Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1914-06-25
FARMER KNOWS BEST

,he napers In this part of
are lust now devoting much
wv an account OF visit from
~ v-syled noted English irrigation
.r named Sir William Wilcox,
or,d seek TO give our people
Wv .s IN the use of water for irriga-
'e'''1 anrnoses Like Don Bark. this
h0D rns,ishman holds up his hands
s = holy horror at the amount OF wa
!" ,.., Is being used by our farm
-, though he has no knowledge OF
CO. .ond,tlon of our soil, except what
- has seen at a glance.
rrue there are instances on many
!, ,he tracts where the land Is be-
ling water logged. but upon In
, Sss,Iration it will be found that this
!. not so much due to the amount OF
~.,or the individual puts on his
,,oDs as 1t is TO the seepage from the
mails and bitches that cover the
,..e, This condition is found most
!, an tracts that are level. but on
..,,,ops where there is good drain
40 IKE the North Side tract. for In
,,,see this condition is not likely 10
occur. which is another strong argu-
,s,t for lands on the North Side.
We have always contended that the
farmer himself is the one best judge
a the amount OF water he should
,< He Is In a position to watch
hI. crops closely. and should know
xheu 10 apply water and when not TO
md he does not need any English
s,pert 10 tell him. We believe this
agitation about the waste OF water
and the ruinatlon OF the land is do
ing more harm than good. for II has
tendency TO make the would-be
Investor in irrigated lands skeptical.
This same Sir Walter paid n visit 10
the Minldoka project. and our senti-
uents exactly coincide with the Pho
neer Record at Rupert. which gives
the following account OF this gentle
mans visit:
The MinidOka project WAS hon
ored o. last Thursday by the pres
enee Of one Sir William Wilcox. noted
irrigation engineer OF England and
IndIa. who visited the dam and went
to the ives, end OF the project about
as fast as an auto could take him
leaving In the afternoon.
He said the people were wastinl
water. which Is true In some instances
but not In all He knew nothinl
about alfalfa. but that did not keel
him from condemning II. and he sal,
The people should raise some croI
fhat does not take 30 much water
forgetting entirely that there woui,
dosbtless be a great difference In tn,
Yield and a reduction In the farmers
income. This Is. OF course. nothini
TO him. He comes from a countr,
where the farmers are In luck 1
they make ifiy dollars in n year an
the whole family works all the time
He also said the farmers shoul
put from nifty to sixty loads OF ma
nure on each acre OF ground. instea
Of raising alfalfa. but he forgot I
tell them where TO get the manur,
o. HI say. emery give the 'orse som
ay hold top. but not alfalfa. III
lakes too much wather.
Such visits do no one good. ThI
man knew nothing OF the condition
mere except what he saw I'm the fe'
moments he was whirled across IN
country. yet he assumed to know
All and will 20 away to tell peopl
mat this or that Is the proper cours
10 pursue here and having visited III
place they will accept his word NJ
knowing his qualifications. II he wi
just stay away from the interior d,
pA'lment--or visiting II they pay n
'uention to him the project will rea
10 narm but the other possibility
no' pleasant to contemplate. Blar
'"e moody bloomin' hidiot. any'ow