THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



THE IRRIGATION AGE is in receipt of a 

 Scientific or letter dated .October 10th from Mr. John 

 Dry Farming. Donahue, president of the Colonial Secur- 

 ity and Trust Company of Denver, Colo., 

 in which he states that he is enclosing an article concern- 

 ing the matter of "dry farming" in that state. But as 

 will be seen by a perusal of "dry farming by one of the 

 farmers," he quotes from an editorial which appeared 

 in our September number, and suggests that we lay our- 

 selves open to a charge of total ignorance of the facts. 

 This editorial was prepared for publication by a mem- 

 ber of our staff, during the absence of the writer, and 

 was perhaps siightly overdrawn. Mr. Donahue's letter, 

 however, brings to mind the fact that the subject of 

 "dry farming" is rather a big one and the title of this 

 particular line of industry is in a sense misleading. The 

 editor of this journal has been in close touch with Mr. 

 H. W. Campbell, who has done more to develop what is 

 known as scientific farming in the semi-arid region of 

 the west than any other man. Mr. Campbell and the 

 writer have gone over this subject many, many times, 

 and that gentleman has reiterated in our conversations 

 his belief that the term "dry farming" as used by land 

 sellers throughout Colorado and elsewhere is misleading, 

 and will eventually bring to distress and possibly want 

 settlers who have gone into that country under a mis- 

 apprehension. This same opinion is shared by the editor 

 of the IRRIGATION AGE, who has hesitated to express 

 his views, fearing that reputable land sellers would be 

 injured by the exposure of those who were inducing 

 eastern people to purchase land which they claim will 

 produce good crops by "dry farming." We do not ques- 

 tion the statement made by Mr. Donahue as to the suc- 

 cess on particular tracts of land, nor do we doubt his 

 statement that splendid results may be obtained in horti- 

 culture and general agriculture through a practice of 

 this system. It is only fair, however,, to state that Mr. 

 Donahue is evidently following the Campbell system of 

 scientific farming and has thoughtlessly permitted the 

 term "dry farming" to be used in connection with his 

 work. The gentleman is evidently an enthusiast along 

 these lines and is no doubt successful. He states that 

 he is president of a corporation that is conducting the 

 most extensive "dry farming" operation of any single 

 corporation on the eastern Colorado plains and that it is 

 his duty to travel over this vast area for the purpose of 

 observing what others are doing and how they are doing 

 it. It is evident that Mr. Donahue has given the sub- 

 ject very careful thought and is securing information 

 and data which will be very serviceable to him in his 

 experiments along these lines. We are rather inclined 

 to doubt, however, his ability to furnish many names 

 and addresses of men who have, as he says, some of the 

 finest orchards in all America, upon the arid plains of 

 eastern Colorado. But to return to the main point. 

 Many people who have the best interests of tbe west at 



heart have felt for some time past that the literature 

 which is being sent out from land companies concerning 

 this so-called "dry farming" is partially misleading. The 

 writer expressed this view some time ago to Mr. Fisher 

 Harris, president of the Dry Farming Congress, and 

 stated to him that unless caution is used in attracting 

 settlers under the claims of "dry farming" enthusiasts 

 a condition will soon develop in eastern Colorado similar 

 to that which was encountered in western Kansas in 

 her early history. A man need not go very far back in 

 the history of Kansas to learn that misrepresentation 

 by unscrupulous land sellers caused almost irreparable 

 damage and injured that state so badly that only within 

 the last few years has she recovered from the stigma 

 brought upon her wholly by the avariciousness of un- 

 scrupulous, heartless land sellers. It may be well for 

 Mr. Donahue to know that we will assist in every way, 

 any method which will help develop Colorado and the 

 West generally. We have attempted during many years 

 past to explain that fact and the editor of this paper is 

 moreover a great admirer of Colorado, and his object 

 in entering into this matter so fully is to warn the 

 people of Colorado first, and secondly, prospective set- 

 tlers, that "dry farming" is not "boy's play" and should 

 not be attempted by the man brought up in the east, 

 who has no clear conception of what is necessary to 

 make a success under these conditions. Mr. Donahue 

 may depend upon the support of this journal at all times 

 in assisting to colonize the "scores of millions" of acres 

 mentioned by him ; the colonization of this land must, 

 however, be worked out in a clear way and full informa- 

 tion must be placed before the prospective purchasers. 

 We will also be glad to publish any matter which Mr. 

 Donahue may see fit to furnish us. This is a broad sub- 

 ject and we will gladly exploit its features in the columns 

 of the IRRIGATION AGE. 



We are calling attention to the advertise- 

 Bitter Root ment in this issue of The Bitter Root Dis- 

 Valley. trict Irrigation Company. This company 



is placing its lands in the Bitter Root val- 

 ley on the market, and will no doubt find an easy sale, 

 as they are as fertile and productive lands as any of the 

 well known valleys of the fruit region, and when irri- 

 gated are capable of producing an astonishing revenue. 

 The Bitter Root valley is known among the high-class 

 fruit regions of the West. The superlative quality and 

 the unprecedented quantity of the fruit grown there 

 has long been known. This is especially true concern- 

 ing the Bitter Root Valley apples. There are instances 

 on record where a single acre planted to one variety of 

 apples has netted its owner over $500. 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age 

 1 year, and The Primer of Irrigation 



