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PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



NEW METHOD OF IRRIGATION. 



Next season an entirely new system of 

 irrigating orchards will be introduced in 

 the vicinity of Ontario, Ore. It will be 

 applied to the land that is above the canals. 

 Water will be hauled in wagons to where 

 it is wanted. At the root of each tree will 

 be placed a 10-gallon water box. This box 

 is to be filled once every two weeks during 

 the dry season until the tree is five years 

 old. To fill these boxes, on the basis of 

 20 acres of orchard, it will require 30,000 

 gallons of water. This will take a team 

 and one man six days. The soil will be 

 cultivated thoroughly and about three 

 times as deep as is usual. It is claimed by 

 advocates of the new system that, fruit 

 raised with a dry surface will be far super- 

 ior to that raised with surface watering. 

 The spider and moth will not be attracted 

 by damp soil. The usual water rental is 

 $1 per acre for surface watering. It is 

 claimed under the new system two inches 

 of water will irrigate 20 acres of bearing 

 orchard. It is proposed to grow melons in 

 the same way, the water box at the melon 

 root, of course, being smaller. It is 

 claimed that melons in this country are 

 not of the best quality on account of lying 

 on moist ground and becoming the prey 

 for the different kinds of insects. Under 

 the new system, the melon rests on a dry 

 surface, colors naturally, ripens evenly, is 

 not filled with water by evaporation, has 

 an even and regular rind, ships better and 

 keeps better in the market. 



GETS A BIG CONCESSION. 

 The government federation of Mexico 

 has granted a valuable concession to A. J. 

 Streeter of New Windsor, 111., for the 

 famous Fuerte river valley, in the State of 

 Sinaloa. Fuerte valley has an area of 200- 



000 acres, and Mr. Streeter owns 65,000 

 acres near Topolobampo bay, on the line 

 of the proposed Kansas City, Mexico & 

 Orient railroad. The concession grants 

 the holder the right to use one-half of the 

 water from the Fuerte river. If the 

 scheme is consummated it will prove of 

 great benefit to the state. Survey jilans 

 and a location of a canal will be made next 

 winter. 



BIG IRRIGATION ENTERPRISE. 



State Engineer Ross, of Idaho, has re- 

 turned from a trip to Ogden, and he states 

 that final arrangements have now been 

 made between the state and the American 

 Falls Power & Canal Company for the 

 opening of the company's canal. The 

 state filed on 57,000 acres of land in Bing- 

 ham and Bannock counties under the 

 Carey act about a year ago, and the land 

 is all under the proposed canal. 



The state insisted that the settler be al- 

 lowed the right to buy shares of stock in 

 the company rather than be assessed each 

 year, and the company has given way. 



The work of construction will be under- 

 taken by the Utah Construction Company, 

 and the enterprise will cost $325,000, the 

 company giving a bond of $150,000 to 

 complete the work within 18 months. The 

 canal will cover 75,000 acres of land now 

 arid. The ditch will be 65 miles long, 70 

 feet wide at the bottom, and will carry 

 65,000 inches of water. 



WATER STORAGE BENEFITS. 

 The western half of the United States- 

 to-day supports a population ranging some- 

 where around 5,000,000. Much of this 

 population has been attracted by the cry 

 of gold, and the capital invested in western 

 mines today is enormous. Yet it is not a 

 tithe of the amount which the value of the 



