PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



MONTANA'S ADVANTAGES. 



In response to a letter of inquiry from 

 Edward L. Flemming, of Philadelphia, 

 as to the agricultural advantages of Mon- 

 tana, Donald Bradford, arid land com- 

 missioner, writes as follows : 



"There are numerous ' benches ' of 

 various areas lying among the Clark's 

 Fork, in Carbon county, possessing rich 

 soil and contiguous to ample water supply 

 for irrigation. The climate is such that 

 four crops of alfalfa may be raised in a 

 season and fruit and vegetables grow 

 luxuriantly. 



The state arid land grant commission 

 believes that the Clark's Fork valley is 

 second to none anywhere in every element 

 necessary to support a prosperous corn~- 

 niunity. or number of communities, and 

 it is ready, as soon as a sufficient number 

 of men have been secured, to proceed to 

 build canals or ditches to reclaim the 

 land. 



"The plan is to give employment to 

 the settlers themselves in the construction 

 of ditches and to pay in 'trustee's certifi- 

 Jates.' which will be received in payment 

 for water rights and will be accepted by 

 merchants for supplies. These certifi- 

 cates will be secured by an equal amount 

 of the bonds issued by this commission 

 on behalf of that particular district, 

 which, when fully paid, will be cancelled. 

 In this way the indebtedness of any dis- 

 trict may soon be cancelled. 



"I may say that when any individual 

 water right is paid for. the lien against 

 it, under the law, is cancelled, so that it 

 will not subsequently be liable for the 

 debt of the district. The commission 

 will sell water rights at cost which shall 

 includ* actual construction, engineering, 



interest on bonds at six per cent, per 

 annum and the district's proportionate 

 share of the expenses of this commission, 

 which will be slight. After construction 

 the state will own and operate the ditch 

 delivering to each his share of water at 

 the cost of operating and maintaining the 

 ditch, which will be small. 



"The land is a part of the Crow Indian 

 reservation recently thrown open to 

 settlement and can only be had by 

 settlers themselves under the homestead 

 act, and by paying $1.50 per acre, one- 

 half at the expiration of one year and the 

 balance at the end of two years. I wish 

 you could secure fifteen or twenty families 

 in your region or elsewhere and com- 

 municate with me as soon as practicable. " 



FROM EDDY, NEW MEXICO 

 The Pecos valley has now made suffi- 

 cient progress as an irrigation centre to 

 entitle it to occasional, mention in the 

 AGE. Of the 1.400 square miles of 

 cultivatable land in the valley 350 square 

 miles are now under ditch and each year 

 sees this area increased. 



There are now over 125 miles of main 

 canals from which branch 273 miles of 

 laterals and 900 miles of farm supply 

 ditches. In the aggregate there are five 

 large dams, two immense artificial lakes 

 covering 9,100 acres and 1.294 miles of 

 canals and ditches capable of irrigating 

 300,000 acres. 



The growing industry in the valley 

 just now is the cultivation of the sugar 

 beet of which it is estimated that 1,600 

 tons will be disposed of to the beet sugar 

 factory this season. Farmers receive for 

 this product $4.25 per ton at a cost for 

 production of about $20.00 an acre, 



