OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 705 



IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS. 



Dr. Samuel Fortier continues to have charge of the irrigation 

 investigations of this office. The various lines of work outlined in 

 former reports have been continued with such modifications as 

 existing conditions have warranted. 



The widespread interest in irrigation, the large sums expended in 

 securing water supplies, the rapid settlement of lands, and the great 

 agricultural development under irrigation enterprises have neces- 

 sitated the expenditure of much more time and funds in furnishing 

 information to prospective settlers and in extending timely aid to 

 those who are endeavoring to establish homes in the reclaimed por- 

 tions of the arid lands of the West. The number of inquiries from 

 eastern people for information concerning agricultural conditions in 

 the different sections of the West has increased more than 40 per cent 

 during the year. This demand has been so great that it has been 

 necessary to have reprints of nearly all the bulletins of both the 

 practical and State series described in former reports. During the 

 year three additional bulletins of the State series have been published, 

 leaving but five of the arid and semiarid States that have not been 

 covered. 



The thousands of settlers who have settled on irrigated lands dur- 

 ing the past three years are for the most part ignorant of irrigation 

 practice and methods, and both the most recent settler and the 

 pioneer irrigator are continually confronted with new problems. To 

 assist both the old and the new settlers, agents have been maintained 

 throughout the entire year in 10 of the Western States, and in 3 

 others during the spring of 1911. These agents devoted a large part 

 of their time to traveling from place to place in their respective 

 States collecting data, studying conditions, giving practical advice 

 to irrigators, consulting with the officers of irrigation enterprises 

 regarding the improvement of methods, and addressing farmers' 

 meetings upon practical irrigation questions. The work of the agents 

 has been supplemented to a large extent by the bulletins and cir- 

 culars of this office and the Farmers' Bulletins of the department, 

 three additional bulletins and two circulars having been issued dur- 

 ing the past year. 



A great amount of data concerning the organization and manage- 

 ment of irrigation enterprises has been collected during the year 

 under a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of the Census. 

 These data will enable the series of bulletins on irrigation in the 

 several States and Territories to be brought up to date and will 

 make possible a much needed series of bulletins on the organization, 

 maintenance, and operation of canal systems and other economic 

 phases of irrigation. 



The value of water for irrigation purposes is rapidly increasing 

 as the more plenteous and accessible supplies have been appropriated. 

 As the cost of water advances the need of greater economy in its use 

 becomes more and more urgent and consequently one of the most 

 important features of the irrigation investigation work continues to 

 be its efforts to obtain better irrigation laws, more efficient adminis- 

 trative systems; and a higher duty of irrigation water by lining 

 earthen ditches, by more thorough preparation of the land, by more 



231Uo°— AGB 1911 45 



