The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1904-02-26
ARID WESTERN REGIONS.
Irrigation Operations on Extensive
Scale to render Them Fertile
Being Forwarded,

AA - PupSt ~ q tCSCAt 10
u Of a journal devoted to the ge-
ographic interests of the country, F. H.
Newell, chief engineer in charge of the
reclamation of arid lands in the west,
details at considerable length the prog
ress of the work. Some of the facts
he mentions are presented here.
The reclamation fund now amounts
to about $4,000, 900, and is increas-
ing rapidly. The fund is accumulated
under the provisions Of the reclama-
ton law, which set apart the proceeds
from the sale of public lands in 10
territories for the construction of ir-
rigation works.
The land sales in 1901 started the
fund with $3,000,000; in 1902 the sum
Of $4,000,000 was added, and in 1908
about $4,000, 900. The more irrigation
works are built the more, public land
within reach of water supply will be-
come marketable, and thus the prog
ress of the work will help to swell the
fund.
AS the water is supplied, the owners
OF the land benefited will pay for what
they use, and will ultimatelyGpay for
the entire cost of the improvement.
All the money they pay will be turned
back into the fund, and thus will be
used over and over again for the build
ing of storage reservoirs.
When finally the limit of water ats
tainable has been reached, and it is
not practicable to irrigate more land,
the entire fund will be turned into the
general treasury.
The work of surveying the western
streams to ascertain the amount of
water supplied, how the lands may
be reclaimed by irrigation, has been in
progress since 1888, and is still going
on. The work Of building the storage
reservoirs has only Just begun in Ne
vada and Arizona.
Some of the states and territories
from which the largest contributions
to the fund are received, because they
include the greater part of the acreage
sold, will derive least benefit from the
fund. The contribution of North Da-
kota is very large, but there will be
little irrigation in that state, because
irrigable lands and an adequate water
supply are hard to find.
Oklahoma is a large contributor, but
with its sub-humid climate it has lit
tie need of irrigation. On the other
hand, little land is sold in Nevada,
and its addition to the fund is small,
but the state afforas the largest OPP
p%ortunity for irrigation development.
Colorado is the greatest mining
state, but the proceeds from the small
irrigation area in Colorado are al
ready more valuable than the gold and
silver produced. The area of land
that can be reclaimed by irrigation is
relatively small, but if two or three
per cent. of the vast area of arid land
is ultimately reclaimed, and put UNI
der cultivation, it will mean a pop
ulation in the western half of the
United States almost as great as that
now in the eastern part Of the coun-
try.
Nearly all the land has value in one
way or another, and the grazing in
dustry will always occupy 80 or 80
per cent. of the arid lands. But the
value of the grazing products will not
be SO great as that the crops raised
on the reclaimed lands.
Coast Surveys.
superintendent Tittman, of the coast
survey. In q recent description of his
work, stated that he had since its in
ception made about 10000 square miles
of topographic surveys, sounded
infinitely nearly 300, 900 square miles
OF water and made deep sea sound
ings over little less than a million
square miles. 1t has completed a irst
survey Of the Atlantic gulf and Pacific
coasts OF the United States and It's
triAngulations cover between 100000
and 100000 square miles. It has pub
!ished u g 500 charts besides the
Coast Pilot volumes OF the Atlantic
and Pacific coasts, and carefully stud
led the laws of the eartn's magnetism
(these latter being now investigated
through magnetic obserFatories In CO.
operation with foreign governments3,
and its geodetie work is also being car
ried on with International cooperation,
-Scribner's Magazine.