202 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



same character in other portions of the Eocky Mountain 

 region were willing to sell it for. 



He said that he did not make his complaint on be- 

 half of the lumberman who purchased this timber be- 

 cause they had no complaint to make nor had they 

 reason to complain of the price they had to pay because 

 conditions were such that they had no difficulty in re- 

 imbursing themselves by raising the price of lumber, 

 and he said: "Such sales mean that our people are 

 compelled to pay all the way from $4 to $6 a thousand 

 more for their lumber than they have been paying for 

 it," and further discussing this matter he said that all 

 the purposes for which the reserves are established can, 

 and will, be best served by a policy which lightens 

 rather than adds to the burdens of the people living 

 in their vicinity. Under such a policy National For- 

 ests will have the support of the people, but as soon 

 as it is generally understood that the policy pursued 

 is one under which additional burdens are laid rather 

 than benefits secured, the public sentiment of the coun- 

 try, east and west, will no longer support reserves." 



After a thorough discussion of the timber sale 

 policy Mr. Mondell stated that the amendment having 

 served the purpose for which he had offered it that 

 of affording an opportunity for discussion he would 

 withdraw it because while it outlined the proper policy 

 which should be pursued in the sale of the products 

 of the reserves, to wit : to equalize rather than increase 

 the prices, he would withdraw it because in practice it 

 might be difficult to adapt its provisions to conditions. 

 Mr. Mondell then offered amendments first re- 

 ducing the appropriations for salaries and general ex- 

 penses by $100,000, and next striking out the $500,000 

 special fund for administration, protection and de- 

 velopment of the reserves. In offering these amend- 

 ments to reduce the appropriation he disclaimed any 

 desire to in any way hamper the legitimate work of 

 the Forest Service or reduce its appropriation below 

 a sum that was not only adequate but liberal for the 

 service, and he called attention to the rapidity with 

 which this appropriation had grown, beginning with 

 $1,000,000 in 1897, and increasing to $3,796,100 car- 

 ried in the bill. He called attention to the fact that 

 all of the salaries and estimates of specific expenditures 

 contained in the book of estimate only amounted to 

 $2,032,022, leaving a balance of $1,764,088, which could 

 be used for any one or all of the large number of gen- 

 eral purposes referred to in the appropriation. 



He stated that the Forest Service was conducted 

 in an extravagant manner; that the vast and rapidly 

 increasing appropriations were a temptation to extrava- 

 gance and useless expenditure. In reply to the state- 

 ment that the Forest Service was producing a large 

 revenue from the reserves, he said that while it was 

 true that the revenues 'from the reserves were increas- 

 ing, it was also true that a large portion of this revenue 

 was derived from the sale of the matured timber, a 

 crop which could not be replaced in a hundred years 

 or more, and that the Forest Service was thus dispos- 

 ing of the permanent assets of the reserves and then 

 using such sales as an argument for an increase of 

 their appropriation, but that even taking this view of 

 it the appropriation carried in the bill was $1,300,000 

 more than the estimated revenues, and that such ap- 

 propriation was proposed to be made in face of the 



fact that the Forestry Bureau had widely advertised 

 that it was keeping its expenditures within its income 

 from the reserves. 



The showing made of the enormous increase of the 

 appropriation was a very strong one, but the Committee 

 on Agriculture rallied its forces and was able to limit 

 debate, and thus prevent a full discussion of the ques- 

 tion of the appropriation, and the amendment to re- 

 duce the appropriation was lost. 



THE MONTANA LAND OPENING 



Uncle Sam has 412 choice 40-acre farms in Montana 

 which he offers today, on very easy terms, to practical farmers 

 who are citizens of the United States. These farms are in 

 eastern Montana, in the beautiful valley of the Yellowstone 

 river, one of the richest agricultural sections of the Northwest. 

 Each is located within three miles of a railroad, and each is 

 irrigated by one of the best irrigation systems in the world. 



The lands lie at an elevation of 3,000 feet above sea level. 

 The climate is delightful, the soil of exceptional fertility, 

 producing abundant crops when watered. Wheat, oats, rye, 

 barley and alfalfa are the principal crops grown. Alfalfa 

 yields five tons per acre and is selling today at $5 per ton 

 in the stack. Apples, small fruits, and vegetables do well 

 here. An especially profitable crop is sugar beets, which last 

 year in the valley yielded nearly $50 per acre net when prop- 

 erly cultivated. 



A letter addressed to the Statistician, U. S. Reclamation 

 Service, Washington, D. C, will secure full information con- 

 cerning the location, soil, climate, crop possibilities, and terms 

 of disposal. 



HOMES FOR HUNDREDS. 



In a Land Where Water Is Wealth Droughts and Failures 

 Impossible. 



The phenomenal growth of the Turlock district of 

 Stanislaus County, California, is perhaps without paral- 

 lel in the United States, and the settlement and colon- 

 ization of this district can be traced almost directly to 

 the efforts and enterprise of Messers. Hultberg and 

 Lane of the Central California Land Agency. 



The advertisement of this firm appears upon an- 

 other page and to the prospective buyer who contem- 

 plates purchasing in Northern California it would be 

 worth his while to carefully read this advertisement and 

 to place himself in direct communication with the firm. 



They have recently placed upon the market the 

 Tully Tract of 3,000 acres which is within the Turlock 

 Irrigation District. This tract lies between two great 

 trunk railroad lines. There are four railroad stations 

 which can be reached from any part of the property 

 within from one to three miles. 



Water for irrigation purposes is conveyed to each 

 forty acres at the nominal tax of 50 cents per acre per 

 year. 



The irrigation system of this district, it is said by 

 irrigationists of wide knowledge, to nearer approach 

 perfection than any other irrigation system in the 

 United States, and the thousand of families who have 

 purchased -homes in tracts of from five to forty acres 

 within the last seven years in the Turlock Irrigation 

 District are living manifestations of its wonderful pos- 

 sibilities and its future growth. 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age 

 I year, and The Primer of Irrigation 



