Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-10-28
THE DESERT ACT.
How Land Can he Obtained Under the
Law Known by This Name.

| How Land Can he Obtained Under the
| Law Known by This Name.
The plains. valleys and plateaux in
the far interior of the continent. lying
on both sides of the Rocky Mountain
ranges, and between them and the
Sierras, are for the most part too dry
for farming without artificia means of
wetting the ground. There is not enough
rainfall to supply sufficient moisture for
crops to mature. This is the case with
much of Colorado, New Mexico. Ari-
iona. Utah, Wyoming and Nevada,
most of Montana and Idaho, and con-
siderable areas of Oregon and Washing
ton. Some portions of this vast region
are covered with bunch-grass or buffalo
grass, and others support no better
vegetation than the vile-smelling sage
brush, or its cousin, the grease-wood,
Or still worse. the ugly pads of the
| prickly-pear cactus. The soil is good
enough; indeed. it is for the most part
quite rich where not too strongly i'm
pregnated with alkali. but nature is
chary of her rainfall, and refuses to
send the life-giving showers in the
season when the farmer wants them to
make his grain grow. The only way
to farm in such regions is by irrigation.
and to encourage settlers to redeem the
sterile land by digging bitches and
bringing water upon it, Congress
passed, not many years ago, what is
known as the desert Land Act"
The claimant under the Desert act
must file his affidavit and those of two
-, I,
describes is in fact desert land, incapa-
BILE of cultivation without irrigation
He must also pay in advance twenty
five cents per acre At the end of three
years he ''proves up" To do this, he
makes affidavit, with two witnesses,
that he has brought water upon the land,
in accordance with the law, pays one
dollar per acre, and gets a patent If
he has watered only portion of the
mile-square tract, he can prove up on the
forty acre tracts that he has actually re-
claimed pay for them only and get his
title. If portion of the tract is bluff
lana, inaccessible to bitches, the Gov
eminent throws it In with the rest.
Farming by irrigation is only prac-
ticable in mountain countries, in little
strips of valleys, or on plains traversed
by rivers which can be diverted from
their courses so as to yield portion of
their waters for the benefit of the neigh
boring fields. 1t is q laborious method
of agriculture, and is a, old as civiliza-
ton in the valley of the Nile. The Nor
mons were the first to practice it in this
country.
There are great advantages in this
method of farming. The farmer sup
plies his fields with just as much mois
ture as is needed to bring his crops
along in the best condition. He gets
about twice as much grain to the acre
as is raised in regions where dependence
is placed on the rain. Thus he is much
more than repaid for the labor of irriga-
ton, besides being freed from all risk of
losing his crops.
Let us see how an irrigated wheat
field is managed. The main ditch that
supplies it with water may be many
miles long, and jointly owned by sew
eral farmers; or it may be the property
of corporation which sells the water
to the farmers. us is done extensively in
California and Colorado; or it may come
out of a stream near by. and be owned
solely by single farmer.
The land cultivated must have u
gradual slope. The water is conducted
in a large ditch along the upper side OF
the field, and from this smaller bitches
are scooped out with pillow across the
field at intervals of few yards. These |
are usually made after the crop is put |
in. When the farmer finds the soil |
getting dry and the grain looking
thirsty. he goes over the field with hoe
and spade, trimming up the cross
bitches, into which he has first let the
water from his large ditch. and thus, |
with great deal of pains and skill,
gradually flooded the whole surface,
until it is thoroughly soaked. Usually |
this process is gone through twice dur
ing the growing season. If there are
rains in June. one irrigation may suf-
flee, but in dry seasons three are neces-
sary.
An irrigated field of wheat presents
beautiful appearance, the stalks grow |
so thickly and SO evenly, the heads |
being nearly on a level Every stalk
has had all the moisture it needed, and |
has done its best. Farmers in irrigated |
valleys in the West believe that the |
water has a fertilizing property, and |
say that land watered by bitches does |
not wear out nearly as soon as that cul- |
tivated by the aid of the rainfall
YOUTHS Companion.