THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



93 



with it, and that the lesser cost of pro- 

 duction on dry farms will more than 

 compensate for any unfavorable years 

 that may come. 



It is .probable that a nitrate plant 

 will l>e constructed at a site in the 

 Big Horn canyon, says a letter from 

 John J. Harris, president of the Big 

 Horn Canyon and Irrigation Com- 

 pany, who is in Washington, D. C., 

 on business. He says he has met the 

 secretaries of war and the interior 

 and that they and the secretary of 

 agriculture will visit Montana to in- 

 spect the site. It is understood two 

 nitrate plants will be constructed in 

 the United States, one in the south 

 and the other in the west. Mr. Har- 

 ris' opinion is that the Big Horn 

 canyon has a good chance to land the 

 western plum. Mr. Harris is going 

 to New York in an effort to raise 

 money for a power plant. 



Oregon 



It is reported from Washington, 

 under date of February 20, that the 

 Umatilla irrigation project gets $157,- 

 000 and the Klamath project $239,000. 

 No new project in Oregon is author- 

 ized. Others are: Yakima project. 

 $1.144.000; Okanogan project. $32.000; 

 Boise project, $396,000; Minidoka 

 nroiect. $222,000; King Hill project, 

 Idaho (new), $200,000. 



An irrigation system is scheduled 

 to be installed near Crane, Ore., the 

 water to be derived from Malheur 

 lake, five miles southwest of Crane. 

 Surveys are being made for the main 

 ditches and a pumping plant on the 

 shore of the lake, electric power to be 

 developed on the Malheur river above 

 Drewsey. Last September, J. E. John- 

 son, a well known engineer of Vale, 

 accompanied by J. P. Congdon, for- 

 merly a consulting engineer 1 of the 

 Oregon Short Line, visited this sec- 

 tion and made the statement that 

 they were interested in an electric 

 power project on the Malheur river 

 and proposed to furnish power for 

 irrigation purposes for this portion of 

 the Harney valley. The pumping 

 plant project is now materializing. 



Ten thousand acres of timber land, 

 irrigable land and grazing land in the 

 Klamath Indian reservation, in south- 

 ern Oregon, are soon to be offered for 

 sale. The land will be sold in 120 

 separate tracts. The territory to be 

 sold comprises the estates of deceased 

 Indians and of those who, because of 

 age. are in need of funds and unable 

 to derive an income from their prop- 

 erty. The land will first be appraised 

 and then opened to bids, which must 

 be equal to or above the appraised 

 value. Under this procedure the land 

 usually goes for $10 an acre or less. 

 The agricultural lands in the reserva- 

 tion have been found especially 

 adapted to the raising of alfalfa and 

 clover They are not, as a rule, pro- 

 ductive of grains. Irrigation is soon 

 to be employed on 141,000 acres of 

 the reservation. 



an irrigation district. Government 

 engineers, in making a preliminary 

 survey of the project, estimated that 

 the cost would be approximately $25 

 an acre to get water over 90,000 acres 

 of land. Financiers and irrigation ex- 

 perts, who have made an examination 

 of this district, claim the proposition 

 is feasible. Manager J. W. Brewer 

 of The Dalles Chamber of Commerce 

 is an enthusiastic booster for the 

 North Unit project. He says the ulti- 

 mate completion of the work would 

 mean a great deal to The Dalles, as 

 the land is fertile and productive when 

 under irrigation. Thousands of tons 

 of products needed by manufacturing 

 industries could be raised on this 

 land, thus solving to a great extent 

 the difficulties now encountered by 

 these plants in securing a sufficient 

 supply of vegetables and berries. 



Twenty-six new farms will be 

 started at Boarclman, Ore., as the first 

 results of the opening of the second 

 unit of the West extension. Eighteen 

 homesteads were taken and six tracts 

 of private and railroad land were 

 bought. Every tract contained from 

 35 to 40 acres of irrigable land for 

 which water is ready, Each tract is 

 supplied with a concrete turnout from 

 concrete lined canals of the govern- 

 ment system. 



Utah 



Plans for reclaiming a large area 

 in Iron county by means of an irri- 

 gation project have been placed in 

 the hands of W. D. Beers, state en- 

 gineer, by a group of California capi- 

 talists, headed by F. C. N. Graydon 

 of Salt Lake. The plan is to divert 

 the water which now empties into 

 Navaho lake and by means of tunnels 

 run it into the headwaters of Coal 

 creek. The project would reclaim 

 5.000 acres of land. 



