The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1905-09-21

| congressional party. made up % mem
bers OF the committees on irrigation
and reclamation of arid lands. OF the
United States senate and house
representatives. In the party "
Senator =. q. Rs y % u a. sey. si.s
Representatives n. w. Mondeli n
Wyoming. w. A. Recd<r OF Kansas. A.
y. Cooper OF Pennsylvania. and w. l..
Jones Of Washington. Several Of the
departments at Washington we're also
represented by distinguished
The delegation was wonderfully I'm
Dressed BY the masnitude O the worh
structures. The government. ~ the
way. n foliowing out the same general
line Of Ian wurk. Hood gates. etc.. In
all Of the pwUtectsL The success - ir-
rigation WAS convincingiy illustrated 10
the congressional party by a trip
through California. where thee rtf1ctal
water Distribution has worked UAra-
cies. +,
The marvellous Transformations Of
arid. sage brush and cactus p~roduefng
land To fields Of diversified grains. corn
and orchards. bearing more p~rotincsiiy
than the boasted areas Of the ease- In
2 In many places and under shs
leadership % Unce sam. that ben~d-
cent old chnmpfcn OF human wetksre.
the remainder Of me great American
desert win -blosyom X h rosn."
Among the middle western states Mon
tnn was among the FIRST TO try trrt-
CATION N this through he foresight
and energy of President Biliings. Of b
Northern Pacific railroad. who In 1859
In order to stimulate business for hks
railroad which had Just reached thu
town named FOR him. Billings. Mont
commanded that nm irrigation ditch
should be constructed tapping the yell
iowstone river. His road furnished the
money for this anal forty miles long
and the wisdom OF the enterprise has
long . demonstrated.
J. l. Bean. n former Town farmer az
Hartley. has forty acres along the Bill
lings ditch. This yea ms has twelve
acres OF oats. sixteen acres OF beans.
four acres OF potatoes. two acres Of
onions. two acres OF watermelons and
the remaining four acres are covered
by his garden. house. barns n yards.
He says this OF his prospective profit:
Il viii get t3s4 from the oats my
500 bushels or beans win bring mo bet
ter than sia cents per pound. but ut
this figure they VIII amount to $3.50.
my potatoes mould yield I'D bushels
and sell for $500. from my onions ana
watermclonS I should get $500 or 500
from each. This makes n total OF So
$50 and ms my garden furnishes my
s"futts hsAhh thts " R"e~sfe1hS eao@f
profit"
Irrigation has stimulated the stock
business remarkably. One acre OF fr-
rtgnted alfalfa will support fourteen
sheep for n yea where before ~ o
three acres TO keep one sheep through
the winter. The $50. 200 acres of ir-
rigated and In Billings county sup
ports more live stock than the remain
Ing 2.I60. 900 acres.
Under the reclamation act irrigated
lands are carefully safesuarded against
spectators. The government In effect
advances the money to the homesceker
To enable him to- procure 40 or so acres
OF land with water for irrigation md
delivers the water to cnch settler. This
advance which In SIS per acre L. TO be
repaid TO the government In ten annual
payments without interest.
One irrigation enterprise which the
congressional committees visited has
demonstrated the necessity for the
greatest caution In tapping rivers. The
irrigation OF the Yuma district I'm Ari-
zona. known as the imperial colony
carried abundant evil as well as great
good. High water In the Colorado river
has enlarged the opening In the canal
until 10 passes four times as much
water as required for irrigation with
the result that the country known as
the Salten Sink owe ZOO feet below
the sea level has been inundated. A
lake covering 100000 acres has been
formed with no means OF outlet. II
must be dissipated by evaporation.