DKAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS. 51 



W. J. McEatliron responded to the request of residents of the 

 Elldioni Valley for advice in protecting their overflowed lands by 

 visiting- the district and outlining a general drainage plan. 



The engineer antl connnissioners of the Inlet Swamp drainage dis- 

 trict, in Lee County, 111., requested assistance in revising the plans 

 for that district. The area of 30,000 acres was at one time a swamp, 

 but ditches have been constructed that have effected partial drainage. 

 W. J. McEathron examined the district and the plans, and recom- 

 mended changes to reduce the cost of the work necessary to complete 

 the reclamation of the land. 



DRAINAGE OF IRIIIGATED LANDS. 



The investigations in Texas begun by L. L. Hidinger in March, 

 1909, were continued until the fall of that year. A survey was made 

 of the Ohio and Texas Sugar Co.'s plantation of 1,885 acres near 

 Brownsville, and a plan for the drainage was prepared. Tile drains 

 were planned for a badly seeped area of 18 acres; also for an experi- 

 mental tract of 30 acres, to determine the proper spacing of under- 

 drains in certain soils of the Brownsville region. A survey and a 

 plan for tile drainage were made for 105 acres damaged by seepage 

 and alkali on the Yal Verde Irrigation Co.'s farm near Del Rio. 

 The owners of this property are desirous of undertaking at once 

 such works as are necessary to remove the salts and excess water 

 from the tract and to prevent injury to other areas. Many j)lfices 

 were visited in the Rio Grande and Pecos River Valleys, farm lands 

 being examined and suggestions given regarding the proper methods 

 of draining and of removing the salts when such are present in the 

 soil to an injurious degree. A report upon The Drainage Situation 

 in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Tex.,^ has been prepared for dis- 

 tribution. 



Investigations in the Pecos River Valle}^ in New Mexico w^ere be- 

 gun in April, 1910, by Sidney W. Cooper, to assist and instruct 

 owners in reclaiming their lands that are injured by seepage and 

 alkali. Examinations have been made of tracts near Dexter, Ros- 

 well, Ilagerman, and Artesia. 



In the Big Horn Valley, Wyo., investigations were begun by W. A. 

 Kelly, who has examined areas needing drainage in the vicinity of 

 Lovell, Cowley, Byron, and Burlington. 



With -headquarters at North Yakima, Wash., J. C. Carpenter has 

 begun investigations of irrigated lands injured by seepage and alkali 

 in the Yakima River Valley. 



The work in Utah and Colorado has been continued throughout the 

 year by C. F. Brown, R. A. Hart, D. G. Miller, and H. R. Elliott. A 

 plane table survey of a considerable tract near Oasis and Hinckley, 



1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Office Expt. Stas. Circ. 103. 



