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T I a old as the pyramids. The stock. F-r..m the standpoint of culti- HV ' "ftS1! Pi'
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RRIGATION of arid land? is
a old as the pyramids. The
productiveness which it infill
rnced in the desert regions of
Ep:ypt centuries affo, was roiin-
terparted in this country through the
Iransformat ion of the sand wastes of
Colorado and Utah in later years. In
its application to the districts still
., farther west, the Yakima valley in
60Uthcrn Washington and the garden
spots of California are but types of
the marvelous wonders to be exacted
' from a systematic use of water on so-
j- called "desert" lands. The present
fertility of these districts, however,
shows but a finished product of work
'T'Wfflch several "years ago was "beKuri
' r along similar lines in central and
-,; eastern Oregon.
The inception of irrigation in Ore
a natural feeding ground for range
stock. Itoih the standpoint of culti
vation and productiveness it was use
less, but the fertility of the soil, once
water is brought to play upon it, has
been fully demonstrated.
The Deschutes Irrigation & Tower
company began its actual work of
flume and canal construction in the
spring of 1904 Since that time U
miles of canals and laterals have been
built and water carried to thousands
of thirsty acres, where farms are now
flourishing and providing homes for
a new population, which is rapidly in
creasing. At the close of the year, practically
acres' of the fofal segregation
had been reclaimed and this at a cost
approximating $800,000. The latter
figure, however, represents the cost
of completing one of the main canals
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cut out, which leaves 190,000 acres,
110,000 of which is dry, and 80,000
acres marsh or tule land. There may
be added to this about 12,000 acres
of upland which can be irrigated by
pumping, powxr for which can easily
be generated at various points where
there are drops in the mam canals.
The entire cost of the project will be
considerably over $4,000,000
The first unit of the main canal, in-
tral Oregon being moderated by the
soft winds wafted from the Japan
current in the Pacific.
gon on a large scale began when the
state legislature in 1901 adopted the and 26 miles of another, both of which
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Carey act, a national measure setting
aside irrigable land in each of .the
arid states to be reclaimed either by
private capital or. otherwise. In addi
tion to the work which falls under
stat? supervisionj Oregon has con
tributed a larger share to the na
tional irrigation fund than any other
state in the union. This fund is accu
mulated by the sale of public lands
and. at present amounts to over $30,-
) 000,000. To this amount Oregon has
cwitrib,wted approximately $6,000,000,
j, giiflg the state equity in the expen
J dilure of a larger amount for irriga
, 1 ty5n purposes than any of its sister
Violates.
7 National Irrigation Law.
, Under the national irrigation law,
J,11.4honey received from the sale of
. the public domain shall bo spent by
the government reclamation service
., , itt the reclamation of arid regions.
- .,, Lands irrigated under this law are
( subject to entry under the provisions
r of the homestead law in tracts not
I less than 40 acres in extent or more
! than 150. The law requires that en
trymen. shall be actual settlers and
,.j must; reclaim at least one-half the
total area of h is 'entry for agricultural
! purposes and pay the government the
t estimated amount of cost. The pay-
'-ments may be divided into ten install
ments extending over a period of that
many years.
Practically the same provisions
govern the purchase and settlement of
lands being irrigated by the state
under the Carey act. Contracts to
irrigate the arid tracts are given by
the state to private companies, and
the land in parcels not to exceed a
quarter section is deeded to the set
tler upon the payment, either in cash
os installments, of a lien fixed by the
state land board upon the land in fa
vor of the company. The amount of
that lien varies from $2.50 to $4.00 per
acre, according to the actual cost of
rigation, and is much lower in Ore-
n than in many other portions of
arid west where irrigation enter
ed are under way. Deeds to the
are issued to the settler direct
the state, and at no time is the
'owned by the company engaged
igate it.
egon contains not only the larg-
irngation project yet undertaken
the government, but also one of
e largest private reclamation pro-
cts in the United Slates, besides
umerous smaller enterprises scat-
hmwt,A tlirni,nl.,.f O, f-;i ..
iivivu uiiuuii.jui Hit iriinc LUlllluy
least of the Cascades
i The first reclamation work begun
in Oregon under the provisions of
ithe Carey act was started m western
. Crook county in 1901 by C. C. Hutchi
" eon, founder of Hutchison, Kansas,
t Besides the company w hich he
formed at that time, numerous other
Smaller companies were organized
"and active .surveys and canal work
Started. Two years later, how ver,
H of the compamvs then opt-rating
. in the district, together with their
' surveys and segregations were ab
sorbed by the Destitute-, Irrigation &
"Power company, which is now in ac
' live participation in the work oi it
claiming One of the most sir-cepi il.le
'and productive regions of the wct
The Deschutes Project.
