The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-08-08
GOVERNMENT ENGINEERS
MAKING GARDENS GREAT
AMERICAN DESERT
CONTINUED from Page One.)

millions.
This means results which are far
in the future and somewhat beyond
what the engineers now claim Mr..
Blanchard tells me that there Will I'm
doubtedly be enough land for one
million families, AM in thu; he cstl-
mates the farms AZ tnlrty or forty
acres each. One acre of any of these
GASES is equal 10 five or ten acres OF
Illinois or Iowa, and it is said that q
family can be supported on a five or
ten acre patch. About one million
acres have already been covered with
water. and homes by the hundreds are
being cut out of the sand. On many
Of the GASES towns have already gone
up, street railroads have been built,
schoolhouSes and other public build
ings constructed and social and politi-
communities are we'll under way.
What Has Been Done.
Let me run owe some of the pro
jccts and tell You a little of what has
been done. Take Yuma on the Colo
RADIO river on the southeastern nnun-
daries Of Arizona and California.
There is a dam there almost a mile
long, that is as high as a two-story
house, which will eventually irrigate
about $4,000 acres of and. The dam
was completed about two years ago
and a distribution system of 1877 miles
of canals has been laid out and is well
oildCI q II IL liSIC al pSi ts
in Arizona and partly in California.
The total area redeemed will be about
100,G00 acres, of which 80, 600 Will
be in Arizona About 5000 acres of
land are already under irrigation on
the California side of the river and
other and are open to settlement.
The country never has frost and its
hot tropical sun fits it for the cultiva-
ton of oranges lemons, grapefruit,
dates, etc. 1t is an ideal region for
ostriches, and it Will vie with South
Africa in the raising of feathers for
our American market.
Jumping to the extreme north,
where the ShOshone river has now
been turned on the lands, a number
of towns have been laid out and some
are fast growing. Cody, which was
named after Buffalo Bill, has a popu-
lation Of $500, with three banks,
stores, lumber yards and hotels. An
electric plant furnishes. the town with
light and power, and it has a sulphur
plant, a brickyard and a -four mill.
which grinds 1925 barrels every day.
Garland, another town, has about 500
people, and Powell and Ralston aare
other settlements which are rapidly
growing. Here the soil is a rich, san
uy loan. fitted for alfalfa, grain and
country about and the. unirrigated
lands are Well fitted for sheep.
The Work in Montana.
From Shoshone let US go north into
Montana and take a look at Huntley,
Northern Pacific and the c., b. & 9.
railroads, on the south bank of the
Yellowstone river. Hene lie about 90
poo acres upon which Uncle Sam has
put water. and which he is now giving
out to settlers in tracts of forty acres
Snd eighty acres each. The most Of
the farmers think forty acres enough
TO yield a good income and say that is
oil the land one man can comfortably
handle. They tell, hoWeNec, 81 extra
ordinary yields of vegetables, sa--z
beets, fruits and grain, and are MAX
ing gOoG in every possible way. The
town Of Huntley is fast growing and 1t
has churches, banks and h9tels. Os-
born is another town which has sprung.
up, and near it is B2liantine, which
has five stores and & postoffice. while
Warden and n. are also fast
growing.
The irrigation system here was prac-
IDEALLY coslE 1eted in 1907, and hun
Sreds * families are now on the lands.
p1DJ are raising alfalfa, which they
sell for SIS a ton, and not a few have
diversified crops. from which they are
getting from $500 to So, 600 per annum
on their forty-acre farms. Neverthe-
less, the soil had not been scratched
by the pillow before the government
too hold of it. Uncle Sam had to
spend a million dollars before it was
ready for settlement. but the lands are
now being paid for and every cent Of
this money Will eventually come back
into the treasury.
Where Apple is King.
Going westward into Oregon and
Washington, we reach the fruit lands
where the chances are even greater
than in the irrigated sections farther
east. Here are the Yakima projects
in a region where full bearing apple
orchards produce crops worth from
$500 to $1,000 per acre, and where
peaches do quite as well. Yakima
county IS shipping hundreds of thou
sands tf boxes Of apples each year,
and millions of young trees are now
growing. Alfalfa hay brings there s.
a ton in the stack. and in one. year