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Show couucclion how much it will j moan to the eounti-y at large to have the arid hinds of .the west i reclaimed . i j According to the census of 1900 the total improved farm area of 1 the United States was 414,800,000 j acres. It is conservatively esti-i esti-i mated that the reclaimable aren. j is not less than 50,000,000 acres. Its reclamation, therefore, will !add nearly one-eighth to the ' actual crop producing area of ! the country and will exceed by a ' liberal margin the tillable land ! of all the states, excepting New 1 York, on the Atlantic Coast from I Maine to Florida. Allowing 40 The far-rca;hfiig reforms in the Irbh 1. ;k! syjttm which arc to be- announced within a month by the British Government, ;:nd which are only imperfectly understood under-stood as yet in England, are authoritatively described in the I Review of Reviews for February iby Mr. Walter YVelhnan, the J newspaper correspondent, who has recently returned from Ire-! Ire-! land, where he made a thorough investigation of the whole subject, and h?d personal interviews with i a!) the hihar officials and government govern-ment representatives entrusted i with the task of emancipating the I Emerald Isle from the thralldom i of centuries. i ! acres, the average size of irri-I irri-I gated farms, this area will make ! 1,250,000 farms, cr a little less :than one-fourth the number in I the United States in 1900. The I occupants of these farms will add 'directly to the population 6,250,-! 6,250,-! 000, and directly, in tne accompanying accom-panying mercantile, professional, profession-al, manufacturing' and industrial! classes at least 3,125,000 more, a ; total increase in the population of the United States of 9,375,000, or nearly twelve and one-half per cent. The total value of all the farina in 1 900, including all improvements im-provements except building's, was 13, 115,000,000. At 42.50 per acre, the average value of irrigated lad, the 50,000,000 acres to be reclaimed will add to the value of farm land $1 ,250,-000,000. ,250,-000,000. If buildings are included includ-ed the value will be increased 775,000,000, while the augmented augment-ed wealth through railroads, cities, mills and factories, is beyond be-yond estimation. The annual value of all the farm products in 1900 was $1,-379,000,000. $1,-379,000,000. The average value per acre of products jf irrigated lands wis 14.81. At this rate the area to be reclaimed will add products worth $740,500,000, an addition of nearly one-sixth of tbe life sustaining powers of thr country. v . ;" . . The number of irrigating ditches and canals in operation in the Unite 1 States exceeds 20,000, ar d ; their combined length is not less than 50,000, miles. If joined end to end they would reach twice around the world. Formed into one they would constitute a navigable navi-gable canal, such as the Erie, . thirty feet tvideand five feet deep extending from San Francisco to j New York, a distance of over I 3.000 miles. THE IRRIGATION MOVEMENT. The acceptance by Congress of the principal of federal aid iu the construction of irrigation works in the western states has .given a great impetus to every industry. The people of the '- s&astsm states are just beginning to realize the opportunities offered of-fered in the .territory to be opened up. As the proposition develops, a tide of immigration will inevitably set in and this region re-gion will become one of the most populous and prosperous in the country. With large areas of reclaimable land. Utah especially especi-ally will be benefited by the measure. mea-sure. The actual work of surveying, locating and constructing reservoirs reser-voirs and other irrigation works The figures of the last census ! show the works required to irrigate irri-gate 7,263,273 acres cost 64,269,- I 601, an average of 8.85 per acre. At this rate the expenditure required re-quired to reclaim the area proposed pro-posed would be at least 450, 000-000. 000-000. After the Government has performed its part there will be no delay by the farmers in carrying carry-ing on the work., While the initial expense is enormous, it is ' not comparable with the value of the cropa which will be . grown on the lands reclaimed. The total cost of all the irrigation works in use in the country is only three-fourths the value of the crops produced each year on I irrigated lands. ' ; ; 1 -will be done by the Geological Survey. In order to obtain a 4etter understanding of the pres- - ont extent of irrigation, the loca- "fcion of the areas irrigated, and : . So gain other information useful " - in this work, the Fifty-seventh -Congress authorized the Director -of the Census to bring down to date the irrigation statistics ob-ta;ned ob-ta;ned in 1900 by that office. Letters of inquiry and schedules -are now being sent out to secure the necessary information. All Interested in irrigation should .answer as fully and as promptly as possible any inquiries they -may receive so that the merits Kjf the various sections of the -country may become known. Irrigators who do not receive -blanks within a reasonable time -should notify the Census Office at Washington and they will be supplied. .It is interesting to note in this 1 |