THE BLESSING OF 



West, which every intelligent observer has noted and 

 marvelled to behold. 



The people of the Blue Grass Eegion of Kentucky 

 and of other favored localities have repeated from gen- 

 eration to generation the boast that " a limestone coun- 

 try is always a rich country." Professor Hilgard has 

 demonstrated that the average arid soil is equal to the 

 most phenomenal soil of the East, while the soil of the 

 arid West as a whole is beyond comparison with that 

 of the humid East as a whole. He coins the maxim, 

 "Arid countries are always rich countries when irri- 

 gated," and the phrase does scant justice to the subject. 

 It only remains to add that Professor Hilgard is recog- 

 nized as the foremost expert on soils in the West, and 

 one of the first men in his profession in the United 

 States. No one will question the weight of his views, 

 for they coincide alike with common-sense and with 

 world-wide experience through the centuries, It cannot, 

 therefore, be doubted that the agricultural foundation 

 of the Far West, as it relates to the soil, is incompar- 

 ably better than any other part of the continent. 



While science has thus furnished a lucid explanation 

 of the universal fertility of arid lands, it would be un- 

 fair to draw the conclusion that the claims which have 

 been made concerning the rare fertilizing qualities of 

 certain western rivers are entirely unfounded. Nearly 

 all of the rivers in the West carry more or less rich silt, 

 due to the fact that they flow through treeless regions, 

 where the soil is swept into the stream by winds and 

 sudden torrents. Eastern rivers are, as a rule, much 

 clearer, because they flow through forests and cultivated 

 fields. The waters of the Colorado river gather an 



39 



