196 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



April 



valley, at a cost of about $30 per acre, 

 or a total expenditure of nearly $8,- 

 000,000. A very large percentage of 

 this area is public domain and its re- 

 clamation will result in a very great 

 increase in the population of the State. 

 The irrigable area is a broad prairie 

 extending from the Teton River on 

 the north to the Sun River on the 

 south, a distance of 30 miles, and from 

 the Rocky Mountains on the West to 

 the Missouri River on the east, a dis- 

 tance of 70 miles. This land, although 

 extremely rich in all the elements of 

 fertility, without water is only fit for 

 grazing, but when irrigated its pro- 

 ductiveness can not be surpassed any- 

 where in the United States. 



The reclamation of this vast area 

 will add to the crop-producing area of 

 Montana a larger acreage than at pres- 

 ent cultivated in the entire State of 

 Rhode Island. The examinations 

 made by the engineers show that this 

 project is free from difficult engineer- 

 ing features and the topography of the 

 country is such that it can be built 

 unit at a time. It is probable that the 

 first unit selected for construction will 

 be the reclamation of 16,000 acres in 

 and about the Ft. Shaw Reservation. 



The Sun River is an important trib- 

 utary of the Missouri, into which it 

 empties at Great Falls. It flows out of 

 steep canyons which it has cut deeply 

 into the main chain of the Rockys. 



Basing the capacity of the Sun Riv- 

 er lands upon the average census farm 

 returns from Montana, the Sun River 

 Valley when reclaimed should yield of 

 rough crops nearly 10,000,000 bushels 

 of wheat, or 600,000 tons of alfalfa. 

 The production of vegetables, sugar 

 beets or fruit can not be calculated. 

 < >nce brought under a perfect system 

 of irrigation this valley will support a 

 prosperous farm population of 15,000. 

 It is certain to make a splendid city of 

 Great Falls which is the mercantile 

 metropolis of this regon. 



Oklahoma The Secretary of the re- 



investigation tenor has authorized the 

 purchase and installation 

 of the necessary pumping plant, in- 



Fort Buford 

 Project 



chiding a six-inch centrifugal pump 

 and a twenty-five horse power gasoline 

 engine, for the purpose of investigat- 

 ing the feasibility of using the waters 

 of the Red River for an irrigation 

 project in Oklahoma. The estimated 

 cost of the plant is $5,000. Owing to 

 the presence of considerable quanti- 

 ties of salt in the waters of this stream, 

 it is deemed wise to experiment on a 

 small scale before initiating a large 

 gravity system. 



The Secretary of the In- 

 terior to-day authorized 

 a new contract for the 

 construction and repletion of divisions 

 5, 6, 7, and 9, and a number of lateral 

 ditches, in connection with the Ft. Bu- 

 ford project. North Dakota and Mon- 

 tana. The original contract with the 

 Widell-Finlay Co. has been suspended 

 on account of the failure of this com- 

 pany to commence the work as provided 

 in the proposal, and the new contract is 

 entered into with John A. Nelson, of 

 Minneapolis, who agrees to complete 

 the work by September 1, 1907, at the 

 price named in the original contract. 

 The Secretary's authority for the new 

 contract is conditional on the furnish- 

 ing of a new bond for $25,000 by the 

 American Surety Company, and upon 

 its agreement that its liability on the 

 original bond shall remain in full force 

 and effect. 



D .. ,, The Secretarv of the In- 

 Pecos Valley . -, , . 



Reclamation tenor on March 21 

 signed a contract with 

 the Pecos Water Users' Association of 

 Carlsbad, N. M., whereby the latter 

 agrees, in conformity with the provis- 

 ions of the Reclamation Act, to guar- 

 antee to the government the return of 

 moneys expended in the construction 

 of the Carlsbad project. 



One of the last steps in the negotia- 

 tions between the government and the 

 Pecos Irrigation Company, Carlsbad, 

 New Mexico, was taken March 21 

 when the Secretary of the Interior ap- 

 proved a contract for the transfer of 

 the property of the company to the 

 United States, for the consideration 

 of $150,000. 



