198 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



oiil iiecessarv work, (mHu'I- lhnni<ili lack of know lod^o or iiiiil)ilit>' to 

 (♦ooiK'ratc with iuM<2:hl)oi"s, oi- any oilier pxxl and siillioient reason why 

 hinds are not ini])r()ved and a<>:rienllural methods advanced, need bo 

 invcsticfated. Serious obstacles are fre<iuently encountered in estab- 

 lishin«i: large drainage works under the provisions of tlic State laws. 

 These })rojects cover from r),0()0 to 50,000 acres of land, the arterial 

 or main drainage of which is constructed under certain provisions of 

 law and in all cases necessitates concerted action of the owners of 

 land interested. Engineering problems of some magnitude nuist be 

 considered, and the general plan presented to administrative boards 

 must take into account the subsequent drainage of individual farms 

 for which the general system provides an outlet. These projects some- 

 times involve expenditures of $20,000 to $'200,000, necessitating 

 issuing and negotiating bonds to procure funds for construction, and 

 on the whole raise numy (piestions of engineering and agricultural 

 economics which must be efficiently handled by engineers and the 

 authorities empow^ered to administer the law if unwise litigation be 

 avoided. 



This Office has done much to assist engineers in perfecting plans, 

 and to unite the people in carrying them out. The combined acreage 

 of drainage districts in which such assistance has been rendered dur- 

 ing the last three years aggregates ai)pr()ximately 800.000 acres. Tt 

 is greatly to the interest, especially of new sections where drainage 

 engineering is imperfectly understood, that assistance of this kind 

 may be obtained from this Office upon request. Such service has been 

 gi-eatly appreciated, and there is reason to believe it has been instru- 

 mental in securing to various districts better plans and more harmony 

 in their execution. County engineers are often greatly benetited by 

 assistance of this kind not only in conducting the specific Avork at 

 hand but in other similar projects Avhich come to them in the course 

 of their growing practice, so that the Avork of this Office reaches much 

 farther than the particular district upon which advice is furnished. 



The Office has gone further than this in several instances and 

 made preliminary drainage surveys and general plans for the drain- 

 age of land in cooperation W'ith owners or counties where there was 

 not sufficient understanding of the matter to either make the sur- 

 veys or develojD a plan of work. This w^as the case in Clay County, 

 S. Dak., where plans for the main drainage of about 70,000 acres 

 of bottom land were made and recommendations given which resulted 

 in needed amendments to the State law and later in the organization 

 under its provisions of the territory to be drained. The same has 

 been done, but in a more extended and complete manner, in four of 

 the counties of North Dakota during the season of 1905. An agree- 

 ment was made with the several counties to provide for tlie payment 

 of half of the estimated cost of the drainage survey and a party of ten 



