36 WESTERN SUPREMACY. 



sunk in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado. 

 Ultimately mountain torrents will be utilized for irri- 

 gation by means of great reservoirs and canals. 

 Already more than 6,000,000 acres have been redeemed 

 by such means and are now under cultivation. Major 

 J. W. Powell, Director of the U. S. Geological Survey, 

 has been engaged for more than twenty years in investi- 

 gating the resources of the West and has commanded 

 the best facilities for acquiring scientific knowledge of 

 that region. This highest authority says: ^ "Arid lands 

 are not lands of famine, and the sunny sky is not a 

 firmament of devastation. Conquered rivers are better 

 servants than wild clouds. The valleys and plains of 

 the far West have all the elements of fertility that soil 

 can have Abundant water and abundant sun- 

 shine are the chief conditions for vigorous plant growth, 

 and that agriculture is the most successful which best 

 secures these twin primal conditions; and they are 

 obtained in the highest degree in lands watered by 

 streams and domed by clear skies. For these reasons 

 the arid lands are more productive under high cultiva- 

 tion than humid lands. The wheat fields of the 

 desert, the corn fields, the vineyards, the orchards and 

 the gardens of the far West far surpass those of the 



East in luxuriance and productiveness The arid 



lands of the West .... are the best agricultural 

 lands of the continent." 



The total area of arid lands in the United States is 

 1,331,151 square miles, of which some 258,000 square 

 miles are timbered lands. Much of the arid region is 

 rich in minerals and much of it affords fine pasturage, 

 while about 120,000,000 acres are capable of being 

 redeemed for agriculture by irrigation. Major Powell 

 says, " It has been fully demonstrated that the redemp- 

 tion of these lands is profitable to capital and labor." 

 When the waters are stored in the mountain lakes, and 

 the canals are constructed to carry them to the lands 



J The Century tor March, 1890, 



