1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



49 



Railroad The Northern Pacific 



Buys Irrig-a- Railwa}-, through the 

 tion System. Northwestern Improve- 

 ment Company, has pur- 

 chased an extensive irrigation s^'stem in 

 the lower Yakima Yalley, Washington, 

 comprising the Kennewick, Kiona, and 

 Lower Yakima Canals, and a large por- 

 tion of the lands underl}dng the same. 

 These properties have had a some- 

 what interesting history'. In 1888 the 

 Yakima Irrigating and Improvement 

 Company was incorporated with a cap- 

 ital of $400,000, practically all of which 

 was subscribed b}' capitalists of Buffalo 

 and Niagara Falls. This company con- 

 structed the Kennewick Canal, then 

 made the big mistake, which was the 

 cause of all its subsequent misfortunes, 

 of turning over the canal in 1893 to the 

 Dell Haven Irrigation District, which 

 had been incorporated under the state 

 law, taking bonds of the district for the 

 canal property. The management of 

 the canal under the district organiza- 

 tion was a failure, and after two years 

 of spasmodic operation, further effort 

 was abandoned and the canal has been 

 idle ever since. 



In addition to the Kennewick Canal, 

 the company also constructed the Kiona 

 Canal, which has been in successful o])- 

 eration since. It also connnenced the 

 construction of the lower Yakima Canal, 

 but did not complete the .same, and it 

 has never been operated. 



No interest was ever paid upon the 

 district bonds, and the company having 

 guaranteed them, they were forced into 

 bankruptcy, a receiver appointed, and 

 the property sold under foreclosure pro- 

 ceedings. It was discovered, however, 

 that the state law did not provide any 

 method of disincorporating an irriga- 

 tion district, and this was necessary 

 before the property could be reorganized. 

 The last legislature enacted the neces- 

 sary law, and inider the same the dis- 

 trict has been wound up and all legal 

 entanglements straightened out. 



In the meantime the eastern capitalists 

 interested, weary of the long delay, 

 made overtures to the Northern Pacific 

 to purchase the property, and after some 

 negotiations the deal was closed. \ 



This purchase by the railway com- 

 pany marks a new departure in its 

 polic3\ Heretofore it has preferred to 



IRRIGATED FARMS IN ATANUM VALLHV, WASHINGTON. 



