San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-10-09
WESTERN IRRIGATION.
MORE DATA AND STATISTICS ARE
WANTED
The Great Work Already Done Along
the Union P acifc Lines as Set
Forth in Their Reports.

Omaha, Neb., Oct. 9.-The magni.
tude of irrigation enterprises in the
west has been attracting attention
through the country for some time.
Accurate information as to develop.
ments in this direction is being sought
by many in various parts Of the Unit.
ed States and in some instances by
Europeans contemplating removing to
sections of the country where artifi.
cial methods of agriculture are mani.
testify desirable. Some of the wes-
tern states have salaried agents to
look after this feature and furnish in:
formation in that line for the purpose
of stimulating immigration. This fl.
cility is, however, enjoyed by few
states. In the absence of such infop
nation those desiring the facts are
forced to rely upon the various great
railroads of the west. The Union Pa.
cific Railroad company, is the pioneer
in the business of keeping the public
informed as to the progress of artifi.
cial moisture distribution in the west,
and particularly in those sections sus.
ceptible to irrigation on the lines of
the overland route. The latest mass
of literature, and beautifully executed
maps, placed before the public today
by that company, touching that top.
ic. contains a mass of information ac-
curate in every detail and the result
of exhaustive search by skilled en-.
gineers and agriculturalists who have
investigated every phase of the queS'
ton in the half dozen western states
covered by the gridirOn of roads of
the Union Pacific system. The guam
tity of capital attracted to the states
along the line of the overland rOue for
the purpose of investment in irriga-
ting ventures, is something enormous
sufficient in the aggregate to con-
struct a great railway system. In
some sections the magnitude of the
work in hand is something enormous,
contemplating the running of great
streams, volumes of water equal to
that of the Missouri river, into i'm.
mense storage reservoirs stretching
over miles Of ground, to be gradually
distributed over acers of farms.
In Nebraska there are seventeen
companies on the Union Pacific lines;
in Wyoming 81; in Utah 20; in Idaho
80; in Colorado II; in Kansas 10; in
Oregon s.
The company has been unable to
chronicle the number of lesser com
panies or associations similar to those
where a few farmers combine for
supplying their immediate demands
by diverting the smaller streams of
the west. In the company reports
none are dignified with the name Of
canal company that do not control af
fairs of Importance. In addition to
immigration to these sections suscept
ible to irrigation, and generally stimu
lating the business of the states
through which the road passes, by ad
vertising thus furnished, the Union
Pacific has the satisfaction of having
already reaping immense benfit from
the irrigation it has fostered, the road
having during September carried a
greater quantity of freight over its
Nebraska divisions than at any time
previous in its history. This is at
tributed in a measure to the success
full crops of these agriculturalists, as
sisted by irrigation.