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Show This again, it seems to .me, ties up 'with the proposed dam - and the power plant on Green River. An abundant supply of nearby electric ' power would insure the production ol usable phosphates to all of western America. The abundant supply of exposed oil shale, which can also be mined by the steam shovel method, is another large item which puts the Uintah Basin in first place. This item alone will soon demand the attention of all America, for it is the source to which we will have to turn for our oil supply. The fact that the oil vapor can be driven : off and the best grade of gasoline and oil produced at about pound 5,300,000 - acre feet; it will supply enough additional water to double the present irrigated lands in Utah. Anyone passing through the Basin today would be astonish, ed at their abundant alfalfa fields and other farm crops, as well as their vast summer and winter ranges for cattle and sheep. Many of us have labored under the delusion that the Uintah Basin Ba-sin consisted " largely of "poverty flats". The best cure for this is to go and see for yourself. I think it can conservatively be stated the Uintah Basin contains more natural na-tural wealth than all the rest of he State of Utah combined." Advocates Area Development Editor's Note: The following article ar-ticle was written by Leon Fonnes-beck, Fonnes-beck, Logan attorney, following a tour of the Uintah Basin with the Utah State Agricultural college board of trustees, of which he is a member. "I think it is high time that the State of Utah and its people woke up to the real facts of the great variety of natural wealth that exists in the Uintah Basin. Probably Pro-bably the most immediate thing which should be undertaken is the proposed fieldhouse of geology and natural history. It shrould be provided with classrooms and one or more large exhibit rooms wherein where-in the earth's geology and full display of fossils and paleontholo-gy paleontholo-gy of that abundant area could be shown and taught. This area, as I understand, covers a geological period of five hundred million years, fully exposed so it can be read like a book. Such a building should be under un-der the supervision of the University Uni-versity and the College, and arrangements ar-rangements would undoubtedly be made every summer with many of the larger universities and colleges col-leges in America for their leading educators along that line to come and teach summer classes. In a few years, I believe they would have a larger summer school enrollment en-rollment than either the University Univer-sity or the College, and these students stu-dents would come from far and I which. - frequently produced 0 brthela-.to.the aers, but in the las: few years the . average crop has dwindled to 20 bushels or ' below. The ground seems to be depleted. The ' only answer to this is to fertilize the soil, end the top available fertilizer is phosphates. It was indeed interesting to note that Vernal not only has- a rich and abundant supply, but ' that they can mine it by the steam shovel method, thus reducing the cost of mining in the Vernal, field to about 28 cents per long ton, as against $5.68 elsewhere; thus effecting ef-fecting a saving in minin? costs alone of $5.40 per ton. In addition to that, a large saving sav-ing can be effected, as I understand under-stand it, by the reverbratory method me-thod as applied by L. B. Skinner, a prominent chemical engineer. This method will save about $7 per ton in- addition to the saving in mining costs. When these facts are kept in mind and the further fact that in a very few years it will be absolutely ab-solutely necessary to phosphate the soil in order to keep up the fertility, fer-tility, it seems that here is a field which should at once attract the interest of the state of Utah and all of its farmers. I also understand that experiments experi-ments have demonstrated that not only do plants grow richer and more abundant when the soil has been treated with phosphate, but production among the animals is also greatly increased and the offspring are of much better grade and quality. 500 degrees, and that the remnants rem-nants of the oil shale can be used to supply the necessary heat for its own oil extraction, should at once attract capital and make this one of our largest industries. It would take a separate article to do justice , to the gilsonite and laterite deposits. The fact that these .products are in such great demand and have so many uses, coupled with the fact that the Uintah Basin is the only known place on earth where these minerals min-erals are found in commercial quantities, should also add greatly to make the Uintah Basin, from the standpoint of natural wealth the richest place in America. Nor ' do they need to take a back seat in agriculture and livestock live-stock production. They have a good supply of water for irrigation. irriga-tion. If the proposed dam on Green River is constructed, it will im- wide. Another item of top interest is the abundant supply of superior native asphalt. I believe it is generally gen-erally conceded now that this makes superior road surface of lasting quality; and the method now used and demonstrated by the county commissioners th-re, that of losening the material with a digger and then mixing it with sand by using a bulldozer and hauling it directly to the prepared road surface where it is rolled out in about a four-inch layer appeals ap-peals to me as the method which will eventually be adopted and should give this material first rating rat-ing for road surface work throughout through-out the entire state. This native asphalt also has other extensive uses, such as roofing roof-ing and floor materials, and asphalt as-phalt cement, and possibly also as coatings for pipe, making of paints and varnishes, manufacturing of rubber, and possibly also high os- tane gasoline. If the proposed dam on Green River could be constructed immediately im-mediately after the war, undoubtedly undoubt-edly hydro-electric plants would also be installed which would supply sup-ply the necessary power for various var-ious manufacturing plants in connection con-nection with further uses of the native asphalt, and the many other natural resources in that area. Another top item of interest is the great phosphate fields. It is high time that the farmers of this and other states realize that some-ting some-ting must be done to keep up the fertility of the soil. Many of the eatern states, notably the northern part of the State of New York, the fields u;ed to produce an abundant crop, but this condi-toin condi-toin exists no longer, due to the tact that the tre;(t"o hia all been taken from the sqil. We have evidences of this a'.rjidy in Cache Valley. Over in the western part of the valley up in the . Clarkston uiea, we used to have whea'; fields |