1903 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



297 



often lost, stolen, or destroyed by wild 

 animals. In any event, they fare badly, 

 suffer greatly in winter, make poor food, 

 and bring but low prices when sold. 



When kept in fields, fed and cared for, 

 and especially when ' ' bred up ' into 

 better stock, they are one of the best 

 money-makers of the mountain ranch. 



Forest officers can justly press this 

 point home to the land owners in and 

 near the reserves, and can refer them to 

 the many and excellent publications 

 upon the care of the hog that have been 

 issued by the U. S. Department of Agri- 



culture and by the various experiment 

 stations throughout the country. 



As a closing illustration, Mr. Muhley, 

 a settler in this region, tells me that two 

 years ago he bought forty hogs and 

 turned them ' ' out on the range ' ' (in the 

 reserve). When he tried to "round 

 them up" at intervals during the last 

 winter, in order to obey the regulations 

 of the reserve, he was able to find only 

 ten, with no small pigs, and he is now 

 carrying a rifle in order to shoot the 

 two or three hogs that have ' ' run wild ' ' 

 and still stay in the heavy chaparral. 



OKLAHOMA IRRIGATION 



DESCRIPTION OF METHODS THAT HAVE BROUGHT 

 SUBSTANTIAL SUCCESS AFTER EARLY FAILURES. - 

 A PRACTICAL WAY TO FIGHT DROUTH. 



BY 



A. S. PERRY, 



IN THE WESTERN FRUIT GROWER. 



IRRIGATION ! What is it ? You 

 may say it is applying water by 

 artificial means to procure the growth 

 of vegetation during drouth or where 

 the water supply is inadequate. This 

 is partly right, but does not cover 

 the matter by any means. We will not 

 try to describe it in full, but will enlarge 

 on the former definition somewhat. It 

 is the means by which a poor man with 

 only a small outlay can go onto lands 

 that are deemed unfit for tillage, and 

 with only five or ten acres produce orofit- 

 able employment for a large family, make 

 a pleasant home, and save more money 

 than the average man in an agricultural 

 country will from 160 acres of the best 

 and most valuable lands. It is the only 

 thing that will bring about the beautiful 

 homes that in the future will be seen all 

 over the lands that are now called the 

 arid and semi-arid lands of America. 

 The time will come, and we hope is not 

 far off, when this will be resorted to 

 and 50,000,000 of people will find profit- 

 able employment tilling lands that today 

 are supposed to be worthless. Most 



likely our government will have to solve 

 the problem and set the stone to rolling. 



We will now come down to some of 

 our own experience. First, the writer 

 spent the earlier part of life trying to 

 grow fruit in a semi-arid region with- 

 out irrigation. This proved unprofit- 

 able, as there were as many failures as 

 there were crops. Next, the same work 

 was resumed in another region, which 

 proved no better than the first, so far 

 as rain was concerned. After three 

 years of total failure with small fruits we 

 found ourselves with an empty pocket- 

 book and a debt of $950 hanging on our 

 word and honor to pay, with nothing 

 more to secure it than 160 acres of land 

 that belonged to Uncle Sam, on which 

 we had placed a filing for homestead 

 entry. This was poor upland and very 

 sandy. Under these circumstances, the 

 conclusion was arrived at that one of 

 three things had to be done : We must 

 irrigate, emigrate, or quit the business 

 of growing nursery stock and small fruit 

 for market. 



We decided to irrigate. An old wind- 



