18 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



CORRESPONDENCE 



FROM BOSTON. 



The following letter from a gentleman in Boston, sup- 

 ports the argument of Mr. Wright in his article "Americans 

 for America," which was published in our October issue, 

 namely that there are plenty of good Americans in the central 

 and eastern states still ready to follow Horace Greely's ad- 

 vise and "go west," when definite information on any particu- 

 lar locality is furnished them. 



413 Massachusetts Ave., 

 Boston, Mass., October -29, 1907. 

 Dear Sirs : 



During the past year or so I have become very much in- 

 terested in irrigation as it pertains to the reclamation of arid 

 lands which would otherwise be non-productive, and I have 

 read considerable regarding this subject. I have had my eye 

 on the far west for a number of years, and as an ambitious, 

 energetic, progressive spirited young man (allow me to say 

 so) I expect some day to cast my lot in some part of the far 

 western country. Fruit growing' is what now seems to be 

 the specialty I desire to engage in. 



The above will be sufficient; as an introduction to you, 

 and now I want to say that I re'ad'' your article in the IRRIGA- 

 TION AGE, current issue, and 'cphctir; with you from my view- 

 point that some means should be devised whereby desirable 

 people from the eastern and middle states could secure homes 

 on some of the fine lands that; are now being brought under 

 the great irrigation enterprises. One point you 'mention 

 strikes an identical chord, in my own estimation of what 

 American citizens who have the ability and desire, but. per- 

 haps not the capital, shoitUl dp before the chance rolls b 

 that is, strive to obtain a/t-rwrt. of this irrigable land, which 

 they may subsequently Ipo1k*"upon as their own home an 

 ' 





3 K HI OR 



SUPERIOR DRILLS are Died and Appreciated by Good 

 Farmers the World Over 



SEND FOR CATALOGUE NOW 



GENERAL AGENTS FOR WESTERN TERRmDRY: 

 Dean & Co., ... Minneapolis, Minn 

 Kingman&Co., - - Peorla, III 

 Kingman St. Louis Implement Co., bt. Louis, Mo 

 Kingman-Moore Imp. Co., - Kansas City. Mo 

 Kingman-Moore Imp. Co., - 

 Kingman Implement Co., 

 Parlin & Orendorff Imp. Co.. 

 Colorado Moline Plow Co., 



The T. C. Powers Cn., ....-, ._. 



Consolidated Wag. & Mach. Co , Salt Lake City 

 Newell Matthews Co., - Los Angeles, Cal 

 The H. C. Shaw Co., - - Stockton, Cal 



Eastern Farmers please write direct to the Manufacturers 



SUPERIOR DRILL CO., Springfield. Ohio 

 Division of the American Seeding Mach. Co.. Inc. 



GRAIN DRILLS 



Oklahoma, Okla. 

 Omaha. Neb. 

 Portland, Ore 

 Denver, Colo 

 Helena, Mont 



actual home, not a flat, as in the city, or a rented place as 

 in the country. A home for all time, for they and theirs. 



I have dwelled upon this .very feature in many conversa- 

 tions with men I happen to meet here and speak to regarding 

 country life, western development, the trammeled life of the 

 great cities, etc. Here we are, we American citizens, sticking 

 to the cities and large towns, "hangers-on" on the property 

 which is the natural outcome of the prosperity of the agri- 

 cultural communities throughout the land, and here we are 

 looking at thousands of immigrants from the other side who 

 come in, take up the lands waiting to be developed, and on 

 which they soon become self-supporting and more, while the 

 "self-important" American "hangs on" to a rented flat or 

 some other form of abode in the city and never owns a home 

 of his own. 



There are several other features I desired to touch upon 

 in conjunction with your article, but they have slipped from 

 my mind for the time being. There is another feature which 

 is important in getting people upon the thousands of acres 

 of new lands which are awaiting settlers, and this is easier 

 terms and conditions;' to the new settler during the earlier 

 years of development.' I believe this is referred to by a gen- 

 tleman who wrote "|an excellent article that was also pub- 

 lished in the same issue I speak of. I forget his name, but 

 he was at the Sacramento Irrigation Congress. He, too, has 

 struck a vital issue and an excellent point, for if the require- 

 ments, all in all, were made the easiest to the new settler 

 during the first few years, and gradually increased as he be- 

 came better entrenched, this leniency would tide over many 

 strong, willing and energetic man and family, who could not 

 possibly succeed under other circumstances, where their finan- 

 cial means was very small. While this may seem a little too 

 charitable to many, I don't consider it would be so, for in 

 the end it would mean more people, more new wealth brought 

 forth from the soil, and all thab'natural increase in values to 

 the communities and the individuals interested that is so es- 

 sential to the large, broad,- permanent growth of a new 

 country. 



I cannot at this writing go further into this subject as I 

 feel and should like to, but I trust in the foregoing words you 

 will grasp some of my views regarding the subject so ably 

 and timely discussed in your communication referred to. 



Yours very truly, 



C. L. LEAVITT. 



f.We. desire to draw attention especially to that part of 

 this letter which says, "American citizens .... sticking to the 

 cities and large towns . . .'. looking at thousands of immi- 

 grants from the other "side who come in, take up the lands 

 waiting to be developed, and .... soon become self-support- 

 ing and more." ' Why should Americans stand back ? No 

 matter why, they do simply because their knowledge of op- 

 portunities, in the west is too general, they are not attracted 

 nor helped to any given point. Much, greater pains are taken 

 by the government, and, perhaps, 'westerners themselves to at- 

 tract to and locate on homesteads, foreign immigrants. It is 

 taken for granted that Americans know where and when and 

 how to go west. They don't. Is a man, with a family, work- 

 ing for a comfortable salary going to pick up and take a leap 

 in the dark by going w'est without knowing to what point "he 

 should go, nor just what he will do when he arrives? Cer- 

 tainly not. He wants some information first. 



For the benefit of this correspondent, we will say that in 

 many new localities, in the west the newcomer can secure 

 plenty of employment, for his support, until his lands are 

 bringing sufficient income. This is not universally true, nor 

 would it be as nearly so as it now is should as many new 

 settlers come west as we would like to have. But a great 

 deal will have been accomplished when exact information and 

 estimates are furnished the prospective colonists from the 

 eastern states as to just what they can do with a given capi- 

 tal, and what part of the west is best suited to their respec- 

 tive desires. The Editor.] 



Send $2,50 for The Irrigation 



Age one year and 

 The Primer of Irrigation 



