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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



journal, investors are urged to appeal to these institu- 

 tions first, and only upon failure to secure satisfaction 

 to address the AGE. Should our special agents be able 

 to reach conclusions within the next thirty days, matter 

 calculated to interest and instruct readers will probably 

 appear in the February issue. 



While the field of investment in irrigation bonds 

 is so wide, and while there are so many reputable con- 

 cerns offering these securities at reasonable rates of 

 interest, it is to be deplored that rascals may not be 

 barred. All reliable bond houses may not be represented 

 in the advertising pages of the IREIGATION AGE but 

 readers may place confidence in those whose advertise- 

 ments appear in this or any other issue. 



SOUTHERN IDAHO COMMERCIAL CLUBS. 



In direct line with the Ballinger-Pinchot 

 Westerner's controversy is an interview with Mr. C. F. 

 Opinion of Robertson, mayor of Worland, Wyo., in 

 Pinchot. the heart of the Big Horn basin, given in 



the office of this journal on the sixth day of 

 January, 1910. Mr. Robertson is a pioneer in the Big 

 Horn basin and knows whereof he speaks. He has the 

 following to say: 



To those of us who live in the inter-mountain west 

 and lace the actual conditions affected by the public land 

 and forest reserve policies, the attitude of Gifford Pinchot 

 is so ridiculous that one wonders at the credulity of the 

 unsuspecting public in "swallowing his bait." His whole 

 theory of conservation of the forests is founded upon false 

 assumptions; for instance, he would make the people be- 

 lieve that the forests upon the mountain sides hold back 

 the snow and conserves that moisture, when in fact, any- 

 one who has been in the high mountains in summer knows 

 that the only moisture conserved is in the glaciers, high 

 above the timber line. While I do not believe in willful 

 waste of any natural resource, why keep the timber for 

 future generations that will be using concrete and steel 

 and have comparatively small use for lumber? 



If Gifford Pinchot had held himself closely to the line 

 in performance of his duties, instead of "gallivanting" over 

 the country, parading himself before the public, he could 

 have saved millions of feet of lumber destroyed by forest 

 fires last year, and the same during all past years of office. 



It is strange that charges have not been filed against 

 him for failure to perform his sworn duty in protecting 

 the forests from fires. The fact is that at the very time 

 Pinchot was at the Irrigation Congress in Spokane giving 

 his time to conducting a political fight against Ballinger, I 

 looked out and saw in three different directions dense 

 smoke in the mountains from forest fires that raged for 

 days. The thought came to me at that time, how utterly 

 useless the forestry division was and how far it came from 

 fulfilling its purpose. 



Exit Pinchot, and give the country a man of affairs as 

 chief forester who will conduct the office along practical 

 lines in the interest of the whole people. 



Mr. Robertson is one of many westerners who have 

 made statements of this character, and it can be safely 

 said to reflect the general sentiment of those who are face 

 to face with this overshadowing question. 



Send $2,50 for The Irrigation 



Age one year and 

 The Primer of Irrigation 



Central League Formed for Exploitation of Lands and 

 Resources of Twenty-three Cities. 



Called into being four years ago as a result of the 

 conviction upon the part of many of the aggressive young 

 business men of southern Idaho, that the interests of the 

 State could be immeasurably advanced through co-operation 

 of effort, the League of Southern Idaho Commercial Clubs 

 has since then amply justified its existence, and its methods 

 may well serve as models for other organizations, pursuing 

 campaigns of publicity. 



The activities of the League are focused almost entirely 

 in the direction of laying before the public authentic informa- 

 tion regarding the resources of southern Idaho. Where for- 

 merly the commercial bodies of the various cities (twenty- 

 two cities are identified with the League at present) strug- 

 gled with the problems of publicity often with inadequate 

 resources they are now enabled to maintain a Central Bureau 

 at Boise, with a permanent Secretary, devoted to their in- 

 terests. It is apparent that the merits of each individual 

 section are heralded without bias, and with strict regard to 

 facts. 



The League has been convened, as a body, once each 

 year at one or the other of the cities embraced by it, the 

 first meeting having been held at Weiser, the last one at 

 Pocatello, durine the month of October, 1909. An Execu- 

 tive Board of seven members meets at Boise for confer- 

 ence every sixty days. 



Charles M. Hill, the President of the League, is one of 

 the young men of force and character who has "made good" 

 in Idaho. He is a native of Minnesota and removed to the 

 city of Twin Falls, Idaho, five years ago. He is a member 

 of the firm of Hill & Taylor, Real Estate and Insurance 

 Brokers. 



Mr. Riley Atkinson, Secretary of the League, is another 

 man of the same stamp. Although, like Mr. Hill, still very 

 youthful, his character and his success in achieving the in- 

 cumbency of such an important office, are evidences of 

 what may be accomplished in Idaho. 





CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS. 



Mr. G. L. Shumway, who for several years acted as 

 assistant in editorial work on The Irrigation Age, is now 

 a candidate for Congress in the Sixth District of Nebraska. 

 Mr. Shumway is well known throughout the entire coun- 

 try among irrigationists and conservationists as a man 

 with steadfast purposes not easily carried away by passing 

 fads and fancies, so common with politicians. The editor 

 of this journal is not acquainted with the other candi- 

 dates, but he does know that regardless of politics, Mr. 

 Shumway has as much, or more, influence in and out of 

 politics as any man in Nebraska, with the exception pos- 

 sibly of Mr. W. J. Bryan, Victor Rosewater and one or 

 two others, and we make no exceptions when it comes to 

 the question of the public domain. Should he be elected, 

 it can be predicted that his work will not be confined to 

 members of his own party, for Republicans and Demo- 

 crats alike recognize in him a character which rises above 

 partisanship. The state of Nebraska will gain distinction 

 by sending Mr. Shumway to Congress. 



GROW SEEDS ON IRRIGATED LAND. 



The opening up of the lands embraced in the recla- 

 mation projects of the Government is attracting the at- 

 tention of the wholesale seed houses. 



The new lands which are entirely free from weeds 

 and other injurious forms of plant growth, are regarded 

 by the seed men as ideal for the raising of certain kinds 

 of plants for seeds. 



On the Huntley project, in Montana, the Northrup- 

 King Seed Company of Minneapolis are planning to ex- 

 periment in the growing of seed peas during the crop 

 year of 1910. This company expects to plant about 1.500 

 pounds, and if successful other logumes will be grown for 

 seed. Contracts are now being made with the farmers at 

 the price of 2 cents per pound for all seed peas grown. 



