IRRIGATION. 



409 



Vacant and reserved areas in the western public-land Stairs, in acres. 



Slate or Territory. 



Arizona . . . 

 California. 

 Colorado . . 

 Idaho 



Kansas 



Montana 



Nebraska 



Nevada 



New Mexico . . 

 North Dakota. 



Oklahoma 



Oregon 



South Dakota . 

 Utah . 



Washington. 

 Wyoming . . . 



Total area. 



Total 972, 777, 600 



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 



Vacant. 



48,771,000 

 12,049,000 



39, 116, 000 

 42, 475, 000 



1,085,000 

 65, 803, 000 



9,927,000 

 61,322,000 

 55y589,000 

 16,956,000 



4,654,000 

 33,784,000 

 11,869,000 

 42, 516, 000 

 11,913,000 

 47, 657, 000 



535,486,000 



Percent. 



67. 5 



42. 1 

 59. 

 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 



55. i 



Reserved. 



18,285,000 



16,064,000 

 5,694,000 



1,717,000 

 OSS, 000 



12,348,000 



70,000 

 5,983,000 

 6,385,000 



3, 370, 0(K) 

 7. 158,000 

 5, 500, 000 



12, 803, 000 

 5, 488, 000 



10, 765, 000 

 7, 995, 000 



120,643,000 



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 having the richest soil of any in the United States. It is not because 



■> j fprJ-St I I 



\ 





-..L~A- 



Fig. 2. — Map .showing arid, semiarid, and humid regions of the United states. 

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



[Comparing this with 



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 seasons. 



