, 1890-05-22

Tho finest storchouso we have ia
our snow-clad mountains. Fort
Adams Is an everlasting storehouse.
Tho waters of tho Yakima and the
Tletan flow In there In ordinary
seasons, and without any stornge
whatever those would irrigato an
extremely large area OF county.
Experienco and observation show
me that for u wheat crop of forty To
fifty bushels Is fair average
on tho base of the Blue mountains.
You can get sixty bushels OF oats
hero on wcll.irrignted land, and
from go to rs bushels OF barley on
weli-irrlgated land, but there Ia
very little land In this vicinity that
is properly Irrigated. The Kittltas
valley IL well irrigated, and you
will lind mon talk Of 70, so and 100
bushels of barley, and truthfully 40,
BECAUSE they have the system cstab-
lished. On the indian reservation,
Just below US iiere, which must
shortly be opened, there are 30O,u
acres Of land that con be irrigated.
In tho extreme southeastern sec
ton, around Pasco, Walla Wnlla,
and east TO Lewiston, In Idaho,
there Is region already famous for
Its fine fruits and vegetables, In
which tho Use of irrigation adds
enormously to the value Of tho
land. 1t Is q region also Of accessl-
BILE and not very deep artesian
water, and IL illustrates, too, tho
rapid Increase of precipitation Mt
rising attitudes. The average
annual rainfall ut Walla Walla Is
given for five years past NJ IL
Inches; at Dayton, thirty miles
distant, IL reaches twenty-seven
inches. That is u rise OF less than
700 feet. 10 bo accurate, the height
above sea level ut Wulla Walla is
statek at 1000 feet ut Dayton, at
1875 feet. The differences of ten
inches, then, Is Mt the rate OF ono
third OF an inch per mile, or OF one
and one-third In every hundred
feet. The advantages Offered by
this region ARE testified to by some
state census figures, which show
that the proportion of settlement In
Washington during two yees has
been In favor of the section enst oil
the Cascade range. In 1887 there
were In Washington 4l4, 900 persons;
In 1889 the estimate made from the
county returns showed 2i0, 900. In
the western counties the total popu-
lation was 1i2,l32; In the eastern
counties 1t was O7, S6S, an excess for
the west of 4i,26i. The total in
crease for two years IL given as e5,-
DO1. or this, the region between
liz degrees and III degrees,
or East Washington, got Al ,20S,
while that west OF the Cascades got
~, ,0D3. This illustrates the ten
dency of population toward the
areas where agricultural security may
yet DO maintained by the will Of
man.
Oregon IL estimated TO have re-
ceived 100000 new settlers during
the same two years or less, OF whom
90, 900 at least have remained east OF
the one-hundred and twenty-iirst de-
gree OF west longitude. During the
past twelve fiscal years ending June
so, 1850, these two states show D
public land settlement Us foliowsi
Washington, 1885, 037. .03, and Ore.
gon, q, 140, $40. .05 acres, or total OF
10 485, ,477.Os acres. The amount
paid into the land offices during the
fiscal year of 1850 was for Oregon,
S35, ,332; and for Washington,
$50, ,53s, or S7i, $50; or n total of one
eighth of the receipts for the whole
arid region. Washington has made
natural waters public property by
constitutional provision.
The arid and subarid sections OF
Oregon are somewhat more extern
sive than the similar ones In Wash
ington. Their great feature " the
drainage basin OF the Columbia
river, In tho north, with It's extcn-
sive tributaries--tho Deschutes,
John Day, White and Powder
rlvers-and on the east the lower
valley of the Snake river, which
forms the western boundary llna of
I Idaho for two-thirds OF its length.
the Owyhee river and its branches.
| In the southwest the klamath
river and lakes form an extended
drainage basin In which large irri-
CATION operations have already conf
menced. Evidence taken mt The
Dalles, Baker City, and Caldwell
confirmed the extent of reclaim
able land, Of needed water
storage, and OF the need OF
capital as well as Of an extended
system of surveys, In order to bring
out the facts which are desirable In
order to prevent disastrous failures
and great waste of energy and In
dustry. As far as can be estimated
from the scattered facts presented,
Eastern Washington now has about
81, 900 acres under irrigation, while
the corresponding area OF Oregon
has about 100000 acres. In the lat
ter state there are about so, 600 acres
under ditch, but not yet cultivated.
IDAHO AND IRRIGATION PROGRESS.
The condition Of Idaho, as to the
photographic facts, the available
area for reclamation, the facilities
for artificial storage and the awak-
ened interest OF the people, was
found to be among the most salts.
factory of the communities visited
by your committee. a considerable
area To the north and to the west ol
the Sawtooth and Bitter Root
ranges Is considered in the terrltor,
as outside OF tho arid range. Thii
arie embraces the counties of Idaho
Latah, Nez Perces, kootenai anC
also included. Unquestionabiy
however, this section viii also b,
benefited and farming .pursuit
rendered more secure by water stor
age and distribution. The remain
der OF the territory embraces 80, ls3,
600 acres. OF which about 1000, 0O'
acres are estimated to be irrigabl
and arabic, fertile in soil and having
accessible storage capacity and al
available water supply.
IL n \