NEWS AND NOTES 



637 



which might be that it is too well writ- 

 ten, to the last page it is clear, concise, 

 and full of interest. The pamphlet con- 

 tains excerpts from practically all the 

 addresses made at the White House 

 Conference in May, with a history of 

 the origin of the Conservation Commis- 

 sion and the make-up and objects of 

 the Commission. Those desiring a copy 

 of this pamphlet can secure it by ad- 

 dressing" the Forest Service, Washing- 

 ton. D. C. 



&' «i Jt' 



Irrigation Notes from Washington 



SIXTEEN thousand acres of land 

 in Benton County, Washington, 

 southwest of Spokane will come under 

 the canal which the Richland Land 

 Company is building out of Richland. 

 The tract is on the divide between the 

 Columbia and the Yakima rivers, over- 

 looking the first named, and is the last 

 gravity system on the latter stream. 

 The main canal, upon which several 

 hundred men and teams were put to 

 work in the middle of October, is to be 

 fifteen miles in length, and will be com- 

 pleted next February. 



The organization back of the project 

 is the result of the merging of the 

 Lower Yakima Irrigation Company 

 and the Benton Water Company, the 

 latter having a canal which supplies 

 4,000 acres in the vicinity of Richland. 

 Those interested in the new company 

 are : Howard Amon, formerly presi- 

 dent of the Benton Water Company ; 

 Lee A. iVmsbury and Samuel T. Laird, 

 formerly of Garfield. Wash. ; Rufus 

 Fullerton, formerly of Palouse, Wash., 

 and Messrs. Allen, Downs and Struve, 

 of Seattle. Headquarters has been es- 

 tablished at Richland. 



Practically the entire Yakima River 

 is diverted at the intake of the canal, 

 part of the water going into the North- 

 ern Pacific Irrigation Company's canal 

 and the remainder into the canal now 

 under construction. The Lower Yaki- 

 ma Irrigation Company has the oldest 

 rights on the river, having consolidated 

 with the Yakima Irrigation and Im- 

 provement Company's rights, also the 

 old Rich rights. 



Engineers measured the stream dur- 

 ing the irrigation season last summer, 

 and at all times there was at least 1,000 

 gallons of water going through the 

 gates, unused, every second This in- 

 sures an abundance of water for the 

 project. The North Coast Railway 

 Company has construction crews be- 

 tween Richlanrl and Kennewick, and the 

 Kennewick Northern is hastening men 

 and material into the field, which will 

 give Richland two railroads. 



Leon Lake Irrigation Company has 

 been organized in Spokane, with a capi- 

 tal of $100,000, to irrigate 2.000 acres 

 of land between Deer and Leon lakes, in 

 Stevens County. Washington, north of 

 Spokane. The incorporators are M. R. 

 Mann, B. H. Becker, and E. ]\Iorgan. 

 Water will be taken from Deer Lake 

 and led through a canal one and a 

 quarter miles to the edge of the land. 

 The canal will be six feet wide at the 

 bottom, and four feet deep. It will 

 cost $25,000 to construct it and com- 

 plete the laterals, which will tap every 

 acre of land. 



Deer Lake contains 1,600 square 

 acres, and has a watershed of 700 

 square miles, hence the supply of water 

 is sufificient for far more than the 2,500 

 acres to be reclaimed. Most of the 

 land is level and is wooded. Work on 

 the irrigation system and on clearing 

 the land is now under way, and will 

 be completed in time for crops next 

 spring. The land will be devoted to 

 apple-trees and berries. No provision 

 has been made by the company for a 

 domestic supply, but water is reached 

 at a depth of from fifty to 100 feet all 

 over the new tract. 



M. H. Allen, treasurer of Sumpter. 

 Oreg., south of Spokane, has petitioned 

 that city for a right of way for a water 

 ditch through the town. His object 

 is the reclamation of a vast tract of 

 land contiguous to Sumpter and be- 

 yond. Much of this land was formerly 

 held by the Sumpter Townsite Com- 

 pany, which platted many acres, with 

 the idea that at no far future date the 

 city would absorb it for town lots. This 

 dream has been dispelled and the town- 



