Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1905-08-03
REC[A|M|NG ARID LANDS.
,.,---y -. 49,. ~

.' o.,
OF the Nsrthwestsss States. Ssne
Of the Great Projects st the
Gsvessa,eatAIsas lie N. F..
No single feature of the develop
ment of the Great Northwest the
states Of North Dakota, Montana.
Idaho, Washington and .Oregon-is
more significant of future great ness
than the work done during the l1st
decade 10 bringing the semt-arid land
under cultivation and in developing
methods BY which great areas are
made immensely productive.
Irrigated lands produce never fail
ing crops. The land and the water,
primary elements In crop production.
are known quantities ahd can be de-
pended upon. Adjacent to the prln-
cip4l areas of the Northwest in
which irrigation development is now
in prolgess are splendid home mark
cts waiting to take all that the lands
will produce.
The land to be brought under cul-
tivation thru the work of the United
States Reclamation service, the Or
ganization thru which the federal
government is carrying out the larg-
est scheme Of irrigation development
and Irrigation work yet attempted.
will be thrown open to settlement as
fast as the water is supplied, under
terms which from the standpoint of
the settler will be very reasonable,
The irrigation projects along. the
lines of the Northern Pacific railway
on which work will probably be. In
augurated during the present year by
the government reclamation service
are the Lower Yellowstone canal
which will irrigate 10000 acres IN
Montana and 10000 acres in North
Dakota, and several others of import
ance. The Yellowstone canal will
take water from the Yellowstone
river at point about thirteen miles
below Glendive, Mont. An associa-
tion Of the land owners under the
canal. has been formed as required by
the Reclamation service and.i is called
the Lower Yellowstone Water Users
Association. 1t is expected that all
of the necessary preliminary work
will be. completed within sixty days,
after which contracts for the con-
:struction Of. the canal will be
awarded. .'.-
In Washington the Reclamation
service is endeavor to remove the
obstacles in the way of the Washing
ton Coulee.project, which is to irri-
gate 100, 600 acres of land in the vi
cinity of Pasco. This is one of the
largest projects so far undertaken by
the Government and involves the
construction OF a large Dam across
the mouth Of Washtucna Coulee, for
the purpose of creating reservoir in
which to store the water of the
Palouse river. The principal OBJ
stacle lies in the fact that the coulee
is now occupied by the tracks. of the
Oregon Railway & Navigation Com
pany, branch lire connecting with
the Northern Pacific at Cannoll.
This branch must be moved to
higher land If the government en-
gineers 60 forward with their plans.
It is understood that good progress
is being made in the negotiations be-
tween the Reclamation service and
the Oregon Railway u Navigation
Company for the removal of the
branch. In all likelihood the work. of
constructing this irrigation project
will be commenced this year.
In addition to the project Of the
Reclamation service there area num-
Der of irrigation canals under con-
struction by private capital at differ
ent Northern Pacific points. At
Forsyth, Mont, the canal Of the
Rosebud Land g. Improvement com.
pany. irrigating $4,000 acres Mill be
completed and in operation this year.
The Billings Land b Irrigation com.
pany will also complete a. large
canal irrigating 10000 acres near
Billings. Mont. This company is
nov placing its lands upon the mar
ket. The construction Of large
sugar beet factory is now assured and
d large irrigated area has been
proven to be splendidly adapted to
the growing of sugar beets.
The Northern Pacific Railway has
made arrangements with the United
States Department Of Agriculture
and the State Experiment STATEN
of Montana for conducting q number
of experiments In dry land farming
this year tn eastern Montana. These
experiments will be started within a
short time and It Is confidently ex-
nocfad that the Il Fasll1tR wiII efnyx