THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



183 



which time they have replaced every structure on the system 

 and put in a new head gate of stone and steel, at a cost 

 of $17,000. 



Lying immediately above the line of this canal is a 

 tract of land (approximately 70,000 acres) more than 60 

 per cent of which is Government land, which it is proposed 

 to irrigate by means of a high line canal. 



Efforts have been made to secure private capital to con- 

 struct this canal and at one time a district was organized 

 under the "Colorado District Irrigation Law," but this failed 

 by reason of the promoters being unable to place the district 

 bonds when voted. The owners of the deeded lands under 

 the line of canal are now taking the necessary steps to secure 

 the construction of the canal by the Government under the 

 provisions of the Reclamation Act. 



A Water Users' Association has been formed along the 

 lines suggested by the Interior Department and the Depart- 

 ment has been asked to undertake the construction of the 

 canal. 



The work of securing the subscription of the owners of 

 the deeded lands, the articles of incorporation and their 

 agreement to take water from the Government Canal, is 

 progressing satisfactorily and in a short time the required 

 amount of 90 per cent will have been subscribed. 



As there is more water in the Grand River than can 

 ever be used in irrigating the lands adjacent thereto, there 

 is no question of priority of water rights to be adjusted 

 and the land owners under the Grand Valley Canal having 

 all the water they require with sufficient ditch to convey 

 it to their land, they are in no way interested in the Gov- 

 ernment canal, except as it will promote the general pros- 

 perity of the country. 



The criticisms that are often made on the Government 

 projects, namely : that it antagonizes private capital and con- 

 fiscates vested rights in water acquired, do not apply here, 

 as the Government took no step to do anything so long as 

 private capital was making an effort to construct the canal. 



While the two tracts of land lie adjacent, there is no 

 conflict of interests between them. The building of the 

 Government canal will take nothing from the land owners 

 under the present system. 



W. S. WALLACE. 



EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE: 



Dear. Sir The following item may, perhaps, find an appro- 

 priate place in your pages. 



The legislature of North Dakota last week passed a com- 

 prehensive irrigation code, Which follows closely the pro- 

 visions of the suggested State irrigation code drawn up last 

 summer by Mr. Morris Bien, of the United States Reclamation 

 Service. This is the first effective legislation on the subject 

 in North Dakota, and will put irrigation investigations upon a 

 well established and permanent basis, so that it is now possible 

 to secure the exclusive services of a competent man as State 

 engineer. The first State engineer, Prof. E. F. Chandler, who 

 began that work last season and has been carrying it on in ad- 

 dition to his work as resident hydrographer for the United 

 States Geological Survey and to his regular duties in the State 

 University, now transfers the office to Mr. A. L. Fellows, of 

 Denver, Colo., who has been for the past two years district 

 engineer for Colorado of the United States Reclamation 

 Service, and who now, under the new law, is appointed by Gov- 

 ernor Sarles as State engineer of North Dakota. Yours very 

 truly, 



NORTH YAKIMA, WASH., Feb. 3, 1905. 

 EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE : 



Dear Sir I have been reading your criticisms of the 

 Government irrigation crowd with a good deal of interest. 

 They have certainly got a great pull for all time to come if 

 they succeed in pulling the wool over the eyes of the west- 

 ern legislatures, and it looks as though with the help of 

 most of the newspapers out here they will accomplish their 

 desires with the exception of, perhaps, the State of Wash- 

 ington. The people of Yakima and other valleys see the 

 great danger to the title of the water right if the Govern- 

 ment engineers have their way. and are making a determined 

 and united stand against the crowd meddling with these 

 valuable water rights already established. The courts have 

 settled many of these rights and all is peace and prosperity 

 now, but with the advent of the "Ozone Maxwell' crowd 

 claiming the water of the earth, hades would be to pay; 

 land values would depreciate 50 per cent. The people of 

 Yakima and other valleys who have made them the most 



valuable sections in the northwest, are perfectly able to go 

 on and develop that location until it is unsurpassed. 



