The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-04-05
FARMS REPLACE
FORMER ARID
LANDS
Desert Wastes Made to Bloom
Under Supervision Of U. S.
Reclamation Service.

There are. in the United States
millions of acres of arid and semi
arid lands. Formerly this a0Gs of
no Vat,te WhGtever. 1t aOGs a
vGst, unbroken, seemingly endless
stretch of UGste; its vegetation
aSGs cactus and sage brush; ats Gai-
NAL life the scorpion, lizard and
giLG monster. But great trans
formation has taken place, and
e0here desert wastes once e1isted
fertile farms no10 lie.
BY ARTHUR p. DAVIS.
Director. U. s. Reclamation Service.
Department of the Interior.
written Expressly for Cosmopolitan
News Service.)
Doubtless few persons in the
United States realize today that the
Interior Department, working
through the reclamation service,
has in effect added State to the
Union, viewed from a development
standpoint.
Visualize the combined farms of
Connecticut and Delaware, COM
prising the cropped acreage of Yer
mont, and producing crops equiva-
lent in gross value to those of Mas
sachusetts, and you will have a
composite picture of the new State
under the governorship of the Sec
rotary of the Interior.
This new State, created by the
Interior Department at a net cost
Of 1897 200, 900, which is being re-
paid in annual installments by the
settlers, is but the beginning of
g., -, I,.svn
the manless land and the landless
man.
Climate Is Varied.
It's climate is as varied as its
composite nature would indicate.
AS the irrigation projects are To-
Gated in fifteen Of the arid and
semi-arid States of the West. the
short growing season of the States
along the Canadian border is con-
trasted with the year-round semi
southern California >
The grain fields and apple or
chards of the northern projects are
matched by the cotton fields and
citrus groves of the Southwest. Vari-
Gus types of alfalfa suited to the
different climates. grow abundantly
on all the projects, furnishing food
for ever-increasing herds OF dairy
cattle and supplying thousands OF
tons Of surplus hay, which finds a
ready local market for the winter
fattening of sheep and range cattle.
From the standpoint of gross
value, alfalfa is tied for first place
with fruits and nuts. although che
latter represent only a small pro-
portion of the cropped acreage.
Those crops are followed closely in
value by. vegetables and, truck, cot
ton. and cereals.
Sugar beets have proved one of
the best cash crops and are grown
on about 10000 acres on those
projects: whose climatic conditions
favor this crop.
Find Ready Markets.
That there is, and will be for years
to come, ready local market for
the products of the irrigated pro-
jects, is indicated by census Stats
tics. which show that during the
decade of 1910 to 1920, the popula-
ton of the United States, as a whole.
increased about Is per cent, while
the West showed an increase of
over 30 per cent. In other words.
there is little justification in the
cry of alarmists that the develop
ment of idle lands of the West will
result in lowering prices of agricul-
turaI products in other sections of
the country. The chief sneeds Of
these new communities are a proper
system of grading and standardiz-
ing products. planned rotation Of
crops, organization of marketing as
sociations and reasonable freight
rates combined with an adequate
supply of cars which will permit
the ready distribution OF crops.
The Interior Departments pres
ent irrigated garden, dotted with a
hundred storage and diversion
dams, traversed by $4,000 miles of
canals and Iaterals. in the con-
struction of which over zoo, 100000
cubic yards of earth and rock have
been. excavated, presages a bright
future for a continuation Of the
work of irrigation and reclamation,
of producing an adequate supply of
agricultural products for the needs
of the West, and of building UP a
sturdy citizenry on our idle lands.
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