THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



353 



session did nothing for irrigation, the sub- 

 ject was more generally discussed than 

 heretofore, and a foundation was laid for 

 practical advance in the immediate future. 

 The idea of the reclamation of arid lands 

 is better, understood than ever before, and 

 the question is now in shape for a good 

 reclamation bill. If the people of the 

 West will see that Representatives are 

 elected on a stout irrigation platform, 

 there is little doubt that a bill looking in 

 the right direction can be passed. 



The opposition found in some sections 

 of the East to the reclamation of the arid 

 lands is not well taken. A little consider- 

 ation will show the most obtuse mind 

 that the development of the West is to the 

 direct advantage of the eastern half of the 

 country. It is to the advantage of the 

 farmers of the East, as the Western peeple 

 buy the products of the Eastern factories, 

 and the workers of the factories are pro- 

 vided with food from the farms of the 

 East. More money will be put into the 

 pockets of the East by the reclamation of 

 the arid wastes than is taken out, many 

 times over. A wider market is what the 

 East needs and it is presented in the pro- 

 posed irrigation of vast tracts west of the 

 Mississippi river. 



The general plan of reclamation is to 

 start upon a few well-defined irrigation 

 projects which are too large for private 

 enterprise. Storage reservoirs present a 

 good beginning and the Government 

 should undertake no reservoir which does 

 not have a capacity for irrigating at least 

 100,000 acres of land. 



Spain now has 18,000,000 people. 

 Spain is a semi-arid country which bor- 

 ders on the ocean. Nevada and Utah, 

 with the proper application of water which 

 is actually available in those two States, 

 can maintain as great a population as that 

 of the interior of Spain. Colorada has 

 3,000,000 acres of land under ditch, but it 

 is possible to double the area if reasonable 

 methods are applied. 



The problem of the reclamation of our 

 arid lands is a large one, and those who 

 have not been through the West and stud- 

 ied it can hardly realize its great national 

 bearing. National Irrigation. 



Irrigation in Consul Norton, at Harput, Ar 

 Turkey. men ia f has made a report to 

 the State Department showing the great 

 possibilities for irrigation in Turkey, and 

 calling attention to the fact that the Otto- 

 man government is anxious to undertake 

 some experimental artesian well borings. 

 Much of this region, Mr. Norton states* 

 was under irrigation and had great agri- 

 cultural wealth 2,000 years ago, but the 

 entire deforestation of the mountains has 

 stopped the water supply and rendered 

 the land unproductive. The Turkish 

 government is now wisely undertaking to 

 reclaim some of this territory. 



The Desert An exhibit made in the June 

 Watered. igsue of j\f at i ona l Irrigation 



of the development of Eiverside and Red- 

 lands, California, which was prepared by 

 Mr. Charles E. Richards, of Los Angeles, 

 and which shows what a few years of irri- 

 gation will do for a sage-brush desert, 

 presents an impressive object lesson to the 

 easterner who has business connections 

 with the West. Merchants who at pre- 

 sent find a market in the western States 

 for a thousand dollars' worth of their 

 goods annually would sell ten thousand 

 dollars' worth if those arid lands were ir- 

 rigated with the waters now running use- 

 lessly away. 



The building of storage reservoirs by 

 the Government would make populous 

 many such desert spots as were Riverside 

 and Redlands only a few years ago. 



Americans are growing great 

 quantities of rice. The Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture says that we can not 

 only grow all our own rice, but that we 

 can profitably export it. There is in 

 Louisiana and Texas what might be called 

 a rice boom. In Louisiana over 100,000 



Irritated 

 Rice. 



