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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS. 



A correspondent at Wichita Falls, Texas, has the 

 following to say concerning the possibilities of this 

 growing town. He says in part: This is an ideal town 

 for the employment of the principles of civic pride. 

 A magnificent lake lies near by. Its water is brought 

 by an irrigation canal to the city. It can not be said 

 that the people of Wichita Falls are using as they 

 should the waters of this lake, the best gift of nature, 

 for the adornment of their homes and surroundings. 

 It is true that strangers often see in towns and cities 

 neglected opportunities and advantages. It is true, too, 

 that strangers judge a town and its people by the ap- 

 pearance of their homes and surroundings. The oppor- 

 tunities of Wichita Falls are greater, perhaps, than very 

 many of the towns of Texas. Natural advantages do 

 not always count in the progress of a community, but 

 any town that possesses such advantages is considered 

 fortunate. 



The people of this section until very recently have 

 been completely wedded to the one-crop idea. The dis- 

 cussions in The Age of diversified farming and the 

 advantages of irrigation have changed the views of 

 many, and it is believed that the time of 1,000-acre 

 wheat fields is near an end. Instead, many now discuss 

 the advantages of the ten-acre patch under irrigation. 

 The growing of sugar corn, Irish potatoes, melons, 

 onions and vegetables of every kind is not in the exper- 

 imental stage at Wichita Falls. This was tried last fall 

 by many people in the town, who used from the city 

 waterworks the water from Lake Wichita, with most sat- 

 isfactory results. 



Wichita Falls presents a rich and inviting field for 

 the wide-awake nurseryman. Thousands, yes, tens of 

 thousands of trees and vines should be planted all over 

 the town. The soil is rich and deep, and with sand 

 enough to be most congenial to plant life. The waters 

 of the lake are abundant, and for irrigation are abso- 

 lutely free of objectionable qualities. 



As I look around me here and think of the possi- 

 bilities of beauty and adornment I can not help but 

 mourn that many are wasting opportunities that the 

 passing of time will render it impossible for them ever 

 to enjoy. Shade trees, green grass and lovely flowers 

 are now within the reach of all, and would transform 

 this city into a place of great beauty. The large court- 

 house square, with shade trees, well-kept lawns and 

 comfortable seats placed in the shady nooks, would be 

 a most inviting place as the summer sun warms up the 

 town. 



The season of fishing is not yet at hand, but the 

 black bass are growing fat in the big lake. The tales 

 of fishing sport are heard about, and the boating pleas- 

 ures for summer are discussed. 



Thousands of ducks and geese have found a winter 

 home upon the lake. Wheat fields extend to the very 

 water's edge, furnishing the necessary food for the 

 ducks and geese. 



While the thoughts of home adornment and civic 

 pride are centered in the big irrigation lake, it is looked 

 to as the source from which may be expected much last- 

 ing good for the country. It is known that in Colorado, 

 not far away, the truck farmers are growing rich; that 

 the cantaloupe plat, the onion field, the cabbage ground, 

 the berry patch, all produce annually returns of several 



hundred dollars per acre. The people marvel, why 

 has not irrigation been tried sooner? It has always 

 rained as it does now. There have been annual floods 

 and certain drouths, and truck patches have been with- 

 ered and seared by the hot July sun ever since the 

 waters of the Wichita flowed within its banks. The 

 thoughtless ones, and the. strangers, too, look out on 

 the muddy fields and wonder what all this talk of irri- 

 gation is about. The knowing ones go on their way. and 

 figure that the season of sunshine and drouth is sure 

 to come again. 



It has required a great deal of money to construct 

 the big irrigation dam, more than a mile and a half 

 long, but it has formed a lake more than three miles 

 wide and stretching far back up stream. The dam 

 forms the barrier to the escape of the storm waters of 

 a large section of country, and a lake is made covering, 

 more than 2,600 acres of land. Below the lake stretch 

 out the valleys of the Wichita; irrigation ditches con- 

 duct the water upon these lands. A great object lesson 

 is being taught. The value of storm waters has been 

 shown, and the proof given that all over Texas, its 

 creeks and rivers carry away and waste in the sea a 

 wealth of water that figures in the millions as an annual 

 loss to the growth of crops. 



It is not profitable to despair over what has gone. 

 To the present and the coming generations in Texas 

 there are and will be opportunities as great as those of 

 the past, and not least among the chances, profitable gar- 

 dening, fruit growing and farming by means of irriga- 

 tion. With water, work and sunshine, there is no end 

 to the value of the production of land. There is a pleas- 

 ure in a work that nature gives its rewards in proportion 

 to the labor done. This is true of the irrigation farm- 

 er's toil; his hands are full of remunerative work and 

 he is the happiest of all men. The farmer who irrigates 

 is master of the seasons, and can plant and grow his 

 crops at will, fearing nothing except the winter frosts. 



The lands under irrigation at Wichita Falls will 

 afford, perhaps, the best place in the State for the prac- 

 tical truck grower and crop diversifier. The railroad fa- 

 cilities for handling crops are first-class, the climate is 

 fine, the seasons are long, and every condition favorable 

 for success exists. 



The profits of farming by irrigation are so sure 

 that the farmer feels able to give his children the ad- 

 vantages of a good education. He surrounds his home 

 with green grass, shade and fruit trees; he adorns it 

 with beautiful flowers and provides it with the comforts 

 of life. Home happiness comes to the wife and little 

 ones. Children raised in the midst of such surround- 

 ings grow to be strong, intellectual men and women. 

 The day will come, and it is not far distant, when coun- 

 try life and the profit of farming will call, from choice, 

 thousands of the best young men and women from our 

 now overcrowded cities. Diversified crops, intense farm- 

 ing done by labor, not by machinery, and irrigation will 

 do their part. 



You may know a man's principles by the things 

 he has an interest in. 



Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE 

 for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money 

 order for $1.00. 



