1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



83 



growth along roads, stream, and pond 

 sides for shade and ornament. You, 

 who know of the tendency of to-day, will 

 appreciate how much land is being taken 

 up by people from the city seeking sum- 

 mer homes, and also realize how nuich 

 advantage it is to a community to have 

 this class of people largely represented. 

 You will know, too, how much such 

 people are influenced by attractive sur- 

 roundings in selecting a home. An un- 

 attractive town with no shade trees or 

 woods stands a very poor chance of se- 

 curing many such people, and the farmer 

 who has a farm to sell that is absolutely 

 bare, cannot hope to get as much for it 

 as if there were some trees left in the 

 fields, fringes of foliage along the brooks , 

 and in the waste places. This represents 

 the commercial value of beaut}' as rep- 

 resented b}' tree grow^th. The imme- 



diate value of this growth is represented 

 by the wood he can secure for various 

 farm and household purposes. To .se- 

 cure such wood supply it is not neces- 

 sary to destroy the whole woods, as is 

 done for the most part at the present 

 time. By thiiuiing out yearly, or by tak- 

 ing a patch of woods yearly, its beauty 

 is not wholly destroyed and its useful- 

 ness is maintained. 



In conclusion let me sa>- that the .state 

 census shows that farmers and other 

 owners of woodlots, throughout the 

 state, have secured a return of 5 per 

 cent on the value of their woodlots. 

 Capitalists in many lines of business 

 would be glad to secure such a return. 

 With proper attention to the wood- 

 lots, the farmer will .secure a much 

 better showing on the right side of the 

 ledger. 



PUMPING WATER/^= 



THROUGHOUT a great part of the 

 arid and semi-arid region there are 

 localities where water can be obtained at 

 a short distance from the surface. The 

 amount, although not large in the aggre- 

 gate when- compared with the quantity 

 in .some notable stream or lake, is yet 

 inexhaustible bj^the ordinary methods of 

 pumping. If, therefore, this water which 

 exists from 10 to 50 feet beneath the 

 surface can be cheaply raised, it wall be 

 practicable to utilize it for agriculture 

 tracts which otherwise have little or no 

 value. 



The irrigation of 20 acres in the midst 

 of a section or township of land is, figu- 

 ratively speaking, a mere drop in the 

 bucket ; but the reclamation of this small 

 area generally means the utilization of 

 adjoining lands. If, for example, 20 

 acres of some forage crop like alfalfa is 

 made po.ssible, this will result in obtain- 

 ing a considerable amount of winter feed 

 used in the sustenance of a herd which 

 can be pastured upon the surrounding 

 dry land. The successful cultivation of 

 this 20 acres may thus directly or indi- 



rectly support a famil}-, and, with in- 

 creased experience and adaptation to the 

 surrounding conditions, the family may 

 in turn give place to a rural community. 

 Given the existence of sufficient water 

 underground to irrigate the 20 acres, the 

 first question is that of ways and means 

 of bringing the water to the surface. 



The force which is ever present, mak- 

 ing itself persistently felt throughout 

 the Great Plains region, is the wind, 

 which blows almost continuously. It 

 carries the dust before it, cuts out the 

 traveled roads, carries awa^' the fine 

 earth of the tilled fields, and builds up 

 a fine loess, almost everx'where to be 

 found. The wind, which has so long 

 been considered as an annoyance and 

 mischief-maker, has sufficient strength 

 to perform the work of bringing water 

 to the surface, if only suitable means of 

 directing its energy can be discovered. 



The windmill is the best-known 

 method of converting wind energy into 

 work. In one form or another it has 

 been used from times antedating the 

 dark ages. In the twelfth century wind- 



* Editor's Note. This is the second of a series of articles on pumping water. II 

 interested in this subject desire further information on the topics discussed here will 

 queries to the Editor, they will be answered in the next issue of this magazine. 



persons 

 addre-ss 



