El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-08-05

the Salt River valley IN southern Ari-
IONA. not far from Phoenix. in a re-
gion so arid that it has been nick
named "The Land That God Forgot"
Nevertheless, 1t was irrigated to some
extent in ancient times, and the white
man has irrigated farms there for
over 40 years. Apache indians here
aided in the government work.
The dam will hold back a million
and a quarter acre feet Of water, and
it will make 100000 acres a very Gar
den of Eden. The country there is so
hot that a vast deal Of water will be
needed to keep the lands moist. AS
much as four feet can be used to ad-
vantage, so that If the water used in
a year should stay on the land 1t
would cover it to the height of ones
chest.
In the Yuma project, which is still
farther south, at the junction of the
ella and Colorado rivers, the climate
is still hotter, and the land can drink
up five and one-half feet OF water per
annum, so much that. If Left. 1t would
drown out all the girls under five feet
six who will soon be living upon it.
The Roosevelt dam is made of sand
stone and cement 1t Is as high as
any office building of 81 stories. and
its length at the top Is equal to two
city blocks. It is, in fact, over 1000
feet long. 1t is ITO feet thick at the
bottom, and over third of million
barrels OF cement were used in it's con-
struction. This was made by the gov
eminent at works created for the pur-
pose, resulting in q saving of 100000
on that item alone. This dam viii fur
nish electric power. which will be used
for pumping water from underground
in the: Salt River valley. adding some
thing like q thousand more farms to
the cultivated area
Uncle Sans Irrigated Farms.
These dams and the others connected
with them now being made by the
reclamation service will add enormous
1y to our national fruit and bread
basket. The lands reclaimed are natur-
ally the richest of the world. They are
made up Of the earth washings Of the
mountains. whose fertilizing materials
have not been carried away by the
rains. The soil is as hot as that of
hotbed. In most places it surpasses
that of the Nile valley, and altogether
there is so much of 1t that 1t will add
more than seven Egypts to Uncle Sans
farms. All the land now cultivated in
Egypt is a little more than six mil
lion acres When our reclamation
projects are completed they Will re-
claim $4,000. 900 or 100000 acres. and
II the land should support proper
tionately as many people as does the
valley Of the Nile they will feed some
thing like 100000.
This means results which are far in
the future and somewhat beyond what
the engineers now claim. Mr. Blanch-
and tells me that there will undoubted-
1y be enough land for 100000 fam
flies, and in this he estimates the farms
at 80 or 40 acres each On acre of
any of thse GASES is easily equal to
five or 10 acres of Illinois or Iowa
and it is said that a family can be sup
ported on a five or 10 acre patch
About 10000 acres have already been
covered with water, and homes by the
hundreds are being cut out Of the sand
On many of the GASES towns have al
ready gone up, street railroads have
been built school houses and other
public buildings constructed and social
and political communities are well I'M
der way.
What Has Been Done.
Let me run over some of the projects
and tell you a little of what has been
done. Take Yuma on the Colorado river
on the southeastern boundaries of Ari-
iona and California There is a dam
there. almost a mile long. that Is as
high as a twoStory house, which VIII
eventually irrigate about $1,000 acres
Of land. The dam was completed about
two years ago and a distribution sys-
tenn Of 1877 miles of canals has been
laid out and Is we'll under way. The
lands here are partly in California
and partly in Arizona The total area
will be- about 100000 acres
of, which $4,000 viii be in Arizona
About 5000 acres of land are already
under irrigation on the California side
of the river and other lands are open
to settlement.
The country never has frost and its
hot tropical sun fits it for the cultiva-
ton Of oranges. lemons, grape fruit.
dates. etc. 1t is an ideal region for
ostriches. and 1t will vie with South