182 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



from the several clear, sparkling rivers flowing through 

 it and bountifully watering it, as well as affording a 

 retreat for the health seeker, or man of leisure, to while 

 away the time with hook and line, angling for the finny 

 tribe, which are abundant in all these streams and that 

 of the gamiest sorts, among which are trout, black bass, 

 white, black, sun and goggle-eyed perch as well as cats, 

 blue, yellow, channel and mud cats, so that one maybe 

 entertained though solitary and alone, along the banks 

 of these beautiful streams under the broad spreading 

 branches of the immense pecan trees that fringe the 

 banks of all the clear rippling streams of this western 

 Texas country, for that is where this land of promise is. 



These rivers likely take their names from the many 

 shells found in them, which sometimes yield pearls, 

 some very valuable. 



But as the things above do not always appeal to 

 those who think of more material things, we have but 

 to mention the use to which these streams are being put, 

 which until recently only furnished water to the im- 

 mense herds of cattle, horses and sheep held on these 

 rich pasture lands by the lordly stockman, who formerly 

 held the country and to whom it has not only been the 

 land of promise, but of fulfillment, for many have 

 waxed rich from the "fat of the land" in stock ; but the 

 ever-increasing demand of the agriculturist has called 

 and is calling for this land, as it will for all other rich 

 lands where improved methods and modern machinery 

 may be used to advantage. So, in the three or four 

 years since farming began in this country, it has forged 

 rapidly ahead, and each year new and larger areas are 

 responding with bountiful crops to the magic touch of 

 the intelligent farmer. 



The lands for the most part are of a rich, red loam, 

 though in some places nearly black, as especially on the 

 divide lands (spurs of the great plains), sometimes 

 twelve to eighteen miles wide, all easily cultivated and 

 produce fine crops of small grain, milo maize, Kaffir 

 corn, sorghum, millet, etc., as well as cotton without 

 irrigation and with irrigation (from streams or wells) 

 anything that grows in a semi-tropical or temperate 

 zone, including alfalfa and all kinds of vegetables and 

 fruits, except the strictly tropical. 



And so quite a number of pumping plants are 

 being put in this year. These generally have a dam 

 as part of the plan. Formerly the dams were built 

 high enough to flow the water out through ditches. 



Still the acreage of dry land farms is much the 

 greatest, for to the south and east of this place, San 

 Angelo, Tom Green county, Texas, there is a body of 

 slightly rolling rich prairie land twelve to eighteen miles 

 wide and about fifty miles long, apparently a sunken 

 plain, with mountains showing both to the north and 

 south. 



This body of land is called Lipan Flats from the 

 tribe of Indians inhabiting this country until the early 

 seventies. 



These lands are easy to put in cultivation and easy 

 to care for, one man with teams and cultivators culti- 

 vating as much as one hundred to one hundred and 

 fifty acres, except the one necessary hoeing of cotton, 

 for which and the picking he must hire help. Other 

 crops are gathered with machinery. 



People from all sections of our country are learn- 

 ing of the health-giving ozone of this country, judging 

 from the increasing cosmopolitan population and the 

 many new houses building (about one thousand in last 

 two years), for people coming for health alone, and yet 



many live the year around in tents or shingle roofed 

 houses with canvas walls and indeed this seems best for 

 those affected with pulmonary or tubercular troubles, 

 for which this climate seems especially beneficial, the 

 elevation being just enough with the dry atmos- 

 phere to give the desired results and at the same time 

 not so great as to seriously affect those who also suffer 

 from heart troubles. The elevation at this point is 

 nearly two thousand feet ; on some of the mountains and 

 divide plateaus twenty-seven hundred to three thousand 

 feet. 



One camp near here conducted by Dr. Watts, from 

 New York State, as a sanitarium, has all the houses 

 provided with canvas walls with ingenious arrangements 

 of windows and walls to provide fresh air and light and 

 also avoid draught. 



Prominent Catholic sisters of Galveston, Texas, are 

 also interesting themselves in the idea of building a 

 large sanitarium here. 



The Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad has for 

 a long time been the "pathfinder" to this wonderful 

 country, this being the present western terminus of their 

 branch line from Temple, Texas, but soon they hope 

 to hear the rattle and puff of Arthur Stillwell's new 

 transcontinental line, now building from Kansas City to 

 Topobolampo, Mexico, the Kansas City, Mexico & 

 Orient Railway, and yet other projects for railroads 

 for this "promised land" are on foot, as well as the 

 hope and prospect that the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe 

 will extend to make a connection with the Santa Fe sys- 

 tem in New Mexico. 



In fact a large party of the officials with their 

 wives and others were here recently on a trip of inspec- 

 tion and they met with a royal welcome at this their 

 second largest shipping station (Galveston, of course, 

 being their largest). 



Among the party were Mr. A. G. Kendrick, second 

 vice-president of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; 

 Mr. W. C. Nixon, vice-president and general manager 

 of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe, and Mr. Pettibone, 

 general superintendent, and others. 



If your readers care to hear more of this wonderful 

 country there is much more to tell. 



Lands are yet cheap and opportunities are plentiful. 



A good plan is to "come and see." 



TIMBER AND STONE ACT. 



John McAlpine, of Duluth, Presents His Opinion to Com- 

 mittee on Public Lands. 



During a recent visit of Mr. John McAlpine, of 

 Duluth, Minn., at Washington, he was asked for his 

 opinion on the matter of repeal of the timber and stone 

 act. He put his views in the form of a brief, and it 

 was presented to the Committee on Public Lands in 

 the form quoted below : 



"The parties who have been opposed to the present 

 land laws for several years, are opposed for their own 

 special benefit and gain, not for the benefit of the 

 people at large or the welfare of the country. 



"Among the several statutes disposing of public 

 lands the Timber and Stone Act stands in a class by 

 itself. When the disposal of the public domain was 

 first considered by the Government, it was found that 

 there were vast tracts of territory that were unfit for 

 cultivation, and how could those lands be disposed of 

 so as to contribute in the largest degree to the welfare 

 of the greatest number? That was the question that 



