The La Jara chronicle., 1911-09-15
7. {. Henry, Empire
Builder, Visits Valley

notlng our progress, our new en-
terprises and our shortcomings.
Mr.. Henry is probably one of the
best posted men on irrigation in
the United States and of neces-
sity takes a great interest in our
struggle here to make the desert
bloom as the rose. 1t is per
fectly natural that he should,
since to him and his untiring en-
ergy can be credited all the
larger bitches of the valley. 1t,
was he who promoted and Sc
cured the capital for the CON
struction of the Rio Grande cana,
the Monte Vista canal, the EN-
pire canal and the San Luis ca
nal which canals now water more
than one-half million acres in
the valley. Nor do his efforts
here mark the sum total of his
accomplishments in agricultural
Colorado. The Arkansas valley,
the Platte valley, the Montezuma
valley and the Grand valley can
all thank him as builder who
has done more to develop the
state than any other man in its
history Although he is not
millionaire, although he is not
so rich in this worlds goods
as when he FIRST came among
us, he is rounding out a career
to which he, his friends and the
state at large, may point with
pride. He builded well for others /;
nor has his interest for the fu-
/ ture Jagged in the least with the
fleeting years. We listened with
rapt pleasure as he pictured the
San Luis Valley with all its
seepage lands drained and res
ervoir water provided for its per-
feet irrigation. We could fairly
see the added millions to our an
nual production distributed among
the thousands of happy farm
homes that will be scattered over
what to-day is waterlogged, al
kaline waste Yet this picture
was not painted altogether with
the petals of lilies and roses.
He said you are about to spend
millions and it is as il you were
spending your own money.
That the utmost caution and the
greatest specialized skill and abil-
ity should be employed that the
work may be done to the greatest
benefit to all, and in a manner
that will be lasting and not waste
full. That the drainage system
should be put in on comprehen-
sive plans, embracing all the
lands subject to one general sys-
TEN. that is, lands of one gem
eral slope. He said great
deal Of money could be and doubt
less would be, wasted by any
hap-hazard patchwork method of
drainage that each neighborhood
or individual might adopt to
!, drain their own lands.
He advocated the employment
of the most competent engin-
GERS to investigate the soil con
ditions, the style and charac-
ter OF bitches necessary and their
location to best accomplish drain
age. He called our attention to
the waste of land necessitated by
open ditches and advocated using
closed drains wherever possible; !;
stating that the land over the
closed drains would be the very
best, and easily worth one hun
dred dollars per acre as soon as
the drains were in. On this
basis he showed saving of about
seven acres per quarter section of
ground or the matter of some six
thousand acres saving in the en-
tire valley.
Mr. Henry was very emphatic
in his advocacy of Immediately
building all the reservoirs we will
need for future irrigation, citing
the Colorado-Kansas case in which
the United States supreme court
took jurisdiction of interstate
water rights, and expressing his
firm belief that every ditch tax
en- out below us on the Rio Grand
and every reservoir built on it