238 The National Geographic Magazine 



Cornfield Near Granger, Under Sunnyside Canal, Yakima County, Washington 



completed topographic surveys covering 

 10,970 square miles, an area greater than 

 the combined areas of Massachusetts and 

 Rhode Island. The transit lines had a 

 length of 18,900 linear miles, while the 

 level lines run amount to 24,218 miles, 

 or nearly sufficient to go around the 

 earth. 



The diamond drillings for dam sites 

 and canals amount to 47,515 feet, or more 

 than 9 miles. Today the Service owns 

 and has at work 1,154 horses and mules. 

 It operates 9 locomotives, 223 cars, and 

 23 miles of railroad, 39 stationary en- 

 gines, and 27 steam engines. It has con- 

 structed and is operating 5 electric light 

 plants. This work has been carried on 

 with the following force: Classified 

 ■service, 380, including Washington of- 

 fice ; laborers employed directly by the 



government, 3,500 ; laborers employed by 

 contractors, 6,100, or a total of all forces 

 of 10,000. The expenditures now total 

 about $1,000,000 per month. The exca- 

 vations of earth and rock amount to 

 33,000,000 cubic yards, or about one- 

 fourth the estimated yardage of the Pan- 

 ama Canal. As a result of the opera- 

 tions of the Reclamation Service, eight 

 new towns have been established, 100 

 miles of branch railroads have been con- 

 structed, and 10,000 people have taken 

 up their residence in the desert. 



POTENTIALITIES OF THE DESERT 



You cannot fix the possibilities of this 

 land of silence and sunshine. Here the 

 harvests are always assured. Here the 

 farmer can estimate by a mathematical 

 calculation the rewards for his labors. 



