922 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 363. 



000. To maintain the Land Department, 

 an expenditure of about $2,000,000 per an- 

 num is necessary. In the western states 

 there are about 500,000,000 acres, about 

 400,000,000 million of which are used for 

 grazing purposes by 25,000,000 cattle and 

 sheep under conditions gradually growing 

 worse. If leased, the revenue in ten 

 years, in connection with the net receipts 

 from sale of public lands, would double 

 irrigated lands in the West now estimated 

 at 10,000,000 acres. In the eleven western 

 states we have only 250,000 farms, and 50 

 per cent, of the people live in towns and 

 cities, while about 75,000,000 acres of pub- 

 lic lands can still be reclaimed if the water 

 which now runs to waste can be stored. 

 Congress has failed to realize the great im- 

 portance of the subject and very little con- 

 structive legislation has been secured. 

 Forest reservations, the Carey Grant Act 

 and the recent Free Homes Bill were se- 

 cured after great difficulties. Public lands 

 should be leased for short terms in limited 

 quantities and at low rates. Owing to dif- 

 ferent conditions in the different states, 

 leases should be issued on a county local- 

 option basis, after careful classification of 

 lands by commissioners and approval by 

 stockmen. Funds should be used for reduc- 

 ing county taxes, for surveys and reservoir 

 construction. The majority of stockmen are 

 now in favor of a good lease plan, fair to 

 all concerned. The Homestead law should 

 be amended to enable settlers by a combi- 

 nation homestead and lease privilege to 

 control enough land to make a living on, 

 and the Government should advertise the 

 facts about public lands for the benefit of 

 people who want new homes. The Desert 

 Land Law should be repealed. Forest pro- 

 tection and the reclamation of the arid 

 lands will bring great prosperity to the 

 country. The landless man of the east 

 must be placed upon the manless land of the 

 west. 



'■ Irrigation ' : F. H. Newell, Hydrog- 

 rapher, U. S. Geological Survey. 



The western half of the United States 

 consists for the greater part of vacant land 

 belonging to the nation and at the disposal 

 of Congress. With this enormous area, ag- 

 gregating fully one-third of the United 

 States, it would be supposed that settle- 

 ment would progress rapidly and population 

 increase with stupendous strides. As a 

 matter of fact, however, the past decade 

 has not been marked by notable develop- 

 ments, but, on the contrary, it appears that 

 the settled area has to a small extent actu- 

 ally diminished. As a rule the soil and 

 climate are suitable for the production of 

 large crops, were it not for the scarcity of 

 moisture. The pioneers and their succes- 

 sors have taken out almost innumerable 

 ditches and have diverted the smaller 

 streams, demonstrating the practicability 

 and profitable character of agriculture by the 

 artificial application of water. In all, about 

 ten million acres of land have been brought 

 under cultivation by means of works built 

 largely by farmers acting in partnership or 

 in associations. Irrigation development 

 when brought about in this manner has 

 been extremely profitable. But, contrary to 

 the experience of the farmers, large irriga- 

 tion enterprises have almost invariably 

 been financial failures. This anomalous 

 condition, where enterprises succeed in a 

 small way but fail financially on a large 

 scale, merits careful consideration. There 

 are upwards of seventy million, or even a 

 hundred million, acres of arable land which 

 might be reclaimed and made into homes 

 by utilizing the waters of the large rivers or 

 of the floods which now run to waste. The 

 reason for the failure of the large enterprises 

 lies for the most part in the difficulty of 

 securing immediate settlement and of ob- 

 taining experienced farmers who can prac- 

 tice irrigation with success from the out- 

 set. 



