r IHE IRRIGA TION A GE. 109 



which come East are almost wholly semi-tropical or the more expen- 

 sive dried fruits. The ordinary farm crops of Illinois are protected 

 by the heavy railroad tariff from the competion of the far West. 



Now, what is the reclaimed country like, and what is to be done? 



Briefly stated, there are, in round numbers, nine hundred and fifty 

 thousand square miles, or six million acres of vacant public lands. Of 

 these three hundred and seventy -four million acres are suitable for 

 grazing, ninety- six million acres are covered with woodland in which 

 there is also grazing, and from which fuel, fence-posts, etc., can be 

 had; there are seventy million acres of forests of commercial value, 

 and about an equal area of absolutely desert land, having no present 

 value. 



There is water sufficient for the irrigation of from seventy-five 

 million to one hundred million acres, depending upon the methods of 

 conservation employed. The average size of an irrigated farm is 

 about forty acres to a family of five persons, not including in this the 

 grazing or range land. 



Probably ten million people could find homes on farms and be 

 self-supporting if the water supply were properly regulated. 



This would mean an enormous development of the mineral and 

 other resources, which, with the prevailing scanty population, will 

 thus be vastly augmented by the mining and other industrial occupa- 

 tions, as well as by the merchants and related trades. The experi- 

 ence of the old world has shown that there is almost no limit to the 

 density of population within the arid region, where, with ample water 

 and continuous sunshine, the soil produces the most wonderful suc- 

 cession of crops. 



At present the vacant public laud can be considered under two 

 heads; that which is truly arid and that which is semi- arid or sub- 

 humid. In the case of the first, it is impossible to make a home with 

 out providing a water supply. In the case of the second, however, 

 there are years when large crops can be produced. Settlers have 

 rushed in during these times of unusual moisture, have attempted to 

 make homes, and when, year after year, the crops have been lost 

 through the prevailing drought, the farmers have become impov- 

 erished and have finally abandoned their homes, as has been the case 

 in western Kansas and western Nebraska. 



The soil of these drought-stricken regions is notably fertile when 

 watered, and the luxuriant vegetation which followed an occasional 

 rain lured on the pioneer to his ruin. Farming there is a gambling 

 operation, in which the occasional high winnings cause thousands to 

 lose their judgment and risk their efforts in a hopeless undertaking. 



The semi-arid regions include the great belt of country extending 

 from western North Dakota, through the wastarn pDrtioas of 



