. The fertile lands of Colorado and northern New Mexico .. . elf aplace which will pay twice the profits that the Eastern farm is paying. Hecan live just as well as he lives on his profits as a renter, and be independentin ten years or less. Irrigation Is Not Hard Work An argument against irrigation farming often brought forward (by peoplewho have rainfall land to sell) is that irrigation is very hard work, and thatit is very hard for a new man to learn to irrigate. Both these statements areabsurdly false. The science of irrigation has greatly developed in the lastten years. The days when a fa
. The fertile lands of Colorado and northern New Mexico .. . elf aplace which will pay twice the profits that the Eastern farm is paying. Hecan live just as well as he lives on his profits as a renter, and be independentin ten years or less. Irrigation Is Not Hard Work An argument against irrigation farming often brought forward (by peoplewho have rainfall land to sell) is that irrigation is very hard work, and thatit is very hard for a new man to learn to irrigate. Both these statements areabsurdly false. The science of irrigation has greatly developed in the lastten years. The days when a farmer slopped about in hip boots with an enor-mous head of water are mostly past. The irrigation farmer now prepares hisland before the water comes, keeps it moving steadily and evenly over theland, and often keeps on with his work of cultivating other crops while thewater is flowing. The amount of time that irrigation takes is about one-third the timethat the rainfall farmer loses by rains when he ought to be working, and by 8 THE FERTILE LANDS OF COLORADO. Irrigating a recently planted Orchard in the Canon City District bad roads when he wants to haul his stuff. The crops by irrigation (accord-ing to the United States Government) average a little more than fifty percent, more than the crops by rainfall. Following are the census figures: United States Irrigatedat Large Lands Barley, bushels Oats, bushels Wheat, bushels Potatoes, bushels Hay, tons Irrigating Water Rights The success of farming depends upon irrigation. In very few parts of thestate is there enough natural rainfall most years to insure success with morethan a very narrow range of products. Experience year by year is demon-strating that too much water has been used in the past, and less irrigationand more cultivation is the watchword that has produced the best and highestquality crops. Nevertheless, the irrigation farmer must have water whenhe needs it, all summer
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