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Show MONTANA IS SOLVING THE ARID LAND QUESTION State Bn!ld Canal Reclaiming- S8.000 Acre of Land, Which WIU Be Sold to Actual Settlers at Cost of Gettlag-Water, Gettlag-Water, on Easy Terms. What seems to be a good beginning In the solution of the great arid land problem has been made by the State of Montaoa. The State Arid Land Grant commission, which was created by the legislature with power to reclaim landi donated to the state by the general government under the Carey act Friday celebrated the opening of the great canal system in district No. 4. District No. 4 comprises 32,000 acres of splendid land in Dearborn Valley, in the northern north-ern part of Lewis and Clark county, of which Helena is the county seat. The canal which is intended to irrigate, irri-gate, 33,000 acres of the Carey land was opened and water sent on its mission mis-sion of making homes for the small farmers The state proposes to sell this land in tracts of 160 acres to actual act-ual settlers at only the cost of placing water npon the land, giving ten years for payment in ten equal annual payments pay-ments at 6 per cent interest. Eleven thousand acres are now ready for settlement set-tlement and it is fair to say there is no more delightful spot in the Eocky mountain region. The picturesque main range of the Rockies skirts the western edge of the valley and abounds in grand scenery, fish and all kinds of game and timber, and the land lies in small valleys surrounded sur-rounded by low-lying hills that supply rich grass for stock. The state is building the canal system and will own and operate it in perpetuity for the sole benefit of the occupants of the land and without profit to anyone, making the enterprise entirely co-operative in nature. This is the first irrigation canal on the American continent to be built and operated by a state government, and undoubtedly marks an epoch in the great irrigation problem. |