PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



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IRRIGATION IN THE NORTHWEST. 



T RRIGATION is rapidly gaining ground among the 

 1 intelligent farmers of the Pacific Northwest. In 

 Walla Walla county, Washington, good progress was 

 made last year in the construction of irrigating canals. 

 A list has been published showing that what is known 

 locally as the Willis ditch is 14 miles long, and will 

 water 5,000 acres. The Lowden ditch is also 14 miles 

 in length, but will water 20,000 acres. Two others, 

 one 3 miles long and the other 3% miles, will water 

 20,000 acres more, while the Hawley ditch, 15 miles 

 in length will water 10,000 acres, and the Wolf 

 ditch another 10,000 acres. Thus, omitting the 

 Wolf ditch whose length is not given, the length 

 of ditch in one county for one year's work is 

 about 50 miles, and the amount of land thus ben- 

 efited 65,000 acres. It is impossible to estimate the 

 vast and far reaching importance of such enterprise 

 in the arid regions. Evidently the men of Walla 

 Walla county have a proper perception of the nec- 

 essary means to develop the agricultural resources of 

 their section. 



But other sections of the State are also forging ahead 

 with commendable vigor, and the Yakima valley is 

 full of great possibilities under the irrigation enter- 

 prises developing so promisingly in that remarkable 

 region. Small farms, which are gradually supplant- 

 ing the great ranches in all irrigated sections, will 

 eventually do for Washington and neighboring 

 States what they have already done for California and 

 Colorado. Special attention is being given to the pro- 

 duction of alfalfa in some parts of Washington, and 

 with unlimited facilities for procuring water, that 

 State is destined soon to stand beside the best in the 

 yield of dairy products, and fine stock. It has been 

 demonstrated that among the very best butter and 

 milk producing plants is alfalfa, which grows luxuri- 

 antly on the irrigated lands of Washington as well as 

 the otherPacific States. Large exports of dairy produce 

 should therefore soon be expected from that State, al- 

 though up to the present time the home demand has 

 been in advance of the supply. Late reports denote a 

 spirit of commendable activity in irrigation matters 

 elsewhere inWashington, as well as in the places above 

 referred to. At Ellensburg, in Kittitass county, public 

 spirited citizens are reported to have subscribed a fund 

 to pay the expense of surveys, estimates.etc., to extend 

 the system already in operation, and it is expected to 

 add at least 5,000 acres to the area to be watered. The 

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Prosser Falls district is also putting forth efforts and 

 some good work has been accomplished. Analyses of 

 soils in nearly all of the sections here under notice 

 have been made and the fact developed that they are 

 unusually rich in some of the essential elements of 

 plant growth. Especially has it been found by Pro- 

 fessor Hilyard and others that the soils of arid Wash- 

 ington are rich in potash. This is a very important 

 feature which THE IRRIGATION AGE will no doubt an- 

 nounce for the first time to many land owners of that 

 rapidly growing State. Phosphoric acid, too, is pres- 

 ent in considerable amount in these soils, which, taken 

 in connection with the favorable climatic conditions 

 obtaining, must render the irrigated lands of Wash- 

 ington especially attractive to settlers. 



A GREAT NEBRASKA CANAL. 



The people of Holt county, Nebraska, are very 

 much in earnest on the subject of irrigation at 

 present. 



The Niobrara River Irrigation and Power Com- 

 pany has been organized with headquarters at 

 O'Neill. It has an authorized capital stock of $2,500,- 

 000, and the incorporators are Messrs. A. U. Morris, 

 J. L. McDonald, H.' A. Allen, R. R. Dickson, J. P. 

 Mann, O. F. Biglin, F. V. Golden, G. C. Hazelet, Neil 

 Brennan and J. A. Testman. The purpose of the 

 company is to construct a main ditch from the Nio- 

 brara river, in Sheridan county, through Cherry, 

 Brown, Rock, Holt, and perhaps Knox counties, with 

 lateral ditches furnishing irrigation for the soil and 

 power for the numerous manufactories that will 

 spring up along the way. 



The work of construction has actually been begun, 

 though only a preliminary survey has yet been made. 

 A corps of engineers will be put in the field in a few 

 days, and the work will be vigorously prosecuted. 

 It is expected that it will take about four months to 

 complete the survey and make the necessary maps 

 and profiles, but in the meantime a force of men will 

 be actually engaged in the work of construction. 



If the reader will take his map of Nebraska and 

 look at a point on the Niobrara river just south of 

 Rushville, in Sheridan county, he will see where it is 

 proposed that this ditch shall begin. It will then 

 take an easterly direction until it strikes the Snake 

 river, about the western boundary of Cherry county. 

 It is expected to follow the bed of this stream some 

 twenty or thirty miles, when it will leave it, and, after 

 an eastwardly course, will intersect Bordman's creek, 



