The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1917-02-03
WOES OF SETTLERS
PLAINLYDESCRIBfD

The passage OF the Warren bill.
which has been introduced in the
United States Senate, would be a great
boon to settlers on government recla-
nation projects. says Elwood Mead.
president of the Federal Farm Loan
bank, who spoke at meeting in the
Reno Commercial Club Wednesday
night In an interview Mr.. Mead
made the following statement con-
cerning the measure:
THE bill recently introduced by
Senator Warren will, IL 1t becomes a
law, supply vital omission in the
present reclamation act. II will less
en- by one-half the cost of making
land under government canals habi-
table and productive.
I'm its present form the reclama-
tion act does only one-half of what is
needed to make II efficient 1t builds
canals, but 1t leaves the settler to do
the more costly work off preparing
the land for irrigation and provide
Improvements required to make IL
habitable.
"The acreage cost of these improve
ments is considerably more than the
acreage cost of water, and until they
have been made the water cannot be
used or the investment in canals give
a satisfactory return.
"The reclamation act, when passed.
was an experiment in a new field. 1T
has now been in operation long
enough to show what is needed to
make II working success; this is
aid and direction to settlers in pre-
pairing land for cultivation. This bill
provides what the reports of the cen
tral board of review recommended.
The reasons for these recommen-
dations were given in several of the
reports; they were repeated by me in
a recent hearing before a committee
of Congress. In that hearing I at
tempted to describe the conditions
which would confront settlers under
q government canal to water $4,000
acres OF land. I pointed out that
such an area would provide farms for
1000 settlers. and showed that these
settlers would be confronted by the
following conditions: Aside from the
main irrigation canals and the un-
formed dirt roads, they will find thai
everything required TO transform a
desert into productive farms remains
to be done. The land must be cleared
OF brush: the farm unit must be
fenced a house for the family and
stable for the work animals must be
built. and provisions made for a water
supply for household use. Not being
familiar with local conditions, they
will not be able to buy to advantage.
and they will be under pressure to-
buy quickly. Many will be victim
lied with bad horses and poor. 1t
as stated on one visit to a project in
July last that settlers had to pay s27
thousand feet for lumber that was
being sold TO those who could buy in
carload lots for cash for s11 thou
sand feet.
If settlement should be rapid. set
tiers would not be able to buy cows
or horses locally. They would have
to be shipped long distances, and this
adds greatly to their cost.
Before the settler can grow crop
The land must be prepared for irri-
cation. To do this properly requires
knack and experience. Lacking these,
money and time may be wasted and
the final results be so unsatisfactory
that the work will have to be done
over again. Few settlers can AFFORD
to buy the special equipment for lev
cling land cheaply. especially on small
farm units; and the delay which re-
suits often prevents planting a crop
the first season and the settler has
TO get his living expenses for long
period out of his meager capital.
Much OF the land to be irrigated
Is uneven, requiring large expendi-
ture to prepare it to be watered prop
erly. In places the wind has heaped
the sand and dust in mounds. which
have to be leveled down: and settlers
have testified that ii has cost 800 an