THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



305 



least one-half will go to the western third 

 of our country. 



As to the constitutional right of our 

 government to own and control these irri- 

 gation works, the President says: "The 

 storage of flood and storm waters at the 

 heads of our rivers is but an enlargement 

 of our present policy of river control un- 

 der which levees are built on the lower 

 reaches of these same rivers." 



If the government cannot maintain 

 these various forms of activity, it could 

 not vote the money for the relief of the 

 sufferers at Martinique, it could not on the 

 plea of violated humanity intervene be- 

 tween Cuba and the tyrannical rule of 

 Spain on that island, thus if our govern- 

 ment could do these things which 

 are for the public benefit, and which tend 

 to maintain the respect held for our gov- 

 ernment abroad, can it not do this for our 

 own interests? 



For the general government to provide 

 means of irrigating the 'arid lands which 

 it offers for sale to actual settlers, is in 

 harmony, not only with a wise business 

 policy, viewed from the standpoint of dol- 

 lars and cents and the public treasury, but 

 it is in line with the experience and his- 

 tory of those states and countries whose 

 dry climates and productive soils have 

 made irrigation necessary for the greatest 

 and most complete national development. 

 ALFRED C. NORTH in the Press and 

 Horticulturtet. 



IRRIGATION WORK IS BEGUN. 

 From Sterling, Colo., comes the report 

 that a large corps of government surveyors 

 have begun making a preliminary survey 

 for a ditch to carry water from the Platte 

 river to the great Pawnee irrigation res- 

 ervoir, which it is believed the govern- 

 ment will build- It will require from two 



to three weeks to complete the survey, and 

 it is estimated the cost of the ditch will be 

 fully $1,000,000. The ditch will be 70 

 miles long, 6 feet deep, 50 feet wide at the 

 bottom and 75 feet wide at the top. 



52,622 FARMS IN SOUTH DAKOTA. 



The census bureau has made public a 

 bulletin on agriculture in South Dakota. 

 It shows that in the census year 1900 

 there were 52,622 farms in the state valued 

 at $220,133,190, and covering an area of 

 19,070,616 acres, or about 39 per cent of 

 the total area of the state. The live stock 

 held on the farms is valued at $65,173,432 

 and farm machinery $12,218,680, making 

 the total value of farm property for the 

 state $297, 595,302. 



The report places the value of farm 

 products for 1899 at $66.082,419, of which 

 $21,906,804 goes to the credit of the live 

 stock product. 



KNIGHTS PYTHIAS BIENNIAL MEET- 

 ING. 



For this gathering in San Francisco in 

 August next excursion tickets will be Bold 

 via the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 

 Ky. from Chicago to San Francisco or Los 

 Angeles for $50 for the round trip with 

 final return limit September 30. 



The "Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul" 

 railway is the Short Line between Chicago 

 and Omaha. Two through trains daily in 

 each direction with the best Sleeping Car 

 and Dining Car Service, and all regular 

 travelers know and appreciate the merits 

 of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 

 Railway's Short Line between the East 

 and the West. 



Time tables, maps and information fur- 

 nished on application to F. A. Miller, 

 General Passenger Agent, Chicago. 



