Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1905-01-26
DESERT SPOTS IN WEST FERTILE
AND FRUITFUL.
Great Displays Of Products from
Arid States at the Recent
Worlds Fair at st.
Louis.

tile by the art Of irrigation.
No irrigation exhibits of prominence
were In evidence at this worlds fair a.
such, yet in everything agricultural the!
formed leading part, states the Chicago
Chronicle, and their withdrawal woulC
have left huge gaps and have takeI
away the best. Had the products OF tn,
dam and the ditch all been labele<
Grown by Irrigation" the irrigation ex
hibit would have been an enormous one
The west is proud of ID irrigation. Why
not thus call attention to It's superiorit,
Of production?
In grains and grasses Colorado's exhib
1t led easily, though splendid showing:
were made by other arid Oregon
Washington, Montana, Utah, California
but the centennial state showed 100
different kinds Of grasses and 130 varie.
ties of grain. It had oats eight feet tall
and timothy heads eight inches long. II
took $40 prizes and SO gold medals, and
It's separate fruit exhibit included almost
all the products Of America except the
truly tropical.
Oregon had mortgage litter" wheat
seven feet tall. Think of a wheat field
In which an army of six-foot men would
stand concealed. And snow-white on
ions six inches across. And Idaho and
Utah and New Mexico and all the west
set forth a dazzling display Of irrigated
apples and plums, peaches and grapes
Of color, size and beauty which it would
take book to describe.
But ahead of all the west In the extent
Of variety Of her exhibits stood Call.
fOrnia-that vast strip of golden land
reaching from Oregon to Mexico and IN
GLIDING the vegetable wealth of the trop-
les.
Fruit Is the mainstay OF the Golden
state and $25O,O00 is represented In he4
showings at st. Louis. The great palace
OF agriculture was the largest building
OF the exposition, covering 16 acres, and
It seemed as If one would never get out
side Of the domain of the California ex-
hibit. Single counties made showinga
creditable for a state. Such things
caught the eye as life-size elephant OF
English walnuts, the state capital build
ing constructed Of almonds, the famous
Lick observatory done in dried fruits
and big enough to contain several fam
lilies.
The wine exhibit took the grand prize
above all foreign competitors. The most
luscious and enormous pears, peaches,
oranges, lemons, grape fruit, plums,
cherries and all kinds of huge vegetables
were stacked In rich profusion alongside
Of great branches and clusters of fruits
Of all kinds, showing how things can
grow under irrigation. The grape
punches Of California are almost Of the
Biblical kind, requiring two men to carry
one single bunch. No man can carry the
product of single vine
Practical methods Of irrigation were
demonstrated at the government build.
ing by a model Of the Salt River valley
In Arizona, showing the great govern
ment dam now under construction in the
mountains and the system of bitches
and laterals by which the water is dis
tributed onto the farms and orchards be-
low. Real water was running through
these bitches.
This great work of Uncle Sam s m Ari-
IONA is progressing rapidly. A cement
mill, to make the 100000 barrels of CO.
ment needed in the masonry, is COM
pleted; 500, 900 mountain road, to con-
vey the dam material from Phoenix
is finished and, most remarkable, the
river itself has been carried through
tunnels around the dam site, and Is fur
nishing some 1000 electric horse power
with which to build the dam. This Is TO
be used to construct the giant works.
and thus the river will build Its own dam
and form a reservoir the greatest in the
United States.
OF all sizes and classes were the irriga-
ton pumps exhibited in the farm imple-
nent department OF the st. Louis fair,
but more striking than these were
the windmills. These busy machines,
,earing their tall heads above the sur
buildings and whirring gayly |
IN the breeze formed a striking example |
If mans ingenuity In Harvesting the ele-
nents.
The highest Of these, built by one Of the
argest windmill manufacturers, spread |
is galvanized steel wings 120 feet in the |
air and with moderate wind pumped
10, 900 gallons an hour. The water
gushes up like fine artesian we'll and
supplies a ditch to irrigate good-sized
arm.
What will be the next irrigation ex-
libit at worlds fair? Some say that
or many years to come this is the last
If the big international expositions. II
his be so, and 1t should be Is or 20 years
,efore another great fair, when one does
,ome its irrigation exhibit is likely to
everything else in agricul-
ure. The west is at the beginning of
treat things. The government has I'M
ertaken the work of national reclama-
ion Of the desert and is pushing the work
apidiy. Vast engineering works-huge
ANS and canals-are being constructed
n the western states and territories, and
s the work proceeds the people will
ealIze its wisdom and worth. and 1t will
70 pushed forward still faster AS En-
ineer Savage remarked: ut is an en-
RANGING work, is it not-this creating Of
ONES for men out of desert waste?"
HUMAN FLESH SHARK BAIT.