THE GROWTH OF IRRIGATION IN 



AMERICA. 



THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF SCIENTIFIC FARM- 

 ING IN THE WEST. 



BY PROF. ELWOOD MEAD. 



Two years ago Western members of Congress, led by Senator 

 Warren, secured a small appropriation to enable the secretary of ag- 

 riculture to begin the problems of: irrigation. The secretary entrusted 

 this work to Elwood Mead, at that time state engineer of Wyoming, 

 and made Cheyenne the central office. The results secured were of 

 such practical value that the first appropriation of $10, 000 was followed 

 by one of $35,000, and that by $50,000. 



One result has been to awaken an interest in this subject in the 

 East and to stimulate the construction of irrigation works. The re- 

 sults obtained show that the ability to apply moisture when needed is 

 one of the most effective aids to success in the East as well as West. 

 The great field of irrigated agriculture, however, is in the West, where 

 it controls the social and industrial future of more than one-third of 

 the United States. 



In the last year book of the agricultural department the command- 

 ing importance of irrigation as the basis of western development is set 

 forth by Mr. Mead in an article of great clearness and interest, entitled, 

 the "Rise and Future of Irrigation," an abstract of which is given 

 below: 



The earliest pathway of civilization on the American continent led 

 along the banks of streams. In various parts of the Southwest, nofy 

 ably in the Salt River valley of Arizona, in northern New Mexico, and 

 along the southern borders of Colorado and Utah are well defined re 

 mains of irrigation works, which have outlived by many centuries the 

 civilization to which they belonged. In at least one instance the bank 

 of an ancient canal has been utilized as a part of modern works. 



Riding up the valley of the Rio Grande in the first half of the six 

 teenth century, Spanish explorers found in the midst of arid surround- 

 ings beds of beautiful roses, "not unlike those in the gardens of Cas- 

 tile," as they noted in their diaries. They also found Pueblo Indians 

 irrigating the thirsty soil, as their forefathers had done for centuries 

 before them, and as their decendants are still doing today. In this 

 valley and along the tributary streams, and at other places in the 

 desert wastes of the southwest, Spanish settlements sprang up and 

 maintained themselves by means of these life-giving waters. The 



