four] water supply 



need for artificial irrigation. Strawberries and 

 raspberries net growers from three to four hundred 

 dollars per acre; asparagus and vegetables bring a 

 profit of from one to three hundred dollars per 

 acre. It will not do to subject these crops to the 

 chance of abundant rainfalls. Where it is done, 

 the maximum profit of four hundred drops down to 

 one hundred, or even less. It is clear enough that 

 the losses of a single year would more than pay for 

 an irrigation plant on a farm of ten acres. In the 

 State of Connecticut four hundred and seventy- 

 one acres were reported recently as irrigated, at a 

 cost for ditches, pipes, pumps, reservoirs, and all 

 other appliances, of a little over sixteen thousand 

 dollars. This would be an average expense of 

 about thirty-four dollars per acre — to be paid for 

 by the onions ruined by a drought on one-quarter 

 of an acre. 



In arid lands, which are, as a rule, more level, 

 the expense of irrigation is only about ten dollars 

 per acre. These lands cover vast areas, fit to make 

 homesteads for millions of our people. This 

 problem is, however, one for the nation, rather than 

 for individuals. President Roosevelt justly says, 

 *' There is no one question now before the people 



[73] 



