THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



429 



MANY NEW HOMES WAITING. 



Second Unit of the Belle Fourche Project in South 

 Dakota Open for Entry. 



The completion of the second unit of the Belle 

 Fourche irrigation project in South Dakota makes avail- 

 able for homestead entry, 132 choice farms of forty and 

 eighty acres each. 



Tfte farms are open to entry under the general provis- 

 ions of the Homestead Law and the Reclamation Act. 

 The settler is required after visiting the land to make his 

 homestead entry at the local land office at Rapid City, 

 or before the United States Commissioner at Belle 

 Fourche. 



The homestead entry must be accompanied by an ap- 

 plication for water right. There was no lottery. In addi- 

 tion to the nominal entry fee the settler must pay in ad- 

 vance one-tenth of the building charge, or three dollars 

 per acre of irrigable land. 



A charge is also made of forty cents per acre per 

 anntmj for operation and maintenance. The initial pay- 

 ment for a 40-acre farm will be about $142, and for an 

 SO-acre farm, $279. This is one of the lowest priced water 

 rights in the West, and it is expected that every farm unit 

 will be taken up before May 1st. 



The irrigable lands are located in Butte and Meade 



All the fruits and vegetables that can be raised in the 

 valley can be sold to the mining camps of the Black Hills, 

 where employment is given to thousands of men. Milk, 

 eggs, butter, poultry, and garden truck all bring high prices 

 and there is a growing and constant demand for these 

 products. 



Sturgis, Whitewood, Belle Fourche, and other towns 

 have direct connection over the Chicago & Northwestern 

 Railroad with Omaha, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Chicago, and 

 other large cities. These great markets take all the sur- 



Bclle Fourche Valley and Canals. 



plus products, sending in return machinery, household 

 supplies and other manufactured articles not yet produced 

 in the valley. A new railroad is being built the entire 

 length of the project, so that the transportation facilities 

 will be excellent. 



The reservoir created by this dam will cover about 

 nine thousand acres, and will be the largest lake in the 

 state. It will receive water through an inlet canal 6^2 

 miles long, 40 feet wide on the bottom, and capable of 

 carrying the entire flow of Belle Fourche River. 



The Belle Fourche offers opportunities in every line 



Small 20-Acre Farm Being Profitably Farmed One Mile West of Spear- 

 fish, S. D. Belle Fourche Project. 



counties, north and northeast of the Black Hills, one of 

 the richest gold mining camps in the West. 



The average elevation of the lands under the Belle 

 Fourche project is 2,800 feet above sea level. The climate 

 is healthful and invigorating. As in other parts of the 

 arid region, the sensible temperature does not vary greatly, 

 owing to the dryness of the atmosphere. 



The soil is clay loam and sandy loam, exceedingly 

 fertile and free from alkali. Fruits, such as apples, 

 cherries, plums and small fruits, do well, especially 

 on the higher portions of the project near the bluffs, and 

 potatoes produce abundantly on the south side of the 

 river where the soil is more sandy. 



Sugar beets raised in the valley, it is claimed, contain 

 as much suear as those raised in anv other section of the 

 country, and are profitable as a special crop. 



The vast open country surroundin^ the valley affords 

 pasturage for immense herds, making that section one of 

 the largest cattle ranges in the United States. As many as 

 5.000 car loads of cattle have been shipped from Belle 

 Fourche in a year. 



Large flocks of sheep also feed on the ranges, and one 

 and one-half million pounds of wool are shipped annually 

 from this region. With the irrigation of the valley and 

 the production of abundant crops of small grain and al- 

 falfa, a new and important industry will be developed in 

 the winter feeding and fattening of stock. 



Diversion Dam Looking South Belle Fourche Project. 



of business. The valley is practically a virgin field. The 

 mercantile pursuits are not overcrowded. Manufacturing 

 is yet to be developed, and the professional man has a 

 great opportunity. 



The reclamation of 100,000 acres of land included in 

 this project, with a family on every forty or eighty acre 

 tract, will necessitate the establishment of several new 

 towns and will add greatly to those now in existence. 



