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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



No association may acquire any real estate except 

 such as serves for its own use as office buildings or 

 comes into its possession through the foreclosure 

 of mortgages of which it is the holder. In the lat- 

 ter case the real estate so acquired shall be promptly 

 sold. 



It was not very long ago when even 

 Corn and the suggestion of growing corn in 



Pumpkins the irrigated country was met with 



On Irrigated ridicule. 



^ an " Some determined farmers re- 



fused to be ridiculed out of the idea 

 of growing corn and after more or less discourag- 

 ing experiments, succeeded in proving that some 

 of the best corn area in the United States lies west 

 of the one hundredth meridian. Then came the 

 silos. They gave the corn growing idea further 

 impetus. 



Now the scene is complete. The ripening corn 

 fields of Colorado are dotted with yellow pumpkins. 

 No longer can the corn-belt farmer feel lost in the 

 West, particularly if he lands around Longmont, 

 Colo., where the corn and pumpkin industry was 

 brought to full success this year. 



Several farmers around Longmont wanted to 

 begin raising corn for the silos they were putting in, 

 but they were uncertain as to whether it would 

 succeed. They bethought themselves of the lowly 

 pumpkin, and contracted a good-sized pumpkin 

 crop with a canning company. 



The two crops were planted on the same 

 ground, neither interfering with the growth of the 

 other. The corn crop proved to be equal to that 

 raised in the famous corn states, the growth of the 

 fodder being heavy and the kernels large and solid, 

 making a profitable crop by itself, being worth to 

 the feeders from $30 to $40 per acre. 



The pumpkin crop, which at planting time was 

 regarded as secondary, in most cases proved the 

 most valuable. The contract price is $3 per ton and 

 the yield from fifteen to twenty-five tons to the 

 acre, making two of the easiest crops to tend re- 

 turn about $100 per acre. 



At this distance, it looks as if Newell and his ilk, 

 who talked so much about REPUDIATION, are 

 being forced to eat their own words. REPUDIA- 

 TION seems to have become a reality on the Newell 

 side of the fence, although attempts are being made 

 to disguise it by a mask of relief for the "poor 

 settlers" REPUDIATORS of yesterday. 



Secretary Coulter of the United 

 Reorganization States commission on rural credits 

 of Farm Loan is advocating a reorganization of 

 Business the farm mortgage business so 



Is Urged that the lender will become the 



friend and financial adviser of the 

 borrower. It is essential, he says, that better finan- 

 cial principles be applied to farm mortgages. As a 

 guide to loans he suggests, first, that the amount 

 and period of the loan be adjusted to the purchase 

 for which the loan is required ; second, provision for 

 the extinction of the loan in annual installments. 



In accordance with his suggestion loans made 

 to equip the farm with machinery or live stock 

 should run from five to ten years. If made to con- 

 struct buildings the loan might extend over a period 

 'of fifteen years. If the purpose is to purchase a 

 farm the loan might extend from twenty-five to 

 thirty-five years. 



In support of his recommendation that loans be 

 paid off in annual installments, Mr. Coulter points 

 out that the farmer's revenue is produced this way, 

 and unless he gradually reduces the loan he is 

 almost sure to ask for a renewal at its maturity. 



Mr. Coulter is strongly opposed to direct gov- 

 ernment loans or subsidies in connection with farm 

 mortgages. 



How about a year's subscription to THE IRRIGA- 

 TION AGE as a Christmas present. If you have a 

 friend living in the East who is interested in the 

 West, you cannot do better for him. If he is farm- 

 ing in the East and intends to stay there, the articles 

 on irrigation and particularly those which show 

 how the irrigation lessons which the West can 

 teach and the results which the West is accomplish- 

 ing through irrigation, which THE AGE publishes 

 each month, will prove of real value to him. Give 

 some friend or relative a subscription to THE IRRI- 

 GATION AGE as a Christmas present. It will be a use- 

 ful and valuable present. 



Federal project settlers are proving in no un- 

 certain words that however poor may be their finan- 

 cial condition, they cannot and will not forget they 

 are American citizens who will not sell their prin- 

 ciples for "easy payments." 



If the settlers refuse to accept increased costs 

 of their projects, who is going to make up that 

 $40,000,000 deficiency in the Reclamation fund? 



The Twenty Year Reclamation Extension law 

 is having rough sailing. The settlers consider con- 

 tracts sacred. 



