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Show IS ARTIFICIAL ( IRRIGATION I , People of United Slates Awakening to its Importance. B L GOVERNMENT BEHIND BIG PROJECTS. r ) 1 Origin of Irrigation, Its Importance ' and Ultimate Destny East rfc Will Imitate West. jt , Washington, D. 0., Mhr. 30, 1905. Washington may bo ono of tho least jj 1 importnnt of the oitios of tho Unitod States us it cortniuiy is in commorco and mumifnoturos, but from this city omunntes, through legislation mid J - administration, tho impulses of tho groatost enterprises known on this bulf of tho globo. Wo hoor n groat Ideal about tho San Domingo question, tho Panama Canal, arbitration treaties trea-ties and tho regulation of gigantic trusts. Thoso aro of so much mometi-tious mometi-tious importance that tlioy aro in tho publlo oyo, but thoro Ib going on in what was onco marked on tho maps as tho "Groat Amorlcan Dosort" and almost ns llttlo known as tho dark conUnont of Africa by Amorlcuns of m m forty ynara ngo a work which in H " importahco is tjpnrooly socond to tho H Panama Cuunl or tho maintouaiioo of - fc tho Monroo Doctrine. H Tho pooplo of tho United Statoa M nro distinguished by thoir roadluoss M to adopt Inbor-Baving systoms and H " " methods in thoir industrial ulfalrs, M but it has taken .horn q long timo to H bo como impressed with tho import- H anoo of inteuso farming by moaus of B' artificial irrigation. Wo liavo boon H slow to loam, possibly bocauso of that H , fabled ground whioh, "tickled with H tho boo, ltttigbod with tho harvest." H t Ibis is what our Fourth of July H ( 1 orators used to tloklo us with and wo kfcjjj-f--' balloted -tham, in Jqiilo of thoact V Tv that wo could all tho timo boo tho H worn-out Holds of tho Eastoru H Appalachian slopo or tho rainless H deserts of tho West. Tho Gousub H Buroan roports up to 1002 show that H privuto enterprises"" had established fm irrigation systoms oovorlug uoarly M ton millions of acres, or tho oquivn- M lont of 16000, sqyaro miles; or to m put it objootivoly, nunroathroo times B ' ns largo as tho State of Oouuoctiout. B T'ho cost of constructing thoso irriga- H tlon plants to about uinoty-throb V' millloiiB of dollars. In 1002, irriga- H tlon plants woro in uso in .11 difforout statos and territories. Just west of H tho salubrious aroa of tho wostorn m ' wheat and corn growing states, thoro . is au arid 1 bolt, approximately threo buudrod miles in width, and strotoh- lug from Canada to tho gulf. Tho I arid region oovors approximately two- fifths of tho country, exclusivo of Alaska and othor outlying possessions. Irrigation alono is nooded to muko a largo part of this vast region ono of tho most productive areas of tho Unitod Stales. Tho application at that groatost of all fertilizers, wator, at tho right timo and in tho right quantity, will oonvort it into tho ilnost of farming and pastoral lands. Not all of the country can bo Irrigated, Irri-gated, but a groator portion of it cun and it will bo turuod from dosort into orchards, gardons and farms. Ex- I fl porimontally, irrigatod aroas of this 1 1, JM -desert havo produood 000 bushols of I lm potatoos to tho aero, while tho uvor-1 uvor-1 J I .ago in tho Unitod States in 100!i was 1 ,") 85 bushels. I I V Furmors dopoudout upon rains must I' waitn floklo Damo Nnturo, but with f nrtlllolnl irrigation, tho furmer with H5 1 bis hand on tho spigot can havo water ?! I wlionovor ho wants it. Doubtloss tho tgront impprtonoo whioh Govornmont l. appropriations is giving to irrigation Bp' on a Inrgo scalo in tho Wost, will Hd cnl nttontlon to irrigation posslblli-Hr posslblli-Hr ties in tho Eust, and rlvors and small ? ' j stroums that nro running wusto to tho t4i son, from tho Ozark and Appuluohian II raugos and thousands of wator shods can and will bo rostruinod and turuod to agricultural uses. A sum ' of twonty-ilvo million dollars has nl- i ready boaomo nTailablo in tho oast nud n considerable number of spoclnl- istfl aro busily engaged in prosooutlng national irrigation ontorprlsos. ' Thoro is ovidonoo tliut conturlos ago, pooplo whom wo regard as savngos, mndo uso of canals for Irrigation pur- posos in what is now Arizona, Nevada nnd Now Morfiao. Tho Spaniards who camo thoro with Oortoz nnd Pizarro adoptod tho systom In Southern South-ern California and olsowhoro. Tho Mormons, half a contury ago, produced pro-duced that woudorful agricultural section in Utah by menus of irrigation. irriga-tion. By staying tho winter floods on tho groat wuteshods another most usoful and salutary oud may bo attained in arresting .tho devastating floods whicli aro now so common with tho molting of tho wlntor suofws often simultaneous with vornul rains. NATIONAL NEWS BREVITIES. Tho Agricultunl department bus issuod a circular announcing that it cannot meet thodomands for inoculat ing material for IcguminoumB crops. Tho domund has boou enormous and the department traces it to erroneous publications Buying that it was pro-pared pro-pared to malco froo and unlimited distribution dis-tribution of this material. Tho pub licotiou of tho wonderful results obtained ob-tained with puro cultures in inoculating inoculat-ing such plants as cow peas' olovors, alfalfa, etc., has roused furmors all over the country and tho Agricultural dopurtmont has boon taxed to its utmost ut-most for some timo. It was dotormlnod at n Cabluot meeting yesterday that no pormits should bo issuod tills your for big gamo hunting in Alaska, except to authorized roprcsontatives of ,mus oums. Similar aotiou wits taken last year bocauso of tho knowlodgo that gamo in Alaska was being rapidly decimated and it is desired to pro-sorvo pro-sorvo it so far as possiblo for tho bonoflts of inhabitants, although they nro nlsp roquirod to comply with local gamo laws. Nows comes from tho 'Philippines, information through Govomor Gonoral Wright, that tho census has boon complotod nud that in two years, provided poaco prjruils, au election will bo called foral gonoral uesombly. Tho last enso of yollow fovor to oocur in Panama was oi Mar. 8- and tho liist ims; fromCJ?6Monf?Mjirob' 10. Thotojil number of ca'ao uraoug tho outiro population on tho Isthmus during January was 10, Fob. 13 and March 0. Tho prosout sanitary foroo consists of over a thousand employes, em-ployes, costing 8250,000 monthly. |