420 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



an equal number south. Last year Colorado farmers received 

 for their sugar beets over $10,000,000. 



Colorado has the greatest canning works in the United 

 States. 



Colorado pea- fed pork commands in every market a 

 higher price than any corn-fed pork. 



According to statistics of the Colorado State Agricultural 

 College, the Denver-Greeley District the largest body of ir- 

 rigated land in the country produces highest value per acre 

 of any land in the world devoted to general farming. 



In California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and 

 Montana, the irrigated land is among the most valuable and 

 most productive farm land in America. 



REASONS FOR FERTILITY. 



The marvelous fertility of this arid land is largely due 

 to its richness in mineral salts. Potash, sulphur, lime and 

 phosphorous are found in the soil in abundance. It is esti- 

 mated that good land in the irrigated districts is ten times 

 as rich in nourishing salts as good land in Illinois. 



In humid districts, the rains of ages have washed out a 

 large part of these mineral salts. And millions of crops of 

 vegetation have served to disintegrate the soil. This arid 

 land, on the contrary, is in a virgin state of fertility. 



Another reason for large crops and fine flavor is the 

 perpetual sunshine. Arid districts have very few cloudy days. 

 The sunshine and the dry air increases the evaporation from 

 the plant foliage. This increases the circulation of sap, has- 

 tens its chemical changes, and increases the nutriment fed to 

 the plant. 



But the main reason, perhaps, for abundant and un- 

 failing crops, and crops of the highest grade, is control of 

 the water supply. Every farmer is his own weather-man, and 

 is able to give to each crop just the water it needs at the 

 time when it is needed. He gives little or much water, with- 

 holds or applies it, according to the crop or conditions. 



In rainfall districts this is impossible. The farmer must 

 take the moisture sent him, and when it is sent. Some crops 

 require little moisture, some require much; yet all of his 

 crops are watered alike. Sometimes he has a drought ; some- 

 times a long rainy season. 



Thus every crop is full of uncertainties. The farmer, to 

 be safe, must plant a variety of crops. He must provide for 

 both a dry and wet season, else take very long chances. And 

 the crop failures, due to unregulated rainfall, greatly reduce 

 his average production. 



CERTAINTY OF CROPS. 



On irrigated land, the farmer may raise such products 

 as he wishes, and know that the crops are certain. He 

 has control of his water supply. He can apply it or stop it, 

 give little or much, as the crop or conditions require. This 

 certainty of crops, and of maximum yield, is one of the great- 

 est factors of value in irrigated land. 



Another factor is the depth of the soil. Another the 

 freedom from insect pests. Another the ease with which the 

 land can be cultivated. Another is the higher value of the 

 crops which the land is fitted to raise. 



An acre of irrigated land planted in sugar beets will net 

 the farmer four times as much as an acre of Illinois planted 

 in corn. 



Land planted in potatoes will bring all the way from 

 $100 to $300 per acre. Strawberries often yield from $400 to 

 $700 per acre. Orchard lands often return $1,000 per acre 

 and more. 



One tract of 100,000 acres in Colorado on which we 

 are selling bonds at this writing is located close to Denver. 

 It extends from five to twenty-five miles from this growing 

 city of 208,000 population. This fact makes the land par- 

 ticularly valuable for suburban homes and for truck farming. 



For all of these reasons, the value of irrigated land, 

 well located, is exceedingly high. Very often one year's 

 crop is sufficient to pay for the land and water. And the 

 value of this land is advancing at a tremendous pace. 



It is safe to say that good irrigated land is worth from 

 three to five times as much as the best rainfall land, meas- 

 ured by production. 



Therefore, the liens on farm lands which are back of ir- 

 rigation bonds are, as a class, more valuable than any that 

 we have in America. And the value of this land, because of 

 its restricted area, often multiplies itself several times over 

 under cultivation. 



IRRIGATION BONOS ARE AMONG- THE SAFEST INVEST- 

 MENTS. 



As drainage and irrigation bonds have formed an increas- 

 ingly large part of our business, the officers of Trowbridge 

 & Niver Co. have spent sufficient of their time in the west- 

 ern and middle western states to closely study irrigation and 

 local conditions generally, and more particularly the projects 

 in which we have been interested. 



Again and again we have watched these projects begun, 

 carried out and completed. We have seen the barren land 

 blossom into fertility. We have seen it multiply in value, 

 over and over, until some of it has grown to be the most 

 valuable farm land in America. 



Some of this land could not now be bought for one hun- 

 dred times the amount of the original bonded indebtedness. 



As a result of this experience, we are prepared to state 

 that Irrigation Bonds, of the right classes, are among the 

 safest investments we know. They are loans on farm land 

 which is productive and valuable some of the very best farm 

 land in America. The loans are made, in the right sort of 

 projects, at a very conservative rate. They are repaid by 

 the land owners, usually, at the rate of ten per cent a year. 

 And the bonds, being in serial form, are gradually retired. 

 The security back of the remaining bonds increases with 

 every payment. 



Bonds of this class now pay a higher interest rate than 

 one can secure on any large class of securities equally safe. 

 One reason is that the bonds are a comparatively new form 

 of investment. They have only come into wide popularity 

 in recent years. 



Our Irrigation Bonds are issued in denominations of 

 $100, $500 and $1,000. This opens the field to the small in- 

 vestor, as well as to Banks and to Capitalists. 



We know of no class of bonds which, at present, offer 

 equal security combined with equally attractive income. And 

 it is difficult to imagine, when Irrigation Bonds are gone, 

 what other class of security can be found which embraces 

 so many desirable features. 



Still, the purpose of this book is merely to give informa- 

 tion. It is not a plea for any one class of securities. We 

 supply what our customers want. But we feel that we owe 

 to our patrons this statement of the facts as we know them. 

 For here is an opportunity, which cannot last many years, to 

 secure an unusual rate of return on an ideal class of security. 



IRRIGATION BONDS ARE PAID NOT REFUNDED. 



Unlike the vast majority of bonds, irrigation securities 

 are paid, and not simply refunded at maturity by substituting 

 new issues. Each series is retired as fast as it falfs due, by 

 the payment of actual cash. 



The great earning power of the lands, and irrigation 

 systems behind them, provides vastly more money than is 

 ever needed to meet both principal and interest. 



They are not affected by panics or periods of financial 

 depression. 



The manner in which our Irrigation Bonds went through 

 the recent panic has called world-wide attention to them as 

 an attractive form of investment. 



To those who are interested, we shall be glad to send 

 circulars and quotations on current issues. 



TROWBRIDGE & NIVER Co. 



WONDERFUL WATER. 



Available water is at times worth its weight In good 

 coin. The farmer, the gardener and the worker everywhere 

 need it. For artifical irrigation as well as for pumping and 

 for sinking deep wells and for mineral prospecting, the ma- 

 chinery and equipment of the American Well Works, Aurora. 

 111., is second to none. For handling water on a large scale, 

 their centrifugal pumps are unequaled. Parties Interested 

 should write for special particulars suggesting the name of 

 this paper as advising it, the American Well Works, Aurora, 

 111., who will furnish free a large illustrated catalogue of 

 well and pump supplies. 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation 



Age one year and 

 The Primer of Irrigation 



