The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1891-10-22
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
How Irrigation Is Rendering Thousands
Of Acres Fruitful.
spmethIng About the mig Ditch and
the Lands 10 win WateF..wOns
deFful Productions Of the
Volcanic Ash soll.

ANlLA O0ulBuAyR uuI NUtaAACA AAOAl Awful
Yakima, where he has been for the past
few weeks on business. wilhelm Yakima
Mr.. Meade spent three days in the Matches
and selah valleys, inspecting the Selah
valley ditch and lands owned by the
ditch company. Tho Selah Valley
Ditch Company, Of which John A. Stone
is president, began the construction Of an
irrigation ditch, says Mr.. Meade, in the
spring Of 1890, for the purpose Of
watering and bringing under cultivation
the arid lands Of the Natchez and Selah
valleys. The ditch which is now COM
pleted Is supplied with water taken from
the Natchez River, appropriating there
from 800 cubic inches Of water per second,
sufficient to irrigate 80 900 acres Of land.
The main ditch is % miles in length, and
sufficient capacity to convey all the
water appropriated, II required, but as
there is only about 5000 acres under
the ditch upon which water can be
conveyed, you can easily see that the
fortunate owners Of q tract Of this land
will never want for water, and it will be-
come more apparent when you take into
consideration the fact that at no point
above the sorce Of Mr.. stones ditch can
water be taken from the Natchez river,
owing to the natural surface Of the
ground.
In answer to the question rs to the
nature of this soil and its productive
Qualities under water, Mr.. Meade saws
the soil is volcanic ash from Is to 100 feet
in depth, easily cultivated and entirely
free from stone or gravel, except along
the river bed. In its natural state the
ground is covered with sage brush,
which is easily cleared from the land
and 90 far as value is concerned, the land
Is not worth even the government price.
without irrigation, but when watered, is
worth from $50 to 800 per acre. Mr..
Stone intends to subdiyide his lands into
4O-acre tracts, and has now at work n force
Of engineers accomplishing this work.
which done, he will dispose Of the same,
having already numerous apulications
The purchaser obtains, in addition to
title to his land, a perpetual right Of Ms
ing sufficient water for IRRIGATION purposes
from the ditch.
Along the Natchez river and extending
back from one to five miles to the banks
Of the Selah Valley Ditch Company. are
beautiful farms Of 20 TO 100 acres ali under
cultivation, most Of them for the last 70
Year,, and with no apparent loss of soil in
fact, one Of the farmers asserted that his
land produced better crops each succeed.
ing year Of cultivation, without fertlizinR.
which he attributes to irrigation. as he
thinks natcral rain fall carries awav more
or less of the fertility of the soil. One has
only to visit these farms to learn what
can be produced from these lands. in the
shane Of cereals, vegetables. fruits. hons.
hay. etc., and from observation I beljeve
that the Natchez and selah valleva will
in the very near future bacome "A lannon's
AZ the Puyallup. White and stuck liver
valleys are, in point Of productiyeness
There are no special crops raised but
everything outside of tropical fruits. from
peanuts to hons. IA grown in abundance
Among the MANY thrifty farmers In the
Natchez valley. ia Mr.. Hugh Sinclair
who has 100 acres under cpl,ivstion fron,
which he duo this season pota,oes vield.