1902. 



FOREvSTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



63 



kinds. Then , again , the trees 

 which are being advocated 

 for tie purposes, the catalpa 

 and eucalyptus, are very soft 

 woods. It would be ver}- de- 

 sirable to determine their re- 

 sisting power to decay, and 

 also whether it may not be 

 possible to harden them 

 somewhat. 



At the present time we 

 know very little concerning 

 the rate of decay, the sus- 

 ceptibility of various tim- 

 bers, the manner of infection 

 of trees, as well as of those 

 problems referred to above. 

 A successful beginning has 

 been made, and it is hoped 

 that with the increased in- 

 terest in the forests and their 

 products further .studies will 

 be possible in the direction 

 of understanding the decay- 

 ing factors and how to pre- 

 vent them. 



i^m^ 



\ 





\ 



FIG. 5. BULL PINE KILLED BY FIRE, SHOWING DECAY ON 

 THE SIDE WHERE THE BARK REMAINED ON. 



NATIONAL IRRIGATION WORKS. 



By Hon. Francis G. Newxands.* 



WHAT is the demand of the West > 

 It is that the West should be 

 enabled to reclaim itself, without taxing 

 the Federal Treasury and without in- 

 flicting any burden upon the general 

 taxpayer, by appropriate legislation ded- 

 icating the proceeds of the sales of the 

 public lands in the arid region to the 

 reclamation of the arid lands, thus mak- 

 ing the snow waters of that region, now 

 running to waste, available for use b}^ 

 settlers under the Homestead Law, fol- 

 lowing the uniform policy of the coun- 

 try in the dedication of its public domain 

 to the creators of homes. The settlers 

 will restore to the reclamation fund the 

 cost of the government works in the 

 price of their lands, thus creating a re- 

 volving fund from the sales of public 

 lands in that region, to be u.sed over and 

 over again in the construction of irriga- 



tion works until all the waters now run- 

 ning to waste are beneficially utilized. 

 Such is the bill which is reconnnended 

 by the Western members of Congress, 

 representing 13 states and 3 territories, 

 a bill which guards against improvident 

 expenditure by declaring that no con- 

 tract for irrigation works shall be let 

 until the moneys required for payment 

 are in the fund, thus making the fund 

 itself the limit of expenditure ; a bill 

 which guards again.st land monopoly by 

 providing that the lands capable of irri- 

 gation shall be subject to entry only 

 under the Homestead Law, and limiting 

 each entry to a tract not exceeding 160 

 acres or less than 40 acres, leaving it to 

 the discretion of the Secretary of the 

 Interior, taking into consideration the 

 climate and the fertility and productive- 

 ness of the soil, to prescribe as an entry 



Extract from speech delivered January 21, 1902. 



