84 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



priming of the main canals and pressure pipes will con- 

 tinue in order that the system may be in good condition 

 to deliver water for next season's crops. 



A great deal of interest attaches to this project by 

 reason of the fact that it is the first to be undertaken in 

 North Dakota, and also because of the unique engineering 

 features in connection with it. 



The Missouri river has a habit of constantly cutting 

 its banks and changing its channel, so that it was found 

 impossible to locate any structure for the diversion of 

 water by gravity without incurring enormous expense to 

 protect it from the scour of the stream, moreover its grade 

 was so flat that any gravity canal would be of prohibitive 

 length. Fortunately large beds of lignite were discovered 

 in the vicinity, affording cheap fuel, and the engineers con- 

 ceived the plan of building a power house at the coal 

 mines and conveying it electrically to the river. The 

 pumps are placed on floating barges, which will accommo- 

 date themselves to changes in the river channel and in the 

 water level. The water is delivered through pipes with 

 flexible joints into several basins located at sufficient dis- 

 tance from the shore to be safe from encroachment by the 

 shifting river. From these basins the water will be pumped 

 into canals to cover the irrigable lands. The basins also 

 serve for the purpose of settling silt, large quantities of 

 which are carried in solution by the Missouri river. Dur- 

 ing the winter the barges will be drawn out of the water 

 to points where they will be safe from ice gorges and 

 sudden freshets. 



On September 25 the steam turbine generating ma- 

 chinery was started up for the first time, and on the fol- 

 lowing day the electric power at 22,000 volts was sent 

 over the transmission line to the intake pumping station. 

 On September 27 the two pumping units located on the 

 barge were started. During the present month the pump- 

 ing system has been operated at various times, raising the 

 water gradually in the settling basin so that the banks 

 could b.e puddled wherever there was any indication of 

 weakness. 



A semi-gas producing furnace designed for burning 

 lignite coal is used. As the mine is carried farther into 

 the vein the quality of the coal improves, and the little 

 difficulties experienced in starting the plant to operating 

 satisfactorily are being overcome. It is expected that 

 5,000 acres will be irrigated during 1908. 



The Williston power house will also supply power for 

 the Buford-Trenton project, transmitting it by wire 

 twenty-two miles. The installation of the electrical 

 apparatus and the four pumping units in the station which 

 receives the power from Williston has been completed at 

 Buford, and the pumping machinery will probably be 

 mounted on the barge this month. Some obstacles have 

 been encountered in securing right of way for the trans- 

 mission line, but the wires will be manufactured this 

 winter and it is hoped to have them placed on the poles 

 early in the spring so that power may be transmitted in 

 time for supplying water as anticipated. It is expected 

 that more than 3,500 acres can be supplied with water 

 under the Buford-Trenton project in 1908. 



During Secretary Garfield's recent trip through the 

 West he visited the Yakima valley in Washington, where 

 the Reclamation Service is constructing one of its largest 

 irrigation projects. That the Secretary was greatly im- 

 pressed with the orchards and their enormous yields is 

 not to be wondered at, now that the harvest reports are in. 



The superintendent of irrigation under the Sunnyside 

 canal, in a letter to the Washington office, gives some in- 

 teresting figures in this connection. He said in part: 



"From 54 Beurre D'Anjou pear trees, occupying two- 

 thirds of an acre, the owner shipped 950 boxes to New York 

 City, realizing from them net on board cars here $3,100. One 

 acre of Concord grapes on a farm near Zillah yielded this 

 year over 3,500 baskets of choice grapes, representing a net 

 profit of $550 to the owner. An orchard of forty acres which 

 I showed Secretary Garfield when here, and in which he was 

 greatly interested, was purchased a year and a half ago 

 for $18,500. Last year the owner sold from this orchard, 

 which consists of pears, peaches, apples, prunes and cherries, 

 $16,250 worth of fruit, realizing over $12,000 net. This year 

 his yield was larger and prices better, and while he has not 

 yet disposed of his entire crop, he estimates his net profits 

 at over $25,000." 



