THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN AMERICA. 



121 



tion, was not confined to the state bound- 

 aries. The states of Montana, Idaho, 

 Washington and Oregon were represented 

 by exhibits from their farms, orchards, for- 

 ests and mines. To the general exhibits 

 were added some special features, and of 

 these the most noteworthy was the exhibit 

 car of the Northern Pacific Railway. It 

 was a splendid demonstration of the re- 

 sources of the northwest, and was con- 

 stantly filled with crowds of people. In 

 the southwest the fair at St. Louis easily 

 occupied the place of prominence, while it 

 must not be forgotten that Omaha and 

 Kansas City were close behind. As for 

 the festival of Mountain and Plain at 

 Denver, it was unique in the extreme, and 

 excited the wonder of eastern visitors. 

 The details of each of these festivals, and 

 the innumerable others that have been or 

 are being held, is already well known, and 

 it is not our purpose to enter into them 

 further, except to show their influence 

 upon irrigation. 



Their It is cause for congratula- 

 Relation to t - on amon gr those who are 

 Irrtgatton. , . . & , , 1e . . . 



working in behalf of irriga- 

 tion, that it has begun to occupy, in a 

 measure, the position that it merits as the 

 most scientific and sensible method of 

 practical agriculture. With scarcely an 

 exception it was represented at each of the 

 exhibitions held west of Chicago, and at 

 many of them it occupied its rightful place 

 of prominence. It cannot be denied that 

 while irrigation is of tnure direct import- 

 ance, and capable of lu-iug more succes- 

 fully applied, in our western states, where 

 the lack of rainfall makes it, necesary, and 

 because this lack of rainfall makes it pos- 

 sible to apply water when vegetation needs 

 it and prevents floods, which destroy crops 

 as quickly and easily as drought, there are 

 numbers of inhabitants of the prairies and 

 valleys who have hitherto failed to see that 

 they could not carry on their farming 

 operations as did their fathers and grand- 

 fathers. And notwithstanding the loss of 

 crop after crop, and with failure staring 

 them in the face, they have concluded to 

 trust once more to the element of chance 

 that it might rain when their crop needed 

 it. It is among these "farmers of the old 

 school " that the agitator of irrigation has 

 been and must continue to work. But it is 

 a pleasure to chronicle the fact that these 

 farmers are now turning to irrigation with 



enthusiasm, that they appreciate its ad- 

 vantages and realize that they are no longer 

 dependent upon chance for success. 



The At the time of writing this 



there i8 bein S held in 

 North Platte, Neb., an ir- 

 rigation convention that is remarkable in 

 several ways, but more particularly in 

 demonstrating the progress that Nebraska, 

 and not only Nebraska but the entire semi- 

 arid region, has made in solving the ques- 

 tion of agriculture on the great plains. 

 No longer does Nebraska ask aid for its 

 drought sufferers; no longer is the pop- 

 ulation decreasing because of unsuccessful 

 farmers leaving the state for more favored 

 regions; they are irrigating with the aid 

 of canals and ditches and with windmills 

 and pumps, and they have again begun to 

 feel that spirit of conquest that filled them 

 when they undertook to make homes for 

 themselves and families on the lonesome 

 prairies. But the practical side of irriga- 

 tion predominates at North Platte. It is 

 the side that most quickly appeals to the 

 average farmer; "How can we irrigate?" 

 And the officers of the- irrigation fair have 

 attempted to answer this query. They 

 have arranged an exhibit of windmills and 

 pumps; they have built a miniature canal 

 with laterals; they have every variety of 

 appliance needed in irrigation, and above 

 all else thay have made an exhibit of the 

 products of irrigated farms and orchards, 

 a practical demonstration of what has been 

 done. 



Good Never before in a political cam- 

 Roads. paign has there been manifested 

 such an interest in "good roads" as is 

 shown at the present time. The bicycle 

 associations all over the country have taken 

 up the battle for good roads, and are re- 

 quiring pledges from their local candidates 

 favoring the use of convict labor upon the 

 roads, instead of using the inmates of 

 penitentiaries as heretofore in producing 

 manufactured articles in competition with 

 free labor. No one, except the companies 

 and individuals who benefit thereby, will 

 contend that the contract system in vogue 

 in many of the states is a wise method of 

 employing those who have been convicted 

 of felony, and it has long been seen that a 

 change must be made. The building of 

 good highways would benefit not only the 



