THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



13 



how urgent is the need of populating it 

 more densely. 



ROOM FOR MORE. 



If 9,000 square miles in Vermont will 

 support 340,000 people, 84,000 square 

 miles in Idaho certainly can be inhabited 

 by several times the 150,000 people now 

 dwelling there. Idaho is equally as fer- 

 tile, no more mountainous, and equally as 

 pleasant climatically. 



If nearly 30,000 square miles in Maine 

 will support 740,000 people, 66,000 square 

 miles in Washington which has equally as 

 great a sea coast will support twice as 

 many as the 418,000 inhabitants it has at 

 present. 



If 45,000 square miles in Pennsylvania 

 will support 5,785,625 people, 104,000 

 square miles in Colorado will support at 

 least four times the 480,000 inhabitants it 

 now contains; because Colorado has iron 

 and coal in equal quantities with Penn- 

 sylvania, and has gold and silver and lead 

 and copper and building stone in greater 

 quantity than any state in the union. 



If New York with 47,600 square miles 

 can make a population of 6,827,200, thrifty 

 California with its great seaport, its tem- 

 perate climate and its multiple i-esources 

 ought to be able to quadruple its popula- 

 ton of 1,500,000 upon its enormous area of 

 108,300 square miles. 



And thus the comparison might be con- 

 tinued. 



Arizona in an area of 1 13,020 has a popu- 

 lation of only 88,500, whereas it has mineral 

 resources practically unlimited and 10,- 

 000.000 acres that can be irrigated from 

 its flowing streams. 



Montana almost exceeds any one of the 

 balance of the western states in mineral 

 output and has natural grasses so rich that 

 thousands of cattle are sent there to feed 

 on the vast ranges. Yet in the 146,080 

 square miles of the state there are but 

 205,000 inhabitants, while the agricultural 

 resources of the rich grazing land are only 

 now beginning to be tried. 



Nevada is a huge inter-mountain basin 

 of 110.700 square miles in area, with only 



47,00') inhabitants. But it is no drier 

 than were the other portions of the desert 

 wherein the pioneers found their fortunes. 

 That it is covered with gold and other 

 minerals which have never been prospected 

 is conceded by all who have given it even 

 the most cursory examination. 



New Mexico with only 225,000 people 

 in 122,580 square miles is, like Arizona, 

 rich in minerals and already rapidly de- 

 veloping in agriculture and horticulture. 



The Dakotas are monstrous farms, with 

 splendid mineral resources in the south- 

 west, some of which have enticed ex-Gov. 

 Pattison of Pennsylvania and a company 

 of wealthy associates into them. They 

 contain 1 50. 000 square miles with only 

 595,000 inhabitants. 



Texas with the great seaports of Gal- 

 veston and Port Arthur gets only eleven 

 people into each of its 265,780 square 

 miles; while Utah wherein the Mormons 

 have farmed themselves wealthy and the 

 Gentiles have mined themselves more 

 wealthy still, there are but 261,222 people 

 in a total area of 89,740 square miles. 



On the crest of the continent is Wyoming, 

 with a strange abundance and conglomera- 

 tion of minerals and stone, and with water 

 facilities unlimited, possessing only 76,- 

 000 people in its area of 97,890 square 

 miles. 



Thus the entire western population 

 could be distributed with one person at 

 the corner of each square mile and one in 

 the center of the square a distribution 

 which would be as lonesome for each in- 

 dividual as being lost in a desert or as 

 traveling alone in a country which speaks 

 an unknown tongue. It would scarcely 

 allow for the placing of a head of a family 

 in the center of the mile and one of th e 

 balance of the family on each corner. 



Or, to compute it another way: If there 

 are 125,000,000 acres of land already im- 

 proved and 200,000,000 acres of land 

 awaiting improvement, there are just 

 thirty acres, plus ,for every man, woman 

 and child to cultivate. And where is the 



