7 HE JRRIGA 7 ION A GE. 



381 



and cultivation a much larger area than 

 was originally expected. This view of the 

 matter is interesting and suggestive of the 

 possibilities of present irrigated lands in 

 the next generation. Data concerning the 

 conditions are being brought together by 

 the Geological Survey as part of its in- 

 vestigation of the extent to which the arid 

 land can be redeemed. 



An Inter- State Complication. 



An interesting complication, which has 

 arisen in the growing demand for water 

 in the West for irrigation purposes, was 

 noted in a recent reconnoissance made by 

 the United States Geological Survey in 

 Western Nevada. This part of Nevada 

 receives very little rain, and hence is a dry 

 and unproductive land. But so wonderful 

 are the possibilities of development in a 

 seemingly dead country by means of irri- 

 gation, as has been illustrated time and 

 time again in other sections of the West, 

 that even this inhospitable tract could be 

 brought under cultivation and made suit- 

 able to sustain a good population if devel- 

 oped by irrigation. But it seems that the 

 rivers in western Nevada all rise on the 

 eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevadas, on 

 the Californian side of the line. Indeed, 

 this boundary seems to ha>ve been origin- 

 ally drawn so as to include all the good 

 land available on the east up to the border 

 of the interior desert. Thus California 

 controls the headwaters of these streams, 

 and with all the conservatism born of im- 

 aginary lines, the Californian settlers are 

 slow to allow the erection of storage reser- 

 voirs and irrigating plants which are needed 

 to give the Nevada settlers the water they 

 require. 



Like everything else time will straighten 

 out this difficulty, which is serious enough 

 now, and Nevada will get its water, but 

 the instance as an example of the hin- 

 drances in the way of progress is interest- 

 ing and suggestive. 



Brigham Young's Peaches- 



In connection with the widespread and 

 growing interest in the irrigation of west- 

 ern . lands which, through the energy of 

 the western people and the helpful co- 

 operation of the United States Geological 

 Survey is doing so much to develop the 

 arid lands, the following information which 

 has recently come to light regarding the 

 baginnings of irrigation in Utah, will be 

 of interest: 



About fifty-four years ago the Mormons 

 went into that territory, then dry and un- 

 productive, and immediately "began to im- 

 prove it. They laid out Salt Lake City on 

 a broad and comprehensive plan and, 

 among their very first improvements, in- 

 troduced water from the hills for use in 

 their houses and gardens. Four years 

 after they had become settled, or about 

 the year 1851, President Fillmore sent a 

 party of federal officers to take charge of 

 the territorial government. Among them 

 were the secretary and treasurer of the 

 t erritory, judges of the supreme court and 

 several Indian agents. The wife of the 

 secretary, among many interesting remem- 

 brances of her stay at Salt Lake City, 

 mentions the fact that the irrigating 

 ditches used by the Mormons ran as they 

 still do along the sides of the streets like 

 gutters, and that through them constant 

 streams of clear water were flowing. These 

 ditches furnished the water for the gar- 

 dens about the houses and was diverted 

 wherever each householder needed to use 

 his supply. On one occasion, the secre- 

 tary's wife states, Brigham Young, with 

 much pride, brought her one of the first 

 four peaches which had ripened in his gar- 

 den under irrigation, saying that he wished 

 her to have the honor of eating it. 



Irrigation Means Population. 



The steady, persistent demand for gov- 

 ernment aid to make possible the exten- 

 sion of irrigating systems in the arid West 

 is yearly becoming more arid more uni- 



