, 1889-12-06
The Aria Lands.

The Arid Lands.
New YoRK. Dec 5.-Mai. Cowell,
chief Of the fdsnl commission toorsport
upon the best method of irriasting the
arid lands of the country, read . paper
upon that subject before the Chamber Of
| Commerce this afternoon. BE began
with the statement that about half Of the
lands Of the United States, exclusive of
Alaska, are and. These lands, he said,
so far - they can be brought under Guilt
walton BY irrigation. arc the best lands in
the country because crops are certain Of
not being subject to the chances of ex-
treme wet and extreme dry seasons, Is in
the case OF lands dependent upon rain.
land in the United States. shout
cultivation By irrigation, and about one
hundred and twenty millions altogether
can be rendered arabic By this method.
Maj. Powell estimates the construction
Of reservoir, canals and other works nee
essary will cost At the rate of $40 per acre.
Assuming that one hundred million acres
are to be redeemed in this way, tho cost
will aggregate one thousand millions of
dollars.
For the proper carrying out Of the work
. change in the land laws il necessary.
Where irrigation is Unnecessary the land
is cultivated by private individuals, each
farmer being abba to raise his crops in en-
tire Independence of his neiehbors. In
the arid countries corporation for the
distribution Of water from its source is
essential. In humid countries the ten
dency Is toward small holdings. while in
the arid countries il il toward large hold
ings. Many large and small strealas run
through the arid belt, but the amount of
water obtainAble u not large enough to ir-
rigste all of the arid lands which they
traverse, and the question arises, what
portion OF them are entitled to the use of
tho water?
Maj. Powell holds that they should be
used 1t points where they would do the
most nod- This point, he says. il where
= stream runs from . rushing crystal
mountain torrent to- low land stream.
which minsles With the soil Of lands from
which It 1ows- If taken 1t above this
point It would be whero the chilly atmos-
phere of the high altitude would make it
less useful in production of crops. If
taken below that point the water would
be too much evaporAted and wasted on
the way. Thu, taking the Arkansas
river as an example, water enough TO ir-
rigate . million acres in Colorado would
be reduced to only enough TO irrtxate one
or two hundred thousand acres across the
line in Kansas.
The same rule, Mai. Powell says, ap-
plies 70 waters in the Upper Missouri,
Colorado, Rio GrAnde, Del Norte, and
Columbia rivers. He estimates the Aggre-
gate value of the waters Of all these
rivers at Eve thousand millions Of dollars.
The forests at the headwaters of these
rivers serve as catch basins and must be
preserved. Provision also must be made
for controlling and protecting the large
body OF pasture lands not suitable for
cultivation.
In addition to these are great tracts Of
mineral lands, which should be held by
the government until mineral has been
discovered, when they should be parcelled
out in Quantities only large enough for
eoopomioAl working. When storage
reservoirs and ~irrixAtlng canals have been
completed, vast wa.er pow6fs will have
been o<Sssed suitable for manufacturing
purposes. These will exist at points on
canals higher up than those at which the
waters are to be taken for irrigation.
The government. Major Powell says.
should not be allowed TO furnish any
money for the completion of this great
system OF works for preservation Of forests
and to psrceliing out of water. A great
many Thousand men would be necessary
and to put the matter in the hands of the
government would be to build up q
bureaucracy and an army Of oficialism.
The only thing the government should do
is this: Furnish wise laws to control the
operations for this work in hand. and the
people would naturally combine by hydro
graphic basins, that is, 10 a territory
covered by q single stream and its tribu.
taries within = single watershed
Courts should be established to adiudi.
cate upon all questions arising from this
condition Of Affairs, through the govern
ment itself should apportion the water
Among the different states in such dis
tricts.
Maj. Powell suggests that money for
carrying ont these great schemes might
be raised by the issuance of community
bonds or other similar methods.