Evening star., 1901-06-12
VALUE OF IRRIGATION
The Subject Treated Before the In
-. dustrial Commission,
PROF. ELWOOD 4EAD'S TESTIMONY
Its Great Aid to Agriculture Fully
Set Forth.
AREAREQUIRINGAssIsTANCE

AREA REQUIRINGASSISTANCE
| The value of irrigation as an aid to agri-
| culture and the enormous value that would
| be added to the land OF the arid region by
providing it with water was discussed be-
fore the industrial commission by Professor
| Elwood Mead today. Professor Mead was
| formerly the state engineer of irrigation of
Wyoming and he is now expert on irriga-
tion of the Department of Agriculture He
declared that irrigation is destined in the
| near future to occupy in the United States
leading place in national affairs.
| Heretofore irrigation has been looked
| upon as a sectional industry, but the ex-
perience of the past fifteen years has shown
| that this is a mistaken idea" he said. ''In
! southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas
an area larger than many New England
| states has had it's value increased from
$3.50 to IS an acre to from $50 to 800 an
acre through this agency, and promises in
the course of another ten years to make
| this country exporter instead of an inn
| porter of rice. All along the Atlantic sea-
| board irrigation is becoming an essential
| adjunct of market gardening the appIica-
| ton of moisture being found as profitab BILE
| as that Of fertilizers. The irrigated dis
| tricts of Italy and France have an aver
age rainfall equal to that of the New Eng
| land states, and recent experience in the
| middle west seems to mare certain that
the lesson of the new world like that of
the old, Is to be that no agent Of agricul-
ture or horticulture Is so effective as the
ability to apply moisture at the right time
| and In the right amount
| Area Requiring Irrigation
In about two-ffths of the United States.
! exclusive of Alaska and the recently ac-
| quired insular possessions he said the
! ability to grow crops is dependent on ir-
| r1gation. This is not because the land
| lacks fertility, but because it. lacks mois-
| ture. Wherever this has been supplied the
lana becomes exceedingly productive. In
! seven states and two territories irrigated
| agriculture is the chief resource. The cities
| Of Denver, Salt Lake, Los Angeles and
| many other towns of lesser size and i'm
portance are as much the creation of irri-
| cation the orchards and fields which
surround them. Without the winter for
age which is grown in the irrigated val
| leys Of the immense stock ranges of the
| west, the suffering and losses of range
| cattle and sheep would every year be dis
! astrous.
| Owing to the lack Of accurate records
| In many states OF any records whatever
we do not know and cannot know the num-
Der or mileage of irrigation bitches and
| canals. or the area whfchbthey water. 1t
Is known that there are over 10000 bitches
| and canals in Coloradp and about 5000 in
! wyoming. There are moRe than $4,000 in
| the United States In the construction of
these there has been expended not less
| than $500, 900. 900, and over $500 900 900 has
been expended in ths construction of ditch
es and .laterals and in nreparing land for
| the distribution of water over it without
taking into account the fences and habta-
! tlons necessary for the cultivation of this
| land. f. sIIc-
Increases Value IL Lands.
Continuing, Professor Mead said: "The
states of Wyoming. Idaho, Colorado and
| Utah, in accepting the Carey grant, dis
I pose ef the lands under that grant to ac-
| tual settlers at 80 cents an acre. and as
these states have the privilege OF selecting
the best lands within their border and
| lands known to. be susceptible of irrigation,
| this can be taken as the estimate of those
! best informed of the average value of un-
| improved arid land. After irrigation land
values range from IS to 500 an acre in
the northern half of the arid region, and
| from $50 to 81 800 acre in the southern
| half, the high-prtced products of southern
| California and Arizona being the cause of
| the greater values in the south. The en-
HANGED value Of land is not the only eyi-
| dence of the wealth created by irrigation
| in the arid west. 1t is more strikingly
! shown in the augmented values of rivers.
| To illustrate this it may be stated that a
| right to fifty inches of water in California
! recently sold for $4,000. This was a
| wholesale price. 1t Is worth more at re-
! tail The estimated value of the rights to
| not include structures for diverting water
or the land on which it is used, but repre-
sents the value of the titles to the streams
in their natural channels In the east the
use of water has not as yet become suf-
cIently systematZed to assign it any par
ticular value as merchantable commod-
ity. In Texas and Louisiana the party
furnishing water Tor rice irrigation re-
ceives one-third of the crop. In other sec |
tiOns of the east it depends on the cost
| of the service. ana is but little influenced
by the value of the water itself"
Need of an Irrigation Code.
Prof Mead dwelt upon the need for an |
irrigation code and for a determination |
whether the state nation Is to deal with |
the question of the control Of the water |
courses
"The area thus far reclaimed is far less |
than that awaiting irrigation" he said. |
THE great rivers of the arid region-the |
Missouri the Yellowstone. Snake and Col !
orado-are as yet almost untouched Prac-
tically all their waters run unused o~the |
sea. The area irrigated by the San Jo- |
aquin and Sacramento rivers In California |
can more than be doubled, and similar IL |
lustrations could be made in every state |
and territory of the arid region. In the |
humid section irrigation has only just be-
gun, but the fact that during the past five |
years Louisiana has brought larger acre |
age under irrigation than any arid state |
shows the possibilities Of this form of ag-
riculture in the humid east. The thing most |
needed to promote this growth is to define
the status Of water and enact adequate |
laws to govern it's diversion and use. When
this has been settled it will be time to de-
ternnine what provision shall be made for
the construction of works of too great |
magnitude and cost for private enterprise,
of which there will eventually be large
number"
.