Before a scheme can get under way and work 

 commence on the surveys, and the excavating 

 of canals and ditches, and the construction of 

 dams, etc., bonds must be issued and sold to 

 meet the large expenditures involved in the 

 work. When the first irrigation schemes were 

 undertaken in the West, they were carried out 

 by large corporations, the largest of these being 

 that of the Canadian Pacific Railway. At that 

 time, there were but a few visionaries who could 

 foresee the metamorphosis of the plains to be 

 brought about by the application of water 

 through irrigation, and who were able to convince 

 others of the practicability of -their ideas, but 

 these schemes were generally regarded as 

 Utopian and received with scepticism on every 

 hand. 



Unqualified Success of Irrigation 



The corporations, of course, financed these 

 schemes and took all the risks. The sale of 

 irrigation bonds then would have been an impos- 

 sibility in view of the manner in which the 

 public regarded the idea of irrigation in Western 

 Canada, and one can imagine the disinclination 

 with which Canadian bankers would have con- 

 sidered them. For the same reason, one can 

 comprehend the reluctance with which, after 

 the projects were initiated, loan companies 

 viewed requests to loan money on mortgage 

 security on irrigable farms. 



The trend of opinion was, perhaps, more or 

 less justifiable in the unproven results from irri- 

 gation in Western Canada, but what is now 

 incomprehensible is the tardiness with which 

 this short-sighted viewpoint is passing away in 

 the light of the unqualified success irrigation in 

 Alberta has achieved, and the steady and urgent 

 demand of farmers for its further extension. 



Irrigation in Western Canada has trans- 

 formed the face of the country, has won American 

 championships for cereals and tubers grown on 

 irrigated land, has caused crops to grow which 

 were previously not adapted to the country, and 

 made wealthy men of struggling farmers. Irri- 

 gation has increased the average yield of wheat 

 77 per cent., oats 54 per cent., barley 81 per 

 cent., potatoes 250 per cent. Absolutely 

 phenomenal yields have been secured on the 

 irrigated farms of Alberta, and the years of 

 successive and continued success stand as proof 

 of the soundness of the whole idea. 



The independence of the irrigation farmer of 

 rainfall, and his assurance of an adequate supply 

 of water for all purposes, forms the most com- 

 plete crop insurance possible. 



Loans to Irrigationists 



The situation has changed in Canada cate- 

 gorically. Irrigation has proven itself, and made 

 farms and their owners independent. Though 

 dealing in bonds based on irrigated lands may 

 be in the nature of a new venture to Canadian 



bond dealers and loan companies, and they 

 accordingly believe that this business calls for 

 careful investigations and conservative treat- 

 ment, they have the precedent of transactions 

 south of the international boundary, especially in 

 the states where, as in Alberta, large irrigation 

 projects have proved their value in production 

 and elevation in farm values. As far as mortgage 

 loans are concerned, banks and loan companies 

 in many of the Western States, when not disposed 

 to loan money on dry-land farms, willingly do 

 so on irrigable holdings, and their reports 

 indicate that the percentage of loss on these 

 loans is practically nil. 



Since the initiation of irrigation in Western 

 Canada, I am informed that a mortgage has 

 never been foreclosed on an irrigated farm in 

 Southern Alberta, and that in some of the 

 irrigated districts it is now conceded that a full 

 water right trebles the selling value of a farm. 

 What better guarantee than this can be found 

 behind any bond? 



Irrigation bonds are a new kind of investment 

 in Canada since the passing of the Alberta Irri- 

 gation Act made co-operative irrigation districts 

 possible. The Dominion Government is the sole 

 owner of water rights in the provinces of Sas- 

 katchewan and Alberta, and before a company, 

 or individual, or body of farmers can proceed 

 with an irrigation project, the Government must 

 be satisfied of the feasibility of the scheme and 

 the adequacy of the water available. Expert 

 irrigation engineers of the Dominion Govern- 

 ment determine this by survey. 



The Irrigation Districts Act 



Furthermore, to eliminate any possibility of 

 loss to the bondholders, the Irrigation Districts 

 Act, under which the project is evolved and 

 operated, and the bonds issued, provides that the 

 Alberta government create a fund for the district 

 equal to two years' interest on the bonds to 

 cover any arrears on the part of the ratepayers. 

 The fund is perpetual during the period of the 

 loan, but is limited at any time to the amount 

 of two years' interest. Stringent action is 

 provided for in the case of default, by which the 

 trustees of the district proceed against the 

 landowners to recover the amount due by means 

 of tax sales of delinquent lands. 



It is clear that the purchaser of Canadian 

 irrigation bonds has security against loss by the 

 farmers, who are fully assured of bigger and 

 richer crops and the consequent increasing 

 value of their farms, and the government of the 

 Province, which stands behind them with an 

 assurance against delinquency. Bonds are issued 

 on the security of buildings, manufacturing con- 

 cerns, railway undertakings, etc., and in every 

 case, as in the case of any other mortgage, the 

 persons loaning the money insist on having the 

 property insured against fire and make no 

 exception to the payment of insurance premiums. 



