OCR Text |
Show For Government Reservoirs. "The official figures of the Geological Survey show 71,200,000 acres of unreserved un-reserved public land in the so-called arid States for which a water supply is available, and which, not having been cropped, and being rich in plant-food constituents, is capable under irrigation irriga-tion of producing enormous yields. Why are these fine lands not irrigated? Because the project is so vast that private capital which, when it undertakes under-takes a venture, wants big; returns is not satisfied to build great reservoirs and then sell the lands made irrigable at a low rate within the reach of the actual average settlor; and so it refuses to embark on the undertaktng. This fact, that private capital cannot generally gen-erally make reservoir building pay, having already been thoroughly established, estab-lished, then let the Government step in and build storage reservoirs, expending money therefor- as for any other internal in-ternal improvement. And yet, unlike other internal expenditures, the cost of the work would come back through the ready sale of the vast area of its public lauds thus made desireable for farming, but which are now useless and unsalable. This is what the westerner west-erner wants the Government to clo, and this is what he needs to impress vigorously vigor-ously upon his Senator and his Member of Congress." From Bulletin of Geo. H. Maxwell, National Irrigation Association. |