ig2 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



April 



be used while the other is being cleaned, 

 for it must be understood that the Col- 

 orado carries a great deal of sediment, 

 which adds to the fertility where its 

 waters are used, but which is a source 

 of expense in canal construction, as it 

 rapidly fills in excavations where the 

 current cannot keep the matter in sus- 

 pension. Water was first brought on 

 the ground in June, 1901, and since 

 that time development has been rapid. 

 The present year, 1903, will see the 

 first of actual demonstrations of what 

 may be expected of full crops grown 

 by this irrigation. 



Passing over the question of climate 

 with the simple statement that it is that 

 of the semi-tropical desert, with very 

 slight rainfall, high summer tempera- 

 ture, and only slight frosts in winter, the 

 next consideration is that of the land- 

 its conformation and constituents. 



The region between the Salton and 

 New Rivers is considered the best part' 

 of the delta country. Much of this i. 

 sandy, covered with dunes and hum' 

 mocks from 3 to 15 feet high. Unles:'" 

 this land is leveled, it cannot be success- ^ 

 fully brought under irrigation, andsucl 1 ^ 

 leveling will prove too expensive for the 

 prospective homesteader unless the pro-^ 

 posed railroad lines enter this region 

 and bring all the land to higher values. 

 Around Mesquite Lake, about three 

 miles northeast of Imperial, the land is 

 badly gullied; but with these exceptions 

 the desert is very level, with an accom- 

 modating slope which makes the prob- 

 lem of applying water extremely simple. 

 There are a number of beach lines, some 

 of them very distinct, in this area below 

 sea level, showing that the basin has 

 been partially refilled at times with 

 water which has remained long enough 



r 



\\ I irUl LCT 



Yet this part of the'Southwest is, the proper admixture of soil, water, 

 after all is said, a land of wonderful la- and brains. 



PROGRESS IN NATIONAL FORESTRY. 



BY 



J. S. PEYTON, 



DIVISION OP FOREST RESERVES, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. 



TIIK whole history of the public 

 limber policy in the United States 

 mi-lit he written in the two words "de- 

 forestation ' ' and ' ' reservation "a cen- 

 tury of the former offset with a decade 

 of the latter. With a nation developing 

 u-itli a whirlwind of impetuosity, our 

 first century's history respecting one 



of our great natural resources, timber, 

 has been written in fires and devasta- 

 tion a record which may well astonish 

 the world, for among most enlightened 

 nations the relation of the forest to the 

 development of the nation is recognized 

 in its true significance. 



Astounding, however, as was the in- 



