THE 1RRIGA Tl ON A GE. 373 



Nevada Mountains. It is not true to the same extent of the Humboldt 

 River, which takes its source in the eastern part of the State. 



Now. the question is, Who should do this work? We claim that it 

 is a matter of govermental and Federal legislation, and that in addi- 

 tion it is an obligation that rests upon the Government as the owner 

 of these vast areas of public lands which can be opened up to settle- 

 ment. As I was remarking, irrigation is the most scientific method 

 of agriculture. We cannot determine the amount of moisture falling 

 from the heavens; we cannot regulate it; we cannot 'control it. There 

 may be too much; there 'may be too little. But as to water that is 

 taken from a stream by a ditch, and distributed over lands at low 

 level, there can be an absolutely scientific adjustment of the moisture 

 to the requirements of the soil. When you have a rich soil and a sun 

 that is kindly, if you add the necessary moisture, you have all the 

 conditions of a most abundant cultivation so much so that in that 

 region 40 acres of land properly irrigated will sustain a family better 

 than 160 acres of land in the Middle or Western -States; and under cer- 

 tain characters of cultivation 10 or 15 acres of land will support a 

 family. 



Mr. MORRIS. Mr. Chairman, before the gentleman sits down I 

 should like to ask him a question. The gentleman began his remarks 

 by reading the item in the river and harbor bill providing for the res- 

 ervoirs at the head of the Mississippi River and upon that he based 

 the remarks which he has made. Does not the gentleman know that 

 those reservoirs were constructed entirely for the purpose of increas- 

 ing the navigability of the Mississippi River? 



Mr. NEWLANDS. So I understand. 



Mr. MORRIS. And therefore came within the rule laid down by 

 the chairman of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors. 



Mr. NEWLANDS. I understood the chairman of the Committee on 

 Rivers and Harbors to say that these reservoirs were provided for the 

 purpose of promoting navigation. I have also understood, however, 

 that they were put there for the purpose of increasing the power on 

 that river, but I may be mistaken as to that. However that may be, 

 I still insist that when you can join the two uses, when you can pre 

 vent the floods and increase the equal flow of these rivers by the stor- 

 age of the water, you are promoting a purpose which is within the 

 province of a river and harbor bill. 



Mr. MORRIS. I simply want to correct the impression which may 

 have been produced by the gentleman's remarks as to the committee 

 having gone outside of its plan of making the bill. 



Mr. NEWLANDS. Oh, no; I simply called attention to the fact. 

 The reservoirs had been constructed there, and the reservoirs which 

 we wish will serve the same purpose as those, for they will not only 

 promote the reclamation of arid lands, but they will also tend to the 

 maintenance of the equal flow of the streams. 



