170 F. H. Netvell — Arid Regions of tlie United States. 



cattle men, had long been practiced by the Pueblo Indians and 

 neighboring Mexicans, and to a certain extent adopted by Mor- 

 mons when driven into the wilderness by their fellow-Christians. 

 This depended upon the cultivation of the soil by artificial 

 application of water, obtained usually from a small river or 

 creek, and conducted to the field by laboriously-made ditches, 

 often miles in length. The expense and trouble of applying 

 water necessitated the tillage of relatively small farms, this 

 disadvantage being compensated in part by a larger average 

 production. Nothing could be in greater contrast to the broad 

 corn fields of the Mississippi valley, extending oh all sides to 

 the horizon, than the miniature gardens, from which, however, 

 come luscious fruits and extraordinary vegetables. 



As mines were opened and towns .established it soon became 

 evident that in the long run the furnishing of food-stuffs and 

 forage would be equally profitable with laboring in the mines and 

 mills, if not more so. The methods of the Mormons and Mex- 

 icans were copied, new sources of water-supply sought, ditches 

 dug, and land brought under cultivation wherever it could be 

 irrigated. Thus it has resulted that within a few years towns 

 have sp,rung up in every direction, most of them dependent to a 

 large extent upon mining, but having, through practice of agri- 

 culture by irrigation, capabilities of self-support and of future 

 extension. These areas are so vast that the land irrigated or 

 occupied by towns and mines or other industries forms but a 

 very small percentage of the total area, most of which still be- 

 longs to the United States and is open to entry and settlement 

 under the homestead laws. 



The total land area west of the 100th meridian and exclud- 

 ing certain of the more humid portions of Oregon and Washing- 

 ton is 1,371,960 square miles,* or, in round numbers, 878,000,000 

 acres. Of this, about 7 per cent, or 64,000,000 acres, ma}^ be con- 

 sidered as desert, having no known value, even in its minerals. 

 A somewhat larger area — about 9 per cent, or 83,200,000 acres — 

 is timbered, this heavily wooded land consisting mainly of moun- 

 tain slopes and plateaus. Fringing this and scattered on the 

 hill slopes and along the streams are clumps of trees capable of 

 yielding firewood, fence posts, etc. The aggregate area of these 

 scantily wooded lands is estimated to be 115,200,000 acres, or a 



* Thirteenth annual report of the United States Geological Survey, 

 part 3, p. 8. 



