Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1909-06-11
voNnEUFUL RESULTS In Tue
NORTHWEST.
!, .orssting Article Written Especially
Cor This Paper-Tells What Science
% irrigation Has Done-$ 55, ZOO, 60011
will Be Expended in States of Wash
;rpton and Idaho Alone.

.,s achievements in the Inland Empire,
ho,e the pioneers and those who fol
1orrad have, within the last few years,
rested from the sagebrush country,
,ono looked upon as absolutely worth
less a p-producing, home supporting
oroa of inexhaustible fertility, greater
in extent than the cultivated lands in
New England and capable of support
mo larger rural population.
Ont of the arid waste sprung won
derful orchards, vineyards, berry fields,
trnck gardens and fields of golden
Grain and waving grasses; towns and
Sillages peopled with happy and op-
timistic population, comfortable homes
in the country inhabited by satisfied
vet energetic husbandry; banks, liter
ollv bullying with the wealth of their
denositors, and railroads and CONNER
cal and industrial enterprises telling
of the march of progress into what
was the desert wilds less than two dec
AIDES ago.
This wonderful transformation is due
to irrigation, the science of supplying
moisture, bringing to the soil the
waters and streams which constantly
corrode the mountains and foothills,
giving out the new life principles in
the form of alluvium from the decay
ing rocks and vegetation of the up
lands.
The economic value of irrigation,
whether by national project or private
enterprise, cannot be measured in dol
lars and cents. 1t is no longer an ex-
periment in this growing country; i
cal and financial viewpoints, and the
influence of it's far-fung horizons and
its true perspective are potential in
character-molding and building. There
is inspiration in the vastness of this
westerness, where men and women and
children breathe optimism and grow
mental breadth and strength in con
templating scenery, declared by sea-
soned travellers to have no counterpart
in the world. The development of the
country will provide a safety valve
against the impending dangers. of con.
gestion in the cities of the east.
1t has been demonstrated that under
irrigation western land will produce
paying crops of anything which grows
in the temperate zone. The products
are noted for their brilliant coloring
unusual size and excellent flavor, and
they command the markets of the
world. Vegetables in almost endless
variety and the choicest vine and tree
fruits follow each other in rotation and
fill out the season. There is courage
born of conviction and fostered by
hope in the superintendent life which
springs from the broad desert wher
moisture is applied, and this gives {
constant inspiration to industry anC
stimulus to greater things.
What Little Land Will Do.
Five to ten acres of land in the irri
gated districts will provide shelter
food and raiment for a family and en-
able its owner to put aside from $500
to $1,000 year. Scores of hundreds
of men and women, many of whom
came from the crowded cities in thu
east and south, are doing that much O
better today. The home-making in
stinct Characteristic of the true Amer
lean won out, and as result they ar,
independent and able to dictate tn
prices of their products
Governments Projects.
The government of the Unite,
States recognized the possibilities o
the lands in the northwest, where it
projects cover nearly million acres
The largest of these in Washington i
the Sunnyside project, in the Yakim
valley, 10000 acres, to be completed a
an estimated cost of $1,600,000. 9th
ers are the Tieton, in the Yakima val
ley, 10000 acres, cost $1,500,00O; tn
Wapato, also in the Yakima valley
10000 acres, cost $1,500,000, and tn
okanogan, 5000 acres, cost 100000.
In addition to these, the Unite
States reclamation service has author
lied the Kittitas and Benton project
IN Washington. The Indian and RI
elamation service estimate that $25 O
less will cover the cost for water RICH
on the reservation. This is about hal
The cost of the watering land unde
other canals in the Yakima valley.
1t is likely that in time more tina
$5OOOO,O0O will be expended by tn
reclamation service in the state G
Washington in retaining 10000
acres of land now entirely or partl
waste. Of this, $4,000 acres will
In the Ellensburg district, 10000
acres in the Rattlesnake and Coz
creek districts, and 10000 acres in I'll
valley of the Okanogan.
The government IS projects in soutl
ern Idaho are the Minedoka, with a
area of 100000 acres, to be complete
at an estimated cost of $4,O00,000, an
the Payette-Boise, 100000 acres, cos
ing $3,000,000, while Oregon has tt
Umatilla project, $4,000 acres, costir
100000, and the klamath, part {
which extends into California, 1900
acres, cost $3,60O,OOO. The projects
Montana are the Huntley, 10000 acre
cost 100000; the Milk river, inclu
ing Saint Mary, 10000 acres, co
$l,SOo,O00, and the Sun river, 1906
acres, costing 100000. The Low
Yellowstone project in Montana al
North Dakota takes in $4,000 acr
and will cost $2,7OO,o0O.
Wonderful Possibilities.
There are scores of gravity, siph'
and pumping plants in various parts
Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Mo
tana, and all are successful. The e
tent of operations on irrigated lands
the northwest will be better understo
When II su khoA hn ualIla