'I HE PROGRESS OF WESTERN AMERICA. 



73 



Arm y or ^^ ^ these authorities unite in favoring 



Civilian a scientific system of forestry. They 



Control? 



are unanimous in condemning our pre- 

 sent do-nothing policy and in pointing out the very 

 grave dangers to the water supply, as well as the 

 timber supply, arising from the present indifference 

 which exists in most parts of the country, and the 

 purely selfish opposition which is at times manifested 

 in the West. But the authorities by no means agree 

 that the Sargent plan of educating foresters at West 

 Point and putting the forests under the control of the 

 army, is the best basis for a scientific policy. Indeed, 

 the most thoughtful papers take quite decided ground 

 against this plan, favoring the civilian rather than the 

 army officer, and a few favoring State rather than 

 national control. Perhaps a part of this criticism 

 may be explained on grounds of human nature, as 

 several contributors are in the civil service and one or 

 two of them in branches of State governments. Never- 

 theless they make their arguments rather convincing 

 in favor of the more permanent civilian service. Mr. 

 Bowers is especially effective on this line. Frederick 

 Law Olmstead is inclined "to think that in a satis- 

 factory system of management of our forests men will 

 be needed who shall have given to a study of forestry 

 more time than our military cadets can spare for the 

 purpose without neglect of studies in which profi- 

 ciency must be required of them." Capt. Anderson 

 thinks his experience in the Yellowstone Park has 

 justified the plan of using the army. The fact is that 

 any system that will effectively preserve the forests 

 against destruction by fire and purely wanton cutting 

 for timber, furnishing a good guard for patrol and 

 providing for cutting trees when they are ripe and 

 substituting them with new plantings, will be satis- 

 factory to the friends of the forests and of the water 

 supply. The question as to whether the army or the 

 civil service can do this work best is of very small 

 importance when we reflect that absolutely nothing 

 is being done now, and that either branch of the 

 service would be able to introduce a great and 

 urgent reform. The present neglect of the forests is 

 shameful, and the results of it are simply alarming. 

 There can be no hope of a change for the better until 

 the country is thoroughly aroused to the importance of 

 the issue. The Century symposium is a splendid 

 contribution to this awakening, and in behalf of the 

 Western people THE IRRIGATION AGE thanks the 

 Century for all it has done in this direction. 

 Pecos Valley When the people of Southeastern New 

 Extension Mexico celebrated the completion of 

 the Pecos Valley railroad to Roswell,- 

 last midsummer, it was generally supposed that the 

 event marked the end, for the time being, of the 

 vigorous policy of large improvements which have 

 been carried out in the interest of that valley. But it 



is now announced that the railroad will be extended 

 two hundred miles northeast to Washburn, Texas, 

 where it will form a junction with the Denver, Fort 

 Worth Gulf and the Santa Fe system. In a 

 very short time the Rock Island will also be extended- 

 from Liberal, Kansas, to Washburn, and thus the 

 Pecos Valley railroad will have a direct outlet with 

 three great systems on the north, as it already has 

 an outlet with the Texas Pa,cific on the south. The 

 completion of the Pecos Valley railroad in the manner 

 proposed is the final consummation of one of the 

 greatest and most comprehensive schemes of im- 

 provement ever undertaken in any portion of Arid 

 America. The transformation, in the space of five 

 or six years, of the Pecos Valley from a borderland of 

 cattle and ruffians into a scene of the most active 

 modern life, with its railroads, telephones and tele- 

 graphs, with its canals, reservoirs, water powers and 

 electric lighting systems, and with its towns equipped 

 with fine hotels, schools, churches, business blocks 

 and homes this record of achievement constitutes 

 one of the most stirring pages in the history of the 

 West. The marvel of it is in its completeness and in 

 the brief time in which it has been done. It is due 

 to the faith, nerve and capital of a group of men, 

 headed by J. J. Hagerman, to whom the achievement 

 is but one feature in a most remarkable record of 

 business success. It is pleasant to be able to record 

 that the work which has been done in the Pecos 

 Valley is beginning to bear substantial fruits in the 

 way ot settlement. The last few months have wit- 

 nessed very marked progress in this direction. The 

 Pecos Valley is destined to sustain a very large 

 population and to become the scene of highly diver- 

 sified industry. It will be an enduring and splendid 

 monument to the men who have made its develop- 

 ment possible. 



Arizona's ^ e P enm S f l ^ e new railroad from 

 New Prescott to Phcenix, Arizona, marks the 

 Railroad. . r . , , .-, ,. . 



dawn of a new day for the Salt River 



Valley. The northern outlet was very much needed. 

 Competition was also an absent factor and it is not 

 good for any country to have but one railroad, espe- 

 cially if that one is the Southern Pacific. Every person 

 who is familiar with the Salt River Valley has long 

 realized that its day would come, and that it would be 

 a very interesting and hopeful day, too. The valley 

 has a splendid system of canals and many old farming 

 districts, which have amply demonstrated the char- 

 acter of the soil and climate. It would seem that a 

 vigorous colonization policy would quickly succeed 

 in furnishing the valley with a productive popula- 

 tion. Probably there is no portion of Arid America 

 which will ultimately sustain more people to the square 

 mile. Singularly enough the development has thus 

 far been in the direction of the large farm unit. The 



