THE CONQUEST OF ARID AMERICA 



ing. Lack of industrial organization has hindered the 

 prosperity of those who have come, and this in turn has 

 discouraged further settlement. Land prices range from 

 thirty to one hundred dollars per acre, with water-rights. 

 The smaller and earlier canals were built by co-operative 

 enterprise, but the larger and later ones represent invest- 

 ments of eastern and foreign capital. A beginning has 

 been made in the construction of public works by means 

 of the formation of irrigation districts under the State 

 law. 



The most important city in eastern Washington is Spo- 

 kane, which lies near the border of Idaho. This is sus- 

 tained by surrounding districts devoted to wheat-raising, 

 mining, lumbering, and stock industry. The fall in the 

 price of grain and horses has been a severe blow to the 

 producers, and marks a transition stage in the life of 

 the State. It will lead to the extension of irrigation, of 

 small farms, of diversified production, and of co-opera- 

 tive industries. There is no more promising field for 

 the application of the most enlightened methods of colo- 

 nization than that offered by the rich and well-watered 

 valleys of arid Washington. 



Arid Oregon includes two-thirds of the State, and re- 

 sembles its northern neighbor in many respects. It is 

 less generously endowed with water supplies, and has 

 been less fortunate in interesting capital in the construc- 

 tion of large irrigation works. There are, however, one 

 hundred and fifty thousand acres of irrigated land in 

 eastern Oregon, rind it is estimated that this amount can 

 be multiplied from ten to twenty times. The country is 

 but sparsely settled, and has been mostly devoted to 



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