The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-08-30
SOUTHERN DOINGS.
Some Suggestions in Regard to
the Entry of Lands.
THE DESERT LAND LAW No GOOD.
Ii Should be at Once RemOdeled. so as to
Make 1t of Benefit to
the RAnchers.

GLRNwooD, Sewer County, Utah, August
q, 1889. - Correspondence of THE
HERALD - Reservoirs and drive-wells
seem to be, at the present time, creating
quite q sensation in the country; and no
doubt will result in a great benefit to the
agricultural portion of our territory; but
why should there be so much attention
paid to the agricultural portion and nothing
said in relation to the advancement of the
animal industry, which, 1 think, is fully as
important to our territory as the farmer.
There is large extent of country which
can never be cultivated, but is used for
grazing purposes, as far as is possible TO
get water for the stock, but there is sui
greater extent of territory which cannon
be used to good advantage on account OF
the lack of water.
- If there were some means of the sto0kman
aud sheepman getting patent Tor a
quantity of land sufficient for good ranch,
they would beinclined to
DRIVE WELLS AND PROCURE WATER
for their animals. but the desert land claim
IS too expensive and the requirements too
binding TO make it available TO this class OF
citizen, who, hold, are as much entitled to
the assistance and encouragement OF the
government as the agriculturists. II there
were some plan arranged whereby the
stockman could get a title to certain
4 unit of land by driving wells to GER
ain amount; or, indeed, to making reser-
VOirS for stock purposes, then this class OF
citizens would pitch in and secure ranch
from which they might not be driven by
some other aggressive stockman, which
now is a source of great deal of trouble
and bloodshed in this country. Let the
government give patent of section to
any citizen who will eXpend, say, $500 on
sinking a well and making reservoir
whether he succeeds in finding water or
not: with the privilege of repeating the
prospect for water on any adjacent section
till he has
SUCCEEDED IN FINDING WATER
sufficient for the number of animals he can
craze on the land, with a limit of four sec
lions in any one township or any adjacent
township.
[ cannot see why the government
can not donate some of its lands for the
purposes of stock and sheep raising, as to
encouraging agriculture and education. In
this mountain country, many comfortable
homes for rauchers could be established on
land not suitable for farming purposes, but
no one wishes to eXpend money, time and
bard work on making improvements of this
kind, unless there be some means of secur
ing some title to the land. One section is
as small an area of ground as would war
rant a person in making a start IN this
direction and an ordinary drive-wel that
would give flow of ten or twelve gallons
of water per minute, would be, probably,
sufficient to water two or three hundred
neau of cattle or a thousand head of sheep,
if suitable boxes were used to
STORE THE WATER
during the summer; or better, if a reser-
yoir be made to secure the flow during the
winter when the animals would drink but
little, or would be moved to other quarters.
/ say it is too much to expect people to
take advantage of the desert land law to
secure ranches. The amount of feed on
section of desert land would not probably
be as much as would be produced on ten
acres of agricultural land when titled, so
that greater quantity of ground is neces-
Sary, and the price of desert land-Sl. 25-
would be almost out of the question for
most beginners in the ranch business, say
nothing of the other requirements of the
law.
Let US have the
DESERT LAND LAW REMoDELED
80 as to give the rancher an equal show
with other people. The agriculturist
may get a homestead of 100 acres and it is
all the land he needs, on which to make a
good, comfortable home; but the rancher
should have at least one mile square, or
more if the ground is more barren.
We are having some gspd serviceable
showers in the Sewer vally-in some places
destructive storms have prevailed.
Threshing is now going On in good
earnest VACARO.