THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



17 



issued to the settler by the state upon the payment of fifty 

 cents per acre, and the filing of contract between the con- 

 struction company and settler showing payment of first 

 installment on the cost of the water-right of the company. 

 Proof of residence and cultivation must also be made. 

 Under the advantageous administration of this act in Mon- 

 tana, it is possible for the settler to secure patent from 

 the state within thirty days from date of filing, provided 

 one-eighth of the land taken is put under cultivation and 

 other requirements are observed. After patent to the land 

 is obtained by the settler, the matter of residence thereon 

 is optional. 



Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project 

 The lower Yellowstone irrigation canal, constructed 

 by the United States Reclamation Service, will reclaim 

 about 40,000 acres of land along the west bank of the Yel- 

 lowstone river, including a territory starting south ol 

 Mondak, on the main line of the Great Northern, to a few 

 miles north of Glendive, about 55 miles long and from one 

 to five miles wide, in eastern Dawson county. 



The complete canals will irrigate about 40,000 acres, 

 the water being supplied by the Yellowstone river, whose 

 minimum discharge at the point of diversion is 1,000 sec- 

 ond-feet, this minimum occurring during January and 

 February. 



There is some public land open to entry under the 

 project, but the majority of farms are under private owner- 

 ship. The public lands are divided into units of from 40 to 

 80 acres and may be homesteaded by any one who has not 

 previousliy exercised his homestead right. At the time 

 filing is made the homestead entryman must pay the first 

 installment upon the cost of his water-right, which is $6.50 

 for 40 acres and $8.00 for 80 acres. 



Land under private ownership ranges from $20.00 to 

 $30.00 per acre, and the extra charge for water-right under 

 the project is $45.00 an acre, without interest payable as 

 follows: 



December 1, 1913 $2.00 per acre 



December 1, 1914 4.50 per acre 



December 1, 1915 4.50 per acre 



December 1, 1916 4.50 per acre 



December 1, 1917 4.50 per acre 



December 1, 1918 4.50 per acre 



December 1, 1919 4.50 per acre 



December 1, 1920 4.50 per acre 



December 1, 1921 4.50 per acre 



December 1, 1922 7.00 per acre 



The cost of maintaining and operating the canals will 

 be from $1.00 to $2.50 for each irrigable acre extra. 



Considering the assurance of crops under this project 

 and the opportunity for securing good land either by 

 homesteading or by purchase at a low price, the ultimate 

 cost of the land, including water-right, will amount to from 

 $65.00 to $80.00 per acre. 



The soil throughput the entire project possesses al- 

 most exhaustless fertility. It is of a loam, or clay loam, 

 of a rich brown color due to a high percentage of organic 

 matter. 



The principal crops are oats, barley, flax, wheat, vege- 

 tables, sugar beets, alfalfa, etc. The average yield of 

 alfalfa is five tons per acre. Oats have averaged as high 

 as 120 bushels, potatoes 400 bushels, barley GO bushels, 

 flax 17 bushels to the acre, etc. 



Stock raising, dairying, etc., are carried on extensively, 

 netting profitable returns to the farmer. 



With the construction of the new Great Northern 

 line through Fairview, Sidney. Newton, etc., additional 

 transportation facilities will be afforded, making the Yel- 

 lowstone project one of the most attractive localities of 

 the Northwest for the farmer desiring to secure an irri- 

 gated farm. 



The Milk River Irrigation Project 



The government has withdrawn from entry over 

 1,000.000 acres of fertile land in Teton. Hill, Elaine and 

 Valley counties, with a view of establishing an enormous 

 irrigation project, known as the Milk River project. 



The magnitude of the work is shown by the extent of 

 territory that is embraced within the plan of reclamation. 

 The Great Northern follows the Milk river through this 

 part of Montana and in addition to transportation numer- 

 ous large and small towns are already established. 



This project, which is about 16 per cent completed, 

 consists of two large engineering schemes. First, the 



storage of the water in St.- Marys Lakes in the north- 

 western part of Teton county, on the eastern slope of the 

 Rocky Mountains, and the carrying of the water by means 

 of a canal 27 miles to the north fork of the Milk river. 

