KEPOET OF THE SECRET AKY OF AGRICULTURE. CXIII 



of too small capacity to have been of any real service, and the attempts 

 would have resulted in disappointment and loss and probably have 

 delayed adoption of what promises to be an important aid to both 

 agriculture and horticulture. 



The cooperative irrigation studies undertaken in connection with 

 the State experiment stations of Wisconsin, Missouri, and New Jer- 

 sey have been continued, the object being to determine how far and 

 by what method irrigation can be profitably employed in the humid 

 States. 



In view of the increased interest in the questions with which the 

 irrigation investigations of this Department deal, growing out of the 

 rapid development of our irrigation system under private as well as 

 public auspices, there is constantly enlarging demand for the services 

 of our irrigation experts and for the published results of their inves- 

 tigations. 



Agricul,tural Engineering. 



In order to answer the inquiries received by the Department and to 

 make the irrigation investigations of the greatest practical benefit, it 

 has been necessary to include studies of the applications of power 

 whose relation to irrigation is made apparent only by a thorough 

 understanding of existing conditions. Farmers under irrigation apply 

 to the Department for information regarding the use of streams and 

 canals for power purposes. Many who desire to irrigate small tracts 

 apply to the Department for information as to whether or not pump- 

 ing will pay, the kind of pumps to be used, and the amount of water 

 required. Inquiries are received as to the relative economy of differ- 

 ent forms of power, and whether coal, oil, gas, electricity, or wind 

 power will best serve the irrigator's purposes. These questions should 

 be answered because nothing is more wasteful than to have each man 

 learn experimentally for himself what has been found out elsewhere, 

 but the attempt to do this has made agricultural engineering an impor- 

 tant feature of these investigations, and raises the question whether 

 the usefulness of the work of this Department can not be materially 

 augmented by entering upon a sj^stematic study of agricultural engi- 

 neering as related to the interests of all our farmers. 



The possibilities of this subject can be illustrated by the one item of 

 farm machinery. In the past twenty years the capital invested in the 

 manufacture of agricultural implements has increased from sixty to one 

 hundred and fifty-seven millions, and the value of the product has more 

 than doubled, but more significant than this increase in its importance 

 have been the changes in its character. Leaving out of consideration 

 the larger and more important classes of farm machinery, such as 

 reapers, mowers, and thrashers, which are usually thought of as sup- 

 porting the claim that American inventive genius and mechanical skill 

 have surpassed the world in constructing farm machinery, and taking 



AGR 1902 VIII 



