314 



THE IEEIGATION AGE. 



compelled other nations to bestow upon the subject the 

 consideration due only to the gravest matters of human 

 concern." 



Thus are the earliest predictions and warnings of 

 the officers of the government, so long scorned by the 

 pioneer and early inhabitant of the Great Plains Area, 

 later put into effect so generously and so successfully 

 in western Kansas, the cause of a high state of develop- 

 ment today and the precursor of marked progress in 

 state forestry particularly. 



Where once was this waste of dry land, this desolate 

 relict of the "boom," this country with little promise 

 left, is now a mighty empire. The Arkansas Valley west 

 of the one hundredth meridian, with Garden City as its 

 capital, in Hamilton, Kearney and Finney counties, 

 Kansas, averages about three miles in width. About 

 100,000 acres of land are therein contained. No body 

 of land on earth is better, given the water that is now 

 and is about to be available. Canals and irrigation 

 ditches now irrigate completely more than 15,000 acres 

 of this land. The ditches which Mr. Newell says went 

 to waste became dried streaks upon the level of the 

 country are now running with water. Even in winter 

 months the lands are being drenched at intervals, for 

 at last western Kansas has come to the greatest irriga- 

 tion of all winter irrigation. This saves at least one- 

 third the water, and it saves time and labor in the 

 spring and summer. An acre of land thoroughly soaked 

 in the winter months, when water is available and man 

 not so busy, is ready for the seeding in the spring, is 

 easy of preparation, and the crop begins to grow at 

 once without the added water for perhaps several 

 months. Then when the dry spell begins, and water is 

 scarce, and everyone wants it, not so much is required. 

 It was only this year, under the force exerted by the 

 preachers of the Department of Agriculture throughout 

 the upper valley, and of some of the older and some of 

 the younger men who have seen the effects in Colorado, 

 that this system of winter irrigation began. The news- 

 papers printed at Garden City have advocated for 

 the past year, persistently and continuously, this policy 

 which just over the line has demonstrated its effective- 

 ness over and over again. 



Besides the 100,000 acres in the Arkansas valley 

 proper, there are the nearby uplands, comprising some 

 75,000 acres, and of these fully 25,000 are under irri- 

 gation. This makes a total of 40,000 acres, valley and 

 nearby upland, irrigated, out of a grand total acreage 

 of 175,000. And this is being yearly increased, this 

 percentage. 



Nearby and north of Garden City lies another 

 mighty domain known as the "shallow water area." 

 Water here lies from ten to twenty feet below the sur- 

 face, and the lands are already cultivated and have on 

 them prosperous homes and happy families. The advent 

 of the new railroads will still further enhance the value 

 and prosperity of these acres. 



Alfalfa and su?ar beets are the great products of 

 the country west of the one hundredth meridian in the 

 Arkansas valley country. The Garden City reclamation 

 project of the government was the first great boon to 

 the country and gave an impetus to it and to its peculiar 

 agriculture and prosperity. Then came the sugar fac- 

 tory. This great institution, at Garden City, has just 

 concluded its second season with profit to the company, 

 the farmers, and the community and section. The fac- 



IRRIGATED 

 LAND 



Open to Settlement 



Some of the richest and most productive farm land 

 in the world lies along the Shoshone and the Big Horn 

 Rivers in the "Big Horn Basin" of Wyoming. Over 

 ten million dollars is being spent by the United States 

 Government and by private enterprise in building 

 great concrete dams and ditches in order to lead an 

 inexhaustible supply of water to irrigate some of the 

 best of these lands and make them independent of 

 rainfall. A gre.at portion of this work is completed, 

 and these lands, with a perpetual supply of water for 

 irrigating them, are now offered you on reasonable 

 terms. 



This is an Unusual Opportunity 



to get a wonderfully productive farm, with water 

 whenever you want it, regardless of rainfall; in a 

 country where a single crop can be made to pay for 

 the land; where 50 bushels of wheat or barley, and 75 

 bushels of oats are commonly grown to the acre; 

 where fruits grow luxuriously and where the glorious 

 air and sunshine, summer and winter, make life a 

 joyous thing. 



This wonderful country is developing fast. 

 Churches and schools abound. The population is 

 intelligent, Godfearing and law-abiding, and any man 

 out there who is half a man has the opportunity to 

 make himself independent. 



Land in this great country is going fast. 

 If you have any thought for the welfare 

 of yourself or children, find out all about 

 this opportunity to day. 



Send for our new foldej with large map, and also 

 folders issued by the private irrigation companies and 

 by the United States Government Reclamation Service 

 giving all information about these lands, terms, etc. 

 Free for the asking. Study these folders and then 

 come with me on my next excursion to the Big Horn 

 Basin and see for yourself. My excursions, which I 

 personally conduct, leave Omaha on the 1st and 3d 

 Tuesday each month, on which days reduced railroad 

 rates are in effect. My services are free to you. 



Burlington 



D. CLEM DEAVER, General Agent 



Landseekers' Information 

 Bureau, 



69 Q Building, OMAHA, NEB. 



N. B. The winter weather in the Basin Country 

 is fine and lands can usually be seen to advantage all 

 Winter, 



