The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-08-01
IRRIGATION

before the recent convention OF wash
ington State Bankers Association at
North Yakima, he said: Irrigation has
been used for the production of crops
in the Yakima valley to some extent
for over 40 years, but only within the
last 25 years have irrigation works of
any Importance been built. In reality,
the commencement of the larger sys.
TENS in operation today, and the ap-
probation on the part of the public
of the Importance and possibilities
of irrigation in this state, date back
only about 16 years.
In the beginning irrigation was
practiced in the Yakima valley on
lands lying along the river bottoms
and generally on lands nearby or adj
iacent to the streams. and in places
where the settlers could easily divert
the water into small bitches con-
structed by their own labor. These
lands, in many instances, were par
TALLY sub-irrigated as well, and the
building of bitches and application OF
water to the soil was carried on in the
crudest manner. A little fruit and a
few vegetables were raised, but the
principal crop produced was hay, as
the early settlers were mostly engaged
in stock raising and the hay raised
by them was fed upon the ground.
Following the work of these pio-
neers and the advent of the railroad,
came the community bitches which
were of a larger and more substan-
tial character and built by combina-
ton of settlers. Irrigation farming
was thereafter carried on to some ex-
tent as a distinct business; small or
chards were planted, commercial
crops were raised and shipped to out
side markets. Prominent among the
bitches built about this time were
the Hubbard, Wapatox, Union, Tay-
lor, Gleed, Fowler, and other bitches
in Yakima county, and West Side,
Bull, Tannum and others in Kittitas
county.
The success of the farmers under
the community bitches developed the
fact that the mesa or high lands,
which at first were considered of no
value for agricultural purposes, were
in reality the most productive and
were capable of raising a larger vari-
ETY. of high grade crops. The devel-
opment of this fact was in a large
measure responsible for the consid-
Grafton of followed by the building
in operation today, such as the Cas-
cade canal in Kittitas county, the Sun
nyside, Selah Valley, Selah-Moxee ca
nails in Yakima county, and the Kenne-
wick canal in Benton county
Among the first, as well as the
largest and most important of these
corporate systems, was the Sunnyside
canal, and it's conception and con-
struction marked an epoch in the
larger development of irrigation in this
state and more particularly in the up
building of Yakima county At this
time, 1890, Yakima county, which in
cluded the county of Benton, had
population of about 1000 and North
Yakima was quiet little town OF
1885 inhabitants according to the CEN
sus of that year.
Water was first turned into the
Sunnyside canal in the spring of 1892,
and with the exception of the winter
months, the canal has been in contin-
uous operation since that time. After
the first two years of operation the
development of the country was ar
rested by the hard times of the early
nineties and for period of about five
years following, the growth and de-
velopment of the country was practi-
cally at a standstill. The material and
rapid growth of this district, as we'll
as of the entire valley, dates back to
the year 1900, at which time the Sun
INSIDE canal passed out of the hands
of receivers to the Washington Irri-
CATION company In the fall of 1906
it was sold to the government and
has since been successfully operated
by the United States reclamation SER
vice, and it's enlargement extension
and improvement forms an important
part of the great work contemplated