The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-01-22
! ENGINEER JACOBS SAYS THAT
THERE ARE NO PHYSICAL OBJ
JECTIONS-HAS NOT FINISHED
ESTIMATE OF COST.

ESTIMATE OF COST.
All doubts are removed as to the
physical feasibility of the irrigation
of nearly half million acres of
Grant county's fertile acres, says the
Ephrata Journal A letter of inquiry
from S. j. Ellison, general passenger
agent of the Great Northern railway,
to Joseph Jacobs, the engineer en-
ployed by the Quincy Valley Water
Users association, contains informa-
ton which assures the practicability
of the Quincy valley project, and also
gives data for CHASING this valley
ahead of either Wenatchee or the
Sunnyside districts for fruit culture.
This report of the engineer, coming
as early as it does in the new year,
should act as stimulus to the peo-
pie of the whole valley to get to work
and raise sufficient money to complete
the survey as soon as weather con-
ditions will permit. We append Mr..
Jacobs letter, by courtesy of the Of
ficers of the @. " w. U. A:
January 4, 1910.
Mr. S. J Ellison,
Gent Passenger Ag't G. \. Ry,
ST. Paul, Mimi.
Dear Sir:
| am in receipt of your favor of
HDecember % and despite the fact
that / am extremely busy at the pres
ent time, I am glad to avail myself of
the opportunity your letter affords of
bringing to your attention the Quincy
Valley Irrigation project.
| was recently retained by the
Quincy Valley Water Users associa-
tion TO investigate and report on the
feasibility of irrigating the so-caleld
Quincy flats, lying in the southerly
part of Grant county, this state. The
project embraces an area which I es-
innate to be 100000 acres of irriga-
BILE land and may be more, particular
ly described as being bounded on the
north by the G. n. railway, on the
east by Moses Lake, on the south by
the c., M. & st. P railway, and on
the west by the Columbia river. It's
transportation facilities, therefore,
are unexcelled The land is at an ele-
walton of about 1900 feet above the
sea-level and lies well for irrigation,
having a gentle slope to the south
and east and being free of any mark
ed irregularities of surface. The soil
depth is generally not less than 100
feet, as is indicated by a number of
wells that have already been put
down in the valley for domestic pur-
poses, and as to quality the soil may
be described as a basaltic lava which
! at one time overspread this entire ter
! ritory. or from basaltic dust deposited
by the winds. 1t is practically iden-
teal with the soil found in the Yaki-
ma valley and more particularly the
Sunnyside district of the Yakima
valley, which alone would testify to
its fertility.
An examination of the United
States weather bureau records for a
number of years back indicates that
this district has climatic advantages
over either the Wenatchee or the
Sunnyside districts in several partic-
ulars, as follows:
/. It's mean annual temperature is
from two to four degrees greater.
2. It's average maximum temper
allure is from six to ten degrees
greater.
3. It's average minimum tempera-
ture is two degrees greater, l. e. it is
two degrees warmer.
4. It's interval between the last
killing frost in the spring and the
first killing frost in the fall is from
six to twenty days longer. This prac-
tically measures the growing season
for crops and is important.
All the above data indicates that
the land is better adapted to fruit
culture than either the Sunnyside or
the Wenatchee districts AMI without
doubt if water is delivered to these
lands they should be cropped chiefly
to fruit.
A The sources of water supply being
tconsidered are the Pend d'Oreille and
the Wenatchee rivers, from either OF
which sources the water may be
brought to the land by gravity.
My Investigations are not yet COM
pleted and it is therefore impossible
to offer you anything more definite
than | have outlined above, except as
to the physical feasibility of the pro-
iect and there only remains the ques-
ton as to whether the acre cost and
the aggregate cost will fall within the
limit of commercial feasibility.
The final report which / shall rem
der on these matters will, of course,
be to the Quincy Valley Water Users
association to whom you should look