IRRIGATED FARMING IN TWIN FALLS COUNTY, IDAHO 7 
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND READJUSTMENT 
When the land contained in the Twin Falls south side irrigation 
project was opened for homestead entry in 1904, it formed the western 
part of Cassia County, Idaho. The project was developed under the 
Carey Act and water for irrigation was available in the spring of 1905. 
The homesteaders paid the State of Idaho 50 cents per acre for the 
raw sagebrush land. They also paid $25 per acre for the construction 
of the irrigating system. In addition, they have paid the operating 
and maintenance charges, and from time to time assessments have 
been made for improvements and for drainage. 
A high class. of people settled the project. Some of them had 
considerable financial means and were able to build comfortable 
homes (fig. 4) before getting any returns from the land. Others 
had to provide very modest dwellings in the beginning. Since many 
of these modest homes which were built during the early years of the 
development of the project are still in use, the character of the farm 
dwellings varies widely at present. 
See 
Fic. 4.—One of the better-equipped farmsteads. Good dwellings are not uncommon but good barns 
are somewhat rare because the secant rainfall makes it unnecessary to store hay under shelter 
Twin Falls County was organized from the western part of Cassia 
County in 1907. In 1900 Cassia County contained 477 farms and 
had a population of 3,951. At that time very few of the farms were 
located in the western part of the county. By 1910 Twin Falls 
County had 1,295 farms and a population of 13,548. In 1920 the 
number of farms had increased to 2,746 and the population to 28,398. 
Ninety-five per cent of the farms were irrigated in 1919 and the 
total acreage under irrigation that year was 261,622 acres. Of this 
total the Twin Falls south side irrigation project contained approxi- 
mately 203,000 acres. : 
INCREASE IN THE SALES VALUE OF REAL ESTATE 
Figure 5 shows the sales value of real estate within the district 
studied by two-year periods from 1905 to 1922. In taking the sur- 
vey records, farmers were asked when they purchased their farms 
and the price paid. There were 10 sales in the first two-year period 
(1905-6), 17 in the second, 15 in the third, 19 in the fourth, 19 in the 
fifth, 30 in the sixth, 62 in the seventh, 59 in the eighth, and 8 in 
the ninth. 
In the beginning the land was covered with a medium to heavy 
growth of sagebrush. Before crops could be raised the land had to 
