The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-04-05
InR1GAr1oN N SOUTH DAKOTA.

The highest achievement OF Invention
industry and civilization is the utlliza'
ton OF natures forces to the greatest
possible extent. All matter and mo
ton ia essentially nature, and mind car
only direct them.
The three phenomena, fire, air and
w~ater-called elements" by the an.
cients-form the forces by which the
other element. earth, was made subser.
Went to mans use, even the most de-
structiye OF these, when controlled, con-
tributing to his power. Nature, IN her
work uses only these same force and
materials to perform the grand = ,anges
she ia continually working, and man
only initiates her in his own attempts.
In our 8 tate OF Sonth Dakota we re-
cognlse the greastest work to be argri.
c%ultural; hence, natures work Is to
build plant substance and mans work
is to aid her, The question, then, is.
show can this best be done?'
It must necessarily be by adopting
the same plan L1-ture herself would fol-
low if possible, and furnish the material
for her to ork with. Man cannot
make a plant-hecan only bring the ma
ing it for him. Give Der earth, heat and
moisture. and she will do the rest.
Withhold either OF these, and she is al
most powerless. We can, and do, con-
troll the supply OF these requisites, al IN
lighthouses and enclosed gardens; but
upon the larger scale Of general farm
ing the same plan is impractlcable and
unnecessary. Our soil is sufficiently
rich, the sun produces the requisite tenn
perture; but nature fails to supply the
proper amount of moisture at the
the proper time. Manlfestly, then, our
method Of assisting in the work OF plant
raising must be in furnishing and con
trolling his necessary element.
There 10 no place on earth 80 favored
that just the right amount OF water is
furnished at Just the proper time, and
the most prosperous countries have al
way s been those where irrigation has
been practiced to the greatest extent.
The apc,ent works OF Egypt. Babylon,
Palestine and Aboriginal America. to-.
gether with it's modern utility in China.
India, Europe and Western United
States all attest to it's value and ef-
feet upon the prosperity of a nation.
In China, the popular approval of the
r%eigning dynasty has always been based
on the perfection aud extent OF the irri-
cation system carried on by it's repre.
sanratives. Palestine. today a barren,
arid region, was i'll Solomn's time a rich
fruitful country, made SO by means OF
irrigation. the modern canals of Arr
IONA and Ns= Mexico are frequently
were. used by the Aborigines, and recent
discoveries show that at one time this
region supported a numerous and pros.
porous people.
Today. in India, the government con-
trolls the irrigation system, builds canals
and reservoirs and directs the natural
streams, with the result that, though
her population is ten times as MANY
per square mile al in the United States,
yet she can export wheat at prices to
compete successfully with our own
country. Spain and Italy havefollowed
the practice for hundreds ofyears. Aus
tralia Is adopting a system which is In
tended to bring her most barren dis
tricts under cultivation. Naturally,
then, one OF the leading questions Of our
own country may we'll be, chow can we
irrlgate our land and SO increase it's fer
Utility and value?" The people OF South
Dakota must not overlook the question.
It is q mistaken idea that "thatcountry
ID best which %irrlgates least" That
cauntry is best which best controls It's
water supply. In California and Colo
RADIO irrigation has added greatly to the
prosperity OF the people, and districts
have been organized with all the power
81 similar municipal bodies, havlnei ior
their sole object the full complete irriga-
lion 80 organized, each landholder bene-
hted paving tax for the support Of the
enterprise, much the same as IN the
rood and school district system In
South Dakota. IL it not needful that
~ enact some measurefor the promo
tnn of the welfare OF our own state?
THE present hard times resulting from
thecontinued drouths7of the last few
xaars certainly callSfor help if any can