440 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



October 



day at the office of the Reclamation 

 Service in Washington, from me- 

 chanics, farmers, professional men, 

 and others who desire to locate in the 

 West. 



Settlement of Mr. Morris Bien, Super- 

 Reclaimed vising Engineer in charge 

 Lan s of land and legal matters 



in the Reclamation Service, returned 

 recently from an extended trip 

 through the Northwest. He reports 

 that the work of reclamation generally 

 is progressing rapidly and that there 

 seems to be a feeling of optimism 

 among all classes as to the results. 



"On the Minidoka project, in south- 

 ern Idaho," says Mr. Bien, "the land 

 is practically all settled up. Two years 

 ago the Government gave notice that 

 it could not furnish water until the 

 season of 1907, and the promise will 

 be kept. Water will be turned into 

 the canals this fall, and will be fur- 

 nished to a considerable part of the 

 project next spring. 



"One noticeable feature is the un- 

 usually permanent and high class 

 character of the buildings that have 

 been erected by the homesteaders. 

 Some of the settlers have been willing 

 to work for the contractors, and in 

 this way have made a good living 

 while waiting for the water. Others 

 have cleared and cultivated small por- 

 tions of their entries and have raised 

 small crops of wheat and oats of good 

 quality without other watering than 

 the small rainfall during the spring 

 months. Those who have cultivated 

 their ground have managed to realize 

 sufficient return to enable them to 

 make a living. In spite of the oppor- 

 tunities which have thus been de- 

 veloped a large number of the settlers 

 have made no effort to get work or to 

 cultivate the ground, and it may be 

 that many of them will be unable to 

 hold their entries through the next 

 year. 



"Those who are clearing their lands 

 and making the necessary preparations 

 for next season's irrigation will un- 

 doubtedly be able to make paying 



crops and will be in a position to meet 

 the charges for the construction work, 

 payable under the Reclamation Act, 

 the first of which will become due at 

 the end of next season. 



"The developments on the Minidoka 

 project show very plainly that the sup- 

 ply of settlers for the lands made sub- 

 ject to irrigation under the Reclama- 

 tion Act is ample, and that the man 

 who is willing to work and goes upon 

 the land in good faith to make a home 

 will, in the course of a few years, find 

 himself the possessor of an extremely 

 valuable tract of land as a result of 

 his efforts." 



Pennsylva 

 nia Work 



Surveyors of the State 

 Forestry Commission 

 have been at work on the 

 lines of what is known as the Engle- 

 bert tract, in the Lykens Valley of 

 Dauphin County, which has been of- 

 fered for sale to the State of Pennsyl- 

 vania as a forest reserve. 



It is expected that a report on it 

 will be made before very long, and, if 

 favorable, it may be bought for addi- 

 tion to the 5,000 acres or so which the 

 commission has in the upper part of 

 that county. 



The Englebert tract is owned by an 

 estate, and comprises almost 6,000 

 acres in Jackson, Williams and Wicon- 

 isco townships. It is finely wooded 

 and has numerous streams. 



It also lies close to the present re- 

 serve. The offer of the property to the 

 State was made some weeks ago, and 

 work was promptly started on the sur- 

 veys. 



During the past sum- 

 Organization mer the F orest Service 



has held a number of 

 supervisors' meetings in various sec- 

 tions of the West, for the discussion 

 of the regulations governing reserve 

 business and the business itself. Such 

 meetings have been held in Colorado, 

 Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, and 

 Colorado. Each has been attended by 

 the supervisors of the surrounding re- 

 gion. In addition, a number of the 



