The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1896-01-17
IRRIGATION.
A Concise History-Its Possibilities In
This State.

1hh1UAIAOANs
A Concise History-Its Possibilities In
This State.
Lieut.. A B. Wyckoff has for the last
few years been a resident Of Yakima, in
the heart of the states irrigation district,
and perhaps there is nobody in the state
better qualified to speak on the subject.
His paper follows:
Irrigation antedates authentic history.
This is proven by the great ruins in Asia
and Africa of reservoirs, canals and
aqueducts, of the construction and use OF
which only the most indefinite and unsat-
isfactory traditions exist. These great mon
uments of hydraulic engineering have ex-
cited the wonder and admiration Of all
modern scientists. In fact, until within
a generation of the present no practical adj
vance had been made in the science of ir-
rigation for three thousand years. Many
Of the great irrigation works of antiquity
were destroyed or abandoned as the results
Of wars Or the commissions of nature, and
the ancient local civilization disappeared,
the lands again became desert, and the
small remnants of the nations sank into
Savagery and barbarism.
The extent of some of these great irr1ga-
ton works can be conjectured from the
ruins remaining. Leake Maeris, in Egypt,
was constructed at least 1900 years before
Christ. Its dimensions were sufficient to
receiving the surplus waters when there
was danger Of a flood, and supplying the
needed deficiency when the river reached
stage which would not irrigate the crops.
This, with other large reservoirs of flood
waters. enabled a population of 20,000,000
to exist in the valley Of the Nile, while it
now supports hardly one-fourth of that
number.
In ancient times the valleys of the Eu-
pirates and Tigris, now almost a desert,
were densely populated. Four thousand
years ago the rulers of Assyria had con-
verified those sterile plains and valleys into
gardens Of extreme productiveness by the
construction of immense artificial lakes for
the conservation Of the flood waters of the
rivers, and great distributing canals for
irrigation. One Of these canals supplied
by the Tfgris was over 400 miles long, and
from 200 to 400 feet broad with sufficient
depth for the navigation of the vessels of
that time. Throughout Judea the ancient
Jews constructed many pools, tanks and
wells for the irrigation Of their fields. The
Greeks Of that age also understood the
science Of hydraulics, as is shown by the
remains of great aqueducts. The Phoeni-
clans converted a portion of Northern Afri-
ca into fields and gardens by extensive ir-
rigation works. The Romans thoroughly
mastered this science and drained the Pom
tine marshes, supplied Rome with the pur-
est water and developed the agricultural
resources of Italy. In France Spain and
Portugal they built aqueducts to supply
the cities with water, and canals to irri-
gate the valleys. In India tanks, reservoirs
and 1rrigating canals were constructed
many centuries before the Christian era,
and great part of that country was kept
in the highest state Of cultivation. Some of
the tanks or artificial lakes covered many
square miles, and were often fifty feet in
1icyh ont in
years has reopened the ancient irrigating
canals, and has built thousands of miles
OF new ones, to prevent the recurrence of
the dreadful famines formerly experienced
in that densely populated country. About
$500, 100000 has been expended on these
works, which pay good interest on the
investment through water rentals, besides
the enormously increased revenue from the
land taxes. In addition to the millions of
acres reclaimed by the government works,
each village has its tank, built of masonry
and concrete, for domestic and irrigation
purposes. The English also found extern
sive irrigation works in Ceylon, which they
have greatly improved and amplified during
the last thirty years, thereby enormously
increasing the population and revenues.
Most Of the canals Of China probably
antedate the Christian era. They intersect
the country in every direction, and are
used for navigation, as well as irrigation
The water is lifted from the canals by
primitive pumps, or wheels, worked by
men or oxen. There is no extensive storage
of water, although the country is we'll
suited for 1t. While there are no ancient
works in Japan, the entire arabic lands,
even to the tops of the hills, are most high
ly cultivated by small community irriga-
ton systems, which conserve all the water
from the numerous springs and streams.
America is not without ancient irrigation
t.
lengthy canals and large reservoirs found
in Peru, Bolivia, Chile and the Argentine
Republic. Some of these have been re-
newed, and new works constructed, espe-
clally in the Argentine Republic Evidences
exist in New Mexico and Arizona that a
race, now extinct, in prehistoric times had
extensive irrigation works and cultivated
large areas. Some of the Indians in New
Mexico, and the Moqui, Maricopa and Pima
tribes in Arizona, have lived upon the same
lands for hundreds Of years by means of
primitive systems of irrigation.
The importance of this subject Is shown
by the fact that, more than half the human
race exist upon the products of irrigated
lands. To resident Of the humid regions
this statement Is no doubt startling, but
even a cursory investigation will convince
him Of its truth. The rice eaters outnum-
Der the wheat eaters more than two to one
and all rice is grown by irrigation. The
hundreds of millions in China, Japan and
India live almost entirely on rice.
1t is only recently that irrigation has be-
come an important factor in our political
economy. AS long as the surplus popula-
ton Of the older states could obtain homes
on the public domain in the humid regions.
no thought Of the reclamation of the arid
lands was entertained. The Unsuitable
craving for 160-acre farms even led to tho
settlement of the semi-arid regions of
~, H.
rainfall was known to be insufficient and
unreliable. The result has been years of
suffering and lost efforts, and even appeals
to older communities for food. Had the
past history Of the world been rightly
studied by our political economists. these
hardy and intelligent pioneers might have
been directed to the arid valleys of the
great West, where prosperous and indie
pendent communities would now exist.
However, the time has arrived when the
problem of our arid lands has become one
of the most important before our legisla-
tors. The tide which has BEEN setting to-
ward cities so long must be turned to
suburban life, if we are to escape social
commissions.
The country must be educated before the
congested East will be relieved of it's sur
plus population, and the arid lands Of the
West be settled. No more important prac-
teal and social question confronts US. On
account Of the limited supply of water only
a small proportion of our desert lands can
ever be reclaimed. But that does not pro-
portionately diminish their economic value
in comparison with the much greater area
Of the humid regions, for, as acre to acre
they are as three or four to one. That Is.
an Industrious family on a forty-acre farm
under an irrigation ditch will attain a more
certain and secure prosperity than on the
usual quarter section of land in the humid
regions. In addition to the security of an
independent Livelihood the arid regions Of
fer other advantages. The larger amount
Of sunshine and dryness of the atrnosnhere
Gnzadllns Ia !, s.,1.,