THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



129 



irrigation tabled. The irrigation men are 

 working equally as hard; consequently a 

 fight is on, with the odds against irrigation. 

 Considering that appropriations are asked 

 for the improvement and navigation of 

 little creeks that are not even on the map, 

 it would seem that the rivers and harbors 

 bill might wait awhile, as irrigation is most 

 needed. 



President Roosevelt says that the gov- 

 ernment should construct and maintain 

 reservoirs to preserve the flood waters of 

 the streams, to be used when necessary for 

 supplying moisture to the growing crops 

 It is true that there are millions of acres 

 that would never yield anything, even un- 

 der the most favorable methods of irriga- 

 tion, but there are even more acres that 

 will yield bountifully and we mast have 

 them. Drovers' Journal. 



IRRIGATION IN THE UNITED 

 STATES. 



By FREDERICK HAYNES NEWELL, Chief 

 of Division of Hydrography of the United 

 States Geological Survey. With 156 illus- 

 trations maps, drawings and half-tones; 

 566 pages, with index, 12mo. $2 net (post- 

 age, 20 cents). Copies supplied by THE 

 IRRIGATION AGE. 



The era of fairy tales and wonder work- 

 ing is not yet past. The magician's wand 

 which made oases in the desert is being 

 grasped by the hands of that very vague 

 but real personage we affectionately style 

 "Uncle Sam," and he is urged to wield it 

 vigorsusly over the arid plains of the far 

 West. Already miracles have been wrought, 

 and who can tell what further marvels 

 await the magic touch? 



Probably the average citizen of this 

 country would be surprised to learn that 

 two-fifths of our national territory is al- 

 most unknewn, and yet remains to be de- 

 veloped and made habitable. We have 

 been so intent on legislating good harbors 

 and waterways into existence, and in ex- 

 ternal territorial expansion, that we have 

 not paid commensurate attention to the 



great problem of putting to use the vast 

 resources of the West. Although a be- 

 ginning has been made in the way of rec- 

 lamation of the arid lands by irrigation, 

 the greater part of the work remains to be 

 done. 



In line with this question, Mr. Newell'a 

 book is timely. He is one of the most ca- 

 pable writers of such a work in this coun- 

 try, his long official and practical experi- 

 ence giving him authority in his utter- 

 ances. But he has not brought together 

 the abundance of material here presented 

 into a dry.'technical treatise the typical 

 flavor of a government report. Instead, 

 he has given a lucid, comprehensive and 

 entertaining study of some five hundred 

 pages, which commands attention from 

 start to finish, and leaves the reader with a 

 much better idea of a great problem than 

 he could possibly get in the same length of 

 time elsewhere. He has wrilten clearly 

 and simply, avoiding technical terms, of 

 the problems of home-making in the des- 

 ert, showing what has been done in certain 

 regions and what will e done in others. 

 Home-seekers will thus find the work of 

 the most immediate utility. They will be 

 made acquainted with the amount and 

 desirability of the public land, the natural 

 resources of particular territories and the 

 probable line of development to be pur- 

 sued. A. somewhat elementary and popu- 

 lar description of irrigation and of the de- 

 vices for obtaining and distributing water 

 is given, including details of interest to 

 persons who are beginning to give atten- 

 tion to the subject. More space is devoted 

 to the crude, but effective, home-made con- 

 trivances than to the elaborate or expen- 

 sive machinery purchased from manufac- 

 turers, for the success of irrigation de- 

 pends most largely upon the rough-and- 

 ready ingenuity of the first settlers in a 

 new country in adapting their ways to the 

 environment. 



Not alone to the home-seeker is thi& 

 work valuable. One of the most moment 



