DESERT RECLAIMED BY IRRIGA- 

 TION. 



Prof. F. H. Newell, of the United States Geological Survey, 

 writes in the Boston Herald that the tree is the mother of the fountain. 

 "Save the forests. Store the flood waters. Reclaim the deserts. 

 Annex arid America." 



That is the slogan of the National Irrigation Association. The 

 marvelous growth of the movement fostered by this organization, 

 which held its ninth annual congress at Chicago a few weeks ago, is 

 attracting the attention of the public in the East, as well as in the 

 central and far West. The magnitude of the problem the organiza- 

 tion has bravely set out to solve and the influence and energy it is 

 bringing to bear are well worth considerate attention. 



Millions of acres of barren land that might be made arable; miles 

 of territory now uninhabited that should support many thousands of 

 prosperous families. That is the proposition now being wrought out. 



To persons who are not familiar with the matter many questions 

 naturally arise. The first and most comprehensive is: What is the 

 National Irrigation Association, and what does it seek to accomplish? 

 Briefly, this organization, composed of men identified with the manu- 

 facturing, transportation, and commercial interests of the country, as 

 well as those in professional occupations, is seeking to provide the 

 largest possible number of homes upon the public domain. 



This can come about only through a wise administration of the 

 resources in water and forests, since upon these depend directly the 

 value of the vacant public lands. But why should not these matters 

 be left to the Washington authorities to settle? Simply because the 

 congress at Washington has not given serious attention to the matter, 

 and the conditions are becoming so ominous for the future that the 

 business interests of the country, as well as the philarthropists, have 

 begun to take alarm. 



The great public domain, one- third of the whole United States, is 

 being administered not to make the largest number of homes, but 

 rather the reverse. Under wise laws and institutions, framed with a 

 knowledge of the facts, ten families can obtain a good living where 

 now one is scantily fed. 



But why should not this be left to private enterprise? It has 

 thus been left, and individuals have siezed upon all they could grasp, 

 and in many instances have ruined the opportunities for making homes 

 for tens or hundreds of other individuals. The treatment of the arid 



