The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1903-11-06

because when I get started it is hard to
STOP, put irrigation is a subject as to
on paper so that i may not lead YOU or
myself astray. Agriculture is and viii al
ways continue to be the greatest source
or wealth in the state OF North Dakota.
Inc problem before your people is how
they may increase to the largest and full
est extent the agricultural possibility of
their state and the wealth that will follow
from It. Agricultural production must
nave as a basis a soil which will yield
,ls r9dncts IN bountiful measure as the
North Dakota has been generously en-
lowed with such a soil. but its future
pIohtabie cultivation demands that its
fertility Should be maintained and in
creased by correct methods of agriculture
and fertilization. You cannot continue to
aIaW each year upon the sources of pro-
auction which are latent in the soil with
out replenishing them or returning to 1t
mat which has been taken from It, any
more than you can draw forever from an
elevator Elied with grain without dimin-
lshing the quantity stored therein. There
are many ways OF fertilizing the soil in
order to Increase and maintain its fertility
wafer. 1t Is this aspect of irrigation
which should have the closest c%onsidera-
1r6n by the people OF North Dakota.
crops can be grown without Irrigation
ana We are unwilling to adopt the idea
That Nortn Dakota is an arid state. -
Small Farms Advisable.
The close and careful cultivation which
VIII yield the highest profit per acre to
the farm can be given to the land only
when it is cultivated in comparatively
future development, Of this state, we
should never lose sight of the fact that
IN proportion as the farms are subdivided
multitude of farmers will the highest
Of the state. but to her whole people.
farms the greater will be the prosperity
OF every business man in the state. Ten
1f apa 2 hY each %eultiyating $50 acres of
piemented by irrigation. can earn a profit
from their farms equal in amount to that
Mwa hicn would be earned by the same num-
number of acres by the loose Wholesale
methods of agriculture sometimes prac-
ticed in this state.
"And ten farmers. each with 100 across
OF land, occupy no more of the states
surface than one farmer would with ten
tlmes as much land, and he ten farmers
instead OF one would increase ten fold
its aggregate volume of trade with the
of the state and it's CONNER
clal prosperity.
THE bonanza wheat farms of the olden
times are destined to pass into smaller
holdings. 1t is as certain as fate that the
divided and resubdivided until each farm
er has only as much land as will yield him
the highest reward for his labor and en-
around his hearthstone. It is better that
It should be so. The farm life of the flu
ISOLATION of the old farm life, because the
subdivision OF tho land into s11iai Her ffaasass.ss
VIII bring good roads, good schools, near
libraries and a social environment In com,
munitles of small farmers which would
be impossible in a country, where the
far removed from each other.
Crops Should Be Diversified.
We must never lose sight of the fact
that continued cropping to a single crop
e1ifspg a long series of years win in.
that crop upon the richest land. Even
the fat, black soil OF the--Rea river !f
G cr;G2pp1e ped through all the years to wheat;
pc a decrease of the annual profits of the
farm. The remedy for this is the diver
other products Which will draw Inherent
elements from the soil. There are many
such crops which could be~raised on the
fertile lands of North Dakota today by a
yield to the farmer a greater profit per
acre than the same lands ever yielded
when farmed to wheat.
And in the production Of these varied
crops the fertilization of the land by irri-
Could eouid not % probably %aftI 'iBB Be- dohs M SifteT profit 1t
upon a large scale, but the farmer with
forty acres and water to irrigate could
science of irrigation than could a farmer
with 100 acres or even more and who
farmed 1T to a single crop and trusted, to.
nature for his water supply to f~ertilize the
Yesterday or the day before I met
one OF your most public spirited farmers
crops and nat he did not keep after wheat.
wheat, wheat all the time. Now ne would
not be able to have raised the good crop
the ~non-rotation system. You always
want to investigate for the system that
will produce the most tons per acre and
when you find it follow it.
1.-THE statements which I have made
with reference to the increased production
resulting from irrigation even though it
merely semi-arid region, are not mere
surmise. They. are based upon actual
experience and Investigation. In a paper
Congress at phoenix, Ariz., on Dec. Is,
1896, DR.. Clarke Gapen said: There is
no part of the earth's surface where the
may not be profitably supplemented by
the application of water artitically to any
given crop. is TO say, there is no
tity or improved in quality by this means
Mr.. Hill cited additional statistics to
bring out the entire irrigation question in
~clearest light and closed with q picture
of the inestimable benefits that follow the
reclamation of arid or semi-arid land.
We have not as yet the exact infor-
lands In this state could be irrigated
through the construction of large canals
and irrigation systems by the national
government. but it is safe to assume that
the area is very large. 1t is estimated
by the officials of the national government
who are familiar with the physical condi-
lions of the state that at least a million
acres in North Dakota could be furnished
with water. for irrigation at an average
cost of SIS per acre. That is the estimate
ment is that $40 honestly expended will
cover it amply.
1t Is beyond question II this land were
thus made irrigable that Its value would
be increased beyond the cost OF SIS an
acre after the construction of irrigation
works. If the government built the
works the land would repay to the
government its entire investment in an
nual installments extending over a period
of ten Years as contemplated by the ma
tinnal irrigation act. The increased pro-
duction from this million acres of land
you'd add enormously to the wealth of
the state. The original expenditure of the
fund disbursed for construction would
dustry in the state and the annual acre
age product of the irrigated lands when
closely cultivated blythe Intensive methods
which necessarily must go hand in hand
with irrigation might safely be estimated
at from $50 to $50 per acre, or a total of
0,000,0 900 to $50, 600, 900 a year added to
the resources and annual income of the
people of North Dakota from the prod
ucts of these irrigated lands.
Denmark's Example.
And right here lies a point to which
the people of his state cannot give too
much heed. That ia the establishment NJ