THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



257 



to a point on Indian Creek above Kuna. This creek 

 then carries the water for eight miles, when another 

 canal 12 miles long carries it to the Deer Flat Eeservoir. 

 Occasionally along this route a smaller ditch diverts 

 water to supplement the supply from other sources, but 

 the principal function of this canal is to feed the Deer 

 Flat Keservoir. 



This reservoir was formed by building two long 

 earthen dams in depressions between surrounding hills. 

 The lower embankment, known as the Hubbard and 

 Carlson dam, is 3,930 feet long and 68 feet high. It is 

 360 feet wide on the bottom, and a driveway 20 feet 

 wide extends along the top. The upper embankment 

 is only 43 feet high and 200 feet wide on the bottom, 

 but it has a length of nearly a mile and a half, and the 

 volume of each embankment is approximately 1,000,000 

 cubic yards. The process of construction was a marvel 

 of modern engineering. Great steam shovels of the 

 type used in digging the Panama canal tore gravel from 

 the hillsides, two bites of one of the giant machines 

 filling a car, while big steam plows dug up trainloads 

 of clay, which were also dumped from movable tracks 

 laid along the top of the embankments. 



The plans for the project also contemplate the di- 

 version .of the -waters of Payette Eiver by gravity ca- 

 nals, and the utilization of the Snake Eiver by pump- 

 ing. The canal work is being done principally by the 

 farmers, who receive therefor certificates which the 

 government takes in payment of the building charge of 

 the project. 



The lands are generally smooth, with gentle slopes. 

 The soil is volcanic, free from rocks, easily worked and 

 rich in the necessary mineral constituents. The climate 

 is delightful, the mean winter temperature at Boise be- 

 ing about the same as that of Fredericksburg, Va., 

 although occasionally the temperature falls below zero 

 for a day or two. The summers are long and warm, 

 and with irrigation promote the most rapid vegetable 

 growth. The lands produce from five to seven tons of 

 alfalfa per acre each year, four to six tons of clover, 

 fifty bushels of wheat and seventy-five bushels of oats. 

 The surrounding mountains furnish large areas of 

 grazing lands, and alfalfa for winter feeding is always 

 in demand and brings good prices. But it is for its 

 fine fruit that the section is becoming famous through- 

 out the country, the apples, pears, and prunes command- 

 ing the highest prices in eastern markets. 



The lands under the project have practically all 

 been filed upon but many settlers will be compelled to 

 dispose of their excess lands, as no water right will be 

 issued for more than 160 acres. It is no wonder that 

 these lands are being rapidly taken up, for the marvel- 

 ous crop yields are becoming widely known. In 1904 a 

 farmer who was brought up in one of the humid states 

 in the Mississippi valley, cleared $1,200 from a three- 

 acre apple orchard, and in 1907, the same orchard gave 

 him a net profit of $750 per acre. One neighbor was 

 clearing from $100 to $200 per acre on a prune orchard, 

 while another was growing as high as 85 bushels of 

 wheat per acre. Last year a number of his friends from 

 "back home" moved to Idaho. 



The development of power incident to the irriga- 

 tion works will be of vast importance to the industrial 

 development of the state. The dam on the Payette 

 River, which will be 90 feet high, and well backed by 

 storage in the Payette Lakes, will give practically un- 



limited power, while the Boise dam, opened today, will 

 probably furnish power for municipal works, electric 

 railways, and industries of various kinds. The com- 

 pletion of the project it is believed will result in laying 

 the foundation for such an industrial development as 

 probably has never been paralleled in the country. It 

 means the expenditure in that locality of millions of 

 dollars in a few years, the intensive cultivation of 400,- 

 000 acres of fine land; it means thousands of new set- 

 tlers, the doubling of the population of the cities and 

 towns in that portion of the state, an increased price for 

 all agricultural products; better roads, schools, and 

 churches. 



But the significance of the recent celebration is not 

 purely local in character. The completion of a unit of 

 this great project only marks another milestone in the 

 development of the West, and heralds to the world the be- 

 ginning of an era of prosperity that has come to stay 

 and that will be reflected in the increased prosperity in 

 all lines of industry throughout the whole country. 



HAYDEN LAKE COUNTRY. 



One of the most beautiful valleys in the Spokane coun- 

 try is the district generally known as the Hayden Lake 

 country, located directly east of Spokane and traversed by 

 the Hayden Lake division of the Spokane & Inland Elec- 

 tric R. R. 



Not many years ago this part of the country was unde- 

 veloped, with the exception of a few farms scattered here 

 and there which were in a high state of cultivation. 



Hayden Lake is perhaps the most beautiful of all the 

 lakes in northern Idaho. It is surrounded by mountains and 

 is located directly in the center of the United States Govern- 

 ment Forest reserve. Hayden Lake is for this reason the 

 most attractive summer resort near Spokane, and even before 

 the electric railroad was built many people drove over to the 

 lake by stage, preferring to go there because of its seclusion 

 and natural grandeur. A few years ago, however, the land 

 in the Hayden Lake Valley was purchased by a syndicate of 

 Spokane real estate men and an extensive irrigation system 

 installed. Since that time the valley has been developed to 

 a marked extent and many attractive cottage homes may be 

 seen along the line. 



The Hayden Lake Valley covers an area of about ten 

 thousand acres and it is safe to say that the development 

 of this irrigation company embraces at least half of this 

 acreage. The young orchards and improved five or ten-acre 

 tracts are ample evidence of the unusual fertility of the soil 

 and the abundance of water furnished by the irrigation com- 

 pany. Intensified farming in the Hayden Lake district is 

 perhaps more profitable than in other parts of the country, 

 for the reason of the unusual market afforded in the city of 

 Coeur d'Alene. This city has a population of ten thousand 

 people and is the gateway to the great Coeur d'Alene Mining 

 country. A regular boat service connecting with steam lines 

 direct to Wallace and other points in the Coeur d'Alene 

 Mining Co. 



Haydon Lake is the home of the largest poultry and 

 squab farm in the Inland Empire. The success of the com- 

 pany owning this farm is unquestionably largely due to the 

 favorable climatic conditions as well as the favorable market 

 for all the poultry and eggs that can be raised. The farm 

 embraces twenty acres and is in all respects a model farm. 

 To visit the district from Spokane, requires but an hour 

 and a half's ride. The trip may be made over the electric 

 line, trains leaving the Spokane Terminal at convenient hours 

 of the day. 



Will pay for the IRRIGATION AGE 



$2.50 one year and the PRIMER OF 

 IRRIGATION. 



