The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-08-31
Correspondence of The Journal.

they are so much like him; that 1s the
Canadians are. You will find here,
can within the Anglo-saxon race. viz.
the English swell. This little city has
more than its share of remittance
men-Britishers who draw incomes
from home. Here may be seen that
absurd spectacle of Britton wearing
a sombrero and riding an Indian pony,
yet sdisfiguring his face with a
monocle. Calgary is the capital of
the Canadian cattle country, and the
sons of English gentlemen find cattle
raising on these wide ranges more to
their liking than the monotonous life
of cultivating farm.
In high contrast with the cattle
punching EngllShman who wears
monocle are the plain farmers from
the states. For some reason or other
Alberta has been a favorite district
with them. Between here and Ed
monitor, 200 miles to the north, you
can hardly ride thru the country with
out finding every second farmer an
American. They already exert pro-
nounced influence.
us that a telegraph line?" I asked
of a fellow traveller, pointing to a line
Of bright new spruce poles, still un-
been following all day long from CAL
gary to Edmonton.
'No--long distance telephone line"
he replied It's a white elephant,
too-the work of those Americans.
Those fellows can get up a boom If
anybody can. They came in here
and set up such an agitation for long
distance line that the Bell company
thought it must build one. Now it
wishes it hadn't"
Americans Like Alberta.
said the Americans come into AL
berta for some reason or other. l
think I know the reason. Northern
Alberta is a country of plentiful rain
fall The result is that the grass Is
long and green. Groves are frequent
and lakes and streams not uncommon.
The aspect of the country is not great
ly unlike that of parts Of Minnesota,
Wisconsin and Illinois.
Americans from those states who
are intent on general farming rather
than wheat raising find this a very at
tractive region. Southern Alberta at
tracts the cattle men-the range cat
tie men and the farmer who goes in
much moisture in southern Alberta
for the last few years that they had
begun to count irrigation a luxury
rather than a necessity. This year
they got good dose of sunshine, and
irrigation IS popular again, but the
dry season found the irrigation bitches
unprepared to do their work. Besides
many farmers had located out of
reach of the bitches. So irrigation Is
Calgary and Irrigation.
Calgary seeks it's future growth and
prosperity in irrigation. AS the citi-
pnns Of IF this pe itnay P shf Wg
they see visions Of their handsome lit
tie city Of 10, 900 growing into a west
ern metropolis Denver, say, of 50,-
900 or $4,000 inhabitants If. this
were in the United States instead of
Canada, the papers and magazines
would be full Of 1t. It is the greatest
irrigation project now being worked
out in the two Americas and yet we
hear but little Of it.
1t is proposed to redeem tract OF
100000 acres, extending from CAL
gary $50 miles east. Water Is to be
turned on to 100000 acres and the
rest Is to be attached to the irrigated
part for cattle pasture. AS the irri-
cation will insure water for the cattle
and abundant winter feed, redeeming
half Of the land really redeen1s it all.
The work is divided into three sec
tons. Great progress Is being made
on the first section. The plans for
this section call for twenty miles Of
main canal, sixty feet wide at the
bottom and carrying ten feet of wa
ter; 115 miles Of secondary bitches
and 800 miles Of distributing bitches.
The land actually irrigated in this
section will be 100000 acres. There
will be 10000 acres of tributary pas
ture land.
Five Million Dollars Involved in All.
If the first section is a success, as
1t undoubtedly will be, work will con-
tinue till the entire plan is carried
out. The total expense will exceed
100000. The land is to be sold
with the water right at $40 an acre.
The water rental will be so cents q
year an acre This is said to be only
half the cost Of the cheapest irrigated
land In the western states None OF
the land is to be sold until it is I'M
der ditch, except that certain con-
cessions have been granted to con-
densed milk and evaporated cream
factory, and a company Of Ameri.
can capitalists that is planning to put
a 700-ton beet-sugar mill. The milk
company is under contract to colon
ize 1900 acres and furnish the
farmers with a market for their milk
The sugar company is bound to put
800 beet-cultivating farmers on the
land granted to it. The company is
planning to erect a factory at a cost
of 100000 by Sept. /, 1906.
When the whole tract Is redeemed
it will support 100000 persons. The
water is taken from the Bow river
and 700 men, 800 teams four steam
scrapers and ten elevating graders are
at work on a big cash in the earth.
Dennis and Mead Enthusiastic.
This work is In charge of j. S. Den
mis-, one of the greatest irrigation ex-
perts, who is also in general execu-
tive charge of Canadian Pacific af-
fairs in this part of the country Mr.
Dennis is enthusiastic over the great
undertaking. The soil of the land
that is to be watered is as good, he
says, as can be found anywhere. The
wild-grass ranges of southern Alberta
are far better, he says, than were the
ranges of Montana, Wyoming and
Texas in their palmiest days. He has
recently had Elwood Mead, who is al
the head of the United States federal
irrigation work, out to inspect the
work and the country to be irrigated
vorable report His Endorsement OF
the project and the favorable com
parison he makes between it and some
of the existing irrigation works in the
states removes the last doubts as tc
whether this great undertaking will
be a success.
Perhaps you think the day of the
prairie schooner is gone. Well, hard
ly. The white-topped wagons MAJ
still be seen out here. Many of the
American immigrants into this coun.
try prefer to come by the wagon route