Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1920-03-02
TO IRRICATE
SOUTH BENCH
PLAN ON FOOT TO PUMP WATER
orvrIcTENT TO WATER OVER
ooa ACRES OF BENCH LAND
ENGINEERS ARE NOW HERE
present Estimates Make the Cost OF
Improvement Quite Low


Cor many years, are now nearly per-
soctad whereby it will be possible TO
.,mn water from Fry lake in suffic
;Out quantity to irrigate every acre of
o- sorr land on the south bench-esti-
a.od az 800 acres. Engineers and
srr,gation experts will be here this
n,oeI Ia make thorough Investigations
of the feasibility of the project and if
their reports are as favorable as is ex-
nected. il is likely that steps will be
faken at once to form an improvement
dstrict on the south bench for the
nuruose of providing irrigation.
This section of Idaho has approx
,nately 25 inches of rainfall each year
which is more than enough to put it
ont Of the dry farming class, but it
does NOT have enough rainfall to place
a in the class with intensified farming
a;stricts. Irrigation is the only thing
that will transform this land from one
class 10 the other, according to G. w.
snoerry. who with the cooperation of
other owners of south bench land. has
been working out the present irriga-
ton plans
Installed a sprinkling system for his
strawberry beds and learned that the
missing link in successful intensified
farming was the application of water,
in proper quantities and at the right
fine L. N. Brown, who purchased
The irrigated portion of the Spoerry
tract. also learned, during the war per-
jod, that small portion of water
served to double his crops and he is
an ardent advocate of irrigation.
Five years ago Mr.. Spoerry had in a
field of Sudan grass, the average
heighth of which is about feet,
inches yet he had sheaf on exhibition
that measured nearly s feet. The Sc
cret of the tall grass was leak in the
CITY water main where it crossed the
Sudan grass field.
Mr.. Spoerry first planned to put in
private pumping system for his ten
acre tract and to raise everbearlng
strawberries and then he thought OIL
getting another farmer or two adJoin-
ing to go in on the proposition, then
the war came on and the secret went
with Spoerry. He brought 1t home
with him and before positively decid-
ing to locate here again, he inter-
viewed several pump men and engl-
neers and ii was agreed that the falr-
\ banks Morse Company should send
their expert here to look the PROPOSE
n ton over. Mr. Spoerry could not tell
the public what he believed because
he had only his own experience which
covers some engineering knowledge
and nineteen years on an irrigated
farm in Southern Idaho, to back his
II arguments. However, he bought land
4 and then more land and last Tuesday,
". H. Shrader, the pump expert for
the Fairbanks Morse Co., arrived and
in company with j. B. Brody, r. l..
Il Squirting and G. w. Spoerry, he took
1 his instruments and went hurriedly
over the project, gave it his unquali-
lied endorsement and urged that the
4 engineering work be started at once.
A number of estimates and tentative
plans have been made, the highest OF
which place the cost of the plant at
100000 This would include an $50
horsepower oil engine and a 10 inch
pump with an IS inch discharge pipe
which will throw 1000 gallons per
d minute to a heighth of 140 feet. From
tnls neighth a gravity system would be
constructed along the foothills to the
laftner end with laterals running al
regular intervals, to the west side OF
'ne bench. These laterals would be
20 placed that every tract would be
reached. Each individual owner
would arrange to do as he liked with
me water after it reached his land
fnd frrl a n
maintenance would be approximately
sa,Vv per acre per year. At the high
~ estimated cost of $4,000 for SOC
@cles. the first cost per acre would be
Osiy 500 and if the district were bond
81 lor q 20 year term the annual cosI
nuuio De $3.50 plus the interest This
nisn tne cost of operation, would tota
| ABOUT $500 an acre.
speaking of his plan to irrigate the
soutn bench and in regard to the in
.saeaseo crops to be raised in proper
AVI 70 added costs, Mr.. Spoerry said
n n LOOK at Wenatchee,, at Yakima, a
TTas,senacres. Opportunity, Vera, TwiI
sa,is' Minidaoka and other systems
SUI see what they get in the way o
,s.ops' Why is otherwise worthless
,anu now selling for from $500 to $3.50
h ~ acre? Water is the answer. w
Ie tne best soil under the sun b.
~ ose,nical tests, barring certain portions
~ ene Sacramento valley. We cal
Nv only equal the other irrigate'
Iass out We can outdo them. Thi
S, ,~uu, with prospects of irrigation, i
"Vs.n 1880 per acre more than it wa
s. week ago and within a year ever,
s,e Is on the south bench will have a
na ,esst doubled in value and will contin
ar1 ~ increase in price.
\ ,ar me me, rotation plan of using the wa
n ho,si h. WIN be adopted so that each land
n vasoa uer VIII receive an abundance Q
n !, @.er with which to operate his trac
seFtain intervals. For example,
Wa Wa are 800 acres, and it were di
asog Ssu INTO ten districts of 80 acre
] su, won,s on the first day, District No.
\ uo,,ss su nave water and all the other
l na.N nslu oe shut off: on the second da
s9slict No. would have water an
sras ~ until the eleventh day when th
j Isl district would raoasxro ,rra TOR .