Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1906-10-13
What IRR|GA.
ton HAS DONE
ONCE DESoLATE, IDAHO HAS IN
EXCESS OF $1,000 FARMS,
WHY LAND IS VALUABLE
Private and Government Enterprise Is
Making an Agricultural Country
Out Of Former Desert,

trail TO what is known MS the Boise
basin in search Of gold, and found IT..
TC reach the ores they crossed n de.
scrt that seemed to have no ending,
parched, forbidding and without hab-
itation. Millions of acres of sterile
plains and hills swept away to the
horizon. 1t has been said the pioneers
.wore that it was accursed of God and
that they shrank from it. The years
nave wrought marvellous transform
alton.
The desert is disappearing; the Ore
Eon trail is gone. Above them are
fields Of golden grain and railroads
traverse the fertile stretches, Ask n
settler for the story and he en- tell 1t
IN few words. Idaho is the child of
irrigation.
In no other section of the barren
Vest is the progress of reclamation
nore effectively illustrated than in
rhis state. At the recent gathering OF
the delegates to the National lrriga-
rion congress in Boise the development
of the reclamation service was pre-
Sented in detail. 1t was shown that
IN 1870 there were 4l4 farms in the
newly settled territory Of Idaho, That
by means of crude irrigation the ag-
g1egate number of farms in 1900 had
increased to more than l7OOO. Today
in this state are approximately l.
$4,000 acres of irrigated lands under
cultivation, with total of over four
million acres under irrigation canals
awaiting the settler,
These lands produce wonderful
,rops. The results of irrigation are
emphasized near Boise. A highway
.kirts the foothills west of the town
To the right of this highway are SLOPES
Of arid waste lands on whicn grow
nothing except the dull and gray sage
brush of the desert. To the left
IRE fruit orchards, fields of clover
and alfalfa, berry patches and pas
lures lined with sunnowers. The pea
ches from these orchards are large
The most choice are shipped to Rev
York, where they are served in the
high priced cafes at twenty-five and
dirty cents each. The prunes are as
large and well favored as those il
California.
The Oregon Short Line railroad
runs through what seems to be The
most desolate part of Idaho. From
Uocatello westward for hours the
sage brush spreads before you unit
tho monotony becomes oppressive
You see sagebrush, more sagebrush
hours and hours of sagebrush, will
mountains in the distance. A milk
away may he orchards bearing ricf
fiuits and meadows covered witt
dense growths of alfalfa, You do moi
sec them AZ the railroad as n rule fol
lows the lower lands. In nearly ev
cry county of Southern Idaho are in
dicstions of the successful efforts Of
the irrigatOr.
The desert lands Of this state ar,
being reclaimed by means of three
agencies: by associations Of land own
ers; by the state under the provisions
~ what is known as the "Carcy act
and under the provisions Of the re-
clamation law enacted by congress IL
1909. All Of these plans have The
same end in view, the ownership by
tho land owners Of the canal systems
from which they take water Through
private enterprise projects for the
reclamation of nearly 100000 acres
have been completed, Under the Ca
roy act near half million acres are
IN process of reclamation.
The government projects now under
construction will reclaim about l,lOO,
900, a total area of about 2 l-2 mil
hon acres, which will be irrigated and
made productive lands within the
next few years. With the exception
Of about 800 square miles in the ex
tTtUlp hUulutuHltlH N'lI'l VI i'"h'
all the lands in this state are embrac
81 in the Columbia river drainage, OF
which $4,000 square miles--the valley
of the Snake river-is included in Ida
no. The normal flow Of the Snake
and it's tributaries are practically ap
preciated by the canals now in opera
ton and those under construction. The
plans Of the government provide fol
storage reservoirs in the head water
where the floods will be conserved ant
utilized during the seasons of mini
mum flow.
The largest irrigation project in op
Grafton in Idaho is that of privat,
concern, the Twin Falls Land & Water
company. The dam which diverts th,
water to tho main canal is in the
Snake near the town Of Twin Falls
This dam is 1900 feet long, IS fee
high and 25 feet wide at the top
From it leads n main canal, which il
80 feet wide on the bottom and 12l
feet wide on top. II carries ten fee
of water into what is known as thu
aDry Creek reservoir" which cover
700 acres, to maximum depth oi
Hxty feet From this reservoir th,