Middletown transcript., 1906-01-06
Communicated
70 THE EGsr

\ do Won find such beautiful hedges, farm
better titled and kept and more auractiv
homes, and at the same time more dc
| tesiable public highways aud more en-
during mHd than your own vicinity pre-
sents. II you are locking for downright
contentneHt, satisfied repose aud a Ienl
and undistnrbed liie don't gn West Sta
in Middletown. No place that | hav
ever seen will give yon 80 many comfort
at 50 small cost, and nowhere will yol
| find people more genuinely hospitabl,
| and graciously social But for the maj
of tlrobbing blood and for the hopefu
| man, the man who will see The air full 0
| feathers when yon show him an egg
there is no place like the West, Ever
the Young man who is destitute Of hope
full ambition will soon throw off the de
pressing incubus if lie breathes for awlil,
this inspiring western atmosphere. Tit
very soil that lies under your feet is pc
tentially rich with hopeful fertility, fol
it is stranger 60 your farming phosphate
and will be for century to come. Ton
Hood could have said OF the soil OF til,
western states that il you tickle it with {
hoe it will laugh with harvest The
agricultural prosperity Of the West is sim
ply phenomenal Combination farming
has made the farmers rich. They raist
corn to fatten their own cattle and dogs
and sell their surplus. In Illinois ano
Iowa these lands cannot be bought fol
less than one hundred dollars an acre,
and this may be low average.
After you leave Lincoln, Nebraska, OF
the Burlington route and begin to beal
off toward the Black Hills of South Da
kota, sou enter a territory where the sol
is less fertile and the farmers less pros
porous. The land is uneven and hilly
and long before you have reached the
South Dakota line you have gotten into
what is called the train belt region" oil
the arid West. The term s'rain-belt''
may need some explanation. That great
stretch Of territory lying along the western
border of Kansas aud Nebraska, and q
still broader stretch along the eastern
border of Colorado and Wyoming is called
the s'rain-belt" because rain seldom visits
that region. About twenty years ago
thousands of farmers from Iowa, Eastern
Kansas and Eastern Nebraska settled on
these lands filled with the belief that all
these arid plains needed to make them as
productive as the states from which they
came was to plow and till the soil thor
oughly and then the rainfall would in
crease. They built their towns, erected
school-houses in some instances costing
from six to ten thousand dollars, and they
spent their money to make this part of
the Great American Desert blossom as
the rose, but it didn't blossom. After a
few years they literally folded their tents
and silently stole awav in the night.
Where towns of four or five thousand in
-habitants had once flourished, to-day not
house is left standing to tell the tale Of
a hopeful past. A few of those enter
prising people who practiced rigid econ
ON. and we're especially thrifty in brand
ing mavericks have managed to exc OFT
an unenyiable existence awaiting the
building of the Government reservoirs to
enable them to irrigate their lands. When
this is done this barren "rain-belt" terri
tory will become the garden spot Of
American. The land is level and the soil
is deep and rich and it cannot be sur
passed in Iowa or Illinois. These lands
are now being bought up by syndicates
for mere song from the original settlers
and will be sold for fabulous prices when
the United States Government shall have
brought this section under irrigation. Too
immense reservoir systems are now being
built, one in Wyoming aud one in South
Dakota.
For the information of those who are
not familiar with this great enterprise /
will explain that the Government has
already appropriated several millions of
dollars for the erection of reservoirs to
store water for irrigating the lands in this
arid region. In the future all the pro-
ceeds from the sale OF government lands
be applied te tlsis purpose m Under
this system it will be but a few years be-
fore all the uncultivated lands in Color
ado, Utah, Wyoming, Kansas and Ne
braska and the Dakotas will be brought
nnder the highest state of cultivation.
Land that can be bought to-day for ten
dollars an acre will when irrigated be
worth from seVenty-tive to one hundred
dollars an acre. At the risk of wearying
you will give you some idea OF the North
Platte project which is now huilding in
and Nebraska. This reservoir
system will reclaim l50, 900 acres pf BAR
rem land in those two States. 1t extends
from Whaten, Wyoming, to Bridgeport,
Nebraska, distance of l50 miles. The
canal is 81 feet on the bottom and carries
10 feet in depth of water at the head, the
capacity being estimated at 400 cubic
feet per second. 1t will have length ex-
elusive of laterals OF about $50 miles
About 10000 acres in Wyoming and
about SO, 600 acres in Nebraska will re-
ceive water for irrigation BY the Spring of
1907, and by the Spring OF 1908, 50, 900
additional acres will be covered, aud in
the Spring of 1909 the entire project will
be completed. The probable cost per
acre will be about $35. 90. The United
States Government has arranged for easy
payments in ten annual installments
which may or may not be eqnal. 1t il
that the first assessment
will be $l.00 per acre, the second So 90,
'he third S. 90, the fourth 81 90 and $40
thereafter until the last few
years when it will be raised sufficiently
% make the aggregate $500. These de- |
erred payments do not have interest and
no charges for maintenance and admins
ration will be made, the $35 90 per acre
both these items as well as the |
construction Of the lateral ditch system.
It is the purpose to construct there lateral |
1lbCHcS W SdCil ldFtll OF SO near To each
arm that the farmer can himself plow |
! small lateral to reach his land. This is |
/ very important item as everyone who
9 accustomed to farming under the irri-
cation system well knows. The writer |
,nce spent 81, 600 to construct latfraIs TO
ais farms. This great canal will be con-
'tructed in the most substantial manner,
Ill the culverts. fnmes, sypl.ons, outlet |
rates, waste gates and head works being |
built OF concrete reinforced with steel. |
After majority Of the land has paid up
n full its proportion of the construction
he administration OF the canal will he |
urned over to the association of water |
Isers, and the cost OF maintenance frt nj |
hat time on should be very small, there |
,eing little or no structures to be renew
ID. The source of supply to this one |
Iystem OF irrigation is the North Platte |
River and will be ample for all require
nents. There will pass tile diversion
lam each year ] 900, 600 acre-feet Of |
water. IL is estimated that this vat iInnd |
# water is capable OF bringing under cul-
iyation $780, 900 acres. The elevation uf |
he land is from 800 to 1900 feet, being
500 feet lower than the celebrated farm
ng section of Greeley, Col, which Is ac-
to be the most profitable |
arniiny i0eality in tha IJnifod States