The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1900-02-01
THE ARID REGIONS.
dition and valuss ~ Ag1isalt1ze
In Arid, Sab-Hamid bSetions.

dition and Values ~ AS1isult1z0
In Arid, S1b-Hrmia Ssesaons.
The preliminary work Of the census
Office in collecting data relative to the
arid and sub-humid regions shows that
during the past 10 years vast areas
have been reclaimed by irrigation, both
by ditching from running streams and
drilling for subterranean waters.
Where only q few years ago the sage
brush struggled for existence In the
midst of waste of alkai and sand,
today are fields of waving grain and
poisoning orange-groves. Hundreds
of miles of canals and bitches have
been constructed; hundreds of wells
have been sunk, and thousands OF acres
of land have been cultivated in zones
where once tho desolation Of Sahara
reigned.
Moistened by fresh waters and fertil-
lied by the rich silt of the swift noun
tain streams, once trackless wastes and
desolate valleys in the arid Southwest,
have become as fertile as the famous
valley of the Nile, and send forth crops
of endless variety and exceeding album
dance.
Irrigation is intensive farming.
Where the water supply is ample, 1t IL
sure farming. There are no failures.
and clops are enormous. The expert.
enced irrigator is like the trained en-
gineer with his hand CD the lever. The
movements of his hand regulate the
amount of water supplied to his fields
as those of the engineer control his en-
CINE.
In most of the irrigable sections OF
the West, fertilizers have never been
used, although the land has been con.
stantly cultivated for over two centur-
les. In many sections fields may be
seen which have yielded successive
crops of wheat for 40 years and show
no diminution of productive strength.
Wonderful progress is shown In the
methods of constructing canals, dams,
and pumping machinery, and in the
manner of distributing water. Modern
inventions in machinery have greatly
lessened the time, labor, and cost OF
construction aud management, and
made possible many gigantic enterprises
of land reclamation and water utiliza.
ton.
Mountains have been tunneled and
whole rivers have been lifted from
their beds and spread over the valleys
precisely as wanted. High up in the
ranges and on the elevated plateaus
immense storage reservoirs have been
constructed to impound the food
waters of the streams so that the thirs.
ty land below shall not suffer during
the long rainless summer.
As the successful solution Of the
problem of conservation of flood waters
means tho reclamation of millions Of
acres of public land, the people natur-
ally ask the government to promote
measures having this end in view. To
this demand the government responds.
Lands containing excellent reservoir
sites have been set aside and 4
thorough study of the sources and per-
manence OF the water supply OF arid
regions has been made to enable con.
gress to legislate with intelligence upon
this important subject.
In aid of this work the twelfth Gen.
sus will endeavor comprehensively to
show the present condition and values
of agriculture in the arid and sub
humid regions; the length. irrigabls
extent and cost of the various canals,
wells and bitches; the character, vol
ume and oonstancy of water supply;
systems employed in distribution;
amount paid for water and the crops,
acreage and yield of irrigated farms.
This effort will be successful if those
inter ested in irrigation shall heartily
cooperate with the census Office and it's
agents.
Within q brief period the main
schedules for taking tho census Of irri.
CATION will be distributed, and Direc.
tor Merriam requests that all recipients
prepare properly to fill them ont and
to return them promptly.
Pacific Coast Notes.