OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 839 



are undertaken and only two-thirds of the area in projects but not 

 irrigated in 1909 is brought under irrigation, approximately 130,000 

 farms must be settled and irrigated, and these largely by persons 

 knowing nothing of irrigation and often but little of farming of any 

 kind. 



The severe and widespread drought during the summer of 1911 

 gave a great impetus to the interest in irrigation wdiich has been 

 steadily growing in the humid and semiarid regions. The office has 

 been flooded with inquiries regarding the possibilities of irrigation, 

 the cost of supplementary irrigation, and the irrigation methods best 

 adapted to conditions where crops can usually be grown without irri- 

 gation. The number of men who have been available for work in 

 this field has been limited, and, as a result in the majority of cases, 

 only general advice and bulletins could be furnished inquirers. The 

 cooperative experiments and demonstrations in Wisconsin, New Jer- 

 sey, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia have been continued and addi- 

 tional ones begun in ^linnesota and Maryland. The results in each 

 of these States have more than met expectations. A special endeavor 

 has been made to ascertain the advantages and possibilities of over- 

 head spray systems and subirrigation systems for the irrigation of 

 truck and small fruits and to work out improvements and modifica- 

 tions of the common western irrigation methods with a view to 

 adapting them to eastern conditions and making the irrigation of 

 crops other than truck and small fruits profitable in the humid sec- 

 tions. 



The call for information pertaining to pumping and the storage 

 of water has continued to increase. Two bulletins were prepared for 

 publication during the year upon the storage of water for irrigation. 

 The agents of this office stationed in Arizona, California, New 

 Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Kansas have devoted a consider- 

 able part of their time to collecting data and advising settlers in 

 regard to pumping and power for irrigation purposes. A pumping 

 plant has been established at Garden City in cooperation with the 

 State of Kansas for the purpose of investigating the possibilities of 

 the cost and returns of irrigation by pumping in the Great Plains 

 region. 



The demonstration farms at Davis, Cal. ; Gooding, Idaho; New- 

 castle and Cheyenne, Wyo. ; and Eads, Colo., were continued, as were 

 also the investigations in Colorado. Utah, Washington, Arizona, and 

 New Mexico, to determine the effects of irrigation upon orchards. 

 The results of the experiments to ascertain the evaporation losses 

 from irrigated soils were published during the year and the equip- 

 ment formerly used in these experiments has been used in conduct- 

 ing investigations to determine the amount of water required by 

 alfalfa and wheat at different stages of their growth. 



The collection of data and the experiments and investigations per- 

 taining to the irrigation of rice have progressed to a point which 

 makes it possible for the agents in that field to render much advice 

 and assistance to rice growers in meeting the problems peculiar to 

 the irrigation of that crop. 



The increased cost of water has made the subject of measurement 

 of water one of vital importance. AA'^ith a view to determining the 

 accuracy of different measuring devices and the coefficients in differ- 

 ent hydraulic formulas and also to determine the effects upon the 



