76 THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 



reservoirs, headgates, canals, etc. will be turned over to 

 the owners of the land, the title to the plant still vesting in 

 the Government, to be disposed of by Congress. After the 

 management has been turned over to the land-holders each 

 owner, whether of 40, 80 or 1 60 acres, has one vote, and only 

 one, for determining the policy to be pursued, so that no small 

 holder may be "frozen out" nor the management be seized 

 by the most powerful few. The plan is that of a pure democ- 

 racy, and each share represents a definite tract of land. 



Thus we are the favored ones who find ourselves at the 

 beginning of the new era of irrigation. It is true that the 

 laws of the several states are not all as yet by any means 

 ideal, but the best is being rapidly evolved. The general 

 Government is definitely committed to a gigantic, beneficent 

 and most equitable policy ; the mountain tops and highlands 

 of the Northwest where the rivers originate are henceforth 

 and perpetually to be set aside as reservations ; reservoirs miles 

 in area and hundreds of feet deep are to be built for storing 

 the floods of great rivers ; the water courses of the West are 

 to be diverted to the beneficial use of a mighty population, and 

 a hundred million acres of land as fertile and fruitful as the 

 sun shines upon are to be opened to home-seekers as rapidly 

 as the demand shall justify. Where corporate capital still con- 

 trols the canals the laws of the states will see to it that "water 

 renters" are absolutely secured in their rights, and probability 

 points to the day when all irrigation systems will be in the 

 possession of the people who depend upon them. 



Irrigation reduces agriculture in the semi-arid portions of 

 this country to a scientific certainty. The irrigator argues 

 that, besides being more satisfactory, his water supply is 

 cheaper than natural rainfall. He calls attention to the fre- 



