DRY-FARMING 



there is no possibility of irrigating those 

 deserts, but they form a priceless though 

 as yet undeveloped part of the State, in 

 the opinion of many far-seeing citizens. 

 The problem of arid-farming in Utah is 

 not new. Even at the building of the first 

 canal the pioneers wistfully put the 

 question: "What can be done with the 

 deserts?" And the story of the conquest 

 of these deserts is a romance of the past 

 half -century. The first settlers passed 

 through Emigration Canyon and entered 

 the Valley of the Great Salt Lake on 

 July 24, 1847, when they at once ap- 

 plied themselves to the digging of irriga- 

 tion ditches. As time wore on new 

 irrigation canals were built and more and 

 more land was brought under cultivation. 

 Sometimes, however, the full supply of 

 water failed to reach the farmer ; yet here 

 and there fair but small crops were 

 reaped. This fact did not escape the 

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