The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1905-11-18
Conquest . .: Great
American Desert


country, and II win only be q few
short years when she win rank with
any Of the Northwestern States in
agricultural greatness. The recent act
Of the Interior Department Of the
United States in setting aside 81 ,00O,-
600 toward retaining three or four
hundred thousand acres fin the Mix
River Valley IL but a beginning OF q
much vaster development Of this sec
ton IS the needs grow apace. Al
ready the agricultural worth OF this
70 be famous valley has been ada-
quateIy demonstrated fin the results
which have followed the irrigation
works already established. III has
been successfully proven that all kinds
of agricultural products grow in great
abundance wherever irrigation Ia used
The soil IL naturally rich and needs
only moisture 10 make II yield prolific
ally. The Great Northern Railways
main line practically cuts the valley
In two. The fact that the government
has decided 70 begin immediate Oper-
atoms will prove q great incentive 20
the people OF that section who have
always believed In the future OF their
country and win open to settlement a
vast area or rich land to the home
seeker and investor.
Professor Elwood Mead, the Irriga-
ton expert OF the United States De
partment Of Agriculture. has borne en-
thuEiastic testimony to the great capa-
bilities Of the Sacramento Valley when
supplied with water. in canals and
bitches, for irrigation. He says. in an
Official report, that its available water
supply should make II the Egypt Of
the Western hemisphere"
The irrigabie area OF the valley Is
estimated 70 be more than 100000
acres, and calculations show that the
average annual discharge Of the Sac
ramento River at its mouth Ia sum
Gent to irrigate every acre OF this
great area. Professor Mead, after re-
marking that II IL a sinful waste to
allow 80 much water to how unused
20 the sea. save for purposes OF navi-
CATION, thus illustrates the astonish-
ing variety Of the products Of the
soil:
within q radius Of FIVE miles in
the Sacramento Valley / saw every
product Of the temperate and semi
tropical zones which could call 70
mind. Apples and oranges grew side
by side, as did oak and almond trees.
There were olives from the South and
cherries from the North. A date palm
seemed equally at home with an alfai-
IA meadow: figs and Tokay grapes
were apparently as much in their ele-
ment a. the fields OF wheat or barley
or the rows OF Indian corn, some OF
the stalks Of which measured fifteen
feet in height All OF these could
have been grown on q single acre, and
doubtless have been"
In another report the same authori-
t. expresses a like view. as follows:
In September last I saw q part Of
the Sacramento Valley In its most I'M
lovely aspect. One OF the trips taken
was from Chico to willows. two towns
about thirty miles apart, but the road
thirty i've miles shrilu cmSwyp shrd
Travelled made the distance about
thirty-fve miles. We crossed what IS
potentially one OF the most fertile and
promising agricultural districts on this
continent For scores OF miles the
land rises by a gentle and uniform
slope from the Sacramento River to-
ward the foothills on either side. Wa
ter would flow over every acre of the
country traversed without requiring
much labor in its direction or skill ia
the location OF lateral bitches. The
plains ef Lembardy are not better suit
ed 10 irrigation, nor the soil of the
Nile Delta more fertile than were
these lands originally. For a half
century they have been devoted TO the
unremittinE production Of cereal
crops- Each season the crop has been
harvested. the grain shipped away,
and the straw burned. and nothing
9one 20 replace the plant food with
lrawn. A more exhaustive form of
agriculture cannot be imagined. Al
.hough this surprising drain has gone
N for ATTY years, Il cannot continue
forever.
The absence OF rainfall during the
harvest period IL one OF the great ad-
vantages Of California, where the
needed moisture can be supplied by
irrigation. II IL likewise one OF the
greatest obstacles to diversified agri-
culture where dependence IA had on
rainfall alone. The natural opportu-
mites Of the district traversed are
equal to. Il not greater than those of
the country surrounding Riverside.
Cal. which has been appropriately
designated as the Garden Spot Of
America" but a difference in aErieul.
turai ideas has produced correspond
ing difference in conditions.
The BONANZA wheat farm and the
bonanza orchard were in acssrd with
the spirit which from the Srst has
dominated the industries Of oCairor.
ala. Tf IaR Etata Of vast anhmrpr4saa