tion of more mills, the territory in which they are found going farther and farther west as the country is subdued for the growth of cereals.

There is no part of the state where dairying, carried on in connection with stock raising, cannot be carried on to great advantage, and this fact is manifesting itself in the increasing number of creameries that are being erected where a few years ago the stock raising interests were the only ones recognized.

The great quantities of straw that are annually consumed in the stack suggest the possibility of paper board mills and other manufacturing industries which, aided by cheap fuel, can utilize this material. The state consumes a considerable amount of the products manufactured from straw, which, on account of bulk and weight, are not cheaply transported. Foundries and factories to produce the implements used in such numbers by the agricultural interests of the state will be practical when the population increases sufficiently to furnish the necessary labor conditions.

The fact that even the smaller cities and towns of our state enjoy electric light and water works is due directly to the lignite. The benefits and luxuries of advanced civilization are extended very widely over the state by the abundance of cheap fuel.

Association of Lignite With Valuable Clays.-One of the greatest natural endowments of the state is the great deposits of valuable clays which are associated directly with lignite. At a number of points the clays which are stripped from the lignite or taken out incidentally in mining are made into high grade brick, the lignite furnishing the fuel used for all the manufacturing processes. Fire clays which stand the highest tests in ovens and smelters are made into brick which are shipped to St. Paul and Milwaukee on the east, and to Butte, Montana, on the west. This industry is as yet in its infancy, but it promises to expand rapidly.

The desirability of cheap and permanent building material and its importance in the development of the state is not to be over estimated. Nearly all the brick used in the state are now made, within its borders and the time will certainly come when North Dakota will become an exporter of high grade facing and fire brick.

Pottery clays are also present in great abundance, but as yet are undeveloped. They deserve the careful consideration of capitalists.

Sandstones which justify extensive development Occur in buttes which contain great deposits of lignite, and their availability has been pointed out in the chapter on mineral statistics.

IRRIGATION

There is a widespread interest throughout the country in plans for bringing to its full measure of productiveness the semiarid tract which extends north and south half way across the continent, east of the Rocky mountains, and of which North Dakota possesses a portion. The average rainfall of the western portion of the state is about eighteen inches, and very often it is distributed during the growing months so as to yield, in connection with the naturally fertile soil, magnificent harvests. Farming conditions, however, are rendered uncertain by a fluctuation in rainfall, and in order to insure crops annually irrigation should be fostered wherever it is practical. President Roosevelt, in his message of December 5, 1901, concisely stated the attitude of the general government toward this question:

"The pioneer settlers on the arid public domain chose their homes along streams from which they could divert the water to reclaim their holdings. Such opportunities are practically gone. There remain, however, vast areas of public land which can be made available for homestead settlement, but only by reservoirs and main-line canals impracticable for private enterprise. These irrigation works should be built up by the national government. The lands reclaimed by them should be reserved by the government for actual settlers, and the cost of construction should, so far as possible, be repaid by the land reclaimed. The distribution of the water, the division of the streams among irrigators, should be left to the settlers themselves, in conformity with the state laws and without interference with those laws or with vested rights. The policy of the national government should be to aid irrigation in the several states and territories in such manner as will enable the people in the local communities to help themselves, as will stimulate needed reforms in the state laws, and regulations governing irrigation.

"The necessary foundation has already been laid for the inauguration of the policy just described. It would be unwise to begin by doing too much, for a great deal will doubtless be learned, both as to what can and what cannot be safely attempted, by the early efforts, which must of necessity be partly experimental in character. At the very beginning the government should make clear, beyond shadow of doubt, its intention to pursue this policy on lines of the broadest public interest; but only in accordance with the advice of trained experts, after long investigation has shown the locality where all the conditions combine to make the work most needed and fraught with the greatest usefulness to the community as 2

199

whole. There should be no extravagance, and the believers in the need of irrigation will most benefit their cause by seeing to it that it is free from the least taint of excessive or reckless expenditure of the public moneys."

