A Review of the Resources and Industries of the State of Washington, 1909 by Ithamar Howell
page 57 of 198 (28%)
page 57 of 198 (28%)
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[Illustration: Plate No. 35.--A Portion of the City of Seattle
Overlooking the Harbor.] [Illustration: Plate No. 36.--Torpedo-Boat Destroyer in Government Drydock at Navy Yard, Puget Sound, Kitsap County.] [Illustration: Plate No. 37.--Steamship Dakota in Government Drydock at Navy Yard, Puget Sound, Kitsap County.] [Illustration: Plate No. 38.--A Kittitas County Apple Tree.] WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT. The work of reclaiming the arid lands has been wonderfully accelerated and widened in scope by the national government. The projects of the reclamation service now include practically all of the available waters of the Yakima valley for irrigating the lands therein. In Yakima county alone there are probably [Page 41] 260,000 acres now under ditch, and probably 50,000 more will be reclaimed this season. This is probably not more than half the lands in the county capable of irrigation. The fact that the general government is in control of these projects insures as wide and just a distribution of the available waters as possible. The cost of irrigation, which is from $50 to $60 per acre, is paid by the owners of the land in ten annual payments. There is also an annual charge for maintaining the canals from $1.25 to $1.50 per acre. These projects of the government cover the lands in Benton and Kittitas counties also--both of these counties being in the Yakima |
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