96 



THE IRRIGATION AGE, 



The total value of irrigated farms in the 

 United States is $296,850,000.00. That is 

 283. 08 per cent upon cost including land, 

 water right, fences and preparation for 

 cultivation. 



The total value of Ihe productive irri- 

 gation system is $94,412.000.00. 218.84 

 per cent upon their cost. 



The average value of irrigated land in 

 farms is 82.28 per acre and that of non- 

 irrigated lands is $20.95. 



The annual value per acre of irrigated 

 farms is $14 89 and of non-irrigated it is 

 $6.80. 



The railway facilities of the state are 

 ample. The Chicago & Northwestern, 

 The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul 

 each have a strong system in the state. 

 The Great Northern and Burlington, also 

 enter it. 



Cheap lands is one of the strongest in- 

 ducements the state offers. Good land 

 may be bought for three dollars per acre. 

 Land ranges from that up to $25 per acre. 



It is possible for dairy men as an ex- 

 ample to secure the very choicest grazing 

 lands at a merely nominal price and pro- 

 duce butter superior to anything else in 

 the country at a price away below Avhat is 

 possible in a state like Illinois where land 

 has become high and scarce. 



The educational facilities are of the very 

 best. The public school system is well 

 developed and liberally supported. In 

 every Township two sections are set aside 

 as school sections and become a source of 

 revenue at once. No other state in the 

 Union has such an endowment for educa- 

 tional purposes. In addition to this the 

 Agricultural College, State University, 

 School of Mines and three Normal schools 

 are in a flourishing condition and all liber- 

 ally endowed by land grants from the 

 State and National Government. 



The character of her people is a matter 

 of great importance and is worth empha- 

 zising always. The people of South Da- 



kota are intelligent, industrious and con- 

 servative. There is no disposition among 

 them to boom their state, as is too often 

 done in some sections of the west. 



I do not mean that no effort is put forth 

 to get settlers into the state. Far from 

 it. There are several firms successfully 

 at work in this direction but they do not 

 employ the usual tactics of western land 

 agents. They are reliable, truthful and 

 honest men. I know one firm in my own 

 locality, the Brookings Land Co. , com- 

 posed of the best men in the county and 

 they have brought into our state some of 

 the best families in this or any other state. 

 These advantages of soil, climate, water, 

 minerals etc. , are inducements, not more 

 important than those mentioned of educa- 

 tion and characteristics of the people. Al- 

 together they form some of the best oppor- 

 tunities to be found anywhere in the 

 Union. But I cannot close these remarks 

 without a comment of general nature on 

 the subject of immigration. 



It has been asserted that cities are over 

 crowded and no one disputes this, but this 

 question of immigration is a sociologic one 

 and is not easy to solve. 



To shift the overflow of cities to country 

 seems but a natural solution of the prob- 

 lem, yet how can this be done and what 

 better off would a helpless, penniless man 

 be on the prairies of the west ? Verily he 

 would be more miserable than in the 

 crowded marts of a great city. What is 

 needed is to get capitalists who are phil- 

 anthrophists to develop some industries in 

 this country which will give employment 

 to large numbers of men and thus induce 

 the crowds from the cities. That would 

 be practical and might succeed well. 

 When such men can be found South Da- 

 kota stands ready to welcome a dozen su- 

 gar beet factories and guarantees success- 

 ful products for same and you have in one 

 industry a profitable enterprise, a feasible 

 solution of one great urban evil of your 

 civilization. 



