising above canal in the higher
elevations or hill > ides. The Italians
seem, better than any other European
people, to understand the value of
water thus applied to the land, secur-
ing several crops annually from the
same land. In Francw Irrigation is
common. The canals which ramify a
large section of the country, are for
the double put pose of internal naviga-
tion and Irrigation and play a great
part in developing and enriching the
better portion of France. In many
parts of A.ustro-Hungary there are
Irrigation works, many ot them of
private ownership, under which large
tracts of land are either reclaimed or
improved and in all cases made exceed-
ingly fertile and profitable. In Eng-
land, says a reliable authority, crops
of grass upon irrigated fields of a total
weight of more than eighty tons per
acre, have been reported by trustwor-
thy English farmers in one season.
The alluvial lands along the upper
Mersey have been fertile "water
meadows" tor centuries past. Great
attention has been given to Irrigation
in Australia in recent years. Commis-
sioners from Australia have visited the
United States and Euiopean coun-
tries examining the local Irrigation
works, and have presented to their
respective governments very elaborate
reports. - Large sums have been ex-
pended in constructing expensive
works for utilizing the waters of the
few great rivers of that vast contin-
ent. It is in the United States, how-
ever, that Irrigation has of late years
received its greatest development and
won its greatest victories, and in this
connexion it may be stated that so
important has the Irrigation interest
become that there has been establish-

ed in connexion with the Department
of Agriculture at Washington, D.(\,
an •'Office of Irrig»itinn Inquiry," now
in charge of Major Richard J. Hintc^n
as Special Agent. In his report for
1802 the Special Agent thus Humrnar-
ixes some of the recent achievements
of Irritratiim in the United StateH: —
••In the past seven years the actual
'•area of reclamation by irrigation and
"cultivation has increased from nboiit
" 5,000,0()() acres to at least 8,020,520
"acres. There are small areas ucat-
" tered throughout the region beyond
" the 100th meridian west from Green-
" wich, of which no reports have been
" made, sufficient in total amount to
" increase the figures to over 8,600,000
"acres. Bui greater activity than this
"addition of 3,500,000 acres to thn area
"of cultivable land ia seen in the
'•growth of important hydraulic
••works. Under ditch this office
"repoits for 1891 an estimated area of
••18,286,207 acres. The largest pro-
•• portion of this great addition to the
"cultivable area will be made avail-
"able for use within the next yeai',
" and by the opening of the World's
"Columbian exposition the United
" States may anticipate the cultivation
"by means of irrigation of at least
••17,000,000 acres of land that within
'• the past decade has been declared by
••learned authority wholly irreclaini-
"able, worthless for agriculture,
" useless for tree planting, and hardly
'• fit for even the grazing of scragcry
••sheep and broad horned steer. Under
••projected or partially constructed
••works nearly 5,000,000 acres may be
•'added, making in all as now reclaim-
"edorin process of reclamation not
••less than 2c,000,000 acres." This
official statement gives in few words
a clear outline of the great work that
Irrigation has accomplished in a few
years |n the United States as regards
the area reclaimed or secured. Some
interesting particulars will be learned
from a perusal of the following table,
which shows how this wonderful work

,

I

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

J

I

has progrejBoil in individunl stutes:—

Undur
Under oultl-
ditf*h. vaiion.
Acres. AoreH

Arizona ... 600,000 315.000

ralifornia 4,fiOO,000 3,.VVl.0OO

Colorado 4.200,000 1,757.102

Idnhn l.iMO.OOO 330 00a

KaiiHuH-NVuf 970 loniritudu. 000,030 t*20,0(J0

Montuna I,;2fi0,000 410000

N«)bra-ka-Wof973 1oni{ilude 200,000 40,000

Nevada 160.000 100,000

New Muxico 700,000 4*5,000

Noiih Dakota 2fi0) 2000

MrctfoD -K of Uoi^cadoH 125.000 45.000

aouthDjkot' 100,000 51,000

'I'oxas - W of 97 o longitude . . 350,000 15i),000

Ulah 736,226 423,361

WaMhInRton— E of CaRcadv a . . 175.000 75,000
Wyoming 8,038.481 180,000

Totals 16367,794 8,026,526

This was the state of things at thn
end of 1891 -over 8.01)0,000 acreincttml-
ly under cultivation; over 16,000,000
actually under ditch, and, us Major
Hinton explaiuH, works projected or
partially constructed which would
bring the whole area under irrigation
in 18U3 up to 23.000,000 actes. There
may be added to the above table the
further fact thai artesian wells are
much utilized in seme States for it-
rigation. Oalifornia had over 8,600
such wells ; Utah over 2,800 ; Colorado
over 4,600; Texas over 1,000; South
Dakota 060; the number in other
States bringing the total up to over
13,096. Major Hinton's roport contAins
a number of additional details of the
progress made in the separate States.
As these all go to show the deep in-
terest taken in the question of
Irrigation and the steady advance
that is being made on all sides, a
number of quotations are here given
for the information of our Canadian
readers. It will be noticed* that the
facts stated relate more particularly to
the advance made in the year under
review— 1891. The report says:—

"In Nebraska, where "in 1891 there
was not a single irrigation enterprise
in practical operation, there are now
(1892) several scores of separate works
under way in the western counties, by
mean-; of which a large area will be
brought under cultivation, heretofore
given over entirely to stock. In West-
ern Kansas the beneficial influences,
direct and indirect, have been as
strongly felt as in the Dakotas. When

the work began in 1800 the countiM
west of the lOOth meridian of longitude
were in danger of iieing entirely aban-
doned for tigriculturul purposes. . .
Knrouragement has also been given,
by the large work done during the nasi
twenty-one months, to ngriculrur'oleD-
terprisnand iiulusuy in South West
Colorado, in Eastern New Mexico and
throughout Texas west of the 97th
meridian."

• • • • « •

"If the lines of cultivation and
migration during 1801 were laid down
upon a map they would show within
the arid region of the United States
movements so deHned as to ninke a
distinct parallelograir). In the region
between the 07th meridian and the
foothills of the Rockies, 'almost from
north to south, there has been a decid-
ed growth of settlement and a marked
increase ot cultivation. The more dis-
tinctly thiit growth has t)een brought
under the influence of irrigation de-
velopment, however supplied, the more
certainly it shows evidence of persaan-
ent prosperity."

• • • « • «

"The increased feeling of security in
the Dakotas has been followed by
as marked an increase in acreage and
production. The Black Hills portion
of South Dakota, tor example, has al-
most escaped attention during the
pHndency of the present enquiry and
discussion. In 1^ it was estimated
that some 13,000 acres were cultivated
chiefly tor forage and cereals, by mirans
of irrigation supplied by small ditches.
In 18'iO the area so cultivated was esti-
mated at 20,000 acres. In his final re-
port as geologist for the Dakotas in
the artesian and underflow investiga-
tion. Prof. Garry E Culver places tne
area of irrigated lands in the Black
Uills section at 60,000 acres. In Neb-
raska and Wyoming, moving south-
ward on the eastern line of the paral-
lelogram, there will be found to be a
considerable increase of population
and a much larger proportionate in-
crease of elfort in the direction of ex-
tended reclamation works over the
arid lands. The estimated increase for
the year in Wyoming is 856,700 acres.
That of Nebraska for works partially
finished or in progress, shows an esti-
mated increase* of 135,000 acres under
ditch and of 30,000 acres under culti-
vation."
• ••••«•*

"Both North and South-Eastern
Colorado have been benefitted by the
movement under leview. Many small
enterprises are also recorded in the

