The Ordway new era., 1910-04-22
WHAT IRRIGATION IS
Easily One of Most Important OF
National Economic Subjects.
What Seemed to Be Barren Western
Wastes, Has by Its Application Been
Made to Reclaim Much Land Of
Great ProductIveness.

Wastes, Has by Its Application Been
Made to Reclaim Much Land Of
Great Productivensss.
Irrigation means much more than
mere application of water to make
crops grow. For. once let 1t be con.
ceded. as 1t generally Is. that the life
Of the nation depends principally upon
Its soil products. then irrigation. with
Its allied systems of conservation and
development Of natural resources, be-
comes the most important of national
economic subjects. It calls for the
conservation Of water sources. thus as
sociating forestry. that great subject
which involves national problems and
public rights. 1t was the public dis
cusston Of irrigation which called forth
the stupendous projects Of the re-
clamation service. which service. along
with Its vast systems Of irrigation, pro-
poses other vast systems Of drainage.
and drainage Is q close relative of ir.
rigation. So. also. the problems and
progress Of arid or dry farming deal
with many Of the questions and much
Of the data developed by the study Of
irrigation. Even the very recent ma
tional movement for the development
of inland waterways closely touches
irrigation. For this great scheme de-
mands the regulation Of the now Of
great rivers. which work requires
storage reservoirs. and the storage Of
waters is peculiarly an outcome Of ir-
rigation needs. while the place Of
storage will generally be in parts Of
the country using irrigation. The
work Of the forestry service and estab-
ltshment Of reservoirs shows the i'm
mediate enormous advantage of these
means Of insuring water power. .
most modern and far.reaching public
benencence.
Yet. however vast its scope. irrtga-
ton is practical in application. For
the sake Of It. private enterprise has
erected waterworks. with pumping sys-
TENS. cement acQueducts and pipe
lines. which would do credit to popu-
lous cities. What seemed to be bar.
rem desert soil has BY irrigation been
shown to possess unmeasured fertil.
ity. Timely irrigation has often pro-
tected from frosts great orchards Of
ripenins fruit. without which protec-
ton fortunes might have been lost. BY
irrigation. the strawberry, whose sea-
son In the east runs but a few short
weeks. Is found In the market Of
southern California every month, and
every day Of the month. throughout
tho year. And BY irrigation the limit
ed house garden. of by . fraction Of
an acre. 10 made to yield nearly all
the family food supplies. and some
times furnish all the family support
Irrigation is very old. It IL said
that basin irrigation "a method used
In California today was practiced In
Egypt and elsewhere 1000 years or
more ago. In Yemen. the ancient
home Of sebeans. there was irrigation
In 100 B. C. The Beotians. In ancient
Greece. practiced it Probably the
greatest work of all was N Chaldea.
Here was an elaborate system Of
canals Of magnificent size and extent.
The length Of the Nahrwan canal was
$50 miles. and It was from 65 feet to
400 feet In width. and from Sc feet to
nearly fifty feet in depth. In dry times
this canal carried a volume of water
one and one.fourth greater than the
Thames in mean flood. Its capacity
in wet seasons would. therefore. be
twice as great. A great network Of
canals spread over the country. I'm.
mense masonry walls we're maintained
for protection. and the engineering
system was 20 complete that ar emf.
nent English hydraulic authority con.
fessed to have no Improvement to
suggest upon the principle adopted by
the Chaldean engineers thousands Of
years ago."
Similar extraordinary irrigation
work was done In prehistoric America
In the southeastern states are found
many remains Of ancient reservoirs
and canals. The engineering 10 per.
feet. When modern surveys are made
in tho vicinity. the results are very
close. One instance may be mentioned
where the present day engineers elect
ed to run their ditch on the side Of a
valley opposite to that where one Of
these prehistoric canals was found.
The modern survey brought up within
a foot Of that Of the ancient peoples.
Irrigation also prevailed In the Med.
countries. doubtless keep
ing the fighting world alive and refin-
ing 1t throughout the dormant middle
ages. And It has been continually ad- |
vanced In the old country ever since |