THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



171 



BOND VALUES. 



An Interesting Study for Investors. 



Among conservative, careful money loaners there 

 is no class of investments that are more sought after 

 than farm loans. It is only where large amounts of 

 money are to be placed that the bond mortgage comes 

 into competition, to save annoyance of a great number 

 of transactions. The farm loan issue ranging from 

 $500 to $15,000 necessitates much bookkeeping and 

 many changes. Where the sum to be loaned i& from 

 $50,000 up into the millions the desire is to concen- 

 trate these loans into as large ones as possible, hence 

 the desire for a bond issue. Notwithstanding this no 

 class of security is safer than the farm loan. With the 

 building of large irrigation ditches \inder corporate 

 management and covering large tracts of land to be ir- 

 rigated thereby, a new class of bonds have come into the 



the East or Middle West. It is a bugbear and the ordi- 

 nary Eastern man looks at it with suspicion simply be- 

 cause in his egotistical way he declares that anything 

 he does not understand must be looked upon with sus- 

 picion. This is a day of research and enlightenment 

 and it is so easy to prove the value of irrigation that 

 it seems strange that an ordinarv business man should 

 show such dense ignorance regarding such an im- 

 portant question. The people of the West look upon 

 the question of irrigation as the cheapest kind of an 

 insurance of large crops. It is seldom that the irrigating 

 expense reaches 5 per cent of the value of the profit, 

 more often it does not exceed 1 per cent. 



Now let us look at the benefits. First, it insures 

 against draught; second, it gives to the growing crops 

 the needed moisture at the opportune time ; third, your 

 harvest time is dry and loss and damage by storms 

 almost unknown ; fourth, in the cultivation of the crops 

 no time is lost by storms but while the irrigating is 



Cornfield, Pinon County, Colo. 



market, combining all of the safety features of the farm 

 loan with the advantage of loaning in a single large 

 sum as with other bonds and having several features of 

 safety not offered by the ordinary farm loan. 



With the ordinary bond placed on manufacturing 

 plants several items have to be taken into consideration. 

 First, the plant may be destroyed by fire; the farm 

 never. Second, machinery and manufacturing appli- 

 ances are ever changing. Third, no manufacturing 

 plant can be successful without careful management 

 and this may change at any time ; not so with the farm. 

 It requires no skilled and talented man to run the 

 farm and bring forth the fruit thereof. This is usually 

 the result of brawn, muscle and hard work. As in every 

 class of security, it is necessary to investigate. First, 

 the quality of land. Second, the source and sufficienty 

 of the water supply for irrigating purposes. Third, 

 the means employed to conduct the water to the desired 

 lands. If the land is good and the water supply ample, 

 there is no safer loan in the world than a conservative 

 irrigation bond issue secured by both land and water. 



Irrigation is a subject which is little understood in 



being done the sun is shining, the crops are growing 

 and farm help fully employed; five, by giving to the 

 growing crops the moisture when needed and with- 

 holding it when not needed insures the highest quality 

 of vegetables, grain, hay and fruits. 



Now let us make some comparisons. The general 

 average of wheat grown in the United States, to the 

 acre, is 12.3 bushels. 



In Montana under irrigation wheat yields 28.3 



In Colorado under irrigation wheat yields 26.6 



In Utah under irrigation wheat yields 26.2 



In Nebraska without irrigation wheat yields 15.7 



In -Minnesota without irrigation wheat yields 13.1 



In South Dakota without irrigation wheat yields . . 13.8 

 In North Dakota without irrigation wheat yields . . 12.7 

 and hay in like proportions Sugar beets under irriga- 

 tion in Colorado give an average of 17 per cent 

 Sfccharine. 



Montana under irrigation 17% 



Utah under irrigation 17% 



Wisconsin, Michigan and Nebraska without irriga- 

 tion, rather under 12% 



