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Show 6 THM ARGUS. was recognized as the basis of prosperity, and co-operation became the adopted plan for improving the small farms and extending the domain of the life-giving waters. Farmers met upon the banks of the streams, and, with plow and shovel, pick and spade, made the winding gravity canals which tapped the natural flow and led captive volumes of water to the sun-parched fields in the tillable acres below. No money was necessary, and but little was in circulation among those sturdy conquerors of the desert. Each man became an owner of shares in the canals constructed in proportion to the diligence of himself and his sons and trees of the native gates and bridges, stones for walling ducts his the that strength of his oxen mountain while or mules. forests the and skilled mason the cuts and fills and would carry water to his The lumberman furnished mixed assisted home felled material for the and farm the peaceful the plus and the of days. k % prosperous colonists who will make of the Sevier, for 200,000 acres, and planted * * * The Beaver Valley Land and Irrigation company miles in length, holding enough water for 30,000 bemoan to tropical the, acter, “de “Nigger watah of them, those in de water manner, and Bill,” on of drouth The the under mecca the happy they homes once prognosticators came soon continual grew, but it off Water was discovered system until of nearly is an abundance of water the beautiful lawns and orchards and productive used demanded of today one that all of Moab, shuttin’ fact was a settler irrigated of the fields city condition lone an’ dispelled. the grasses thrive the spring famine were and unfortunate Like in in a de to be trees, by from thousand € of “‘Dixie,’’ where the farmer can sit beneath his vine extending rational) and of plants did and tide yet their into of the The had divided towers along Nevada. have not proposed rivers water scores Utah and been dammed, have trained into of channels colonization, but the to California end of there 265,000 people have gathered to history of American irrigation the pages of the sands of time. the at Utah * the names and the and the State riyulets streams of have the development is rising not yet valleys and plains of the new of irrigation, and, although in only * into springs requirements irrigation has road, the reservoirs meet in sight. Several of the most promising State remain untouched by the hand rushing round the busy blocks, passing over furnishing life and wealth to the fragrant fields. Sd land has a reservoir five acres, in the semi- fears watch souls, fruits signs submersion. its to the cereal complete seen had char- turning and moisture, area the by and the and fig tree and enjoy the pleasures of an almost perpetual summer. Another enterprise, born of the demand for homes in the valleys of irrigation, is the Snake Valley Land and Water company, with its domains But naught fruit baptism hundred season, in a systematic that waters historical fall.” occasional may the that in * Lake City was a mere village of a few thousand inhabpersons not familiar with the duty of water, began to appropriated. homes a large When Salt itants, many been them and alfalfa, demonstrating the effects of the association of capital and Fabor in subduing the deserts of worthlessness and making of them homes of joyfulness. 7 aque- remainder and valley of Deseret. The Swan Lake company is another evidence of the faith of capitalists in the powers of irrigation in conquering the arid foes of vegetation. This company has impounded water, from the sur- flumes, mortar in building an elaborate and expensive system by which 30,000 acres of excellent fruit and farming land can be put under cultivation. The annual snowfall of that lovely frozen tower, Mount Nebo, has heretofore been partially wasted because of its melting waters passing down Salt creek before the season when farmers require moisture for irrigation. Now this waste is held in an immense storage reservoir, constructed in the channel of the creek, and will be distributed upon the fields of future the past begun half to be century, chronicled the upon * * But the valley surrounding this intermountain metropolis does not contain all the evidences of the creative powers of irrigation. In the twenty-seven extensive county divisions over one million acres have been reclaimed from aridity, and still the battle goes on with the light of irrigation penetrating the sands of two million additional acres, and inviting the farmers to turn on the water and erect new homes. In the rich valleys to the north and the south are located many cozy farm cities and villages, where all the elements of health, wealth and colonial prosperity combine to make the people feel that they are indeed living in the veritable land of Paradise. These vales were once held firmly in the grasp of the demon of death, and not until the angel of life struck the fountains of irrigation and bade them spread their life-giving streams over the deserts, was it possible for the vegetable world to assert its power and create the present era of earthly magnificence and human happiness. * 3 Irrigation yated area. value sinks into * insignificance. The small mountain brooks mountains handiwork of may man, be found to fruits of midsummer hold numerous the crystal moisture