THE IRRIGATION AGE 



VOL. XXVI 



CHICAGO, NOVEMBER, 1910. 



No. 1 



THE IRRIGATION AGE 



With which is Merged 



MODERN IRRIGATION 

 THE IRRIGATION ERA 

 ARID AMERICA 



THE DRAINAGE JOURNAL 

 MID- WEST 

 THE FARM HERALD 



IRRIGATION AGE COMPANY, 

 PUBLISHERS, 



112 Dearborn Street, 



CHICAGO 



Entered as second-class matter October 8, 1897, at the 

 Postofflce at Chicago, 111., under Act of March 3, 1879. 



D. H. ANDERSON, Editor 



ANNOUNCEMENT. 



"The Primer of Irrigation" is now ready for delivery. Price, 

 $2.00. If ordered in connection with subscription, the price is $ 1 .50. 



SUBSCRIPTION PRICE. 



To United States Subscribers, Postagre Paid, . . $1.00 



To Canada and Mexico 1.60 



All Other Foreign Countries, 1.60 



In forwarding remittances please do not send checks on 

 local banks. Send either postofflce or express money order or 

 Chicago or New York draft. 



Official organ Federation of Tree Growing Clubs of 

 America. D. H. Anderson, Secretary. 



Official organ of the American Irrigation Federation. 

 Office of the Secretary, 212 Boyce Building, Chicago. 



Interesting to Advertisers. 



It may interest advertisers to know that The Irrigation Age it the 

 only publication in the world having an actual paid in advance 

 circulation among individual irrigators and large irrigation corpo- 

 rations. It is read regularly by allinterested in this subject and has 

 readers in all parts of the world. The Irrigation Age is 26 years 

 old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world. 



It is evident that some of the leading 

 railway men of this country are seeing 



New Attitude 

 of Railway Head 

 in Matters of a great llght ' Meddling with politics 

 p" ... . and neglecting some of the great im- 



P . provement problems pertaining to their 



locality have injured a good many rail- 

 road companies. This is the cause of most of the hostil- 

 ity which people feel toward the roads. 



President Mellen of the New York, New Haven & 

 Hartford Railroad Company has become president of the 

 Boston & Maine since that system passed under the con- 

 trol of the former corporation. In a recent speech at 

 Concord, N. H., he took occasion to remark that he wa,s 

 "advised that the people of New Hampshire complain thaf 

 the company has been too active in the political affairs 

 of this State." 



President Mellen gives public assurance that here- 

 after the railroad will "do nothing which is not in accord 

 with the soundest principles which should govern public 

 corporations in their public relations." It will not "inter- 

 fere in any way with the election of members of the 

 Legislature or of other officers," and it will not make 

 any offer to any public officer, directly or indirectly, "of 

 any consideration that will tend to influence him in the 

 performance of his public duties." It will "do away with 

 the lobby in the sense in which that term is commonly 

 used," though it will employ "the ablest talent" to present 

 the views of the company upon pending legislation affect- 

 ing it, and at the end of the legislative session "there will 

 be no complaint about the pernicious activity of any lobby 

 employed in our interest," saith Mr. Mellen. 



Mr. Mellen could testify that he saw the great North- 

 ern Pacific wrecked by the crowd of political leeches 

 that it supported and enriched in its early days. Had 

 the Northern Pacific spent as much money on irrigation 

 systems and farm development as it did in running the 

 politics of the Northwest up to the time Mr. Hill took it 

 over, that company and the people along its lines would 

 have been far more prosperous between 1880 and 1900. 

 Mr. Mellen's words ought to be considered by many other 

 railroad men. 



Elastic Money 

 Finally Gained 

 as a Factor in 

 Our Finances 



By the system of forming currency asso- 

 ciations which now is in force under the 

 provisions of the Aldrich-Vteeland law, 

 national banks are enabled to issue 

 emergency circulation. This power would 

 seem to be ample to ward off or check 

 any panic that might threaten the financial welfare of 

 the nation. 



The principle of elasticity is applied to our money 

 under the new law. Elasticity means that the volume of 

 currency in the country will rise and fall according to the 

 needs of trade. This extra circulation is purely for emer- 

 gencies for use in times of stringency. It will not be 

 permanent, but after it has served its purpose in warding 

 off a panic or easing up the money market, it will be 

 recalled and held for future necessities. 



The tax fixed by law on this emergency currency is 

 high enough to insure its recall as soon as it can be 

 spared from business channels. The law provides a tax 

 which begins at the rate of 5 per cent per annum and 



