THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN AMERICA. 



45 



the reservoirs enter the winter nearly all 

 supplied with water to their full capacity, 

 or as much as the managers think is ad- 

 visable to attempt to carry through the 

 winter. This is better than ever before, 

 due partly to the larger rainfall of the 

 past year. 



The return of waters which have been 

 once applied in irrigation has become an 

 important source of water supply in the 

 irrigated districts of Colorado where irriga- 

 tion has been carried on for some years. 

 The most careful investigation of these 

 has been made on the Cache a la Poudre 

 and on the Platte rivers, the investiga- 

 tions having been carried on now for near- 

 ly ten years, principally under the direc- 

 tion of Professor Carpenter of the State 

 Agricultural College of Colorado at Fort 

 Collins. The last measurement, made a 

 few weeks since by Professor Carpenter 

 and by Mr. Preston, of the State Engi- 

 neers' office, shows large gains over pre- 

 vious years. The Experiment Station of 

 Colorado will soon publish a bulletin by 

 Professor Carpenter on the subject, giving 

 the results of the last ten years of meas- 

 urement, with the conclusions formed by 

 the present knowledge of the subject. 



The researches in irrigation of Pro- 

 fessor L. G. Carpenter of the Colorado 

 Agricultural College of Colorado have 

 been recognized by the Government of 

 France by giving him the decoration of 

 Chevalier du Merite Agricole, " for dis- 

 tinguished services to agriculture." 

 This is one of the first, if not the first 

 time the decoration has been conferred on 

 a foreigner. 



Secretary Hoke Smith is savagely 

 taken to task for refusing to open the 

 Uncompahgre Indian reservation, in 

 Utah, in compliance with the act of Con- 

 gress. Rich mineral deposits have been 

 discovered. 



Much importance is attached to the 

 fact that Australian salt bush flourishes 

 on alkali lands. It is urged that the 

 millions of acres of alkali lands in the 

 West can be transformed into dairy 

 pasturage. 



The Culbertson (Neb.,) Era exclaims: 

 " Darn the gold mines. If each Nebraska 

 county which claims to have found one 

 had only discovered an artesian well in- 

 stead, every patriotic citizen would shout 

 hosannas." 



The work of surveying and subdividing 

 the Indian Territory is shown to be' 

 progressing rapidly in a report made by 

 the geological survey. The total amount 

 of land surveyed during the last month 

 was 1,500 miles. There are also 493 

 square miles reported as topographically 

 mapped out during that period. 



Farmers in fourteen Western States 

 are in luck. The government weather 

 bureau has organized these States into 

 districts, so that farmers will be warned 

 by telephone, telegraph and signal at 

 least twenty- four hours in advance of 

 blizzards. 



ARIZONA. 



Canaigre is being shipped from Phoenix 

 to Liverpool, England. 



The Arizona Improvement Company 

 sold their Salt River valley oranges to a 

 Chicago firm at $7.00 per box. 



The Gila valley is fast coming to the 

 front. The large alfalfa fields and 

 orchards and the comfortable homes at 

 Thatcher, Lay ton, Safford and Pima 

 indicate the prosperity of the people. 



Some of the Montana buyers are in 

 Arizona already picking up cattle for 

 delivery next spring; 1896 is going to be 

 a better season for the cattle trade. 



The report that Judge A. C. Baker had 

 ruled that Pima Indians are by treaty 

 citizens of the United States has proved 

 erroneous. 



The cultivated portions of Arizona are 

 worked almost entirely by irrigation. In 

 the mountains are a few' tracts where 

 something is raised on the rainfall. 



Deer Creek coal fields are found to be 

 very rich and the benefits that would 

 arise from the opening of these fields aud 

 the erection of coke ovens at the mines 

 would be almost incalculable. It would 

 give a great boom to mining and smelt- 

 ing for one hundred miles around, and 

 would be of especial advantage to Globe. 

 The Interior Department has commenced 

 the work of allotting lands to Indians in 

 severalty and the matter is in the hands 

 of C. N. Bennett, the private secretary of 

 Secretary Hoke Smith. Mr. Bennett is now 

 in Phoenix and will commence the division 

 of the Gila Bond, Pima and Maricopa 

 Indian reservations into ten-acre tracts. 

 The land is of good quality and can be 



