THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



181 



Strawberry valley will be intercepted, turned from its 

 course through the mountain in a long tunnel and will 

 be added to their supply, costing them about $2 per acre 

 per year for ten years. 



"Many other such examples could be cited and in 

 no instance is any lack of confidence in the outcome 

 apparent. 



"Projects of the magnitude of that of Sacramento 

 valley, where drainage and irrigation might well be 

 united in one great project, can not be undertaken in the 

 near future unless Congress adds to the revolving fund 

 which is now available for irrigation work. A growing 

 demand for federal aid in reclaiming swamp and over- 

 flowed lands is manifest no doubt due to the very favor- 



In the meantime the hydrographic and topographic sec- 

 tions of the United States Geological Survey will con- 

 tinue under co-operation of the State to collect the 

 data essential as a basis for outlining and planning the 

 irrigation of Sacramento valley lands. 



"A feature of the reclamation act which seems to 

 meet with general approval is that which compels a 

 return of the money expended by the land which has 

 been benefited. The funds set aside in the United 

 States treasury for such work are not, therefore, appro- 

 priative in the ordinary sense, but are loans expended 

 in useful construction under absolute Federal direction 

 and control. There is not, therefore, anything alarming 

 in the magnitude of projects, for, in the end, the cost 



Headwaters of the Snake River, Where It Leaves Jackson's Lake The Teton Range in the Distance Shoshone Project in Wyoming. 



thereof to the United States will only be the interest 

 on the money thus invested. 



"It is also to be emphasized that Government aid 

 in matters of land reclamation is not for the benefit of 

 the land speculator or speculating farmer, but is in- 

 tended to aid in the building of homes. 



"Home building on the small irrigated farm is the 

 central idea which justified the enactment of the recla- 

 mation law." 



THE LAND OF THE CONCHOS. 

 "Land of Promise." 



able opinion throughout the entire West on the merits 

 of the reclamation act. 



"When some of the irrigation projects shall have 

 been so far advanced that the repayment of the cost 

 of works begins, the confidence in the provisions of this 

 act will become so firmly established that some of those 

 districts which can not now be improved for lack of 

 funds may be brought within reach at an early date by 

 additions to the reclamation fund from other sources 

 than sales of public lands. The wisdom of increasing 

 the fund is certainly a proper question for the con- 

 sideration of Congress. In the meantime the projects 

 of the future are not being overlooked by the reclama- 

 tion service. When local and general benefit is so 

 manifest as in the case of a Sacramento valley project 

 early authorization is desirable to undertake the project. 



BY W. J. B. MOOB, SAN ANGELO, TEXAS. 



The land of the Conchos, not so called from any 

 tribe or people who may have once inhabited it, but 



