154 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Interior relied upon the services of an attorney to influ- 

 ence the trend of affairs while witnesses were upon the 

 stand. This attitude upon the part of the government 

 officials who had become involved in the controversy 

 must be warmly commended. The defense seemed will- 

 ing to allow the committee as wide latitude as it de- 

 sired in seeking the truth. 



Not until it became evident that the former chief 

 forester, deprived of the political effect that he had 

 expected in connection with his departure from office, 

 would depend solely upon counsel to keep the inquiry 

 within the desired bounds, did the defense decide to 

 employ a lawyer to represent its interests. 



Testimony thus far gathered by the committee is 

 not of a nature to prove that the policy of the Interior 

 Department in connection with the water power sites 

 or the Cunningham coal land claims, is to be severely 

 criticised. However, at the time of writing this review 

 several witnesses of prominence are yet to be examined 

 and it is possible, if not probable, that the "third term 

 boomers" may yet make their political demonstration. 



OPENING OF YUMA LANDS. 



Among the first problems that may en- 

 Protest gross the attention of Chief Forester 

 Against Graves is that embodied in resolutions re- 

 Forestry cently passed by representative citizens of 

 Policies. Flathead and Lincoln counties, Mon- 

 tana. From the nature of the protest 

 against the withdrawal of lands for forestry conserva- 

 tion purposes on the recently opened Flathead Indian 

 reservation in that state, it is apparent that local senti- 

 ment is decidedly hostile to the policy of the forestry 

 bureau. 



At a meeting in Kalispell on January 22 several 

 hundreds of residents in these two counties passed the 

 following resolution by unanimous approval: 



"Be it resolved that it is the sense of this meeting that 

 vast areas of land on the Flathead reservation have been 

 classified as timber lands and as such withdrawn for set- 

 tlement when in fact such lands are agricultural and not 

 timbered in character. 



"We hold that level lands of good soil having only 

 20,000 feet of saw timber to each forty acres should not 

 be classified as timber land, and we insist that said lands 

 be reclassified, and that all the lands that are agricultural 

 in character without reference to the amount of standing 

 timber thereon be opened to homestead entry." 



Reports indicate that the meeting was not entirely 

 harmonious inasmuch as many were in favor of more 

 caustic criticism of the Forestry Bureau as well as the 

 Reclamation Service for its withdrawal of large tracts 

 of agricultural land at a time when there appears to be 

 little possibility of early assumption of operations in 

 pursuance of the engineering plans. Speakers of promi- 

 nence declared that the plans as projected would ruin 

 nearly as much land as that included in the tract to be 

 irrigated. 



At 9 a. m., March 1, 1910, the Secretary of the Interior 

 will open to entry in the local land office at Los Angeles, 

 California, 173 farms approximately of 40 acres each in the 

 Yuma reclamation project, Arizona-California. The lands 

 available for homestead entry in this unit are a part of 

 the Yuma Indian reservation, and are located on the Cali- 

 fornia side of the Colorado River near Yuma. 



Under the terms of the public notice just issued, the 

 charges which shall be made per acre of irrigable land 

 are in three parts as follows: 



(a) The value of the lands before reclamation, $10 

 per acre for the total area in each entry, as required by 

 Section 25 of said act of April 21, 1904, payable in not 

 more than ten annual instalments, the first of which shall 

 be $1 per acre, and the remaining instalments at the rate 

 of $1 per acre per annum until fully paid. 



(b) The building of the irrigation system $55 per acre 

 of irrigable land, payable in not more than ten annual in- 

 stalments, the first of which shall be $5.50 per acre and 

 the remaining instalments at the rate of $5.50 or some 

 multiple thereof per acre. Full payment may be made 

 at any time of any balance of the building charge remain- 

 ing due after certification by the Commissioner of the 

 General Land Office that full and satisfactory compliance 

 has been shown with all the requirements of the law as to 

 residence, cultivation and reclamation. 



(c) For operation and maintenance for the irrigation 

 season of 1910, and annually thereafter until further notice 

 $1 per acre of irrigable land, whether water is used there- 

 on or not. As soon as the data are available, the opera- 

 tion and maintenance charge will be fixed in proportion 

 to the amount of water used with a minimum charge per 

 acre of irrigable land whether water is used there or not. 



All entries must be accompanied by application for 

 water right in due form, and by the first instalment of the 

 charges for the Indian Lands and for building, operation 

 and maintenance, not less than $7.50 per acre for irriga- 

 ble land, plus $1 per acre for the non-irrigable land, if any, 

 included within the entry. A second instalment will be- 

 come due on December 1, 1910, and subsequent instal- 

 ments on December 1 of each year thereafter until fully 

 paid. 



Transportation facilities in this valley are excellent. 

 A branch line of the Southern Pacific Railroad extends 

 through the reservation, connecting with the main line 

 at Yuma. The principal markets will be southern Cali- 

 fornia points and the mining camps on the Colorado 

 River. 



HEAVY PUMP TRADE. 



On another page of this issue there appear cuts of 

 pumps of the Gould Company, who, from their plant and 

 offices in Chicago, have been receiving extensive orders for 

 pumps to be used for irrigation throughout the west. There 

 is a growing demand for the centrifugal pump owing to the 

 steady increase in both underflow and quick pumping. Pump 

 companies report extensive inquiries in advance for this sea- 

 son. This is because of the fact that in addition to pumping, 

 which for years has been done from creeks and bodies of 

 surface waters, the experiments of the Government at Garden 

 City, followed by large private pumping projects in other 

 parts of the west, have demonstrated that it is feasible to 

 pump the underflow. This is particularly true where the 

 water is not too far below the surface and in the districts 

 where sandy loam or volcanic ash form the surface soil and 

 where not too far down there is a sub-soil of clay close to 



Many a farmer who has thought that he had semi-arid 

 land and has been using only the Campbell system of farming, 

 now finds it possible to put down a centrifugal pump and 

 irrigate at least a part of his land. Many large companies 

 are now engaged in building pumping projects. 



The cuts referred to show pumps made with a solid shell 

 as opposed to the split shell type. Runners are of large diam- 

 eter, adapting them for slow speed, and all parts accurately 

 machined and fitted. 



This company has already sold its product for irrigation 

 work in Montana, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and other states 

 United States Government officials have placed orders with the 



""The vertical type of pump is the one most generally used 

 for irrigation. Of the four irrigation systems followed in the 

 west the pumping system has received universal attention 

 later than any other method, and the present year promises 

 to show extensive development In this direction. 