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

eastern portion of that State. A spec-
ial developiiit'nt of Basterri Colorafto ia
the growing interest and effort in and
for the estiibliHhiuent of reset . >irH,
both iaiKu ivnd giuall. The valley of
the Arlconttas is marlced by the pro-
greHS of a number of preat enternrises,
one of which is disttuguished by its
etfortH to utilize open deprectsions south
of the river for stoiage purposes. One
engineer reports seeing in the eastern
portion of Ine State from an elevated
point liU storage liasins, small lakes or
ponds lying within the range of his
vision One of I he chief objects of t his
eifort is to obtain a Kupply for and
store the same during tne winter
months ho as to be able to keep the
ditches running wh.^n planting begins
in the Npiing. ... In spite of the
argu uenlH relative to loss by evapora-
tion and the waste cluimed to follow
all attempts to bring mountain suppli-
es long distances without higli altitude
storage, the tendency is quite marked
towards a development of storage bas-
ins upon the plains.
• • *• « « ••

"t'he North and South lines of the
parallelogram of movement and de-
velqpment already indicated runs on
the north chiefly througli Wyomng
and the southern portion of Idaho and
further north up the valley of the Yel-
lowstone and over the Rocky Moun-
tains at Missoula into the PaciHc North
west, east of the Cascade Range. The
increasfc of population has not been
large but steaay in character, while
the increase in reclamation enterprises
is on a decidedly large scale and the
investments made and eut erprisesbo wn
in construction point decidedly to an
early effort to encourage ana direct
active settlement. Several great
areas are opened up under this north-
er n line. Perhaps the most direct
increase of cultivation and the system-
atizing of necessary works upon the
north is to be seen in the OiUitin
Valley, Montana, where irrigation has
practically been a success for the last
25 years. New and extensive areas
that will soon invite occupation are to
be found in Southern Idaho, Eastern
Washington and Central Montana east
and west of the Rockies. Extensive
reclamation works are in progress in
that state, but considerable attention
must yet be given to orpfanizing ad-
ministration of the water and occu-
pation of the land."

• •••♦• o

"Another most notable development
is in the matter of storage. Colorado
is especially active in that direction
The State Engineer's report for the 2

?>ear8 from 1888 to 18U0 shows the
ollowing total •:—

Reaervoirs rooordod in his oflloe ap to
1800 am

nitohcHon fllo tht-rn ia88-No 2,fl7l»

KHtiinalod nnd Hia'ud niilunHu of Hamo.... 1U.022*
Noof I'itoli xpprupnutiuiiH rccurdod from

1»88 to olow of IWIO 1.380

At an eHf.lniatii of 1 iniloM to each diloh

thu total will bo-mill n 6,S20

'The report for 1886 88 shows thn
total of 74 storage reservoirs, most of
them smaller than the later constiuc-
tiouH, while a number of them are only
intended for stock purposes. The
increase in 2 years has been 280, nnd
if we are to allow a fllmg of one half
more, or 140 for the year 1801, it
would Increane this class of construc-
tion, more of which are under wav, to
494 storage sites. A great many of these
— the majority in all probability— be-
long to the clasd of plains or open
valley storage, already referred to.
The IncrenMe in ditches and mileage
for the past yenr would rertainlv be
one halt the total given foi 2 years
covered bv thi* Stale Engineer's report
— 600ditcn filings with an estimated
length of 2,710 miles. Adding these
totals together we shall have for
Colorado at the close of 1891 an
estimate: —

Reservoir Sites and oonstraolion 401

Of ditches constructed and under way 8,600
Uf mileage recorded and estimated 18,163

At 300 acres per mile this will urivo a

total as under ditch— aoreo 4,445,000

» «S> I'-

[No. 8.]
In a paper on Irrigation published
by the Agricultural Department of the
Colorado Exhibit at the World's Co-
lumbian Exposition entitled "The
Resources. Wealth and Industrial
Development of Colorado," the ad-
vantages of the system as exemplified
in that State are thus stated :—

"The superior advantages of Irri-
gation are manifest. The farmer can
raise standard crops each successive
year without failure. Ills land, unlike
the soil of the olde** State in rain coun-
tries, requires comparatively little
fertilization. Ordinarily land will
hold its standard productiveness for 10
years; after that fertilization becomes
more or less a necessity. The sediment
deposited bv irrigation is a constant
fertilizer of itself, while the yearly
rotation oi crops keeps the land in
a healthy productive condition. The
farmer has the entire control of the
making of his crops after germination,
inasmuch as when he needs water he
can apply it as the case require. No

.

8M
2,fl7»

1.380

4M
y 8,609
.. 18.169

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

crop is biirat up by continued drouth.
His grai'^H, grasHea and vegetables are
guperior in uuality in not having too
much but just enough moisture tn
times when they most ueed it."

From the same woric we learn that
in Colorado by moans of irrigation,
and that alone, crops of all kinds are*
successfully grown in the foot hills
and mountains at an elevation of
7,600 feet, or more than double the
altitude of Oalgary. 8an Luis VaMey
in Rio Orande County, is an irrigated
district, and it has thi«) elevution, and
of this it is said: "It is in this valley
that (Tops of oats have attained the
highest growth and cnlire fields of
wheat and oats have reached the
liiggesb average and the greatest
m-iximum in the State." The eastern
|M)rtion of Rio Orande County was
considered for a long time fit^ for noth-
ing but stock raising. Although at an
elevation of 7,600 feet iriigation has
curned it into one of the best agiiruJ-
tural sertions of the 8tate.

In Boulder County, 5,000 to 14,000
feet elevation, fruit grows to perfection
on all irrigated lands, and all the
cereals and vegetables are surcesdf ully
raised with heavy yield. Creameiii s
are a success and bee culture an im-
portant industry. The same U t rue of
Costi'la, Delta and Eagle counties.
Fremont County, which contains both
mountains and pl-tius, with the aid of
irrigation "yields every vegetable,
fruit or farui product that can bo
grown in the lit i! ude of St. Louis or
Washington." Fruit lands sell at $600
to $000 an acre. Grand County at a
high elevation; Gunnison Coufity 4,500
feet lo 7,500 feet altitude; Jefferson
County, 1-jrpely foothills and moun-
tain, make the same report. I ^a Plat te
County has higli mountains in the
north, foothills and high m^sir in
the upppr half, broad Viillt-ys
and extensivu mesas in the
sunt horn half. With iniuration the
yield of nil crops is enoruious in nil
parts. Las Animas County has an
elevation of 4,000 feet on the ploins
and 13,000 in the mountains. It has

85,000 acrcfl nnd«r r«Mnroira on tb*
prairie. It produoM ■uco«Mfallf all
cereals, graaaes and v6g«tablM and
some fruits. Dairying Is a ■ucc—t.
Logan County has a greater elevation
than Calgary— 8,000 fset; under irri-
gation wheat la the leading prod|pet*
All the cereals, grassea and vege-
tables are successfully grown. Mesa
('ounty has an altitude of 4,000 fee^.
Fruits of all kinds as well as all 4gri-
cultural products have their highest de«
velopment here on the irrigated lands.
Morgan County, elevation 8,000 feet,
has a generous rainfall, hut agriculturi*
with iriigation is pr-eferred. Pitkin
(\iunty., the altitude of the vallejra
being 7.600 feet, produces under irri-
gation, alfalfa, (5 tons to the acre);
clover, (8 tons to the acre); timothy,
(3 tons); nativegia8s(2tons); potatoes,
(0 tons); turnips, (12 tons); cabbage (12
tons), and so on. Most of the small
fruits grow in great profusion.
Growers County (8,600 feet) has been
by irrigation transformed from a cattle
lange into a rich agricultural region,—
all within the last 3 years —"producing
all the cerealf^, ^/rasses and root crops,
and the fiuits of tree and vine." la
Pueblo County (« l^vation 6200 feet, the
lowest altitude of the vhU* ys being
4,400 feet) "all thes.' lands are product-
ive wherever water can be applied."

