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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



THE FOURTEENTH NATIONAL IRRIGATION 

 CONGRESS. 



The fourteenth national irrigation congress, which 

 meets at Boise, September 3 to 8, is the only meeting 

 of national importance to be held on the Pacific slope 

 during the present year. Chairman Eben E. MacLeod, 

 of the Western Passenger Association, has notified the 

 executive committee that rates for the congress would 

 be determined at the Minneapolis meeting of the asso- 

 ciation July 31. 



On account of the fact that this is the only oppor- 

 tunity for attracting travel to the great West, it is 

 expected that the railroads will make unusual conces- 

 sions for this occasion, and that the rates given will be 

 such that all who contemplated making a Western trip 

 will take advantage of this opportunity. 



The general impression prevailing in the East is 

 that it requires large land holdings in the West to 

 enable farmers to be prosperous. This was the case 



generally known that agriculture is as certain in results 

 as manufacture, when carried on through irrigation, 

 and that neither drouth nor floods endanger the cer- 

 tainty of the expected yield. 



The cause of the numerous inquiries from the 

 home-seeking class is the unprecedented interest taken 

 in the success of the congress by immigration societies 

 and bureaus, and the immigration departments of the 

 railroad systems running through Chicago and St. Louis. 

 The great irrigation enterprises being carried on in the 

 inter-mountain States will provide homes for many 

 thousand families, relieving the congested condition of 

 the over-crowded East, and every effort is being made 

 to inform the people of the opportunities waiting the 

 home-seeker. 



The Boise session of the congress is to constitute 

 a great school for irrigation. Scientific and profes- 

 sional men will discuss and analyze advanced theories, 

 engineers of national character and reputation will give 

 the solution of the many engineering problems that 



A Familiar Western Scene. 



with the pioneers of the middle Western States, and it 

 seems incredible to them that a twenty-acre irrigated 

 farm is amply sufficient to provide a family with all the 

 comforts of life, leaving a surplus at the end of the 

 year, and many are coming to investigate and learn ho\v 

 it is accomplished. ' 



Although more than a month will elapse before the 

 congress is to meet, delegates to the number of over 

 1,000 have been appointed from different sections ea-t 

 of the Rocky mountains, and an average of 100 letters 

 a day are being received at headquarters, asking for 

 general information concerning the congress and the 

 opportunities to be had for learning as imich as possi- 

 ble of irrigation methods, size of farms, capital re- 

 quired, character of crops produced, and the revenue to 

 be depended upon by the irrigationists, for it is now 



have been worked out, and the practical irrigators will 

 show in a practical way what is accomplished by the 

 results on exhibition. 



The general Government has loaned nearly $40,- 

 000,000 for the purpose of reclaiming arid lands and 

 providing homes for the people. The loan was made 

 through an act of congress approved by President Roose- 

 velt four years ago. At the Idaho meeting the Govern- 

 ment is going to be asked to add $100,000,000 more to 

 the loan made to its citizens for the more rapid comple- 

 tion of the works now under construction. Senators 

 and members of congress are the real trustees of the 

 Government in the loans made, and they are coming to 

 investigate the conditions of the security which reclama- 

 tion is giving to insure its repayment. 



The investigation will show that the land in the 



