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T U !: I R R I G A T I N A G E . 



It appears that machinery made in this country is 

 reckoned far superior to that made on the other 

 side of the water, as it will perform work for about 

 one-half or less than half of the cost of German or 

 French made machinery of a similar class. 



We have in mind one instance where a job of 

 excavating was done in the state of South Australia 

 by an American made machine at a cost of from 

 2 to 3 cents per yard, where the estimate cost with 

 German or French machinery was 9 to 11 cents. 

 This speaks very well for our home products, and 

 manufacturers throughout the country would do 

 well to investigate Australia and her possibility as 

 a future market for American made machinery. 



American manufacturers of farm machinery 

 and accessory lines, including gasoline engines 

 earth handling machines, pumps, etc., should de- 

 velop trade in Australia running up to ten or fifteen 

 million dollars annually. The business may be had 

 if our manufacturers will go after it. 



Word comes to us from the West 

 Potato that the potato crop throughout the 



Crop entire irrigated districts is in danger 



in of annihilation through strange 



Danger. plant diseases which have developed. 



This unwelcome prediction is made 

 by no less an authority than Dr. Eugene H. Grubb, 

 the potato expert of Carbondale, Colorado, and Twin 

 Falls, Idaho. Dr. Grubb is author of a work known 

 as "The Potato," which is supposed to be the best 

 treatise ever written upon this important vegetable. 

 Dr. Grubb has been employed by various railways 

 to conduct experiments and further improvements 

 in the cultivation of potatoes along their various 

 systems in the West, and has recently been in con- 

 ference with railway officials as to the best manner 

 of combating the ravages of the plant diseases 

 which he fears. 



Speaking of the -potato situation, Mr. Grubb 

 says : "We now have an experimental farm and 

 plant breeding station at Jerome, Idaho, and are 

 doing our best to find out the nature of and remedy 

 for the strange fungus growth which bids fair to 

 ultimately destroy every potato crop in the West. 

 This growth, and other plant diseases, have doubt- 

 less been imported from Europe, potatoes from 

 those countries having been mixed with our purer 

 product." 



It is practically certain, Dr. Grubb adds, that 

 the legislature of the state of Colorado will give an 

 appropriation during the present session for the 

 establishment of an experiment station at Greeley; 

 but the United States Congress refuses to consider 

 an appropriation of $30,000 for a national campaign. 



The potato crop is very important throughout 



the entire West, and if its production is hampered 

 or lessened it will materially affect every farmer in 

 the arid sections of the United States. It cost the 

 American people, according to Dr. Grubb, a million 

 dollars last year for sprays and other germ-killing 

 treatments to save the crop. Statements of this 

 character, coming from any less authority than Dr. 

 Grubb, would be questioned. He, however, is so 

 well informed upon the question of potato culture 

 that his remarks may well cause alarm. 



The new Secretary of the Interior, 

 Secretary Franklin K. Lane, has already shown 



of Interior his ability to understand conditions 

 Starts throughout the West, and justifies 



Well. his selection to this office by the 



President. One of his first moves 

 was to reach out and stop some of the water com- 

 panies who were seeking to obtain possession of 

 valuable development sites on the various water- 

 sheds throughout the West, particularly in Wash- 

 ington. 



Some time ago President Taft withdrew from 

 entry 18,000 acres of reservoir sites involved in the 

 Washington dispute, and the state legislature re- 

 served all water powers on the watershed in order 

 to irrigate about 300,000 acres in the Quincy Valley. 

 The water power companies which had filed on the 

 government lands requested Secretary Lane to re- 

 voke the Taft withdrawal order and restore the 

 land for entry. The request was refused. In ex- 

 plaining his position the Secretary says : "This 

 action by the federal government was initiated in 

 response to the request of citizens of Washington, 

 and in view of the recent action of the Washington 

 legislature, reserving all waters in the Wenatchee 

 watershed, it illustrates the type of cooperation 

 between nation and state necessary to promote the 

 highest utilization and development." 



Mr. Lane further informs the people who made 

 the request that they may rest assured no revoca- 

 tion of this executive withdrawal will be recom- 

 mended without first affording full opportunity for 

 the presentation of the views of the people in that 

 state, and for a complete investigation of the pos- 

 sible uses of the river. This is definite and clear, 

 and the Secretary is to be congratulated upon his 

 early grasp of this and other situations. 



Secretary Lane will no doubt avail himself of 

 the assistance of western members of both houses, 

 who are thoroughly informed in his treatment of 

 the western situation. In addition to this, when 

 troublesome matters arise, a safe plan for the de- 

 partment to follow would be to send a special agent 

 who understands western conditions over each field 

 in dispute some man who is fully qualified to 



