TRKIGATION. 



Vacant and reserved areas in the vjeslern public-land Slates, in acres. 



409 



Slate or Territory. 



Total area. 



Vacant. 1 Percent.! Reserved. 



Arizona ... 

 California. 

 Colorado . . 

 Idaho 



72, 



99, 



66 



53 



Kansas 52, 



Montana i 92 



Ncbraslia I 49 



Nevada 70 



New Mexico 78, 



North Dakota 44, 



Oklahoma 24, 



Oregon 60, 



South Dakota j 49, 



Utah ; 52 



Washington 42, 



Wyoming 62, 



268,800 

 827, 200 

 332,800 

 945,600 

 288,000 

 998,400 

 177,600 

 233,600 

 374, 400 

 924,800 

 851,200 

 518, 400 

 184,000 

 601,600 

 803,200 

 448,000 



Total 972, 777, 600 



48,771,000 

 42,049,000 

 39,116,000 

 42, 475, 000 



1,085,000 

 65, 803, 000 



9,927,000 

 61,322,000 

 55,589,000 

 16,956,000 



4,054,000 

 33, 784, 000 

 11,869,000 

 42,516,000 

 11,913,000 

 47,657,000 



67.5 

 42.1 

 59.0 

 78.7 

 2.1 

 70.8 

 20.2 

 87.3 

 70.9 

 37.7 

 18.7 

 55.8 

 24.1 

 80.8 

 27.8 

 76.3 



18,285,000 



16,064,000 



5,694,000 



1,747,000 



988,000 



12, 348, 000 

 70,000 

 5, 983, 000 

 6,385,000 

 3, 370, 000 

 7,158,000 

 5,500,000 



12, 803, 000 

 5,488,000 



10, 765, 000 

 7, 995, 000 



535,486,000 



120, 043, 000 



It is not because there is lack of land, for in the Western States 

 and Territories there are over 500,000,000 acres still vacant, much of 

 it havinof the richest soil of anv in the United States. It is not because 





U - N 





Fig. 2. — Map showing arid, semiarid, and humid regions of tlu' Unilt-d Slntes. [Comparing tliis with 

 fig. 1, it is seen that most of the arid region is vacant.] 



the pioneer spirit no longer prevails, for the country is as full of 

 adventurous spirits as ever, and it requires merely the intimation that 

 some Indian reservation is to be opened for thousands of people to 

 gather to make the rush or try their chance in a lottery. There is 

 plenty of land and there are numberless people eager to occupy it. 

 What, then, is it that prevents their doing so? Simply the lack of 

 water. The country is dry and the ordinary farm crops can not be 

 cultivated without an artificial application of water at certain times 

 and .sea.sons. 



