The Poplar Standard

THE POPLAR STANDARD.

G. H. COULTER, Publisher

POPLAR, MONT.

AMERICA AND IRRIGATION.

Ours is the foremost country in the world in the reclamation of its arid land. To the untraveled easterner the extent of the irrigation of western lands under direct government supervision is unknown. The work of individual and corporate concerns raises the actual reclamation of arid land in the west to an enormous total acreage. Most of this work has been accomplished within the past decade, while each year the plans for still further pushing the conquests of artificial irrigation are extended, says the Pittsburg Gazette-Times. That the prestige in this important department of home building belongs to the United States is further demonstrated by a request recently submitted to the state department by the Australian government. Australia has several wide extended areas of arid land. The reclamation of much of this has been undertaken, but the first difficulty that confronted the government was a lack of expert knowledge of the actual work to be done and of the means used to secure the largest and surest returns on the money invested. In this dilemma Australia turned to the United States, where irrigation on the broadest lines has been ably demonstrated under government control.