The record-union., 1898-08-30
NEEDS DEVELOPMENT.
HOW THE DESERT COULD BE
MADE TO BLOSSOM.
What Irrigation Would Do For
Large Section of
Country.


complete irrigation system in the
foothills and on the plains Every
where we hear of wells and springs
falling, streams running dry, gardens
ana orchards whitening, cattle suffer
ing, all for lack of the waters that ran
to waste during the rainy season. AS
one rides over the dry plains, and views
the dreary and apparently barren
stretches of wheat fields and pasture
lands, the door-yards crisp and brown,
and devoid of flower or grass plat, or
chards, vineyards and gardens minus,
he cannot but think of the change that
could be made by the application OF
water. A complete system Of irriga-
ton would not only beautify the plains
and foothills, but would enhance the
value of the land, increase the produc-
ton, and sustain a much larger pop
ulation in ease and plenty, where 1t
now yields precarious livelihood to
a few scattered inhabitants.
l have it from reliable authority that
thousands of acres are annually rented
to sheep men for sheep pasture on the
plains above Gait, at rental of %
| cents per acre. This income puts the
value of the land, reckoning money at
legal rate per cent, at less than four
dollars per acre. Now, in the foothills
we value land that can be irrigated by
water at reasonable rates at fifty dol
| lars per acre, while grain land, improve
| ments aside, is held at about ten dol
lars. One acre of land on the plains,
now pastured by sheep if sown in al
falfa and irrigated, would yield four
tons Of hay during the season This, if
valued at four dollars per ton net.
which valuation is below the normal,
makes the land worth by the same
| reckoning, over two hundred dollars
per acre. Wheat land will hardly net
more than six dollars per acre. Forty
acres of alfalfa land will yield one
hundred and sixty tons Of hay, worth
| six hundred and forty dollars, clear Of
the expense of production. One hun
dred acres of land in wheat, with one
hundred other acres in fallow, will
give a return Of six hundred dollars
net. By these illustrations we see
that forty acres with water will net a
larger income than two hundred acres
Of wheat land will.
Let US consider an ideal farm Of sixty
acres of land. Let twenty-five acres
be irrigated; or, if we will have twenty
in alfalfa, five in orchard, vineyard
and garden, houseyard, etc, twenty
in grain and the rest in pasture. The
occupant of the sixty-acre farm will
make more money, live more content
ed, enjoy life better, cultivate his farm
more thoroughly, and take more pride
in it than the two hundred-acr wheat
farm man. The wheat farm man will
be sweltering on his dry ranch, living
in constant terror lest a spark Of lire
kindle and consume his entire accuIn-
ulations The man on the irrigatt q
farm, his house and barns surrounded
by shady orchards and green fields,
fears no fire from the outside Of his
farm, but rests contented under his
own vine and fig tree.
If water on land only increased its
value one hundred per cent, would not
that fact alone create demand for
water 1 have been told that business
men have offered to take sufficient
water TO irrigate seven thousand acres
Of land forsthree years at two dollars
and fifty cents per acre. There is de-
mand for water and money waiting fer
any company or concern that will store
up the water and supply it to the
thirsty plains.
l have said nothing in regard to the
sugar beet industry that has been en-
gaging the attention Of our people late
ly. Let a system of irrigation be per-
fected and the beets can and will be
raised, for people will raise whatever
they can that will pay the best. I'M
cation means beets and beets mean
sugar factory and great and paying
enterprise.
I have endeavored to show the cen
dition Of things as they are, and as
they might be If capital could be IN
duced to venture into the thing. Inc
question may be asked: Is it possible
to change all this. Can water be had
to make the desert" or more properly
speaking, the plains blossom as the
rose to start the wheels of new IN
dustries," ETC.; or, in plain English.
can the water be gotten and taken TO
the plains? 1t can.
Years ago the Michigan Bar Water
and Mining Company obtained the h1st
right to a certain quantity OF water
flowing down the Costumes River
They built dam and dug system
Of bitches, one Of which was for the
purpose of supplying water to the El!ls
near Michigan Bar for mining pur-
poses. This water system cost them
three hundred thousand dollars, for
which expenditure they We're remurer-
ated by years of mining.
About ten years ago this company
dug a ditch twenty-six miles long, at a
cost of $23, 900, with a carrying capacity
of $500 inches, leading the water
from their mining ditch at Hilltop to
the plains near Calf for irrigation pur-
poses They We're under contract to
supply water to parties near Gait for
three years. But unfortunately for the
company, the season proved to be a
dry one and the company could not
fill its contracts, SO they were rescind-
ed The company has been unable to
perfect their water system for the rea-
son that they had not the capital for
the enterprise, and have failed to en-
list outside capital The ditch to Gait
is still under their control and they
possess a franchise to enlarge the ca
pacity to 5000 inches. Although the
river has failed and will fail in dry sea-
sons to supply the necessary water for
a large irrigation system, nature has
made it possible to supplement the riv-
er supply by building a reservoir on
the creek running west from Plymouth
crossed by the company's ditch This is
an ideal site and can be perfected into
a reservoir of immense capacity, at
small cost. A dam 100 feet long at the
bottom, $50 at the top, and 115 feet
high would make a reservoir that
would hold over three billions Of gal
Ions. This reservoir could be supplied
with water by a ditch from the river
above, and would hold enough water to