Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-06
BELLE FOURCHE LAND
Second Unit Of Irrigation Project is
Ready to Enter.
CHANCE TO GET RICH FARM TRACT
One Hundred and Thirty-TwO Choice
Forty and E~iRhty-Acre Farms
Immediately Available for
Homestead Entry.

huuAeHNehu EuNENs
WASHINGTON, March b.-(special)-The
completion OF the second unit Of the Belle
Fourche irrigation project. South Dakota,
is announced ia q public notice Issued by
the secretary Of interior. This makes Inn
mediately available for homestead entry lS2
choice forty and eight-scre farms.
These farms are open TO entry under the
general provisions Of the homestead law
and the Exclamation act. After visiting the
land the settler is required to make his
homestead entry at the local land office
at Rapid City. or before the United states
commissioner at Belle Fourche. The home
stead entry must be accompanied by an
application for water light. There is no
lottery. In addition to the nominal entry
fee the settler must pay In advance one
tenth of the building charge, or 50 per
acre Of irrigable land. A charge Is also
made OF 40c per acre per annum for oper-
alton and maintenance. The initial pay
ment for a forty-acre farm will be about
&l42, and for an el~ghty-acre farm t29. This
is one on the lowest-priced water rights
in the west, and It is expected that every
farm unit will be taken up before May l.
The irrigsble lands are located in Butte
and Meade counties, north and northeast
Of the Black Hills, one Of the richest
gold mining camps in the west.
CIImat and Crops.
The average elevation OF the lands under
the Belle Fourche project is $500 feet above
sea level. The climate is healthful and
hQSigorating. As in other parts Of the arid
r&sion, the sensible temperature does not
Vary greatly, owing to the dryness Of the
atmosphere. The soil is clay loan and
sandy loan, exceedingly fertile and free
from alkall. Fruits, such as apples, cher
ries, plums and small fruits do well, espec-
tally on the higher portions of the project
near the bluffs, and potatoes produce
abundantly on the south eide Of the river
where the soil is more sandy. Sugar beets
raised in the valley, It is claimed, con-
tain as much sugar as those raised in any
other section of the country, and are profit
able as a special crop. The pulp is nour-
ishing and cheap as winter food for stock.
Preparations are being made for building
a beet sugar factory in the district.
The vast country surrounding the valley
affords pasturage for immense herds, max
ing that section one Of the largest cattle
ranges in the United States. As many as
5000 carloads Of cattle have been shipped
from Belle Fourche in a year. Large
flocks Of sheep also feed on the ranges,
and 100000 pounds Of wool are shipped
annuaRF from this region. with the irri-
CATION Of the valley and the production
Of abundant crops of small grain and
alfalfaAa new and important industry will
be developed in the winter feeding and
fattenting Of stock.
All the fruits and vegetables that can
be raised In the valley can be sold TO the
mining camps of the Black Hills, where
employment is given to thousands of men.
MIX, eggs, butter, poultry and garden
truck all bring high prices and there is a
growing and constant demand for these
products. Sturgis, Whltewood, Belle
Fourche and other towns have direct con-
nection over the Chicago g. northwestern
railroad with Omaha, Minneapolis, st.
Paul, Chicago, and other large cities. These
great markets take all the surplus products,
sending in return machinery, household
supplies and, other manufactured articles
not yet produced in the valley. A new
railroad is being built the entire length OF
the project, so that the transportation
facilities will be excellent.
interesting to Engineers.
From an engineering standpoint the Belle
Fourche project in one of the most inter
estinAwhich the government has yet under
taken. Its principal structure is an
earthen dam, probably the largest of its
kind in the. world. This wonderful dixie
which closes the lowest depression in the
rim of a natural basin, is $500 feet long,
twenty feet Wild on top, and 1l5 feet high
in the highest place. The inside face Of
this structure, which mas a slope Of two to
l, Will be protected from wave and Ice
action by two feet Of screened gravel on
which will be placed concrete blocks each
Axe feet and eight inches thick. The
cubicaI content Of this dam will be 4S, 700, 900
cubic feet, of about half that Of the fam
GUS pyramid Of Cheops.
The reservoir created by this dam will
cover about 5000 acres. and will be the
largest lake In the state. II will receive
water through an inlet canal six and one
half miles long, forty feet wide on the
bottom, and capable of carrying the entire
~ Of Belle Fourche river.
TThe Belle Fourche offers opportunities
in every line OF business. The valley is
practically a virgin field. The mercantile
pursuits are not overcrowded. Manu-
featuring Is yet to be developed, and the
professional man has a great opportunity.
The reclamation Of 1907 U acres OF land
included in this project, with a family on
every forty or eighty-acre tract. will neces-
sltatk the establishment Of several new
town. and will add greatly to those now
In existence. Around the new government
town site. and also the new railroad in
temporary quarters. ready to move into
permanent buildings as soon as the town
site lots are on sale. Lands which sold
for IS per acre before the project started
are now valued at $50 per acre and are
in good demand