THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 173 



vent penetration of the frost to the depth to which they descend 

 under existing conditions. That the reserve coming of melting 

 ices and snows would prove efficient for this purpose if halted, 

 held back and permitted to find their w r ay into the valleys through 

 the soils of this vast region, rather than over and along them as 

 hitherto, there is no doubt in our mind. Deep trenching would 

 doubtless become necessary, since to drop the waters below the 

 frost line it would perhaps become imperative to sink the trenches 

 to a depth of five or six feet. That this work will be done at a 

 comparatively early day we have but little doubt. A few acres 

 deep trenched upon the treeless mountain sides of Montana, Da- 

 kota or Wyoming, would tell the story. In this way, and this only, 

 can forest and fruit trees be grown and the prairies, plains, valleys 

 and mountain sides be clothed with that wilderness of wealth found 

 primeval in the Atlantic regions, and indispensable to permanent 

 prosperity. 



But here comes in the question, who shall begin the work, or, 

 once begun, by whom or by what means shall it be pushed forward ? 

 That the United States Government, cooperated with and aided 

 by great railroad companies, to which grants have been made of 

 lands so extensive as to appear to the ordinary observer acts of 

 prodigality, should enter at once upon the work of reclaiming the 

 desert, is so evident as to scarcely call for argument. In Mr. 

 Stewart's book, page 166, from which we again quote, is found the 

 following: 



" Irrigation of land is an art that has existed for many centuries 

 previous to any authentic written history. The traditions of the 

 Chinese people are very ancient, and irrigation is mentioned in 

 their earliest history, as extensively practiced. In Egypt, Syria, 

 and the ancient kingdoms of Eastern Asia, agriculture depended 

 almost wholly upon irrigation, and still so depends in these (oun- 



