108 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



bearing the names of the districts represented. There 

 will be a trophy cup for the company making the besl: 

 showing. It is expected to organize marching clubs in 

 at least 150 communities in these states, so that from 

 10,000 to 12,000 men will be in line. Most of the 

 clubs will be accompanied by bands, which will be 

 massed at the close of the parade. 



A chorus of 1,000 voices will be organized early 

 next spring to sing the Irrigation Ode at the opening 

 of the Congress. The singers will be drilled once a 

 week in the state armory. Other features are also 

 being considered by the executive committee. The 

 board of governors, of which W. A. Beard of Sacra- 

 mento, Cal., is chairman, will have charge of the final 

 arrangements of the program. These have not yet 

 been worked out, but it may be said at this time that 

 in addition to the addresses and speeches there will be 

 banquets, theater parties and side trips to the lake and 

 river resorts and fruit belts in various parts of the 

 Inland Empire. 



The practical side of the congress will include 

 demonstrations of the methods by which moisture is 

 scientifically applied to lands in the Inland Empire. 

 This will be shown in the Spokane valley, where pump- 

 ing and gravity systems are employed. The demon- 

 strators will be from the agricultural department at 

 Washington, D. C., and state colleges and experimental 

 stations. There will be excursions to the fruit belts 

 in the Yakima, Wenatches, Okanogan and Colville val- 

 leys so that one or more of the sessions can take place 

 in the vicinity of the big irrigation plants operated by 

 the federal government and private companies. 



Another excursion is to he to the Coeur d'Alene 

 reservation, east of Spokane, which contains the largest 

 stand of white pine timber left intact on this conti- 

 nent. Practical reforestry and means of fighting forest 

 fires will be demonstrated there, while in the northern 

 part of the district opportunity will be afforded to 

 study the reclamation of swamp lands. Aided bv fed- 

 eral and state appropriations the local board of con- 

 trol will have ample funds to provide for what gives 

 every promise of being the most successful congress 

 in the history of the organization. 



BLUEWATER WXEY 



x x NEW MEXICO 



Alfalfa in the Bluewater Valley, New Mexico. 



BY OLANDER. 



Plowing and ditching is still going on the weather 

 has been open and everyone is getting- ready for the 

 spring seeding. 



The Bluewater Development Company is setting out 

 the first orchard planted in the valley. The varieties of 

 apples are Winesap, Spitzbergen, Jonathan, Rome Beauty, 

 Winter Banana, Delicious and Ben Davis. They are also 

 planting the Oxheart and Lambert cherries, currants, 

 raspberries and gooseberries, plums and pears. The fruits 

 which will be raised here will undoubtedly have a beauti- 

 ful color on account of the presence of such a large quan- 

 tity of oxide of iron in the soil. 



It gives the settler such a comfortable feeling to know 

 that he can go to work at once on his land here, making 

 partial payments on the purchase price and not have exces- 

 sive interest accruing on the back payments. Most of us 

 will have our land paid for before the contracts commence 

 to bear interest at all. We have no interest, no mainte- 

 nance charge for water, and no taxes to pay for three years 

 after purchasing. If the contract runs more than three 

 years, the interest rate is only six per cent. 



The Bluewater Company, we are informed, is also 

 agreeing in its contracts to refund to the estate of any 

 purchaser who may die before making final payment on 

 his land all the money which the purchaser has paid upon 

 his contract, if his heirs so desire. This provision assures 

 the purchaser that he can not lose the money he pays on 

 his land if he lives his efforts on the land will greatly in- 

 crease its value and if he should die his family can have 

 the money back if they so desire. 



Mr. Walker will plant a large acreage of celery. Judg- 

 ing from the numbers of settlers who are going to plant 

 celery, "Bluewater Celery" should become well known on 

 the market. It will be the aim of all those who plant cel- 

 ery to produce a superior quality. 



As a stock feeding community, Bluewater valley, 

 probably excels any other. The advantage of a main line 

 railroad, high priced market to which to ship, at Los 

 Angeles, irrigated lands in the valley on which to raise 

 winter feed and above all the immense area of grazing 

 lands surrounding the valley, which can never be farmed 

 on account of their configuration, and also the smaller loss 



because of a mild climate 



make the Bluewater Val- 

 ley a splendid location for 

 stock raisers and feeders. 

 A large proportion of the 

 Colorado feeding lambs 

 are purchased at Grant's, 

 in the lower Bluewater 

 Valley, shipped' to Colo- 

 rado, unloaded, fed and 

 reshipped to distant mar- 

 kets at a profit. If this 

 feeding were done at Blue- 

 water, think of the saving 

 in freight, the smaller 

 loss in shipping, the 

 smaller climate loss, etc. 

 Then, too, Los Angeles is 

 a much higher priced mar- 

 ket than Denver, Omaha, 

 Kansas City or Chicago. 



Wild grasses four feet 

 in length have been cut 

 on the grazing area at 

 Bluewater, and with such 

 conditions it will be but a 

 short time until the valley 

 is settled with a communi- 

 ty of small stock farmers. 



