14 



THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



a man today is making a far better living on ten acres 

 of irrigated land, than can be secured by an equal amount 

 of hard work on a quarter or even a half section of 

 ordinary farming land, while, as a matter of fact, those 

 best posted on the subject insist that twenty acres of ir- 

 rigated land is about all that one family can properly 

 look after, even with a reasonable amount of help. 



The economic value of irrigation, whether by national 

 projects or private enterprise, cannot be measured in dol- 

 lars and cents. It is no longer an experiment in this 

 growing western country; it is a confirmed success from 

 commercial and financial viewpoints, and the influence of 

 its far-flung horizons and its true perspective are potential 

 in character-molding and building. There is inspiration 

 in the vastness of this westerness, where men and women 

 .and children breathe optimism and grow mental breadth 

 and strength in contemplating scenery, declared by sea- 

 soned travelers to have no counterpart in the world. The 

 development of the country will provide a safety valve 

 against the impending dangers of congestion in the cities 

 of the east. 



It has been demonstrated that under irrigation western 

 land will produce paying crops of anything which grows 

 in the temperate zone. The products are noted for their 

 brilliant coloring, unusual size and excellent flavor, and 

 they command the markets of the world. Vegetables in 



Spokane county, while Yakima county planted 358,477 and 

 Clielan county, which includes the Wenatchee district, 

 planted 301,784. 



Yakima county leads with 2,115,695 apple, 667,704 pear, 

 857,300 peach, 179,166 cherry and 24,081 plum and prune 

 trees. Chelan county has 1,138,012 apple, 77,407 pear, 

 338,073 peach, 54,565 cherry and 18,212 plum trees, and 

 Spokane county has 967,197 apple, 54,707 pear, 154,323 

 peach, 163,324 cherry and 40,943 plum trees. The dis- 

 tribution of apple trees in six other counties in eastern 

 Washington is as follows: Asotin, 87,415; Benton, 188,- 

 187; Okanogan, 27,670; Stevens, 251,839; Walla Walla, 

 84,429; Whitman, 266,133. 



In addition to the foregoing there are in eastern 

 Washington approximately 2,500 acres of grapes, 2,400 

 acres of raspberries, 2,000 acres of blackberries, 9,000 acres 

 of strawberries, 675 acres of currants and gooseberies. 

 350 acres of cranberries and thousands of acres of lands 

 devoted to garden truck farming, besides 2,500,000 acres 

 devoted to wheat and other grains, which do not require 

 irrigation. 



The extent of operations on irrigated lands in the 

 Northwest will be better understood when it is known that 

 the value of apple and other fruit crops in the Inland 

 Empire amounted to $14,000,000 in one year. It will be 

 better than $60.000,000 in 1914, by which time several 



*"! 



Second Year from Sagebrush. Huntley Project, Oats Yielded 120 Bushels an Acre. 



almost endless variety and the choicest vine and tree 

 fruits follow each other in rotation and fill out the sea- 

 sons. There is courage born of conviction and fostered 

 by hope in the superabundant life which springs from the 

 broad desert when moisture is applied, and this gives a 

 constant inspiration to industry and stimulus to greater 

 things. 



Five to ten acres of land in the irrigated districts will 

 provide shelter, food and raiment for a family and enable 

 its owner to put aside from $500 to $1,000 a year. Scores 

 of hundreds of men and women, many of whom came 

 from the crowded cities in the east and south, are doing 

 that much or better in the Inland Empire today. The 

 home making instinct, characteristic of the true American, 

 won out and as a result they are independent and able to 

 dictate the prices of their products. 



Statistics compiled by the State Commissioner of 

 Horticulture show that approximately 227,500 acres of 

 lands in the state of Washington are devoted to fruit 

 culture. A census of the trees shows 7,677,072 apple, 

 2,126,222 peach, 1,313,290 pear, 1,238,491 plum and prune, 

 938,744 cherry, and several million nectarine, quince, al- 

 mond and English walnut trees. The plantings in one 

 year amounted to 2,067,853 trees, as follows: Apple, 

 1,169,989; peach, 366,731; pear, 230,719; cherry, 190,535; 

 plum and prune, 70,200; miscellaneous, 39,679. Of these 

 399,553 or 20 per cent of the grand total were planted in 



million trees set out in the last two years will come into 

 bearing. 



This is only the beginning of the fruit industry in this 

 part of the country, where millions of acres of land, now 

 flecked with the dusty green of sage brush, are awaiting 

 the refreshing moisture to make them blossom like the 

 proverbial rose. Irrigation will supplement the rainfall 

 and do much more for the growing crops than rain, as 

 the natural element gives nothing except moisture, while 

 the waters diverted from the mountain sides bring with 

 them new fertility. Much of this land, now not worth 

 more than a few dollars an acre, will then be readily 

 salable at from $250 to $500 an acre, according to loca- 

 tion and the character of the soil. That is the history of 

 lands in the now famous Bitterroot, Yakima, Wenatchee, 

 Lewiston-Clarkston and Spokane valleys, where the in- 

 comes from fruit range from $450 to $2,000 an acre. 



Send $1.00 for 1 year's subscription to the IRRIGA- 

 TION AGE and bound copy of THE PRIMER OF IRRIGA- 

 TION. If you desire a copy of The Primer of Hy- 

 draulics add $2.50 to above price. 