 Second, the utilization of these stored mountain waters on 

 the irrigable lands of the lower Milk river valley, extend- 

 ing from Havre, in Hill county, to Glasgow in Valley 

 county, a distance of 155 miles. 



The Milk river has its source in Teton county, tribu- 

 tary to St. Marys lake, and its two forks flow norhteast 

 into Canada, where they unite, thence continuing as Milk 

 river proper in an easterly direction for about 100 miles, 

 re-entering into Montana in Hill county, finally emptying 

 into the Missouri river in Valley county, east of Glasgow. 

 In the Milk river valley and vicinity at the present 

 time there are close to 90,000 acres of land under irriga- 

 tion, producing the usual bountiful yield of practically all 

 crops. The soil throughout the entire valley is of suffi- 

 cient depth and character to grow crops at present without 

 irrigation; however, with the completion of this mammoth 

 project, and in view of the fact that the land is near 

 transportation, many settlers will, without doubt, quickly 

 occupy the lands, build up thriving communities and add 

 to the wealth and population' of the state. 



The Milk river project, as originally designated, con- 

 templates the reclaiming of about 250,000 acres of land in 

 two divisions. First, 100,000 acres near Dobson, Chinook, 

 etc. Second, 150,000 acres extending from the Dobson 

 diversion dam, eastward to Glasgow. The canal lines nec- 

 essary for watering these lands will approximate 380 miles 

 m length. 



The first unit under the Dodson canal, near Dodson, 

 on the Great Northern, is nearly completed. About 10,000 

 acres are contained under this unit and the water is being 

 supplied on a rental basis at the price of about $1.00 per 

 acre foot. The land under the constructed canal is divided 

 into 87 farm units of various sizes. 



In 1908 the Lower Milk River Water-Users' Associa- 

 tion was formed, and in 1910 it entered into a contract 

 with the government guaranteeing the paying to the 

 United States of the cost of the irrigation works as as- 

 sessed by the Secretary of the Interior against the lands 

 of the shareholders of the association. 



With the agreement arranged with Canada as regards 

 the use of water flowing across the boundary line and an 

 appropriation for the Reclamation Service to carry on the 

 work of the Milk river project, the same will, no doubt, be 

 completed as rapidly as possible. 



The Valier Irrigation Project 



In October, 1909, the Carey Act Board of the State of 

 Montana threw open for settlement 70,000 acres of irri- 

 gated land in Teton county, near the town of Conrad on 

 the Great Northern. Since then additional land has been 

 acquired until at the present time there are about 116,000 

 acres of irrigable land under the project, about 40,000 

 acres of which are now under cultivation. 



Any citizen of the United States can file upon 40, 80, 

 120 or 160 acres of land under this project, and own the 

 land and perpetual water-rights by paying $40.50 per acre 

 on 14 years' time. The terms upon which the settler may 

 enter a claim on these lands are, the payment of fifty 

 cents per acre as an entrance fee to the State of Montana, 

 and $40.00 per acre, which pays back to the construction 

 company the charge per acre for the installation of the 

 irrigation system. The sum of $5.50 per acre must accom- 

 pany the application at the time filing is made. The bal- 

 ance is payable in 14 equal annual installments, with in- 

 terest at six per cent on deferred payments, beginning with 

 the delivery of water. 



The land is covered with native grass, ready for the 

 plow. The climate is very favorable, and coal is mined 

 on the tract. Flax yields of 24 bushels per acre, 100 

 bushels of oats, 40 bushels of wheat, 40 bushels of barley 

 and proportionate yields of other grains as well as vege- 

 tables are reported from the farmers on the project. The 

 average yield of wheat for 1912 on the project was 38.5 

 bushels, 75.1 bushels of oats and 57 bushels of barley per 

 acre. Potatoes yield weil and sugar beets grow easily. 

 Garden truck thrives under the long days of sunshine, 

 and two or three cuttings of alfalfa are received each 

 season. Timothy, clover and other cultivated grasses grow 

 luxuriantly either for meadow or pasture. 



The soil is uniform in character, running from a choc- 

 olate to a clay loam. The sod works up mellow and fine 



