294 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



States lands within its boundaries, and which could 

 not possibly contribute a cent to the irrigation fund. 

 The State owns its public lands, and if it wants the 

 irrigation reclamation system, nothing is easier than for 

 it to adopt it as a State proposition, put up its own 

 money and do its own work. But the idea of the Na- 

 tional officers going upon lands of a State, where the 

 Nation has no claim, and spending Federal money there 

 under the irrigation act, whose fund comes exclusively 

 from the sale of National lands, is preposterous. This 

 action should be reversed at the coming session, if the 

 congress does not wish to stay ridiculous. 



That El Paso convention fell into the hands of 

 foolish and crafty persons who caused it to declare itself 

 upon certain other questions which it should have let 

 alone. We trust that a spirit of wisdom will prevail at 

 the coming session in Portland. Otherwise, the Irri- 

 gation Congress might as well go out of business. 



A writer in a Western exchange says some 

 A Farmer's good words for a man who recently died at 

 Legacy. Orland, California, who left a legacy that 



may be appropriated by every farmer and 

 orchardist on the Pacific Coast or elsewhere. It is not 

 a legacy of dollars nor lands, nor garden seeds; but of 

 suggestion and example. A legacy that is of more value 

 if one counts the successes of farm life than money 

 or lands. Samuel C. Cleek bought an acre of ground 

 twenty-seven years ago in a field of stubble from which 

 a wheat crop had just been cut. It contained no run- 

 ning water. It was an uninviting place to begin the 

 making of a home. But Mr. Cleek had energy and a 

 full brain pan. He had but a few dollars, so he housed 

 himself and wife in a cabin of one room. That was the 

 best he could build at the time. Thenhe got water, by 

 irrigation, on his land and laid out the little farm in the 

 most economic fashion. The acre produced enough in 

 the twenty-seven years to keep his wife and himself com- 

 fortably clothed and well fed and to add three more 

 acres by purchase, and to leave four thousand dollars in 

 bank for the wife when he came to die. This unique 

 and famous acre was described in the March number of 

 Orchard and Farm, showing the greatest variety of 

 products from a single acre of ground that has been re- 

 corded in America. In Europe and in some sections of 

 the East the limited acreage obtainable demands the 

 most rigid economy in the tilling of the soil. But in 

 the West there is land to spare, and it is this fact and 

 the comparative cheapness of it that induces extrava- 

 gance and carelessness. Originally Mr. Cleek's economy 

 was caiised by poverty. But thrift and economy, as 

 practiced by him, were the birthright of a man who 

 started right in life and who ended right. He did not 

 become a rich man. Probably he had no desire for 

 riches. But his famous acre represented the expendi- 

 ture of time and intelligence and energy devoted to the 



science of farming, that was of greater account to a man 

 of his character than riches. He lived a quiet, con- 

 tented and happy life, and gave to the farming world 

 something to thing about and profit by. So this is the 

 legacy that Farmer Cleek left to his fellows every- 

 where: an object lesson in economy, thrift and wisdom 

 applied to the tilling of the soil with the aid of irriga- 

 tion. To be sure, Mr. Cleek was not'the only economic 

 and intelligent farmer of his day. There are thousands 

 of them; but there are also many others that would 

 with a deal of fear and trembling face the problem of the 

 single acre and the one-room cabin. 





Cook Crook County, Oregon, once a barren sage- 



County, brush and juniper desert, will soon be a 

 Oregon. paradise. What has long been known as 



the Deschutes valley desert is fast be- 

 coming a garden of the Northwest. Water has been 

 turned on about 40,000 acres of the decomposed lava 

 soil, where vegetation shows rapid growth and richness. 

 An irrigation company is under contract with the State 

 of Oregon to construct the canals and laterals to irrigate 

 140,000 acres of these lands. Another contract has been 

 let to irrigate a large tract south and east of the first 

 segregation, making a total of 214,912 acres of the lands 

 reclaimed by the State. 



The land is deeded to the applicant by the State 

 land board at the average price of $10 per acre. The 

 price has been fixed by the State board for the actual cost 

 of irrigation. 



About 30,000 acres of these lands have been sold 

 to people of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, 

 Wyoming, Colorado and the middle western states. 



Seventy-six teams were recently counted in one day 

 on their way to these lands. The teams were loaded 

 with merchandise, implements, household effects, from 

 Shaniko, the present terminus of the Columbia Southern 

 Railroad. The land is deeded in 80 to 160 acre tracts, 

 of which many will soon be in cultivation for future 

 homes. 



The water is taken from the Deschutes River, which 

 is fed by the immense springs and snow capped moun- 

 tains at its source. 



The Deschutes River flows 3,500 cubic feet of water 

 per second, as estimated by engineers. The canals are 

 of the gravity system, and no dam is required to take 

 the water rom the river. 



The Deschutes River has long been known as a 

 famous river on account of its uniform flow, varying 

 but a few inches from month to month, and also for 

 its swiftness, numerous rapids and its falls. The highest 

 fall is forty feet, almost perpendicular, which could fur- 

 nish ample power for factories and electric lines. 



Surveyors have run cross lines and section lines on 

 the lands. Contour lines have also been run. A report 

 from R. W. Thatcher, chemist of the Washington State 



