The copper era and Morenci leader., 1913-02-21

TOT the supply or water to the Glade } region. This water is needed, first l for the canals. These have already become highways between ocean and , gulf. What they will mean in future . as means of transportation may be in- ferred from the part played by the
 Canal.
 Again, the lake water is needed to supplement the rainfall. This, it is
 true, averages, in the Glade region,
 some fifty seven inches per annum.
 Still, as elsewhere, there are times
 when additional water is helpful, per
 hapS priceless. LateralS are being
 cut from the main canals into the land
 Sub-laterals branch off from these. By
 means of locks in the canals,an gates 1 in the laterals ,and ditches the height
 and flow of this water can be con- 1 trolled. It passes horizontally through
 salt or sand, and capillary attraction
 brings it up to the plant roots From
 the standpoint of sub-irrigation, the
 Glade region, if made to order, could
 hardly have been improved upon State legislation, providing for syste-
 matic control of the height of the
 water table, is advised by competent engineers.
 FrostS Are Rare.
 Mention has been made of the frost
 The Everglades are, in this regard, peculiarly blest. They lie in a re- zion more nearly free from frost than any other in the United States. The Weather Bureaus Bulletin V on Frost Data of the United States" carries maps on which, right across the Ever I glades region, are inscribed the words, | Frost at rare intervals. ; Cocoanuts 1 among the most sensitive of all trees to frost and cold, abound on the rim i in the vicinity of Miami and Fort . Again, the excessive heats which might be expected in the far South are also conspicuous by their absense, the mercury at Miami hay ing registered the maximum of 96 de- grees tempera1;ii but once since rec ords have keen kept in that vicinity
 HeaIthfuIness of the Everglades.
 The healthfulness of the region is an object of remark. Lieutenant Christopher R. P. Rodgers, of the United States Navy, said in 1S4S, "Af- ter observing the climate of the Ever glades at every season, I consider it one of the most healthy in the world" State Chemist R. E. Rose of Florida, speaking of the agricultural work in the sos on the reclaimed lands of the Disston Company north of the lake, said, During a period of over eleven years, the company never physician nor lost an en- ployee from death.' . Similar testi- mony abounds. Doctor O. M. Nun caster, late of Washington D. C., who lived last season on Everglades land in the midst of community conduct ing cropping operations, is reported to have been much more fully occupied with fishing in the canal than with he practice of his profession.
 Favorable Location.
 The location of the Everglades ter 'itory is exceptional. A glance at the world map shows the peninsula of ' Florida jutting straight out into the ocean, to the southeast. The Ever slades tract is but three degrees north ,f the Tropic of Cancer. This puts ' t on the parallel running through or . lear the Nile Valley, the Persian Gulf 3ernares, the Holy City of India, the Sandwich Islands, and the mouth ct Il he Rio Grande-in a word, through he regions where human life first ook root upon the planet. Again, the D Panama Canal is soon to be an accom- ,lished fact. It lies just south of u Florida. Vessels between North and U South America and Occident and Ori- |! mt via the canal route will largely kirt the Everglades tract, touching ast, on going south, at Miami, Queen Jity of the Everglade region, and first gain, at Miami on their return north / yard.
 Conserving Our Nations Energies.
 And the real significance of Ever fades reclamation? Not the profits o f the land speculator, whether of to ay or tomorrow. Under present orms of land tenure, these, of course, re unacceptable. Today our public M ands are gone; population, native orn and immigrant, is swelling in lrgid tide; and, as effect follows T ause, land values mount like eleva- pt DTS in office buildings. is
 Wherever, therefore, or under what es yer auspices, good, new lands are re- al pened to use, something or somebody s; railroad, land company, landlord, D ldian tribe, actual settler or, possi- of lr ounn tho Innn-tinn tanant-iS cC