112 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



westward. The natural and steady expansion of the great agricul- 

 tural and commercial interests, together with the attendant increase 

 in population, reasonably requires a proportionately increased service 

 if the legitimate requirements of the people are to be fulfilled. We 

 need hundreds, yes thousands, of additional river stations. The cost 

 of a rainfall station is about $12, with practically no maintenance 

 cost except depreciation on equipment. The original cost of a river 

 station will average about $100, with an annual maintenance cost of 

 about $175. Owing to present program of economy no increases of 

 consequence are contemplated at this time. 



For several years the mountain snowfall service has been in need 

 of a complete reorganization. This service is maintained in the 

 mountain regions of the far West in order to provide farmers and 

 others reliable information as to the amount of water that may be 

 relied upon each year for irrigation and hj^droelectric purposes, and 

 the constantly increasing demands for more accurate and compre- 

 hensive service have exceeded our ability to supply under present 

 conditions. Intensive work of the most approved character is highly 

 necessary but must await the appropriation of the requisite funds. 



RESEARCH WORK. 



During the year schemes for forecasting river stages and floods 

 have been completed for the Willamette River system of Oregon, 

 the Connecticut River, and the Brazos River of Texas. Other 

 schemes will be undertaken as time will permit, mainly for the 

 smaller rivers, as those for the larger rivers and their tributaries 

 are virtually complete, although some need revision from time to 

 time. 



RIVERS AND FLOODS. 



The outstanding floods of the year were those in the Arkansas 

 River from eastern Kansas to the mouth, the Neosho River of Kan- 

 sas and Oklahoma, and the Cimarron and North Canadian Rivers 

 of Oklahoma. Four weeks of almost continuous and frequently ex- 

 cessive rains brought about these floods, and the crest stages were, as 

 a rule, higher than any previously recorded. Coming as they did 

 at a season of matured wheat and growing corn and other crops, and 

 covering in southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma alone 

 nearly 300,000 acres of highly productive lands, the floods caused 

 loss and damage, very incompletely reported, to the value of 

 $27,884,200, of which by far the greater portion was in crops, ma- 

 tured and prospective. During the great Mississippi Valley floods 

 of 1922 the total losses as reported were $17,087,790, nearly 

 $11,000,000 less than in the Arkansas and Canadian Valley floods, 

 but the former flood came before the planting season had well set 

 in, and, furthermore, the lands were protected by high levees. 



No flood warnings, however accurate and timely, can prevent loss 

 of crops and damage to fixed property, but movable property, 

 especially livestock, can be secured, and it is a pleasure to say that 

 during this Arkansas Valley flood livestock and other property 

 to the value of $1,350,000 were reported as having been saved by the 

 flood warnings of the Weather Bureau. 



