Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-07-12
CURRENT AFFAIRS.
4 BIC SCHEME
To nrnen, the Fnrmer- Of the Fnr we.l

To BrneGt the Farmers Of the Far West.
A magnificent scheme for the promotion
Of the agricultural resources Of the great
plains beyond the Mississippi is being dis
cussed with more or less seriousness, and il
an attempt is ever made TO carry it out on
a large scale it will attract the attention of
the world Gov. Thayer of Nebraska is
understood to he the prime mover in the
project which is nothing less than 10 store
the surplus snow water Of the Rocky noun
tains and the wasted rain fall Of the states
and territories adjacent, and TO serve il out
from great reservoirs during the dry sum
mers. The national government has con
sidered the project with some favor, and
Congress has made an appropriation for
the preliminary inquiry necessary to de
termine whether such scheme is at all
feasible Prof. Curtis, Of the United States
geological survey, is now in the West, look
ing into the matter, which is mentioned in
some Of the newspapers Of that section.
1t is asserted that the rivers flowing from
the Rockies such as the Platte in Nebras-
ka and the Arkansas in Kansas and the In
dian territory, formerly carried much more
water than Of late, and that the diminu-
tion is owing 10 the canalization practiced
by the ranchmen and stock .raisers Of Colo
RADIO, Wyoming, etc, who turn vast guam
titles Of the head waters aside to supply
their fields and farms, which hardly depend
on rain water at all, but are moistened by
] IL ha la e
claiming the desert land, so that Il crop of
hay may he raised TO feed the stock in win
ter. bitches are dug. many Of them as
large as the canals which once bore 10 the
sea board the produce of the middle states,
and through these the water pours like a
mountain torrent, and is distributed over
thousands Of sections Of land, which are
thus irrigated from spring TO fall After
tapping a river for few such bitches its
volume is sensibly decreased and when this
is done all the way down from the source
to the border Of Kansas or Nebraska, and
on all the tributaries down to the smallest
and even to the springs at the head Of the
streams, there is not much left for the far
lners on the plains, who, with all the rain
fall, need rivers quite as much as do the
farmers of Indiana aud Illinois. Those
parts of Kansas which strictly need this ir-
riga ion are not many, but in Nebraska
there are more and in eastern Colorado ir-
rigatiun is the farmers sole dependence
The Congressman from all three states
joined in asking for legislation to protect
aud husband the water supply and the
plan suggested is ON scale sufficiently
vast
Ia the mountain regions the long, deep
beds Of gulches, that offer channels for the
supply of great rivers are 70 he made into
reservoirs 10y building dams at their mouths
soon immense Accommodations Of water
would be secured, comparable only to the
great lakes on our northern border In
the low country Just west of the Mississ-
ippi 1t is proposed to build dams at suitable
points To catch the storm water that always
has gone To fill the ocean Millions Of dol.
lars would he needed tn perfect such plan
While the first part Of the scheme appears
feasible, if the money can be found to put
it in practice, it is hard to see how in the
Hat prairie states reservoirs can be made
which will be available for holding any
amount Of water without flooding the whole
neighborhoo1 The mountain reservoirs
would need nothing but strength and il
the water should escape it could do little
harm but the water that passes down the
kaw river in Kansas in u single heavy rain
if damned up, would overflow whole
county deep enough for navigation pur
poses. Storage reservoirs of small size
could he multiplied there, however, as is
done in India, and the worst effects Of a
drouth might thus be obviated The whole
scheme is more worthy of consideration
than that which the French engineers have
devised for covering the Sahara with wa
ter from the Mediterranean but there are
enormous difficulties in the way.