564 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



in the use of water for irrigation and gave increased importance to 

 the irrigation studies of the Office of Experiment Stations. 



At the outset the chief effort was made on what was then the most 

 urgent problem of the irrigated region in the West, namely, the re- 

 form of the legislation relating to irrigation in the several States. 

 Largely through the studies and efforts of the Office of Experiment 

 Stations improved legislation was enacted in the arid States and the 

 general principle of determining water rights according to the ac- 

 tual and beneficial use of water was firmly established. 



Next in importance was the need of more economical use of the 

 limited supplies of water available for irrigation. Therefore, studies 

 to determine, first, how much water was being used, and then 

 how much should be used, and how economical use could be secured 

 under varying conditions and with different crops, have been a lead- 

 ing line of investigation. Much of this work was done in coopera- 

 tion with the State experiment stations. Devices for measuring 

 water were tested and new devices were developed. Studies of losses 

 of water in transit from stream to farm led to improvement in con- 

 duits and the saving of much water. Much was also done to pro- 

 mote water contracts and regulations which would encourage the 

 economical use of water. Numerous technical and popular publica- 

 tions were issued, and the results of the irrigation investigations have 

 been incorporated in textbooks and manuals. 



DRAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS. 



In the earlier development of irrigation in the West the thoughts 

 of settlers were so largely concentrated on securing a water supply 

 and its application to crops that they generally overlooked the 

 necessity of making provision for drainage until the appearance of 

 alkali or other troubles menaced their crops. 



Realizing the danger to agriculture under irrigation from lack of 

 drainage, the Office of Experiment Stations gave attention to this 

 subject from the beginning of its irrigation investigations. Interest 

 in drainage was thus stimulated in the West. Meanwhile the broad 

 discussion of land reclamation by irrigation which preceded the 

 passage of the reclamation act led also to much greater public interest 

 in reclamation by drainage, for which there was ample opportunity 

 in many localities in the humid region. 



Thus it came to pass that in 1902 C. G. Elliott, an experienced 

 drainage engineer and author of Farmers' Bulletin 40, on farm 

 drainage, published in 1896, was added to the irrigation force in the 

 Office of Experiment Stations. Under his leadership work relating 

 to drainage was greatly expanded and in 1907 was made a separate 

 division of the office and thus continued until 1915, when it was 

 transferred to the Office of Public Roads. 



During this period of 13 years much progress was made toward a 

 better understanding and solution of the problems of drainage of 

 irrigated lands injured by seepage and alkali and toward the wider 

 use of tile drainage, especially in the Southern States. A broader 

 accomplishment was the surveying and planning of drainage sys- 

 tems, often on a large scale, which involved community effort and 

 the formation of drainage districts. In at least eight States gen- 

 eral laws for the establishment of drainage districts and for financing 



