The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-02-02
WERE
FIRST !YFIELD
Little irrigation D!tChes of the
Utah PiIgrims of l847
Foundation of System.
STATE NOW IN FRONT RANK
INTERESTING REPORT MADE BY
THE BUREAU OF SOILS.
fsnecial to The Herald.D

Washington, Feb. line bureau OF
soils of the department of agriculture
has made the following report of its
operations in Utah;
When in 1s47 the pioneers Of Utah,
by a system of miniature bitches. led
the waters of the desert streams to the
small farms along their banks, they
began a system which in a compare
lively short time has not only put
Utah in the front rank of agricultural
states but they also inaugurated
system which has transformed the en-
tire west. a system which has called
for the expenditure of millions of dol
lars in money, years of strenuous labor
and the highest skill of the engineering
world. but which in return has re-
placed barren wastes with thousands of
prosperous, happy homes.
Intensive Farming.
With the extension of irrigation into
many parts of the arid and semi-arid
west there has also come a system of
intensive farming, the results of which
would have seemed little less than
miraculous to the farmers of genera
ton ago. Not only has the number of
crops raised been greatly extended. but
the possible profits have become many
times as great as were those of former
years
In Utah crops of alfalfa yielding
yearly returns of from $50 to $50 per
acre are not uncommon. Sugar beets
worth $3.50 per ton yield as high as 80
tons per acre. Potatoes yield 500 bush
els per acre and onions q larger amount.
Peaches have given a net return of
over $500 per acre and cherries, rasp-
berries and strawberries a profit even
greater.
With the introduction of specialized
/ farming and increased profits the size
of the average farm has decreased, the
average irrigated farm in Utah at pres
/ ent containing only about thirty acres.
/ Under such conditions it Is necessary
] that the farmer know his soils thor
Oughly. and studies which viii assist
| him TO such a knowledge is the prin-
| cipal work of this important bureau.
Not Confined to Irrigation.
The farming OF Utah. however, is not
/ confined to the irrigated sections, for
/ in many of the intermountain valleys of
/ the great basin valuable crops of grain
are produced by dry farming methods
alone Alfalfa, although cut only once
/ 4 year. well Tepays the labor neces-
{ Sary TO produce it, and in these dry
| faTmed regions are produced large
/ quantities of the best alfalfa seed grown
| in the west. Wheat. barley, oats and
/ rye are also produced in these dry
I farming regions.
1t matters not, however. whether the
/ farmers of Utah are raising highly spe-
/ cialized crops by means of irrigation
and intensive farming or grain and al
/ falfa by dry farming methods, thor
ough knowledge CT his soils and how
best to handle them is Of vital import
/ ance to him.
Much Attention Given Utah.
With the single exception of Califor-
MIA no state west of the Rocky noun
{ tains has received more attention from
the bureau of soils than has Utah.
! Early in the history of this bureau
studies were begun in this state and
have been extended from year to year
! until at the present time surveys COW
/ ering a considerable portion of the prin-
cipel farming areas have been made.
In 1899 survey of 10000 acres in the
vicinity of salt Lake City was made.
I The next year two more areas, one Of
| 153, 500 acres in Sewer valley, includ-
! ing parts of Sewer and Sanpete eoun-
4 ties, and another of 19s, 400 acres in We
Der county, were surveyed. In 1908
4 the Provo area. consisting of 236.s00
I dNEtS VI tONbr
I was surveyed, and in 1904 survey was
made of a considerable part of the Bear
river country in Box Elder county. In
these areas there is a considerable vari-
alton IN crops, ranging from wheat
oats, corn, barley and alfalfa to more
specialized crops. as sugar beets, fruits
/ and garden truck.
Aids the Farmers.
That the work of the bureau OF soils
has been of value TO the farmers of
! those regions goes without saying. Not
Z only has it been of assistance in help
/ ing him TO select the crops best suit
ed to his soils, but 1t has also helped
him to study his own soil conditions
to see that by the three means at his
command, cultivation, irrigation and
drainage, they are in the proper moist
uTe conditions. IT has helped him to
understand the conditions under which
alkali in the soils becomes injurious:
how best to prevent its accumulation.
and how TO deal with soils in which it
has already accumulated. 1t has helped
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