El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-10-28
The BOtaniSt
and the
Water Supply.
Special Correspondence of the
HERALD.

Special Correspondence of the
HERALD.
WASHINGTON, D. c., Oct. 25.-As
the years roll by the country will see
millions of dollars saved u the farm
ers of the west and millions more
made. The advocates of irrigation for
the west claim that the carrying out
of heir proposition would create q vast
empire where is now the Great Amer
c desert. Seventy million acres of
arid and Is the amount estimated by
the geological survey as susceptible of
irrigation with the present surface
water supply of the arid region.
"This utilization of all western wa
tiers would increase the arabic area of
cent" said Mr.. F. V. Coville. the chief
of the division of botany of the depart
ment OF agriculture, and while it
would open up q new channel of vast
possibilities, I think hat we are work.
ing along lines which will add almost
as much to the nation development as
would the store ge and utilization of all
her western waters.
"What can q wor of such nagni.
tude be? Why. the finding and intro
duction of plants adapted to the hun
dreds of millions OF acres of land of the
arid belt which must always remain
arid even after every drop OF water
has been conserved by means of stor-
age reservoirs and otherwise.
"Although the opening up to settle
ment through irrigation of 70, 600, 600
to loo, 600, 600 acres Of land would
create thousands if not millions of
these vast tracts of arid and semi-arid
grazing lands which while useless fore
most crops, will produce certain plants
in profusion. Most of the western
lands are fertile. ALI they need is
water; if not water then some crops
which will thrive on the light rainfall
they receive; not sufficient TO keep
alive ordinary crops. We are finding
such crops and I think we will event.
of various sorts which will yield mil
lions of tons of additional forage and
grain for western f1ocks and herds.
A PLANT OF PROMISE.
"BrOom corn millet (panicum mil
liaceum) is q plant which I expect in
time to see great western rea
it is both too cold and too dry for In
dian corn, too cold for Ksir corn,
which would otherwise compete with
it, and too dry for wheat. It will
produce thirty, forty AID even fifty
bushels per acre Of grain excellent for
converting into hog fat, mutton or
beef, and this upon and where ordina-
has 10 acres under irrigation and owns
adjacent thereto a tract of arid land
will want such crops.
"The department of agriculture has
had explorers oil over the world search
ing out euch q plant. For every acre in
arid America, north or south. of high
or low altitude, there is q counterpart
in the cid world full of experience.
In Russian Turkestan. in Arabia On
conditions are exactly similar to those
of different parts Of our western terri
tory and In these ancient lands they
have grown arid-land crops for hous-
ands of years. Every acre of the new
west has its double in the old east.
"Our men are hitting upon valuable
things from time to time, and when
something of use is discovered, the de-
partment makes it its business to see to
its distribution. 1t seems strange that
ever with Jul advanced methods of
transportation and u mail facilities.
valuable discoveries are often buried
In communities for years.
A WONDERFUL INCREASE.
"Kafr corr its elf is an example of
what the proper crop will do for a 10
cality. Ten years ago this plant was
an experiment in the United States.
It was said to thrive on LAND too dry
for Indian corn and it was tested
through western Kansas where corn
raising was a ~precariOus industry
owing to the light rainfall.
"According to the report of the Kan
sas state board of agriculture Kansas
raised in 1893, At 900 acres of this crop;
in 1898 she raised $50, 743 acres valued
at SIS. 6S8, $50 reclamation, practical
ly, of half a million acres in q single
s tate. Entire western counties are
now yielding magnificent annual crops
of this valuable plant which. prior TO
it's Introduction, consisted of supposed
worthless land.
"Brome grass (Bromus inermis) is
another instance of q fine arid-land
plant which required pushing.
Bronze grass will undoubtedly reclaim
enormous areas of arid land. No grass
will grow without moisture but where
most grasses would die, bronze grass
will simply stand still aud wait until
moisture comes, when it will i'm
mediately start off producing splendid
forage.
"This grass has been known in sew
eral sections for q number of years,
but farmers seeming to be afraid of 1t,
it has W. been grown extensively
even in those sections n it's fame has
never spread widely, until last year
the department undertook to educate
western farmers as to it's virtues, and
to distribute seed.'