THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



243 



outlet. The high ground, therefore, on which it was 

 necessary to locate the canal is found near the river 

 banks. Consequently the canal follows the course of 

 the river and keeps rather close to it. 



The engineering features of the canal are in- 

 genious. The headgate is a sufficiently strong structure 

 of concrete, reinforced by railroad rails buried in the 

 material. .Below the headgate is a cut of 1,000 feet 

 ranging in depth from 20 to 28 feet. This cut opens 

 into a natural slough which, having been enlarged and 

 straightened and worked down to grade, carries the 

 water for several miles. The canal then follows the 

 high land along the river and distributing canals are 

 carried to the west and south. 



Water rights under this system of canals sell for 

 $10.00 per acre, and the annual rental charge for water 

 is $1.00 per acre. The cost of construction, while kept 

 down by efficient management, has not been taken into 

 account in fixing the price of water rights. Up to the 

 present time the owners of the system have invested 

 about $500,000. 



Distribution of water to the farmers is effected by 

 a complete system of lateral ditches some of which 

 are 20 feet in width on the bottom. The plans of the 

 engineers contemplate caring for waste water by step- 

 ping it down to a lower lateral canal, and finally into a 

 large drainage ditch which leads the surplus into the 

 low overflowed lands bordering the Sacramento Eiver. 

 At one point where the canals runs near to the bank 

 of the river a spillway is provided, as a safety valve 

 and as a vent, in case it is necessary to close down the 

 lower end for repairs. 



The results of irrigation in that part of the Sacra- 

 mento Valley served by this canal system are observed 

 in the rapid change of wheat ranches into peach 

 orchards, orange groves, alfalfa and beet fields and in 

 the erection of homes. A striking illustration is af- 

 forded by a district immediately southwest of G-ridley, 

 the business center of the region. An area of 3,000 

 acres devoted to grain farming up to two and a half years 

 ago made a home for three families, aggregating ten 

 persons. During a portion of the year the places were 

 the temporary homes of the men who were hired for the 

 planting and harvesting. This same territory is now 

 under irrigation and a portion of the land has been 

 sold to settlers. Fifty families are actually living in 

 their homer on this same area and ten others who have 

 purchased have not yet settled on the lands. 



Another district of about equal aTea west of the 

 same town is now having the same experience. The 

 advantages accruing to business, schools, churches, etc., 

 are at once apparent. A population of twenty-five to 

 the square mile is more satisfactory than a population 

 of two to the square mile. The average size of the 

 irrigated farms under this system of canals is about 

 thirty acres, whereas the average size of the grain farms 

 for the district affected, under the old regime, was about 

 GOO acres. 



LITTLE SNAKE RIVER VALLEY. 



others who are interested in securing a good irrigated 

 farm at a cheap price. 



Fifty thousand acres of what is described as "The 

 best land in the new Empire," are to be opened by the 

 state of Colorado under the Carey act this summer. A 

 large canal 65 miles long, with a big reservoir, is being 

 built by the Eoutt County Development company, 814 

 Seventeenth street, Denver, Colo., to irrigate the land, 

 the price of land and perpetual water rights being fixed 

 by the state of $25.50 per acre. 



Preliminary contracts insuring the holders the 

 choice selection in the tract, can be obtained by a de- 

 posit of $5.00 per acre in either the International or 

 Continental Trust company in Denver. This deposit 

 draws interest at 3 per cent until the tract is thrown 

 open. If the depositor is not satisfied with the selection 

 of land he is able to make under his option, his deposit 

 is returned with interest. This relieves the settler of tije 

 necessity of examining the land until the time comes for 

 definite selection. 



The Little Snake River valley is in the center of 

 the greatest stock raising and stock feeding country in 

 the west, and the Moffat road and the Union Pacific are 

 both building into the valley. The tributary country 

 is very rich in mineral. Extensive coal fields, which will 

 attract thousands of people, lie north and south of the 

 valley. 



Under the Carey act, one person can select 160 

 acres, or a legal subdivision 40, 80, or 120 acres. This 

 right can be exercised, even if a person has exhausted 

 his homestead, timber and stone or other government 

 land rights. 



One eighth of the land must be reclaimed within 

 three years or less from the time the canal is completed. 

 The state then gives the settler a patent to the land. 

 The settler owns a proportionate interest in the canal 

 system. When 90 per cent of the water rights are sold, 

 the canal system is turned over to the settlers as their 

 property. 



Work on the canal was started last year, and were 

 resumed on an extensive scale May 1. Many pre- 

 liminary water right contracts are being sold to farmers 

 with teams, etc., who will go into the valley and work 

 on the canal, examining the land at their leisure so they 

 will be ready to make their selection when the land is 

 thrown open. All water right payment will remain in 

 escrow until the canal is completed. The Little Snake 

 Eiver valley is very fertile, as is shown by the products 

 of the fanners under small ditches in the valley. 



Reclamation Service 



OPENING OF HUNTLEY TRACT. 



The Little Snake river valley in Eoutt county, 

 Colorado, is the magnet which is attracting the atten- 

 tion of farmers throughout the countr/, as well as all 



The opening to settlement of 700 splendid farms em- 

 braced in the Huntley irrigation project in Montana, which 

 is scheduled to take place on June 26, promises to be both 

 unique and spectacular. Uncle Sam will hold a lottery, 

 and the farms will be drawn by numbers. 



The new regulations of the secretary of the interior will 

 eliminate the speculator and will offer an equal chance 

 to all homeseekers. This will mark a rather wide depar- 



