1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



293-. 



NOTABLE IRRIGATION WORKS. 



I. THE SUNNYSIDE IRRIGATION CANAL. 



IN 1889 irrigation upon a large scale 

 was first contemplated and took 

 practical form in the Yakima Valley, 

 Washington. During that year a num- 

 ber of prominent business men, after 

 carefully examining all the arid lands 

 along the line of the Northern Pacific 

 Railroad, reached the conclusion that 

 no section presented greater advantages 

 for a complete irrigation system than 

 the valley of the Yakima River. Here 

 they found a river fed by the perpetual 

 snows, streams, and lakes of the Cas- 

 cade Mountains, which, at its lowest 

 stage, contained an abundant supply of 

 water. They found a soil averaging 

 some 30 feet in depth and of a richness 

 scarcely to be met with elsevdiere in 

 any arid section. They found a coun- 

 try diversified as to surface, portions of 

 it rolling and other parts with gentle 

 slopes. The climate was equable ; no 

 excessive heat in summer nor extreme 

 cold in winter, and a nominal rainfall. 

 Here, too, they found a small ditch, 

 which some fifteen years prior a few 

 farmers had constructed, and along it 

 they had built homes and had in bear- 

 ing orchards, from which each year 

 they were reaping rich harvests. This 

 ditch left the Yakima River just be- 

 low a gap where it cuts between two 

 high hills. Nature seemed to have de- 

 signed it as a place for an intake of a 

 great canal. At once an agreement was 

 made with the farmers by which their 

 ditch, known as the Konnewock, was 

 to be owned by a new company and en- 

 larged and extended, so as to carry 

 1,000 cubic feet of water per second of 

 time and serve 68,000 acres of land. 



In 1890 work was commenced and 

 continued until the main canal was com- 

 pleted to nearly the forty-second mile 

 post, laterals were constructed, and land 

 sales made. In 1892 water was first 

 used by the new settlers from the main 

 canal. In [893 the great panic stag- 

 nated everything, work was stopped, 



and the settlers lived as best they could. 

 They had before them what the farmers 

 had accomplished under the Konnewock 

 ditch, aud they did not lose faith. They 

 cleared their land of the sage brush, 

 leveled it, and placed water upon it ;. 

 they planted fields of alfalfa, clover, 

 timothy, corn, and potatoes, and set out 

 orchards of peaches, prunes, pears, apri- 

 cots, cherries, and apples. Nature 

 seemed to prosper their efforts. B3' 

 degrees others came into the country, 

 who were induced to come by reason 

 of the letters sent them by the first 

 settlers. 



Alread}^ between 4,000 and 5,000 peo- 

 ple live along the Sunny side Canal, and 

 20,000 acres of land are under cultiva- 

 tion, showing that it has passed out of 

 the experimental stage. The fact has 

 been established that in no part of the 

 country can a large ditch be more easily 

 constructed or maintained. The amount 

 of water appropriated is i ,000 cubic feet 

 per second of time. That this is an ideal 

 country for horticulture is well known 

 by the many settlers on the land, and 

 the fruit merchants of Puget Sound 

 cities, Butte, Helena, Winnipeg, Min- 

 neapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, Chicago, 

 Milwaukee, and many other eastern 

 cities, for from this section already large 

 quantities of fruit have been shipped tO' 

 these points. A glance at the map of 

 the West will show that the valley of the 

 Yakima is most fortunately situated 

 for both farming and horticulture. 

 Throughout its whole length runs the 

 great Northern Pacific Railway, and 

 from Portland, Oregon, another railroad 

 is projected, and is partially constructed, 

 while the navigable Columbia River is 

 close at hand. For miles on both sides 

 of the Yakima River stretches the foot- 

 hills of the Cascades. Here, yearl}-, 

 large flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, 

 and bands of horses range. These dur- 

 ing the winter must be fed, and the cattle 

 and sheep fattened for market. For the 



