The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1906-10-19
Idaho.

Idaho.
The editor of the Advance &C.
companied by his better half, re-
turned a few days ago from a six
weeks sojourn in Idaho, where
they went OF prove up on home
stead. AS many of our readers
have evinced considerable interest
in that state We will give a brief
account of the, trip and country.
Our destination was Buhl, Idaho,
which is located in the western part
of the Twin Falls project. The rail
road ridefrom Worthington to Twin
Falls was uneventful, but the drive
from the latter place to Buhl, thru
dust, over rocks and chuck holes,
is one never to be forgotten. We
arrived at our destination Aug. 20.
The next day we built shack,
moved in and were forthwith full
fledged ranchers. A few days
''tight".with' the luxuriant growth
of sage brush, the planting of a few
acres of crop and putting on the
water completed the serious part of
work of reclaiming a email patch of
desert. The rest consisted in wait
ing for the regulation time to elapse
to establish a residence, which un-
der tho Carey Act has been fixed at
80 days We suffered less hardships
than most of the people who came
to prove up, because of the location
of the claim adjoining the townsite,
the shack being less than a half
mile from the business section of
Buhl, q town of about 200, com
prised of hustling and hospittable
people.
The Twin Falls tract is located in
the central part of the state of Ida
ho, from east to west, and about 40
miles from the southen boundary.
It comprises. .370,0 acres,. 24O, 900
acres of which are on the south side
of the Snake river and 13O, 900 on
the north side. 1t is said to be the
lagest irrigated tract in America.
The water supply is ample and sure,
as the Snake is 4 steam Of immense
volmue and the water right has
priority over several other projects
on tho same stxoEfn::, FPii1o -wStens
of the Snake river will eventually
be used to irrigate more land than
any other stream in the world ex-
oept the Nile and as all of this land
is in Idaho it is easy to estimate the
immense value of this remarkable
stream to that state. I Idaho 10 the
foremost state in. irrigation projects,
and has probably the most to gain
thereby, US it is said that ..present
the state produces only 40 per cent
of the, farm products consumed
there. The soil through the entire
Snake river valley is practically all
the same, being q volcanic ash which
years of soilng has rendered it very
fertile. When water is applied the
trasformation is magical and the
erstwhile desert truly blossoms as
the rose. The climate is consider
ably mlder than here in winter and
summers are fine. Grasses and all
kinds of grains except corn do we'll,
az do all kinds of northern fruit.
It must not be thought, however,
that irrigated countries have no
drawbacks. The dust is simply
fierce, and there are times when
one would give half of Idaho for
one good drink of Minnesota water
that did not have to be boiled
before it is fit to drink. The most
serious problem, however, that con-
fronts the fastener ia the science of
irrigation, and. this must be done
scientifically if one would reap re-
suls, as many are finding to their
cost. The man who is comfortably
on a good Minnesota
farm is wise to plod on contentedly
instead of casting longing eyes on
'sarid wastes''of the west
Epworth League Sale and Supper
4: The Epworth League will have a
sale of fancy articles, dolls, home
made candy, etc. in A. o. U. W. hall,