212 



THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



the absorption. Here are the consequences of this ab- 

 sorptive power. 



When earths absorb oxygen, they give it up un- 

 changed. But when humus absorbs oxygen, one por- 

 tion of that combines with its carbon, producing car- 

 bonic acid, which decomposes silicates, and a second 

 portion of the oxygen combines with the hydrogen of 

 the humus and produces water. Hence, in a dry 

 season well manured soils, or those abounding in humus, 

 suffer very little. 



The evaporation from an acre -of fresh-ploughed 

 land is equal to 950 pounds per hour; this is the great- 

 est for the first and second days, ceases about the fifth 

 day, and begins again by hoeing, while, at the same 

 time, the unbroken ground affords no trace of moisture. 

 This evaporation is equal to that which follows after 

 copious rains. These are highly practical facts, and 

 teach the necessity of frequent stirring of the soil in 

 the dry season. Where manure or humus is lying in 

 the soil, the evaporation from an acre equals 5,000 

 pounds per hour. At 2,000 pounds of water per hour, 

 the evaporation would amount in 92 days, that is, a 

 growing season, to 2,208,000 pounds, an enormous 

 quantity of water, too much to be permitted, however 

 beneficial that evaporation may be. It is true that thi- 

 evaporation is charged with carbonic acid, and acts on 

 the silicates, eliminates alkalies, waters and feeds 

 plants, but where irrigation is practiced, the evapora- 

 tion is carried on with as good an effect beneath a mulch 

 of finely pulverized soil through which it penetrates, if 

 the land is properly prepared for and tilled after the 

 application of water. This is a subject which demands 

 careful study, so that the laws of nature may be as 

 rigorously enforced when man takes them under his con- 

 trol, otherwise, there will always be failure. How to 

 enforce those laws without doing violence to the prin- 

 ciples which underlie them, is matter which will be 

 fully treated in future chapters. 



In concluding this chapter, it is deemed proper to 

 call the attention of the reader to this maxim which 

 should never be forgotten: It is not the plants grown 

 in a soil that exhaust it, but those removed from it. 

 It is an undeniable fact, that the growth of plants in 

 any soil is beneficial, inasmuch as it brings into play 

 the forces of nature which are in constant motion to- 

 ward increase through fertility. For ages, the great 

 prairies of the West, and also the so-called "arid, and 

 semi-arid" lands have been storing up humus which 

 now needs but the application of water to convert them 

 into lands that will laugh with rich harvests. Plant 

 life has, for centuries, sprung into existence, reached 

 maturity, and decayed, going back into the soil, with no 

 hand to remove it. The consequence is, all these lands 

 are rich in suits and humus, and it is left for the man 

 with the ditch to add moisture, open the soil and admit 

 oxygen to the seeds he plants, so that they shall be fed 

 up to perfection and enable him to reap a glorious har- 

 vest. 



The laws of nature are the same in this regard as to 

 the man who looks to the heavens for his inconstant 

 rainfall. There is for him to consider in the lands un- 

 der ditch, that all soil has four important functions to 

 perform, which are: 



First. It upholds the plant, affording it a sure 

 and safe anchorage. 



Second. It absorbs water, air and heat to promote 

 its growth. These are the mechanical and physical func- 

 tions of the soil. 



Third. It contains and supplies to the plant both 

 organic and inorganic food as its wants require; and 



Fourth. It is a workshop in which, by the aid of 

 air and moisture, chemical changes are continually going 

 on; by which changes these several kinds of foods are 

 prepared for admission into the living roots. 



These are its chemical functions. They all are the 

 law and the gospel of agriculture, and all the operations 

 of the farmer are intended to aid the soil in the per- 

 formance of one or the other of these functions. 



H. C. HANSBROUGH. 

 U. S. Senator. 



THE REDEMPTION OF A HUNDRED MILLIONS. 



BY U. S. SENATOR H. C. HANSBROUGH. OF NORTH DAKOTA, 

 THE FATHER OF THE IRRIGATION LAW. 



Irrigation will play a great 

 part in settling the West, and 

 will bring much of its waste 

 lands and all of its waste water 

 into use. 



Under the national irrigation 

 law, enacted justa year ago, I be- 

 lieve that fully 60^000,000 acres, 

 or about ten per cent of the pres- 

 ent public domain area, will be 

 reclaimed; but it will require at 

 least forty years' time in which 

 to do it. This means homes for 

 about two millions of people on 

 the farms, and half as many more 

 in the cities, villages and hamlets. During the same 

 time private enterprise will reclaim 40,000,000 acres, 

 which would afford homes and employment for an 

 additional two millions of people; or 100,000,000 acres 

 of reclamation and five millions of population in some- 

 thing less than half a century. 



It is difficult to estimate the value of this new real 

 property, with its personalty, but it cannot be an ex- 

 aggeration to say that it would amount to at least 

 $5,000,000,000. The work thus far under the new law 

 has been wholly of a preliminary nature. It is expected 

 that the Secretary of the Interior will soon announce 

 the location and character of the first enterprises to 

 be entered upon. This announcement will be in the 

 nature of a proclamation withdrawing from entry the 

 lands to be irrigated, that is, withdrawing them from 

 entry under any of the land laws except the irrigation 

 act. Under this act the entryman must have all the 

 qualifications of a homesteader, and among other things 

 must contract to pay, in not less than ten installments, 

 his pro rata share of the cost of the works by which 

 he is to be supplied with water He must also live upon 

 and cultivate the land. The law is thoroughly safe- 

 guarded so as to prevent speculation. 



In framing their constitutions nearly all the West- 

 ern States inserted the most stringent provisions as re- 

 spects the control of streams, and nobody expects the 

 Secretary of the Interior to have an easy time of it 

 adjusting disputes that must necessarily arise. Un- 

 doubtedly the federal Supreme Court must pass upon 

 many of the controversies before orderly progress is 

 assured. No doubt if some of the states were to amend 

 their organic laws they would be much more liberal. 

 Under the law all irrigation works are in time to be 

 turned over to the people. Thus will wealth be added 

 to the state, and the newly-created property pa=s event- 

 ually under the complete control of the state. 



