6 



California, supports between 5,000,000 and 6,000,000 people, pays the 

 expenses of a costly government, and meets the interest on a national 

 debt half as large as our own from the returns on agriculture alone. 



Three suljjects have a vital relation to the future extension of irri- 

 gation in this country. These are storage, drainage, and the utiliza- 

 tion of water by pumping. The great storage works of Egypt have 

 especial interest to our Government engineers; but Egypt has few 

 examples of the small storage works such as are })eing built in large 

 numbers by private parties in the West and which are destined to be 

 an important feature of our irrigation systems. The accumulation of 

 alkali in the surface soil, which has already become a troublesome 

 feature in Western irrigation, at one time rendered unproductive 

 larg(^ areas in lower Egypt. These are being reclaimed by drains 

 which carry ofl the excess of salts and tend to prevent their further 

 accumulation. So far as lifting water from wells or streams is con- 

 cerned, the devices in Egypt are inferior to the gasoline and electric 

 engines and centrifugal pumps now extensively used in the West. 

 Some of the simpler and cheaper devices of Egypt are efficient for the 

 lifting of small quantities of water, and there are many places in this 

 country where such machines can ))e used to advantage. 



Mr. Johnston's description of the dams ))uilt liy the French and 

 Enp'lish (lovernments will have much interest. Their success from 

 an engineering standpoint and the great benefits which have come to 

 the people from this expenditure of government funds are unques- 

 tioned. But it is doubtful if we can adopt the administrative methods 

 employed in Egypt. Political and economic conditions in that country 

 difler so widely from our own that methods which are there useful 

 are clearly inapplicable here. Egypt is governed by a foreign power, 

 which has assumed arbitrary control over the water supply, recogniz- 

 ing no riofhts as l)elonging to the users of this water. Such a system 

 has brought about an efficient use of the Nile, but it is repugnant to 

 American ideas. It is a success in Egypt because of lack of means on 

 the part of the agricultural population and lack of the experience in 

 business and political att'airs, needed for the successful operation of 

 irrigation systems under private ownership. The American farmer 

 has both the economic ability necessary to the management of irriga- 

 tion works and the political power and the intelligence to create insti- 

 tutions for controlling the water supply which will be in harmony 

 with our ideas of free government. The study of Egyptian laws and 

 administrative methods, while interesting, is of little value as an 

 example to be followed. 



Respectfully submitted. 



El WOOD Mead, 



Chief of Irrigation Investigations. 

 A. C. True, Director, 



