202 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



business activity or the emoluments to which he feels 

 his talents entitle him. Good management is such an 

 essential part of successful agriculture under irrigation 

 that, though his acres be few, the owner of a ranch may 

 employ his time profitably in overseeing the work rather 

 than in bending his back to the toil of the field. He 

 may find plenty to do in planning his crops, directing 

 the work and marketing his produce. 



On the other hand, a ranchman devoting himself 

 single-handed to some such specialty as clover seed, sheep 

 or hogs fed on alfalfa of his own growing, with a little 

 grain from his own fields to balance the ration, can 

 perform prodigious tasks and reap a munificent reward 

 at selling time. The variety of crops that may be grown 

 and the multitude of things that may be done with an 

 irrigated farm to bring in a profit, supply the longing 

 of people with widely different tastes. Even the man 

 or woman with an acre or two may have poultry and 

 small fruits and win a profit by carefully directed in- 

 dustry and intelligent marketing. 



Such facts as these are becoming more and more 

 patent to tradespeople and professional men who find 

 the routine of their work irksome and nerve-racking. 

 Agriculture in all its branches now calls for scientific 

 knowledge. The old way has given place to a new and 

 better way, which under irrigation is a sure way. The 

 ambitious man finds in irrigated agriculture a field for 

 his ambitions. If one's real object is a home and a 

 living for his family, he may place himself beyond the 

 reach of competition upon an irrigated ranch. Under 

 the easy payment plan generally in vogue in newly irri- 

 gated regions the man of small means has his oppor- 

 tunity. By making a careful choice of location, buying 

 where the soil and climate are good and the water supply 

 abundant, dealing only with responsible people, success 

 is almost certain to follow his venture. 



Unfortunately the splendid results which follow in- 

 telligent irrigation have attracted the fly-by-night class 

 who inhabit the business world. These vampires take 

 advantage of the eagerness of people to acquire irrigated 

 farms. They offer as irrigated land those tracts usually 

 which lie close to well known irrigated districts, though 

 the possibility of watering them may be entirely hope- 

 less. It is regrettable that this warning is necessary, 

 but pick pockets go with the crowd, and the presence of 

 those who would profit unworthily serves to emphasize 

 the great strides which irrigation is making. There is 

 still plenty of room in the irrigation band wagon and 

 whoever gets aboard is assuredly on the way to pros- 

 perity. 



The signing of the Reclamation Act by 

 "The Best." President Roosevelt on June 17, 1902, not 



only started the Government machinery 

 upon irrigation works of great magnitude, but gave new 

 courage to private enterprise. In many instances pri- 



vate capital has outstripped the Government in the suc- 

 cess of its undertakings. We .do not have to go far for 

 the reason. Uncle Sam is a poor business man. He 

 always has been. His chief quality is determination. 

 He generally accomplishes what he starts out to do, 

 cost what it may. So he builds irrigating systems and, 

 sooner or later, generally later, gets them done. The 

 land under the system pays the price, no matter what 

 it may be. 



A great error was committed in attempting to apply 

 an old law to new conditions. The Homestead law has 

 been made to apply to the settlement of new lands under 

 the irrigating projects of the Government. Failures 

 have resulted in many instances. The writer has the 

 report, at second hand only, that a Government official 

 connected with the Reclamation Service has confessed 

 to a general feeling in the service that the Government 

 would have to colonize these tracts three times before 

 the settlers would stick. The first settlers are reported 

 moving away from certain projects, having gone to the 

 limit of their endurance of adverse conditions. 



The settlement of irrigated lands under the strictly 

 Government projects is not a poor man's proposition, 

 and a well-to-do man will not go in where he must bind 

 himself to five years residence on his land and ten years 

 of payments before patent will be granted him. If the 

 poor man, who may have just enough money to carry 

 him through one season, is disappointed in the delivery 

 of water, as has been the case, he stands to lose all his 

 investment. He cannot leave his land without impair- 

 ing the title or wholly forfeiting his right to it. With- 

 out water he can raise nothing of enough value to com- 

 pensate him even meagerly for the effort of planting 

 and harvesting. He cannot borrow money on his land 

 for the title is not his until ten years have elapsed. Men 

 of means will not go into the Government zones of irri- 

 gation on new lands, because there are opportunities so 

 much better to be had. They do not want to settle 

 among the shacks of a disappointed population. The 

 law does not seem to have enough humanity in it to 

 apply successfully to the conditions that have arisen 

 under Government irrigation. Although a man may 

 improve handsomely his entire farm, still he must live 

 on and on, tied to his property for five years, and then 

 he must complete the payments for the ten years. 



The Carey Act, on the other hand, was framed with 

 the new conditions understood and appreciated. The 

 improvement of the land was the first thing sought. 

 While giving a settler an abundance of time in which to 

 get established, it recognized the fact that it is irksome 

 to any man to be tied down for a period of years in one 

 spot. The best of us would grow impatient with such 

 an obligation hanging over us. In most of the states 

 where the Carey Act applies, if a man reclaims one- 

 eighth of his land by irrigation and planting a useful 