In 1870 there were in the state of
California only 7,086 lemon trees and
38,991 orange tree;*. The following
table from jtue teport of Mr. B. M. Le
Long, secretary of the state board of
agriculture (to use the words of Maj.
Hintoii) "wlil show the amount of
increase since the general adoption of
irrigation" up to 1802:—

Orange Treen Loin<m Trees

Not Not

Bear- Bear- Bear- Bear-
ing ing ing ing

Rotit hern 1162,357 2.6!M,000 83,572 261,313

Southern coas*;

and Hinge 16.514 07,156 8 565 4.<t,8A2

CoMKtRaiiKO 1,211 901 261 255

8»n Juaquin Val-
ley 3.665 l0.69.-> 1,387 3.260

The I ay Counties 1,470 6.530 1,481 2.071

Saciatnonio 5.600 141291 l,77H 1.461

F ot i nils ll.Olfl 139,643 1,459 3.7.'6

Nor.horn 74 125 44

l.< 25.860 2.932.341 97,630 S18.981

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

Total orange and lemon treen In Cali-

fomiaftlSW 4,374,721

Of the Perris diH^rict in California,
whei'Q irrigation has been liberally in-
troduced, it is stated on the highest
authority, that the value of the land
before the district adopted irrigation
wa? only froai $10 to $20 per acre.
"The present selling value of the bar^
land is $50 to $75, subject to district
asseismenta, while in a short time the
unpianted land will bring $100." The
following table, compiled by the state
engineer for the purpose of making an
estimate of the debt-paying ability of
the district will show whether or not
the district irrigation system will, pay
as a commercial investment on the
part of those who buy the land and
make farms, orchards, homes and
towns thereon:—

Value
when
Irrigation Value in Value in
Commences 10 years 20 years

Farming lands 92,000,000 $1,000,000 ^6,000,000

Improvements 100,000 1,000,000 2,000,000

Town property and
improvemoute.... 150,000 50O,C0O 1,000,000

¥2,250,000 95,600,000 $9,000,000
The total co<at of the enterprise per acre of
the entire district would be aboufc 931.10, pay-
able in insttilments running over 20 years.

The results of irrigation at North
Yakima and vicinity in Washington
state are thus summarized from Majoi
Hinton's report: —

Irrigable land before the construc-
tion of ditches was valued at $2 per
acre. Its present value with wat« .• is
estimated at $40; without water, $5,
The crops are fruits, wheat, oats,
potatoes, alfalfa, vegetables, hops and
grasses. The yield is estimated at 50

f)er cent, more than on non-irrigated
ands, however favorable the latter are
situated fnr natural sub-irrigation.

In Kittikas county, Washington, the
stock in West Side Irrigating Co. (one
of the latest organized) is owned by
about 40 farmerp, and the water is
supplied to about 10.000 acres. Before
irrigation the land was worth $1.26 an
acre; with water supplied it ranges
from $25 to $150 an acre. . . . The
general price of land under ditcb
would be about $60 an acre. . . .
Wheat on irrigated land returns 60
bushels per acre, barley 50, oats PO.and
other crops in the same proportion.
In the Yakima valley there are

farmers who bayo offered the half of
their holdings as a gift to secure com-
plete irrigation for the remainder.

In Walla Walla county, where fruits
are largely grown, the yiold per acre
under irrio^ation is from $180 an acre
for tomatoes to $840 for blackberries
and $600 for grapes.

In Montana, under irrigation in the
Gallatin valley, the average crop yield
per acre is potatoes 400 bus., oats 30 to
60 bus., wheat 40, barley 50 to 100,
averaging 75. Without irrigation the
yield is not over one-third of those-
Irrigation begins the last of May or Ist
June. The largest area under irriga-
tion in some parts 1:^ l.-iid down to
grass and hay. Irrigated land is
worth $35 to $50 per acre; land with-
out water $5 tD $7. In Yellowsttme
county without irrigation nothing can
be grown; with ii rigation the returns
are— wheat 25 to 40 bus., oats 50 to 70,
potatoes 300 to 400 bus. Bosv county
irrigated land is assessed at $100 and
sells at $150; non-irrigated sells at $5.
The effect of providing irrigation on

the settlement of the country is
shown by the following paragraph
taken from a Montana piper during
the present year :—

"The North Pork Canal and Reser-
voir Co., operating near Chinook, have
completed their dam and canal suffic-
iently to irrigate 9,000 acres this
spring. As soon as spring opens work
will be resumed, and by fall they will
have canal and reservoii*s enough con-
structed to irrigate fally 50,000 acres.
The water to supply the rc'^ervoir^
and canal is taken from the Milk liver.
Within the last three weeks over 10,-
000 acres of land on the line of the
canal have been filed upon by sett-
lers."

The success of iirig.-ition in Utah
lU'ed not be dwelt upon. As every one
knows, the Mornifj^s have turned
what was practically a desert when
they entered the country into one of
of the richest agricultural regions in
the world. The original cost of land
in Utah was $1.25 ; the present value
of irrigated lands averages $84. A few
details are in order Here is a brief
statement from the pen of Mr. H. L.

I

i

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

the half of
ecure com-
ainder.
vhere fruits
Id per acre
80 an acre
)lack berries

tion in the
) crop yield

oats 30 to
50 to 100,
igation the

of these*
May or 1st
nder irriga-
d down to
ed land is
land with-
!'ellowstone
ofhing can
the returns
.ts 50 to 70,
ow county
t $100 and
sells at $5.
[•igation on
country is
paragraph
per during

and Reser-
inook,have
inal sufflc-
acres this
(pens work

I hey will
nough con-
',000 acres.

re^ervoirt^
Milk liver.
> over 10,-
line (if the
I by se»(-

in Utah
every one
fe turned
sert when
ito one of
regions in
:^t of land
ent value
84. A few
is a l)rief
Mr. H. L.

A. Culraer, editor of the Salt Lake
Journal of Commerce, which can not
fail to impress every one:—

"As to crops raised by irrigation in
Utah, I should put wheat and potatoes
first, and alfalfa is among the very
best. We have had yields of 4 tons of
grapes to the acre, and 1,200 bushels of
carrots per acre. . . . The people
living here have demonstrated that ir-
rigation means high cultivation; that
we cau make an acre of land yield
more than at) eastern farmer does.
When we get water for our land we
are not subject to the caprice of the
climate. Forty acres here will support
a family as well as 160 acres in Mis-
souri and Illinois, and the Wastern
family will h«^ better supported. In
th»8 territory 8 and 10 acres in staple
crops support families. It gives theoi
enough to eat and enough to wear and
a sufficient education. My brothei
told me for every day's work he put on
a 40 acre farm he got $10 a day in re-
turn, year in and year out."

