T is the proud boast of Idahoans that this State has done more, and is doing more for the reclamation of the Arid West, than any other of the Western States. It is not meant by this that the government reclamation projects in Idaho are greater than in other states, nor more nearly advanced toward completion, but that through the instrumentality of the Carey act, more land is being put under irrigation and producing crops than anywhere else in the Union. The State of Idaho at present has under patent from the United States, or withdrawn and seggregated under the Carey Act almost 800,000 acres of land which has been or will be productive within the next five years.

The Carey Act, of which ex-Senator Joseph M. Carey, of Wyoming, was the author, was first enacted by Congress in 1894, and amended in 1896. It provided for a grant of one million acres of land to each of the states in the Arid West, conditioned upon its being reclaimed by or under the direction of the state.

In accepting the benefits of this act, Idaho did not go into the business of building ditches itself, but provided that any person or corporation desiring to build irrigation works under the act

should apply to the State Land Board. The application being made, is handed to the State Engineer for examination and report, and it is his business to examine the plans and specifications of the work, pass upon their sufficiency, and report upon the sufficiency of the proposed water supply. If the application is approved the State enters into a contract with the United States, by which the latter agrees to convey the land to the State upon the completion of the irrigation works. The person or corporation building the works acts as a construction company and is authorized by the State to charge a given maximum price for water rights, which rights entitle the holder to a proportionate interest in the works. In this way, the ownership and possession of the canal is finally vested in the settlers, the construction company maintaining it in the meantime.

The advantages of this system are that the State is not obliged to invest its money in enterprises of this kind; it takes no chances and at the same time it receives a fixed sum of fifty cents per acre for the land. The State keeps out of the construction business. On the other hand it furnishes an excellent field for the employment of private capital, with all the advantages of State control and final municipal ownership.

On the works now under construction

in Idaho nearly three million dollars have been expended, and the extensions to be made and new projects pending call for the expenditure of a probably even greater amount. These sums would be beyond the ordinary taxing power of the State to furnish.

The provisions for acquiring title to the land are in striking contrast to the combersome method provided under the government reclamation projects. Under the Carey Act an entry can be made either in person or by agent, the amount being limited to one hundred and sixty acres by any one person. No residence is required until within six months after notice that the water is ready for delivery. After that time residence is continuous until final proof, which is usually made within ninety days after the delivery of water, but which can be made at any time within three years. Oneeighth of the ground is required to be cultivated. Carey Act entries are assignable before final proof. These liberal provisions of the law have been of great benefit. Suitable reclamation of the land is required, but at the same time residence is not required until water is ready for

delivery, and conditions are suitable for the making of homes. The fact that entries are transferable, and also that title is easily acquired, is of inestimable value in giving credit to the members of the community, both with the merchant and banker-a matter of great necessity in a new country.

Not alone is the benefit to the settler much greater under the Carey Act, but there is a marked advantage to the State. In one of the counties of Southern Idaho there are today 37,000 acres of patented land subject to assess-. ment. Within eighteen months Twin Falls (Carey Act) project will have added 30,000 acres of patented land to this area, all of which will be subject to assessment and will contribute its due proportion to the State and County Government, by reason of taxes paid in the same county, and there are now 60,000 acres of land settled upon under the Government's Minidoka project, which will bring no return in the way of taxes for five years or longer. Thus the settlers in the older section of the county and those upon the Carey Act lands will be obliged to pay the bills of the Government for the set

tlers on the Government project. Schools will have to be established and maintained, roads built and kept in repair, bridges constructed, the county policed, the laws maintained, all for the benefit of the settlers upon the Government project, and at the expense only of the old settlers and the owners of the Carey Act lands.

There are nine Carey Act projects in the State, four of these being in an intensely active condition. These are the Marysville project in Fremont County, covering an area of 6,600 acres, the American Falls Canal & Power Company's project in Bingham County, covering an area of 51,000 acres; the Canyon Canal project in Canyon County, covering an area of 11,825 acres of Carey and State lands and about 8,000 acres of private land, and the Twin Falls project, covering an area of 270,000 acres, with proposed extensions of 140,000 acres more. During the past two years most of this land has been settled upon, but there still remains on the Twin Falls tract 50,000 acres open for entry and upon each of the other tracts smaller areas, so that the State still offers many favorable opportunities to the home-seeker who wishes to take homes under canals already built. Of the

other Carey Act projects which are under contract with the State, are the Glenns Ferry Land & Irrigation Company, covering 18,000 acres, the Mullins Canal & Reservoir Company, covering 65,000 acres, the Big Lost River project, covering 80,000 acres; the Lost River Reclamation Company project, with a segregation of 115,000 acres, and the Idaho Irrigation Company's project, asking a segregation of 45,000 acres.

