THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



331 



settlers of the old. It is asked that the government take 

 charge of laterals watering old as well as new lands and 

 that some plan be devised whereby an equitable division 

 of the cost of construction may be made. Another com- 

 plaint, and one, by the way, which comes from many 

 other parts of the irrigated section of the country, is that 

 forty-acre tracts are not sufficiently large to allow a 

 farmer to make a good living, and the association peti- 

 tions for an extension to eighty-acre tracts. Complaint 

 is also made that the government is forcing certain 

 settlers on the lowlands to reclaim their land twice by 

 the turning of the over-supply of water from the canal 

 on to their lands, leaving the settlers to drain the lands 

 and to face the question of wiping out the effects of the 

 alkali brought down by those flood waters. It is asked 

 that the government take some action to drain the low- 

 lands of the valley. The memorial respectfully suggests 

 that the people of the valley, who are practical irrigators 

 and farmers, and who will ultimately pay the cost of the 

 project, have some voice in the work. And it is un- 

 doubtedly true that better results could be obtained in 

 many places if the people directly interested be allowed 

 to use their knowledge in connection with government 

 projects. 



There is no doubt but what a success 

 Dry can be made of the so-called "dry-farm- 



Farming. ing" in the arid regions. The govern- 



ment is doing much in the line of in- 

 vestigation and research and there are thousands of acres 

 being taken up each year by farmers who hope to be able 

 to earn a livelihood by this method of agriculture. And 

 the AGE sincerely hopes that they will succeed and a 

 portion at least of vast area of the arid west where 

 water cannot be applied may be reclaimed in this man- 

 ner. But there are certain facts which the man who 

 undertakes the work should bear in mind. In the first 

 place there can be no such comforts as can be obtained 

 by irrigated agriculture, such as fruits, trees, and vege- 

 tables; and there is no assurance that even a drouth- 

 resisting crop will mature. Dry farming means one 

 endless round of work for the agriculturist, much more 

 even than in the humid regions, as he must take advan- 

 tage of every drop of water which falls on his land and 

 bring it to its utmost effectiveness. Should a season of 

 drouth occur the dry-farmer is "up against it" and he 

 must make provision in the years when he matures crops 

 to tide over the seasons of excessive dryness. The past 

 few years have had enough rainfall to mature dry-farm 

 crops and there is likelihood that the prospective buyer 

 of dry-farm land will become too confident of the success 

 of his efforts. There is no means of telling how soon we 

 may have a season of drouth, but that there will be years 

 when even crops on humid lands will not mature is an 

 assured fact. Colorado offers a fine example of what 

 may be done in dry-farming. In 1890 and 1891 there 



was an excess of the average rainfall of fourteen inches ; 

 then for four successive years there were seasons of 

 drouth and' the dry-land farmer's crops did not mature. 

 In some cases the agriculturists were able to "stick it 

 out" but in most instances the failures meant the de- 

 vastation of homes. The AGE does not wish to discour- 

 age the effort to reclaim arid lands by dry-farming, bu> 

 is it not a question whether the railroads and others who 

 have the disposal of these lands are not putting too 

 roseate a hue upon the possibilities of this method of 

 agriculture? We suggest that the prospective buyer 

 investigate the matter fully and that he get in touch 

 with the Department of Agriculture before consum- 

 mating a purchase of such lands. 



List of Executive Committeemen and Honorary Vice- 

 Presidents selected by the delegations from each State to act 

 during the coming year : 



Idaho H. F. French, executive committeeman ; Mrs. H. 



F. French, vice-president. 



Wyoming John H. Gordon, executive committeeman ; J. 

 M. Carey, vice-president. 



New Mexico R. E. Tweitchell, executive committeeman; 

 Gov. Geo. Curry, vice-president. 



Arizona B. A. Fowler, executive committeeman; Dwight 

 B. Heard, vice-president. 



Colorado A. B. McKinley, executive committeeman ; 

 Merle D. Vincent, vice-president. 



Washington C. H. Hinman, executive committeeman ; NV 



G. Blalock, vice-president. 



Oregon Mallett, executive committeeman; Geo. T. Bald- 

 win, vice-president. 



Illinois R. D. Mansen, executive committeeman ; Wm. 

 Rohrer, vice-president. 



Kansas I. L. Diesem, executive committeeman ; C. W! 

 Mott, vice-president. 



Texas Felex Martinez, executive committeeman ; Lom- 

 bardy, vice-president. 



North Dakota E. R. Brownson, executive committeeman ; 

 John Brtfegger, vice-president. 



Rhode Island A. J. Atley, executive committeeman; 

 Oscar Laphan, vice-president. 



Nevada F. H. Means, executive committeeman ; Hon. F. 

 G. Newlands, vice-president. 



Utah Fred J. 'Keasel, executive committeeman; John H. 

 Smith, vice-president 



Hawaii C. H. Kluegel, executive committeeman; James 

 T. Taylor, vice-president. 



Arkansas John A. Fox, executive committeeman ; O. N. 

 Killough, vice-president. 



New Mexico Ex-Governor Prince, executive committee- 

 man : T. J. Clark, vice-president. 



North Carolina J. A. Holmes, executive committeeman; 

 James Holmes, vice-president. 



New York Truman Palmer, executive committeeman; 

 Wilbur F. Wakenar. vice-president. 



Ohio Chester Broadwell, executive committeeman ; John 

 M. Amos, vice-president. 



New Jersey Lighten, executive committeeman ; M. N. 

 Baker, vice-president. 



Massachusetts W. F. Rane, executive committeeman ; 

 Herbert Myrick, vice-president. 



California Judge Raker, executive committeeman ; Mrs. 

 Lovell White, vice-president. 



Owing to a misunderstanding a complete list of the mem- 

 bers of the Executive Committee and Honorary Vice- 

 Presidents were not furnished the secretary and it will be 

 impossible to secure a full list before the proceedings are 

 published and distributed in the usual form. 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age 

 1 year, and the Primer of Irrigation 



