The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-08-15

One Of the Hermiston settlers says
that he is raising 600 bushels Of onions
per acre without fertilization and
crops Of other vegetables are quoted
almost as large. This is from the
Umatilla project, where water is now
available for eleven or twelve thou
sand acres and where the first set
Elements were made about four years
ago. The locality has excellent banks
and schools, Hermiston having an
building, with 100 pupils There are
newspapers, churches and fraternity
lodges.
OstrirheS and Dates
Do you want to raise ostricheS figs
ana dates?
There are plenty of chances to do
SO on the lands which Uncle Sam now
Cffers in southern Arizona and New
Mexico TIE Roosevelt dam will
open up 240, 900 acres which will grow
alfalfa, upon which ostriches Will
| thrive 1t is the same with the Yuma
project farther south, and also OF
i the lrrigation schemes Of southern
New Mexico. In these regions the
country is practically frostless, and
oranges, lem onS, grapefruit and olives
can be easily grown The lands lie
several hundred feet above sea level
| to 11S degrees above zero.
! IN some OF the tracts the units are
as low as ten acres, which is found
to be plenty. as crops can be raised
all the Year round. Irrigated lands
bring from $50 to $3.50 per acre the
Government tracts varying in cost, ac-
cOrding to the expense involved in
each project The Government report
from Carlsbad, N. M, states that the
finest Of grapes can be raised. bring
| ing a profit of $50 an acre or lettuce
and peas will net $500 per acre, while
! Bermuda onions are yielding 35. 900
| pounds to the acre and readily selling
Tor cents q pound.
These are few notes as to the
profits from Uncle Sans desert farms.
Each OF the thirty-fOur projects now
being reclaimed has it's own special
crops, varying according to climate
and soil. and those who would settle
car receive full information concern
ins them by writing to the Govern
mcnt officials.
How to Get Farm.
| But how does one get farm on
these fertile oases? The lands are
allotted under much the same terms
as the homestead law, save that the
settlers must pay the actual cost OF
erecting the dams and making the ir-
rigation works which put the water
upon the lands. They must also pay
a small rental cost per acre each year
for the use of the water The pay
ment for the land is made in ten an
nual instalments. the money all going
back to the Government. When the
works are paid for the land and tho
works will belong to the community.
! and they will be to certain extent
under the Secretary of the Interior
for the future. The scheme provides
against monopoly No one has tho
right to own more than $50 acres on
any of the tracts and the units OF
] her q q
ten acres. In other projects they are
forty. and in others eighty.
/ If the land is taken up under the
| homestead law the settler must live
on it for five years before he can get
q title, and this is SO whether the
land has water yet not The
tamOunts paid for water vary with the
cost of the irrigation works needed to
redeem them, but in no case are they
lanything like the value Of the land
when redeemed. 1t is estimated that
the cost of reclamation will amount
to about $50 per acre. and in nearly
every project. as soon as the water is
on the land, it is worth 500 and
upward per acre. In the ease of bear
ing orchards as / have said, it may
sell for $1,000 or more.
Our Gases Communities.
The population of these oases prom
ises to be the highest type of Ameri-
can manhood and womanhood. The
| conditions are almost Utopian. Each
settlement will be one Of well-to-dO
farmers. who are carrying on inten
sive cultivation and making comfort
able incomes. with less work than is
possible in any other part OF the
Icountry. The farms. being small. are
close together. and the people have
a. community of interests which leads
| to cooperation and social organiza-
ton. They will market their fruits
and crops in common. and Will form
- (Cont nlied on nage tWO1