These orchards were all irrigated this season by the 

 government through the Sunnyside irrigation system. About 

 40,000 acres received water, and this area will probably be 

 increased by 4,000 in 1908. 



Mr. H. N. Savage, supervising engineer of the United 

 States Reclamation Service, in charge of work in Mon- 

 tana, North Dakota and northern Wyoming, who is spending 

 a few days in the Washington office, said this morning: 



"The United States has just completed the construction 

 of the distribution system for the entire Huntley irrigation 

 project, the work having been voluntarily turned over to the 

 United States by the contractors and sureties November 16, 

 1906. The cost of doing the work by the government has 

 proved to be somewhat less than was the cost to the con- 

 tractor during the time of his management. 



"One hundred and forty entries have already' been made. 

 The average unit farm contains about fifty acres of irrigable 

 land. There are already more entries than there could have 

 been had each of the farms under the project been given an 

 area of 160 acres. About twenty-five houses have already 

 been built. The settlers are putting up substantial cottages, 

 with barns and corrals. Several of them have already irri- 

 gated their land and are plowing in anticipation of full crops 

 in 1908, which will be the first season during which water is 

 delivered. 



"The pumping plant, which lifts water from the main 

 canal by power generated at a drop in the same canal to 

 cover about 3,000 acres of land located fifty-five feet higher 

 than the main canal, is erected, completed, and will be tested 

 as soon as water can be turned into the system in the spring. 

 All the canals under the project have been put into commis- 

 sion, water having been first turned by the Secretary of the 

 Interior on June 28th and continued until October-45th. No 

 breaks whatever have occurred in the canal banks, and all 

 the banks have been thoroughly soaked and puddled. 



"The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway Company 

 and the Northern Pacific Railroad Company have estab- 

 lished stations at five-mile intervals throughout the project, 

 and sidings have been constructed and local trains stop at 

 the new stations. The average distance of all the farms on 

 the project from a railroad station is less than two miles. A 

 good class of settlers are entering the lands and the outlook 

 for the early and general entry of all the lands is exceedingly 

 good." 



Sun River Project : 



"The first unit of the Sun River project will be adver- 

 tised for entry during the coming winter. The construction 

 of works will be completed in time to furnish water for irri- 

 gation during the season of 1908. About 16,000 acres of land 

 will be opened for entry located twenty-five miles west of 

 Great Falls and tributary to the Great Falls & Shelby branch 

 of the Great Northern Railway System. 



"The contractors are getting on very well with their canal 

 contracts, and the Reclamation Service is building the struc- 

 tures by force account, no bids having been received in re- 

 sponse to advertisements. Plans are being prepared for con- 

 structing the works required for the next unit of the project, 

 and it is expected that advertisement will be made for bids 

 in the spring or early summer of 1908. 



St. Mary Project: 



"Construction work on the St. Mary Canal has been car- 

 ried on continuously throughout the working season, the work 

 being performed by the Reclamation Service. An eighty-ton 

 steam shovel and steam excavating plant have been employed 

 in excavating the heavy work involved in constructing the 

 main canal, also a large force of teams. Work has been 

 opened up at several points on the 26-mile canal. The canal 

 when completed will have a carrying capacity of 850 cubic 

 feet per second. On account of the climatic conditions work 

 is being discontinued through the winter. 



Lower Yellowstone Project : 



"On account of the scarcity of labor the Lower Yellow- 

 stone project contractors are having difficulty in completing 

 their work on schedule time. All the power actuated equip- 

 ment it is practical to use has been in service throughout the 

 working season. One of the contractors has three mammoth 

 orange peel dredges and one steam shovel at work and a large 

 force of teams. Other contractors have outfits of similar 

 magnitude. It is expected that all of the canals and struc- 

 tures will be completed in time to turn water into the canals 

 some time in the summer or fall of 1908. 



