4\)2 KEl'OKT OF OFFICE OF KXrEKIMKNT STATIONS, 



Advice has hoon asked i-elatinuf to leveo work for tlio fui'tlun* pro- 

 tertioii of ^ alua])le lands on tlie Illinois River bottom in Greene Count}', 

 III. LariiV interests are here involved and the work is still under 

 eonsitleration. Nearly all of the levees alon>;' this river, beinj;- of a 

 somewhat temporary eharaeter, were broken last year and the laud 

 inundated, entailinj^' a larj^e loss upon the owners as the crops were 

 entirely destro3'ed. A move for heavier and more complete work is 

 now under consideration in many localities. 



In portions of the South cultivated hill lands are greath' injured by 

 erosion, many otherwise \aluable fields havinj^ been abandoned on 

 account of surface washing". An experiment Avas tried in northern 

 Georgia last sprinj>- in which tile drains were used to prevent hillside 

 washino-. After the drains were laid, all existino- oullies were tilled 

 and the land leveled olf. The report from that tield states that one 

 jvood crop lias been taken ott' and that there is ever}' indication that 

 the experiment will prove a success. 



In South Carolina, at the solicitation of rice growers along the 

 Cooper River, a survey was made to detei-mine the feasibility of 

 diverting water from the Santee River to the west fork of the Cooper 

 for the purpose of increasing the amount of wtiter in the latter river, 

 which is a tide-water stream, for the benefit of the rice fields in that 

 valley. This project was found feasible, ])ut, owing to its magnitude 

 and the cost of the proposed work, it has not received serious atten- 

 tion from those most interested. 



liAWS AND SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 



Under the clause of the appropriation law pro^Mding for the study 

 of laws and institutions relating to the use of water, work has been 

 done both in this country and a])road. 



The work of the year in this country included the publication of a 

 report on irrigation in Utah, the field work for which was done in 

 previous years; the publication of a bulletin on the acquirement of 

 water rights in Colorado w^hich has been in preparation for a year or 

 more; and the field work for a study of the Platte River as an inter- 

 state stream. 



The branches of the Platte River rise in Colorado; one flows through 

 Wyoming into Nel)raska and the other flow^s directly from Colorado 

 into Nebraska. Rights to these streams have been acquired under 

 State laws, each State in determining the rights to water ignoring 

 rights in the other States, although the United States courts and the 

 supreme court of Wyoming have held that rights in one State are sub- 

 ject to prior rights to the same stream regardless of State lines. Fur- 

 ther, Colorado and Wyoming have abrogated the doctrine of riparian 

 rights under which water can not be taken from streams to the detri- 

 ment of riparian lands, while the Nebraska courts have upheld this 

 doctrine. It w'ill be seen that the only intelligent basis for determin- 



