THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



VOL. XV . 



CHICAGO, NOVEMBER, 1900. 



NO. 2 



THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN fiMERICfl, 



The National Irrigation Con- 

 National 

 Irr gation gress will hold its ninth 



Congress. annual session at Central 

 Music Hall, Chicago, on the 21-24 Nov- 

 ember, 1900. Reduced railroad rates have 

 been arranged for. It will be a business 

 mens' convention. Chicago wholesale 

 merchants are taking a genuine interest 

 in the proposition to reclaim the West, 

 and thereby increase its population fifty 

 million, and the work of the Congress 

 will be directed toward placing before the 

 business interests of the West the trade 

 possibilities which lie in the reclamation 

 of some seventy-five million acres of arid 

 land, whose fertility has lain dormant for 

 hundreds of centuries, waiting only the 

 touch of water to make it as productive as 

 the valley of the Nile. 



The October just past was a 

 record breaker so far as 

 weather was concerned, it 

 having been the warmest October ever 

 experienced during the existence of the 

 weather bureau. This unusual weather 

 was detrimental to some lines of trade 

 the dry goods and clothing business hav- 

 ing suffered the most owing to their 

 inability to dispose of the customary fall 

 goods. For the farm work the month was 

 favorable, being mild east of the Rocky 

 Mountains, with ample moisture in most 

 districts. The following resume of the 

 crop conditions for the month of October 

 was recently given by the Daily Trade 

 Record: 



Portions of the lake region, Ohio 

 Valley, and middle Atlantic states, how- 



ever, needed more rains, while heavy 

 rains, principally during the latter part 

 of the month, caused some damage in the 

 central gulf states and in the upper Mis- - 

 sissippi and Missouri Valleys. On the 

 north Pacific Coast the month was gener- 1 

 ally favorable, although frequent rains in 

 the latter part of the month retarded 

 work in Oregon. 



In portions of the upper Missouri and 

 Mississippi valleys the mild, moist 

 weather has proved unfavorable to corn^ 

 causing considerable mold and some ro tr 

 ting in localities. 



With the exception of some damage by 

 fly in portions of Missouri, Illinois. Michi- 

 gan and Ohio, the reports respecting fall 

 wheat indicate that the crop is in promis- 

 ing condition. The weather conditions 

 have been favorable for germination and 

 vigorous growth. 



Cotton picking was interrupted by 

 rains in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana 

 and Mississippi, and in the last named 

 state the staple suffered some damage. 

 While picking is practically completed 

 over the eastern portion of the cotton 

 belt considerable cotton remains to be 

 gathered over the northern portion of the 

 western districts. Under the mild 

 temperature conditions the top crop made 

 considerable growth, especially over the 

 eastern districts, but owing to the ad- 

 vanced season it is not expected to 

 mature. 