In New Mexico there has been in a
few years an imaiense development of
irrigation with most satisfactory re-
sults. Vast tracts of country which
had been surrendered to cattle and
sheep are being reclaimed and promise
to be among the best farm and garden
lands in the United States. Under
irrigation in the Pecos Valley, not
until then considered of any value for
cops, thb following practical results

have been reached: —

"Fcr instance, Thomas Stokes, of
Look Out, Eddy Co., New Mexico, sold
duiing 1891 (duiing the pist nine
rronths) over $300 worth of gurden
pr-oduee fioin ^ an acre of ground and
has 400 lbs potatoes left. R. M. Gil-
bert whose addri'i^s is Seven Rivers,
Eddy Co., planted in the spring of 1891
one acre in pot at ties and gave them
n<. fut tber attenlim wliatevi^r, except
t) irrigate tbiMn occ isionai] y during
the siunrner. When he dug them the
yi^•l I was over 7,000 pounds They
sold at 2 cents per lb.; su that the cash
yield r'roni this one acr« was over $20y(?)
Ivic. Gdl)ert sstaied that he can raise
twice this quantity of potatoes to the
ac e with proper culiivation.

"W. \V. Paul, of Lower PHiasco.
New Mexico, raised 211 bushels oats on
2^ arres ground. Oats are selling here
ai 70 cents p-r bu<lie!; cxsh yield $07
per acre. W. W. Blankenship, of Dddy

sowed 12 acres rye on Sept 18, 1800; cut
in May 1891; sowed millet on the same

ground and cut two crops, the last on
eptl2, 1891, making 8 crops in 12
months. The total product in cash

Sielded $64 an acre. John W. Poe, of
oswell cut 600 tons of Alfalfa from
110 acres. This valued at $15 per ton,
was $9,000 cash; cash yield per acre
$80. Maynard Sharpe, of Eddy, sold
$J5 worth of water melons from one-
eighth of an acre of ground. An acre
at this rate would have yielded $600.
He raised a second crop on the same
gtound but being pressed for help did
not market any of it. L M. Holt, of
Eddy Co., raised \\\ tons of sorghura
on one and a half acres and 450 tons of
alfalfn on 90 acres. The Alfalfa will
be soH at $15 per ton, making a return
of $112 50 an acre," The sugar beet is
being succepsfiilly ra'sed.

"The security to stock raising which
the development of water supplies un-
der irrigation enterprise has produced
is illustrated by the fact that over
500,000 lbs wool have been shipped
from Eddy since June. 1891. It Is esti
matel that over 1,000,000 lbs will be
shipped in the following year (1892)
George Blankenship and Edward
Scroggins, of Eddy, have raisrd fine
fields of cotton during the beason of
1J91. Many of the stalks bore from
60 to 90 bolls each. Such lesults can
•le obtained only under :rrigation; they
are impossible in any portion of the
rain belt."

In connection with in igation devel-
opment in that section of the United
states, the Irrigation Enquiry Special
Agent sivs:— "The Special Agent after
" hi^ visit to Northern New Mexico
" and elsewhere, exp^es^sed the opinion
" that the succ^'ss of the (pen table
" land reservoir system, illustrated on
"the Maxwell Grant, in Southeast
" Colorado, ,at Narnpa under the Buisa
" River in Idaho, and more recently
" in the conservat ion of water iu t he
" open lagunt s which are being appro-
" priated under the Bear Val ey sys-
" tern in St uthern Oalifornin, will add
" from thirty to fifty million more
" aci-es to the arable area of the c »un
" try."

The ris dcs of irrigation in Oregon
have i)een eminently s itisfactory. In
Klamath Co., the 8. W. section of
Oregon, thn Upper Klamath Lake ij

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

the source of supply for some 30,000
acres and can be utilized to supply
200,000 acres. " The crops grown on
the lands irrigated are wheat, rye,
oats and barley, alfalfa, potatoes and
timothy grass. During the past sea-
son 2,000,000 bushels of giain were
raised, being over 60 bushels per acre.
The selling value of irrigated lands is
from $15 to $20 per acre; non-irrigated
the Government pi ice is $1.25." In
Harvey County, Oregon, under in iga-
tion, the yield per acre is : hay 1^ tons,
wheat 60 bush., oats and barley 75 bus.
In Umatilla Oounty; wheat 60 bus.,
com 00, Alfalfa 10 tons,'timothy4 tons,
beets or carrots 00 tons. In Wallowa
Oounty; wheat 30 bushels, oats 50, rye
2 tons, timothy 2^ tons, red top 3 touB.

The reports from those parts of
Kansas where irrigation has been tried
are equally satisfactory. Here is a
report from Gray which says:—

"For grazing, 3 acres under irriga-
tion are equal to 10 acres without. In
orchards under irrigation the quantity
and quality of fruit are equal to those
of California." The yield of products
in Gray Oounty is as follows:—

Without Irr'gaiion With Irrigation

Wheat and Rye. StolStonu 40 to oOtons

OatH .. ...a0to25 " sotoiao '•

CJom upto20 •' eStolOO "

Barley 10to25 " 80tol40 "

IriflhuotatoeaafailVeSoutoflyr aoOtofiOO '*

Alfalfa } to } ton in 3 crop«a year

rainy season; dry season none... 2 tons each.

In Wyoming many millions of
dollars have been expended in provid-
ing itrigation for the grazing tracts
and for growing alfalfa and other
fodder crops, thereby increasing the
capacity of the land for pastoral pur-
poses, lessening in all probability the
area of ranches, and rapidly increas-
ing the change already begun from
cattle ranching to stuck and breeding
farmsof a high character. "No failure of
crops is known where the land is water-
ed." Up to January 1, 1891, the estimated
cost of ditches ' > Wyoming was $7,-
866,467, and the applications for ditch

appropriations for 1891 would necessi-
tate the f>xpenditure of another
$3,464,260, — and this in what has

generally been considered an exclus-
ively grazing State.

Coming to our Canadian Northwest
and to the district for which we claim
the assistance of the government, it is
found that wherever irrigation has
been attempted it has been successtul.
To give the particulars that are avail-
able in this connexion would extend
this paper unduly in length ; we there-
fore reserve the data for Southern
Alberta and Western Assiniboia for
the concluding paper of the series.

Testimonv could be multiplied with-
out end to demonstrate, by the actual
sxperionce of sixteen States of the
Auierican Union and tens of thousands
of cultivators of the soil in those statCH,
as well as by what is going on under
our own eyes in Southern Albeita,
that the unqualifled success which has
attended the practice of irrigation in
the older countries cf the world has
been repeated in North America, in
climates similar to those of the North-
west Territories— and in these Terri-
tories them8elve«i wherever irrigation
has been attempted. We are perhaps
more especially interested in the ten
to twenty years' experience of the
States lying along our frontier, and we
Hnd that as great results have been
achieved in Oregon, Washington,
Montana, North DaKota, etc., in pro-
portion to ths lands under cultivation,
as in the more southern and warmer
States. When objection is made to
the proximity of parts of our Terri
torics to the mountains, as unfavorable
to the growth of cereals, fruits, etc.,
the obiectors can be pointed to the
state of things in Colorado especially,
where such crops are found to flourish,
under the irrigation systi^ni, on eleva-
tions of from 5,000 to 8,000 feet,— a
much higher altitude than that at
which we are ever likely to attempt
the cultivation of grain or fruit in any
part of the Territories. The fact i-i
established that with the assistance of
irrigation farming and gat'dening cart
be succ?3sfally CHrtied on over any
portion of our Canadian Northwest
and that we need not regard one single
foot of soil in all this vast area, within
the reach of watt-r, as non cultivable.
As for the vastly increased returns
from the soil under irrigation the facts
speak for themselves; and herp, as in
Italy, it is found that even in localities
where there is a liberal rainfall, the
irrigation system is more convenient,
more reliaiile and more profitable ; and
is accordingly preferred.

tRRlGATlON m THE TERRITORIES.

