6 4 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



irrigation works and the irrigated farms of the valley 

 and celebrate the triumph of water over the desert. 

 It is expected that this Melon Day will be the most 

 memorable in the history of Rocky Rord, for it will 

 be graced by the presence of men and women from 

 all over the Union and will doubtless call forth con- 

 gratulatory speeches by the national leaders of irri- 

 gation thought. The special congress train will re- 

 turn to Denver during the night, and Friday and Sat- 

 urday will be devoted uninterruptedly to the work of 

 the congress. The committees will, if desired, oc- 

 cupy special cars and carry on their work while en 

 route. It is likely that the formal deliberations of the 

 congress will be brought to a close at Denver Satur- 

 day night, although it is proposed to keep the con- 

 vention together for several days afterward and to 

 hold meetings in other portions of the State. 



THE GREATEST EXCURSION OF ALL. 



On Sunday the committee have arranged for an 

 excursion around the " Loop '' above Georgetown, one 

 of the most famous scenic points in the State. Re- 

 turning from this short trip, the convention's triumphal 

 excursion is planned to leave Denver on the evening 

 of Sunday, September 9th. It is this excursion 

 which will exhibit to the delegates, homeseekers and 

 spectators the magnificent scenery and boundless in- 

 dustrial possibilities of the great Centennial State. 

 Short stops will be made at Salida, Gunnison and 

 Delta, arriving at Grand Junction Monday evening. 

 On their return they will pass through Glenwood 

 Springs and over Tennessee Pass by the more northern 

 route and then through the famous San Luis valley 

 of southern Colorado, where three-quarters of 

 a million of acres already lie under ditch, 

 awaiting the electric touch of human labor. 

 It would be impossible to describe the 

 beauties of mountain and valley, of hill and 

 plain, which the visitors will behold in the 

 course of this trip. They will take in the 

 great circle of the Denver & Rio Grande 

 railroad, which carries them not only 

 through the eastern foot hills and down the 

 San Luis valley to the New Mexico border, 

 but into southwest Colorado. No more 

 glorious trip could be selected in Arid Amer- 

 ica, and Europe has nothing worthy to be 

 mentioned in the same day. 



PEACH DAY AT GRAND JUNCTION. 



Interest and enthusiasm will begin to 

 reach their highest pitch when the special 

 train arrives at Grand Junction Monday 

 evening, September 10th. The following 

 day, Tuesday, will be the great festival day 

 of Colorado's western slope, when the scenes 

 of Melon Day at Rocky Ford are re-enacted 



on a grander scale and peaches are substituted for 

 melons. It will be a revelation to the visitors of the 

 enormous possibilities of fruit farming in western 

 Colorado and eastern Utah. On this occasion the 

 California delegation will be introduced to peaches 

 that are peaches, indeed. Men from all over the 

 arid region, and men from the East and South, will be 

 astounded by what they learn on this occasion of the 

 future of a section hitherto all but unknown to them- 

 Western Colorado will have an opportunity to show 

 what she understands, to be the meaning of that 

 word, " hospitality.'' It is hoped that not less 500 dele- 

 gates will be present at Grand Junction on this gala 

 day. They will represent much more than half the 

 States of the Union and several foreign countries. 



A MEETING ON THE DESERT. 



The country surrounding Grand Junction presents 

 some of the typical problems of Arid America. Here 

 is a vast and voiceless desert. The soil is rich, the 

 climate almost ideal. Through this tract of arid land 

 flows a tumultuous river, carrying an immense amount 

 of now useless water down to the tropic sea. It is pro- 

 posed to assemble the Irrigation Congress, with its 

 friends and the local visitors to Peach Day, upon this 

 desert and hold there a grand rally for Arid America, 

 for industrial independence, for 

 human equality, for everything 

 involved in the civiliza- 

 tion of the future. This 



