The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-13

may be fit for habitation in five centu- ries and some of it may not be for million years.
 But one thing that shall never trouble me again is that our population may be- come so great on the earth that the earth cannot sustain it. The Creator was too wise for thls and he will in His own good time and way provide for all the peo- pie He permits to inhabit the earth.
 Another thing or condition we find here is that man in his greed, like the boy who got impatient and killed the goose that layed the golden egg, is greatly retarding or hindering this work of soil building by crowding the country with stock, which devours all vegetation and destroys all grass. In many places the stock dig out and eat even the roots of the grass. This Is just as exhaustive to soil here as is our method of constant culture of cot ton in the east. The government has be- come alarmed and so have many of the people over this state of affairs. Conven- tions are being held and resolutions passed, and the next congress will be inn portuned to pass laws for the protection of these western plains and for preventing the destruction of the grasses by over stocking.
 Irrigation In the West.
  and this question too is receiving great attention from both the people and our government. To this end great national irrigation convention Is called to con vene in Fl Paso, Tex, November 16, and to continue three days. The great need of protecting and reclaiming our arid and semi-arid lands Is now a great work, and while the government is enacting laws along this line it should also take the question of fire in hand, and enact very stringent laws to prevent both forest and prairie fires in this country. One can see the destruction wrought by fire and see millions of fine timber lost by recent for est fires out in many sections through which I have passed. Many of these fires can and should be prevented. They are often started by hunters.
 But some one may ask, what can be done to prevent such things? Why, there Is one thing we can do, if nothing else. We can patrol our forests the same as Germany and other countries are doing. and in this way fires may be checked in a very short time and before they can dc so very much destruction. These fires not only destroy thousands of feet of valuable timber, but they, too, greatly hinder the work of soil building by de. stroying all leaves and vegetation thus
 
 so essential in soil building. Nor is tht west the only country that needs this protection from fire. We need it in al our southern states. Why, just think o the millions of dollars of damag, wrought by fire in our southern states Go to Mobile and see the great foreigi ships loading up our forests and carry ing them to other lands, and then thinl how fast our great forests are being de | fa1r ta1 T1aara clr T- ira xt1p m on the part of our government to provid protection for our forests?
 Enough valuable tlmper has been de stroyed in our country to far more thai pay the expenses of patrollng our for ests with a large force of police. An might be pardoned for asking the ques ton here: Why would 1t not be a goo' plan to station our army where the. could look after this matter, and wher they might be of some service to thei country?
 : Will Be Very Productive. But the combined agencies of vegeta ton and disintegration of the rocks vii in time make of this a wonderfully pro ductive country. The same thing is tru of our southern states. They need rest need time for recuperation, for rebuild ing and storing the plant food we hay robbed them of. The time has com when we, as true, patriotic America citizens, should cease to live simply fo ourselves. We should look forward t the needs of our children and the gener ations that are to follow us, and I al glad that our government is now takin an interest In this work, and that tn ] farmers institutes and otne- agencies ar employed to help in thls work of so building and soil protection.
 We know that there are some yer l great questions involved in all this, an that the question of irrigation in tn l west is an important one, and that ther are several things to be considered-suo as the supply of water from flowin | wells, the amount of mineral and il kinds of mineral the water ma. contal that would be injurious to vegetation.
 have to be looked after. for there al many sections over which have traYe ed where the hoing well is the only hoI for water There are many stream which may be damned up so as to ho back the water, and from which all w ter from rains and melting snow may turned. But here tAe question of boi evaporation and percolation will have be understood and provided for. I find here in California conditions ju II the same as are to be, found in Texas soils that will eak water like a siey Then again we find soils that only ne'
 
 dens. Then, too, in ali tropical or sem tropical countries evaporation is som thing fearful.
 In Alabama conditions are quite di ferent. for here. as welf as in mar other sections of the south we have heavy. clay subsoil which will hold u ] water, and fully believe that the tin will come when irrigation will be large
 practiced in these sections of the sout | Sub-irrigation will be of great benefit
 many of our rain belts.
 a Too Early for Irrigation.
 In most of New Mexico and Arizoi
 that I have seen there Is no use of a
 vocating as yet cny system of irrig ltion, for there is nothing but rocks
 We. Even the valleys are covered wi
 rocks and this country should be le alone by man until nature finishes h
 work. But from what I have seen of I rigated crops and lands have not d
 cided In my mind that I should want
 live in a country that was fully depen
 ant upon irrigation. The natural rai
 fall on crops has a stimulating effe | That no artificial watering can eyer hay