The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-07-25
EVERY FARMER HIS
OWN RAINMAKER
Out In the Boise Valley, Idaho,
They Have Solved the Problem
Of How to Circumvent the Ca
prices Of Nature.
IRRIGATION rs THE
SECRET OF SUCCESS
Worthless Desert Lands Brought
Under the Influence Of Streams
Of Water and Made the Most
Fertile Tracts in the World.
~ HEReERr vANpRRHooF

~ HERBERT vANDRRHooF.
There Is q cheerful spirit Of confidence
s Of Ress ana os T. ts
visitor to the Idaho capital from the
East. Possibly the magnificent climate
may have stimulating influence on the
eS Itself pan and perhaps bs the beauty ths
that abound on every hand have the
eject, but whatever the cause he finally
begins to believe implicitly In all the
Why. said one substantial citizen Of
ts nothing can stop us. We are the fast
est growing city In the country today.
pur population Then we had about
5000 population. Today we have $4,000.
Watch US when the census Of 1910 10
taken; Wen have 10000 people here then,
We are destined to be the great COM
mercial market Of the vast territory
lying between Portland and Salt Lake
City, territory that has boundless
| its development"
growth Of Boise?'' I asked.
tprincpa13y wa was tie re-
wholly. Here we have 3 vast country
surrounding US that without Irrigation
would be worth perhaps Is cents an acre.
But the turning Of water onto this worth
|
vel as wonderful as anything that Al
ladin's lamp accomplished. For miles
about US this country was nothing but
q sage brush desert. Do you know any
| thing more worthless than a sage brush
| desert?",
I had to admit that + did not
but, irrigation In our territory has only
nn,v friend continued and
works that are now under way. will bring
nearly ZOO. 900 acres Of desert land under
cultivation and afford homes and q COM
| petence to tens Of thousands OF people.
lis at our very doors: It is being con
under cultivation so5,ooo acres .ii That
means 81 large addition to our popu,a ton
seldom have large holdings. The ten
dency is to small holdings, say ten or
twenty acres. but on these small tracts
NTH 11 tar G greatsr Certainty an the
farmer Of the middle West Will on a
Famous Tor Its Fruit s..
anv to one mig M had ysteS Boas
and its surrounding. country, but 1t Is
actually the truth. Southern idaho. and
the vicinity of Boise especially, lis the
bs Of the ~ota ,e Whe san aythns
essentially fruit district, and an income
q common thing, while this amount is
Gftsn .i sxeesdsd The delightful a9Gr
valley apples, for instance, has given
J them reputation in every market in the
world. and the same can be said of its
pairs Boise M apples bring in the Big mar.
than twice as much per fifty pound box
as do Missouri and Michigan apples pei
barrel, while Boise pears have broken the
worlds record for price. One grower 0,
DaarS living near Roiaa recaivedJ 1aaf svea
$4,000 for the yield Of S12 pear trees. )
But apples and pears are only two our
Of the many varieties of fruit that thrive
abHndantly on the lands Of the Boise
pies and pears applies with equal force
to JAIL other fruits. Peaches, apricots
plums, cherries, prunes and grapes thrivt
luxurtantly, while the smaller fruits. sucl
currants and gooseberries cannot b.
There are two reasons for this. on,
OF which is irrigation, and the other il
sunshine. It must be rem embered tina
this entire country is arid and the rain
fan is inconsequential, while the SUI
shines on an average over three hun
every element 81 fertility that that Is neces
sary for cultivation can water only b.
supplied. Having absolute command o
the. water, the farmer Is his. own rain
fHst and sch supplies s it 70 the thirsty Ian
qualities as is best for his crops. Unde
such a system. a crop failure is trnpos
the elevation also assure absolute i'm
munity from the ravages Of those insec
pests that are the bane Of the farme
or fruit grower on land where tn
humidity is great and the elevation i
low, and this In its turn helps towar
the absolute soundness of the fruit grow
in this favored section Of the Union. =
All Crops Flourish There.
It is not In its fruits alone however
that the Boise valley stands pre- minen
Take wheat, for instance. On the irr,
gated lands about Boise from sixty t
eighty bushels per acre is an averag
crop. And not only Is the wheat fin
and Arm, but it weighs from five to seve
pounds more. to the bushel than the
from any other state. Oats will civ
from 100 to 10 bushels per acre: tin
othy yields two crops per season Of frol
! four to FIVE tons per acre, while alfalf
. Yields three crops averaging from six
nine. tons: All such produce command
an immediate market, as the immens
herds Of sheep and cattle that feed
\ the mountains are brought down to wir