The Parker post., 1912-10-19
IRRIGATION IS
NO EXPERIMENT
ADD RESS BY GOV. HUNT BEFORE
RECENT SESSION OF NATIONAL
SALT LAKE

Irrigation of arid lands never is an
experiment, except so far as an ade-
quate water supply is concerned
Even i'm that respect the experimental
part is reduced to negligible factor,
because the experts in charge are gen
orally able to figure accurately in ad-
vance upon the amount of water that
will be available. 1t can be said that
no irrigation project is started nova
days that is not certain to be sue
cess when completed.
| Therefore it is superfluous to urge
irrigation of arid lands as a wise
and necessary thing The subject
has passed the theoretical or aca-
demlc stage and has become wholly
practical We first find arid land
that will grow crops with the appli-
cation OF water. Then look around
for the water supply either far or
near, and the natural conditions that
Will permit its storage in large guam
titles. The work of preparing for
irrigation for that particular sec
ton follows, or should follow as a
matter of course. 1t is work which
always returns many dollars to the
country for every dollar expended.
The Roosevelt dam, costing nearly
| $10,0OO,O 900, is one of the most eco
| nOmical enterprises ever undertaken
| by the government, for the lands ir-
rigated will continue indefinitely to
yield wealth, amounting in time to
hundreds of millions in value, and
thus benefit the entire country The
same can be said of the Yuma pro-
ject, now under way and partly com
pleted. No doubt other large enter
prises of the kind will be suggested
and undertaken from time to time,
as engineers discover physical con
ditions favorable to eonseI walton of
water supplies That is the main
combination-the water and the stor-
age dam.
Therefore in my opinion the chief
concern of the National Irrigation
congress at this stage of progress
should be for the safeguarding of
water supplies and available dam
sites in the arid regions Water can
be wasted and made useless for great
projects by various private enter
prises, often when the latter are far
removed from the tract of land it is
desired to irrigate. AS this interfer-
ence with possible future irrigation
work would from time to time in
volve the welfare of two or more
states, it is plain that the federal
government, for the immediate fut-
ure, at least, should retain control
and build the storage facilities.
The story of great crop yields in
Arizona as the result of irrigation
has been told and retold, and the
production for the present year break
all records. The country supplied by
the Roosevelt dam is vindicating the
great engineering work, not merely
in the crops raised but in the re-
sulting higher standard of citizen
ship. The so called isolation of the
farmer, about which we have been
hearing so much in past years, as
applied to conditions on the large
prarie farms of the north and north
west, is not in evidence in the irri-
gated tracts in Arizona The combi-
nation of circumstances created by
intensive farming under irrigation
brings the ranch owners nearer to
each other and leads them into bust
ness and social relations that are
most agreeable and easy of attain
ment. While the law places a limit
of 100 acres upon any one farm de-
string water supply, as a matter of
fact the farm or ranch of that size is
an exception. Eighty acres under ir-
rigation is considered a large tract
for a family, and the great majority
range in size from ten to forty acres.
Ten to twenty acres properly cared
for can insure comfort and independ-
ence to any family, and this fact
has resulted in placing hundreds
of farmers close together, with mu-
tual interests in business way,
such as the division and economic
al use of water and the marketing
of crops to the best advantage. The
association thus called for naturally
leads to the cultivation of the social
side. 1t is easy for an entire neigh
borhood to gather at a given point
and yet no one be out of sight of his
Continued ON Page 81