State. Under the operation of the State law governing the disposal of 

 State lands irrigation construction made wonderful progress. This law 

 provided that one-half of the State land located beneath ditches already 

 built, or propsed ditches, could be disposed of to the ditch company at a 

 nominal price and the remaining half leased to the company for a period of 

 five years at a nominal price. There was no difficulty in securing capital 

 under these conditions. Possessing one-half the lauds, ditch companies in 

 constructing canals, were very largely improving their own property; con- 

 trolling the other half they were able to colonize it with actual cultivators of 

 the soil and users of water. So favorably were these conditions regarded 

 that the agents of capital overran the State lookirg for ditch locations and 

 petitioning for the location of State lands. One corporation invested 

 $4,000,000 in irrigation works in four years. II ipid as was ditch construc- 

 tion the progress of colonization was almost as gieat; 10,000 people settling 

 upon the farming lauds of San Luis valley in one year. lu my judgment 

 BO influence has tontjibutee so greatly to Colorado's growth and prosperity 

 as the method of disposing of its State lauds. Not veu the discovery of 

 silver at Leadville did f*o much to increase its population. 



PROGRESS OF RECLAMATION IN WYOMING. 



Duriug all this per'od, Wyoming was the headquarters of the range 

 industries. Our irrigation system, like nearly all the industries of this State, 

 had its origin in the success of the cattle business. Three-fourths of all 

 our irrigation works were built by cattlemen or from the proceeds of the 

 range cattle business. The ditches were not built to furnish homes for 

 farmers but as ;;n adjunct to this business or a convenient means ot acquir- 

 ing title to laud. Persons iutere. ted in the range industries were not look- 

 ing for farmers. Their interest lay in exactly the opposite direction, in 

 keeping the country as the Indian left it. An influx of farmers meant the 

 closing of water t\onts, the withdrawal of desirable lands, the sacrifices of 

 privileges tkey enjoyed. So Jong as he held the hot end of the poker the 

 stockman was not locking for a fir . In this he was only exercising busi- 

 ness prudence; he was the pioneer in the occupancy of the country, his 

 money and thnt of his friends was invested in the pioneer industry. It was 

 expecting more than human nature will warrant to expect that he should 

 jeopardize his own for the interest of others. I have always thought the 

 criticism which we sometimes h*ar of the stockmen of this State is unjust 

 and unfair. If criticism should be visited upon any one for the lack of 

 interest in this matter, it belongs to the parties who would have been ben- 

 efitted by our agricultural development, the dwellers in cities and towns, 

 the persons interested in industrial enterprises, all those whose prosperity 

 is largely dependent upon the increased comfort and diminished cost which 

 eomes through a home food supoly. And in speaking of this matter it is 

 not with any purpose of cri'icising any interest but simply to explain the 

 reason of our present agricultural condition. 



With uo oue providing fur his .coming and with all classes and condi- 

 tions indifferent as to whether he came or staid away it is not surprising 

 that the number of farmers is few. With the majority of the ditches owned 

 by men who are not farmers and who regard both ditches and irrigated land 

 as a side issue to some other business it 13 not surprising that a large per- 

 centage of the land under ditches is unproductive. Growing out of this 



