IRRIGATION IN THE WEST.

IRRIGATION IN THE WEST.

At the recent meeting of the Twelfth National Irrigation congress, held at El Paso, Tex., under the presidency of Senator Clark, of Montana, a letter from President Roosevelt was read, as follows: “I wish it were possible for me to accept your kind invitation to the national congress to be held at EI Paso. I need not state to you the deep interest I feel in the cause of national irrigation. Irrigation is. in every fact, one of the means of national expansion which is most effective.” President Diaz, of Mexico, also wrote a letter of regret. In his report President Clark said in part: "The Department of the Interior has withdrawn from entry 43,5004x10 acres, of which some 3,500,000 acres have been found to be inapplicable, and have been restored to the public domain. The total amount of land available for irrigation has been variously estimated to be from 50,000,000 to 60,000,000 acres, which, made productive, will sustain a population of from twenty to 25,000,000 people. Rapid progress in every locality cannot be expected. The work is bt'ing prosecuted in thirteen States and three Territories. The reclamation fund will be reimbursed in course of time by the settler for every dollar expended, reimbursement consisting in the price of the land to which the settler acquires title and in the cost of improvements which shall be assessed to him. No returns can be expected for some years to come, and under the ten-year instalment plan, the reimbursement will be slow. After ten years, the returns will be very large and they may be reinvested in new improvements. In the meantime the aid of the government should be invoked.” Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico were equally anxious about the building of a dam for storing the flood waters of the Rio Grande. Texas and Mexico advocated the construction of a dam at El Paso, and the Federal govenment engineers have approved the plan of New Mexico for a dam at Elephant Butte. The Elephant Butte site was selected, and work will probably be begun soon. The new dam will serve to reclaim 190,000 acres of land in New Mexico, Texas and Mexico above and round El Paso.

At the recent meeting of the Twelfth National Irrigation congress, held at El Paso, Tex., under the presidency of Senator Clark, of Montana, a letter from President Roosevelt was read, as follows: “I wish it were possible for me to accept your kind invitation to the national congress to be held at EI Paso. I need not state to you the deep interest I feel in the cause of national irrigation. Irrigation is. in every fact, one of the means of national expansion which is most effective.” President Diaz, of Mexico, also wrote a letter of regret. In his report President Clark said in part: "The Department of the Interior has withdrawn from entry 43,5004x10 acres, of which some 3,500,000 acres have been found to be inapplicable, and have been restored to the public domain. The total amount of land available for irrigation has been variously estimated to be from 50,000,000 to 60,000,000 acres, which, made productive, will sustain a population of from twenty to 25,000,000 people. Rapid progress in every locality cannot be expected. The work is bt'ing prosecuted in thirteen States and three Territories. The reclamation fund will be reimbursed in course of time by the settler for every dollar expended, reimbursement consisting in the price of the land to which the settler acquires title and in the cost of improvements which shall be assessed to him. No returns can be expected for some years to come, and under the ten-year instalment plan, the reimbursement will be slow. After ten years, the returns will be very large and they may be reinvested in new improvements. In the meantime the aid of the government should be invoked.” Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico were equally anxious about the building of a dam for storing the flood waters of the Rio Grande. Texas and Mexico advocated the construction of a dam at El Paso, and the Federal govenment engineers have approved the plan of New Mexico for a dam at Elephant Butte. The Elephant Butte site was selected, and work will probably be begun soon. The new dam will serve to reclaim 190,000 acres of land in New Mexico, Texas and Mexico above and round El Paso.