296 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



claims and the actual beneficial use of water along the Carson and 

 Walker rivers. 



At the request of the California Water and Forest Association and 

 of others interested, the chief of the irrigation investigations, Prof. 

 Elwood Mead, has acted as a member of a commission to frame an 

 irrigation code for the State of California, and has also devoted much 

 time to giving advice and assistance to similar movements in other 

 States. 



The recognition of the value of the work of the Department in pro- 

 moting the enactment of better laws, and the attention paid to its 

 publications and suggestions, has been most gratifying. That it will 

 have an important influence for good on the future industrial life of 

 the arid West can not be doubted. 



IRRIGATION LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF OTHER COUNTRIES. 



The first of tlie studies of ii-rigation abroad was made by Mr. C. T. 

 Johnston, assistant chief of irrigation investigations, whose report on 

 the irrigation methods and j)roblems of Egypt will soon be published. 

 It compares the conditions of Egypt and those of the arid West, pay- 

 ing special attention to the methods of diverting and using Avater bj^ 

 irrigators, the duty of water and value of its products. Among the 

 agriciiltural engineering features of this report will be a description 

 of the recently completed storage dam at Assouan and some of the 

 large diversion works below. The contrast between one of the oldest 

 irrigation s^'stems in the world and one of the newest is pointed out, 

 and farmers are enabled to determine how far Egyptian experience can 

 be made to apply to this country. 



RICE IRRIGATION. 



During the present season Mr. Frank Bond, irrigation assistant, 

 has continued his studies of rice irrigation in Louisiana and Texas. 

 These embrace measurements of the water used in irrigation, the cost of 

 lifting it from streams into the canals, tests of the efficiency of pumps, 

 and other practical j)roblems involved in determining how far and by 

 what means this new industry can be most successfully extended. 

 His researches have shown the importance of adequate laws to govern 

 the diversion of streams, both as a protection to the present users of 

 water and as a guide to those proposing to make investments in the 

 future. The scanty rainfall of the present season, together with the 

 rapid expansion of tliis industry, will make the report of this year's 

 measurements more than usually instructive. 



IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN THE INSULAR POSSESSIONS. 



An extensive correspondence with parties interested in the recently 

 acquired insular possessions has been carried on, and Mr. Jared G. 

 Smith, special agent in charge of the Hawaii experiment station, has 

 collected a large amount of data on the use of pumps for irrigation in 

 the cultivation of sugar cane in Hawaii, and has submitted a report 

 for publication. 



IRRIGATION IN THE HUMID DISTRICTS. 



The results of irrigation in the humid States for 1901 were most 

 encouraging. In eastern Nebraska, where crops are generally grown 

 by rainfall alone, the yields of the irrigated fields were more than 



