THE IKRIGATIOX AGE. 



215 



of seintifically applied moisture on crops during the 

 seveteenth sessions of the National Irrigation Congress 

 at Spokane the second week in August. George E. 

 Barstow of Barstow, Tex., will preside, and there will be 

 3,000 delegates from all parts of the United States and 

 Canada, Europe, the Latin republics, China and Japan. 

 President Taft and several members of his cabinet, for- 

 eign representatives, bankers, railroad presidents and 

 experts in forestry, reclamation .work, deep waterways, 

 good roads and home-building are expected to attend. 



Eighty thousand acres of land in the Spokane Val- 

 ley is capable of irrigation. The Spokane Eiver, near- 

 by lakes and an underground stream flowing through 

 the valley are used by these plants, one of which raises 

 the water by means of electric pumps from wells rang- 



plantod between 1903 and 1906 will have reached ma- 

 turity. 



This is only the beginning of the fruit industry 

 in this part of the country, where millions of acres of 

 land, now flecked with the dusty green of sagebrush, is 

 awaiting the refreshing moisture to make it blossom like 

 the proverbial rose. Irrigation will do much more for 

 the growing crops than rain, as the natural element gives 

 nothing except moisture, while the waters diverted from 

 the mountain sides bring with them new fertility. Much 

 of this land, now not worth more than a few dollars an 

 acre, will then readily be salable at from $250 to $500 

 an acre, according to location and the character of the 

 soil. That is the history of lands in the now famous 

 Yakiina. Wenatchee, Spokane, Colville and Snake River 



Spokane County Court House, Spoka 



\V ashington. 



ing in depth from 97 to 140 feet. The capacity of five 

 pumps is 15,600 gallons a minute, sufficient to water 

 3,000 acres of land. The success of this project shows 

 that every acre of land in the valley can be irrigated re- 

 gardless of the supply from river or lakes. 



There are scores of gravity, siphon and pumping 

 plants in various parts of Washington, Oregon, Idaho 

 and Montana, and all are successful. The extent of 

 operations on irrigated lands in the Northwest will be 

 better understood when it is known that the value of 

 the apple and other fruit crops in the Inland Empire 

 amounted to $14,000.000 in 1908. It will be $60,000,000 

 in 1912, by which time several million trees set out in 

 the last two years will come into bearing and others 



Valleys, where the incomes from fruit range from $450 

 to $2^000 an acre. 



From an architectural viewpoint, Spokane is dis- 

 tinctive; it is unique. Everything is in harmony with 

 the magnificent setting placed by nature. The residents 

 take pride in their homes and grounds and in this they 

 are making examples for the newcomers and future 

 builders. Spokane is hospitable to the visitors within 

 its gates. It is a healthful place and it has few if any 

 rivals in point of climate. It is blessed with the marked 

 seasons, without the discomforts of extremes of cold or 

 of heat. Summer brings no sultry, sleepless nights, nor 

 are there stinging blasts during the winter months. The 

 air is invigorating. There are no drouths or monoto- 



