which could be supplied from the St. Mary's River; a 

 second, containing about 200,000 acres, lying near the 

 junction of the Bow and Belly Rivers; and a third and 

 much larger one, situated along the main line of the C.P.R., 

 extending 150 miles east of the City of Calgary. It is 

 interesting to note that the works to serve all these tracts 

 have either been built, or are now under construction. 



Many Claimed Irrigation Unnecessary 



For a long time there were many who claimed that 

 irrigation was unnecessary in Southern A|berta; and it 

 has always been more or less difficult to introduce in a 

 country where the rainfall some years will produce 

 bounteous crops. This feeling has entirely changed; 

 and as a result of several cycles of dry years, the problem 

 now is, where can the water be obtained for the land, and 

 how can the monies be provided to build the necessary 

 works? The matter is not a local, but a national one, 

 which affects a large part of Alberta, as well as part of 

 southwestern Saskatchewan; and therefore the Dominion 

 as a whole. In dealing with so large a tract of territory, 

 there are naturally many local differences in climate, soil, 

 and general topography; but, broadly speaking, the area 

 in which irrigation may be considered as necessary to 

 permanent agricultural development in Alberta, is the 

 block between the International Boundary and a north 

 line running east and west through Drumheller, and east 

 of the west line north and south through Macleod. From 

 this, there should be excepted the higher and rougher 

 lands on the west slope of the Cypress Hills, lying south 

 of Medicine Hat. 



Great Smooth Treeless Prairie 



This great block is generally comprised of a great, 

 smooth, treeless prairie, suitable for the development of 

 large projects, and where all ordinary field crops can be 

 successfully grown under irrigation. 



The block as described contains about fifteen million 

 acres of land, and the large centres to which it is tributary 

 are the cities, Calgary, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and 

 Macleod. It is not to be understood that all of this 

 acreage can be irrigated, as some of the physical conditions 

 and the available water supply would not warrant such. 

 The ultimate development of the larger portion of this 

 block must be under dry farming methods, with the smaller 

 irrigated sections scattered through it, creating centres 

 of greater population and production, and assuring to 

 the whole an ample supply of the fodder crops which 

 cannot be grown on dry lands. 



Within the block described, the Canadian Pacific 

 Railway Company's constructed projects comprise 743,000 

 acres irrigable; and under the partly constructed Canada 

 Land and Irrigation Company's project, there are about 

 200,000 acres irrigable. Comprehensive surveys carried 

 on by the Dominion Government have determined that 

 there are i.i addition about 600,000 acres which could be 

 successfully irrigated. The total irrigable land in the 

 block is, therefore, 1,500,000 acres, which is only 10% of 

 the whole block. These figures do not represent the total 

 acreage that may possibly some day be irrigated, but only 

 the area commanded by the projects, either built or 

 surveyed. 



Irrigation Both Necessary and Desirable 



Irrigation is necessary where available rainfall is 

 insufficient to produce profitable crops. It is desirable 

 when available precipitation is insufficient to produce the 

 maximum possible profitable yield per acre. The govern- 

 ing factor is the available rainfall during the crop season; 

 as at other times it may actually be a detriment to suc- 

 cessful farming operations. Water is the most essential 

 element to the growth of vegetation. Dry farming is a 

 misnomer, as no crop will grow without water. The 

 essential difference between irrigation and dry farming 

 is the quantity of the water used. 



So-called dry farming is the practice of the most 

 efficient methods for the conservation of rainfall that may 



be available for the crop, but these same principles apply 

 equally well to irrigation farming. The necessity or desira- 

 bility of irrigation cannot always be inferred from the 

 annual precipitation, but on the precipitation during the 

 growing s^ason. 



The largest irrigation works, constructed to serve 

 portions of the area under consideration, have been built 

 by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, to serve 

 650,000 acres east of Calgary, at a cost of about fifteen 

 million dollars, by which water is transported through 

 some 4,200 miles of artificial ditches; and though only 

 partially developed, these lands produced crops in 1919 

 to the value of over $6,500,000. This Company also 

 controls what was originally known as the Alberta Railway 

 and Irrigation Company's Syscem, near Lethbridge, which 

 last season produced crops to the value of $5,500,000 on 

 82,000 acres an average of about $55.00 per acre; whereas 

 the dry land yields were practically failures. 



The Canadian Pacific Railway Company is now 

 constructing a system to serve some 17,000 acres of 

 privately owned land near Taber. 



Average Irrigated U.S. Farm 57 Acres 



Without a forecast as to what the ultimate conditions 

 will be, it may be assumed now that a desirable holding 



^of dry land is something like a half section or 320 acres. 



*A 160-acre irrigated farm is sufficient for one man with 

 ordinary means to attempt to farm. A recent census in 

 the United States showed that in 43 counties, in 11 States, 

 the average irrigated farm contained 57 acres. 



No attempt is made to deprecate the value of the 

 so-called dry lands in Southern Alberta. Such a course 

 would be worse than foolish, because there is only a small 

 percentage of the land which can be irrigated; and our 

 great mainstay must necessarily be the dry lands. The 

 irrigated lands must, however, be considered as a necessary 

 adjunct to the dry lands, and irrigation as a specialized 

 line of general agriculture; and as Southern Alberta dry 

 lands have already established such excellent production 

 records, no comparisons made can cast any reflections on 

 them. 



Irrigation Increased Production 50 per cent 



It is a conservative statement, however, to make that 

 in the block referred to, 160 acres of irrigated land will 

 produce as much or more than 320 acres of dry land, over 

 a period of years, and has, in addition, other advantages, 

 such as the maintenance of soil fertility, and insurance 

 of a crop every year. Moreover, these conditions will 

 .result in the population per square mile being almost 

 doubled. Whether we consider one farm or the whole 

 tract, the comparatively small areas of irrigable land are 

 a most valuable adjunct to the larger areas of dry lands, 

 as they will always be the source from which forage crops 

 will be produced. 



The conditions are encirely different in the northern 

 half of Alberta, and a line drawn east and west through 

 the town of Red Deer might be considered a dividing line. 



In the southern portion of the province, the precipi- 

 tation varies from 10 to 15 inches per annum, as against 

 25 to 40 inches in the northern part. In 1918, tha total 

 precipitation at Lethbridge for the year was only 7.6 

 inches, of which only 4 inches fell during the growing 

 season. In 1919, the total was 12.3 inches, of which 7 

 inches fell during the growing season. The precipitation 

 varies very much from year to year, and month to month, 

 and settlers never kaow what to expect. 



Farmers Themselves the Advocates 



Records between 1903 and 1919 show that to get the 

 best results, the land should have over half an inch of 

 moisture about every 20 days, during the growing season. 

 In these 17 years, there were fourteen with drought periods 

 of over 35 days, and ten with drought periods of over 30 

 days. 



The success which is obtaining on the irrigated lands 

 of Southern Alberta can only be fully realized by a personal 



