The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-09-14
OUT OF THE. DESERT,

OUT OF THE. DESERT,
 Titanic Scheme of Reclaiming Arid Lands.
 The greatest engineering work yet at tempted in this country for the recla-
 nation os arid lands is being pushed
 rapidly to completion in Idaho, where m
 the valley of the Snake river in Cassla
 and Lincoln counties. sixty thousand
 acres have been thrown open for settle
 ment. a -;..
 | This Titanic scheme of reclamation is | known as the Twin Falls Canal The
 waters of the Snake river are to be lit" ed thirty eight feet, and through one hundred miles of main canal and. one I thousand miles of laterals spread over seven hundred square miles of desert.
 By this enterprise the most redundant and certain sources of agricultural wealth in Idaho, which have long lain dormant. will be developed quickly by a system of artificial water using, the
 same as that which prevailed centuries
 ago in Egypt, with results which aston-
 ish the world. w.s'sE s@ss-s a,.R The magic kiss of water will change a
 region in which to-day the sage brush
 struggles for existence in the midst of waste of sand to fields of ripening grain
 and blossoming orchards.
 Under the provisions of the Carey act two hundred and forty-eight thousand
 acres Of land from the public domain
 lraye been segregated and will ultimate , ly be brought under irrigation by this . system. According to the terms cs the , contract with the state and national : governments the canal on the south side of the river will be sixty-fiye miles long, sl ninety feet wide on thebottom at the , head, gradually narrowing to fifteen feet at the lower end. Ii will have 2
 grade of one foot in five thousand, Will
 carry water nine feet in depth and have a 2 capacity of three thousoni second
 feet. The canal on the north side vii :. be twenty feet long, twenty-five feet a wide on the bottom at the head, gradu' . aliy narrowing to ten feet at the lower k end. It will have grade of two feet tc i, the mile. and carry five and five-terth' n feet of water at the head. It will have f a capacity of four hundred second feet I The cost of dam, canals and a complete lateral SYStGI1l IS pidSSd HAt Pt'pO"tSNS'
 V The actual construction work on th f I,nain canal began several months ago = and now this region is the scene if wonderful activity. Sub-contraetor d are at work on the canal at intervals o IT one mile apart, beginning near the tow ,, of Milner and extending clear to th
 flower terminus of the canals. Tn
 camp of each sub-contractor is smal :. town of tents in itself. From hig .s lpoint near the head can be seen Whit ,,, streak of sand in an almost unbrokel n chain, marking the immense banks ,a the canal that have already bee , thrown up, and in the day time clou " of dust hangs over the heads of tn v workmen % @s-. '>- l. The site selected for the dams, wher r. the town of Milner is now located, l l. particularly well adapted for the pun a nose. as well from the elevation of tn " lava walls along the banks which per n init the raising of the, water the re ,e cuired height as from the fact that IS .h Hands in the channel of the river furnts m natural abutments to support the dam m The dam will be in, all nine hundre ot feet long and sixty-four feet high, an rs will be divided into three sections, in dams, connecting these islands. MOI te than one thousand miles of excavation in will be required to complete the work to The first opening of the lands unds -lthis system was set for July l, whe d. some sixty thousand acres were offere ct for ale. Not more than one hundre D. and sixty acres will be disposed of d. any one person, and tracts less tha 1g this can be had in any quantity, thoug a. Inc one is expected to purchase less tha <" twenty acres. The uniform price to he maid the state for the land is fifty cen r. her acre, twenty-five cents upon appl l." cation for the same and the balance { of the land, the same and the balance ar on time after one years residence on u oh land. of which the settler must cult nd vate one-sixteenth the first year al he lone-sixteenth the second year.. No al as nual charge is made except for the WI s. fer actually used. Besides this pa; & ment to the state water right must
 purchased from the canal compan
 which costs twenty-five dollars p- acre. with three dollars per acre cas ire and first payments on making contra' cir and partial payments covering peril he of seven years. When the twenty-fi of dollars is paid the purchaser not or 1s owns his land, but also a perpetual he ter right. After the settlers have pa le- one-half the purchase price they are en have sole control of the water canal ,n- This is the first attempt on lar of scale by western state to induce st lth clement in an arid region, and it is I ma ing watched with interest. If the six ng thousand acres are taken it will mean ion very substantial addition to ldal ie- Should success follow settlers on tn nip irrigated lands it will be but a sht art time until all the land that can be ir ert gated will be taken.
 er- According to the report of the cens ies office for 1900 the average irrigat of farm contains forty acres The av' iall age value per acre, of irrigated land
 Idaho is S31,25; the value of buildin