cl US-

west
laiiu
it is
has
still,
vail-
tend
lere-
lern
for

As regards the cost of briiiRlng water struction and maintenunte would he

to the laud niid of maintaining the greatly simpliHed and reduced to a

works from year to year, in Southern minimum of o-r.. Thn ^-'vemment

Alberta and Western Assinihoia, this could huild th. n. cedsury works and

is a question th'it actual experience make an anuu il charge per acre, «c-

alone can decide. So much depends cordiot? to the cost and the service

upon the contiguity or otherwise of needert. ind Jliere would he on the

lands to rivers and streams, the farms no "first cast" charge, and no

general chara'iter and cwst of the ••anni.Ml usspssmenl," as it is calU'd in

works, and other conditions which wiP the United States.

sugge'it themselves. Even as regards

works acMially constructed in the it has been de-noustr iterl heyon-1 nil

United States (whether by private pos^ibility of c:ivil tii.u u- i^Mi i..ii b-.s

corporations, by bodies of farmers worked wonders in the arid lands im-

fortning mutual associations or by mediately to the smith of our xVorth-

what are known as Water Districts west T.m-; ito; i-^s. It las als j h.;en

where the peopleof acouniy or of sev- shown by acta i! expe i' Ji-e i hat in

eral counties unite to tax themselves these Tt-rritu: ics ihemst-lves thi* same

to build the woi ks), the data are de- results follow the applic.itioii of water

flcient fi»r forming a correct judgment, to arid soils. Wherever irrigat ion bus

Still, we find it stated, on good author- been attempted in Southern Aiheita it

ity, that in Arizona the first cost of has been absolutely successful. To

water has amounted to $7.07 per acre; illustrate:—

in New Mexico, $5.85; in Utah (under Many gardens in Oalguy havt been

an imptrfect system) over $15. The irrigated by means of the Oalgary

annual watei rental inditfeient locali- Waterwotk-. and ail hough thesiil of

th.^ Cdg.iry bottom h is no" hi cm re-
gardetl as very favor.ihl* tithnr |ir
firm or g.irden productH, I he yield of
roots and vegetables with the ossist-

ties may be stated as follows: —

Utah average per acre 90 91

New Mexico •* " 154

Arizon<i " " 1 65

Colorado - by counties—
Kio Oraiide Co, ave per acre.... 1 10
Boulder < o, " " ... 1 25

Kiowa Co " " ... 1 50

Montez ma Co. " " . 1 60

Prowers Co " " ... 1 10

Sagau. ho Co, ' '• ... 1 40

Weld Co, " '• ... 1 60

ance of the water has b' en most

abundant— great in size and exet-nent
in quality.
At the mouth of Fish Creek,on wb.at

The perpetual water right in Kiowa is known as the nid Uovrrnmfnt
Co , Col., is placed at $800 for 80 acres. Farm, the owners, Messrs. Hull Bros ,
with an annual maintenance assess- , .„^ „ ,- , . i : i , A;t^\. * ^.^ v. i
mentofl5cent8p«racre; in Prowers '/^^"^^ ^^'"'^ ^'"^ '^ ditch from P.d,
Co., Col., perpetual right for 80 acres, Oveek on to a large area of land seeded
$l,()00--annual assessment, 15 cents; to oats, with the most satisfactory re-
Saganche Co., Col., perpetual right for yui^^. The benefit to hxy lands' was
80 acres, $400— annual assessment, 25 „^„ ,i,,t „ . . .t^ tk^ «..,f.., «-^»^ o««.,»^^
cents; Weld Co., perpetual right, eqaally great. 1 he extra crop secured
$1,2(M) for 80 acies-annual assessment, »n the first year wdl repay the full cost
12i cents. of the works, which was over $2,000.

In all pr-obability these figures are as So satisfactory has the appli-jation of
high as any in the United States, as water pr-oved that Messrs. Hull intend
the topographical difficulties in a to go into irrigation on a much larger
rough country like Colorado are pro b- sc de on their farm, Wiiicli embraces
ably as great as have to be overcome savar-al thoiisiad acivs i id is one of
in any portion of the continent. the m)5t v tluiblo --st ites in the North-

With this class of work undertaken, west.
as proposed herein, by the Dominion On Sheep Creek Mr. John Quirk has
Government in Southern Alberta and carrie.l the waters of the cret^k to his
Western Assiniboia, the work of con- hay land^, and this year the difTer-ence

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

between his irrigated and liis non-
irrigated land is the difference between
an abundant grass and hay crop and
BO crop at all.

On High River some three or four
small ranchers joined to build an irri-
gjition ditch, with equally gratifying
results.

Captain Oardiner, rancher, on the
Elbow river near Calgary, has put in
two ditches this present year— one a
mile in length, the other three-fourths
of a mile. Twenty acre^ of oats and
timothy were watered this season
with most satisfactory returns, the
timothy measuring 3ft. 6in. at time of
cutting. T(vo bundled acres will V)e
irrigated in all.

Hei% and there throna:\i Southern
Alberta we hear of similar operations
with equally good returns in every in-
stance.

This season a large number of farm-
ers and ranchets have had irrit^ation
ditches surveyed for them by iMt^^srs.
Child & Wilson, engineers, of Calgary.
In addition to those for Captain Gar-
diner we may mention the following: -

Mr. Walter Skrine, rancher, iMos-
quito Creek— a | mile ditch for irrigat-
ing oat field and meadow ; to cover 100
acres.

Mr. George Lane, Victor ranch,
Willow Creek— 3 mile ditch for water-
ing hay meadows.

Messrs. Lucas and Eastman, on the
Elbow river— a ditch to water the bot-
tom lands.

Mr. Scott, on Elbow river— a 1 mile
ditch to'.irrigate 150 acres.

Mr. R. C. E. Hooper, on Elbow river
—a 1 mile ditch to irrigate 100 acre"?.

Mr. George Patterson, on a tributary
of Sheep Creek— a li mile ditch to ir-
rigate 80*u,cres and for domestic uses.

We^hear also that Mr. W. W. Stew-
art, rancher, of Jumping Pond, is
putting in a ditch for hay lands ; and
the Messrs. Alexander will aino irrig-
'ate a portion of their meadows on
their ranch on Mosquito Creek.

More extensive woiks of this charac-
ter have been commenced. These

include a long ditch on the Blackfoot
reserve on the Bow river, near Gleich-
en railway station. While we write a
government engineer is making the
necessary preliminary surveys. ThB
work will be done mainly by the In-
dians themselves under the supervision
of the Indian agent, Mr. Magnus Begg.
The object is irrigation of native
grasses and for farming and garden
ing.

Two of the join«-< stock coinpiniei'
with headquarters at Calgary, that
were granted charters at t he last ses-
sion of P.trliament, have comni "tnced
construction opt^rations in c »mpar-
atively well settled districts.

