THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume II, Issue 142, 30 July 1880, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.

Many millions of acres of land in the far West are almost entirely without value unless they can he irrigated by water supplied by artificial m-ans. The arid region of the United States embraces 000,000,000 acres, lying in the Territories of Arizona, Dakota. Idaho, Montana New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, the States of Colorado, Nevada, California, Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon, and Texas, and the Indian territory. Not 1 per cent, of this vast area has been sold. It has been ascertained, that about 200,000.000 acres are mountrinous land, upon which agriculture cannot be successfully carried on, even with an abundance of water Of the remainder, *200,000,000 a;res are lava lands, covered with cinders, Ac., lands without Soil or vegetation, and desert plains of driiting sand. On the greater part of the ;300,000,000 acres not included above valuable crops can be raised by the aid of watii*. By spreading the water of streams over the land while the crops arc growing several thousands of acres of this area have already been reclaimed, hut theso methods can be applied to not more than 15,000,000 acres. These remain 485,0:)!),000 acres which are novv used only for pasturage, and on which the vegetation i< so scanty that they are almost worthies. It has been shown that introduction of water is all that is needed to made the lands fertile. The Goverinent is asked to provid for the sinking of two artesian wells east of the Reeky Mountains, and th ee west of the Rocky Mountains, as an experimen towards! thesolu’ion of a great problem —the reclamation of what used to be described on maps us tW Great American Desert. ‘New York Times.’