Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-09-16

OF his entire stock. number of Gus !
toners were making purchases, and
farm wagons were hitched at posts !
along the highway. The storekeeper .
admitted that he was doing not less !
than $50 day at Il profit of 20 to % ,
per cent Yet about him was only
partially irrigated country, and there
We're scarcely dozen houses in the ,
settlement. He was surrounded by !
larger places. The more extensive irri- |
CATION which in the next two years is !
to reclaim all the land surrounding /,
this small storekeeper will bring trade |
to him beyond his widest dreams.
After an inspection of newly re-
claimed region one cannot doubt the
substantial benefit which the east must
derive from each newborn center Of
trade and culture. Eastern money
pays for most of the large irrigating
systems and then receives tribute gen
| erously in two ways-first by the re-
Turn of the principal and interest, then
by the profits on millions of dollars
worth Of merchandise sold to the grow
ing communities through periods of
many years. The advantage becomes
q reciprocal one, the irrigated region
producing foodstuffs and exchanging
them for the manufactured products OF
| the eastern centers. Successful aSri-
culture makes u prosperous nation, and
| this progress here noted in rcclaiming
the desert lands Is of vital importance
to the whole people.
One other point l wish to make-the
Importance of desert agriculture to the
| stock raising interests. The stock
| grower has had to give up portions of
Che public range TO the irrigatOr, but
he receives Il substantial return. One
OF the most profitable of easily grown
crops under irrigation is alfalfa. which
makes an exceedingly nutritious for
age for cattle and sheep. TO have the
western markets well supplied with
hay enables the stock grower fire.
quently to tide over seasons of scant
feed or of unusual severity without
loss. 1t has happened in the past that
thousands of cattle have died on the
ranges during prolonged storms, either
from exposure or want of feed or from
exposure because they were poorly fed
and in weakened condition. y sup
ply of alfalfa, available in cases of
necessity, will in the future greatly
reduce the winter losses among range
herds both of sheep and cattle. AS the
meat supply of the east comes largely
from these western ranges. here again
the welfare of the east is affected by
this development in the desert.
Pursuing the subject further, the
mining interests in which millions of
eastern capital are invested are direct
ly benefited by the improved agricul-
turc. None of the mining states has
raised its own supplies, and the high
wages which prevail in mining camps
, are largely due to the excessive cost
Of food. The diversified agriculture
Of the irrigated regions i'll the noun
tain valleys of Colorado and on the
western slope, producing an alum
dance of grains, vegetables and fruits
; will help to reduce the high cost of
mining and thereby tend to increase
the profits from mining investments
: in this highly mineralized state, as il
will in other states of the Rocky
mountain region.
The extensive development under fr
+ rigation has gone on with little trum
pcting or noise of any sort, and the
great populations of the eastern states
are almost unaware of the change:
l that are being wrought in economic
| conditions in the Rocky mountain ant
d Pacific states. Perhaps the reason FOL
Il this noiselessness of procedure is du'
4 to the readiness of people to take pos
session of the irrigated lands. \ MAJ
who is at the head of a comparative!
obscure project embracing only 10000
l. acres told me that he had received
Il 6,O00 letters of inquiry in regard to tn,
lands under the system built by hi
! company. Three hundred of the GOO
taking 100 acres apiece would hav
u taken the entire tract