No. 4.] RURAL LAW. 185 



valley of the Nashua, by which whole villages are being 

 blotted out and scores of farms destroyed for the purpose 

 of increasing the water supply of our metropolitan popula- 

 tion. There is danger, it seems to me, that the demands 

 of our cities may be carried too far, and I have a firm 

 conviction that the farmers of the State might well unite 

 in protest against excessive grants in this direction. An 

 excessive and unnecessary water supply for towns and cities 

 offers a premium on the waste of water. My own observa- 

 tion warrants me in alleging that there is a very great waste 

 in most of our cities. The remedy for this, I may say in 

 passing, is the universal application of the meter system to 

 all water supply companies, whether large or small, so that 

 a water taker will only pay for what he himself uses, and 

 not be obliged to contribute to the wastefubiess of others. 

 Thus the natural water supply of the State may be properly 

 conserved for the benefit of those who are entitled to it by 

 original ownership. It is time, I think, for the farmers of 

 the State to join hands in staying this tendency to waste of 

 water. By united action they can do much to create public 

 opinion which will alFord them ample protection. The 

 compulsory use of the meter system will do much toward 

 staying these enormous wastes. 



In many of the States which have large areas of rainless 

 land, water courses have played an im[)ortant part in the 

 industrial and economical development of the country, and 

 irrigfation laws have been enacted and i^reat schemes for 

 irrigation purposes have been launched. Numerous com- 

 panies have been formed for the purpose of selling water 

 and rendering land valuable that would otherwise be useless. 

 It is possible that by artesian wells in addition to the natural 

 water supply all the rainless portions of the United States 

 may yet be brought under cultivation, for it is a well-known 

 fact that desert land becomes extremely productive when 

 irrigated. 



An irrigation congress has recently been in session in 

 Chicago, at which it was stated by an engineer who has 

 made a careful examination of the subject that there are in 

 this country 75,000,000 acres of arid land, which can be 

 reclaimed and made profitable agricultural territory at an 



