760 ANKUAL. REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



ecl<i;e of the ma<^iiitude of the losses from evaporation and n (jiiantita- 

 tive measure of the eft'ectiveness of ditferent methods of applying 

 water and of subsequent culti\ation. Tlie possession of this knowl- 

 edge Mill do much toward j)reventinii- the losses. 



Studies of the use of power for irrigation were continued during 

 the year, special attention being given to the possibilities of the use 

 of windmills for irrigation in the semiarid States. This work con- 

 sisted of mechanical tests of several mills at Cheyenne, Wyo., in 

 which accurate records of the work done in various wind velocities 

 and of the labor and expense necessary for maintenance and repairs 

 were kept, and in the collection of data as to the work being done by 

 mills in use for pumping water for irrigation on the Great Plains. 

 Technical and popular reports of these investigations have been pre- 

 pared, a popular bulletin on the use of windmills having been pub- 

 lished as a Farmers' Bulletin, Studies of pumping in California, 

 and in the rice districts of Louisiana and Texas have been continued. 



The investigation of irrigation practice in the rice districts of 

 Louisiana and Arkansas carried on for several years was continued 

 during the year, a popular bulletin on small pumping plants having 

 been published and a report dealing with irrigation practice in rice 

 growing designed especially for beginners in this industry has been 

 prepared. These studies of irrigation of rice are being continued 

 during the present year. 



The principal field for the irrigation work of this Office is in the 

 region where irrigation is necessary to the carrying on of agricultural 

 operations. There are also large sections where farming can be carried 

 on without irrigation, but where irrigation may prove to be of great 

 value as an aid to a higher class of farming and as an insurance 

 against drought. This is especially true of the Great Plains, which 

 have been settled very rapidly during the last few years. In the 

 belief that the irrigation of a small area in connection with the farm- 

 ing of a larger area without irrigation wnll do much toward making 

 the recent development permanent and profitable, this Office has for 

 several years maintained farms at Cheyenne, Wyo., Eads, Colo., and 

 Newcastle, AVyo., where the problems of this type of irrigation are 

 being worked out and the irrigation methods adapted to that region 

 are being demonstrated. It is planned to continue these farms for a 

 few^ years more at least. Progress reports of the work at Cheyenne 

 and Newcastle have been published during the last year. 



The problems connected with irrigation as a supplement to farming 

 without it Avere studied in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Experi- 

 ments were carried on in cooperation with local farmers to determine 

 both the advantages to be derived from irrigating during the dry 

 summer months and the methods best adapted to local conditions. A 

 report giving the results of these experiments has been published. 



Even in the humid regions the practice of irrigation is extending 

 rapidly in the growing of high-priced fruit and truck crops. In the 

 season of 1908 this field was deemed of sufficient importance to 

 justify the assignment of a man to it, and the work has been con- 

 tinued since that time. The methods in use are expensive and in 

 many cases not well adapted to conditions, and our agent, wdio is 

 familiar with western methods, has been of great service to those 

 undertaking irrigation in the East. This work will expand rapidly 

 and will demand more attention in the future. 



