The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-08-01
Marvellous Transformation Eff
feoted by the Magical Power Of
Water When Applied to the
Waste Places Of Idaho.
IRRIGATION THERE rs THE
SURE SECRET OF SUCCESS
Land That Is Absolutely Without.
Value Made the Most Produc-
tive in the World as Soon as the
Life Giving Streams Touch It.
HY HERBERT vANDERHooF.


It is the good fairy Of the story books,
who, with her magical wand, touches
| things here and there and changes them
| into beautiful princesses, magnificent
castles. or piles Of yellow gold In Idaho
| the good fairy is the farmer, and he does
wonderful things with his magical wand,
the water. He touches the great, dead
desert, and, 10! the gray Of the sage
brush is lost In the soft. cool green OF
waving crops. The coyote gives way to
the sheep, and Idaho becomes an agrt-
cultural paradise.
| No land is more beautiful, no land Is
more productive. Nowhere can man raise
| crops which are more bounteouS, and no
where can man live and thrive as IN
| new born Idaho. This bit Of magic Is not
so fairylike that it passes in a night; It
Is practically everlasting; +o,,,s .hee,,
| carefully husbanded in huge reservoirs,
while up In the crags and peaks the grim
sentinels nature has placed to- protect
this infant agricultural paradise, is stored
more of the precious, fluid than man can
| ever use. ~,
The farmer Of Idaho is master Of his
He IL does ne9 to- enable him to
reap his harvest. He does not nave 10
wait and pray for rain In the dry season.
as do his less fortunate brothers IN our
l
only to open the sluice gate-the water
| Of the SHOWS does the rest.
The Maker Of al ~ thnEs E. GG n e4 hoW
ever give her rain. He gave her soil Of
wonderful richness, and he stored the NE
giving water high up in the mountains.
He then left the rest to man. ana man
has solved the problem. Here and there
you see the great reservoirs holding NIL
lions Of gallons Of water, ready at tho
farmers bidding to spread itself over the
fields and nurse the growing crops.
Nothing Left to Desire.
What better conditions could an en-
terprising farmer desire? He is master n,ts,
never failing soil, and MS 1elio o men
give him water to irrigats and to pros
per. He not only has all these blessings,
but he lives where wind and storm never
play their game of havoc" and where
the killing cold Of the Northern winter
is unknown. spoke to one farmer who
had lived near Mountain AoIne .or tnsny
He said: .u..o.o u,,o this
Of southern Idaho. No man cou1a ASK
summer SUI nor too cold in winter. In fact,
we are comfortable all the time; When
say we have 800 days Of sunshine l 90
not think exaggerate, ana mere Is So a ae
erners Our . thermome ters have reg.
4 istered zero but three times in the last
eight years. Why, boy" and he leaned
RICHEST RICHEST the to t fs p poW I'VE pow
month in the year, and any storekeeper
LIN Mountain Home who laid in a stock
of overcoats would starve to death on
his profits" ,
I lighted a cigar and shiyered little
when I thought of the bowling, half tor,
. nadoes of Chicago. My informer was no,
the sake 's Of advertising Idaho; he meant
it. knew it was true, for it was just the
same story I had heard from hundred dre5
more so I ventured little joke about
the topic of conversation the local SWANS
, fell back upon when the other topics ran
out. My friend was ready,
Of MgS we'll III bred red horse ''our lads car
, talk business from the start. You dom
have to guess about your future out here e
You have the land or, II you haven't 1t
terms Our boys and girls have the -spiri
of Idaho, which means business, and, Xix
their dads and their mothers, they hav
health, happiness, and wealth is here il
our fields"
Wonderful Fertility Of Soil.
NY friends words rang true. There i
his paradise near Mountain Home an
man with strength and little capital coul
become independent Of want or care.
came to Idaho that climate, would max
r | a man Of him in short time. It Is a Ian
. where every marketable product no
grown In the temperate zone fourishe
{ One acre of irrigated land near Mountai
Home will produce greater crop unde
the system Of irrigation than three time
the same amount Of land In the Easter
or middle states will do under nOrm
= conditions.
l. The soil Is practically exhaustless, an
best of all, 1t is all alike. 1t Is of vo
n canic origin, and from the surface dow
h to the deepest, depth explored it is
:. the same constituency and quality. Art
fetal fertilizer Is never needed, and IL
.. manure heaps are burned instead Of b
g ing used to nurture the soil. There a
:. cultivated continuously for twenty year
and are still producing as well as the fir
80 year.
gon Short Line railroad, the main line
the Union Pacific, 1,772 miles west
Chicago and one nights ride from eth
It is ffty-five miles from. Boise, the ca
ital Of the state. 1t is city of LIS
e., population and is far in advance of Eas
= ern cities twenty times its size. To t
a. south and east Of Mountain Home t
~ land stretches away fifteen miles to t
Z Snake river. 1t contains 200, 900 acres a
Is as level as floor: Its productivityy,
q rs Is greater tad s than that Of any 9th
The land is so level that it affords pt
feet conditions for the successful carr
ing out Of irrigation. Water may
n easily run over the 6nClTe surface. w n
the land has been properly planted a
cultivated the farmer introduces the "
ter through a system Of small bitches a
the entire surface is flooded. At interv
during the growing season water lis su
piled as needed. "'5 jill "a. .s& t=s4
Land Open to Settlers,
p These storage reservoirs and the cam
which conduct the water to the land hs
Il been built and are operated by the EGrt
: Western Sugar Beet company. which
: expended several hundreds Of thousar
of dollars on It's great plant With |
completion Of the additional reserve
which 1t now has under obstruction
vast area Of land that is now valued,
will be made into the most productive
farms. This land is open to homestea
ing under the desert land law or unt
s. the Carey act, and water will be suppl
q Iby the Great Western company on reasc
: able and easy terms.
>. 4 For the raising Of sugar beets the S
/. of Idaho has been demonstrated to
without an equal Not only do the far
I b ers there get the greatest tonnage to
acre, but the beets are found to
. especially rich In saccharine matter.
I is the purpose of the company to er
a large sugar factory at or near MOI
tain Home. and this will give req
- beets each year. The profits in the G
tivation of the latter are very great
the farmer, and as the crop is alws
contracted for before 1t is planted TIL
Is no element Of uncertainty as to theso
q ! come. 5s 2S4 s$s5 Il
d The location of Mountain Home OH
lrailway and Its proximity to the 1T
markets of the Pacific coast give "a
e Unmarked advantage over many other lOcs
Il %ioc,F NJ occ "a, Woo II,