The Twin Falls Canal, which may be taken as typical of these projects, is nearly seventy miles long, eighty feet wide on the bottom, one hundred twenty-four feet wide on the top, and with a mean depth of thirteen feet, these dimensions being very similar to the proposed enlargement of Erie Canal. The Twin Falls Canal is the largest and covers a greater area of land than any irrigation canal in the world, outside of the Government works in India and Egypt. Water is diverted from Snake River by means of a dam 2,000 feet long and eighty feet high, and having a base of 450 feet. The proposed north side extension of this canal will cover an area of 140,000 acres, making this project not only larger than any of the other existing Government projects,

but larger than any of them that are even proposed.

Truly Idaho may say that it stands at the top in matters of irrigation. The census returns of 1900 gives to Colorado and California each about one and one-fourth million acres of irrigated lands. Comparing these figures with the completed Twin Falls project of 410,000 acres, you will see that there will be under this single State project, an area equal to one-third of the irrigated area of either of the above States, and considerable more than twice as large as the cultivated area of Rhode Island, which is 186,000 acres. The progress of the Twin Falls project has been marvelous. Two years ago there were not half a dozen houses on the tract. Today there are more than one thousand farm houses, and the town of Twin Falls contains a population of 3,000 people. There are eighty business houses. It has a $100,000 hotel, electric lines, telephone service, and is now preparing for a sewer system. In addition to this place the towns of Kimberly, Buhl and Hanson, all on the Twin Falls tract, are making rapid progress. The often repeated claim of the

orists that the favorable terms offered by the Carey Act would lead to speculation and ultimately to large land holdings by corporations or individuals has been incontestibly refuted in the light of experience. Without doubt a good deal of money has been made by individuals dealing in these lands, but on the Twin Falls tract the average size of the farm has dropped within eighteen months from 100 acres to eighty acres. Similar results will be found on the other projects. At the same time, in the completeness and thoroughness of its reclamation and cultivation, it is a shining example of the part the State has played in the reclamation of the Arid West. Idaho has been most fortunate in its abundant water supply. The Snake and Payette, two of the largest rivers in the West from which water is taken for irrigation, is the source of supply for the existing Carey Act projects.

To F. H. Buhl, the late Mr. Peter Kimberly, and to Col. S. B. Milner, now deceased, credit must chiefly be given for their magnificent co-operation in securing to Idaho the proud place she now occupies with these projects.

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T is interesting to note that the first radical attempt to provide an increased water supply under the Reclamation Service was made in the Salt River Valley where are evidences of the oldirrigation canals in the United States; for here irrigation was carried on by a pre-historic people whose works were ancient ruins at the time of the visit of the Spaniards in 1542. Moreover, the engineering enterprise of the government in storing the flood waters of the Salt River, while not the largest undertaking of the plans under the Reclamation Service, is one of the most important and one requiring special engineering skill.

The conditions to be met in any attempt to increase the water supply in the Salt River Valley are as follows:

All government land within range of the water supply has long since been filed upon and is now under private ownership. About 115,000 acres of land are under water rights, but the water in recent years has been so irregular and so deficient on account of drought that a large number of acres has been without a sufficient water supply. The proposed attempt at impounding the waters of the Salt River at the Tonto Basin will increase this amount to 200,000 acres. The estimate of the expenditure is $3,600,000 and the estimate of acreage 180,000 acres. This would make the cost only $20 per acre, the cost of the works to be charged to the lands to be irrigated, to be paid in ten annual installments. Careful observers estimate that the acreage will be increased from several sources. First, it is found by experience that it takes much less water to produce a crop than is usually supposed, provided it be applied at the right time and in proper amounts. The permanent system of the govern

ment will make it possible to put water absolutely under the control of users and thus create a great economy of water supply. On the other hand the same orderly system will prevent a useless waste of water which prevails to a greater or less extent in every irrigated district.

While there are no available government lands, there is unimproved land under water rights that may be purchased for $50 per acre. It is estimated that there are about 15,000 acres of this land largely lying around Glendale; also improved farms with water-right that can be purchased from $100 to $125 per acre. Considering the fertility of the soil, and the prospect of the increased permanent water supply these lands are reasonable, for when the irrigation system is once clearly established these lands will easily pay 20 per cent net income on the valuation of $200 per acre.

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The Salt River Valley is a magnificent agricultural territory. The immense amount of fertile land is astonishing to one not familiar with the country. there was a sufficient water supply in the Salt River 1,000,000 acres of fertile land could be easily irrigated. As it is the completion of the enterprise will more than double the agricultural production of the valley. The chief crops are: Alfalfa, wheat, barley, and fruits, including, of course, the cantalope. Perhaps alfalfa and stock raising, as in most irrigated districts, will form the most lucrative and most successful production. In fact, everything that will grow in a temperate and semi-tropical climate can be produced with success in the Salt River Valley because the soil and climate are both conducive to luxuriant vegetable growth.

The progress of the government works. at Tonto Basin is apparently slow, yet when one considers the amount of preliminary work that had to be done and the masterly way in which everything has