The total land segregation of the
'. JDeschutes company approximates
' 300,000 acres. The entire tiact lies in
an oblong shape on the east Mdt
;'the Deschutes river, a magnificent
Stream of mountain water whose ca
pacity of 4,500 cubic feet per second
'is ample to .irrigate a much larger
area 'than has been' set aside by the
Estate.
4litS'eMWStfdTr has been under
will be used in the future to carry
water to other portions of the segre
gation. Of the land to which water has
been carried by the lateral systems,
the bulk of it lies on the west and
north sides of the oblong tract set
aside by the state to be reclaimed.
The influx of new settlers, the de
mand for supplies in a district here
tofore barren of commerce, has
caused several thriving towns to
spring up in the heart of the re
claimed district and population is be
ing rapidly increased.
A gigantic flume, built for over a
mile along the rocky, precipitous whII
of the Deschutes canyon, carries
water out to the table land here to be
diverted to the canals. Work this
year is being pursued more fully in
the eastern part of the segregation,
where there are already numerous
small ranches and one large one of
over 1,000 acres. The latter was
cleared of sage brush and juniper last
year, sowed to various grains and gar
den produce and brought under- irri
gation. Up to the present time only
a comparatively small percentage of
the irrigable land is occupied, but this
crop-, grown in the arid portions of
neighboring states under irrigation.
The extent to which this Crook
eounty land gave forth its harvest is
found in the figures representing trie
actual value of the harvest. Vege
tables approximating $X50 were sold
off the land before fall, and the total
production, including hay, potatoes,
cabbage, parsnips, onions, carrots,
celery, turnips and other vegetables,
aggregated $4,200 at the current sell
ing prices in the county.
The magnificent yield of the ex
perimental farm, products raised
during an average year, is but a sam
ple of the fertility and productive
ness of Crook county lands when
once in touch by the magic influ-
In Klamath County.
Southward from Crook county, in
the Klamath county basin, where
practically the same soil, climate and
physical conditions are found, the
United States government is at work
on one of its largest projects. The
segregation is situated on a plateau
4,000 feet above sea leVel, broken by
mountains spurs into valleys where
the volcanic ash and decomposed
vegetable matter form the most fer
tile soil in the world.
The great number of fresh water
lakes, noted for their beauty and fa-
.' VlwArk till
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X-
mation service has withdrawn for
irrigation purposes more thanOOO,-
000 acres in Oregon. The enorf
amount being spent in KlamatT
county to reclaim the arid tracts
there shows how thoroughly the gov
ernment has undertaken to perform
its work.
In Umatilla County.
Government reclamation work is
also being pursued on a large scale
in Umatilla county, where the nucleus
of an extensive irrigation project is
being formed. One million dollars
has been appropriated for this sec
tion to carry the work forward, and
this fund will be added to in the fu
ture in order to finish construction
of canals, which" are now well under'
way.
The government has set aside in
this district 20,000 acres of excep
tionally fertile land. The segregation
lies south of the Columbia and east
of the Umatilla river, between the
towns of Hermistoru Umatilla and
Cold Springs, three places which have
been given a remarkable impetus by
the work now in progress.
The soil here is a sandy loam, dif
fering from the productive volcanic
ash soil in the central part of the
state, but is equally as productive and
equally as susceptible to irrigation.
The elevation is 400 feet and climatic
conditions as favorable as are found
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district which four years ago sup
ported none will, under irrigation,
provide comfortable homes and a
prosperous living for no less than
"f 20.000 people when the reclamation
work is completed.
