The Arizona sentinel., 1903-09-02
eeATESr IRRIGATED FARM.

HeEATEST IRRIGATED FARM.
 Among the very big things in
 Juo.Iia k the greateStirrigat-
 ala in jhc world. 1t con 5.ts ot Io0.o acres. nearly all which is under actual cuitiva- iGn.
 This princely estate is the property of a single firm, or close corporation, practically compos- ad of only two persons or fami- les.
 Flowing through the heart of t.?is vast property is splendid liVer-D Dne of the best in Calif0r- nia-which takes its rise in the highest peaks of the Sierra Ne vada. Without the use of this stream the estate would be d desert. With it, the property is converted into paradise.
 The land is fertile almost be- yond belief, for it is d delta that the stream has been building for ages. Here are wonderful fields of alfalfa, yielding six crops every season and furnish ing rich pasturage besides. Here are vineyards bearing the famous raiSins and wine grapes of the San Joaquin valley. And here are orchards laden each year with the luscious peaches, nee tarines and prunes, and other orchards of almonds aIG5 fgrssseagtS Oranges are not pccdUceG in commercial quantities, 5ut are found in the. doOrFarlss wgtI8 the other rich offerings o& 5fsa semi tropical climate. It is literally land flowing with rljlk and honey"
 And this great irrigated farm is now a private estate! It is, yet only few years ago every acre of this opulent soil. together with the precious stream which waters it, belonged to the people Of the United States: The soil, the water, the forests and the melting snows which lie in their embrace-a all these formed part of the heritage of your children and mine
 How, then, did all this land and water pass into private own ership? The thing, Was done by means Of tl1e preposterous land. laws of the United States. It is strange that these laws were ever placed upon the statute books stranger yet that thus far they defy all efforts to effect their repeal. No one ever dared to go before congress and re respectfully request the passage of bill entitled An Act to en- able Rich Men and Corporations to Acquire Lordly Estates from the Public Domain. Of course, no one would think of proceed ing in precisely that way.
 What is actually done is to ask congress to assist them in aking homes for the homeless and iu furnishing lands for the Aadless-" And the method proposed,is the notorious desert land law, This was fraud and 8 hGmbug from it's in ceptiOn. It Is a sort of anaes- thetic administered to the peo- pie to put them to sleep while some millions of acres are pain lessly amputated from the pub lie domain.
 This stupid and wicked law originally invited every man and woman in the United States oyer twenty one years of age to take up 640 acres as g. homestead D. They were, required to pay SIPS per acre aIag tO sERaE- df;ts they proWiC}Utr Q means fCg' i;r.Eg3sbing certain portion of the land The law was loosely adniniS- tered and frequently evaded in its most essential details. A few years ago the amount of land which one individual could ac- qnirn under this statute was re duced to 320 acres.
 As d rule the desert lands lie in large bodies and are only to be reclaimed by costly works of irrigation. In the case of the great farm under discussion, the