THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



209 



from other sources than those indicated in our 

 Washington dispatches, we will not look for any 

 great change during this administration. 



Since writing the above reports from Wash- 

 ington indicate that the various water users' 

 associations are taking an active hand in national 

 reclamation affairs, and the outlook is that there 

 will be something of a shake-up in the Reclamation 

 Service before they leave Washington. 



Secretary Lane will no doubt learn through 

 these men, who have evidently outgrown their fear 

 of bureau-heads, that everything is not as smooth 

 and clear as would appear from statements made 

 by Reclamation Service officials. 



How 

 To 

 Tie 

 Knots 



W T e are presenting 'in this issue an 

 article entitled "Some Knots and 

 Splices," by J. M. Drew of the Min- 

 nesota Agricultural College. While 

 '$ not directly associated with the in- 

 terests represented by IRRIGATION 

 AGE, this article is considered of sufficient value to 

 the thousands of ranchmen throughout the west 

 who 'are readers of this periodical to warrant its 

 publication. 



We trust that our farm and ranch readers will 

 retain this issue of THE IRRIGATION AGE, as it will 

 be good for reference many times during the years 

 to come. 



"THE BLACK AND YELLOW TRAIL." 



South Dakota, together with the states of 

 Wyoming, Minnesota and Wisconsin, are interested 

 in a highway extending from Chicago to the Yellow- 

 stone National Park, and to be known as the Chi- 

 cago, Black Hills and Yellowstone Park Highway, 

 with a shorter pseudonym, "The Black and Yellow 

 Trail." 



At a meeting recently held in Deadwood, S. D., 

 at which delegates from interested cities and towns 

 along thi proposed highway were present, plans 

 were made for beginning active work in mapping 

 and marking this trail from Chicago to the Yellow- 

 stone National Park. It was decided to send a party 

 over the line from Chicago to the Park. This party 

 will in all probability leave Chicago immediately 

 after July 4th. In the party there will be the com- 

 mittee appointed by the Deadwood meeting and also 

 newspaper men and representatives of the various 

 states and cities through which the highway passes. 

 A photographer will also accompany the party in 

 order to let the world have an idea of the scenic 

 beauty, surpassing grandeur and majestic splendor 

 to be encountered on this highway. 



The tentative route as outlined by the commit- 

 tee is to leave Chicago going directly north along 

 the lake shore to Milwaukee, thence westward 

 through Madison to LaCrosse, thence north to Wi- 

 nona, thence west through Minnesota and South 

 Dakota, following closely the line of the Chicago & 



North-Western railway, crossing the Missouri River 

 at Pierre, and west to and through the Black Hills, 

 and on to Yellowstone Park. The party will travel 

 in automobiles and make addresses at all the towns 

 and cities en route. 



Ben. M. Wood, of Rapid City, S. D., is the 

 committeeman in charge of the arrangements, and 

 he will be very glad to correspond with the secre- 

 taries of Commercial clubs, Automobile clubs, or 

 Good Roads committees in the various cities and 

 towns through which this highway passes. The pro- 

 moters of this highway intend to exploit it as one 

 of the divisions of an ocean to ocean highway hav- 

 ing terminals on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. 



GOVERNMENT SELLS TIMBER IN SOUTH- 

 ERN IDAHO. 



The Department of Agriculture has begun ad- 

 vertising two large tracts of timber which aggre- 

 gate 750,000,000 feet on the Payette river within 

 the Boise and Payette National forests, Idaho. The 

 District Forester at Ogden, Utah, will receive bids 

 up to and including June 1, 1913, and for an addi- 

 tional month if intending purchasers wish more time 

 to examine the timber before deciding on their 

 bids. 



While the bids received through competition 

 will determine the rate at which the timber will be 

 sold, the Department, as the result of a careful 

 study, has placed a minimum price which will be 

 considered on the timber, according to species and 

 situation. These prices range from $2.50 a thousand 

 feet for western yellow pine in the most accessible 

 places, down to $1.00 for the least valuable and least 

 accessible timber. The initial rates will be subject 

 to readjustment in 1918 and in 1922. By such read- 

 justment the stumpage price may be modified twice 

 at four-year intervals during the twelve years which 

 will be allowed for the removal of the timber. 



The Department officials point out that, in sales 

 of such a large quantity of timber, it is necessary to 

 allow a long term contract because of the magnitude 

 of operation and investment. The fact that many 

 large sales have been made with readjustment 

 clauses indicates, it is held, that timber operators 

 find the method businesslike and practicable. 



The timber to be cut lies on the watersheds of 

 the south and middle forks of the Payette, and bids 

 will be received for any or all of the timber on either 

 fork. It is accessible to southern Idaho, which is 

 developing rapidly and in which the demand for 

 timber will increase. 



DESTRUCTION OF ANCIENT CANALS. 



In connection with the problem of keeping silt 

 out of the irrigation canals and in cleaning the 

 distributing system, it is interesting to note that 

 in planning the irrigation works from the Eu- 

 phrates, special attention is being given to gates at 

 the head of the canals and arrangements such as 

 to cut out the water entirely in time of floods and 

 thus prevent the silt-bearing waters from entering 

 the canals. It is stated that the heavy silt in the 

 flood water of the Tigres and Euphrates caused the 

 destruction of the ancient canal systems on these 

 rivers. 