The Calgary irrigation Cu. is taking
w.iter from the Elbow riv.^r at a point
30 miles, by river, above its mouth,
namely. In Srfc. 4, Tp. 21, ft 4, west of
the i>th principal m>jridian. Its later-
als will supply water to aliout 4,000
acres south of the Elbow river in Tp.
24. R 's 2, 8 and 4. The main ditch will
cross the Saruee reserve, where
reservoir sites will be con-
structed. Thence a branch can he
taken cheaply across Fish creek to the
land lying l)etween Fish and Pine
creeks, where some 40,000 acres can be
cheaply irrigated; and l>y crossing
Pine creek the area can be increased if
necessary to 100,000 acres. Anoiher
branch will bring W4.ters to Tps. 23
and 24, lying between Fish creek and
the Elbow river. At least 85% of the
land in these townships can have
water supplied at a comparatively
small outlay in fluming ; and water
can be had from the same works to
cover the flats lying between the Bow
and Elbow rivers east of Sec. 18, Tp.
21, R. 1, west of the 5th P.M., namely,
the town of Calgary and the Mission
property. To cany out the scheme
here outlined in its entirety probably
$300,000 would be needed. The work
will be proceeded with by sections as
the funds on hand m>iy warrant. It <s
thought the cost per acre will be about
$7— the promoters believe it will 'cer-
tainly not exceed $10— for water

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

furnished by main ditches. The sur-
veys were commenced in November,
1802 ; construction was commenced on
Sept. 20, 1803, and will be proceeded,
with as money may be forthcoming.
A relaxation of thti flnancial stringen-
cy is anticipated before spring, and it
is tho'ight there will be sufficient
capital availal>le for the company to
place water on Tps. 23 and 24, H. 1, for
which there will be any demand —
probably on 60% of that area, in 1804.
The provisional dircictord of the com-
pany are Mesars P. T. Bone, G E., J.
P. J. Jnphsou and William Pearce.
$26,000 ^as been subscribed, and al-
ready 20% of that amouub has been
paid in.

Another of the charters granted last
session was to the Calgary Elydraulic
Co., lid. Oonstruction work has been
commenced by this compaivy. Water
is taken from the south side' of the
Bow river, above Twin bridges, about
10 miles we»t of Oalgary. The Bow
river will be crossed to the north side
by a fliima 1,500 feei. long, above Mr.
Oswald (hitchlty's residence. The
ditch as at presented projected will
run about 0 miles, watering the Bow
bottom to a point near the town of
Oalgary. The work was commenced
on Sept. llrh, and it is expected that
the fli s' half, including the crossing of
the river, w 11 bo finished this fall, and
to have the remainder in such shape as
to se'cuie its complenon early next
t<pring. Mr. George Alexander, of
Canary, ia president of the company,
and Mr. H. B. Alexander secretary-
treasurer.

These are all evidences of the faith
the people of the country in the
benefits to be derived from irrig-
ation.

At all points in tbeS mthern Alberta
district, where farmei s of means with
properties alongside of rivers have
adopted irrigation, the results have
shown that the soil is capable
of abundant returns, the only
want being the absence of water.

With either a liberal rainfall
or natural irrigation, wheat, oata,
barley, the native grasses, roots and
vegetables of every description reach
perfection and compare favorably
with those of any country in the
world both hs regards quality and
quantity per acre. It should be sta(ed
that this is true of the MOST arid
portions of Southern Alberta, without
any exception whatever, whenever
there has been a "wet" season with an
abundant rainfall— a^i miy hippen
once in three or four years. And that
there may be no misunderstanding of
the possibilities of succes-ifiil farming
in this region it may be stated th^t the
wheat which stood the very highest at
the Millars' Exhibition in Liverpool in
1802 w 18 forwarded from Oalgary and
wasijDvvii on Sheep cteek, 20 miles
south of ( Jalgary. The country around
Macleod, which is as dry as any in the
Northwest, has in "wet" seasons pro-
duced as due sampled of wheat as the
eye of the expert could desire to look
upon.

The small works that have been con-
structed and the larger works under •
way or in contemplation are confined
to a section of country that is thickly
settled. Thei»e, of coui*se, can accom-
plish nothing for the unsettled portions
of that great extent of fcountry to
which we shall now refer.

The portion of the Northwest Terri-
tories more immediately calling for
irrigation is briefly described by Mr.
William Pearce (Supt. of Mines and
member of the Dominion Lands
Board) as " that portion west of the
"eastern limit of the Missouri Ooteau
" and south of Township Thirty." The
body of arid lands known as the
Missouri Ooteau projects into the
Canadian Territories from the south,
the eastern limit extending from the
International boundary between the
103rd and 104th degrees of west longi-
tude and running in a north-west
direction, up to the Canadian Pa-
cific railway. Township 80, indicated

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

\y Mr. Pearce as thw noithern limit of
the and area of tliH Territiri s, would
carry it to the latitude u.^\^ po-sibly
to about the vicinity of Bon-
nington Station on thu fl gina
and Prince Albert Rail w is- in
Westorn Asiinib liut and of ('fu-stairs
station on the Ualgary and E 1 nonton
railway in AlbcM-ta.

A glance at the uvip show* the
greater part of thisreuion to hi' .idniir-
ably supplied with rivers and c-ei-ks, —
the Red Deer and its muuitous
branches, the Bow, the H.'lly, tli.^. Old
Man's, St. iVJary's, Milk Riv.^.-, White
Mud, Old Wives; be-^ided ni.H.riy lakes.
The Old Man's and St. Miiy's with
sundry other considucablo r iv^er^ iti the
extreme 8. W. corner of Alberta unite
near Lethbridge lo form the Oelly,
flowing east ; the B^lly and the Bow
then unite further eist to foiin the
South Saskatchewan ; which thon flows
north and in or n^ur Township 23, a
few miles east of the 4th piincipal
meridian, is joined by the Red Deer
from the west and flowj^ east and north
until it unites with th*- North Sa.-kat-
chewan n?ar Prince Albert. It- only
needs an exriiination of the ninp to
convince any doubter of the extraor-
dinary facilities thus afforded even in
the arid region for iirigating ujillions
of acres of valuable land chfliplv and
thoroughly by means of these great
rivers with their innumerable large
and small tributaries, creeki=i, springs,
etc.

. Taking Southern Alberta, for in-
stance, as a special d'striet for examin-
ation, it is seen that south of Township
80 and not including the B iw river's
tributaries in the mountain region,
there are the Rosebud and its branches,
which fall into the Red Deer River ;
the Kananaskis joining the Bow above
Morley; Nose Creek and the Elbow
uniting with the Bow at Calgary ; Fish
Creek, Pine Creek, Sheep Creek, High
River and its several forks, ail falling
into the Bow within 30 miles of Cal-
gary ; the Little Bow, Mosquito Creek

and Willow Creek flowing to the Belly;
besides Pinch er Creek, Lee's Creek and
other Btreams in the S. W. corner.
Here are the means of irrigating hund-
reds of thousands of acres ; to say noth-
ng of the immense areas adjacent to
the Bow east and south of Calgary,tho
Old Man's near M icleod, the Belly and
Siskatehewan be' ween Lethbridge
and Medicine Hat, and the great tracts
of territory irrigable froni the St.
Mary's and Milk rivers near the Inter-
national boundary. Both north and
west of Medicine Ilat the possibilities
of irrig ition from the Saskatchewan
are very grea«, while along J he Dun-
more and Lothbridge railway the
country between the railway and the
Saskatchewan, at present with iirtle or
no population, would with irrigation
offer special advantages for settlement.
As regards t!ie Bow Valley, the area
open to irrisji'ion is practically unlim-
ited, both bee luse of the great l)ody of
water in the river for irrigation pur-
poses and the high elevation at which
water can be taken for the use of the
entire valley, which allows of perfect
irrigation for all the benches Coch-
rane, en the Buw River, is 23 miles
west of Calgary, 33 miles west of
Sbephard, 53 miles west of Langdon«
78 miles west of Gl i'chen .
and is 800 ft. higher than Gleic'aen.
As every traveller by railway over this
tract of country knows, there is a
gradually ascending grade going west.
It is scarcely necessary to detail the
advantages thereby offeri^d for spread
ing water over the entire country —
bottoms and benches— of all this vast
body of excellent land. In fact, it
would be difQcult to find anywhere an
extensive tract of countrj' so easily irri-
gated or which would give such large
returns for the necessary expenditure.

