Durango semi-weekly herald. (Durango, Colo.) 1899-1907, 1903-10-08
IRRIGATION MAKES
LITTLE FARMS.

The natural tendency OF irrigation is
to make little farms. The reasons are
obvious enough to any one who gives
the subject the slightest thought. To
begin with. in the region where irri-
cation is necessary to produce regu-
lar crops there is much more land
than water OF course, no one can
now tell the ultimate Limitation of the
water supply, since we are just upon
the threshold of anything approaching
scientific development of this wonder
full domain What has been done thus
far has been done wastefully and by
those crude methods which pioneers
employ when getting a foothold in
new country. Doubtless the visible
supply of water will be made to cover
more land than II does as better me
thods are worked out and put into
practice. And doubtless water Will
be found where its presence is hardly
suspected These circumstances. ad
ded to the vast. storage enterprises
upon which the government is about
to enter. will constantly tend to re
duce the disproportion of water to
land. But when all has been done
there will still remain many acres OF
land which cannot be watered for each
acre which is irrigated
Hence the law of supply and de
mand tends to make "A small farm
unit in. the arid region. This law. in
exorable as 1t is. would be far less
Immediately effective unless supple
mn nj tod NV Mt nr laxp Wv ich
operate in the same direction. To
bring water upon land by artificial
means is costly. The cost variesac
cording to conditions. but even under
the most favorable circumstances ir
rigation involves an initial expense
and a burden of maintaining which
becomes an unavoidable charge upon
Agricultural charge which is Who'll
ly absent where moisture is obtained
by purely natural means.
Now, the thing that costs money
cannot he had for naught. And the
more II costs the more it will be di
vided and subdivided among those
who have need of 1t. This Is doubly
true where the thing desired is not
a luxury. but rather necessity of ex-
istence, So for this reason also the
tendency to make little irrigated farms
is Irresistible.
Still further, II must never be for
gotten that the measures of value In
land is not area, but productive ca
pacity. Skillful irrigation multiplies
the productive capacity over and ov-
err. Thus one acre of land which is
absolutely independent of rainfall is
equivalent to four acres which de.
pend upon the caprice of the clouds.
So 1t happens that little irrigated
farm satisfies the same demand that
much larger piece of land would be
required to satisfy under different
conditions.
But this in turn, has its economic
influence. A large product on each
acre of ground means a corresponding
amount of labor-the bigger the pro
duet. the bigger the job of cultivating
and harvesting. So here again we
find an inevitable tendency at work
to compel small farm areas in the
arid region.
Very likely the reader will say:
But can people make living on
these little farms?" Yes, a generous
living. including about everything
you find on the bill of fare of an Or
binary hotel In the semi-tropical re-
gions of the southwest, this is liter
ally true. from the olives of the first
course to the raisins and walnuts of
tho last. For where the farmer has
perfect control Of the moisture he can