The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-22

national government but it is safe to as
sumo that the area is very large. 1t is
estimated by the officials of the national
government who are familiar with the
physlcal conditions of the state that at
least million acres; In North Dakota
ton at an average t%coSt of SIS per acre.
That is the estimate of the government Of
fcfais. My own judgment is that $40
honestly expended will cover 1t am
ply.
IT is beyond question If this land were
thus made irrigable that its value would
he increased beyond the cost of SIS an
acre; after the construction of irrigation
works. II the government built the works
the land would repay to the government
lments extending over period Of ten
Eyears aS contemplated by the national
Eirrigation act. The increased production
EfroHIl this million acres of land would add
Eenermeusly to- the wealth of the state
sThe.3 original expenditure of the fund dis
Ebursed, for construction would stimulate
estate an the annual acreage product Of
the irrigated lands when closely culti-
waited by the intensive methods which
EFin ne, les must go hand in hand with
from $50 10 SD per acre, or total Of
$50, 100000 to $50, 000, 900 "a year added to
the resources ana annual income of the
people of North Dakota from the products
of these irrigated lands.
+ One of the projects which have been
more or less discussed but the feasibility
ISactual surveys, is the proposed division of
isthe Missouri river from some point in
Montana where an elevator could be se-'
Ifcured at the point of diversion high
Igenough to carry the water in a great
lSrnain line canal clear over into the center
Sof the state; of North. Dakota and dis
lStribute it there through a system of
smaller canals throughout every large ex-
tent of country. OF course the construc-
ton OF such a system as this would cost
many MILLIONS of dollars and require
in re
nitude is no objections otis construction.
Other countries are building irrigation
works on even a larger scale. The great
Chenab system in India, built within the
last ten years and which occupied between
three and four years for its construction,
starts with a canal ESQ feet wide carrying
600 cubic feet per second of water,
irrigates more than million acres of land.
Americans Need Net Be Behind.
'It is not the temper of the American
people to confess before trying that they
cannot do thingsa which other nations
60 to india and i5ok for N. such ' great sys
TENS as the chenab system or the gauges
system and other Immense irrigation sys-
TENS built in that. country by the British
rigat1on systems costing as much and ir-
rlgating as large area as those in India.
But we have a great advantage over In
dia because the people of India are SO
poor that they do not expect to have more
than $25 to $50 "a year upon which to
support their faFnli1es and themselves, s
and many natives live on $12 year. 1t
Is hardly proper to say that they live,
they do not live, poor creatures, they
die. and die starving Of gaunt famine:
to keep the soul ana body together
There is one feature of irrigation de-
velopment in the state of North Dakota
which must never. be overlooked. That
is that drainage must go with irrigation
and in the construction of every irri-
cation system ever. built in this state,
fI1ar, OF Ia la1 "a
ultaneously constructed a drainage sys-
tenn which will carry away the surplus
water seeping from the irrigated lands.
If this is done the lands which are irri-
gated will become water logged and in
stead of productiveness being improved
by irrigation, it may be injure dor even
destroyed
"This merely emphasizes the fact, that
irrigation after all is science and that
its development necessitates education
and training along scientific and tech
nical lines The day has gone BY; when
the farmer did not need education. The /
successful farmer of this period and of
cation just as carefully as a@successful
business or professional man..
Denmark's Example.
"And right here lies point to which
the people of this state cannot give too
much heed. That is the establishment
along agricultural lines. In. France and
in Denmark We find object lessons Of what
SnOuIQ pc done In A0rth Dakota. Now,
speaking of Denmark, a little country. IL
sells annually $45, O00,0O0 worth of dairy
products. Last year it sold $3S, 600 900
worth Of bacon and ham. It's dairy pro- 1
ducts command the highest prices of
any. In London Danish butter and
cheese take first rank. Formerly that
first rank in butter was alone in the
hands of butter makers Of the county of
Cork, where the grasses in the southern
part of Ireland made the best butter:
but Danish butter outclasses it today in
every respect. -
"The per capita income of that little
countrys is enormous. and it raises from
it's dairy products and from its feeding
the separator milk to the hogs From
the kindergarten to the college the child
and the student should be trained in the
art Of agriculture, in the processes of
nature, in the elements of fertility In the
soil in the methods of Its cultivation.
In the diversifcati6h of its crops, in the
best methods Of harvesting and marketing
them, in farming mechanics and such
engineering knowledge as is necessary to
enable the farmer to cope with the engi-
neering problems Of his own farm.
Zone point more before I close. Some of
our good friends oflthe East have opposed
national irrigation from a fear that the
products of Western ofarms would be in
creased and compete with those of the
Eastern farmer. There is no danger of
this The products of the fertile lands
of North Dakota, however great they
L IL =