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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



SUNNYSIDE DISTRICT, WASHINGTON. 



The Yakima valley, comprises about nine-tenths 

 of the irrigated area of Washington, while nearly one- 

 third of that area is comprised in the Sunnysicle dis- 

 trict. The Sunnyside irrigation enterprise, owned by 

 the Washington irrigation company, is not only the 

 largest in the valley but the largest in the Northwest 

 and one' of the largest in the United States. For this 

 reason and the further reason that the writer is more 

 familiar with it than with any other, the Sunnyside 

 district will be described at some length and in greater 

 detail. Much of what is said with regard to its crop 

 productions and general advantages would apply with 

 equal truth to the entire valley or in fact to any of 

 the irrigated districts of the State. The main canal is 

 fifty-seven miles long and there are about 500 miles of 

 branch canals and laterals serving an area of 65,000 

 acres. The intake is about 7.5 miles below North Ya- 

 kima. Here a dam has been thrown across the river, 

 built of steel upon a concrete foundation, the canal 

 lined with masonry for some distance above and below 



Northern Pacific railway just across the river, the aver- 

 age wagon haul to stations being about eight miles. 

 The distance will be reduced through the construction 

 of the Sunnyside railway connecting with the Northern 

 Pacific at Toppenish, to an average wagon haul of about 

 two and a half miles. The surface is rolling, undulat- 

 ing or gently sloping with a general trend to the south- 

 east. Its exposure to the forcing rays of the sun has 

 given it its appropriate name "Sunnyside." 



COST OF PREPARING LAND FOR CULTIVATION. 



The cost of clearing, grading and placing water 

 upon the land in the Sunnyside varies, but does not 

 ordinarily exceed $12.50 per acre, which will place 

 the land in condition for planting or seeding. The 

 surface is covered with a dense growth of sagebrush and 

 it is customary to first run a steel rail, or "railroad 

 iron," over it, a team being hitched to each end, for 

 the purpose of breaking down the sagebrush which is 

 then uprooted with a mattock, a good worker being 

 able to grub an acre a day. The sagebrush is used for 

 summer fuel or burned or placed upon the highway, 

 making, when worn down, an excellent road. After 



Irrigated Field, SunnyMde District, Washington. (Said to be best illustration of furrow irrigation ever produced.] 



the headgates, which are massive and of approved de- 

 sign ; and a modern stone residence house has been built 

 for the gate-tender. The canal has a bottom width of 

 thirty feet, top width of sixty-two feet and depth of 

 eight feet with side slopes of one foot in two. The 

 grade is fifteen inches in 5,000 fee t and its present ini- 

 tial capacity is 800 cubic feet of water per second. The 

 company's appropriation from the Yakima River is 

 1,050 second feet. 



GEOGRAPHICAL. 



The Sunnysicle irrigation district begins in the 

 highly improved Parker bottom, eight miles down the 

 river from North Yakima, and extends along the north 

 bank of the river for fifty-seven miles, the present ter- 

 minus being about two miles north of Prosser. The 

 lands are bench lands and form a part of the wide 

 valley through which the Yakima River flows for eighty 

 miles after passing Union Gap. The lands reclaimed 

 by the Sunnyside canal border the Yakima River for 

 fifty miles in an oval shaped tract, having an extreme 

 width of eight miles. The territory is accessible to the 



removing the sagebrush the land is plowed and the 

 knolls or hummocks are cut down with a "slip," or 

 Fresno scraper or a so-called buck scraper to which 

 four horses are hitched, the dirt being deposited in 

 the depressions. A leveller or smoother consisting of 

 two long timbers with six cross pieces which catch the 

 high points and carry the earth into the lower places is 

 also used. 



METHODS OF APPLYING WATER. 



Practically all irrigation in the Sunnyside district 

 is by the furrow system. This consists in marking the 

 land to be irrigated with shallow furrows about three 

 feet apart, although on new ground they are often made 

 only eighteen inches apart. The furrows follow the 

 general slope of the ground and lead at the upper ends 

 to the head ditch or flume. From the head ditch the 

 water is turned into the furrow through small pipes or 

 spouts from two to three feet in length made by nailing 

 four laths together. One end is run through the bank 

 of the ditch and the other extends to the furrow. The 

 flow is regulated by a button upon the end of the spout. 





