THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



the flood water until the irrigator has use for it. We 

 wish this were the case; that the sand hills of western 

 Nebraska, the bad lands of the Dakota-s, Wyoming and 

 Colorado, the deserts of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada 

 and California, the high table lands of Idaho and 

 Montana, and the entire mountain region could all be 

 brought under irrigation and cultivation. After the 

 water resources of the West have all been utilized there 

 will be 250.000,000 acres of land which cannot be re- 

 claimed, and which has no great value for mining, tim- 

 ber or for agriculture. It may be possible to reclaim 

 50,000,000 acres of arid land along our streams; this 

 remains to be seen. What shall be done with the 250,- 

 000,000 acres of public lands which can never b'e irri- 

 gated and which are now of value only to those inter- 

 ested in the growing of live stock? That difficulties 

 will arise regarding the division of this land among 

 the owners of flocks and herds has already been demon- 

 strated by experience that has been disastrous to many 

 homes and has reflected but little credit on the dispo- 

 sition of the government toward the management of 

 this valuable property. 



Several large and influential stockmen can monopo- 

 lize the range in their own vicinity and by employing 

 numerous men in the management of their interests 

 control local politics and policies to such am extent that 

 they can stifle any move looking toward a definite divi- 

 sion of the range which would give smaller concerns 

 opportunities equal to their own. The same element 

 in irrigation matters that labors to defer the final set- 

 tlement of rights to use water. The range problems, 

 however, should be much easier to settle since no thM 

 party is, as a rule, interested in a continuation of the 

 strife and litigation. 



We must recognize that while much is to be ac- 

 complished through the irrigation of arable lands in 

 the West, that there has already grown up one of tlw 

 most prosperous and profitable industries of the coun- 

 try owing to the grazing value of large areas of the 

 public domain. This industry needs encouragement, 

 and those engaged jn it should have the protection of 

 the government as\rar as it is possible for this to 

 be extended. It is not a credit to the government 

 or our land office officials to permit a continuance of 

 the strife which now exists. If a leasing system can 

 be adopted which will prevent range troubles and at 

 the same time limit monopolies in land which are now 

 common, although not recognized by law, it should at 

 least be given a trial. If, as has been suggested, a 

 local option law were to be made effective it would 

 be left with the livestock interests of each community 

 as to whether the range should be divided or not. 



It should always be borne in mind that the grazing 

 area will always be in excess of the irrigated area: 

 that a family can live comfortably on from forty to 

 160 acres of irrigated land depending on soil and cli- 



mate; that it requires from four to forty acres of graz- 

 ing land to support a single steer. Should not the 

 two kinds of lands be classified and disposed of under 

 such restrictions that the people would derive the most 

 from them and the strife on the range be brought to 

 a close? 



In defending its stand on irrigation matters and 

 the problems of the open range the Rocky Mountain 

 Husbandman, of Montana-, makes the following state- 

 ment concerning the papers of the state, while criticiz- 

 ing an article which appeared in the San Francisco 

 Chronicle, condemning 'a certain agent of the trans- 

 continental railways : "Before these declarations can 

 be made to carry any weight with them it would first 

 be necessary to know whose utterances they are, who 

 owns the San Francisco Chronicle. We know that here 

 in Montana all the daily papers are owned by three 

 concerns, The Amalgamated Copper Company, W. A. 

 Clark and the Great Northern and Northern Pacific 

 Railway Companies, and their utterances are made in 

 accordance with their interests." It would seem, under 

 such conditions, that the Husbandman should endeavor 

 to represent the farming and stock interests in an in- 

 dependent and fearless manner. We believe that this 

 it will do, and that sooner or later, the campaign against 

 reform in irrigation law and in the disposition of the 

 public lands now. being waged will show that only selfish 

 motives are at the bottom, and that Montana must pro- 

 tect the irrigator and the stockman or these industries 

 will suffer to such an extent that here will be no demand 

 for a purely agriculural paper along the upper Missouri. 



IRRIGATION IN NORTH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. 



One of the large irrigating ditches near Stockton, 

 Cal., is the one. known as the Woodbridge canal, which 

 waters 30,000 acres of land. The land under the ditch 

 is exceedingly productive when plenty of water is ap- 

 plied. Each season three to five crops of alfalfa are 

 harvested, the average yield for each crop being from 

 one to one and one-half tons per acre. The method 

 of irrigating alfalfa fields is to flood at a depth of 

 two to three inches a-fter each cutting. 



This region is celebrated for its fruit plantations. 

 Pears, plums, peaches, prunes, oranges, all do well. 

 The orchardists in that country are experts at caring 

 for trees, which are given frequent and constant cul- 

 tivation. Not a weed is allowed to develop and the 

 trees are sprayed regularly and in every way given the 

 best of attention. The fruit trees are watered by 

 canals and wells. There seems to be an inexhaustible 

 supply of water underlying all this region. It is made 

 available by boring wells from 40 to 120 feet deep, and 

 eight to ten inches in diameter. These adequately sup- 

 ply pumns with a: capacity of 1,000 to 1,500 gallons 

 per minute. This amount of water is sufficient to 

 irrigate eighty acres of orchards or vineyards. The 

 pumps are run by gasoline or steam. When land can- 

 not be had adjacent to a canal, a pumping plant can 

 be put on each farm at no very great expense. 



