IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS. 37 



some of which are used exclusively for stock water and some of which 

 are used for irrigation. Full information as to plans of dams, 

 methods of construction, cost, and returns from the use of water was 

 collected and has been published. Many of these reservoirs are built 

 in drainage channels which carry water only during storms, and 

 indicate that there are great possibilities of extending the irrigable 

 area in the semiarid region by this means. Where such stored water 

 has been used for raising winter feed for stock it has been found that 

 winter range losses, which ordinarily amount to about 10 per cent, 

 have been practically^ eliminated, in many cases paying the entire 

 cost of construction in a single season, while the fresh vegetables and 

 fruit have not only added greatly to the comfort of ranch life but 

 have helped to solve the problem of keeping farm help, since it is 

 much easier to keep help where fresh food is available. The demand 

 for information has become so great that it is deemed advisable to 

 establish farms in other localities to serve both for determining the 

 possibilities of this class of irrigation and as demonstrations to 

 settlers who are pouring into the semiarid region from unirrigated 

 sections, of the methods which should be followed in securing a 

 water supply, and in putting it to use. It is planned to establish 

 such farms at Eads and Limon, Colo., and Newcastle, Wyo. 



As a further aid to beginners in irrigation the agents of this Office 

 have, wherever possible, given personal advice to new settlers. It is 

 recognized, however, that it is not possible to reach any great number 

 of people by this personal method, and an especial effort has been 

 made to bring together in the form of a manual all that the settler 

 from the humid regions coming into an irrigated section needs to 

 direct him in his work under the new conditions. A previous bulle- 

 tin covering these subjects has been revised and a Farmers' Bulletin 

 giving this information has been issued and very widely distributed. 



The measurements of the quantities of water used in the irrigation 

 of rice, which have been carried on for several years, Avere continued 

 in 1906. 



A very large part of the water used in irrigation in the semiarid 

 region must be pumped from wells; in many sections of the arid 

 region further extension of the irrigated areas will depend on pump- 

 ing, while in the rice districts nearly all the water used is pumped. 

 There is, therefore, an increasing demand for information regarding 

 types of pumps and engines and their cost and efficiency. A large 

 number of tests have been made in California and Louisiana during 

 the past year to determine these points, the results having been pub- 

 lished in two bulletins. These will be followed by popular bulletins 

 giving such information as will enable farmers to secure the right 

 kind of machinery and operate it properly. 



