The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1919-02-21

SlFO&Ele utESSS1E4 " NNFNANF $500 =
country, under such stern conditions,
develops of necessity strong menu
evolved Richard. a0h. yes. ] believe
that, too"
"Oh. more than that. 1t is not so
much the struggle as the necessity for
cooperation. The mutual dependence
is one of the blessings Of aridity-
@One of the blessings Of aridity +
echoed his listener. you are philos-
opher." He had not yet touched the
others thought at the spring.
"You might as vel can me social
list because / praise Irrigation in that
| it stands for the small farm unit
ret0rted the valley man. THAT IS one
of its flats; the sman unit. 1t is the
small farm that pays. That fact brings
many advantages. What Is the charm
of RiversideI 1t comes TO me always
like the unreal dream OF the socialist
come true. 1t is city OF farms, OF
small farms. where a man may make
his living off his ten acres Of oranges
or lemons and with al the comforts
and conveniences Of city within
reach, his neighbors not ten miles on
A farmer in Riverside or in any irri-
gated community does not have to
postpone living for himself or his fam
lily until he can sell the farm! He
can go to church, can walk there; the
trolley car which passes his door
takes him to a public library or the
opera house. His children ride TO
school. His wife does not need to be
a drudge. The bread wagon and the
steam laundry wagon stop at her
door"
Richard observed that perhaps he
did not know anything about irrigation
after ALL He had not thought OF it
before in its sociological relation but
merely as it touched his profession.
"Not going into soil values, for that
is long story" began the older man.
irrigation is the answer which sci
ence gives to the agriculturist who is
l impatient of haphazard methods. Irri-
cation is not compromise, as so many
believe who know nothing about it. 1t
is a distinct advantage over the old
fashioned methods.
II am one of those who always
thought 1t compromise admitted
the engineer.
Better call rain a compromise" re-
torted the irrigationist. '-The man
who irrigates gives water to the tree
which needs it; rain nourishes one
tree and browns out another. Irriga-
ton is. an insurance policy against
drought, a guarantee against floods.
The farmer who has once operated an
irrigated farm would be as impatient
were he again subjected to the caprice
of rain as a housewife would be were
she compelled to wait for rain to I'LL
her washtub. There is no irregularity
or caprice about irrigation
wonder how the old fellow picked
it all up?" unused Richard with dis.
| respect. Aloud he said, you were
} speaking of the value of the soIl?"
look at the earth those plows are
turning over. See how rich and friable
: it is. how it crumbles? You can die
for hundreds of feet and still find that
: sort of soil, eight hundred feet down
1t is disintegrated rock and leaf mold
brought in here in the making of a
delta. Heavy rainfalls are rare here
though we have had them, in spite Of
popular opinion. Were we to have
frequent rains the chemical propertie,
{ which rain farmers must buy to enrich
I. their worn-out soils would be leacheC
: out, drained from the soil. l can
make this comprehensive, but I've {
: monograph on desert soil. If you ar,
: interested I'll send it to you"
Il should like it-immenseIy." as
: sented the engineer, still amused.
1T explains the choice of the Aztecs
of the Incas, of Carthaginians. tn,
r Moors,n observed the stranger. .sThe,
+ chose the desert, not in spite of m,
e soil but because of it. doubt if tba,
: were awake to the social ADVANTAGE
of the system, but it was their co
g operative brotherhood that helpe,
/ them to their glory. We are centuria
I. behind them. I'm getting out here
n Imperial. If you come up TO Imperia
I look me up. Brandon's my name. ~
!, no card these days!"
$ "There are several things 1 want +
Q hear from you," answered Rickar[
d following brown necktie ana points,
y beard to the platform. "pn be sur
e to look YOU up, Mines Richard"
; The breeze which was now enter,p
I the car windows had blown over N
cloyer-leafed fields, Its message wa
s sweet and fresh. Richard conla -
N the canals leading off like siIvs
q threads to the homes and farms Of n
d future; "the socialists dream cor,
e trneH Willows of two or three wear,
l growth outlined the banks. Here on
/ there a tent or a ramada set IN
brave defiance against the hard %,
Is ditions of the land it was inyadip,
IS Richard leaned out Of the window ~
e looked back up the valley which NJ
lie dominated by the range now wranntr
ie around itself gauzy, irldescent dra,
n