The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1916-01-21
C. j. HOLMAN.
Spokane. Wash, Jan. II, 1916.
Secretary. w. o. V. /. D.,

Secretary. w. o. V. /. D.,
Oroville, Wash.
Dear Sir:-I am in receipt of your letter
asking my opinion concerning the future
prospects of the Okanogan valley and the
lands now coming under the ditch, and 1t
is a pleasure to give my impressions for
what they are worth.
1t seems to me that there will be three
distinct stages connected with the future
of he valley, and | will designate them
the prospective" stage, the develop
ment stage and the dividend stage
prospective stage, and by this mean the
time required to conceive and carry out
the building Of the canal Of the west
Okanogan Valley Irrigation District. 1t
is needless for me to touch on how TINS
was conceived and carried out, except
that want to say that the men interested
gave freely of their time, and succeeded
IN finally selling the bonds and thus as
suring the construction of the canal.
From the time that the con contract r was was
vigorously. and l believe. conscientlously
pushed until today it is rapidly nearing
completion. and from a personal ale examlno IN,
satisfied that we have canal~that is
substantially constructed, has the carry
ing capacity that is required, and will do
'"f haye MSts lived Sl' in an irrigation district
for nine years, have seen several projects
and have visited several other districts
more or less noted have no hesitancy in
saying that if the work yet to do Is com
i believe that we will have "a canal that
viii be permanent, and that 1t can be op-
Grated at a comparatively low cost of up
keep | believe that the ditch work is as
good as can be done. the flume construc,
ton solid and enduring, and that 1t will
last for years with only small cost for
repairs. In fact it seems to me that
for the first ten or fifteen years this will
he light tax on the land owners;
the tie w We are ae Teady to use @ it in tRe
spring. and owing to the fact that there
will be a considerable amount Of land
that will not be in cultivation the first
it's full capacity at the start, hence, will
have. time to settle, and thus we shall
avoid much of the trouble that other
canals have experienced the first year OF
their use.
So much for the first stage.
Next comes the development stage. the
time when the man goes on the land
erects his buildings, applies himself to in
tensified farming and gets ,a down fro to the the
soil, and that time is just about at hand.
No one can deny that we have the
SOIL the Ga5MATE the IVA WATEa g2ast and and
solute necessities to make a success OF
farming in this, or any other, district.
That we can produce yegetabies, fruits
titles, where the right care and cultiva-
ton is given is beyond question, However
portance in fact, and that is the settler to
work the land, the man with the push ana
the intelligence to get the very most In
return for his labor.
At the present time there are, few
highly developed small tracts under the
canal, but as whole the ground as yet,
has not been scratched.
Again | say we want the man to add
to our combination, so that 1T VIII be
profitable to all concerned. and this man
should have every consideration shown
him. He should have every aid and advan,
tage, 50 that his success will be assured
if he will only give the right kind of work
in return.
Lands under the project are cheap at at
present, and many who are now here Will
see the day. and that Is in IN tn the ith near fas1 iI
ings of regret that they had not taken
advantage of the opportunity at the time
when they could have purchased such or
such "a piece of property for the small
sum of $50 an acre. Just now good lahus
under the ditch can be purchased for as
low price as $50 an acre, and from that
Now consider the standpoint of the
small investor. He comes here with lin
tied capital. but with the ability to work
and the ambition to get aehad. For as
low n price as 5000 he can secure twenty
acres of land. If he will put 10 acres IN
alfalfa, keep five acres for diversified
crops and invest i'm from five to ten cows
he is Immediately self supporting, and
as soon as he has harvested his hrst good
hay crop he can commence putting money
in the bank. All this on an original out
lay of from 81. 900 to $4,000. This, perhaps,
sounds easy. do not intend to convey
sistent saving and making every dollar go
as far as possible. But nevertheless 1t is
possible. go
After his original investment he will
have the charge for water to meet, mat
ter of about $50 to 800 per year FOR his
twenty acres. Regarding this charge i
can say that it compares very favorabiy
with the charges in other successful irri-
cation districts. In fact 1t is only about
one half what is paid i'm some of the dis
tricts. and considering what can be rals-
ed with water in this valley. and how
little without, the charge must be consid-
cred as exceedingly low.
believe that every settler should to
some extent diversity in his farming. so
that while one crop might he low in price
another would bring good money. Some
men might have special experience In
profitable to grow. and naturally he would
devote his attention to that speciality.
Many acres in this valley would undoubt-
edlY nrodnce the finest quality of grapes