Show CONQUEST OF GREAT DESERT Time Patience and Perseverance Re Re- Required Required to Establish Homes In InMany InMany InMany Many of New Districts I I In every attempt to convert desert I i land into fruitful fields there is a I transition period which tries mens men's i so souls ls to the utmost The warning cry is often given not to allow families to attempt to establish homes in the desert desert des des- I ert lest they perish It is true a new Irrigated district may not be bo a a. desert des ert ert but it is closely akin to it and It I requires time patience and s denial I to establish homes In such places There is so much to be done with so little help and money that the bravest hearts often quail before the task Is completed It was comparatively easy for our forefathers to establish homes in the heavily wood wooded d states of ot the Atlantic seaboard and still easier for those who first settled on the prairie prairieland prairieland land of ot the Mississippi l valley writes S. S Fortier in the Field and Farm These men had to encounter dangers danger and hardships but the winning of ot their livelihood from the soil was easier easier ier ler than the task which confronts forthe for forthe forthe the first year or two the settler on s a desert farm The most profitable crops on an Ir it Irrigated Irrigated farm require time to mature matun The land for vineyards for example must be first thoroughly prepared before before be be- before fore the plants arc are set In the ground then from Crom two to three years must elapse before any returns can be ex ex- Meanwhile l the expenses of caring for the vineyard have to b be met The same is true of all deciduous deciduous ous orchards with the difference that thata a longer period intervenes between the time of ot planting and profitable re re- turns The staple crop of ot the west is alfalfa but he who expects a heavy yield the first season after planting ItIs it itis itis is too of often en doomed to disappoint ment mente The new settler with limited means has to confine his efforts during the first season to the seeding of ot small patches of ot grain and the planting of ot vegetables By degrees he can work Into the more profitable crops such as alfalfa orchards and sugar beets but at first he must be content with much smaller returns This is the transition period which marks marks' the passing of ot the desert conditions and the introduction of ot profitable crops under irrigation If It there is ever a time when a new settler needs help it is during this period The o outlay In both labor Jabor and money for buildings farm equipment irrigation ditches and the proper preparation of ot the land Is unusually high while the returns from the soil solI are correspondingly small |