The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1911-01-04
The DESERT is VANISHING
THE MARVELLOUS TRANSITIONAL
TION OF TWO DECADES,
MANY Towns Have Sprung Up

irrigation Is Popping the Land of
erDshine and Silence With Many
thousands of COntented and Pros
nerous Settlers.
quarter of a century ago any
on+ion of the great American des-
49, called up visions of region of
,.u,it1ass extent, sunbaked, parched
ua des0late. A country associated
aIu,ave with tales of suffering and
5ooth. of unfriendly savages and
5,od1v reptiles, for years it was pass
ad over by congress as worthless.
~ marvellous transformation which
hos been wrought in two decades in
mis- land of silence and sunshine fur
niehas one of the most interesting
o a,r inspiring pages in the annals of
orr REPUBLICS development.
The Vanishing Desert.
The great American desert is van
iahing from the map. It's boundaries
have shrunken and it no longer pre-
sonts formidable barrier to the
orouth and progress of the far west.
9rn,elve million acres of this rainless
oo,ntrv have been subdued oy
means of agriculture and irrigation
and are producing bountiful and
assured harvests every year. A
quarter of a million people are resid-
inc on farms, and as many more
have found homes and occupations
in the cities, towns and villages that
have sprung up in the midst of the
agricultural areas,
Great dams have been constructed
to impound the floods, and through
70 600 miles of canals and bitches
The life-giving water has been turn
cd upon the dusty desert. The
streams have been harnessed for
mower, and an era of manufacturing
is dawning in which all of the raw
products of the farm, the forests and
the mines will be prepared for the
markets of the world. The comforts
and luxuries heretofore unknown in
AGRICULTURAL regions already are OBJ
tainable in many of the western val
levs. The farmer lights and heats
his home with electricity, and his
heavy work is done cheaply by the
same patent force. Trolley lines
bring the farm and town close to-
gether.
Where Industry Is Rewarded.
In the majority of the irrigated
districts the farms are small-not
more than 40 acres each. With /
to so farm families to the square
mile isolation is eliminated and life
ho 1slN
urban than rural. While pioneering
in this new country calls for a good
deal of grit and not a little hard
work the compensation is sure and
abundant. Carving out home in
the desert is no child's play; it is a
mans work, but there are few places
where nature responds more quickly
to intelligent industry than the irri-
gated country.
On the government projects the
past year has been a conspicuously
prosperous one. The success of the
average farmer in many instances
has been remarkable. On several of
the projects the crops on individual
farms this year have yielded enough
to enable the owners to repay to the
legations if they were so inclined.
AS the payments to the government
extend over a period of ten years,
without interest, there is no object
in meeting the same in advance, and
most Of the farmers therefore are
devOting their revenues to improv-
ing their homes and purchasing live
stock and implements.
Many Settlers From the Cities.
One of the most interesting feat
ures Of the upbuilding of these new
communities is the large number of
settlers who have come from the cit
les and towns. Their success is all
the more notable because they had
little or no experience in farming,
especially farming by irrigation. I'm
der these circumstances the call of
the open country is likely to appeal
TO others who have grown tired of
the stress and fume of city life and
neYer-ending struggle to make in
come and outgo balance.
The west is filling up so rapidly
and the really choice locations are so
Few that it is only a question of time
now when the increase of land val
ues there will make it as difficult
1or the poor man to get foothold
as it is today in the east. Letters
are pouring in to the statistician of
the reclamation service at Washing
ton, D. c., for information about the
lands which are ready for settlers
on the several reclamation projects.
approximately 500 farms are now
open to entry under the homestead
act, with water ready for irrigating,
III Montana, Wyoming, South Dako-
Ia and Oregon.