THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



305 



of business men, mainly bankers, whom it is desired 

 to interest in similar works of irrigation. Without 

 exception these men, many of whom are well 

 versed on this subject, have expressed themselves 

 as astounded by the magnitude of the work, the 

 substantial manner in which it has been conducted, 

 and the prosperity of the country. One man writes : 

 "I thought I knew all there was to know about irri- 

 gation, but this trip has been an eye-opener. It has 

 been a revelation. I never saw such a country, and 

 did not think it possible for one to exist." 



STATES GET A THIRD OF FOREST SERV- 

 ICE RECEIPTS. 



A circular just issued by the forest service calls 

 attention to the various laws under which more 

 than a third of all national forest receipts go to the 

 benefit of the states in which the forest are situ- 

 ated, for schools and roads. In 1912 the amount of 

 money thus made available for state purposes to- 

 taled about $750,000. The report does not show 

 the amounts due from the receipts of the fiscal year 

 which closed June 30, 1913. Including these, the 

 states' share of national forest funds since the laws 

 were passed has aggregated over $3,000,000. 



These facts are set forth, according to the 

 forest service, because a 'popular impression still 

 exists that all money received by the government 

 from timber sales, grazing fees, water power per- 

 mits, etc., is permanently taken out of the states 

 where it is paid and goes into the national treasury 

 to meet the general expenses of the government. 

 This idea is said to prevail, to some extent, even 

 among actual forest users in the national forest 

 states, where the division of receipts with the states 

 has been going on for years. 



The circular states that part of the gross re- 

 ceipts of the national forests was first made avail- 

 able for schools and roads when the agricultural 

 appropriation act of June 30, 1906, directed the Sec- 

 retary of the Treasury to pay over to the state or 

 territory in which any forest reserve was situated 

 10 per cent of all money received during the fiscal 

 year from such reserve. The money was to be ex- 

 pended by the state or territorial legislature for the 

 benefit of public schools and roads in the counties in 

 which the forest reserve lay. This legislation was 

 recommended by the forest service because of the 

 recognized burden imposed locally where national 

 forests operate to prevent much land from becom- 

 ing taxable. 



In 1908 the amount to be paid to the states was 

 increased to 25 per cent, and a proviso of the earlier 

 act that no more should be paid to a county than 

 40 per cent of its total income from other sources 

 was eliminated. Since this proviso was removed, 

 some of the counties' receipts from national forest 

 lands have equalled their income from all other 

 sources. 



In August, 1912, the agricultural appropriation 

 act for the year made available an additional 10 per 

 cent of the money received from national forests to 

 build and maintain roads and trails within national 



forests for the benefit of the public, in the states 

 from which these proceeds are derived. This 10 

 per cent "road item," as it is called, is expended by 

 the Secretary of Agriculture, who may, according 

 to the act, "whenever practicable in the construc- 

 tion and maintenance of such roads, secure the co- 

 operation or aid of the proper state or territorial 

 authorities in the furtherance of any system of high- 

 ways of which such roads may be made a part." 

 The total amount expended under this provision 

 from the receipts of the fiscal year 1912 is $207,295. 

 This was apportioned among the states as follows : 

 Alaska $4,675, Arizona $24,645, Arkansas $2283 

 Cahfornia $24,821, Colorado $21,503, Florida, $98l' 

 Idaho $23,809, Kansas $489, Michigan $2, Minne- 

 sota $503, Montana $23,926, Nebraska $1,630 

 Nevada $6,034, New Mexico $11,850, North Da- 

 kota $28, Oklahoma $351, Oregon $17,023, South 

 Dakota $4,226, Utah $13,504, Washington $12,758 

 Wyoming $12,254. 



SHEEP GO FOUR MONTHS WITHOUT 

 WATER. 



Sheep in the Nebo National Forest, Utah, go 

 tour and a half months without water except for 

 such moisture as they get from the dew and the 

 juices of forage plants. 



Grazing sheep on a range entirely destitute of 

 water is a recent innovation due to the increasing 

 demand for forage and the efforts of the forest offi- 

 cers to find a place on the forest ranges for all the 

 stock that can safely be admitted. The area on the 

 Nebo which has now proved usable by sheep is 

 ugh and rocky, a portion of it being above timber 

 hue, and it has neither springs nor streams of suffi- 

 cient size or accessibility to be used for stock water- 

 ing purposes. The grazing season lasts from June 

 o to October 31, and during this period of four and 

 a half months the animals do not get a drink 



Under such conditions, however, the sheep 

 have done extremely well, and last year's lambs 

 from this range had an average weight at the close 

 of the season of 68 pounds on the Chicago market 

 which was rather above the normal weight from 

 that vicinity. 



In one area on the Targhee forest in Idaho 

 sheep get water only twice during the four-months 

 summer grazing season. There, is no water on the 

 range, but the sheep are driven to a nearby stream 

 lower down the mountain side. Lambs from this 

 range weighed 65 pounds on the Chicago market 



Send $1.00 for 1 year's subscription to the IRRIGA- 

 TION AGE and bound copy of THE PRIMER OF IRRIGA- 

 TION. If you desire a copy of THE PRIMER OF HY- 

 DRAULICS add $2.50 to above price. 



