416 



THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



flourish into fertility. We have seen many lands, al- 

 most wholly unpopulated, become dotted with comfort- 

 able homes and prosperous towns and cities. In scores 

 of reclamation projects we have watched swamps or des- 

 erts change, by drainage or irrigation, into productive 

 lands. We have seen arid lands covered with sage brush 

 and cacti. And we have seen the same land, one or two 

 years later, bearing the finest products which are grown 

 in America. 



Every project of this kind for which we sell bonds 

 is made the subject of minute investigation. The officers 

 of our Company have tramped every piece of bonded 

 land on which we have sold securities. We have watched 

 every project through to fulfillment. In this way we 



fall, run-off, flood periods, slopes, soil analysis and stream 

 gaugings covering a period of years. We have in our 

 library the laws of the various states and everything of 

 importance, both legal and physical, pertaining to the 

 reclamation of agricultural lands. Thus we have built 

 up, in the course of years, a perfect organization capable 

 of passing intelligently upon the merits or demerits of 

 any project, and if accepted by us, to formulate contracts, 

 mortgages and tax liens so as to secure the best pro- 

 tection to ourselves and our customers. 



The large number of issues handled by this house 

 has established our pre-eminence in the purchase and sale 

 of Reclamation Bonds. 



Our experience, our prestige and our wide acquain- 



Dam on the Snake River near Idaho Falls, Binghara County, Idaho, Municipal Irrigation District. 



have learned, in the course of years, to distinguish be- 

 tween the certain and the uncertain. 



We have also learned where new laws were needed 

 for the protection of the investor. And numerous laws 

 of this class have been passed through our influence. We 

 have learned what amount of loan is safe on each separate 

 class of land. We have learned the form of Mortgage 

 or Trust Deed or Contract best suited to protect that 

 loan. 



Much of this, for a time, was pioneer work. We 

 were blazing new trails. For instance, when Congress 

 passed the "Carey Act," we spent thousands of dollars to 

 have attorneys work out the best form of Trust Deed. 

 And this form has been employed as a model, by us and 

 by others, for nearly all the projects since. 



Thus we have secured our own education and have 

 compiled and tabulated in our office files reliable infor- 

 mation, including elevations, temperatures, annual rain- 



tance in the irrigation sections command for us first con- 

 sideration when an issue of bonds is to be marketed. 



In almost every instance, any proposed issue of Ir- 

 rigation Bonds is submitted to us before being offered 

 elsewhere. Thus we are able to secure for our customers 

 the cream of the bonds of this class. 



Only such as afford absolute protection to the bond- 

 holder are accepted by us. 



The facts in this book, therefore, relate to selected 

 issues. They should not be applied to irrigation projects 

 in general. We mean no reflection on general bonds of 

 this class. Many very good issues have been sold through 

 other channels. But in this, as in all other classes of 

 bonds, some are better than others. The worth of an 

 Irrigation Bond depends on many things, the measuring 

 of which requires training, experience and judgment. It 

 is desirable, therefore, to buy such bonds from a house 



