able system of canals and ditches, the water is to be distributed over the arid and subarid lands of the government to be sold to settlers at a price sufficient to pay for the improvements. About thirty projects have been set on foot, distributed through the public land states in accord with the statute, by which the allotments from the reclamation fund are required to be as near as practicable in proportion to the proceeds from the sale of the public lands in the respective states. The total sum already accumulated in the reclamation fund is $60,273,258.22, and of that all but $6,491,955.34 has been expended. It became very clear to congress at this last session, from the statements made by experts that these thirty projects could not be promptly completed with the balance remaining on hand or with funds likely to accrue in the near future. It was found, moreover, that there are many settlers who have been led into taking up lands with the hope and understanding of having water furnished in a short time, who are left in a most distressing condition."

Mr. Taft has recommended a project for issuing bonds on the assured earnings of the projects, the cash to be applied on the completion of the works and the relief of the homesteaders, but this measure will not recompense the man who was forced out by a too limited capital.

It is obvious, therefore, that the first thing to consider in looking over the land in a reclamation project, private or otherwise, is the question: will my capital hold out until water is delivered and the first crop sold? Many a homesteader has had to answer the question in the negative after wasting his labor and money in preparing land for the water that never came—or that came too late.

$1,000, another will fail with several

times that amount.

"The actual cost of an irrigated homestead under the Shoshone Project is, water right, building charge, $46 per acre, payable in ten annual installments, without interest; maintenance and operation charge, which until further notice is $1 per acre per annum; land office fee covering his homestead entry, from $6.50 for a forty acre farm to $8 for an 80 acre farm; commissioner's fee $3.50.

"He must pay the first installment of his building charge and operation and maintenance charge at the time of the filing. This is $5.60 per acre. The total charge for a forty acre farm would be about $230, for an eighty acre farm about $460 at the time of filing. In addition to this amount one should have sufficient funds to put up his house, barn, fence and well; purchase stock and implements and buy provisions to keep himself and stock until his crop could be secured. His house may cost him from $300 up according to his needs and desire. Fence will cost about $100 per mile. Of course where he has an adjoining neighbor this expense will be pro-rated. He should also have a cow and some chickens.

"There are settlers on the Shoshone Project who came in last year. in time to put in a crop which harvested for a forty acre farm upwards of $1,500 worth of produce. This is, I think, remarkable when it is considered that the ground had never been broken and was perfectly raw in every respect.

"A thing that helps materially on a new place is the family cow, chickens and a pig or two. There are settlers here who are making all of their expenses with a couple of cows and a small flock of chickens. They can from the first season raise practically everything they use on the home table from their garden; all kinds of vegetables do splendidly here and they can easily store away in their cellars an ample winter supply. This may be considered by many "small farming' and does not appeal to the man who has been accustomed to raising grain on a large scale, but it is undoubtedly the kind of farming that pays. It requires work-and lots of it, but I do not think that there is any business that offers so sure a reward for one's efforts, and the main thing is that they are building homes where their families may be raised in comfort.

"There is no question but that the

man who has successfully farmed in a district where rainfall was depended upon can make a success in an irrigated section. There are many here who have never had experience in farming and who are making good, and the man with a business training seems to do as well as the old-line farmer."

In many respects this statement applies to most of the irrigation projects, though in each locality there will be various factors which will lessen the cost of some items and increase the cost of others. For instance the price of the settler's home and his fencing would be considerably less in the Northwest. From Klamath Falls, Oregon, comes the report that lumber and other materials used for home building are cheap and abundant, rough pine and fir lumber ranging in price from $12 to $14 per thousand while cedar and juniper posts for fencing cost only ten or fifteen cents each. On

the other hand the item of home building would be proportionately greater in the Southwest where all the building materials would be subject to heavy freight charges.

The cost of clearing the land varies in the same way. On some of the projects the land is practically ready to be ploughed and leveled, on others it is covered with sage brush which can be cleared by hitching a team to each end of a heavy railroad rail which is dragged broadside across the country and snaps off the brush close to the ground. This work will cost from $2 to $10 per acre. On still other reclamation projects the land has to be cleared of mesquite or cottonwood, and the stumps extracted. Such work is more expensive, ranging from $10 to $35 per acre. The higher price applies to land that is very heavily wooded, where much grubbing of stumps has to be done. This expenditure brings partial return in many cases, however, as the wood thus obtained may be cut and marketed at from $3.50 to $5.50 per cord.

a

In considering the improvement of his property the price of labor must be taken into consideration and while the high wages for skilled labor sometimes are

IN THE HEART OF THE "DESERT." Rancher's home on the Gila River, Arizona.

a benefit to the settler, who may be able to earn good wages while waiting for water to be delivered to his dry acres, they are a heavy item of expense for the rancher who has to have his work done.

A statement from Arizona which is fairly typical of the West, gives wages for carpenters as from $4.50 to $5.00 per day, masons and brick layers from $6 to $8 per day, farm hands, common laborers and teamsters $1.25 to $2.00 per day. In fact it is often possible for a prospective homesteader to go into a newly settled section and hire out at good wages, meanwhile keeping his eyes open for a good chance to invest his savings advantageously. In this way he will be

come familiar with the conditions before he ties himself down to any particular piece of ground.

There are plenty of authentic stories which illustrate the point that in the West a man can carve out a fortune with his hands, if he does not insist on keeping them in kid gloves. Here is one for which I am indebted to Mr. C. J. Blanchard, statistician of the United States Reclamation Service:

Robert McCormick, formerly a lumber-jack at Blue - Earth, Minnesota,

landed in Zillah, Oregon, ten years ago with just seventy-five cents in his pocket. For two years he worked as laborer and teamster, and then with his savings made the first payment on twenty-five acres under the Government's canal. It was raw land then, covered with sagebrush. Today it is all in cultivation, and his little farm is bringing him in each year $2,000 above all expenses. Last year he picked 780 boxes of apples from one and one-quarter acres. He has refused $1.25 per box or $975 for his crops which indicates a yield of $780 per acre. It will be noticed in this simple little narrative how two vital words stick out, "work" and "savings," in fact they might

be called the plot of the story. It should also be observed that the "lumber-jack" is a man who takes things as he finds them, expects rough living and no. consideration nor favors.

The state of Washington extends an invitation to men like our "lumber-jack" in a booklet issued by the Commercial Club of Odessa.

"While Washington affords opportunities for all who may come, only those who are capable of aiding in the development of the country and making it contribute to their own maintenance and that of others ought to immigrate to it. They are the only persons to be benefited by so doing. The indolent and the helpless will be better off to remain where they are, as they do themselves and the country they locate in, a positive injury by coming to it. But who are those that are capable of assisting in the development of the country? They are such as will bring money into it and use the same in opening up its resources or such as

will apply their hands or talent to accomplish that end. The advantage of this state is that all the ground is not occupied and the newcomer may find room to go to work with the certainty of reaping a rich reward for his intelligently directed industry."

It is a long jump from Washington to New Mexico but the same sort of settlers are required to meet the conditions there. The testimonials from homesteaders often throw an interesting side light on the character of the "winners" of the West. Here is one that has a bit of humor which brightens the story of hard work, privation and ultimate suc

cess.

"I came here sixteen years ago with a wagon, a team of crippled mules and a sick wife. Now the wagon is worn out, the mules are still crippled, but the wife is strong and healthy. Hope, N. M., is the place for me."

The writer goes on to say that he now has 2,600 acres of land in Eddy Co.,