The sentiment voiced by the president found expression in congress in the passage of the "Act for the Reclamation of Arid Lands," one of the most valuable of legislative acts, which was brought to a successful issue in a large measure through the energy of the North Dakota members of congress. The interest of the public in this measure is so general that it is given below in full.

While little of the land of North Dakota is to be classed as arid, portions of the state need an artificial water supply in addition to the rainfall during certain years.

An Act appropriating the receipts from the sale and disposal of public lands in certain states and territories to the construction of irrigation works for the reclamation of arid lands.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. That all moneys received from the sale and disposal of Kansas. Montana, public lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, beginning with the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and one, including the surplus of fees and commissions in excess of allowances to registers and receivers and excepting the five per centum of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands in the above states set aside by law for educational and other purposes, shall be, and the same are hereby, reserved, set aside and appropriated as a special fund in the treasury to be known as the "reclamation fund," to be used in the examination and survey for the construction and maintenance of irrigation works for the storage, diversion and development of waters for the reclamation of arid and semiarid lands in the said states and territories, and for the payment of all other expenditures provided for in this act; Provided, That in case the receipts from the sale and disposal of lands referred to in this section are insufficient to meet the requirements for the support of the agricultural colleges in the several states and territories, under the act of August thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, entitled, "An act to apply a portion of the proceeds of the public lands to the more complete endowment and support of the colleges for the benefit of agriculture and mechanic arts, established under the provision of an act of congress approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two," the deficiency, if any, in the sum necessary for the support of the said colleges shall be provided for from any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

SEC. 2. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to make examinations and surveys for, and to locate and construct,

as herein provided, irrigation works for storage, diversion and development of waters, including artesian wells, and to report to congress at the beginning of each regular session as to the results of such examinations and surveys, giving estimates of cost of all contemplated works, the quantity and location of the lands which can be irrigated therefrom, and all facts relative to the practicability of each irrigation project; also the cost of works in process of construction as well as those which have been completed. SEC. 3. That the Secretary of the Interior shall before giving the public notice provided for in section 4 of this act withdraw from public entry the lands required for any irrigation works contemplated under the provisions of this act, and shall restore to the public entry any of the lands so withdrawn when, in his judgment, such lands are not required for the purposes of this act; and the secretary of the interior is hereby authorized, at or immediately prior to the time of beginning the surveys for any contemplated irrigation works, to withdraw from the entry, except under homestead laws, any public lands believed to be susceptible of irrigation from said works; Provided, That all lands entered and entries made under the homestead laws within areas so withdrawn during such withdrawal shall be subject to all the provisions, limitations, charges, terms and conditions of this act; that said survey shall be prosecuted diligently to completion, and upon the completion thereof, and of the necessary maps, plans and estimates of cost, the Secretary of the Interior shall determine whether or not said project is practicable and advisable, and if determined to be impracticable or unadvisable, he shall thereupon restore said lands to entry; that public lands which it is proposed to irrigate by means of any contemplated works shall be subject to entry only under the provisions of the homestead laws, in tracts of not less than forty nor more than one hundred and sixty acres, and shall be subject to the limitations, charges, terms and conditions herein provided; Provided, That the commutation provisions of the homestead laws shall not apply to entries made under this act.

SEC. 4. That upon the determination of the Secretary of the Interior that any irrigation project is practicable, he may cause to be let contracts for the construction of the same, in such portions or sections as it may be practicable to construct and complete as parts of the whole project, pro viding the necessary funds for such portions or sections are available in the reclamation fund, and thereupon he shall give public notice of the lands irrigable under such project and limit of area per entry, which limit shall represent the acreage which, in the opinion of the Secretary, may be reasonably required for the support of a family upon the lands in question; also of the charges which shall be made per acre upon the said entries, and upon lands in private ownership which may be irrigated by the waters of the said irrigation project, and the number of annual installments, not exceeding ten, in which such charges shall be paid and the time when such payments shall commence. The said charges shall be determined with a view of returning to the reclamation fund the estimated cost of construction of the project, and shall be apportioned equitably; Provided, That in all construction