608 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EX1'ER1MP:NT STATIONS. 



iiiHtnictii^n wliicli ht-ars <in thin hram-li (if a^rictilturc ami fiiriii.-jlu-s a systematic and 

 wi'll-rouniU'il courHe. Sncli (Icpartineiit.s aro necdeil tu I'uriii.sli o|ii)()rtunitifs for 

 spiHialiwition l)y stiidonts wlio \\ ish to prepare theinselvcH for leailerwliip alonj? thewe 

 lines of work, and would furnish a field for experimentation and systematic traininjj 

 for farmt'rs in tlic subjects wliicli to-day I'onstitute the moat important factors in the 

 exjR'nses and ])r(ilits of American apiriculture. 



The same jwilicy should be followed in the organization of the work of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. This Dei)artment is now doing important and usefid work in 

 a nund)er of branches of rural engineering, but its influence on the development 

 of the country and the effectiveness of the investigators would be greatly promoted 

 if all of these related lines of work were gathered together in one division, instead of 

 being made simply incidents of the work of several bureaus organized to do other 

 things, as is now the case. It is believed that the importance of these subjects war- 

 rants the adoption of this plan atan early <late. Oneof the reasons for believingthis 

 is the consideration given to these subjects in other countries where their importance 

 is far less than with us. The bureau of hydraulic agriculture is one of the leading 

 bureaus of the agricultural department of France. It includes only drainage and 

 irrigation. The relative importance of these subjects in France and this country is 

 shown by the fact that France has only 400,000 acres of irrigated land, while Ave have 

 nearly 8,000,000 acres irrigated and the work is still in its infancy. In France irri- 

 gation is not a necessity — only an aid to agriculture. In two-fifths of the United 

 States it is a necessity for civilized life. Furthermore, the conditions whic;li have been 

 created in this country by the character of our irrigation development give to the 

 irrigation investigations of the Department of Agri(!ulture a significance and impor- 

 tance not possessed by similar work in any oth(>r country in the world. 



Over 8,000,000 acres of sagebrush desert land has been reclaimed by the unai<led 

 efforts of farmers, without any assistance from either the Federal Government or the 

 States, in such a manner as to produce good crojis. This task is one of the greatest 

 achievements of the agricultural classesof this or any other continent. Ithasinvolverl 

 an amount of experimenting and a waste of money in failures and partial failures 

 which is inconceivable to those not practically familiar with western conditions. 

 This task, however, has not been completed. Some of the most diflicult prol)lems yet 

 remain to be solved. Some of the things which remain t<:) be done are to determine 

 the amount of wat«r w^hich each farmer should receive, and to provide for an 

 equitable distribution of the waters of streams. The uncertainty regarding rights to 

 water is one of the grievous evils which cfmfront western farmers. It is believed 

 that if these rights were so well established and protected that each farmer could 

 know certainly that in times of scarcity he would receive his proper share, the value 

 of each one of these 8,000,000 acres would be increased on an average at least $5, or 

 an aggregate of $40,000,000 in all. But this is only one feature of the gain. Such a 

 change wnll put an end to litigation and to the enormous expenditure of time and 

 money which it involves. 



The watering of 8,000,000 acres of land involves the handling of an enormous quan- 

 tity of water each year. If this water could be transferred from the streams to the tield 

 with the same system and skill that is exercise"! in the operation of some of our rail- 

 roads, or that is shown in the distribution of water in some of the best districts of 

 Italy and France, the gain in the saving of Avater and in the increased production of 

 crops would be something enormous. At present in many parts of the West there is 

 either a very defective system or no system at all, and a competent investigator has 

 estimated that we are losing each year at least $10,000,000 on account of the faulty 

 distribution of ai)propriated waters. These figures are sufficient to show the neces- 

 sity for a systematic study of these questions ])y the Department of Agriculture and 

 to show also why, with the increase in the cultivated area which is each year going on. 



