Albuquerque morning journal., 1914-12-21

give away for the small sum OF s,oo
per acre viii be worth 81. 900 an aers
in ten years II planted to orchards
seasonal yield OF tons from an acrs
of alfalfa land when converted lo,s
dairy products will be worth a NM
dred dollars and when the net profit.
from chicken is 81 per year that fro,
500 will surely be $1,000. The MAJ
who farm on paper exert their lnsg'
nations rather than their muscles ma
exceptional yields are dlstrlbuted
broadcast over the country as IL tho.
represented the returns which anv
good farmer could expect. Because
| one home In community Is blessea
with triplets. no sane person is ius,l.
fled in basing an increase In the non.
ulation on this single case, but wha,
seems absurd In vital statistics no.
comes orthodox truth to the real as.
tate vendor when he talks and writes
on crop statistics.
1t is well for western people thai
they arc optimistic. Were II other.
wise the hardships and privatlons ~
the desert might crush their Spirits
but the practice Of picking out excep.
tlonal cases and basing conclusions on
these should be discarded. Because
one successful orchardist in one good
year under most favorable conditions
makes high profits. one has no RICH,
TO conclude that other growers can
do as we'll These widely advertised
exceptional yields. profits and valua-
tions are undermining the very foun.
dation OF irrigated agriculture. West.
ern people may chase the rainbow II
they are so inclined but they should
not willfully misrepresent what Is 50
vital to their welfare.
Those who have become tired Of
living in the clouds and wish TO come
down TO earth. should adopt the rule
of averages. They should base their
estimates on the average farmer, the
average yield and the average profit.
In large manufacturing establish
ment the management places little de-
pendence on the output of one man.
II is the output Of theientire number
which determines the success Of each
days work. The same system Of reck-
dning should be applied to irrigated
farming. II there are a thousand
families engaged in farming under one
canal system the success OF the sys-
tenn will depend on the average yields
and profits. 1t will not advance the
interests of such community to
laud the successful and censure the
unsuccessful. The wiser course is to
strive to remove some Of the obsta-
cles which retard the unsuccessful and
thus raise the average standard by
helping the weak.
Before undertaking the reclama-
tion of any large tract of desert land
the parties in interest should first ar
rive at a reasonably accurate estimate
of the average profits which are like
ly to be'derlved from such land when
supplied with water. An estimate Of
this kind Is necessary In order 10
keep the cost within economical linz
It's. The average cost should be
balanced against the average profits.
In 1903, according to the census. the
average value of irrigated crops rang
ed from sl2.51 per acre in Wyoming
TO sf9.83 in Washington and averaged
S25.eS for the entire west. II SINH
lar statistics were available for each
year and for each irrigation enter
prise. one could determine with fair
accuracy the standing of the average
farm. Fs qua
Finally, the successful development
OF irrigation enterprises can best be
attained by first formulating careful
plans which include all the essential
features. To provide only for the
building of the necessary works to
furnish water for given acreage Of
land is almost certain to end in fail
ure. Provision must also be made
at the start. not only to settle the
project. but to see that the farmer is
properly equipped to do his part. In
less there can be reasonable asslr-
anee based ON experience or otherwise
that land in any locality can be set
tied up and improved within a COM
paratlvely short time, and that farm
ers VIII be able to prosper, construc-
ton of large and costly projects
should not be undertaken. Then in
the construction stage the same broad
conception should be kept in mind,
the chief object being to deliver wat
er to each farmer in the proper guam
lily and at the right time. Lastly,
when IT reaches the stage of operation
and maintenance, the entire enterprise
should be regarded as single unit
and the closest kind of cooperation
ana correlation should be carried out
between the VarioIs .narfs.