The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-05-20


other hand. between the summit of
the Rocky Mountains and the Missouri
and the Mississippi Rivers there Is a
vast stretch of land go arid that no
crops can be raised uron IL without
artificial irriga'i n. This area covers
no less than l 800 100 square miles or
two tfths or the area OF the United
States. The SHOWS of the mountains
melt and cause great foods, specially
the June food, which. coming In the
season OF the growing crops. is
the most destructive of all. Now.
that food ought to be used apd
itcan be used to irrlgate the great
arid region. For every acre redeemed
10 the flood plain OF the Lower Missis-
sIppi, it is possible 10 redeem TWO acres
of desert land"
How much land will be reclaimed
| by irrigationp'
The sr q. of arid land, as I have
s ated, Is aoout 1900 00U square miles.
vi this, about one hfth is too rugged or
too elevated to admit of cultivation I'M
der any condition of agriculture likely
to arise before century to come.
A smaller fraction consists # ayas or
drainless desert plains, so fiat that it is
impossible to wash the salts from their
soils. There remains, therefore, about
| 600 600 square miles of land which
only need water TO be rendered produc-
tive. At the minimum price of public
land, 81 70 per acre, price greater
than It's value for pasturage, this land
has valuation of $500 600 900. At $50
per acre a moderate estimate of its
value when irrigated, it would be worth
over $40 600 000.O00"
but can all this land be redeemed?'
" Not all of it. The annual precipita-
ten on this 100000 square miles of
mountain, valley and plain, ranges from
D inches on the driest plsins to 30
inches on the mountains, and TO even rs
or leo inches on the highest peaks. The
average for the whole region is not far
from 10 inches. II all this could be ap-
piled to the land suited by CONFORMATION |
for cultivation 1t would afford about |
twenty inches of water for ibis area, or |
nearly double the amount which need |
be applied 10 crops duriugthe growing |
season. The water which falls in the |
arid region wou d therefore, fully meet !
all agricultural needs if only it could
be stored until the proper season and |
there conveyed to the fields. Unfor-
tunately, many causes conspire to
render impossible the full realization of
consideration all the adverse conditions
which are 10 be expected there will be
redeemed about Is per cent. of the
whole arid region, or $50 600 SQUARE
miles. an area which exceeds one-half
OF the land now cultivated ia the United
States. AT $50 per acre, this wilt add j.;
~ sou. OO0,OOO to the wealth of the
nation. This does not make the land
along the Missi :sIppi saved from flood"
"HoW do you propose TO irrigate this
immense tractY' s
The waters which ordinarily flow
INTO the ocean through the Missouri {
and its tributaries and through the i
Arkansas, the Red, the Rio Grande, l
and the Colorado. the Sacramento and
he Columbia rivers, are to be damned I
Up at their fountain heads and stored 6
n vast reservoirs. We will thus have 1
/ chain o. storehouses in the noun aims S
rom the Canadian to the Mexican I
border, and the water can be- utilized by
letting it out upon the land through I
rrigaung canals. This method of re-
ieemlng land is not new. 1t has been f
,racticed for 600 or 5000 years. The /
earliest agriculture known in history J
vas by Irrigation. in the valley OF the s
Nile, and IS early, or even earlier, irri- Z
cation Was known in the valleys of a
china. In the region of the five rive.s 1
II India agriculture Was wholly de- b
,end' NJ upon irrigation, and the same
IAN be said OF Peru and Mexico. Long
'efore the humid regions of the earth t
we're cultivated the desert lands were t.
edeemed by irrigation. Already there Y
re areas in California, Utah, Colorado p
nd other arid States, under irrigation, e
ut only small portion of the water is Il
sed, and, consequently a small part Of y
he land IS redeemed There are manv p
dVautages in irrigation. The farmer c.
oes not depend upon inconstant rain a
all; he has to deal with no drouths, no p
forms, no floods, the water is poured
Ipon his land where it is wanted and W
My in such quantities as are wanted" 81
what mu:t he done to make the CT
reject practicable?" O
IAN immense amount of preliminary p
ork must, first of all. be accomplished. h
re must select the sites and locations fC
,r the dams, reservoirs, canals and n
areas; account must be taken tC
the total volume of water susceptible q
storage and the loss through evapor- tt
ton and seepage in the reservoirs n
nd canals; OF The area of n
nd to be served by good u
nit of water; of the valve of redeemed 10
nd for the growth of.the crops adapted d.
, the Climate of the soil; or the ex- h
ense for the construction of irrigating OF
orks and the interest on the same: of CT
le expense of their maintenance and Sc
le deterioration of reservoirs By W
oggiug with debris; and an inquiry bf
ust be made TO see if any vested al
ghts exist. Then a series of maps will Sc
ave to be made, and this will take p
ne. Indeed, it will r. quira at lea two a
ears to lay out the ground work II
this enormous undertaking, TIE di
reject wherever 1t has been broached b
the west, has aroused the greatest m
terest. It is perfectly feasible. Ma III
Ire, ia cieaylng the solid rock into sc
inyons, has already made two sides of cl
lr dams for US, ard under no other pi
rcumstances could artificial reservoirs W
, constructed with such economy as is Fl
,ssibla in this cass. The cost of their N
ectiOn and maintenance will b. very eI
nall proportion of the value of the lad gI
b.
DISCUSSING THE MoRMONs. ~