THE MENTOR 1918.10.15, No. 165, Reclaiming the Desert LEARN ONE THING EVERY DAY OCTOBER 15 1918 SERIAL NO. 165 THE MENTOR RECLAIMING THE DESERT By C. J. BLANCHARD of the United States Reclamation Service DEPARTMENT OF VOLUME 6 SCIENCE NUMBER 17 TWENTY CENTS A COPY _Land and the Home-Coming Soldier_ To the great number of returning soldiers, land will offer the great and fundamental opportunity. The experience of wars points out the lesson that our service men, because of army life, with its openness and activity, will largely seek out-of-door vocations and occupations. This fact is accepted by the allied European nations. That is why their programs and policies of re-locating and readjustment emphasize the opportunities on the land for the returning soldier. The question then is, “What land can be made available for farm homes for our soldiers?” * * * * * We have millions of acres of undeveloped lands that can be made available for our home-coming soldiers. We have arid lands in the West; cut-over lands in the Northwest, the Lake States and the South; and also swamp lands in the Middle West and South, which can be made available through proper development. Much of this land can be made suitable for farm homes if properly handled. But it will require that each type of land be dealt with in its own particular fashion. The arid land will require water; the cut-over land will require clearing, and the swamp land must be drained. Without any of these aids, they remain largely “No Man’s Land.” The solution of these problems is no new thing. In the admirable achievement of the Reclamation Service in reclamation and drainage, we have abundant proof of what can be done. * * * * *