Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1909-06-12
WONDERFUL RESULTS In The
NORTHWEST.
Interesting Article Written Especially
for This Paper-Tells What Science
of Irrigation Has Done $55, 900, 900
VIII Be Expended in States of Wash
ington and Idaho Alone.

NutIc buC anu JuOSe WHO lOl-
lowed have, within the last few years,
wrested from the sagebrush country,
long looked upon as absolutely worth
less, a crop-producing, home-supporting
area of inexhaustible fertility, greater
in extent than the cultivated lands in
New England and capable of support
ing larger rural population.
Out of the arid waste sprung won
derful orchards, vineyards, berry fields,
truck gardens and fields of golden
grain and waving grasses; towns and
villages peopled with happy and OPP
timistic population, comfortable homes
in the country inhabited by satisfied
yet energetic husbandry; banks, liter
ally bullying with the wealth of their
depositors, and railroads and CONNER
cial 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-
pertinent in this growing country; it
is a confirmed success from CONNER
cial and financial viewpoints, and the
influence of its far-hung 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 when
moisture is applied, and this gives a
constant inspiration to industry and
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 the
east and south, are doing that much OF
better today. The home-making in
stinct characteristic of the true Amer
lean won out, and as result they are
independent and able to dictate the
prices of their products
Governments Projects.
The government of the United
States recognized the possibilities OF
the lands in the northwest, where its
projects cover nearly million acres
The largest of these in Washington il
the Sunnyside project, in the Yakima
valley, 10000 acres, to be completed al
an estimated cost of $1,600,000 9th
ers are the Tieton, in the Yakima val
ley, 10000 acres, cost $1,500,000; th,
Wapato, also in the Yakima valley
10000 acres, cost 1900, 000 and tn,
Okanogan, 5000 acres, cost 100000.
In addition to these, the United
States reclamation service has author
lied the Kittitas and Benton project
in Washington. The Indian and re
clamation service estimate that $25 o
less viii 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 thar
$5O,0O0,O0O viii be expended by tn
reclamation service in the state o
Washington in retaining 100000
acres of land now entirely or partl
waste. OF this, $4,000 acres will b
in the Ellensburg district, 100000
acres in the Rattlesnake and Goa
creek districts, and 10000 acres in tn
valley of the Okanogan.
The governments projects in soutI
ern Idaho are the MinedOka, with a
area of 100000 acres, to be complete
at an estimated cost of $4,000,000, an
the Payette- Boise, 100000 acres, cost
ing $3,O0O,OOO, while Oregon has tn
Umatilla project, $4,000 acres, costin
$1,100,000, and the klamath, part 0
which extends into California, 10000
acres, cost $3,600,000. The projects i
Montana are the Huntley, 10000 acre
'cost $900,000; the Milk river, incluC
ing Saint Mary, 10000 acres, COS
100000, and the Sun river, 1900
acres, costing 100000. The Lowe
Yellowstone project in Montana an
North Dakota takes in $4,000 acre
and will cost $2,700,000.
Wonderful Possibilities.
There are scores of gravity, sipho
and pumping plants in various parts {
Washington, Oregon, Idaho and MOI
tana, and all are successful. The e,
tent of operations on irrigated lands
the northwest will be better understood