268 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



that section, it may be stated that during the year 1907 

 one and three quarter million pounds of wool were 

 shipped from Belle Fourche. 



A good grade of coal is mined in Wyoming just 

 across the state line about eighteen miles west of Belle 

 Fourche. These mines are directly reached by rail and 

 there is therefore an abundance of fuel. 



Lumber is shipped in from the Bear Lodge Moun- 

 tains in Wyoming and a good grade of lumber can be 

 purchased for about $24 per thousand. A good quality 

 of building stone is quarried near the town of Belle 

 Fourche, and a number of the best business structures 

 have been erected from this stone. Belle Fourche has 

 a fine $25,000 High School building, which was con- 

 structed of this material. 



There are four churches and five different church 

 organizations. 



At an early day, 

 no doubt, new towns 

 will be established at 

 different points in 

 the irrigated area. 



The government 

 will try the experi- 

 ment of building a 

 town, and land has 

 already been segre- 

 gated for that pur- 

 pose. This townsite 

 lies immediately in 

 the center of the proj- 

 ect, east of the reser- 

 voir and north of the 

 thriving little town 

 of Vale, which is on 

 the south side of the 

 Belle Fourche Eiver. 



There are many 

 finely developed 

 farms around the 

 town of Belle 

 Fourche and some of 

 them have been de- 

 veloped without irri- 

 gation. 



One farmer who 

 is located about five 

 miles from the town 

 of Belle Fourche tes- 

 tified recently that he 



had been farming more than two hundred acres of land 

 for the past seven years and during that time his wheat 

 had averaged twenty bushels per acre, oats forty bushels 

 and barley forty-five bushels, without irrigation. He 

 has a steam threshing outfit and breaks and plows with 

 horses, milks a number of cows, makes butter and he 

 and his family made a visit to Europe during the past 

 year. This would indicate that there are plenty of op- 

 portunities open for the settler under what is known 

 as "dry farming" and this land can, no doubt, be secured 

 at a very low price owing to the fact that no expenditure 

 will be necessary other than the clearing and breaking of 

 the land and fitting up a dwelling and other farm build- 

 ings. 



The soil under the Belle Fourche project is what is 

 known as gumbo. This is exceedingly rich ground. 

 Soil experts from Washington state that it is, without 



No. 1. 



No. 2. 



No. 3. 



No. 4. 



a doubt, as strong and productive soil as is to be found 

 in the United States. 



All farmers locating under the Belle Fourche pro- 

 ject or in that vicinity may be sure of a good market, 

 as they will supply the great mining centers of Dead- 

 wood and Lead and other mining towns. It is a well 

 known fact that the mining regions are considered the 

 best of all markets for agricultural products. High 

 prices usually prevail in the mining districts as the 

 result of there being no cultivation of the soil in the 

 hills and mountains and there is a uniformly ready 

 cash market. When it is considered that Deadwood, 

 long noted as a mining center, and Lead, the home of 

 the Homestake Mine, are less than thirty miles away, it 

 may be readily seen that farmers will have little difficulty 

 in disposing of what is known as farm truck, and there 



is always an outside 

 market by rail for 

 the heavier farm 

 crops. 



Reports on the 

 project from an en- 

 gineering standpoint 

 will appear in our is- 

 sue of August. 

 WAYSIDE NOTES. 



THE IRRIGATION 

 AGE has, from time 

 to time, seen fit to 

 criticize certain fea- 

 tures of the Reclama- 

 tion Service, but this 

 recent visit made by 

 the editor to the Belle 

 Fourche project, 

 whereby he came in 

 contact with the en- 

 gineer in charge, Mr. 

 Walter and Messrs. 

 Schlecht, Patch and 

 Reedy, his able as- 

 sistants on the work, 

 (Mr. Schlecht being 

 in charge of the Si- 

 phon and concrete 

 work, Mr. Reedy of 

 the office at Vale and 

 Mr. Patch engineer 

 in charge of work on 

 the dam), clearly in- 

 dicates that these are all kindly disposed, courteous 

 gentlemen who are willing to give assistance in every 

 way to those who are studying the project. The rank 

 and file of the Reclamation Service is composed of men 

 of more than ordinary ability and education. 



It was our intention to present to our readers a clear 

 picture of the United States ferry boat which plies be- 

 tween the banks of the river at what is known as the 

 Siphon Camp, and a dim outline is shown by the ac- 

 companying half-tone. This boat was evidently pre- 

 pared hurriedly out of cheap lumber and is known in 

 our part of the country as a scow. The writer was 

 invited to cross the stream in it with Mr. Walter and Cap- 

 tain Schlecht, who manipulates the only paddle which 

 the boat possesses. The other two shown in the picture 

 are what are known as "near paddles." In view of the 

 fact that the 'Belle Fourche River was in flood at the 



Great earthen dam at Orman, S. D. 



U. S. ferry boat, "James Rudolph Garfield," with Capt. Schlecht at the wheel. 



Building of the South Side Canal. 



A bunch of beehives on the Stearns Ranch, near Snoma, S. D. 