The primal source of water suppiy for
all ibis great area in Southern Alberta
is, of ccucse, the Rocky Mountains. The
rivers and streams issuing from that
great storehouse will flow on for ever.
As long as snow falls and the sun

mRlOATlON ' rN tHE tERRlTDRfElS.

shines water in the greatest
abundance for the irrigation of the
valleys and plains of Southern Alberta
is ensured. On the upper Bow and in
all the foothillH are natural basins f^r
holding and retaining the mountain
waters near their source, should this
be found nedessaiy. The ridges
between rivers oiTer a natural pathway
for the construction of ditches irrigat-
ing the sloping lands On either side.
Natural depressions, coulees and lakes
willprovidf storage basins on I he plains.
Thus, for the great reservoirs in the
mountain districts and for any aAd all
reserves that may be needed elsewhere,
the immenne area of mountain drain-
age will al ways pi ovide an inesthanst-
ible supply, while the numerous rivers,
streams and creeks, aided by irrigation
canals, main ditches, laterals, etc., will
provide the Meaiie of distribution over
the whole face of the c6untry tb Hu
extent probably unsurpaMedT by Atfy
system of dtstfihutiett' that is ktidwn
tD 'exist. This Id true in the tiialn,
though differing somewhat in detail,
not of Southern Alberta illone bat of
south-western Assiniboia, where fta'ext
toi the South' SaskatcheWtin) the
sonrce of supply is the oyT»re«9i Hills,
and where numerous rlvet« and efeeks
extending into the country ikiUth df
the hills otter superior channels of Ibcal
sopply and distribution. This in addi-
tion to the immense body Uf iKAtet in
the South Saskatche\«^arr whose i^Oltfmb
will not be sensibly diminished by the
diversions made fOf tfrigiktioti to the
westward.

\nd here a mostimportailtfaef irftlfift
not be omitted, namely, that the niOtinF-
tain streams are at their highest when
their woters for irrigation will be most
needed,— that is; in midsummisr ; thus
reducing the expense (if any) to be in-
curredfor storage basinb to aminimum.
Beside all the riverd of both Terri-
tories lie immense areas of land w'iLh
soil capable of producing anything and
everything that ' can be grown in the
temperatezone^— in a climate liecond
in point of health to none on earth, —in

a country capable 6t sustaining miN
lions of people, and countless herd's of
horsen, cattle and sheep. Nowhere in
North America can ihigation systems
be so cheaply provided ; nowhere
would the appllcatiott of water work
greater changes foir the public good
and the enrichment oif the Dominion.

White the meads of private individ-
uals favorably situated for irrigating
their own lands, and the capifal of
joint stock companies who operate in
well settled districtf^, will go a moder-
ate distance towards meeting the
wants of certain localities, it is not
reasonable to hope for private capital
to an extent adequate to the wants of
the country undertaking the develop-
ment of irrigiLtion systems which
would mainly benefit lands utill in the
possession of the Government and
utaodcupied by a single settler. The
greater part — nearly the whole— of the
cotlhtrjr we have descCibed is held by
the Oovertiment as owner, though %
portion is'fiiiider tiefminable leasM to
cattla comfjahies, 4nd a Certain area
has beeb graAtJBd to the Oiilgary and
Bdmohtoti Railway Company'. 'Ftac-
tifalUly nlhe-ti>iithk bf the drid re^fion
aS'tddated by Mi'. Pearcels ftoVi^i'hineht
land which thei gof i^rttthent 'cah'not
distWis^ of on any terms. Th« 4iie4fi6h
for the gtivdi^tifnent tb d^tiSrmltie is
wlid^h^r tliede lahd^ shatl'i^ti&ttlh as
they ai*6, linocctitiied, ]p)r/)idU6iii||; 'rfo£h-
inge^Cept, in'^Omis 06i*tlon6, a pkltry
retltal fof cittlfe paeieufe ; or Witl thfe
go^ernm^nt b^ b mod^rhte t^ttefhdt-
tuitebf money Vehder thesis Ta'fids the
most^lealtld and the tiiost pt^dtftltv^
in the Dominitihy t(rill tU6 itOVeto-
merit b6 justified tn leaiving Uttds ib a
com^arativfely S^orfhleatf doriditlott
which can be' mad^ the fiio^ valii&'blb
of all the DofilitaiOn^ OJsmitB? Wbtit
exduse can they offer tbtlie dbhUtry
and to Parliftmfent for ^iegiebtlrig" to
brimt into l^ireficial Use an ilhm^hs^
area of excellent doH w%c(h the vfOUir
toeririch this soil and givfe vitlufetd
evgk>y ^ct« bf th^^ lauds li^ttSfti^ldft

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

and ooly requires to be diverted to tlie
UndP

As to the government's duty in the
premises we will let a good authority—
an experienced government official
who Icnows the country thorough-
ly and who will not be accused of sug-
gesting reckless experiments with
government funds— speak in this con-
nexion. Mr. William Pearce (Supt. of
Mines and member of the Dominion
Lands Board), in the papier prepared
by him for the annual meeting of the
Association of Dominion Land Sur-
veyors in 1889 in suppoit of a compre-
hensive irrigation scheme for Southern
Alberta and Western Assiniboia,
says:—

** It is worthy of serious considera.
"ion whether any large scheme of
"settlement and irrigation should
" net be conducted by the Ooverment
"rather than through private enter-
"prise. The enhanced value of the
"Unds would amply recoup the
"Oovemment for the outl£.y.. What
" an enormous benefit would result to
"the country if settlement and pro-
" ducts could be increased, even to
" one half the extent which I suggest as
" probable; and certainly Osvernmenfc
"control is preferable for the general
" advantage. Private investors would
" be most anxious to secure large pio-
"fits and quick returns and would pro-
" bably be somewhat dilatory in, tak-
" ing action whilst endeavoring to de-
"monstrate to investors and possible
"shareholders the advantages which
" the speculation offered, The Gov-
"ernment, on the other hand, once
"convinced of the soundness of the
" scheme, the advantage to result in-
" directly from the improved settle-
"ment and producing power of the
" district, might feel justified in pro-
" ceeding immediately and in a t-
" ing a slow return of the actual money
" invested. I dare say a calculation
" might readily be made to show that
" a handsome percentage on the capi-
* tal invested would very speedily re-

" suit from increased customs and ex-
"cise returns."

We have no doubt that every man
and woman in these Territories wh»
has given the slightest consideration
to the subject will heartilyendorse Mr.
Pearce's very reueonable btattment.
We o£fer no apology for adding liere
the estimate which Mr. Pearce made
of the increased v Uue wh!ch irrigation
under Government auspices would give
to the lands in the arid region referred
to. Says Mr. Pearce :—

" The area of this district is 66,000
" square miles and wculd according to
" the above computation allowing four
" sections for every settler, accomiMO-
" date 16,740 families; and estimating
" that each is worth to the counti y
" $1,000 owing to the customs and ex-
" else duties which he pays, the whole
"value would be $16,740,000. The
" value of the annual product of each
" settler 'may be estimated at $500,
" giving a tot4il value of $8^870,000, and
" supposing that each settler has 100
" head of cattle, 1.674,000 cattle will
" graze in this district. j., ,

"Suppose, however, that the produe-
" tive power of the district could be
" quadrupled (and I hope to assure you
" that this may be regarded as a mod-
" erate estimate of the results to be
" achieved by adopting a proper sys-
" tem) the nuinber of resident families
" would be 66^960; the annual products
" $33,480,000; the valueof these settlers
"to the country $06,060,000; the num-
"ber of cattle 6.606,000, the value
" of which at $20 per head would be
" $133,020,000. The value of the annual
"products would probably exceed
" largely $600 per head, as under the
" system which I have in view their
" products would be more valuable
" than at present. We would most
" certainly arrive at the highest state
" of perfection in all products, cattle,
" horses, hogs, poultry, dairy products,
" hides and leather, nature having
" richly endowed this district with the
" natural conditions requibite to that
" end.

