202 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



than of others, is, however, of interest to the people 

 of Eastern States as well, because the irrigation of 

 these Western lands means opportunities for the cre- 

 ation of homes. The people who build these homes are 

 not in the West today ; they must come from the East. 



The development of the West by irrigation is of 

 interest not alone to those who would make homes on 

 lands so reclaimed, but to the manufacturers and mer- 

 chants and all the great commercial interests of the 

 country and of the East, for the reason that the people 

 who settle upon these lands and make them by their 

 labor productive must become purchasers and consumers 

 as well as producers whose products will swell the sum 

 total of the business of the country. 



The Irrigation Congress deals not alone with Ir- 

 rigation but with Forestry. Within the last few years 

 an entirely new forest policy has been developed in this 



its initiative and with the aid of the public sentiment 

 aroused by the discussions which have comprised the 

 proceedings year after year. 



The National Reclamation Service now has at its 

 command a fund of nearly $40,000,000 with which 

 works of great magnitude are being constructed in not 

 less than fifteen states and territories. The Forest 

 Service, also largely the result of the Irrigation Con- 

 gress, has been entrusted with the control of many 

 millions of acres of the public domain, the admin- 

 istration of which by executive action is deemed neces- 

 sary to the preservation and conservation of streams. 



Those who favor and those who approve, for there 

 are some who oppose, must alike appreciate the im- 

 portance of a meeting where the officials charged with 

 the administration of these important branches of the 

 Government Service meet face to face representatives of 



Home office of Maywood Colony at Corning (Sacramento Valley), California. This elegant and substantial building symbolizes the per- 

 manency and stability of the Maywood Colony and is in plain view of all passing trains on San Francisco-Portland 



division of the Southern Pacific system. 



country, a policy that is of interest to every citizen no 

 matter where he lives for it seeks to protect the water- 

 sheds of the country, not alone in order that water may 

 be conserved for Irrigation but to the end that de- 

 structive floods may be averted and prevented. The 

 forest policy of the National Government is discussed 

 at the annual meetings of the Irrigation Congress by 

 men who favor and by men who oppose and in these 

 debates lies the oportunity for the people of the United 

 States to acquaint themselves with the underlying prin- 

 ciples of this policy and to register their individual pref- 

 erences regarding its administration. 



The importance of the Irrigation Congress as a 

 factor in our national life impresses itself upon us 

 when we consider the tremendous character of the na- 

 tional enterprises which have been developed through 



the various portions of the United States and through 

 them make their reports direct. 



Sacramento, where the Fifteenth National Irriga- 

 tion Congress will be held, is the capital of California, 

 the commercial and railway center of The Great In- 

 terior Valley of the state. The city has a population of 

 nearly 50,000 people and boasts numerous advantages 

 and attractions. Chief interest from an irrigation 

 standpoint attaches to the great valley of which this 

 city is the heart and center. This valley stretches 

 lengthwise through the "state of California more than 

 400 miles, a great 'level plane bordered on the east by 

 the Sierra Nevada Mountains, on the west by the Coast 

 Rangp, and presents probably the greatest irrigation 

 opportunity on the Western Hemisphere. 



This Great Vallev with more than 10,000,000 acres 



