The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-06-18
What Irrigation Has Done.

For many years the great question IN
Idaho was mot an abundance of land but
water. There were thousands and thou-
sands of acres Of land In an arid cond1-
but none was forthcoming until the gov
eminent decided upon Irrigation: True 1T
was that up on the mountain SIDES there
were thousands Of feet of timber with
abundant water shed from the SHOWS on
the mountains, and it was here that the
cattle sought shelter from the burning
rays Of the sun and secured their food:
When the government engineers reache s1l
Canyon county they saw that their task
was easy. Harvesting the waters OF the
Snake river and of the Payette river,
they soon had irrigation canals travers-
ing the valley, and they even went far
tains, collecting together the waters from
the melting SHOWS, and driving them into
canals, thereby forcing the waters from
the mountains into the valleys by gravi-
ing, for the mountains are always COW
cred with snow On,sthe' low lands the,
Payette river supplies the lands with it's
many tributaries and for thirty miles
Payette supply the land with moisture.
The banks of the river are low, so that
there is no work to speak Of in irrigating
the land. -
With such an abundant water supply.
with climate so pleasing and beneficial
as to reduce the death rate, itsmust nee
e eSsarily mean M something t does In n
located near the lower end of the valley
near the Snake river land has been sold,
and is today valued, at from $500 to $500
per acre. In other sections Of this coun--
ty are lands, not so well cultivated and
in the raw state, which are valued az
from $50 to SIS per acre. :, ...-
/ To return once more to the climate
conditions before considering the subject
,, Of farming and horticulture, I want to
say that thunderstorans in the Payette
valley are practically unknown. That
cyclones are an unknown quantity, and
SO are sunstrokes. Practically no winds
traverse the valley, and when snow does
fall it never measures over twelve inches
and then remains not more than three or
four days at time. Canyon county, in
| which the Payette valley Is LOCATED, is
| $500 feet above sea level. @...
Land a. Perfect Bonanza.
From a farming standpoint, the Payette
dream Of perfection that our farmers and
fertile that the hay crop has become a
staple product Of the farmer; his alfalfa
crops are the envy Of. the farmers Of
other states; his clover crop, from which
4 he secures his seed, is rich, SO much So
that 1t yields from six to twelve bushels
i Of seed per acre, which sells for S. or 81
per bushel, and this together with az
! crop he harvests and the excellence Of the
for him.
Cereals of all kinds are grown in abun
dance in the Payette vaiiey. The corn
auten wh1 nd hers eontan thge
| in great abundance, giving forth besides
these things immense crops. But, while
the grazing and farming lands are album
dant and fertile, it is the fruit growing
ATTRACTED the attention Of the entire
country: There is probably no county 1t
any state in the union, and no valley, not
even excepting those counties and val
leys of California SO famous for the
growing of fruits, that exceed the pro.
ductivitya Of Payette valley.
In 1903, when the irrigation congress
Ogden, Utah, fruit grown in the fertile
Payette valley won the beautiful LOVING
cup offered by Senator Clark for the bes
fruit from all irrigated states AWAY
back in 1898, at the Columbian expositi6i
i at Chicago, the Payet.e valley fruits tool
prizes, as they did at Omaha, Paris
France; Buffalo, Lewis and Clark expo
giti ton and II the gold medal at the famous
And finally. when the whole state he'll
fruit exhibition at Boise City, wher,
every valley and every county was repre-
sented Payette valley came out on tot
Of Caldwell took first honors for the bes
dasplay and best quality of fruits. At til
Lewis and Clark exposition last year
| Ao1AAO c1AolAo LUCK eleVen 1rSt, nineteen
second, twenty-one third and Ave fourt]
prizes. OF this number Of victories, Paw
cite valley alone scored twenty -four
winning five gold, nine silver, and eigh
bronze medals, and two honorable men
tons. Her apple orchards surpass thos
J Of the famous Mohawk valley, New York
and the Baldwin apple crops Of the Ney
England states.
The Great Cattle Industry.
4 Atss Il F I'd r. ~ 2 p 7 "a +.
In the cattle industry, Idaho agai
comes to the front. Away up on tn
mountain sides, and even down into th
valleys, are thousands of acres Of graz
i ing lands upon Whie>f the cattle, sheel
and hogs thrive. The wooded mountain
provide excellent shelter for the cattl,
Thousands of mich cows furnish a
abundance of milk for the dairies, whic
Y in turn, produce gilt edge butter. Pou
try, bees, and vegetables are also raise
in great abundance.
There are some very fine lumber fol
ests in this section OF Idaho, large fol
ests Of fir, pine, Douglas spruce an
larch Again, mining, as in all thes
western states, is profitable, especially
in Idaho and Canyon counties, for on a
sides Of Caldwell are mines, includir
those Of De Lamar and Silver City.