The Arizona sentinel., 1903-11-18

of the division of hydrography,
 who has devoted his life to the scientific study of the cOnstruc- tion and maintenance of reser-
 voirs, canals, and the many ad- juncts to a highly diversified sys-
 tenn of irrigation, will be in per sonal charge of this labor.
 Surveys for the reservoir sites have been going on for many years, so that the plans for the storage of water can be immedi- ately put into operation, and tracts of useless desert land re- claimed for the many immigrants
 who are anxiously waiting upon the borders of this virgin cOun- try of the far west. Arrange
 ments have been made by the interior department to undertake
 five projects, one in Nevada, one in Montana, one in Wyoming, one in Arizona and one Tn Colo rado. The work in Nevada is completely planned, and con- tracts aggregating one million dollars have already been let. < < ::
 When gold was discovered in California and the hardy pio- neers from Ohio, Illinois and the eastern seacoast placed their families and goods in white topped wagons to make danger ous journey across the continent, little did they know what was in store for them.
 Explorers, trappers and buffa- To hunters had penetrated into the heart of this hostile wilder ness. and had brought them tales of great barren stretches upon which the sun beat with vigorous intensity and where there was little water: but with fortitude they turned their faces toward the land of promise.
 They struggled against the obstacles of nature and of man until they either reached the goal of their hardy endeavor or else left their bones to bleach among the sage-topped hills. They crossed the arid belt and left it far behind. "Where one has not to. fell trees in order to farm there can be no fertile soil, :" they said. but this was based upon ancestral experience in Vermont forests and Virginia cane breaks.
 The arid belt, a part of which they traversed, is a vast area. It stretches from the one hun dredth meridian of longitude to the Pacific coast. Draw a line north and south through the middle of the two Dakotas, Ne braska, Kansas and Oklahoma, and all to the west of it is either arid or semi-arid, the aridity in as the Rocky Noun tains are approached. The east ern portion of this great region is seml-arid, while the narrow fringe along the Pacific seaboard is humid. Within the bounda- ries named thirteen states and three territories lie wholly or in part, and excluding Alaska, they nearly one-half of the superficial area of the republic.
 The sturdy seekers after gold crossed a country which made them sicken with despair, yet it was a country richer than that from which they came, richer than many portions of that to which they went.
 Some stopped on the way. The Mormons found a valley in the wilderness where there was water. Here they camped and began to build. With some knowl- edge of irrigation, they turned the water of the river upon the soil, planted grain, fruit and vegetables, and raised an abund- ance of sustaining food.
 But the reason for the marvel ous potentiality of this soil which SO astonished the eastern immi- 1 grant, is not difficult to discover. Tn land where there is at differ ant periods a regular and sus- tained fall of rain, a measurable 1uantitV of valuable ingredients |