Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-07-02
WHY NOT IRRIGATE?

Mr. ". S. Burke of Albuquerque, \. NJ,
writing to the Massachusetts Ploughman,
says the time was, and within the reccllec-
ton of most of US, when 'Uncle Sam was
rich enough to give US all farm'-not a
! poor starving apology for a farm, but a
farm of 160 acres of as good land as ever
laid out of doors-land which only needed
to be planted to yield good crops; but as the
years rolled by Uncle Sans farms We're
appropriated by his relatives, until the time
has now come when the man who desires to
get farm on easy terms must go out into
those vast regions in which the soil is as
good as soil could possibly be, and where
the sun shines almost perpetually through
the growing season, but where the rainfall
through that growing season is scarcely up
10 every requirement for such agricultural
results as under other circumstances the
soil would be capable of giving. But even
here nature has provided for him in various
ways to enable him TO give those lands an
artificial water supply and thus carry them,
in point of profitable productiveness, en-
tirely beyond the capabilities of those lands
ceteOrdUeO III SODE. Us IutntiOucu duoNo.
When we come TO realize the vast i'm
portance of this section Of our common
country. continues Mr.. Burke, which can
be made to yield enormously under lrriga-
ton, but which, without water applied by
artificial means, must necessarily remain
uncertain for the agriculturist, we shall
begin to speak Of it as it is, and TO shape
our arrangements for getting out all there
is in it. This cannot do otherwise than in
augurate period of prosperity the like Of
which has not vet been seen on the Ameri-
can continent.
To this the editor of the Ploughman adds
that there are some writers for the agri-
cultural journals of the day, and even some
editors of agricultural journals, who take
decidedly narrow view of the question of
irrigation.
Agriculture, they say, is depressed,
the value of farming land is low, and 1t is
not improving in value; the condition of
the average farmer does not compare favor
ably with that Of the average laborer of
equal ability in other trades and vocatiors,
and what is the reason? Because we have
too much cheap and productive land al the
West and Southwest with which we must
compete, and a better development of those
regions would serve to make matters worse
and still further depress the market for
agricultural products and lands" This, IN
the opinion of the PloughInan, Is an ex-
ceedingly narrow view of a great question
No one doubts or disputes the fact that
the valuable arabic land of our domain is
already occupied. In California, Washing
ton and Oregon most of the land which can
be irrigated easily has been taken up and
improved. There remains a vast area at
the Southwest not yet improved by irriga
ton that ought TO be improved at as early
day as possible. The area needs the i'm
provement to better sustain its present
population and to fill it up with a heavier
population, and the whole country needs
what it would be able to produce
under q well-arranged artificial wafer
supply The nation needs more room.
Either one of these things must shortly
come to passive must make room for the
thousands OF immigrants constantly flock
ing to our shores from Europe by improv-
ing these lands, or we must check the i'm
migration. or we must suffer reduction in
the rates of wages and productiveuess of
labor. Then why not irrigate every foot of
land that can be irrigated, and be made
more productive therebys A heavy popu-
lation without a correspondingly heavy
production will bring us to witness a de-
preston and suffering among the iaboring
class which at present we fortunately
know little about.