Arizona republican., 1906-10-25

termining that question that assuredly
 must be answered, "Does national ir- rigation pay2" and that other one. "Is the RoOseveIt dam paying for itself2
 Mir. Stann5rd has not entirely finish
 ed his work for this year which has been more arduous than it probably will be later. for the reason that he and MT Perkins have not only had to ] visit every farmer personally. but the ] system has had to be worked out for the keeping of the data after it was : secured. He states though. approXi- mately. and the estimate Is very close. 1 that there was irrigated in this valley 1 this year. 96.000 acres. exclusive of the I acreage cultivated on tEc toWnsites Of | the three incorporated cities in the
 county which means the flower gar
 dens. lawns. and little garden patcheS
 within the corporations He has in cluded some larger tracts within the limits of the Mesa townsite. deE0tel ! to larger crops. so that there will be added approximately T40o or 1900 . acres. It will be noted that from tE- total area of the townsites must b- deducted that acreage covered b. ! buildings and unimpr0ved property. This report may be disappointing to
 some and may cause harsh criticism in some quarters. by those who are la the habit of speaking of the large ac- reaEe reclaimed in this valley. Such criticism should not be thOughuessly made for close investigation will doubtless prove the correctness of Mir. Srannard's estimate. Attention is cali ed 70 the. fact that his record is not 1 of Hands reclaimed" but of Hands ir- rigated" this year. To illustrate, il f1-a v-frt-7tr.- -F g-1.r-T-ra G-t4r-ra-.7 found one man who had a larger aa- reage devoted to an apricot orchard than MT Stannard's total of aprico. orchards irrigated in the entire valle.
 But this man did not ii.rigate his 2ls-
 ricoJ trees Jhls year. His water sup
 ply was limited and he had other cros.s
 which he deemel it more desirable t.
 put the water on letting the aprico,s
 pull along in the hope that they would
 live through the dry season aG-wa.
 Mir. Stanuard's purpose is 70 set GnHa
 to a scientific certainty the acreagg
 watcred. regardless or the a5raagc i1
 private ownership. or in cultivation
 with no water except natural rainfall
 He noticed in his travels about tho valley large areas Of good land in prl- vate ownership. that has been cultl-
 vated at one time or another but ia
 lItt lt~l year 'tI bA O iIL@ It#.-l 8l.a-a.. back to the desert because there has been no water for i,. While the ac-- quite and other desert plants are get ting a foothold it will not be as hard ta clear it as at first and 1t will all come into cultivation again just as soon a- the water is provided. There is no doubt that between 200.0UO and 800. 00G acres of this good land in private owr
 ership is now held here ready for the water as soon as the reservoir can furnish it. this bureau will be able Jo show the difference between the nat uraI and the artificial supply
 One thing shown is that the i.1iSat ed acreage this year is somewhat greater than last year. though there are no figures for an accurate estjmat, of the difference. And noting th- present fairy prosperous condition Df the valley under the disastrous con ditious that have prevailed in recent years what may be expected when n-tle acreage is doubled or trebled end every acre has all the water required