J^Mffi> 



Vol. XII. 



OCTOBER, 1906. 



No. 10 



NEWS AND NOTES 



Status of The summer campaign 



Reclamation of the Reclamation Ser- 



vice is practically over 

 and the organization of field forces 

 is being readjusted to suit the winter 

 work, except in the extreme southern 

 part of the arid region, where climatic 

 conditions favor the continuance of 

 field work throughout the year. 



Although but little more than four 

 years have elapsed since the passage 

 of the Reclamation Act, the work has 

 progressed so rapidly that one or more 

 projects are now under way in each 

 arid state and territory, and on four- 

 teen of these projects the work has 

 reached a stage where it is expected 

 water can be supplied to a portion of 

 the lands under them, amounting to 

 nearly 400,000 acres, next season. This 

 means the addition of 5,000 homes to 

 the West, and the return of nearly 

 $1,000,000 per annum to the Recla- 

 mation fund to be used over again for 

 the reclamation of more land. 



It is not^probable that this entire 

 acreage will actually be irrigated next 

 season. Under a few of the projects 

 a small portion of the land is still 

 public domain. In some sections the 

 settlers will not have fulfilled their 



part of the work by preparing the land 

 to receive the water and constructing 

 the lateral ditches for conveying it 

 over their fields. It is expected, how- 

 ever, that the major portion of this 

 area will receive water from the Gov- 

 ernment systems in 1907. It is be- 

 lieved that with the practical demon- 

 stration which the irrigation of the 

 first units of the projects now under 

 way will furnish by the time the sys- 

 tems reach completion, there will not 

 be an acre of available land under 

 them. 



The operations of the Reclamation 

 Act have stimulated development in 

 the West in many lines. Private en- 

 terprise is already engaged upon sim- 

 ilar irrigation works, and new lines 

 of railroad are extending into the most 

 remote sections of the intermountain 

 country in order to reach the large 

 tracts of land which will support a 

 dense population in a few years. This 

 development has resulted in a woful 

 scarcity of labor, and unceasing ef- 

 forts are necessary in order that the 

 irrigation works may. not be seriously 

 delaved from this cause. Inquiries as 

 to the location of irrigation systems 

 and local conditions are received every 



