Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-21
MILES OF CANALS
irrigation of the Belle F0urChe
Valley.
WILL WATER MANY ACRES
Small Farms Will Replace the Large
Ranches.
DOLLY MADIsON'S INFLUENCE
Pay Proposed for Students-Self-
Support in Colleges-Demand
Of English Socialists.
DOLLY MAD1soN's INFLUENCE
By WILLIAM f.. CURTIS.

By WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald.
The engineers of the government recla-
nation service are about to turn the
water into the irrigating bitches in the
Belle Fourche valley. Just north of the
Black Hills district in South Dakota, not
far from Deadwood and the famous min
ing town of Lead. 1t is the greatest irri-
cation project the government has ever
undertaken near a large center OF popu-
lation for it is only thirty miles from
the gold-mining district of the Black Hills
country and is within an easy drive of
large communities in every direction. The
canals, when completed, will supply lno.-
600 acres of land that has hitherto been
unfit for cultivation because it could not
be Watered. OF this area 10000 acres are
public land. 5000 acres belonging to pri-
vate individuals and 1900 acres to the
state of South Dakota. A large part of
the land has already been taken up. There
are at least :Fw families already settled
on the tract reached by the irrigation
bitches and but thousand more farms
can be opened when the distributing sys-
tenn is completed and ready for operation
in 1919 and 1910. The first section of the
south canal is completed and water will
be furnished to about 5000 acres of land
from IL. II is forty-five miles long
eighteen feet wide at the bottom carries
water to a depth of five and half feet
and has a capacity of 80 cubic feet per
second.
The first section of the north canal has
also been completed and will furnish
water for the irrigation of similar area
within few weeks.
Great Dam and Reservoir.
This water comes from the Belle Fourche
river, where one of the highest earth
en- dams in the world has been built
twelve miles northeast of the town of
Belle Fourche to create reservoir with
water area of about 5000 acres. The
cubic contents of the dam are about one
half the size of the Pyramid of Cheops
and the reservoir is the largest body of
water in South Dakota. The dam is liz
feet high and 600 feet long at The top.
and supplies the two conduits which
have already mentioned as the north and
the south canals. These main canals will
feed a system of about 12I miles of lateral
ca mails and about thousand miles of
bitches. which will reach the Belle
Fourche valley on both sides of the river
for about thirteen miles, extending east
Waro from the town about forty miles.
The project was authorized in 1874; the
surveys were made the same year, and
contracts for construction were signed
in April, 1905. Work has been carried
on very rapidly and without interruption.
and the record is one of the most crafty
ing in the reclamation service. Settlers
began to take up land as soon as the
plans of the government became known
and in 1904, even before the surveys
were made the private land owners in
the valley organized the Belle Fourche
Water-users' Association, and subscribed
3 100000 for the stock
The government found itself happil,
situated as to water supply 1t is en-
tirely what engineers call gravity
proposition There is an abundance OF
water for even more land than is avail
able. and the cost to settlers is only $ao
an acre for perpetual water rights and
d clear title. The land itself costs only
the filing fee. and the payments are ar
ranged in annual installments of 81 each.
without interest. Private Landowners
are selling tlreir farms for from $40 to
Farms Replace Ranches.
DR.. Newell, director of the reclamation
service. says: Among the interesting
features in connection with this project
has been a great change i'm the methods
of farming. For many years the Belle
Fourche valley has been entirely given
over to stock raising and agriculture was
only incidental. But the construction Of
the dam and the digging of the bitches
have terminated the ranch business. and
have inaugurated 4 new ora of small farms
intensely cultivated with compact settle
ments. improved schools churches. libra
ries and all the Injuries and enjoymentS
of town life. II means. also. better grades
Of stock with plenty of winter feed and
fruit. garden truck. poultry. eggs. milk
q "a nSt. mt
and increasing demand at Deadwood,
Lead and other mining towns in the i'm
mediate vicinity. Belle Fourche itself is
town of .. 800 people and has been one
of the largest cattle-shipping points in
the world. There are several other good
towns in the valley. and a direct train
service over the Northwestern railroad to
Chicago and all the intervening points.
The State University and the State
School of Mines are only short distance
TO the southwark, and any point within
the Black Hills country can be easily
reached in a short days journey.
The Department Of Agriculture in con
nection with the reclamation service is
conducting an experimental farm within
the irrigated area" continued Supt
Newell 1.-The reclamation service having
furnished the land and water. This farm
will be operated on thoroughly practical
lines for the purpose of educating the set
tiers. many Of whom are naturally I'M
familiar with the science OF llflSdtF}il.
which is not as simple as people generally
suppose. In order to derive the greatest
benefit a farmer must understand the
chemical composition of his soil and take
into calcula ton the nature of the climate.
as well as the varied requirements of
plant life A farm crop may be ruined
by too much water or by turning IL on
at the wrong time. The laws of nature
apply as strictly TO an irrigated farm as
to any other. and a man who has been
accustomed to the cultivation of an ordi-
nary farm must educate himself 10 new
conditions before he can be successful on
irrigated land.
"A portion of the experimental farm is
to be devoted to experiments in dry farm
ing as it is believed that large areas ad-
iacent to the irrigated lands can he sue
cessfully cultivated without irrigation. y
settler in the Belle Fourche valley will re-
uuire about 81, 0oO in cash. a team, a COW.
a hog or two. farm implements and the
usual machinery and other equipments
that pertain to a hundred-acre farm any
where else. Grain. hay. alfalfa. potatoes
and other vegetables. apples. plums. pears
and small fruit. will he the most success
full crops. and 1t is expected that a beet
sugar factory will he built in the neigh
borhOod sooner or later
Dolly Madison's influence.