Wadsworth semi-weekly dispatch. [volume] (Wadsworth, Nev.) 1899-1904, 1900-01-30
AND HI CEN
SUS.

ny PiSiiiiiillaly WIN VI TIC OCHSuS
Office in collecting data relative to the
arid and sub-humid regions shows that
during the past ten years vast areas
have been reclaimed by irrigation, both
by ditching from running streams and
drilling for s%ubterranean waters.
Where only a few years ago the
sage brush struggled for existence in the
midst Of a vast alkali and sand, today
are fields Of waving grain and blossom
ing orange groves. Hundreds Of miles
OF canals and thousands Of acres of
land have been constructed; hundreds
Of wells have been sunk and thousands
Of acres Of land have been cultivated
in zones where once the desolatlon Of
the Sahara reigned.
Moistened by fresh waters and ferti-
lized by the rich silt and swift noun
tain stream, once trackless wastes and
desolate valleys to the arid southwest,
have become as fertile as the famous
valley of the Nile, and send crops of
endless variety and exceeding abund-
ance.
Irrigation is intensive farming.
Where the water supply is ample it is
sure farming. There are no failures
and crops are enormous. The expert
enced irrigator is like the trained en-
gineer with his hand on the lever. The
movements regulate the amount of
water supplied to his fields as those Of
the engineer controls his engine.
In most Of the irrigatable sections of
the west, fertilizers have never been
used although the land has been con-
stantly cultivated for over two cen
turtles. In many sections fields may
be seer which have yielded successive
crops Of wheat for forty years and show
no diminution Of productive strength.
Wonderful progress is shown in the
method 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 and management and
made possible many gigantic enter
prises Of land reclamation and water
utilization.
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 flood waters
of the streams so that the thirsty land
below shall net suffer during the long.
r~ainless summer.
AS the successful solution of the
problem of conservation Of flood waters
means the 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 re-
spends. Lands containing excellent
reservoir sites have been set aside and
a thorough study Of the sources and
permanence 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 Cen
sus will endeavor comprehensively to
show the present condition and values
of agriculture in the arid and sub-humid
regions, the length, irrigatahle extent
and cost of the various canals, wells
and bitches; the character, volume and
constancy of water supply; systems
employed in distribution; amount paid
for water and the crops. acreage and
yield Of irrigation farms.
This effort will be successful if those