THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



235 



OPENING INTERSTATE CANAL, 

 NEBRASKA- WYOMING. 



Saturday, May 5th, witnessed the ceremonies opening 

 the headgates of the Interstate Canal. This is looked upon 

 as one of the propitious events in the history of the North 

 Platte Valley. Despite errors or mismanagement it is sure 

 to take water that now runs to waste and make hundreds 

 of thousands of dollars annual product. 



Several hundred citizens from the villages and country 

 up and down the valley congregated to commemorate the 

 occasion. Addresses were made by John Powers, president 

 North Platte Valley Water Users' Association, S. D. Cox, 

 secretary of the association, G. L. Shumway, executive chair- 

 man American Irrigation Federation, A. B. Wood, Senator 

 Stewart (of Nebraska), Mr. Jillson, of Providence, R. I., and 

 Engineers F. E. Wells and J. E. Field. 



A very pretty feature of the ceremonies found its incep- 

 tion in the mind of M. E. Getter. The subjects of "Flowers," 

 by G. L. Shumway, "Fruit," by Mr. Jillson, and "Product," by 

 Senator Stewart, were accompanied by showers of blossoms, 

 fruits and bread cast by Misses Johnson, Sanford and Stewart 

 from huge cornucopias upon the inrushing waters. With sym- 



IRRIGATION NOTES. 



SPOKANE, WASH., May 22. The Furnish ditch, 

 which is to reclaim 20,000 acres of land in the western 

 part of Umatilla County, Ore., has been opened and 

 10,000 acres already are supplied with water and as 

 many more can be furnished. This land adjoins the 

 land which will be watered by the Government's rec- 

 lamation project in this county. 



SPOKANE, WASH., May 22. The Waha Land & 

 Water Company has opened bids for the construction of 

 twenty-two miles of ditch, three tunnels and two im- 

 mense dams, the contract prices for which will aggre- 

 gate about $500,000. The work is a part of the big 

 irrigation system which the water company will estab- 

 lish south of Lewiston, Idaho, to reclaim 20,000 acres 

 of land. The work when completed will cost three times 



1 



Turning Water into the Inter-State Canal, Nebraska-Wyoming. 



bols of the beauty and prosperity of future homes upon the 

 areas to be reclaimed with due dedication to the god of Flora, 

 and of fruit and field, with a horoscope of labyrinthian gar- 

 dens, arbors, bowers and trellises, the waters sped upon their 

 way. 



By July forty miles of this main canal will be complete. 

 By January fifty-five miles more will have been finished. And 

 still another fifty miles must be constructed and a thousand 

 miles of laterals, before the Interstate system is complete, and 

 then less than a third of the whole plan of the Pathfinder 

 project shall be done. 



That will make one solid body of 500,000 acres of irri- 

 gated land in western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming, 

 claimed by enthusiasts to be the largest contiguous irrigated 

 area in the world. 



Engineer Wells gave out the welcome information that 

 the recent reported damage at the Pathfinder dam had been 

 grossly exaggerated and would not exceed $500. A first 

 impression of Mr. Wells is good. He seems earnest and 

 anxious for the success of the plan, and his work has had 

 a handicap of error committed before he was made supervising 

 engineer of the project. We are inclined to an opinion that 

 a man like Mr. Wells would have eliminated some of the 

 causes of criticism had he been in the shoes of Mr. Field 

 . or Morris Bein. 



this initiation expenditure. The present work will irri- 

 gate about 8,000 acres and will be completed this year. 

 SPOKANE, WASH. It is believed here that the ap- 

 proval by the secretary of the interior of the Tieton and 

 Sunnyside irrigation project means a great and rapid 

 development for the central portion of Washington, and 

 many Spokane people will go to Benton and Yakima 

 counties to be parties to this developing prosperity. 

 Reclamation engineers say when the work of irrigation 

 is started it means the reclamation of 400,000 acres of 

 some of the finest soil in the world when supplied with 

 water, and that $10,000,000 will be expended in the 

 coming ten years, beginning at once. In Benton Coun- 

 ty alone 200,000 acres will be irrigated. 



$2.50 will secure for you one year'i subscription lo THE IRRIGATION 

 AGE and a finely bound volume of Primer of Irritation which will be sent 

 postpaid in a few months, when volume is completed. The Primer of 

 Irrigation will be finely illustrated and will centain about 300 pages. Send 

 post office or express money order for $2.50 and secure copy ot first edition. 



