THE IRRIGATION AQE. 



271 



and garden truck. Wheat grass or the native hay also 

 produces an abundant crop when well watered and sells 

 for a high price. 



"The lands are free from rock, gravel, or excessive 

 sand, and are from very flat to quite rolling, so the 

 settler has a chance to choose the lay of land he desires, 

 as the soil is all good, that south of the river being a 

 sandy loam and on the north shading into a heavy clay, 

 but all very free from alkali or injurious salts. 



"The lands partly belong to the public domain and 

 partly are deeded lands. The public lands can be se- 

 cured as homesteads by the settlers and requires a con- 

 tinuous residence of five years. The average irrigable 

 area of these homesteads is eighty acres. 



"The deeded or private lands can be purchased at 

 from ten dollars pet acre, up, according to location and 

 improvements. This 

 price increases very 

 fast as the time 

 draws near for the 

 water to be ready for 

 the different lands. 



"The cost of 

 water under this 

 project will be about 

 $30 per acre, divided 

 into ten annual pay- 

 ments of about $3 per 

 acre per year, with- 

 out interest, and is 

 only the exact cost 

 to the government. 

 The first payment 

 becomes due in the 

 fall after the water 

 has been delivered 

 for the crop. An 

 annual maintenance 

 and operation charge 

 of forty or fifty cents 

 per acre is also neces- 

 sary and is due April 

 1 of each year. 



"The land when 

 in cultivation will be 

 worth $75 or $100 

 per acre, and the 

 crops produced will 

 no doubt pay a good 

 interest on this 

 amount. An excellent chance for a man to secure a 

 good home and pay for same from his crops. 



"The markets are first class, as the mining towns 

 of the Black Hills grow no crops and are within wagon 

 haul, although the Chicago & Northwestern railroad 

 connects the project with Deadwood, Lead, Omaha, 

 Sioux City, Minneapolis and St. Paul. 



"The climate is good, there being very little snow 

 or cold weather during the winter, while the summers 

 are pleasant and the nights always cool. The tempera- 

 ture seldom reaches 100 degrees F. in the summer and 

 is below zero only a very few days of the winter. The 

 atmosphere is very dry and the health of the community 

 is always good. 



"The elevation of the lands is from 2,700 to 3,000 

 feet above sea level. The country is well supplied with 

 excellent schools and churches. The principal towns 



No 

 No 

 No 

 No 

 No 

 No 



adjacent to or on the project are Belle Fourche, Sturgis, 

 Whitewood and Vale. 



"The project is about half completed. The water 

 has been furnished to about 12,000 acres this spring, and 

 this irrigable area will be increased each year as the 

 works are completed. 



'The chances that a beet sugar factory will be built 

 in this territory in the next year or two are extremely 

 good, as the capitalists have reported very favorably on 

 this proposition. 



"In selecting an irrigated farm the priority of 

 water and the water supply are too often passed over 

 lightly by the prospective settler, who, after location, 

 finds his crops burning up and no water in his canals 

 or for him in the river. The Belle Fourche project has 

 the first right to water on the Belle Fourche river and 



a right to all the 

 water flowing in the 

 river at the Diver- 

 sion Dam at any 

 time. There are sev- 

 eral old canals taken 

 out of the Redwater 

 river and Spearfish 

 creek, which streams 

 are branches and 

 feeders of the Belle 

 Fourche river, but 

 none have been taken 

 from this river di- 

 rect until this proj- 

 ect was begun. 



"The average 

 run-off of the Belle 

 Fourche River at the 

 Diversion is 400,000 

 acre feet, which is 

 sufficient to fill the 

 reservoir twice each 

 year if necessary. It 

 is safe to say that 

 $1,000,000 worth of 

 water has been run- 

 ning to waste down 

 the Belle Fourche 

 every year, that is 

 that $1,000,000 

 worth of crops will 

 will be provided on 

 this project every 

 year with the water heretofore gone to waste. This fig- 

 ure will be doubled as soon as the land becomes highly 

 developed and the feeding and dairy interests are taken 

 up." 



In looking over the Belle Fourche Valley the writer 

 was impressed with the fact that there are great pros- 

 pects there for development along the line of dairying. 

 The native grasses are particularly good for beef making 

 and the combination of the native grass fed with alfalfa 

 should produce an ideal condition for the dairymen. 



Another feature which attracts general attention 

 is the fact that sheep and cattle which have been raised 

 in the valley in the past were all shipped to Colorado 

 and other points for fattening, and the Colorado feeders 

 have, as a rule, been making a long margin out of this 

 end of the business. The general impression seems to be 

 that sufficient feed may be raised around Belle Fourche. 



West entrance to tunnel. 



Rock crusher and mixer, for concrete used in construction of syphon. 



Distant view of experimental farm building. 



Heavy ditch work. 



Mules and horses engaged on work taking their Sunday rest. 



View of syphon, as it is nearing the river from the north. 



