26o 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



May 



The area included in the Canadian 

 Pacific Railway Company's irrigation 

 project comprises a block of three mil- 

 lion acres situated east of Calgary 

 along the main line of the company's 

 railway. 



The block is an open prairie plateau 

 with a general elevation near its west- 

 ern boundary of 3,400 feet above sea 

 level, and slopes rapidly to the east 

 until the elevation of 2,300 feet is 

 reached at the eastern boundary. The 

 surface throughout is more or less 

 rolling until the eastern section is 

 reached, where large areas of almost 

 level plains are found. The whole 

 block produces a most luxuriant 

 growth of nutritious grasses. 



Probably the most striking way of 

 illustrating the magnitude of the area 

 embraced in this irrigation block, is 

 to offer some comparative facts. It 

 is larger than the States of Connecti- 

 cut and Rhode Island combined. It 

 is twice as large as the province of 

 Prince Edward Island. It is one- 

 eighth the size of England and Wales ; 

 about the same size as the Hawaiian 

 Islands, and twice the size of the 

 island of Porto Rico. Fully half of 

 this block is embraced in the com- 

 pany's present scheme of reclamation. 



In developing the scheme the block 

 has been divided into three sections, 

 western, central and eastern, of about 

 one million acres each ; and the work 

 is being carried on along the lines of 

 development of sections, in the order 

 named. 



In the western section about 350,000 

 acres are to be brought under irriga- 

 tion, and the following brief descrip- 

 tion of the works to supply water for 

 this area will indicate the character 

 and magnitude of the undertaking. . 



The water is diverted from the Bow 

 River at a point about two miles below 

 the city of Calgary. From there it is 

 carried south and east through a main 

 canal seventeen miles in length, which 

 is sixty feet wide at the bottom, one 

 hundred and twenty feet in width at 

 the water line, and carries water to 

 a depth of ten feet. 



