120 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



and in the other to fasten a loss on 

 itself which it was impossible to 

 shoulder upon the poor farmer. 



.Settlers on reclamation projects 

 have felt for some time that over- 

 head charges were more than they 

 could stand. There was an irresist- 

 ible tendency to build up each project 

 office with a corp of engineers, drafts- 

 men, fiscal agents, etc., so as to make 

 each project as complete as a general 

 office should be. As an example, Mr. 

 Williamson, who has charge of the 

 central office at Denver, directing 

 construction work, recently did away 

 with fiscal agents on the various proj- 

 ects, concentrating this work in Den- 

 ver, thus reducing the cost per year 

 from $80,000 to $6,000, a saving in 

 this item alone of $74,000 per year to 

 the farmers. Larger savings than this 

 are being made in other items, and 

 it is thought that by adopting stand- 

 ard plans for many of the smaller 

 structures, better work will be se- 

 cured at a fraction of the present 

 expense. This is great work, neces- 

 sary and fine; the farmers are entitled 

 to what this kind of administration 

 promises, but it does not reach the 

 heart of the problem. 



Accordnig to data secured by the 

 reclamation service and boards of re- 

 view in the northern division, it costs 

 the farmer for buildings, fences, 

 breaking up and leveling the land, 

 laterals and some farming machinery, 

 $60 per acre, to which must be added 

 the cost of livestock and water. In 

 order to pay for these expenses and 

 make a living for his family, the 

 farmer must get within reasonable 

 limits all that the land will produce. 

 The most profitable business for 

 ninety per cent of our farmers is live- 

 stock and dairying. In this way he 

 gets the highest price possible for the 

 feed he raises and the livestock keeps 

 up the fertility of the soil. We should 

 devote all possible efforts towards 

 establishing the farmer in the stock 

 business. Ideal conditions exist where 

 the farmer has a summer pasture 

 above the canal for his surplus stock, 

 and feeds them at home during 

 the winter on his irrigated land. The 

 government can assist more than 

 others in bringing about these ideal 

 conditions. Expert advisers should 

 be furnished by the Agricultural De- 

 partment and a reasonable amount of 

 money loaned the farmer at four or 

 five per cent until he gets on his feet 

 and makes a living for his family. 



When one stops to consider the 

 enormous initial expense to the set- 

 tler in getting started, the wonder is 

 that any succeed, under existing con- 

 ditions. If a farmer has enough means 

 to buy a farm, he never attempts to 

 make one; that is too costly and 

 arduous a task, besides taking too 

 much time. It is plain to be seen that 

 the settler on our irrigation projects 

 as a rule has little money, as other- 

 wise it would pay him better to buy 

 an improved farm; even then the ef- 

 fort to put the place on a paying basis 

 is no small one, requiring much time, 

 labor and money. Conditions are 

 such on most of our reclamation proj- 

 ects that only a foreigner with a 

 large family, used to the plainest liv- 

 ing and disregarding the education of 

 his children, can be successful. These 



conditions should be changed so that 

 an American family can succeed. Our 

 settlers need help in order that they 

 may be successful and as a business 

 proposition be able to pay to the 

 government the cost of furnishing 

 water for their land. 



Of what importance is irrigation to 

 this country? There is enough un- 

 used land and water now going to 

 waste in our arid regions which, if 

 utilized, would support our entire 

 population at present. It costs fifteen 

 millions for a first-class battleship, 

 and we are in favor of this expense 

 even if the ship goes to the junk pile 

 in ten years. The same amount of 

 money expended on irrigation works 

 would be returned to the country 

 every few years, over and over again 

 without limit, besides furnishing 

 homes for our dense eastern popula- 

 tion, benefiting the whole country, and 

 increasing our best class of citizens, 

 engaged in the most essential occu- 

 pation for the well being and growth 

 of our country. To put this irriga- 

 tion business on its feet at the pres- 

 ent time and it sorely needs help is 

 no doubt our greatest duty and priv- 

 ilege. It will benefit the whole coun- 

 try more now and in the future than 

 is possible by the expenditure of 

 money in any other manner. 



