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Show PAT WEBER COUNTY MAY GAIN BY DRAINAGE PROJECTS SET FORTD BY L. F, KNEIPP . What Weber county may accomplish by co-operation of various drainace I projects Is the main idea in an article I prepared by District Forester L. F. Kneipp of the forest service offices. He was asked to prepare the article, which follows, by officials of ihe We- I ber Club: Utah has on its statute books one j of the most progressive and practical drainage laws of any state In the union, a law whose constitutionality has been upheld by the supreme court of the state. Weber count) has within it limits 3S.000 acres of rich land capable of high production and adapted adapt-ed to intensive cultivation, but temporally tempo-rally of low production because of j lack of adequate drainage. The investing in-vesting public has large sums of money awaiting investment under the attractive conditions of yield, security of principal, and ready negotiability offered by high grade drainage bonds based upon lands such at-; those in the vicinity of Ogden. Properly co-ordinated, these three circumstances will give Weber county an opportunity to double her agricultural production, expand ex-pand her industries, increase her population pop-ulation and enhance the value of her taxable resources. The transformation transforma-tion of 38,000 acres of waterlogged I pasture land into an equal area of intensively in-tensively cultivated land producing sugar beets, truck crops, fruit and alfalfa, al-falfa, will bo the biggest thing Weber leount has over done and will create) an era of unparalled prosperity and t industrial development. Drainage has proved Its worth In other sections of the country and will do so here where every factor is favorable fav-orable to low costs and high efficiency, i The need for the drainage of the lands surrounding Ogden, and the enormous financial and Industrial benefits which would act rue, has boon recognized for more than 20 years. The subject has been discussed periodically by the Og den papers and has been the topic of eonstnieth e comment b men familiar 1 with the possibilities of drainage work. I Jn fortunately, the consideration given j the subject has been of a Kenerai char actor which left unanswered man ones-tloni ones-tloni of vital importance. The area oi lend in nr--d of drainage and BUffl- 1 clently valuable to Justify the cost of ! drainage was not accurately determined ! There was a ouestion of whether th'-re ' was jiuffjf icnt fall to the land to carry J off th- accumulated waters and whethi r ihe necessary outlets could he readily n- : j tabllahed There was another question ' of whether the soil did not contain so high a proportion of salts that it in M tensive cultivation would be impossible. l The known ocnirrence ot uulekFand raised another question of the pract'-OSbillty pract'-OSbillty of Installing tile drainage without Incurring prohibitive coMs In keeping the drains free from sand. The Weber club and the Weber eountv farm bureau undertook to secure answers an-swers to these questions and have done so. They enlisted cooperation of tho I'Uh Agricultural follce and of the hu-riM hu-riM ii oi public roads and arranged for a detailed examination of tho entire western west-ern end of the county by an experien ce! drainage engineer, who made the necessary neces-sary surveys, rnn the required levels and collected the essential soil samples. The work has Just been oompleted It has proven that there are 38,000 acres of land upon which drainage will yield N large linanclal return, that there is iu' llclent fall to drain all parts of the area; that the necessary outlet ditches can readily be constructed; that upon tho greater portion of the area tho quantity vl salts In the soil Is negligible and In nu part to high that It cannot bo brought Within the margin of safety by flushing tnd proper tillage; that tho existence ot quicksand will not prohibit tho Installation Installa-tion of tile drains; nnd that In Kencml the territory surrounding Ogden offers one of tho moat favorable opportunities for the reclamation of rich farm lands oy drainage tnat can be found In the west. The engineer calls attention to the needs of a highly developed farming community com-munity now exists. The highways, railroads, rail-roads, fences, irrigation ditches, bridge, telephone Urcs. towns, sehools and other requirements of modern life are already J constructed and available to the new families who will occupy and till the drained lands. Drainage alons i3 all that is required to transform a partially abandoned territory into a land of opulence, opu-lence, of happy homes and good citizenship. citi-zenship. Thirty-eight thousand acres means a thou;und families and each family means ' five people on on average It means .'. t b ast ono more sugar factory and several more canneries It means that more rt the livestock slaughtered In Ogden can ; be fattened and finished within sight ot the packing plant. These t hint's In tun mean greater mercantile establishments j with larger numbers of employes; mon- i ' professional men; greater business activity; ac-tivity; larger bunking resources; more ' people, more schools, more churches; . In short it means a big-gcr and busier and more prosperous Ogden. Tho organization of drainage districts under tho state law should be given ealy i consldcr.n lion. Labor and financial con- i dltions are not wholly favorable at tb!3 time, but the best the preliminary organization organi-zation of a drainage district under tho law; tho exandnaiions which must be made by the board of supervisors of the district; and finally the preliminary en-gtneering en-gtneering work all require a great deal or time Ther is every renson to betle" that labor and financial conditions will be satisfactory by the time that labor and money are required for the construction construc-tion of the drainage projects needed to gle Weber county her full development. |