PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



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 FORESTS AND RESERVOIRS. 



That the preservation of the forests of 

 the arid region is a duty distinctly belong- 

 ing to the General Government seems to 

 be a general opinion. Large appropria- 

 tions have b^en made for the surveys of 

 proposed forest reservations, thousands of 

 square miles of forest land have been re- 

 served, and ways and means for forest 

 preservation are now being discussed and 

 considered. One of the strongest argu- 

 ments which is advanced showing the 

 importance of forest preservation is the 

 influence which forests are known to have 

 in conserving moisture, the forest acting 

 like a great sponge which takes up rainfall 

 and then allows it to gradually seep away, 

 supplying streams, brooks, and springs. 



Inasmuch as the commercial value of 

 these forests is comparatively insignificant, 

 except in furnishing fuel or rough timber, 

 the water question is really the important 

 one. Here, then, we have the Government 

 through its administration of forests, prac- 

 tically spending money to store water and 

 conserve the flow of streams. Why there- 

 fore is it not a proper Government function 

 to spend money for building works which 

 shall artificially store water, as the forests 

 do naturally? Undoubtedly the preserva- 

 tion of the forests is a highly important 

 question, and especially in the West, and 

 the Government is the proper agency to 

 insure such preservation, but the principal 

 arguments which can be brought forward 

 in support of the policy, apply with in- 

 creased force to Government construction 

 of reservoirs. 



A STANDING REPROACH. 



The Xati-mal Tribune haa the following 

 strong article in relation to irrigation in the 



West: It is a reproach to this age of great 

 engineering feats that every year devour- 

 ing floods on the Missouri, Arknnsas, Red, 

 Colorado, and Rio Grande Rivers devastate 

 the country, and a few months later hun- 

 dreds of millions of acres lie parched, 

 sterile, and unproductive for lack of the 

 water which has been allowed to run to 

 worse than waste. 



With all our advances in other direc- 

 tions, we are far behind the people of 20 

 centuries ago in our knowledge and appli- 

 cation of the science of irrigation. The 

 ancient Egyptians, Assyrians', Jews, Chi- 

 nese, and even the Peruvians, and who- 

 ever were the inhabitants of New Mexico 

 and Arizona, understood and practiced 

 better than we the art of carefully con- 

 serving the water that fell during Winter 

 for use on their fields during Summer. 



It is true that they had but small areas, 

 but the extent of country that they ren- 

 dered certainly fertile every year by this 

 means was much larger in proportion to 

 their means than the whole extent that 

 could be fully irrigated by the superabun- 

 dant waters of the rivers named. With 

 their mechanical and engineering knowl- 

 edge, with their tools and their limited 

 population and capital, the building of a 

 storage reservoir one square mile in extent, 

 with a canal leading from it for 20 miles, 

 was a bigger proposition than would be to 

 us the storage of all the excess waters of 

 the mighty Missouri, and other distri- 

 bution over the arid plains of Wyoming, 

 South Dakota. Colorado, Nebraska, and 

 Kansas. If this were done it would fur- 

 nish farms, homes, food, and livlihood 

 for millions. 



There is one enormous advantage that 

 we have over any previous irrigators, and 



