The La Jara chronicle., 1904-10-14

ine heart OF the Erra West has been
touched by the sincere. .-sist,nt effec-
tive friendship OF Pr emf Roospve,t
1t had begun, but only lrtially. To feel
ats great need: when 4 strong. ideal
American stepped up it and handed
1t the golden key whicr IS to unlock its
hmitless, latent wealth -reater than the
combined mineral depoS Is of all the
world.
by one stroke Of his pen he gave the
United States new empire greater in
possibilities. for good to the human race,
than all that other great section situat-
ed between the Atlantic Ocean and the
Mississippi River. The National Irri-
CATION Act will transform l25.o0OOpO
acres of land from desert to garden. 1t
will create the greatest home market this
country has ever known. 1t will make
happy homes for millions OF free Ameri-
cans. 1t will establish forever the pres
dse of our conlmorce In the Orient. II
will cause President RpDsevelt's name
and his official acts to be gratefully re-
membered for all time to come.
All the People Interested.
All American citizens are essentially
interested in the operations of the Ma
tional Irrigation Act for the reason that
its influence on domestic trade AID for
eign commerce is destined to be simply
incalculable. The reclamation OF arid
America along the lines of the National
Irrigation Act means "a home for every
man who wants one" 1t means that
when settler gets ready to Obtain his
share of the National heritage he will
obtain not only fertile soil, but the water
necessary to make it a self-sustining
home IN tpr ri ifpht
anteed by the government of the UIited
States. This is. beyond all COMPARISON.
one of the greatest things ever attenpt-
ed by the American people.
Pregnant with great possibilities is
this proposed irrigation of 125 .O00lOU
acres of the peoples domain, an een
that now supports but Il meager pOu-
laton. Under irrigation farms are snail
because the yield of the land is yry
much greater in proportion to cost md
operating expenses than it is where he
clouds are the first and sole reliance Tor
water supply. 1t follows that tlare
will be dense population on our iri-
gated area and greatly increased mr.
ket for the manufactured products Of he
rest of the country. The railroads ND
all other industries will profit by be
reclamation of region, so vast inf e.
tent, ana its settlement by rvsperois
population. :
Wealth Beyond Compare.
According to the National Sensss !,
1cCo the Total impr0v es;7 raI, ~. q. q ~.
United States was 414 500, % 10 acre+
is conservatively estimated that til r
claimable land is not less than I2JlDC
600 acres. Its reclamation. therf,r..
will add much more than one-fourt "a
the actual crop-producine area az the
country and will exceed by II liberal,a ,ar-
GIN, the tillable land of all the S,,es
on the Atlantic Coast from Main, IN
florida-eNcept modest portion of lew
York. Allowing twenty acres as the
average size of irrigated farms, this gca
will make 6,250,O 900 farms or more nan
the number in the United States in 1D1
The total value of all farms in 1000 in.
cluding all improvements except brl1.
inss, was S13. ll5,0OD,OOO. At Sl2.5O nor
acre. the average value OF irrigated Ie,d
the 12o,0OO,OO0 acres to he reclaimed
will add to the value of the farm land
So,312,5GO,OO0 If buildings are includ.
ed. the value will be increased by So
ooO,0OOOOO: while the augmented wealth
through railroads, cities mills and f,c-
tories is beyond estimation. The an
nual value of all the farm products In
per acre of products of irrigated land
was Sl4.S1. At this rate. the area To
be reclaimed will add products worth
S1,S5l 100000, an addition of nearly
half OF the life sustaining power OF the
country.
Will Not Comp-te with East.
National irrigation will amount to n
series of loans by the government and
4 hn i~in t1,a Il.
and water distribution. As to the ques-
ton whether the products of the irri-
gated west will compete with eastern
farm products, it is only necessary to
travel through the West and see what
it raises under irrigation TO understand
that there will never be any such COM
petition. Irrigated farms are small and
too valuable to grow the staple products.
They are devoted to fruit culture or to
alfalfa raising. In California, for in
stance, where irrigation is oldest and
where its highest types are found. the
farm unit, instead of being 100 or 200
acres as in the East, is 40, 20 and 8
acres. Fine fruits, wines and dairy pro-
ducts are raised and cattle are fattcncd.
1t is difficult to name California farm
product which comes East and actually
with Eastern products.
We get from California, oranges, lem
ons. prunes. raisins. figs, olives. wines.
dried fruits, ctc.-luxuries; on the other
hand, the Eastern farmers derive n dis
tinct benefit from irrigation in Califor-
mia. for it makes California, and she fur
nishes a greedy market for every sort OF
Eastern manufactured product. sending
her money back to New England and
the Elst and thereby stimu
lating manufacturing. Busy factories
and well paid, steadily employed factory
hands mean good Eastern markets for
Eastern farm products.
Precedent Cited.
Our friends the farmers OF the East
were somewhat alarmed as to what the
result migth be when the tide W. west
ward and settling up the eastern por-
ton of the Mississippi Valley. but the