86 



THE IREIGATION AGE. 



Perkins Talks. 



Mr. E. T. Perkins, Engineer and Traveling Auditor for 

 the Reclamation Service, is in Washington for a few days on 

 official business. He has inspected all of the irrigation projects 

 now under construction by the Government during the past 

 season, and reports that, considering the scarcity of labor and 

 the blockade on transportation lines, the work is progressing 

 splendidly in all parts of the West. "In fact," said Mr. Per- 

 kins, "the work of the Reclamation Service is progressing 

 more rapidly than that under way by railroads or private cor- 

 porations. 



"I have just come from Oklahoma City, where I attended 

 the first annual meeting of the National Drainage Associa- 

 tion. The work of this association looking toward the drain- 

 age of swamp lands owned by the United States promises in 

 the near future to be as important as the irrigation of the 

 arid lands of the West. 



"This first session was remarkably successful. Seventeen 

 States and Territories were represented by a high class ot 

 delegates, who organized the National Drainage Association 

 and gave a decided impetus to the question of national drain- 

 age, endorsing the bill recently presented by Senator Flint of 

 California, entitled "A Bill for the Establishment of a Drain- 

 age Fund and the Construction of Works for the Reclamation 

 of Swamp and Overflowed Lands." 



The next session of the Association will be held in St. 

 Paul, Minnesota, some time during October, 1907. 



Orland Project. 



The Secretary of the Interior recently conditionally al- 

 lotted the sum of $650,000 from the reclamation fund for the 

 construction of the Orland irrigation project, in California. 

 The conditions to be fulfilled before the project is finally ap- 

 proved for construction are as follows : 



1st. That 12,000 acres of land be pledged by the owners 

 in a form to be approved by the Department such that the 

 lands will be held bound to repay the cost of construction 

 under the terms of the Reclamation Act. 



2d. That satisfactory arrangements be made and agree- 

 ments completed for the adjustment of water rights or for 

 options to purchase certain properties and rights. 



3d. That satisfactory arrangements be made for the pur- 

 chase of the lands needed for reservoir purposes. 



4th. That the owners of the lands agree to subdivide 

 and sell their holdings in excess of 160 acres in farm units of 

 not to exceed 40 acres. 



This is the first unit of the Sacramento Valley project, 

 which it is hoped may in time be undertaken by the United 

 States. The lands to be irrigated in the vicinity of Orland 

 lie along Stony Creek, and the waters of this creek regulated 

 by storage are to be used in the irrigation of the land. 



There is no uncertainty about the results. Irrigation on 

 a small scale has long been practiced in this part of the Sac- 

 ramento Valley. Vineyards and orchards will rapidly take 

 the place under irrigation of the grain fields, which of late 

 years have proven unrenumerative. 



Two Rows of Pear Trees, Palisade, Colo., on D. & R. G. Ry. 



Midland Bridge Company Lucky. 



The Secretary of the Interior has awarded contract to the 

 Midland Bridge Company, of Kansas City, Missouri, for fur- 

 nishing steel and cast iron for reinforcement and structural 

 use in connection with the Rio Grande irrigation project, 

 New Mexico. 



The contract calls for 55,000 pounds of steel bars for rein- 

 forcement of concrete, about 12,800 pounds of structural steel, 

 and about 9,000 pounds of cast iron gates, guides, stands, etc., 

 to be delivered within sixty days after award of contract. 



The bid of the Midland Bridge Company was $2,885. 



Rio Grande Project. 



The Secretary of the Interior has executed a contract with 

 the Midland Bridge Company, of Kansas City, Missouri, for 

 furnishing steel and cast iron for the Rio Grande irrigation 

 project, New Mexico. 



The contract calls for about 55,000 pounds of steel bars 

 for reinforcement of concrete, about 12,800 pounds of struc- 

 tural steel, and about 9,000 pounds of cast iron gates, j_.i 

 stands, etc., and will amount to about $2,885. 



In order to expedite work on the Milk River irrigation 

 t.roject, Montana, the Secretary of the Treasury has appointed 

 L. R. Stockton, Assistant Engineer in the Reclamation Serv- 

 ice at Browning, Montana, Inspector of Customs, without 

 compensation, to be under the direction of the Collector of 

 Customs at Great Falls, Montana. 



