224 THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



corded, there were five, irregularly distributed, such as to discourage a 

 large percentage of the settlers. Having personally witnessed some of 

 these years of "the lean and fat kine," I am fully convinced that the ag- 

 riculturalist of this region only needs to learn to handle it properly to 

 make it one of the most prosperous and one of the most desirable for 

 residence on the continent. I venture therefore to offer a few sugges- 

 tions. First the farmer must disabuse himself of some mistaken ideas, 

 foremost among which is the extension of the rain lire westward. The 

 Government statisticarl tables, covering a period of over forty years, show 

 extreme irregularity, ranging from 10 to 40 inches, but no increase of 

 the average rain fall in any of these regions. Nature has been working 

 a long time on this problem and all the surface indications go to prove 

 that the present conditions have prevailed for ages, and will in the main, 

 continue to do so indefinitely. To appreciably increase rainfall by 

 means of forestry and the culture of vegetation, is the work of centuries 

 rather than of years. There is a regipn in Norway which was denuded 

 of its forests if I remember correctly, in the twelfth century and which 

 remained semi-arid as a result for two or three centuries, but was re- 

 claimed and the normal rainfall restored by tree planting, in about two 

 hundred years. Unquestionably these agencies accomplish results of 

 value in time, but they are necessarily slow in operation and fixed and 

 limited by the proximity and extent of the original sources of rainfall 

 and the large bodies of water from which the evaporation to supply it 

 takes place in this instance as I have said the Gulf of Mexico and the 

 Great Lakes. 



The farmer in this region therefore, must learn that he must accept 

 the conditions as he finds them and that first and foremost of these is 

 the fact that rainfall, never excessive, never in fact sufficient to produce 

 a maximum product on this splendid soil, is extremely irregular. Let 

 me read you some statistical facts as to rainfall; for brevity I give mere- 

 ly amounts in two periods of ten successive years: 10.7, 13, 27.8, 17.9, 

 15.4, 18.1, 33.5, 13.1, 28.5, 30.3 inches; four of ten below 16 inches, six 

 below 20 inches. Fifteen and three tenths, 1.1.8, 25.8, 18.6, 20, 17.4, 22.9, 

 17.9, 30, 13 inches; three below 16 inches and six below 20 inches. 



A second important fact is that the precipitation of moisture occurs 

 very irregularly in different portions of the year. e. g. the fall and win- 

 ter months may receive a large part of the precipitation and only a small 

 amount falling during the growing period of the cereals. 



Having briefly outlined the facts with which we have to deal in the 

 semi-arid region, I offer as briefly some suggestions as to methods of ut- 

 ilizing these fertile and delightful prairies. 



First and foremost always of course, irrigation where possible. 

 Learn the money value of water and you will become interested in its 

 preservation and utilization. Mark Twain, in two interesting stories, 

 humorously points out and illustrates values in relation to certain lo- 

 calities. In one. a story of the Black Forest, the wealthiest citizen is he 



