The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-01-10
rather havo Ave acFsA oil land with irriga-
tiof than twenty AcraA without N. We
hOpa and exuoCb III the vary ugRr future 10

rather have Ave acres Of land with isrige-
this ditch much moro than III Id.
In addition to tho cRnala above named.
there Are tn Custer county several private
snterprisos ~ considerable magnitude.
Tho arm Of Hubbard Y Thsmpaon, On tho
Rosebud, In the southern part q The
county, has about thirty milsa Of main and
lateral canals. What the 1ost Of oonstrue-
tion Ii. I am not able TO d0finitsly state,
but N was certainly vary large. The water
~ applied largely 70 tho purpose OF growing
Alfalfa nay for We winter feeding Of im-
rssiasns m.mbsr Il the firm. ss ays t ti,e
Yield Of alfalfa hay averages from four 10
five tons Of hay the season.
believe this firm To possess the largest
private plant Of the kind In the state. The
firm OF Houes. Strewsll 4 Milea, another
private entetpriae, has 4 cansl and ~laterala
Of about twelve miles In length, with three
quite expensive daras. This water is de-
voted to irrigatinR alfalfa hay lands and To
this supplying Of pasture lands.
1 believe that one zero Of irrigated land
10 Of moro value for pasture, TO speak noth-
Ing Of hay. than hfteen ncres without irri-
cation.
There may be Other irriRatinR enterprises
OF = private nature In Custer county with
which I am not familiar and hence not able
to speak. doubt not there are such, but
tho data concerning them | have not bssn
able to obtain.
what the mama was TO the 1sraslites in tho
wilderness, life and health with II, but star
vation without II.
Deer Lodge reported through g. x. Hsr-
denbrooks. There AGO bitches with q total
lsnRth Of 78b miles. Tho capacity il $1,000
cultivation $500, not cultivated BAH, COO. An
estimate OF the fvatsr flowing into the
county il not less than 10000 inches. There
Is an abundant supply OF IL can all be mads
available. No long bitches Or expensive
canals are required. Reservoirs are needed
IN tho mountains.
Dawson had very little 70 report in the
way Of practical irrigation. There are
10000 DOC acree Of land susceptible Of iEriga-
ti0n and for which there Ia u bountifnl sup
ply Of water. The only question il to get
money to get the water from the streams on
TO tho bench lands.
andsr ditch. The main bitches are "a
miles in length, costing about $3.50 Dor
mile. The bitches cover bottom lands.
There are IL COO acres taken up which are
not yet irrigated and 100000 acres Of irri-
gable land which could be made produc-
tive. The remainder Of the acreage is billy
hAA A0uAun1IOuS hLA OuA1 NJ lOE kEAAi1k
parposes. Ihe principal streams are ths
Judith liver, Wolf creek, Big Spring creek,
and Flat Willow. Two sites for reservoirs
have been selected by the government on
this Judith river which are situated in the
right places to cover large tracts OF land
not yet irrigated.
Gallatin county. Every drop Of water is
utilized IN the small farm ditches. None
Of the waters from the small creeks are
taken into the large canals. There ID one
reservoir NJ, the Bozeman canyon with Q
dam twenty two feet high which supplies
winter for the high side hill land.
w. O. Child reported for Lewis and
county embraced in the Little Priekly Pear
valley. There IL ample water if it il taken
oare of and handled rightly which can be
be done by storage basins. From about
May Is until the latter part of July there
are not less than 10000 inches OF water
measurement. Mr.. Child also read a
lengthy report from w. A. Haven concern
ing a natural storage basin near his ranch
which could not be utilized owing to the
manner in which the Montana Central rail-
way has used part of it for its line. He
gave some figures regarding experiments in
this county with the growing. Of sugar
bssts, tho results Of which have been pub
in most OF the newspapers of the state.
Meagher county has 1888 farms according
to the assessors figures of this year. mono
Of which are less than 160 acres, and many
larger, the average being about 500 acres.
All require irrigation. There are three
large valleys in the county, the Missouri.
forty miles long and four miles wide with
1922 400 acras; the Smith river valley. be-
tween thirty and forty miles long. the Mus
selshell valley, about sixty miles long, a
total of 3o0,400 acres. There are 1858, 400
acres of arid lands. There are sites for
raucryniro in Aach va11ov% T4..H-r -l-- al
Missoula has plenty Of water and the soil
very fertile. MIR. Faulds made an excellent
report for the county and particularly for
the famou Bitter Root valley. Some sugar
beets had been raise, but no could not give
the results. He was glad to state to the
Lodge county, was at she head of q corpor,
alton which would construct q sugar beet
refinery at Missoula.
Other counties made reports, most OF
them being general in their nature. Tile
chairman Of each county delegation will
furnish q written report on the irrigation
situation. These reports will be i%ncotpor-
ated in the printed proceedings of the con-
v%entiOn.
After she counties had all reported Hon.
w. A. Clark offered a resolution asking the
representatives Of Montana in congress to
ask for liberal appropriation to bo expended
in artcsian we'll projects. Tho resolution,
Aao Nto tAokpOA4 AhhS GAuu tAo 1AOlACy kE
expended on actual work and not undar the
direction of Major Powell or in theorizing.
j. w. Wade, of Lewis and Clarke. sent up
a resolution which wns also adopted, asking
liberal appropriations for the survey of the
public lands in Montana. Other resolu-
tions were also adopted endorsing the
state weather service under the direction of
b. G.. Glass, Of Helena; thanking the pre-.
sidingsoficers, secretary and others, and
tbs railroads for reduced fares.
The following were appointed on the
Legislative committee: w. II. Sutherlin,
Mehgher; Joseph A. Browne, Beaverhead
=. G. Ingersoll. Cascade; j. w. Strevell,
Custer: Flannery, Gallatin. This commit
tee is authorized to prepare and present tc
tbs next legislature such bills as may tend
to encourage the construction of canals and
reservoirs for irriRnting purposes. The
committee will also take charge of such
matters AZ are contained in Donald Brad
ford's resolution introduced ths first day,
concerning q state board of irrigation.
Fl. Z. Rolfe, Of Great Falls. suggested 4
committee of sixteen to permanently or
ganize the convention and hold annual
meetings. The following compose tht
committees: W. B. S. Higgins, Custer; Geo
McGomb, Dawson; G. X. H~ardenbtooke
Deer Lodge; 81 s. Hobson, Fergus; J. w.
Colwell, Gallatin; w. G. Child, Levi,
and Clarke: Henry WAllin. Maauher. A "a