Kvidence of the marked value which
ence of water. W hat was raised on
this farm is being raised now on the
tracts cultivated by settlers and each
year adds to the scope of production.
Success in large measure and bounti
ful returns attend the farmer who
pursues his irrigation work in a sys-
fyyilllilllHM
'it "fx.
or
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2
will follow the reclamation of these teniatic and intelligent manner.
"desert" lands in Crook county is
shown to" better advantage in the pro
duce of an experimental farm, con
ducted by a government official, a
process of 'reclamation during the year ago. Ninety acres of raw land.
past !" three years.- Thousands upon
thousands have been spent in pursu
ing the work and hundreds of people
typical in every way of the balance of
the segregation, was prepared in the
usual way for sowing. Various kinds
r! finding home's on lands which for of grasses, grains and vegetables were
Nature itself provided Crook coun
ty with all the other requirements
necessary, to the production,, of huge
crops. Perpetual sunshine rules.
Cloudy days are a rarity and tho
warmth of summer days is cooled at
night by the breezes that never fail
to blow from the Cascades. Snow
and zero weather in winter are sel-
pioDocry or
70 TMXtSWP ACBIZS
ciuding a tunnel 3,300 feet long, was
completed last year and water was
ready this season fur 13,000 acres
which were supplied by gravity from
the upper Klamath lake. For that
portion of the district to be re
claimed, known as the upper project,
water will be impounded in Clear
lake reservoir, and the outlet of this
lake , Lost river, will be diverted into
Klamath river, and Tule lake into
which Lost river now empties, will be
reclaimed by evaporation.
Work on the second unit is well
under way and will be carried to com
pletion as rapidly as possible. It is
estimated that the work of reclaim
ing this district will occupy a period
of several years, but work is con
tinued without interruption through
out the year so that each season ad
ditional thousands of acres will be
vorable condition for irrigation pur
poses, combine advantages seldom
found in the same locality. The three
largest lakes within the project, two
of which will be drained and the third
irrigation, contain ahout
acres.
The project as originally contem
plated covered approximately 250,-
000 acres, but the beds of the two
WEAK BLEJVD. CJ9&K COCJWry
elsewhere in the semi-arid regions of
central Oregon.
Water to cover the territory Set
aside by the government is derived
from the Umatilla river, whose irreg
ular flow makes necessary the con
struction of a huge reservoir, which
will store during the flood period, of
the stream two-thirds of the amount
necessary to irrigate the 20:000 acres.
The other one-third will be d
just prior to the dry season. The
diversion of water from the river is
accomplished through the head gates
leading into the main canal two miles
above Echo, where concrete and
steel, protected by riprap and paving,
have been freely employed to insure
permanency and stability.
The storage reservoir has been
formed by building a huge dam 4,000
feet long across the mouth of a
gorge. The main canal will carry 300
cubic feet and feeding off this, lat
erals and pipes will conduct water to
various portions of the segregation,
many of these have already been
built, others are in the process of
construction and the head gates are
all ready for use.
It is expected that a small area of
this government reserve will be
placed under irrigation next year.
Work is being rushed to this end and
the area which will afford homes In
1908 for many hundreds of settlers
will be greatly augmented the follow
ing season when it is expected that
practically the entire district will be
ready for cultivation.
The government has established
its headquarters at Hermistofl, where
the work is being directed. The
latter place nas sprung intomse-
quence, from nothing to a tow;
jw innaDuanis.- Anotner camp i
maintained at Cold Spring, west of
There are about
ear have served the sole purpose of tried and a thorough test made of the km experienced, the diawte of ecu- used as a great natural reservoir, for' large lakes have been for the present
ready tofr the-settler, -
In addition to the Klamath project, the Umatilla river.
200,000 the government has set aside from 70,000 acres of available land lying
entry large areas in raisiey ana an- tartner west ot the Hermiston pro
ver lake, in Lake county, besides ar- ject, which in the course of a few
ranging for other projects in Har- years will be reclaimed through an
ney, Umatilla and Malheur counties, extension of the system now being
Altogether the United States reda- built Preliminary plans have beea
4