46 



THE IERIGATION AGE. 



EMMETT McCORMICK'S RANCH NEAR BILLINGS. 



Among the many men who have settled in Montana 

 near Billings and who have been successful in that 

 country is Mr. Emmett McCormick, who has a well im- 

 proved 160-acre ranch six miles west of Billings. Mr. 

 McCormick, with whom the writer talked not long ago, 

 reached Billings twenty-two years ago and secured em- 

 ployment as foreman for the Ouster Cattle Company. 

 He has been on the ranch for the past five years, working 

 it two years of that time on shares. He has harvested 



Home of Eramett McCormick, West of Billings, Mont. 



three crops, amounting to a gross figure of $22 per acre, 

 or over $3,500 for one year's crop. Mr. McCormick 

 also works anotjier quarter section on shares, from which 

 he makes about $1,100 net each year. As the actual ex- 

 penses of running the two ranches does not exceed 

 $1,000 a year, it will be readily seen that the income 

 from his home ranch is clear profit. This sum, over 

 $3,500, should satisfy a man of ordinary ambition. Mr. 

 McCormick's home ranch is all seeded to alfalfa with 

 the exception of what is used for corral and garden pur- 

 poses. A photo of Mr. McCormick's ranch house is 

 shown herewith. 



NORTH DAKOTA IRRIGATION. 



A reconnaisance of much importance in North Da- 

 kota has been completed recently by A. L." Fellows, State 

 engineer, formerly of the reclamation service. Mr. Fel- 

 lows has found a large number of small tracts which 

 may be irrigated, and in dry seasons^greatly benefited 

 thereby. 



He points out what is now being generally recog- 

 nized, that irrigation, to be successful on these lands, 

 must be brought about by the construction of very cheap 

 and economical works, simple in design, such as can 

 stand idle possibly through several wet years, and still 

 be available in years of drouth. These small tracts of 

 lands are widely scattered and in the hands of private 

 owners, many of whom do not care to farm the lands 

 themselves, but axe holding them as grazing lands or 

 with a view to future speculation. 



These owners do not wish to incur any considerable 

 expense in irrigation, and while they are willing to have 

 the government undertake the work of reclamation, are 

 not inclined to assume any responsibility in the matter. 

 In other words, if the government will step in and make 

 the land valuable they will not object, but they do not 

 care to obligate themselves to pay the expense which 



might be incurred. Discussing this question today a 

 prominent official of the reclamation service asked: 



"While irrigation is talked and urged by newspaper 

 writers and real estate dealers in towns, it is very ap- 

 parent that actual farmers and small land owners are 

 not even yet particularly impressed with its importance. 

 They do realize, however, that it involves the introduc- 

 tion of new crops and methods of cultivation with the 

 hard and continuous labor that is inseparable from suc- 

 cessful intensive cultivation. 



"The greatest difficulty to be overcome in the North 

 Dakota situation is not so much the building of irriga- 

 tion w.orks as the education of the people who now own 

 land, and who are apparently satisfied with present con- 

 ditions and evince little interest in schemes of enthusi- 

 asts and government experts." 



The semi-arid section of the State, during the past 

 five years, has had more than an average rainfall in the 

 growing season, and bountiful crops have rewarded the 

 farmers. Agriculture has been extended far across the 

 line which heretofore has been regarded as separating 

 humid from semi-arid sections. Under the circum- 

 stances, the agitation for national irrigation has encoun- 

 tered more or less indifference on the part of the land 

 owners. 



SENATOR HANSBROUGH WILL NOT TRY FOR 

 AMENDMENT. 



Senator Hansbrough, of North Dakota, who was in 

 St. Paul recently, denied to a local paper the report 

 from Washington that he is going to try for an amend- 

 ment to the irrigation law this winter, which will take 

 the work out of the hands of the interior department. 

 He says the present organization of the work, with a 

 competent engineer to supervise the bureau, is satis- 

 factory, and he has no intention of trying to change it. 



In an interview Senator Hansbrough stated the sit- 

 uation to The Journal as follows : 



"The facts are - about these : When the irrigation 

 law was passed in 1902, the work was placed under the 

 interior department. What has since been known as 

 the reclamation bureau was organized out of the em- 

 ployes of the geological survey. There was a general 

 feeling in Congress that the government, having en- 

 tered upon the reclamation of arid lands, the very best 

 engineering talent of the country should have charge of 

 the work. There was some doubt, whether well founded 

 or not, about the capacity of the geographers and hy- 

 drographers of the survey bureau, and their fitness for 

 this important service. 



"As chairman of the committee on public lands, I 

 had had charge of the irrigation law. By reason of this 

 fact I felt a very deep interest in its success. I had no 

 doubt in my mind of the importance of securing the hest 

 engineering ability; so I introduced the bill creating 

 the office of supervising engineer of the reclamation 

 service. This was done after consultation with Presi- 

 dent Roosevelt. 



"Some of the members of the reclamation service 

 objected to my bill, and devoted themselves very strenu- 

 ously during the entire session to preventing considera- 

 tion of it. The irrigation committee was quite evenly 

 divided on the measure, and the session adjourned with- 

 out any action. 