The determination of vested water 

 rights was discussed by President 

 Mathonihah Thomas, recently elected 

 president of the newly formed Utah 

 Irrigation and Drainage Congress, be- 

 fore that body at its annual conven- 

 tion, just held at the Utah Agricultu- 

 ral College. The pioneers established 

 three things in their settlement of the 

 water question in Utah, said Mr. 

 Thomas. They established the ideas 

 of the state ownership of water, state 

 control of water. And insisted on the 

 beneficial and economic use of water. 

 All rational irrigation legislation must 

 be based upon these three principles, 

 and we must come back to them be- 

 fore we can expect any permanent 

 solution of the -water question in 

 Utah. 



A little more than a vear ago resi- 

 dents of the Xorth Unit irrigation 

 project in Jefferson county formed 



Full details of the plan of J. H. 

 Manson and associates for irrigation 

 projects in Carbon county will not 

 be announced until the new water 

 rights commission, appointed by Gov- 

 ernor Simon Bamberger, gets under 

 wav and makes decision. 



The plans in general, however, have 

 been disclosed. Mr. Manson has 

 made application with W. D. Beers, 

 state engineer, for 50 second feet of 

 water, which is a large application, to 

 be taken out of Price river at the 



point just south of Colton where Fish 

 creek and White river join. His ap- 

 plication states that he will construct 

 a 50,000-foot channel and pipe line. 

 He will be entitled, under his appli- 

 cation, if it is granted, to the waters 

 of the Colton springs. 



Preparations to contest the water 

 filings made by C. F. Felt in behalf of 

 the Salisbury interests of Salt Lake on 

 the flood waters of the north fork of 

 the Ogden river were announced re- 

 cently by representatives of Ogden 

 city and several private canal compa- 

 nies. Mr. Felt has filed on sufficient 

 water to irrigate 18,000 acres of Wil- 

 lard bench lands, the plan being to sy- 

 phon the water over the divide into 

 Dry canyon. 



Provided Governor Simon Bamber- 

 ger signs House Bill 91, introduced by 

 Representative Orson Cazier, irriga- 

 tion experts stated recently, this meas- 

 ure, sent to the governor, will open 

 the way for the expenditure of from 

 $6,000,000 to $7,000,000 by the federal 

 government and the irrigation of from 

 120,000 to 200,000 acres of land in 

 the Tooele, Cedar and Rush valleys. 

 Of the entire amount of land to be 

 reclaimed, 64.000 acres are in Salt 

 Lake county, according to Thomas L. 

 Allen, secretary of the Utah Conser- 

 vation Commission, who is review- 

 ing the proposition thoroughly in his 

 report soon to be submitted to the 

 governor. 



The department of irrigation and 

 drainage at the agricultural college, 

 convinced that Utah will never obtain 

 the highest use of its water supply 

 without trained men to take part in 

 the management and operation of its 

 irrigation systems, will give a course 

 in irrigation management. 



Approximately 5,000. acres of land in 

 Duchesne county is to be irrigated, 

 with the approval of W. D. Beers, 

 state engineer, according to arrange- 

 ments made recently. 



New Mexico 



Progress on the construction of the 

 Las Vegas irrigation project is being 

 made more rapidly than had been 

 hoped for. One hundred and twenty- 

 eight men are employed there, and 

 as soon as spring opens up more will 

 be obtained. 



The contractors have been ham- 

 pered more or less by inability to get 

 desirable men who would stick at 

 their jobs. 



Two "dinky" railroads are in op- 

 eration and a big steam shovel is kept 

 busy plowing up dirt to be placed on 

 the dam site. The concrete core in 

 the center of the dam is rapidly be- 

 ing covered. 



Contractor R. C. Storrie, a San 

 Francisco millionaire, who was seri- 

 ously injured while working at the 

 dam several weeks ago. is recivering. 

 He was taken to San Francisco soon 

 after the accident. He will not lose 

 his eyesight, as had been feared. 



As a result of the abandonment of 

 'operations by the Portales Power and 

 Irrigation Company, eight complete 