in lakes, check cry for the essence of life. formed till The the have by the perishing hidden seas of to such hillsides and prosperous a surprising remaining barren extent that deserts we may to soon expect become our * water for irrigating 160,000 finest lands in the intermountain West. The little twenty-acre farms for which Utah has become noted are designed as models of independence under this great canal system. Here a vast area of desert plain, ern Pacific railroad, has lain dormant for has wondered how it could ever be utilized. the money of commerce, planned crossed by the sSouth- centuries, and the traveler The mind of man, aided by and executed a mighty river channel and carried its water upon the deserted field of sage from which sprang all land the verdant plants and flowers of nature and made of the oe the owners public of original colonists of Utah a EY Co-operative plan all in which success. range cattle, producers and and has sheep stores been The vast fields remain appropriated and horses are kept at supply depots flourish by purchasers are interested open and unfenced, and in and but the their the growing crops are safe from roving animals, because one man looks after his neighbors property as closely as his own. Villages are erected, schoolconstructed, public amusement forests and of rules to the that govern halls railways built and of market roads by opened the willing co-operation. * the abodes of a fruit machinery; numerous little expense. Bo ok Utah, the “cradle of American irrigation,’ has attracted the miner, the railroad builder, the stock grower, the manufacturer and the man with of the of enforcement *k acres the herds dreary Capitalists have not keen deaf to the whispering voice of irrigation, but have invested millions of dollars in the soil-developing industries of Utah. The Bear River Canal company has expended over two millions in the north in changing the current of a river and cutting a new channel through the mountains of stone. This canal carries sufficient ening to the mountain people. * the The principle of co-operation, necessary under the Utah irrigation system, has entered the various avenues of every-day life and made failure almost an impossibility. Farming implements are purchased by a number of peaceable neighbors forming a combination for cheap- ‘houses sheet water, with their inexhaustible supplies from underground ¢hannels, fed by the snows of winter and the rains of summer, have been tapped by iron pipes, and an additional force has assisted the zoddess of irrigation of The annual cost of maintenance being less than one dollar oe divided their flow to the right and the left, as their riparian claimants demande, to supply the fluid for culinary and distributary purposes; wind-mills and water-wheels, steam engines and horse-power and other lifting devices, have brought the precious liquid from the canyons and wells and stored it in reservoirs for use in time of need. In the high sounded per acre, moisture is more easily and cheaply supplied than by: rainfallin the East, where continual prayers and constant mournfulness seem to be necessary to induce the clouds to furnish even enough of the miserable substitute for irrigation, called natural rain, to insure the production of crops one season. . Individual: efforts have been exerted as freely to obtain perpetual water rights as to secure Government deeds to land, because without the vitality of artificial moisture, the natural appurtenance to the soil, its has throughout the entire world by establishing an era of small farms and bringing about a system of co-operation upon which the arid regions are rapidly being subdued and the business and social features of colonial life are attracting the attention of all humanity. The small, well-tilled farms are furnishing an abundance and paying handsome dividends where systematically handled, while the large special tracts of the rain belt sections are being sold for taxes. At an average cost of only $10 per acre the canals have been constructed and the network of mains and laterals has extended over the million acres of culti- capital to Rio. Grande through most eight fertile invest, Western of the valleys, from the railway, commercial a marts distinctively most prosperous carries passengers counties and of the Utah and freight world. road, penetrating from the The passing farms the to the mines and from the village to the city. Its branches are being extended so that ere long every fruitful vale and mineral-producing mountain will be connected by rail, with the great metropolis. The pioneers of trans-continental traffic, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railways, enter the State from the east, the west and the north, and their branches ramify the rich grain-producing valleys and the great ore-yielding mountains. When the stranger enters this chosen land and beholds the manifold evidences of progress and prosperity I anticipate his interrogations and volunteer the information that the secret of success lies in the development of that science—modern irrigation. JOEL SHOMAKER. chosen valley of irrigation. rich and inviting field for capital ee has been open in the southern valleys and some of the opportunities offered have been accepted. The Mt. Nebo Reservoir and Irrigation company has completed SSS SSS Ts Se equally * “ An * ee * |