Arizona republican., 1911-12-06

continuous sunshine, which develops
the saccharine, and by reason of
growth and gradual ripcning with the
right quantity OF water supplied when
needed, so that the vital energy of
the plant goes into the enrichment of
juicy pulp with Il minimum of waste.
Not all lands or climates are adapted
to citrus fruits. but wherever they
grow these are made better by efforts
of producers 10 initiate the standards
Originally set in irrigated lands.
While fruits are better known than
other irrigated products. they are no
more striking than the more common
lplace products of the field, which are
not, to the same extent, revolution
iZing the markets of the country and
the world, only because the profits
on fruits are so much greater. Yet
for the sake of their horses. hogs, cat
tie and poultry. irrigators grow alfalfa,
which under irrigation in western
America has revolutioniZed forage
production, multiplied the acre yield OF
nutriment for stock, and tempted iar-
merS OF almost every eastern state
into experiments both with TINS
level of the meadow itself and with
the improvement of other forage
plants 10 meet the standard 1t sets
Nor does the tale more than be-
gin with the raising OF STANDARDS IN
products. Standards in methods OF
! cultivation and care of iruit ana
vegetable, melon and forage. soon FOL
| low and are even more stimulating
I 10 the intelligence and energy OF
men Largely through the expert
ence of irrigatOrs. We are beginning
To realize that what the country
needs is not more acres in cultlVa-
ton. but more WELD per acre cul-
tivatcd: not more farms. but more
productive farms; not more "rchards'
hut more fruitful orchards; not bigger
homesteads. but happier homes. In
which little land gives rlcher
and more enjoyable living than that
drawn from poorly titled ana larger
acreage FNDerts tell us that
| Americas production of food stutts
10 not keeping 50 Tar ahead of p"pu-
| lation but that exports are declining
| and prices are rising. Yet, II We are
To maintain our lead among the ma
| tons Of the earth, we must prepare
10 feed twice. thrice yes ten times
our present ninety-thr millions, ana
this can only he done by so striking
tho soil that il will burst into multi
piled fruitfu!ness, as burst the rock
into water under the stroke of Moses
rod.
Toward this end the irrigated lands
are moving more than all Others the
irrigator soon learns that his water
supply rather than his land meas
ures his wealth. and turns his en-
ergies from miles of furrow 10 square
rods OF fruitage: it is he who first
learned that one acre is better than
two. because il drinks only one-hali
the water yet gives back twice the
product. II is no miracle that new
settled acres in the land OF sunshine,
and OF irrigation bitches, are valued
ut $1,000 and $1,000 and even more,
while few farms or orchard lands IN
long-settlcd states have reached that
many hundreds This is due first 10
improvement in quality Of products,
but second, and in even greater de-
gree. To better methods of mixing
brains with the soil and setting stand
ards that are bound in time to
spread dl'tI anu pi'SS nv 'i'''N
country
Even this hardly passes the thresh-
old Of irrieations gifts in higher
standards. The Improvement in
method both demands and inspires
larger vision, broader intelligence. and
a more intensified individuality. And
these in turn are still further fos-
tered by that concentration Of socia!
life which follows reduction in area
and multiplication in the yield of
fhomeSteads UTder ideal irrigation
farms are small and neighbors near.
school house may be needed in a
section instead of 4 township and
church every few sections instead of
a much larger territory; 50 that
schooling. public meetings and social
gatherings are all made easy and
thereby very naturally become larger |
factors in daily life; while the rural |
mail route is easily maintained be-
cause the patrons are many. and the |
telephone may go into every house
because there are MANY homes To |
each mile of line. II humanity is to |
blossom all over tins country. and if |
this land Of free institutions Is To |
attain it's manifest destiny. pOpula- |
ton must become concentrated. not IN
cities but on producing areas. This |
demands readjustment of social GUS |
toms. social ideals, social standards, |
and the way for this social read /
justment is opening through the in |
fluence Of irrigation and the ex-
ample of irrigated lands.
Take the rural road as an il
lustration. with the settlement Of |
this country. roads soon grow up as |
means of ready communication be-
tween the settlers families. whose |
very lives often depended on inter- |
communication: and the common ways |
virtually became the first public prop |
erty in the colonies. and. ever since. |
the road tax has ranked foremost |
among our taxes, whether met by |
tolls or assessment Now the amount |
OF the tax, and the weight of the |
burdens on any community. is meas
ured by the length Of the road per /
family: and the goodness or badness |
OF the road is fixed by the amount |
Of tax the community can bear. I'm
der irrigation the hOmesteads are /
small and hence are many for each |
mile of road instead of one or two.