310 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



A number of projects involving the protection of land injured by 

 periodic overflow of streams were taken up during the year. The 

 most prominent among these, and for which detailed plans have been 

 prepared, are the Mayfield Creek and Diamond Island Bend projects, 

 in western Kentucky, the areas involved being 25,000 and 4,500 acres, 

 respectively. A survey of the Panther Creek drainage district, con- 

 taining approximately 60,000 acres, in Daviess County, Ky., was 

 undertaken near the close of the fiscal year. A complete drainage 

 survey of the portion of the Kootenai Eiver Valley between the 

 international boundary and the town of Crossport, Idaho, including 

 about 40,000 acres, Avas made in accordance with an agreement with 

 the proposed Kootenai River drainage district. 



The work in the arid West was carried on during the entire year by 

 nine conunissioned men permanently located in the irrigated sections, 

 who devoted their time to overcoming the difficulties involved in the 

 rise of ground water due to irrigation and to the collection of the 

 technical data essential to the proper solution of these problems. 

 The active assistance rendered by these men was in the nature of sug- 

 gesting measures for the abatement of seepage and alkali conditions 

 on individual tracts ranging in size from only a few acres to several 

 thousand acres. An example of the latter class was the Maricopa 

 drainage district No. 1, Maricopa County, Ariz. For this district, 

 which contains 9,320 acres, complete drainage plans were prepared. 

 Much work of this nature was done in the Eio Grande Valley, Tex., 

 the Grand and Arkansas Valleys, Colo., and the Yakima Vallev, 

 Wash. 



Technical research in the field of drainage formed an important 

 part of the work of the office during the year, both in the Eastern 

 section and in the arid West. Stream measurements, for the de- 

 termination of the proper coefficients of run -off and ditch flow, were 

 carried on during the winter and spring in North Carolina, Missis- 

 sippi, and Arkansas. Construction was started on a plant at Arling- 

 ton Farm, Va., to be used for extensive experiments on the flow of 

 water in drain tile. Investigations of run-off and of the cost of 

 draining by the use of pumps wei^e continued in southern Louisiana, 

 and the results compiled and distributed. A study was also made 

 of this method of drainage in the upper Mississippi Valley, and 

 steps were taken preliminary to carrying on extended investigations 

 of this nature in Florida. The collection of data relating to the dis- 

 charge from tile drains was continued. 



Investigations relating to the construction, maintenance, and cost 

 of drainage works was completed and a report on this subject pre- 

 pared. Investigations with regard to the manufacture and use of 

 cement tile were continued. 



In the irrigated sections, studies were continued in various States, 

 notably in Washington and Idaho, in the determination of the dis- 

 charge to be provided for by drainage works. Cooperative work 

 with the California Agricultural Experiment Station was continued 

 in the effort to ascertain the efficiency of underdrains in the removal 

 of alkali. Joint investigations with the Bureau of Standards rela- 

 tive to the durability of cement tile in alkali soil were also continued. 



Manuscript was prepared for a bulletin summarizing the seven 

 years' work of the office in the Grand Valley, Colo. Bulletins 