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

I

Judged by the results ticcomplishad
in the Htates to the south, Mr. Pearce's
estitnates wouM seem t3 he well with*
in the mark. Actual experience goes
far beyond Mr. Prarce's expectations.

That the administration of irriga
tiun HysLcms by governments may be
made highly profitai'le to ilte public
treasury has been established by the
experience of the Government of India.
In a work by Mr. .lenry Stewart, a
United States civilandminingengineer,
entitled "Irrigation foi the Faim,
Garden and Orchard," we read as fol-
lows on page 171, latest edition:—

"In favor of Government control
there is both reason and precedent. By
no other authority coula the conflict-
ing interests of miners, agriculturists,
and owners of laud to be injured or
benefitted bv the enterprise, be proper-
ly reconcilea. In Europe, the supreme
control is exercised by, and the owners
ship of the water vested in the State.
The French Government in WOO, by
special law reserved the owners^ ^p of
ail rivers and strearoH, and gran s con-
cessions to irrigation companies under
restrictions. In Italy, the state has
always exercised this ownership, and
in Venice the springs, and even the
rainfall so far as it can be stored in
reservoirs, have been held to be public
property. In India the springs and
rainfall are accumulated in reservoirs,
controlled by the Government, and
the river sy ttems are also owned by it;
not only this, but the details of the
distributi(m of the water are also
directed by government oflBcials. This
is made necessary, however, by the
incap icity of the ignorant inhabitants
to manage anything for themselves,
that calls for more than a verv low de-

?;ree of intelligence. Lest, however,
t might be urged *hat Government
ownership and supervision are likely
to lead to failure, the actual results at-
tained in India may be very properly
here lited. During recent years, the
RritiHh Government has spent about
$70,000,000 in irrigation works, and
otb'"*s are in progress of construction
which will require half as much more
to complete them. In almost every
instance the investments have been
.profitable, and in some cases enor-
mously so, both in the way of water
rent, and in service to the cultivators
of the soil. The total annual revenue
to the government from the works, is

Annual
Rovenaa

ftip. o
5 "

m "

19 •*

M "

11 "

7 "

«l

18 "

38 r "

more than $6,000,000, or 7( per cent on
the cost. In one case only has there
been a low. The capital expended in
the largest works, and the annual re-
venue from them, are given in the fol-
lowing table, which is derived from
the official reports of the East Indian
Government:—

Cpltal
InvMied
North Wo8tem Provln-

incea 917,887,885

Pnnjaub 15,671.000

Madras 91467.800

Bombay ABind 11,1U^M0

Oanvea Canal 14,400800

Eastern Jumna Canal .... 8,390,000
Weatem Jumna Canal .... ««,A38.000

Godavey Delta Work 3,418,585

KlHtPahDelttWork^ 8,387,185

Canvery Delto Worka 1,468,000

Bind Inundation Canal.... 5,880,000

The revenue to the government is
the least portion of the profit derived
from these works. The profit to the
people thembelves amounts to a vastly
greater sum, one in f-^ct the amount of
which is not to be computed in money;
for the famine, of frequent (occurrence
before the completion of these works,
destroyed thousands of human lives,
and caused thousands of square miles
of fertile land to be abandoned to

grow up to jungle. In 1868, the
ranges Ganal preserved grain crops
from destruction which fed a million
of people; in 1874 the Soave Canal
saved the crops over a large territory,
which would otherwise have been de-
vastated by drouth and many of the
newer works water regions which
have heretofore been visited wiih
some of the most destructive famines
mentioned in history; and the whole
of this work has been undertaken and
successfully managed by the Govern-
ment."

We urge the Government of Canada
to undertake this work of irrigation
in Southern Alberta and Western
Assiniboia for a variety of reasons^
any one of which should be conclusive,
and regarded as a whole they are irre-
sistible:—

1. The Government has a vast prop-
( rty in land lying valueless which can
be rendered enormously valuable at a
moderate expenditure of public money
No private owner with the means in
hand would hesitate a moment to
make the expenditure.

2. The fact of this valuable land
lying unoccupied has a bad influence
on immigration and settlement and is

IRRIGATION IN THE TERRITORIES.

[^.:

an injury to the country as a whole.
A change cannot come too sonn.

8. The lands if irrigated would be
at once in demand liy Oanadians and
by immigrants from the United States
at the highest selling price of any in
the Government's possessions. Mill-
ions of dollars above the cost of irri-
gation can be realized for them, once
the water is applied.

4. Government irrigated landfc would
he the best advertisement possible to
put before the farmers in Washington!
Idaho, Oregon, Montana. Nebraska,
etc., where irrigation is a common
thing and preferred to non- irrigation.
The government, through its ability
to borrow money at 8 to B^ per cent., can
constr-jct itrigation works more
' ch^apiy^ than the joint stock company
Or the individual who pay twice that
price for the use of money. There-
fore the government's charge for
the use of water need not be half of
what private parties would be obliged
to collect from the consumers. Settlers
from the States would consequently
give a preference to irrigat<>d lands in
the Canadian Territories over those in
their own country; which, joined to
the absence of local taxation
here as against enormous rates
of local taxation in the States,
would turn the faces of tens of
thousands of ttew settlers from the
States in our direction.

6. Because there Is no form in which
government money can be invested
for public purposes (not railways,
canals, fishery bounties, fish hatcher-
ies, bonuses to ship, railways or
steamship lines, pensions to govern-
ment officials, etc.,) that will bring so
great and so lieneficial a return to the
country as a whole.

6. Because itbe requirements of the
sections of the Territories referred toat)-
solutely call for this measure of justice
at the hand^ of the Government, and
because in no other way and through
no other a^ncy can the dormant
we^th of those districts be as satisfac-
torily or ape«QdUyd.evelopedand utilized

to the building up of our fouiiiiou
country.

F)r these reasons we ask the Purlla-
nient and p'overnment of Canada not
to turn a deaf ear to the wishes and
interests of the people of Alberta and
Western Assiniboia. There is within
the reach of Parliaraunt an opportunity
of doingan incalculable amount of good,
not for those districts alone but for
the whole of Canada. There is in-
volved in our proposition nothing less
than a deroonstiation of what we,
residing in this country, believe to be a
fact: that there is not in the whole of
the Northwest Territories a hitof coun-
try that can not be made productive.
There are no " barren lands" in these
Northwest Teiiitoiles in the true
meaning of that term. Thera are
no • worthless *' alkali '* lands. If
there are latids to which nature
has denied a generous rainfall, she
has lievartheless provided in another
way the water necessary to the- ger-
mination of whatever may be conomit-
ted to the soil for the sustenance of
man and beast. She haf> given the
means of defying climatic changes and
drawbacks. She has placed within
easy reach those water supplies which
alone are needed to change the arid
plains into fruitful farms and gardens.
It is not to be credited, therefore, that
where nature has done so. rmich the
Parliament and Government of the
country will do nothing to supplement
nature's gifts. We anticipate, for the
wise solution of the problem, the seri.
oiis consideration, t)oth of Parliament
and Government and such liberal
action as past experieiice shows
has not been denied to any proposition
based on benefits to acct ae not to a
section only but to the wh ile of our
common country.

II

I

1)

{\