The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1910-06-11
BENEFITS OF IRRIGATION

OA0
dress following a luncheon in his
honor at the Hamilton club, Chicago,
Wednesday, r. Insinger, of Spokane,
chairman of the board of governors,
said that in addition to saving the for
ests, storing the floods, retaining the
deserts and swamps and making homes
on the land, the organization also aims
to bring a better and more intelligent
class Of settlers to the country, with a
view to the utilization of every oppor-
tunity offered by intensive farming to
increase production and decrease the
cost of living. He add among other
things:
"The national reclamation act,
adopted by the United States congress
in 1902. is the outgrowth OF years or
work by this organization to obtain
the enactment of such a law. This has
given the country % projects, repre-
sentinp the reclamation of 3,l9s,000
acres IF land at a cost of more than
x5O 400 900. while Is projects held in
allowance until the completion of the
foregoing. will add 100000 acres
more to the crop-producing area of the
United States. This total of 6,46S,000
acres will furnish homes for 100000
persons and add several hundred mil
lions of dollars to the taxable property
Of the various states
"The congress, which gained such
widespread recognition at the Spokane
convention, last summer, will have its
10xl r~rs~-c - D,,aL1n Nnlavadn San-
tembe 20 to 80, under the presidency
of B. A. Fowler, of Phoenix, Arizona,
who has been actively identified with
the organization for years. 1t Is
promised there will be several thous-
and delegates, including practical ag
riculturists and irr~igationists, from all
parts of the United States, Canada and
Mexico. also from 80 to 40 foreign rep
resentatives and diplomatists, heads of
national and state departments, CAPT
talists and engineers.
0There will also be an exposition of
apparatus for raising and putting wa
ter IN the land and representative ex-
hibits of products of irrigated tracts.
TINS bringing together in the heart of
the Arkansas valley the most compre-
hensive demonstration of the value of
1IfiRdl1Ou IN Tic AIctQAy VI "A AZ
ment. Colorado has a larger acreage
under bitches than any of the western
states and, as practically every approx
ed method of distributing water is in
use in that state, there viii be oppor
t~unities to study the various plans OF
supplying moisture by artificial means
to the land.
elm the states from the Missouri
river to the Pacific ocean there are
fully 5000, 900 acres under irrigation
or to be watered in the zeal future.
Allowing an average of 20 acres to a
family and five persons to a family,
this acreage will support 10000 per-
sons. To this number might be added
100000 more, representing the number
Of persons needed to supply the wants
Of these tillers of the soil and to
transport their products. Irrigation
lists claim that an average of 10 acres
to the family is high enough; but, to
be conservative, an average of 20 is
used. On that basis these 10000 0
acres would furnish a living. directly
or indirectly, to at least $500, 900 peo-
pie.
"Planted to wheat, producing an
average Of 80 bushels an acre, this
uiAkdtcu urea WOulu JlClQ OJ,OVOyVOO
bushels; or 1000, 900 tons of hay. if
planted to alfalfa, while if in apples,
as grown in the northwestern states,
the yield would be 10000, 900 tons. This
enormous tonnage would call for more
railroads from the great lakes to the
Pacific coast, millions of dollars worth
OF new equipment and the employment
OF hundreds of thousands of skilled
m0ahnso~ - I1----- = ill -
factories all over the country. IT
would also mean more business for the
banker and merchant.
Or hundred and fifty million dol
lars has been invested in irrigation
canals in 16 arid states and territories
and a harvest valued at $3.50, 000, 900 is
the former deserts response annually
to b intelligent application of water
to b sun-scorched valleys. The pos
sibilities of reclamation and its bearing
on the future welfare of the nation
can be better realized when we con-
slider that fully 35,000,0 900 acres of
arid and semi-arid land can be reclaim.
ed by irrigation,in addition to the acre
age now irrigated, and approximately
100000 acres of swamp land by
drainage. Between 10000, 900 and H.
100000 persons are now engaged in
agriculture in the United States, and
practically all of the arabic land in the
humid regions is embraced in the g.
100000 farms under cultivation. The
average size of these farms is LAG
acres.
"Frnace is a country of only 207,-
054 square miles and has a population
Of nearly 10000, 900, yet it is the bank
er nation Of the world and supports its
people comfortably. The German en-
pire has 20S,000 square miles and a
population of 10000, 900. Austria
Hungary has 261 900 square miles and
a population of 47,000,o0o. Washing
ton, Oregon, idaho and Montana have
800, 700 square miles and not more than
100000 population. How many happy
and prosperous men, women and child
rem will these four great common
wealths support when careful and in