THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT 163 



and heating of the towns, and for cooking in the homes. On several of the 

 projects the farmers are applying for electric power, and on many farms 

 the housewife has made it a useful servant in her domestic duties. This 

 important and very valuable asset will in time become the property of the 

 land owners, and will return considerable revenue to them. 



The compact settlement which is the inevitable result of irrigation, 

 brings to the farmer conveniences and luxuries which heretofore were un- 

 known to the country. The daily delivery of mail, circulating library, cen- 

 tralized graded schools, frequent association with neighbors in the manage- 

 ment of their various organizations for marketing products, and in the opera- 

 tion of the irrigation system, have made farm life varied and interesting. In 

 no small degree these same factors have been responsible for a noteworthy 

 increase in the number of city dwellers who are turning to the soil for a liv- 

 ing. The question "Can a business man without previous experience in agri- 

 culture succeed on an irrigated farm?" finds an answer today on a thousand 

 Government farms where former city dwellers are making good. They demon- 

 strate that a good business training is a very important adjunct to successful 

 farming in the irrigated country. 



On a number of the projects every acre of land is occupied. So great has 

 been the hunger for farms in some sections that the work could not be pushed 

 fast enough to supply the demand for homes. Those projects possessing the 

 most favorable climate naturally attract the most people. Idaho, California, 

 Oregon, Washington and Colorado, for this reason and also on account of 

 generous exploitation on the part of State and other organizations have re- 

 ceived the largest influx of settlers. Every acre of land on these projects for 

 which water is available has been filed upon. 



On the Minidoka project in Idaho there were 1,014 farms, and practically 

 every one was taken up before water was ready. On the Yurna project in 

 Arizona the first unit opened had ten applicants for each farm. 



Today the 354 Government farms awaiting settlers are in the Northwest 

 in the states of South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. 



WORK FOR THE FUTURE 



For the next few years the activities of the bureau will be directed to 

 rounding out the plans for completing the projects already taken up. 



Among the spectacular works which will engage the attention of the en- 

 gineers are the construction of two enormous dams, each of which is com- 

 parable with the great Roosevelt dam, and each of which in certain features 

 exceeds the latter. 



In New Mexico the work of erecting a huge masonry dam across the Rio 

 Grande will require at least five years of active labor and a large force of 

 men. This structure in some respects is one of the remarkable storage works 

 of the century. It will cost more than $6,000,000, but it will insure the future 

 development of 100 miles of valley, comprising 180,000 acres of extremely fer- 

 tile and productive country. 



