THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



49 



CANYON LANDS NEBRASKA. 



[See Illustration.] 



Nebraska is not a new state, yet settlement is barely 

 started. As many more people could go into the state 

 as are there today, and if it were not for the census 

 enumerator it would hardly be noticed that- any increase 

 had been made. There are thousands of acres in the 

 State without a settler. Yet finer grazing lands have 

 never been located than these same acres. They have 

 been passed over during the rushes of the past because 

 lands were looked for which could be farmed as the 

 lands of Illinois, Michigan and Ohio were farmed. 



That greater wealth could be produced from these 

 grazing lands, through the intelligent handling of stock, 

 than was ever dreamed of in farming, did not occur 

 to these early seekers of homes. They were following 

 in the beaten paths marked out by their fathers. The 

 only piirpose they conceived for which the land was 

 created was to raise corn, wheat, oats, and rye, and 

 where these things could not be raised, to their notion 

 the land was worthless. 



As time passed on these people, who sought to con- 

 vert the wild lands of the West into growing fields of 

 corn and wheat, gave up their missionary labors. Many 

 of them returned to the place from whence they came, 

 with their original capital converted into experience, 

 while others learned the lessons which nature taught. 

 They understood that these plains were created as the 

 basis for the meat supply of the country, and lost no 

 time putting into effect their newly acquired informa- 

 tion. These people can yet be found in all portions 

 of the Great" West, and without exception they are 

 prosperousj They are the most enthusiastic boomers 

 the country has. They know, for they have passed 

 through all the trials, and there is nothing like exper- 

 ience to convince one of an error. 



Nebraska opportunities are being made known. 

 Many people from Iowa, Illinois and other states have 

 been investigating western Nebraska, and particularly 

 along the Union Pacific Railway line. 



WINDMILL AS A CIVILIZER. 



Appliances for Irrigation The Rain-Makers Must Go 

 Utilization of Windmills to Provide Power 



Their Uses on the Farm. 



The time was when a windmill was a curiosity. 

 Occasionally some crude affair would be found in some 

 localities, an imitation of those used in Europe, the 

 miller and his family occupying a tower, with great 

 arms extending from the tower to receive the force of 

 the mill, and the wheat being ground on the lower floor 

 in all seasons. The progressive spirit of the Americans, 

 which allows no escape from enterprise, reached into 

 the domain of windmills, however, and gradually 

 changed the entire method of construction and use. 

 To-day the windmill is seen on all farms where progress 

 and intelligence rule, and it is as much the portion of 

 the complement of the well-regulated farm as the wagon, 

 the reaper or the harrow, being, in fact, an indispensable 

 adjunct to success. 



Perhaps we might safely assert, without exa-gger- 

 ation, that the windmill can be applied to a greater 

 number of uses than almost any other appliance that can 

 be attached to the farm. It is restricted to no section, 

 and is as serviceable on a small plot, proportionately, 

 as on the largest farm. It is the "general servant" of 

 the farmer, faithful at all times, working at all hours, 

 day and night, and tirelessly performing its duty without 

 the necessity of an engineer, driver or guide. It entails 

 literally no cost for labor, seldom requires repairing and 

 stands at its post of duty like a sentinel on guard 

 during all seasons to assist the farmer and lessen his 

 work. It fills his reservoirs, supplies an abundance for 

 stock, and also provides water for household of the 

 purest kind to be had ; gives power for its grinding mills, 

 and may even be made to light his house with electricity. 

 It is a source of wealth, and its application to service 

 is almost without limit. 



Geared mills are the power producers. While we 

 must give some consideration to the pumping of water, 

 it is with due regard to the new fields now opening for 

 windmills. But the real labor-saving windmill is that 

 which is geared, and which can cut the feed, grind the 

 grain, reduce the straw, hay, etc., to shreds, and sarve 

 time and labor of both men and teams. The farmer who 

 drives miles to have his feed ground allows others to do 

 for him what Nature volunteers to perform without cost ; 

 and incurs an expense for hauling and labor of himself 

 and his animals when he can, at all times, under shelter, 

 and at all seasons of the year, do for himself by using 

 the untaxed forces of Nature, which are free and without 

 price to all who will avail themselves of the opportunities 

 offered. The cheapest, easiest and most feasible appli- 

 ance of power is the geared windmill. 



The windmill also brings into requisition other im- 

 plements and appliances, for every farmer who has a 

 windmill seeks to derive the greatest benefit from its 



