The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1910-03-10
FouRcHE LAND OPEN
Initial Payment Of Only $i42 Gets II.
'tsated Forty Acre Farm
Great Dam Built.

rourche rrlgatlon project, Soutl
Dakota, is announced in q pSubli,
notice issued by the Secretary of tn,
Interior. This makes immediatel,
available for homestead entry on,
hundred and thirty-two choice fort,
and e~ighty-acre farms.
These farms are open to entry un.
der the general provisions of the
homestead law and the Reclamation
Act. After visiting the land the set.
tier is required to make his home.
stead entry at the local land office a,
Rapid City, or before the United
states Commissioner at Belle Fourche
The homestead entry must be accom-.
panied by an application for waite,
right. There is no lottery. In addition
to the nominal entry fee the settle,
must pay in advance one-tenth of the
building charge, or three dollars per
acre pei annum for operation and
maintenance. The initial payment for
a forty-acre farm will be about s142,
and for an eighty acre farm, s279.
This is one of the lowest priced water
rights in the West, and it is expected
that every farm unit will be taken uD
before May LIST.
The irrigable 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.
The average elevation of the lands
under the Belle Fourche project is
$500 feet above the sea level. The
climate is healthful and inyigorating.
the sensible temperature does not
vary greatly, owing to the dryness
of the atmosphere. The soil is
clay loan and sandy loan, exceed
ingly fertile and free from alkali.
Fruits, such as apples, cherries, plums
and small fruits, do we'll, especially
on the higher portions of the project
near the bluffs, and potatoes produce
a%bundantly on the south side of the
river where the soil is more sandy.
Sugar beets raised in the valley, it is
claimed, contain as much sugar as
those raised in any other section of
the country, and are profitable asa
special crop. The pulp is nourishing
and cheap as a winter feed for stock.
Preparations are being made for
building a beet sugar factory in the
district.
The vast open country surrounding
the valley affords pasturage for inn
mense herds, making that section
of the largest cattle ranges in the
United States. AS many as 5000 car
loads of cattle have been shipped
from Belle Fourche in a year. Large
f1ocks of sheep also feed on the ranges
and one and one-half million pounds
of wool are shipped annually from
this region. With the irrigation of the
valley and the production of abundant
crops of small grain and alfalfa, a
new important industry will be de-
veloped in the winter feeding and
fattening 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. Milk. eggs, butter,
poultry. and garden truck all bring
high prices and there is a growing and
demand for these products.
Sturgis, Whitewood, Belle Fourche
and other towns have direct connec-
ton owe the Chicago & Northwest
ern Railroad with Omaha, Minne-
St. Paul. Chicago. and other
large cities. These great markets take
all the surplus products. sending in
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 ex-
cellent.
From an engineering standpoint
the Belle Fourche project is one of
the most interesting which the Gov
eminent has yet undertaken. Its
principal structure is an earthen dam,
one of the largest of its kind in the
world. This wonderful dixie which
closes the lowest depression in the
rim of a natural basin, is 5000 feet
long, 90 feet wide on top, and us
feet high in the highest place. The
inside face of this structure. which
has q slope of 2 to 4, will be protect
ed from wave and ice action by two
feet ofsscreened gravel on which will
be placed concrete blocks each 4 by
6 feet and 8 inches thick. The cubi-
cal contents Of this dixie will be A.
700, 900 cubic feet, or about half that