The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-12
Millions Of Acres Of Desert Lands
Now Being Made the Most Pro-
ductive Of Soil by Bringing the
Water to Them.
IDAHO A LEADER IN THIS
TREMENDOUS CHANGE
How the Payette Valley in the
Sunshine State Has Been Con-
verified Into . Paradise for the
Agriculturist.
BY HERBERT. vANDERuoor

AgT1Cu1IuT1SI.
BY HERBERT vANDERHooF.
| The traveller through Idaho who is in
terested in the system Of Irrigation, which
Of perpetual. sunshine, cannot fail to he
| impressed by the splendid Inducements
offered to the agriculturist in the Payette
valley.
The Payette' country lies where the
Payette river pours: it's waters into the
great Snake river in the southwestern
portion Of the state. The fourishing
inha bitants, stands in the center Of this
fertile region and benefits by the work
of the settlers who have made the sur
rounding country an ideal site for home
| It is an impossible task to describe In
exact words what irrigation has done for
this fortunate land. When one remem-
| entirely independent Of the forces of ma
.ture as regards the raising of his crops.
an idea may be obtained Of the boon
M VIM, IN the eoerfed waters have conferred
| 4 Let the rainfall be little or great. II is
| al! the same to the Payette agriculturist.
His crops are safe in either case, for the
desired moisturessis there, and the CRATE
full soil responds generously to its influ-
ence. I'LL .sSI
Borders ON the Miraculous.
| 1t is no exaggeration to say that the
change brought about in the. arid west
through irrigation Is little short of a
mira Gle. IT, "{si ES.
Here stands city Of $500 inhabitants
In the midst OF a. wealth producing coun-
ote made his abode and prairie dogs and
jackrabbits held high revel, undisturbed
by their arch enemy-man. On every
side lie alfalfa fields producing $40 worth
Of hay to the. acre, where formerly the
eye wearied, viewing an endless expanse
of yellow cactus sage brush and the hot
sand Of the desert.
this continent awoke to the Importance
Of the irrigation question. Surprising the
settlement Of North America had COM
menced on the Pacific instead of the At
lation increase would have been governed
by the extension of the irrigation sys-
tenn, for in arid countries people do not
| Idle tn the last ditch but beyond it.
The pioneer, line of agriculture is that
of the last ditch.
In fact, irrigation has been a basis of
agriculture for all the ancient civiliza-
lions. India, Judea, China, Egypt, Nine
veh and Babylonia are all cases in point.
It Will be found that the first sentence in
the scriptures dealing with agriculture is
CATION. The ancient Egyptians as far
back as the days Of Rameses II had
$3.50, 900 acres Of irrigable lands In the
valley Of the Nile under cultivation
| Therefore Idaho may be said to have
taken a lesson from the past, as it were,
and 9 very dim and remote past. There
was land enough and to spare in the
scant. Thousands UPON thousands mos ulo 10Y
acres Of fruitful soil were absolutely USE
less for purposes of cultivation until irri-i
cation was broEght into play.
Ideal -condltions for Irraatlon.
] In the Payette valley the conditions
we're ideal for the utilization Of an arti
I fetal water supply Bringing the floods
Of the Payette and. Snake rivers into
crossed the valley in : every direction, ton,
while further aid was given by the
streams Of melted snow that poured
down from the great mountain ranges
valley. It was, not long before desert
land became p habitable spot ready to
yield the treasures Of its soil to the hand
| At the present time land can be pur-
chased in and around the city OF Pay
cite from 500 to $3.50 an acre. Land in
other parts of the valley in the raw
acre. The prospective settler in the Pay
cite valley may confidently expect large
returns for his labor. Fruits of all kinds,
large and small, are produced in amazing
! quantity and reach a point Of perfection
growing section of the United States.
I The alfalfa crops are unecelled, hay
Is product duct upon which the farmer can
| in never-failing abundance. For these
mercies the PaYette settlers are indebted
| to the splendid climatic conditions, as
storms and cyclones are unknown.
| The cattle industry must not De for
gotten when enumerating the resources
Of the Payette valley. Wide acres of
tain sides upon which thousands of hogs,
sheep and cattle feed and grow fat. Those
bslnsss viii also nd s sasepflsna In
Hy,nn ofo in NJ tho Stat
Profit In Fruit Growing.
So far, however, the fruit farmer has
had the best Of the bargain in; the Pay
cite section. There is big money in the
RRss and
eastern markets. Small holdings of fruit
lands be secured for comparatively
small amount that Will Yield the in
| vestors liberal harvests Of gold.
Transportation facilities are excellent.
Fruits shipped by the. car load from the
valley, the city Of Payette having rail-
road connections with all the great mar
kets, thus acting as the distributing CEN
ter for the surrounding country.
And this is no small thing in the farm
ers consideration. To raise rich prod
ucts of the soil is one great point gained,
but the disposal of the said products is
another and serious question.
| 3 In the Payette valley both of these
problems are Solved firstly, by irrigation
and the natural richness of the land;
secondly by the ready service given by
the steam thing steeds of the shining
rail. It is combination that is hard
to beat"
There Is another factor that every in
tending. settler must take charge Of. in
the land of almost perpetual sunshine.
It is fact substantiated by the records
of the United States meteorological ,bu
reau that the average duration Of days
of sunshine in Idaho Is 800 days in the
year This accounts for the necessity. of
irrigation The rainfall is slight, while
the water at possession Of the settlers
is tremendous In volume. In the old
days the early settlers used this water
simply for the purpose Of placer mining.
The thirst for gold was in every mans
VEINS But as the placer fields panned
out, the miners found that there was a
new Eldorado at their very feet, one
which they had entirely overlooked--and
yet one which promised them far richer
returns than the alluvial streams which
they had been bucking against could
ever return. And hence, the dawn of ir-
rigation in Idaho.
Z. $500 Cali ornia, $$34.eO.
The Rock Island = will sell colonist
tickets to Los Angeles, San Diego and
San francisco daily until Oct. 81 for
$349O. Through tourist sleeping cars