The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-08-03
: IRRIGAT1NG ARID LANDS.

< The eleventh National Irrigation Con- .gress will meet at Ogden, Utah, on September fifteenth, and great pains are being taken to make the occasion an unprecedented success, It is in tended to make 1t as representative of all interests as possible and to have the subject5of Irrigation discussed rom all points of view. Farming by means Of irrigation is ofScourse. as old as his tory, but it's importance to this country Is not as generally recognized as 1t ought to be. In ancient times it was carried on upon a very large scale and with great care and attention to de- taifsy for the existence of empires de- pended upon it.. In these days the most civilized nations as a rule occupy lands where the ordinary rainfall affords all the moisture needed for the raising of crops. Consequently many are inclined to think that what are called deserts have always an unfruithful soil and from the lack oS ocular demonstration fail to appreciate what a change the presence of water in sufficient quanti- ties works in them. In the regions west of the Mississippi there are large areas in what was once known as the Great American Desert, where the rainfall is so small that farming crops cannot reach maturity, and yet through them there flow streams fed by the never failing rains and snows of mountain ranges. By a worked-out system of irrigation a large proportion of this water. which now runs to waste and even at certain seasons produces disas-
 trous floods in other localities, might be turned to good use and millions of acres needing only moisture to make them productive might be brought under cultivation and rendered capable of supporting a dense population.
 For the development of such sys- tenn of irrigation in what are called the
 arid States and Territories, Arizona,
 California, Oregon, Washington, New ada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Color ado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota. Oklahoma and Utah, Congress has appropriated ten million dollars and has also pro- yided that in future ali the money re-
 
 in their boundaries shall be set aside for the same purpose. The questions involved in the apportionment and ex- penditure of these millions are im- portant and should be thoroughly dis cussed before action is taken. The
 matter concerns many interests and all will have to be considered, not only those of the agriculturists, but also of many others besides. The use of water ] for irrigation is not like it's use for the production of power. In the latter case after it has done it's work in one place | it can be turned back into stream from l which 1t was drawn to be used again at some other point, but in irrigation water turned upon land is lost for any further use. Thus it has happened in bygone times where the irrigated areas were I5extensive whole rivers were absorbed and lost who lived far down their courses. They were drawn off in canals l and their flows divided, subdivided un- | til at last they sank into the thirsty soil I and their former beds became dry.
 The irrigation of the arid lands of this country is certainly matter suffi- l cient for the National Government tc | concern itself ill, for the suject needs f to be considered on broad scale. Still l the State Governments, local orgatliza- | tions and individuals should show a l proper degree of enterprise and be ready to do their part in advancing so great an undertaking.-Providence Journal,