40 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



be productive. In 190G observations of the rise of ground water 

 were made and plans suggested for drains. 



At Brownsville, Tex., the irrigation of rice for onlj^ a few seasons 

 has brought about such an accumulation of salt in the soil that the 

 industry has ceased to be profitable. Investigations have been made 

 there to determine whether the providing of drains will permit the 

 continuation of the raising of rice, which necessitates the saturation 

 of the soil for considerable periods. 



Surveys of the Red River Valley, in North Dakota, covering Cass, 

 Traill, Grand Forks, Welsh, and Pembina counties, were begun in 

 1905 and completed in 1006. Plans for the main drainage of 

 1,500,000 acres in these counties have been made on the basis of the 

 surveys. Many of the farms in this valle}' will require internal 

 drainage, and it is a question whether tile drains will be successful 

 for this purpose. At Fargo, N. Dak., and Crookston, Minn., parts 

 of the State experiment farms are being supplied with tile drains 

 for the purpose of determining whether they will be efficient where 

 in the winter the ground freezes to depths of 5 or 6 feet. 



The effectiA'eness of tile drains has not been demonstrated in the 

 black gumbo and buckshot soils of river bottoms, and experiments 

 are being made at Oswego, in the Xeosho Valley, Kansas, and at 

 Clover Hill, Miss., to determine this point. In both instances the 

 surveys are made by this Office and the drains are to be put in by the 

 landowners. Observations on the effectiveness of these drains are 

 being made by the owners and reports will be made to this Office. 



The bottom lands of the Neosho River, in Kansas, from Imperial 

 to the State line were surveyed in 1906, for the making of plans for 

 correcting the river channel to protect the bottom lands fioni over- 

 flow and to carry off the surplus water. The area of lands to be 

 benefited by the work recommended is 200,000 acres. 



Surveys were made of the Boggy Bayou in Arkansas to provide a 

 drainage outlet for 135,000 acres, the run-off from which collects in 

 a lake whose natural overflow outlet has been destroyed by the river- 

 levee system. 



Surveys in the valley of the Kankakee River in Indiana and Illi- 

 nois, also begun in previous j^ears, were completed in 1906. The 

 upper part of this valley had previously been drained, and the work 

 done in 1906 was to determine the necessary changes in the river 

 channel to enable it to carry off the water from the upper valley and 

 to determine a system of drains for the lower valley. The area to be 

 benefited is approximately one-half million acres. 



Surveys covering '200.000 acres in the Black Bayou in Mississippi 

 have been made to determine the feasibility of draining this area and 

 to make plans for this drainage if it seems feasible. 



