The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1903-01-30
FEDERAL AID
IN IRRIGATION
EASTERN PEOPLE REALIZE THE
VAST POSSIBILITIES.
The Actual Work of Surveying,
Locating and Construction Will
Be By Geological Survey.

Washington, d. c., Jan. 30.-Special
to the Press-The acceptance by cong
ress of the principle Of federal aid in the
construction of irrigation works in the
western states has given great impetus
to every industry in that section of the
country. The people of the eastern
states are just beginning to realize the
opportunities offered in the territory to
be opened up. AS the proposition de-
velopes, tide OF irrigation will newt
ably set in and this region will become
one of the most populous and prosper
GUS in the country. With large areas of
of reclaimable land and plenty OF
water, Oregon especially will be bene-
fitted by the measure.
The actual work of surveying, locat-
ing and constructing reservoirs and
other irrigation works will be done by
geological survey. In order to obtain a
better understanding of the present ex-
tent of irrigation, the location of the
areas irrigated, and to gain other in
formation useful in this work, the fifty
seventh congress authorized the director
of the census to bring down to date the
irrigation statistics obtained in 1900 by
that Office Letters of inquiry and
schedules are now being sent out to
secure the necessary information. All
interested in irrigation should answer as
fully and as promptly as possible any
inquiries they may receive 80 that the
merits Of the various sections OF the
country may become known. Irriga-
tors who do not receive blanks within a
reasonable time should notify the CEN
sus officer at Washington aud they will
be supplied.
1t is interesting to note in this con-
nection how much it will mean to the
country at large to have the arid lands
OF the west reclaimed.
According to the census Of 1900 the
total improved farm area Of the United
States was 414, $780, 900 acres. 1t is con.
servately estimated that the reclaimable
area is not less than 30, 900, ,000acres. It's
reclamation, therefore, will add nearly
one-eighth to the actual crop producing
area of the country and will exceed by a
liberal margin the tillable land of all
the states, excepting New York, on the
Atlantic Coast from Maine to Florida.
Allowing 40 acres, the average size of
irrigated farms, this area will make
1880, ,000 farms, or little less than one
fourth the number in the United States
in 1900. The occupants of these farms
will add directly to the population s.
250,0D0, and indirectly, in the accom-
panying mercantile, professional, manu-
featuring and industrial classes at least
3,125, 900 more, a total increase in the
population Of the United States of g.
BIC, 600, or nearly IL and one-half per
cent?
The number of irrigating bitches and
canals in operation in the United States
exceeds 10000, and their combined
length is not less than $4,000 miles. Ii
joined end to end they would reach
twice around the world. Formed into
one they would constitute a navigable
canal, such as the Erie, thirty feet wide
and five feet deep, extending from San
Francisco to New York, distance Of
over 3 200 miles.
After the government has performed
its part there will be no delay by the
farmers in carrying on the work. While
the initial expense is enormous, it is not
comparable with the value Of the crops
which will be grown on the lands re-
claimed. The total cost of all the ir-
rigation works in the county is only
three-fourths the value of the crops
produced each year on irrigated lands.