| Show PRIZE ESSAYS if one were to study the characteristic features of a locality with a view to making it his ho home methe the foremost consideration would undoubtedly be the abis ture or rainfall when the pioneers were en route for this chounn country utah was described to them as a barren arren waste almost devoid of vegetation upon entering salt lake valley they found this to be true and it did not require a great length of time to ascertain the cause utah lies in the very heart of the arid and region of the united states and it is not surprising that early travelers who had crossed it regarded it as undesirable if not entirely unfit for human habitation of the square miles contained within the boundaries of utah only a small percentage can be brought under cultivation unlike the largest portion of uncle sams domain utah with the exception of a small tract lying at the base of the wasatch mountains between farmington and brigham city depends entirely for her farm products upon irrigation the farming districts lie for the most moat part along the theorin principal cipal rivers or mountain streams I 1 these hese are subject to great from the snows piled up in the mountains during the winter which melt in may and june and swell the rivers to such proportions that great dabag damage is sometimes done to property and crops careful observations have shown that there has been an almost steady increase in the rainfall since the first settlement of this territory it is now 14 inches greater thap than during the first years of the settlement several theories have been advanced to account for this fact some have said that it was owing to the interposition of divine providence in behalf of the lat ter day saints some think it is due to the laying of railroad tracks and telegraph lines but fail to show in what way this would affect the climate others incline to the volcanic theory and still others to the climatic theory but evi dently the true explanation lies in what is known as agthe I 1 the theory of human agencies in 1850 the area of great salt lake wai was 1750 square miles while lin 1869 it had increased to 2 2166 square ing that there had been a very material increase in the volume of water contained in the lake it is also ascertained that there has carried by the rivers into the lake it has been frequently noticed that wherever a settlement is established there follows an increase of the water supply now let us inquire how man has modified the conditions by which the water supply is regulated or controlled all the moisture that falls in utah either in the form of rain or snow returns eventually to the air A part is absorbed by vegetation and soil only to be given again to the air another part runs ru ns from the surface in streams and still another part sinks into the aroud and afterward emerges as s springs rings A part of the e water in the streams is taken up by the porous soils and the remainder flows into great salt lake now the theory of human agencies supposes that man has modified these conditions in three different ways first by the cultivation of the soil second by the raising of herds and third by the cutting of trees by plowing the soil man has made it more porous and absorbent so that a smaller percentage of the shower runs off the farmer has also diverted the water from the streams and for arri irrigation aaion purposes has spread it over the land from from which it is absorbed b by the air cattle horses and sheep ue have ranged over large sections of country countr y and have destroyed or reduced the native grass grasses es thus removing all obstruction from the way of the water in finding its way to the streams instead of sinking the cutting of trees has also had the effect of increasing the streams the removal of the foliage allows that part art of the moisture which formerly fer fell on it and was thence evaporated to reach the ground and run off in rills but the greatest source of increase in moisture lies in in the ever extending area of vegetation especially in the planting of 0 t fr rees ees every tree is a natural artesian sian well drawing daily two tons of water from deep down in the earth and scattering it as vapor through its leaves this is tle main source of dew it is believed that the rains falling shortly after cutting the first crop of lucern are mainly due to the moisture given off by the lucern lacem in becoming hay accordingly congress passed a law known as the timber culture act for the encouragement of tree culture the object is to increase the area of timber lano land for the purpose of augmenting the fall of bf rain utah is almost dependent depan dent ulon local evaporation for her rainfall situated as we are remote from large larg bodies of water and surrounded by y towering ranges of mountains the ture earned carried by the winds is nearly mois djoi precipitated before all n reaching the gr basin and since the circulation great of oan moisture within the great basin the is al i most purely local we may that the farmer has been instrumental conclude only in in making that circulation 1 rabid rapid by removing obstructions m more if f i it t is true that human agencies agen lies h k been the of a ye cause the in increase in water supply the prospect for the f futura t he is indeed bright for we may future a still greater increase as the wrest comes more thickly peopled be e this subject is worthy of stud study for K systematic efforts the work of tae the far by farria er nay may be rendered still more effect in increasing the amount of moisture effectual P C EVANS lehi utah |
