174 THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 



tries, where the people have survived the political changes of 

 thousands of years. 



"The irrigation of gardens, vineyards, and fields, is frequently 

 referred to in the Scriptures; one of the earliest books speaks of 

 it, and one of the prophets refers to ' furrows of the plantation.' 

 And so agriculture has continued to the present day, the necessi- 

 ties of the majority of cultivators of the soil in the Eastern Hemis- 

 phere, and the natural opportunities possessed by them, continu- 

 ing to render the system vital to their existence. When the Span- 

 iards occupied the new found continent, they introduced their sys- 

 tem of irrigation wherever the dryness of the climate demanded it. 



"In Chili, Peru, Central America and Mexico, the canals and 

 ditches made by the early Spanish settlers remain, and many are 

 still in use. The systems adopted in California, Texas, New Mex- 

 ico and Colorado are mainly copied from the ancient models. It 

 is hardly necessary to say that these models are not of the best 

 construction, nor at all satisfactory to the engineer of the present 

 day, but they are cheap and easy of construction. The settlement 

 of the drier regions of our territory, adds another instance to those 

 of past history of the reclamation of the deserts by irrigation. It 

 will be of interest to glance over what has already been done in 

 this w r ay, before considering possibilities of the future. The actual 

 history of irrigation in the United States begins with the construc- 

 tion of the Pacific railroads. In the course of a few years, a great 

 impetus was given to the settlement of lands adjacent to the rivers, 

 and which could be brought under irrigation, and several exten- 

 sive works were constructed." 



Here follows an enumeration of many canals of great length, 

 cost and capacity, and their endless adjuncts, by which thousands 

 of acres have been, in the aggregate, reclaimed, and from having 

 been an utter waste made more productive than an equal area in 



