FEBRUARY, 19 1 1. 2s7
narrow and consequently deepen the niain channel by forcing it to scour itself out. It lias been decided to have the niacliiiie ant1 repair shops retained at Fort Stevens. on the Oregon side. because of the heuvy espenditures involved in their reniovul to tlie Washington shore.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Many of the observers reportetl that the iiionl,li was very bright and colcl, with but 1itt.le moisture, most of
which fell in the forin of snow, so t.lint in ninny localities t.he de th of SnOW on the ground is peaf.er t.linn usual, no twi t. P is t antling the. clefic.ienc,y in prec ipi t. ;I t.ion. During the first five days of tbe month n severe shrni prevailecl in west,ern hhntunn wliicli blocked t,he t.raf€ ic on t.lie Great Nort.liern Railway between Esses iiiid Summit., immedintely west of t.he C’onthent.al Divide. Hail and
sleet occiirrecl in inany places west of the Cn.sc,ndes on various clntes. Solw 1iaIm were reconled tLt n few pliwes on the ’7th. nncl lunar halos were observed in iiii1.11~ pluces on tbe Gt.11, 7t.11, St,h, niid Mh. Tli~uitlerst,t.,riiis ciccurred
at C’orvnllis, Oreg., iin the 11th. nlid at. Port Oifortl,
Oreg., on tlie 13t.h. The following high winds were re- corcletl : Nort.11 Head, Wash., S4 miles sout,lienst., on t.lie 13th; Tatoosli Island, Wash., G2 miles southenst,, on t,lw
13th; .Peatt.le, IVnali., 4s miles sout.li. on the 1311; P I ~I - t.ello, ldalio, -E miles sout.liwest. 011 the 211; Wnlla Wdln, Wash., 39 niiles sout,licast, uii the 1Wi; a n c l I ~c ~i s t o n , Iilaho, 34 miles west, on t,lie 3il. The premiling ilirect.icm
of the wind \vns from t.lie soutliwest.
IRRIGATION IN IDAHO.
By S. H. HAYS.
Idaho during t,he last five years lias prolmbly been the scene of greater irrigation development thitn m y of the other Western States. Owing to special ntlvnntnges in t.he way of water supply, privAt,e inrest,ors as well ns the Government have been attracted to the southern port.ion
of the f3t.at.e. The Boise-Pnyette nntl llinitlolia wojec.ts
nohble of those undei-taken by t.he Government. The so-called Carey Act. which lins been largely respon- sible for Idaho irrigation clevelopment, was first. enncted in 1S91, ancl provided tlint 1,000,000 acres of land shoulcl he grant,etl to each of the States .in the arid region con- ditioned upon their securing the irrighon and recltinin- tion of these lands. In 1896 it was provided h t t.lie State niight c.rente a lien against. the separnte lepd sub- divisions of land to be reclainied for the cost and espenses of reclamation. Originally the act expired by a 10-year limitation, which prevented any large use being made of
it, but by tlie act of March 3, 1901, it was yroviclerl that the 10-year period of time should be so estendecl t.liat the State might have 10 years in which to reclaim each project. In order to cariy out tlie terms of the act, it was provided by St.nte legisltI,tion t.liat t,he ,- ’it. ate Board
of Land Conimissioners should consider the proposnls of private persons or corporations for t.lie constmct.ion of the necessary irrigation works, that t,liey sliould fis t,he amount of the lien upon the lniicl ant^ s!iould provide for the construction of t.he works under St.ate supervision and the u1tiinat.e turning over of the works to t.he set.t.lers. This plan provided Rate supervision, const.irict.ion 1)s a
private corporation, and ult,imnte niunicipa.1 ownership. The St,at.e statute being broad in its t,eimis perniitt.ed t,lie St.ate Land Board a wide 1itt.itude in nialiing contra&
so that the board might make each contract to fit tlie particular conditions in each case.
in the southern portion of the St.nt.e are. ainong t. 1 ie iiiost
T\VIN FALLS SOUTH SIDE PROJECT.
The most estensive of the earlier works to be con- structed under tlie terms of this act in the State of Idaho
was the project of the Twin Falls Land & Wator Co. This
coiiipany entered into a contract with trlie State of Idaho in t’lie year 1903 for tlie construction of the irrigation sys- teni now covxed by wliat is generally known ns the Twin Falls South Side Project. The contract called for tlie construction of n clam in Snake R.iver a t the resent town
nn elnborate system of laterals. C’onstruction was rushed
as fast n?,possible, a.iicl wster \vas first turned into the canal Maic i 1, 1905. The clam by which mater is diverted froiii S n :h H.iver is a.pl)rosiiiintely 3,000 feet long and
SO feet high at its highest, point. It, is of the type known as rock-filled, being conatructetl of Iwge bowlders with ertrth and grn.ve1 sluiced in. The width up and down strenm of t,he rock sectioii is approsiniiit,ely 100 feet, the tot,til width wit11 t,he eorth facing being 450 feet. The
clnni lins been in use for fire years and 110s given escellent satisfnction. Two siiinll rocky islniicls in the center of the stream form ii part, of t,he dnni. On t.op of one of these islands nre 99 ga.tes, foriiiing the principn.1 spillway. On top of the other d t i i l i l a c0ncret.e weir wit,li flashboards furnishes
mi adilit~ionnl spillway for est,reiiie high water. The entire irrigation syst,eni called for untler t,6e contract wit.li t.he Stn.te was const.irict.er1 wit.liin the five-year period, and
the \f-orlis were in the fall of 1909 turned over to tlie set- tlers, a corporntion composed of the settlers having been organized for that purpose. These works cover an area of 315,000 acres, approsinintely 150,000 acres of which are already in cultivn tion.
The growt>li of towns has been rapid. In colonizing tlie tract it. wa.s soon fount1 that unless towns were estab- lished the settlement of t,he country would be greatly retmdetl. The town of Twin Falls, the wincipal town on t,lie
l h r c h , 1905, now has a popula.tion of over 7,500. It has electric. lights, telephone sys teni, wnterworks, a.11 escellen t sewer spteni, mil is now paving n considerable portion of its st.reets. A court.Iiouse, costing$150,000, is in t,he course of constiiiction : two hotels, costing to esceetl $100,000 each, are already built nntl open to the public: and at the last session of Congress %10,000 was a pro riatecl for the
t,o each farm. Tlie average Iand1ioldin.g is now GS acres,
a change t4hat necessarily results from the fact t,hat irri- gation calls for intensive cultivation. There are now living in towns OR this tract in t,he neighborhood of 10,000
of Milner, n ni2iin cniial approsimately SO mi .T es long, and
tract, which had less t.han 200 inha A itmts on the 1st of
purpose of nircha.sing a she for a Fei P \ era1 uilcling. Original f andholdings on t,he tract averrgecl 120 acres
pcople.
TWIN FALLS NORTH SIDE PROJECT.
Tlie nest in point of time and the greatest in niagnitude is the project of tlie Twin Fnlls Nort,li Side Land & Water Co. The works of this compnny t’nke water from the north end of the llilner Dam above tlescribed through a
caiial exteiitling in a northwesterly direction a distance of 97 miles nncl having also a lateral qysteni covering severnl hundred miles. The area under this cannl is approxi- mately 230,000 acres. Very heavy work WRS encountered in building tlie fiist 4 miles of tmlie main canal on this proj- ect, and in order to secure efficient service this section of tlie cannl was lined with concrete, giving it a capacity of 3,350 cubic feet per seconcl. Tlie normal flow of Snake River in ordinary yeais is G,000 second-feet up to the 15th or 20th of July. In order to supplement this supply,