Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1913-09-13

What Decade ~ IRRIGATION Iias
lSune for ape West.


~ pnao. Tex. Sept if.-FThc
land that God forgot. the Great
American Desert. d rapidly hecom.
ing foeion of model farms Instead
OF everything which grows haflnF
ihorns and everything which cfawia
being deadly. the hand is bcComine a
place of houniiful crops ana pas
ture ground for thousands 90 live
stock
This great change IN the character
~ the one-time arid lands Of the.
west ia due go the reclamation work
az the United states government The
work began on the pHHHakr of the
reclamation act ~ i902 In this
time i.ibs.23l acres have been opcn-
cd 10 cultivation by making water
available By iFrianti0a. Crops raised
Oh theaa lands now run into the tens
Of millions % dollars every year,
The reclamation service in iiF work
has built 1.ooo mllea ~ canals. 81
has oxcnvntcd twcnty-one miles ~
tunnels and "a. Zoo. 900 cubic yards -
earth and rock This with the great
amount 81 Improvement which has
been necessary, such a. building 81
roads and telephones and ieleEraph
lines. have caused the expenditure of
about $4,000. oo0.
one Of the spectacular features 81
This triumph of reclamation is four 81
the greatest dams IN the worid--the
Elephant Hutte dam IN she Rio
Grande valley. the Roosevelt dam IN
Arizona. the Shosh0ne dam 81 aarth-
ern Wyoming. and the i.agune dam
In Arizona. The Roosevelt dam h az
many respects the most remarkable
structure Of ~ kind IN the world.
It's towering height 2S00 feet. its
length on top. 1859 feet; the inspiring
scenery and the enormous capacity
81 the reservoir created by It.. com-
binc 20 make Il one ~ the greatest
engineering works 81 modern times.
Though modern irrigation n rela-
lively new art in this country, ~
has vast monument 10 its fame In
these lands which have hccn redeem
ed from Gods forgetfulnesa" 20 be
lands Of favor The spirit of this
change lives In the people whose ~
forts in building homes and tiliing
farms have supplemented the work
Of reclamation.
Influences IN Irrigation.
In commenting on the social con-
dition Of the farmers In the west, &.
J. Blanchard. the chief 81 the recla-
nation service. says
Naturally. the unusual conditions
that make up the environment Ut this
extraordinary section Of our country
have had their effect on the charac-
ter OF the people. Individuallsm.
which Is characteristic Of the farm
ing regions Of the east. as we'll as
provinciaiism. are less known In the
irrigated sections. The irrlEation
canal Is the connecting link which
binds the community together
Gradually there has grown up =
desire for betterment OF conditions.
and with the coming ~ ample hnan-
cial returns there Is evidence Of q
desire Go Improve the character Of
home life. The country II becoming
citfied and life on the irrigated farm
s growing attractive.
Farm life and lta duties under
these conditions are regulated very
much the same az the man OF busi-
ness orders his affairs The old hap
hazard methods % agriculture have
no place here, whore every acre must
be made To- give its maximum yield
and whore the crop itself II carefully
considered with regard to markets
and cost Of production.
AS new communities rise provision
IL made az once for the educational
and religious needs Of the people.
The centralized graded school Is
growing in popularity and n being
established Ia many sections. This
children are carried To and from the