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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



With this issue THE IRRIGATION AGE be- 

 Twenty-sec- gins its twenty-second year. While irri- 

 ond Year. gation, per se, is as old as civilization 

 itself, little had been done in the United 

 States to reclaim any arid or semi-arid lands by means 

 of irrigation at the time the first number of this journal 

 was published. Indeed, very few had any adequate 

 conception of what could be done in the way of re- 

 claiming waste lands. Some learned men in those days 

 scoffed at the idea of any one even being able to make 

 anything grow in the wild lands of the West. Hardly 

 more than half a century ago no less a personage than 

 Daniel Webster, who was then Secretary of State, when 

 asked to favor a small appropriation for the purpose 

 of sending an expedition to explore the western coun- 

 try, balanced a 2-cent piece on the end of his forefinger 

 and gravely announced that he would not exchange the 

 coin for all the territory lying west of the Rocky 

 mountains ! 



This incident is recited at this time so that the 

 reader today can understand something of the amazing 

 indifference and lack of information that has stood like 

 a Chinese wall between the people and their just rights, 

 keeping them away from a rich heritage to which they 

 were justly entitled. It was against this great wall 

 that THE IRRIGATION AGE directed its batteries more 

 than a score of years ago. One after another of the 

 towering barriers have crumbled before the steady and 

 well directed fire, until today scarcely a vestige of the 

 wall remains. The struggle was long and strenuous 

 but now the people are coming into their own they 

 are beginning to reap the fruits of victory. The 

 Reclamation Act has now been in operation over a 

 period of four years, and thousands of acres of waste 

 lands have already been reclaimed and the good work 

 has just begun! 



In this connection it should be noted that manu- 

 facturers are beginning to appreciate the good work of 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE. Every acre of land reclaimed 

 by means of irrigation spells a larger demand for every- 

 thing used on the farm. We take no little pride in our 

 achievements during the last twenty-one years, and we 

 hope to do even more in the years to come. 



William E. Smythe, one of the founders of the 

 paper, is still actively engaged in literary work, and 

 while no longer connected with this publication, is 

 doing much toward stimulating interest in irrigation 

 development; and to his early efforts may be attributed 

 much of the success which has been attained through the 

 passage of the Reclamation Law. Numerous other men 

 have been prominent in irrigation work, and, unfor- 

 tunately for the cause, many unscrupulous individuals 

 have derived personal benefits to which they were not 

 entitled but to the great number of early workers who 

 spent so much energy and valuable time without receiv- 

 ing or expecting anything in return, the AGE extends 



greeting and good wishes on this its 22d birthday. 

 Some of those who did valiant work have passed away, 

 and are not permitted to see the results of their labors; 

 while others, like Newell, Shurtliff, John Henry Smith, 

 Mead, Knight, Keisel, Graves, Johnson, Jaycox, Car- 

 penter, Frost, Moses, Murphy, Fortier and many others 

 are more or less active and doing splendid work in pro- 

 moting the best interests of irrigation to these and 

 to the whole company of loyal workers the AGE extends 

 greeting. 



Forest Re- 

 serve Lands. 



The Bureau of Forestry at Washington, 

 D. C., announces that the bill providing 

 for settlement on agricultural lands em- 

 braced in forest reservations has been 

 signed by the President and is now effec- 

 tive. This law will throw open for settlement thou- 

 sands of acres of fertile lands. Following are the more 

 important provisions of the new law: 



"Only lands valuable for agricultural purposes and 

 not needed for administrative purposes by the forest 

 service or for some other public use will be classified 

 and listed under this bill. Land covered with a mer- 

 chantable growth of timber will not be declared agri- 

 cultural, except upon the strongest evidence of its value 

 for agricultural purposes, both as to its productiveness 

 and accessibility to a market. 



"Areas known to have been occupied by actual 

 settlers prior to January 1, 1906, will be examined first, 

 and when such areas are found chiefly valuable for agri- 

 cultural purposes they will be listed, in order that the 

 occupants may make entry under the act. The mere 

 fact that a man has settled upon land will, however, 

 not influence the decision with respect to its agricultural 

 character. 



"Any one who was a bona fide settler on land within 

 a forest reserve before January 1, 1906, but who has 

 already exercised or lost his homestead privilege, may, 

 if otherwise qualified, make homestead entry under the 

 law, but must pay $2.50 per acre for any lands entered. 



"The first preference right to enter lands classified 

 and listed under the act will be given to persons who 

 settled upon such lands prior to January 1, 1906. The 

 second preference right to enter any particular listed 

 tract will be given to persons who apply to have the 

 classification made, but this latter class should not apply 

 for the classification of a tract occupied by a settler 

 before that date; otherwise, they might lose their pref- 

 erence rights. 



"Supervisors are often absent from their headquar- 

 ters, and so cannot be reached at all times by applicants. 

 To avoid any undue advantage of one applicant over 

 another due to this cause, all applications under this 

 act must be forwarded by mail to the Forester, Wash- 

 ington, D. C., by the applicants. 



"Applications dated and mailed before the bill be- 



