BUEEAU OF PUBLIC ROADS. 525 



FARM DRAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS. 



The scarcity of labor and the high prices of farm prochicts have 

 turned the attention of farmers to the desirability of utilizing improve- 

 ments that will increase the crop 3neld and decrease the labor required 

 in cultivation. As a result there has been a renewed interest in 

 drainage despite the high cost of such work. 



During the fiscal year drainage work was continued as during the 

 previous year, the activities being limited only by the funds avail- 

 able. It was found necessary to discontinue some of the more ex- 

 pensive investigational lines of work, among which were: The in- 

 vestigations relating to flow in large tile, run-off from small areas, 

 and run-off investigations in southern Louisiana. The results of 

 these investigations would have been of gi'eat value to the engineers 

 and landowners interested in drainage. ^Vll survey work on the 

 large projects has been discontinued and such work confined to small 

 projects and to the individual farm where only one engineer would 

 would be required on each project. 



The cooperative agreements with the States of Alabama. Arkansas^ 

 Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee were continued. 



Surveys were made and drainage plans were prepared for 156 farms 

 in 14 States where the owners either desired the installation of tile 

 or the construction of terraces. On many other farms field exam- 

 inations were made and advice given informally. 



At the request of drainage district officials, plans for the reclama- 

 tion of a number of large drainage districts were examined. By a 

 careful review of these plans it was possible in one case to suggest 

 a change in design that resulted in a saving of 8100,000 to the land- 

 owners. In another district the recommendation to the officials- 

 prevented the adoption of a plan that was not in accordance with 

 good engineering practice. 



The field work on the Red River of the Xorth. a project which 

 involves the improvement of large areas of land in the States of 

 North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota, was completed and a 

 process report outlining a plan for reclaiming the land in the vicinity 

 of Lake Traverse was prepared and transmitted. The preparation 

 of the final report on tne project was continued, and it is expected 

 that it will be completed in a few months. A complete drainage- 

 survey of a portion of the Grand River bottom in Daviess County, 

 Mo., was made and a report was prepared outlining a method of pre- 

 venting overflows due to ordinary rainfall intensities. 



Twenty-six preliminary examinations wore made of overflowing 

 streams and swamp areas in various States and reports were sub- 

 mitted to the interested landowners. 



The records of rainfall and run-off, which have been kept con- 

 tinuously since 1910 in the prairie section of Louisiana, were contin- 

 ued until January. 1920, when shortage of funds made it necessary to 

 discontinue the office of tiie division at Xcw Orleans. An attempt 

 has been made to continiic these records by correspondence, but the 

 results are not satisfactory. 



The studies on the subject of drainage assessments were completed 

 and the manuscript for a bulletin upon the subject is nearly ready 

 for the printer. Numerous reriuests are received for information in 

 regard to tlie manufacture ot clay tile. An investigation of the 