I believe that the policy to be 

 adopted in regard to government rec- 

 lamation projects can only be deter- 

 mined by a most thorough investi- 

 gation of the subject by a board of 

 irrigation experts. The belief the 

 settlers have, that the reclamation 

 service does not understand or prop- 

 erly consider their condition seems 

 justified, and the view that the settlers 

 are striving mainly to get something 

 for nothing is superficial, and does not 

 represent the facts in the case. Neither 

 the settlers nor the civil engineers are 

 expert irrigationists; even if they 

 were, conditions would have to be 

 materially changed in order to obtain 

 desired success. 



On taking up work for the Board 

 of Review on the Northern Division 

 the reclamation service members be- 

 lieved, as a rule, that all the data 

 necessary to make a report was to be 

 obtained in the project manager's 

 office. This was true so far as engi- 

 neering features, costs and results 

 obtained were concerned, such as 

 crops grown, their yield, and the 

 amount received for same. It was 

 thought proper, however, to give the 

 settlers an opportunity to make any 

 statements desired, and a letter was 

 sent each settler on a project, inviting 

 him to come before the Board, be- 

 tween certain dates, and present his 

 ideas, or to send a letter expressing 

 them, so that the Board might have 

 the benefit of his knowledge regard- 

 ing conditions looking to improve- 

 ments of the service and correction of 

 errors. Many settlers responded to 

 this invitation in a very satisfactory 

 manner. It appeared, however, that 

 a majority of the settlers did not wish 

 to come before the Board and fewer 

 still responded by letter. 



We found, however, that all the 

 settlers were ready to give their views 

 and answer our questions when vis- 

 ited in their homes. We asked them, 



among other questions, the number of 

 years they had been on the project, 

 size of family, location of farm, num- 

 ber of acres, crops raised, yield, dis- 

 position of same, improvement made 

 and cost, how much money they had 

 at the start, present financial condi- 

 tion, including deposit at banks, 

 amount owing to banks, individuals 

 and stores, on and off the project. We 

 assured them that the information 

 would be regarded strictly confidential 

 and that it was obtained for the pur- 

 pose of arriving at facts in order that 

 we might be aided in making an in- 

 telligent and proper report. 



To illustrate how opinions change 

 from getting a different point of view, 

 one settler who had given his testi- 

 mony and then remained listening to 

 the testimony of possibly a dozen 

 other farmers, remarked, "I think now 

 just the opposite of what I did when 

 I came in here." A project manager 

 who had seen many years in the serv- 

 ice, remarked that "the testimony of 

 these settlers has given me an en- 

 tirely different view of their condition 

 and of the project." When people vi- 

 tally concerned and living on a project 

 change their views so quickly, what 

 can be said of those who have only a 

 smattering idea of the subject? 



We found the settlers on projects in 

 the northern division highly intelli- 

 gent, sober, and industrious, averag- 

 ing better in these respects and having 

 more money to start work with than 

 the ordinary settler. Some of these 

 had brought as high as six or seven 

 thousand dollars to the project; some 

 were graduates of agricultural col- 

 leges and came from' eastern, southern 

 and western states. They impressed 

 one as having better than average in- 

 telligence, comparing favorably with 

 that exhibited by the government offi- 

 cials on the project. 



As a rule, reclamation service em- 

 ployes appeared to need a term of 

 three to five years service in pioneer 

 work trying to make a productive 

 farm out of a vacant raw piece of 

 land. This experience certainly would 

 open their eyes to the human or sym- 

 pathetic side of the proposition as 

 nothing else could do. The next best 

 thing, however, and much easier 

 would be for them to get in touch 

 with each settler and learn first hand 

 of his troubles, failures, and successes. 

 It has been the unanimous opinion 

 of all who have done this that it 

 would be no mistake to aid the settler 

 in any reasonable way. He is not 

 only entitled to this consideration for 

 the good he is doing, but as a business 

 proposition any effort to help him 

 will benefit the country at large many 

 times the aid extended. 



Let it be understood that the term 

 aid is not used here in the sense of 

 making the settler a present as a 

 rule, he neither expects nor desires it. 

 What he does want is to have a price 

 for his farm reasonable as compared 

 with those in the vicinity constructed 

 by private capital. If the land be- 

 comes water-logged and alkalied, it is 

 a community proposition and requires 

 drainage. This is unfortunate and 

 would cause the abandonment of the 

 entire project if not corrected; drain- 

 age is an absolute necessity; help 



