Arizona republican., 1912-12-23
Tracts Susceptible of IT, rigation Do Not All Lie Under Few Contemplated Enterprises Known to the Public.
UNDERGROUND
 WATER SUPPLY
Can Be Developed Through Medium of Artesian Wells. Many Choice Tracts Are Being Ra- pidlv Filed On.

pidly Filed On.
 The State Land Commission at the 1 time of it's appointment was supposed l to have primarily 10 do with the | school land selection within the state, but the amount of public lands within l the state is also large and of neces- | sity needs looking after. The public | lands of the state is not confined to one locality any more than is the school lands, and often in locating 1 school land it became necessary for 1 the commission to have a great deal 1 to do with the general public land. In reference to this condition the State Land Commission recently said: Co jointly with the work of eX- amining the school lands in the dis l tricts visited the commissioner is not 1 only examining the unappropriated 1 public lands which are thus traVersed, with a view to recommendations for ] selections in satisfaction of the Con ] gressional Grants, but through the search of official and private records 1 Of water appropriations. surveys and engineering reports. as well as from 1 other sources. is gleaned varied and l valuable information which it is eX pected will lead to the making of the 1 chiocest possible selections.
 While the impression seems to quite generally prevail that practi- | caIly all of Arizona's lands suscepti- | ble of irrigation lie within the limits 1 of the few projects already establish ed and very few contemplated en- I Nkrhi fn ha i public. the commission, as a result of it's thus far immature and incom-
 plete investigations, holds a widely
 different view.
 "The commission is convinced that 1 within the next few years the i'm pounding and development of water, 1 by means of surface and underground 1 dams. of reserviors and canals and | through the medium of artesian and other wells, will work the reclamation of millions of acres of fertile lands now regarded as hopeless desert | wastes. So urgent is the ever west ward pressing demand, and so real | is the need, for farms. it cannot be l doubted that while land is land the | last dream view of q promised em- pire will be some hardy explorer be 1 followed to it's end. and the last re-
 1 sources of the always resOurceful and never tiring promoter will be eX
 l hausted; the last measure of engin
 | eering skill and ingenuity drained to 1 it's bottom. to bring this vision of an erStwhile wilderness dotted with
 prosperous homes to a happy reali-
 | ZatiOn. The commission is searching l for the places where this dream will
 | most likely and earhest come true,
 and for the other places where a lit
 tie later but full as likely-since the
 possibility of reclamation approxi-
 mates certainty-it will be brought
 to pass.
 Desiring to be equipped with at
 least primary knowledge of the en-
 tire state, IS a basis for the more
 accurate determination of value
 which comes only through comparison
 the commission is not as yet prepared
 to make any specific recommendations for grant selections. though several important areas are being considered.
 Although the occasion for all possible ] haste in this matert is realized and
 with this realization the work IS being pushed forward with consistent rapidity it is confidently believed ] that the best results can be obtained only by the exercise of reasonable caution and moture judgment, based ] upon actual and careful investigation. As shown by the United States Land Office records. and by the com misSiOner'S observations in the field, many choice small tracts are being filed and settled upon by individual homeseeker's and spectators, While the agents of the owners of lieu land scripts are actively gobbling such sur veyed areas, generally insignificant in size, as seem most desirable. but the great bodies of unreclaimed lands which to the minds of the commis- sioners offer the chief opportunities for development remain comparatively untouched The number of inquiries being received by the commission, however. from companies, corpora = tions and individuals. requesting in formation as to irrigational possibil- ities and descriptions of large areas which by the employment of capital might be made productive, give evi- dence of the activity which may be looked for in the near future, while frequent applications for particulars concerning the states land reclama- ton laws. such as the Carey act and the district irrigation law, indi- cate that numerous definite and spe- cific enterprises are being projected Home seekers in large numbers are also looking toward Arizona as shown by the commissioners daily mail, ask ing for particulars regarding the lease or purchase of state and school lands . and in many instances, doubtless bas-
 ed upon the assumption that included
 in the duties of the commission are
 those of an immigration board. re-
 questing data relative to the purchase
 of private lands. These letters are
 carefully answered, and many refer
 tred to the various publicity and de
 | velopment boards throughout the