The "Ozone Crowd" are agitated greatly over the turn 

 affairs have taken and are flocking to Olympia to try to 

 overcome the fight of the people against the great water steal. 



We hope you will continue the good work that you 

 have started until the people see clearly what is being done 

 to them. I am, Yours respectfully, 



C. E. BURLINGAME. 



[NOTE. The above letter was mislaid, otherwise it would 

 have appeared in our March issue. EDITOR.] 



EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE: 



Dear Sir With the repeal of all land laws except the 

 homestead act, by which to acquire public domain, the question 

 arises what is to become of the permanently semi-arid and 

 arid lands? The nature of the lands exclude the possibility 

 of their entry by homestead, and that is the only law to remain 

 by which they may be entered. One wonders if this is not a 

 part of some premeditated plan to give herdsmen, without 

 charge for unlimited time, undisputed possession of all that 

 remains of the public domain, and by stopping entries on pub- 

 lic lands to curtail the fund available for reclamation. 



However, repeal of the present land laws may have the 

 effect of opening a way to new legislation to result in perma- 

 nent good. Surveys will soon have established which lands 

 are permanently beyond hope of reclamation by irrigation, and 

 they may be segregated to that class. Then a lease law upon 

 the following basis could not find logical opposition. 



To any one person (citizen or head of family) a maximum 

 of ten sections: that will furnish pasturage for 200 to 300 

 head of cattle, or its equivalent, which is competent for sup- 

 port of a family. 



Leases may not be subject to sublease, transfer or assign- 

 ment, and leasehold requisites should be : continuous resi- 

 dence upon or in vicinity of lands, and use thereof. Entire 

 acquirement to be fenced and subdivided into at least three 

 divisions, each one of which be permitted to rest, recuperate 

 and reseed at least one year in three (native grasses, while 

 classed as perennials, require reseeding to retain their vigor). 

 All leased lands to be subject to regulations of a committee 

 composed of the chief forester, the chief Agrostologist, and 

 the United States land commissioner, who shall constitute an 

 executive board. Leaseholders to pay annually to the re- 

 ceiver of the United States Land Office, in which district the 

 land is situated, not less than three cents nor more than ten 

 cents per acre (lands to be classified according to forage ca- 

 pacity. This will furnish summer nasturage for cattle at not 

 to exceed one dollar per head for season). Such payments 

 to be due and payable in advance on January 1st of each 

 year. If delinquent for thirty days thereafter, lease may be 

 forfeited and lands declared vacant. 



The fund thus acquired, after deduction of regular fixed 

 fees, may be applied as follows : Five per cent to county, 5 per 

 cent to State, 45 per cent to the reclamation fund, and 45 per 

 cent to grass and forestry experiments. Experimental sta- 

 tions should be located, at least one in each of the semi-arid 

 States, to be builded and operated entirely within the fund thus 

 created. 



Maximum period of life of lease may be ten years, but at 

 the expiration of that period may be extended for any num- 

 ber of years not exceeding ten, resident leaseholder holding 

 preferencial right. 



If a permanent possession for a period of years is at- 

 tainable, possessors will build substantial homes, where now 

 are ephemeral structures of sod and adobe. Other benefits 

 would be to make the maximum number of homes, and con- 

 stant improvement, and constantly increased productive ca- 

 pacity of the range, and restore that practically exhausted 

 empire to rejuvenated vigor and perpetual profit. Should 

 meteoric or geological transfiguration, superabundant rainfall 

 or discovery of mineral, stone or salines render lands under 

 lease more valuable for other purposes, the authority may lie 

 in the Federal Board to abrogate a lease at any time, appraise 

 improvements, pay for and sell them, and turn the lands to 

 other uses for which they may be best adapted.. 



G. L. SHUMWAY. 



EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE : 



Dear Sir Intense interest in the negotiations of the 

 National Reclamation Bureau has been manifest in Idaho for 

 the past six months, during which time surveys and plans 



