GO 



MKASUUEMKNTS MADK IN 1903. 



Duriiicr the season the flow of a hirge nuniber of canals was meas- 

 ured for the purpose of ascertaining- the dut}' of water under each, 

 l)iit few results were obtained from fields. The depth of water applied 

 to a clover Held in the (xaHatin Valley, owned by Mr. J. L. Patterson, 

 was 11.2 inches. Another clover field in the same valley, owned bv 

 Mr. elohn M. Robinson, received a depth of 20.2 inches. A third 

 field of timothy and clover, owned by State Senator C. W. Hoffman, 

 received in one irrioation a depth of 7.i) inches. 



In the Bitter Root Valley a clover field received a depth of U\A 

 inches. The yield w^as 1.94 tons per acre. A second clover field 

 located on the Bitter Root stock farm received 94.1 inches, yet the 

 yield was only 2.04 tons per acre, or a trifle more than that of the 

 held where only about one-sixth the amount of water had been used. 



tSnmmari/ of rexnlls of dull/ of v» iter experiments on field crops made in 1903. 



QUANTITY OF "WATER APPLIED TO LAND UNDER TYPICAL 



CANALS. 



The (luantity of water diverted by canals is in all but the most 

 exceptional cases much larg-er than that delivered l»y it to fields. This 

 difference is due to losses by percolation and evaporation. In addition 

 to the losses water is frequently allowed to flow from the canals over 

 waste ways. This water may return to the natural channel of the 

 stream, or it may be wasted. In the spring- of the year when water 

 is plentiful many Montana canals carry an excess which is permitted 

 to flow through waste gates unutilized. The same is true of the period 

 near the close of the irrigation season or during a rainy spell. At 

 such times more water is turned in at the head than the farmers care 

 to use. In determining the duty of water under a canal it is custo- 

 mary to measure the flow daily at some suitable place near the head 

 gate and to consider the volume which passes this point in the season 

 in determining the duty of water for that particular canal. Losses 

 due to the causes just named may be determined and an allowance 

 made for them; but these will be considered under the term "seep- 

 age " in another part of this report. In the statement of duty of water 

 under canals contained herein no deduction has been made for any of 

 the losses just named. 



