120 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



it would not be surprising if the next 

 twelve months saw some wonderful devel- 

 opments in this line. 



Associative The associative principle, as 

 Colonies. distinct from the co-opera- 

 tive, is making strong friends, and it both 

 leads to and follows as a consequent the 

 forming of colonies. It is an essential 

 ingredient of success. It can be traced to 

 its earliest beginning in the dawn of civil- 

 ization, when men gathered together for 

 mutual protection and conquest. And it 

 now offers a sensible and practicable 

 method for " The Conquest of Arid Amer- 

 ica. " The association of people with a 

 common purpose in view is the lever that 

 will move population westward to settle on 

 the irrigated farms and in the villages and 

 towns, to create industry and prosper, to 

 foster culture and social aspirations and to 

 establish a civilization that will be a type 

 of all that is highest and noblest. But 

 this will be the work of time. To accom- 

 plish it many forces will have to combine. 

 What is needed now is the study of this 

 question and the systematic promotion of 

 immigration by the legitimate irrigation 

 enterprises. Immigration can be secured 

 only by offering superior advantages. Cli- 

 mate, soil, products, markets may all be 

 right, and still there be a lack of activity. 

 It . is here that the associative principle 

 comes into play. The average man will 

 not, for himself or his family, willingly 

 choose to live a life of isolation. He must 

 have neighbors ; he yearns for human com- 

 panionship. 



The Dawn It is in the "Model Colonies " 

 ^- ' that have been set forth 

 heretofore in the pages of 

 this magazine that he sees the nearest ap- 

 proach to a realization of these hopes. 

 And the almost unnoticed currents that 

 have been tending in this direction are 

 concentrating into a broad and deep chan- 

 nel and flowing onward with the force of a 

 mighty river. Already is it gathering it- 

 self for a plunge. This tide is destined 

 westward where the mostinvitingconditions 

 are offered, where irrigation presents the 

 greatest opportunity a nation ever had for 

 conquest and the founding of an empire. 

 It is time for the men of the West to arise 

 and with one voice welcome the dawn of this 

 new day which has appeared on the eastern 

 horizon. It will lead them out of the 



wilderness of financial difficulties and em- 

 barrassments in which they find themselves 

 through a lack of knowledge of natural 

 laws. Then let every effort be made to 

 hasten the day of realization. 



A Southern The drought, it seems, is not 

 Drought. confining itself to its ugual 



habitat in the far western states. For the 

 second time in the past two years it has 

 invaded southern territory. This time 

 northern Louisiana is suffering, and al- 

 ready calls for outside aid are being made 

 for the benefit of those whos6 crops were 

 failures. The South, in a general way, 

 began to take an interest in irrigation a 

 few years ago. Last year a convention 

 was held at Atlanta, which was reviewed 

 in these columns at that time, and the en- 

 gineering societies and clubs of the south- 

 ern states began to discuss the subject, but 

 by far the greater proportion of the farm- 

 ing element has taken little interest in this 

 matter up to this time. Irrigation is not 

 a new idea to the South, as it has been in 

 practice there on the rice fields for many 

 years (as shown by Mr. Hutson's contribu ; 

 tion in this issue), but the idea that it 

 could be applied to general farming, mar- 

 ket gardening and fruit raising is new. 

 Those who had the courage to undertake 

 something which, at first sight, seemed to 

 be out of the beaten path, have profited 

 thereby, and their visible success is con- 

 vincing the doubters. Irrigation is now, 

 to a limited extent, applied in the raising of 

 small fruits and vegetables in all the south- 

 ern states bordering upon the Atlantic and 

 the Gulf. Its greatest application, however, 

 is in the rice fields, and as an instance it 

 may be mentioned that in the Lake Charles 

 district, in southwest Louisiana, over 3, 500 

 self binders are in use at this time harvest- 

 ing the rice crop. 



Fairs and Within a short time another 

 Conventions. season o f fairs and conven- 

 tions will have been added to the list. 

 From north to south, from east to west 

 the citizens generally, and the farmers 

 particularly, have given themselves to the 

 enjoyments of the county fair and its larger 

 expression the festival of Ceres. In the 

 northwest the Minnesota state fair and 

 festival at Minneapolis, not to mention the 

 annual encampments of the G. A. R. and 

 the Knights of Pythias, attracted wide at- 

 tention. The fair, while a local institu- 



