IRRIGATION IN KANSAS 

 The Great Eastern Ditch, on the Garden City Project 



should be regarded as appurtenant to the 

 land, and we urge the enactment of laws to 

 this end. 



That in indorsing the work of the United 

 States Reclamation Service, we especially 

 commend the plan of cooperation between 

 the settlers and the Federal Government 

 whereby settlers receive credit on their water 

 rights in exchange for labor and material. 



That we heartily commend and urge the 

 continuation of the work of the United 

 States Geological Survey in the investigation 

 of the artesian and otln?r underground waters 

 of the arid West. 



That we approve and urge the continua- 

 tion of the wise policies of the states and 

 counties in saving life and preventing suffer- 

 ing in the arid region by providing desert 

 wells and water-saving devices, by erecting 

 permanent guide boards and by providing 

 penalties for their removal or defacement, 

 and by protecting springs, wells, and water- 

 holes from contamination under severe pen- 

 alties; and that we favor the cooperation of 

 the United States Geological Survey with 

 the states and counties in locating and main- 

 taining these water sources and in dissemi- 

 nating accurate information concerning them, 

 through maps and reports. 



That in commending the reclamation act 

 of 1902, we express our satisfaction with re- 

 cent demonstrations of the large importance 

 of underground waters; and that we favor 

 the utilization of this great resource for irri- 

 gation just as the surface waters are utilized, 



using pumps and other water-raising devices 

 as adjuncts and parts of the irrigation works. 



That we favor and urge upon Congress the 

 early repeal of the Timber and Stone Act, 

 to the end that the accumulation of the pub- 

 lic timber lands in the hands of a few great 

 corporations may be avoided. 



That we strongly urge upon Congress the 

 speedy creation of the Southern Appalachian 

 and White Mountain natural forests. 



That this congress heartily indorses the 

 policy of the present administration in its 

 efforts to preserve timber lands throughout 

 the Union, and we earnestly recommend to 

 the several states their cooperation in the 

 work of preserving the forests in their bor- 

 ders, and recommend in every state the crea- 

 tion of state and national forest plantations, 

 sufficient to supply the demand for wood and 

 timber of the people of such state. While 

 appreciating the importance to the West and 

 the entire country of the protection of our 

 forest by every adequate means, we favor 

 the highest utilization for all economic pur- 

 poses of all our public land-. 



We therefore recommend that an adequate 

 appropriation be made at the next session of 

 Congress for the use of the hy.ln^r.iphic 

 division of the geological sur\cy to deter- 

 mine by experiment, measurement and obser- 

 vation the practical effects of grazing and 

 lumbering on the supply of water for irriga- 

 tion, and on the erosion of soil, and silting up 

 of streams and reservoirs, and we recommend 

 that such investigations extend over the en- 



593 



