The Holbrook news., 1911-05-19

1 ture in connection with this project,
 a vast amount of other engineering
 work has been going on at the same
 time. Many miles below the big dam
 another structure of concrete was
 built across the river to turn the
 stream flow into two huge canals
 which with their laterals have a total
 length of more than $50 miles. This
 dam is 29 feet in height and 1000 feet
 long. The canals will cover 19O,O00
 acres of fine land in the valley and by
 pumping with electric power an addt-
 tional 5o,0OO acres will be irrigated.
 Especial interest attaches to this
 project not alone because of the mag. nitude of its structures but especially
 because of the reason that 1t will re- store to agriculture a vast area of desert which was densely populated in an age forgotten by a race which has vanished utterly Some of the prehistoric canals are utilized today in this modern system.
 The total investment of the govern ment in Salt River valley will exceed $9,000,000, yet this investment does not entail the permanent loss of a single dollar from the United States treasury. The government holds a mortgage on all the land which will be watered which obligated the own CTS to repay in not less than ten years the entire sum expended by the Unit. ed States. Salt River valley is semi tropical in climate. Its products are singularly like those of Egypt. Here f6a ,1I and date trees\ flourish, also almonds, peaches, cherries and other fruits in abundance. Alfalfa, corn, oats, barley and wheat yield enormous crops. All kinds of vegetables and small fruits are grown here and by reason of early ripening command fancy prices in eastern and western markets. The livestock industry is a permanent one and thousands of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs are annually marketed here. Ostrich farming has grown rapidly un- til today there are 7,500 of these birds in the valley. producing several hun dred thousand dollars worth of feath- CTS each year.
 For many years parts of the desert around Phoenix have been irrigated. But the Salt river, which supplied the water, at flood times brought more than the farmers could use and in dry times much less. To save the water for use is the purpose of the Roose- welt dam, from behind whose solid masonry the water will be sent down to the valley as the needs of the land demand. From the reservoir the wa ter flows down the Salt river bed un- til it emerges from the foothills. There the Granite Reef dam, long concrete wall across the river bed-38 feet high-turns the water into the canals, in which 1t flows as far as 30 miles on it's way to the farthest fields be- yond Phoenix.
 Vast potentialities for the produc- ton of foodstuff await the coming of the water. No richer land is found anywhere. It produces all the crops of the temperate zone and some of the subtropical ones as we'll Already the oranges of Phoenix are famed for their toothsomeness, and the time probably will not be long till the dates of the temple and the olives of Mesa will be spoken of.
 The works at the Roosevelt dam will develop 1000 horsepower. Part of this will be used to irrigate 50,000 acres which are above the level of the gravity canal, requiring that the wa ter shall be lifted. Another portion of the available energy will be utilized to pump water from the wells for the Pima reservation. In addition, there Is a surplus, which has already been leased under contract to light the city of Phoenix; and more power will soon oe available from the same source for supplying light and power to farm houses throughout the valley.