146 



THE IREIGATION AGE. 



use it in distributing the water appropriated. Being without 

 sufficient means, he interested defendants; it being agreed 

 that a corporation should be formed to carry on the enter- 

 prise. Decedent conveyed all his rights to defendants in 

 trust, to be conveyed by them to the corporation on its for- 

 mation. Afterward one of the defendants obtained individ- 

 ually a lease on the canal, and posted notices of appropria- 

 tion substantially covering decedent's notices. Held, that de- 

 cedent and defendants were partners in the enterprise until 

 the formation of the corporation, and that defendants were 

 trustees of the partnership, holding, as such, the rights con- 

 veyed by decedent. Beckivith v. Sheldon, Supreme Court of 

 California. 97 Pacific 867. 



ESTABLISHED RATES. 



Act March 12, 1885 (St. 1885, p. 97, c. 115), section 6, 

 provides that, at any time after the establishment of water 

 rates under the law by any board of supervisors in the state, 

 the same may be established anew or abrogated in whole or 

 in part by such board, to take effect not less than one year 

 after the first establishment upon the written petition of the 

 inhabitants or of any persons, companies, or corporations, the 

 rates of whose appropriated waters have been already estab- 

 lished. Held, that an irrigation company whose rates were 

 established by a county board of supervisors could not after 

 the expiration of one year after the original establishment of 

 such rates sue in equity for redress against the rates estab- 

 lished without first resorting to the board of supervisors. 

 San Joaquin & Kings River Canal & Irrigation Co. v. Stan- 

 islaus County. Supreme Court of California. 99 Pacific 365. 



PAYETTE, THE VALLEY OF IDAHO OF DIVERSI- 

 FIED RESOURCES. 



BY J. A. HARADER. 



There are many irrigated sections and valleys in the 

 West and Northwest and many new districts are now being 

 reclaimed and their desert wastes transformed into produc- 

 tiveness, wealth and homes, some at no little cost of labor 

 and expenditure of capital. These irrigated sections of the 

 West are, without doubt, the richest and most productive 

 lands in the world, and are being sought by both home- 

 seeker and investor. 



The extent and diversity of the resources of these irri- 

 gated portions of the West vary, however, very widely. The 

 idea that all irrigated lands are similar or that all irrigated 

 sections are much the same, is a very erroneous One. There 

 are. as many and as wide differences between different irri- 

 gated countries as there are between those same irrigated 

 countries and the farming districts of the East and the 

 Middle West. 



In the first place, that most vital thing, the water sup- 

 ply or source of irrigation and its cost of application and 

 maintenance vary very widely, and those sections are in- 

 deed blessed which have an abundance of water for irriga- 

 tion and more especially so when it can be applied and 

 maintained at a moderate cost and with certainty. Water 

 is king in the desert. Also the climatic conditions, .the alti- 

 tude and the temperature of these sections vary to a re- 

 markable degree. Some irrigated sections are cursed with 

 almost continuous winds of high velocity, which, with the 

 dust that is common to all irrigated countries, are very un- 

 pleasant, and often of great damage to crops. Other sec- 

 tions are unfortunately affected with killing frosts in the 

 spring and fall, to the great detriment of crops, especially 

 of fruits. Still others are made undesirable for habitation 

 by the lack of or great difficulty in procuring good water 

 for drinking and domestic purposes, while others are un- 

 healthful and affected with malarial and other fevers. 



Perhaps the greatest difference, however, lies in the 

 products of these different sections, due possibly to the va- 

 riance of the soil formation and the climatic conditions. 

 Most of these irrigated sections of the West are peculiarly 

 adapted to some one or two particular products, or perhaps 

 limited to only one or two varieties of fruit. Some are 

 adapted to hay and grain only; some are able to produce 

 hay and grain and perhaps winter apples; others will pro- 

 duce berries and apples and not hay and grain; some will 

 produce peaches and grapes, while others will not ; while 

 still others, blessed with a combination of resources in the 

 way of climate, soil and water, are able to produce in abun- 

 dance and to perfection all of the products common to each 



of the other districts. These sections af diversified resources 

 are few, however, and when found, are the chosen spots of 

 the whole irrigated West, and may rightly be called the "Land 

 of Homes and Contentment." 



Such a country as this may be found in the state of 

 Idaho, in the southern part, and it is known as the Payette 

 Valley, its principal town being the town of Payette, a 

 beautiful little city, modern in every way, located on the 

 main line of the Oregon Short Line Railway. It has been 

 the privilege of the writer to visit in nearly all of the irri- 

 gated valleys of the West, and he is free to confess that 

 he has never found a valley so rounded out in resources, so 

 wonderfully blessed by nature, as this little valley, nestled 

 in the low foothills of the Rockies, and through whose 

 center courses the Payette river. 



This valley has an abundance of water, which may be 

 applied and maintained at a low cost. In fact, this valley 

 has one irrigation ditch which is said to be one of the 

 cheapest and best ditches in the United States, the original 

 cost per acre being but little over ten dollars, and the an- 

 nual cost of maintenance per acre being not over twenty 

 cents. 



In addition to this, the valley has plenty of good water 

 for domestic purposes and is very free from winds and 

 frosts. Its products are the most diversified, perhaps, of 

 any section in the West. While the Jonathan apple is its 

 favorite product, and the one thing which it seems to grow 

 better than can be produced anywhere else in the world; 

 still, any kind of an apple, as well as cherries, peaches, 

 prunes, pears, apricots, nuts, and every kind, of berry grow 

 splendidly and with profit. Alfalfa, timothy, and all other 

 grasses ; wheat, oats, barley and all kinds of grains prosper 

 and yield largely ; beets, peas, vegetables, potatoes and onions 

 are very profitably grown. Cattle, sheep, poultry and bees 

 likewise turn many thousands of dollars to the accounts of 

 the prosperous husbandman of this wonderful little valley. 



These possibilities in the way of agriculture, horticul- 

 ture and stock raising, coupled with the healthful climate, 

 the splendid conditions for home-building, the vast re- 

 sources of mineral and forest which surround it, the beauty 

 and pleasure lurking in the streams and lakes of the sur- 

 rounding mountains, the tremendous water power still lat- 

 ent in the Payette river, and the transportation facilities 

 which are fast coming to her command, all are destined 

 to make of this little valley of the gem state the most fa- 

 vored spot, not only in Idaho, but in the whole great North- 

 west. 



CONSERVATION OF MOISTURE. 



BY AUGUST WOLF. 



Conservation of moisture as one of the essential 

 factors to successful horticulture is urged by W. S. 

 Thornber, professor of horticulture in Washington State 

 College at Pullman, south of Spokane. The growing of 

 fruits in the semi -arid districts in the northwest, as well 

 as in other part* of the United States and Canada, is a 

 phase of horticulture which has received little or no 

 attention in the past, hence it will be good news to 

 many that by a system of careful cultivation and rigid 

 selection of varieties and care in selection of trees and 

 vines many fruits can be grown in the dry districts. 

 Professor Thornber's argument follows: 



It will be necessary to practice great care in the 

 conservation of moisture to make it possible for a tree 

 to grow and produce fruit in these sections. This is to 

 be considered as a most important phase. We must 

 make use of all the moisture that falls, and make use 

 of every practice that will conserve this moisture. 



A certain amount of well rotted manure added to 

 the land will help hold the moisture much better than 

 where no manure is used. Almost every farmer and 

 fruit grower is familiar with the methods of tillage 

 that conserve moisture. Deep, thorough tillage in spring 

 and constant shallow tillage during the summer will do 



