Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1892-05-03
rne coJNIRy,s ARID LANDS.

In q few days the fnal report of ths
Arte.lan and underhow Investigation
aud of the Irrigation Inquiry, author .
rel by Congress In is?O, Will be Issued
from the Government Printing Ofiicr. u
will be found to be the most comprc-
ben.lyc statement on the general sub
Ie,t of Irrigation vet submitted to the
public. Col. Richard j. Hinton, special
sgcnt In charge of the Irrigation lnqnl'
~. Ia. prepared q volume OF owe,
40 page. giving the exact conditions OF
Irrigation throughout "Arid America.
II !. very interesting.
4 line drawn north aud soath through
the middle 80 North Dakota to AM
through the middle of Texas forms ths
eastern toundsryt of the arid region.'
More Land rian !. pow under cultivation
In th. sntlrr county lies Ia these regions.
There are mlllIons'of acrr. which need
only o. b. irrigated % make thsm Won
derfully productive. in the last tea
wear. enough progress has been made IN
Irrigation In California, Utah, COLORADO,
New Mexico, Montana, Idaho and Ar
rona to show the entlr. feasibility of ths
plan. What we're formerly barren d-.'
ert. have been Transformed Into t''e most
productive of regions. The soll of what
has been popularity known AZ the Great
American Desert has shown Itself to be
wonderfully responsive to water. u Va.
In recognition of th. new aud attractive
field opening to agrlculturi.ts that Con
grr.. authorized the reports which are
uow about Ia b. made.
Special Agent Hinton ylslied over for
~ irrigation districts In hi quest Tor
material last year. Ia addition io other
data, th. testimony ~ about 300 person.
actively engaged In the orgsnlisilon and
management of lrrigstiOn enterprise.
was obtained. Thi. testimony, sum
married, I. presented In hls report,
which I. accompanied by paper. bearlng
on the subject ~ the conditions affecting
irrigation In various sections of the gr' Al
vest aud q review of irrg,tlon condl-
tiop. In foreign countries.
In th. last seven years, ve are told by
thi. rrport, the United states has In
creased H.. AREA of irrigsble land by
about 5,',DO, ,OOO acrc.. Hut greater ac-
tI,Ity than the addition ~ 4, so, ,Og scres
to th. area of cultivation !. seen In th'
growth ~ Important hydraulic works
Under "Ditch" I. reported for l-ol sn
estimate arr, ~ u, ,ss5,D' acrc.' The
large.t proportion ~ this Will be made
available Tor use In th. next year. and
shy the time of the opening of ths
World. Fair the United States may an
tiripsi. the cultivation ny mems ~ irri-
CATION 20 al least l,,0o,0co acres 81
Land that within the last decade Ia. BEEN
DECLARED by learned authority a. wholly
irr-cl,lm able, WORTHLESS. for agriculture,
usele.. for tire. planting, and hardly NJ
for even the grazing ~ scraggy .heep
aud the broad-bofnei steer. Under pro-
Iect.i work. or partially constructed
nearly 5,GD,Ooo acres may DO add-i'
making In all "a now reclaimed not le-'
than 25,OpO,DO acres"
A chapter !. devoted by the report Ia
the progress of irrigation legislation IN
the various state. of "Arid America,
showing that In the past year great ac.
tl,iiy aud Interest have been manifested
In such legislation, a. we'll as Ia judicial
decision. relating Ia water supply and
u. management within the region. \
review 81 the salient facts In connection
With these IL given. Some statistic. o'
fruit culture In Callfornh by irrigation
will be found interesting. AZ pre.eni
C,llfornis I. at the front In the matter
of horticultural products, but the rspld
growth of fruit culture a. stimulated by
Irrigation aud active profits !. causlng
the rspld planting % large orchard area.
la Colorado, New Mexico, Northwest
Moutsns, Eastern Washington. south
se.t Idaho and south Central Arizona.