Arizona republican., 1912-08-21

 IN IRRIGATION
Board of Trade Will Under take to Secure Establish ment by Government of Station Here for Scientific Investigations.

While everybody is being posted ill
 the press, on the street corners and by divers other ways concerning the use of irrigation water economically.
 it is opportune to relate the story about the professor in the Pullman
 college of agriculture in Washington.
 Professor Bromberg is Swedish, la ccnic and thoroughly scientific in all
 his methods. He has had charge of irrigation in Washington ever since there was such system. Therefore
 he is to be considered an authority
 if one there be in that section. An
 eastern investor in search of reliable
 information before planting his mon ey asked Bromberg, How much wa ter do you use an acre?" He was
 thinking of the high and continual cost of moisture in the privately owned project. The professor answer ed. We don't use it that way But how do you keep track of it? By the amount per tree?" By the apple. my dear sir" said the professor. By a system of close calculation, the farmers and orchardists of east ern Washington have figured out to the tenth of a foot. the amount of water to feed their apple trees. There is no such thing as waste, for water is expensive, much more so than in the Salt River valley. The farmers are educated, their land is kept sci ertifically under the advice of gov elnment experts from national ex- pertinent stations. And the result Is there is tremendous yield of big juicy rosy apples, which bring as- tcnishing returns on the eastern mar kets. According to experts, any slight deviation from the stated amount Of water would be detrimental to the crop. Too much moisture has an ef feet of lessening the resistance of the fruit to rot. Too little makes II small CT in size, less in quantity and of inferior flavor.
 Conditions are met in the apple section of the north Pacific states very similar to those found in the | citrus region of Arizona. With the example of the Bromberg class of farmers before them. certain boosters | in Phoenix are making an effort for | the broadening of the experiment stations work in the Salt River val 1 ley by securing an irrigated farm where under the eye of man or | known authority, the scientific prob | lens of this day and place can be worked out.
 | The board of trade has taken up | the matter. Secretary Weich is quot 1 ed in a letter to Hon. Carl Hayden:
 Early in August the board of | nf itC commit tees | made report to the reclamation
 service and included in this report | was q paragraph relating to the co operation of the department Of agrl- 1 culture with the farmers in this val 1 ley. The paragraph reads
 | We believe the science of farming
 under irrigation should receive from
 the department of agriculture a much
 greater share of it's labors and ln- | yestigation. The subject of farm | management. under irrigation, if talk on in hand by the department or | agriculture will, we believe, prove the | most important factor in immensely | increasing the crop returns rom l acreage. Also more careful ana | economical distribution of water from
 present available sources will result in bringing under cultivation very
 much larger area
 In farm management especiaily so that he may start right" does the farmer on irrigated land neeo
 the cooperation of the department oi agriculture and its splendid corps ol
 scientific agriculturists. To the lrrl-
 gatiorist more so than to the dry
 land farmer it is essential that ha
 Start right"
 We find that our ideas are similar
 to those advanced by people closely related to reclamation work Tn othei parts of the country. We find III report issued by Supervising Engi- neer Hopson, of the reclamation ser vice. at Klamath the following par agraph:
 !, Ut is highly important, in mH
 opinion. that the agricultural depart
 ment go out of it's way to heip | community such as this, as 1t IS uh- ! deniable that many of the efforts ol settlers in reclamation and cultlVa tion are misdirected through lenor ance of the possibilities of then country and soil
 .Tt occurs to the board of trade that the time is now ripe Tor the
 department of agriculture to estapllsf
 right here in the Salt River valley
 an agricultural experiment statlof which will devote it's entire attentiot to farming methods here, cioseiS
 studying the soil conditions, and gen erallv to improve the farming meth ods in this vicinity
 II think you can appreciate 'i,' value of such an institution to th's l community, and we know that yo'
 will be quick to act in the best ih-
 terests of all concerned
 T shall be glad to have your views on the matter and will also be pleas cd to have any suggestion you mai