The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1905-10-25

as upon the uplands, but in Upper kla-
math lake nature has not only proyid-
| ed an ample reservoir and all the wa
! ter that can possibly be needed, but has
! formed the topography so as to make
| its use simple and convenient The
| main canal which viii distribute the
water throughout the west part of the
| klamath basin, viii be forty miles
/ long. with fifty miles of latcrals and
waste canals. 1t will have a slope of
/ one foot to the mile. In order to reach
parallel valleys tunnels are being bored
through intervening ridges. The east
! side of klamath valley will be sup
! piled with water from Clear lake,
which will be made reservoir large
enough to receive and store the drain
age of a large area. \ third reservoir
will be built in what is known as
Horsefy valley to supply land that is
slightly higher than Clear lake.
Mr. Lppincott and Mr.; Humphreys
the engineers in charge. tell me that
they have found no diff ult engineer
| ing problems. Nature has done almost
everything for them The water sup
| ply is abundant, the reservoirs are al
ready created, and it is only necessary
to build dams to enlarge them and ca
| nails to distribute the water as needed
The work has already commenced
Some years ago a private corporation
undertook to utilize the natural advan-
tages and reclaimed a large area in the
valley. but was compelled to suspend
operations for want of capital. The
| government has purchased its lands
and machinery and has Unidentified it
| for the work already done.
About $4,000 acres of the land to be
redeemed belongs to private owners,
and some Of it is in large tracts I'm
der the law private lands must be sub
| divided and sold in farms not exceed
ing 100 acres, which is the limit of
| ownership that the government will
| recognize. Several of the land proprie-
tors in the valley have refused to sub
nit to this condition. They prefer to
hold their lands for speculative pur-
poses and deny the authority of the
government to compel them to sell or
to limit the price. Their obstinacy
may delay the project somewhat, and
their lands Will not be irrigated. The
government viii not irrigate more than
| 100 acres for any one man. The public
lands, which comprise about 10000
acres, Will be subdivided into tracts of
eighty acres each and sold at an aver
age cost Of $1S per acre, the lowest
price of any project the construction of
which the government has yet under
taken. There will be no opportunity to
secure government land for several
years, however, for it is practically
confined to the water covered lakes
and swamps. which must first be thor
Oughly drained and made ready for
cultivation. A considerable part of the
private lands are now offered for sale
at prices ranging from $40 to SO an
acre, according to its location and the
quality of the SOL.
klamath valley is surrounded by
| magnificent forests of pine and red
! fir. The timber resources of the imme-
experts as high as 15.00O,000000 feet,
which is now being slowly cut by half
dozen sawmills. The surrounding
mountains and foothills, which are be
yond the reach of irrigation afford eX
| cellent pasturage. and even now an
average of $4,000 head of beef cattle
| are driven to market annually and Il
| propOtionate number of sheep and
! horses. Most of the horses raised
here are sold to the United States
army.
The reclaimed land is very rich. 1t
bles. and especially celery, asparagus
| potatoes and forage plants for dairy
cattle. The climate is similar to that
| of central New York state. The lakes
and rivers are filled with fish, and the
Swamps are swarming with duck
geese and other birds.
The 100000 acres of land that are
about to be irrigated will no doubt be
extended whenever the demand re-
! quires it, for at least 100000 acres may
easily be reached by irrigation. AT
present the entire population Of the
valley is not more than 5000 or G,000-
| the. local authorities claim 10.000-and
they are scattered in a dozen villages
| klamath Falls is the largest town and
the commercial center. 1t claims 1000
population and probably has a little
more than 1000 1t will increase rap
| idIV in num hers from this time on
| however. Not less than 1900 or 1500
laborers will be required by the gov
eminent. and they must be fed, cloth
ed and taken care of. Many of them
will doubtless bring their families and
settle in the neighborhood. Already
the town is so crowded that no houses
can be had, and there is not a vacant