1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



103 



The urgency of the case lies in the 

 fact that the public domain in the humid 

 and sub-humid sections of the West is 

 well-nigh exhausted. The frontiers of 

 western settlement are on the vet)' verge 

 of the arid and semi-arid region. In- 

 deed, a large proportion of the home 

 seekers of the past two j-ears, in their 

 eagerness for lands, have pushed on be- 

 yond the humid into the semi-arid areas. 



It should be understood at the outset 

 that the plan proposed by this bill does 

 not require a great outlay of money ; 

 that it does not contemplate a ' ' raid 

 upon the Treasury." Neither is there 

 the slightest probability of an over- 

 production of small grains as a result of 

 the successful operation of the project. 



The cost is limited to the proceeds 

 from the sale and disposal of public 

 lands in the thirteen states and three 

 territories named in the bill. This 

 would involve a sum aggregating, per- 

 haps, $2,500,000 per annum, according 

 to official reports on the present income 

 from this source. It is provided in the 

 bill that the cost of construction of each 

 irrigation project shall be paid by the 

 persons directly benefited. Thus the 

 money expended would constantly be 

 recouped or repaid to the reclamation 

 fund, making the system automatic and 

 self-sustaining. 



As to the fear of overproduction of 

 farm products, there is no ground what- 

 ever for alarm. While it is true that 

 there are in the great West about 

 600,000,000 acres of lands which might 

 be irrigated, the essential fact is that 

 there is not sufficient water available, 

 and never will be, to reclaim more than 

 10 per cent, of the whole area, or about 

 60,000,000 acres. It should not be 

 taken for granted, however, that the 

 whole of this area would be irrigated 

 from government works. The irriga- 

 tion experts of the Geological Survey, 

 basing their calculations upon the most 

 thorough investigations in the field, give 

 it as their opinion that 20,000,000 acres 

 would be the limit of land irrigated from 

 waters conserved by government enter- 

 prises, but that this would serve as a 

 nucleus about which private effort would 

 reclaim an equal amount, or 40,000,000 

 acres in all. 



With the disposal and settlement of 

 more than 13,000,000 acres of the i)ub- 

 lic domain in 1900, the average Decem- 

 ber prices for all farm products in 1901 

 were much above the average prices for 

 an)^ year as far back as 1892 ; .so that 

 the rapid .settlement of the public do- 

 main cannot truthfully be said to have 

 affected detrimentally the prices of farm 

 products ; nor can it be maintained that 

 the opening of a little more than half a 

 million acres annually by means of irri- 

 gation would result in overproduction. 

 On the contrary, it is the history of all 

 irrigated .sections that the output of 

 bread foods from irrigated lands rarely 

 meets the local requirements. 



Wherever irrigation has been .success- 

 fully applied large communities have 

 grown up. New mines have been opened 

 in the adjacent moimtains, manufac- 

 tories have been established in the val- 

 leys, and railroads have been extended. 

 Naturalh' these enterprises bring in 

 large numbers of people. All students 

 of irrigation will attest the declaration of 

 the fact that gras.ses, fruit, and vege- 

 tables are the chief products that come 

 from irrigated lands. In recent years 

 there has been a great scarcit}' of forage 

 for stock. The large ranges are being 

 graduall}' denuded of their grasses, and 

 in many instances stockmen have been 

 obliged to decrea.se their herds. The 

 natural consequence is a falling off in 

 the number of beef cattle in the West 

 as compared with the increase in popu- 

 lation, and an inevitable increa.se in the 

 price of meats in all the markets of the 

 country. The inauguration of a broader 

 and more general system of irrigation 

 would be a great boon to the stockmen, 

 as well as to the consumers of beef. 

 With hay selling at from $8 to S13 per 

 ton, the irrigator would devote himself 

 to the production of grasses, thus solv- 

 ing the problem which so closely con- 

 cerns the owners of herds. 



The necessity of immediately adopt- 

 ing some definite policy with respect to 

 irrigation arises from the fact that under 

 existing land laws sources of water sup- 

 ply are being seized upon with great 

 rapidity, largely by men who are not 

 able to utilize them and who are hold- 

 ing them for speculative purpo.ses. For 



