RURAL ENGINEERING. 189 



of the irrigation and drainage branch of the department of public worlds of 

 Kew South Wales in 1911, embodying the reports of the assistant engineers on 

 sewerage construction, swamp drainage and water conservation, irrigation, 

 artesian boring, and river discharge observations and records. 



Proceeding's of third annual drainage convention held at Wilmington, 

 N. C, November 22, 23, 1910, J. II. Pbatt i^\ C. Geol. and Econ. Survey, 

 Econ. Paper 21, 11)11, pp. 67, pis. .'/). — This paper gives the proceedings of tho 

 third annual drainage convention held in North Carolina in 1910, a copy of 

 the North Carolina drainage law. North Carolina supreme court decisions 

 regarding the validity of drainage bonds, and a paper on Tile Drainage by J. R. 

 Haswell, of the Drainage Investigations of this Office. 



Beclaiming land by drainage, II. R. McVeigh (Manfrs. Rec, 61 {1912), 

 No. 15, pp. 51-53, figs. 3). — This article deals with the development of levee 

 and drainage districts in the lower Mississippi Valley, and discusses several 

 drainage projects in this locality intended to drain and make fit for cultivation 

 some 2,300.(HD0 acres of land. 



[Drainage in land reclamation] (Manfrs. Rec, 61 (1912). No. 11, pp. 49, 

 50, figs. Ji). — A drainage development work in Florida by which it is intended 

 to reclaim a tract of 118,000 acres of land is described. 



[A drainage plan in Louisiana], W. S. White (Rice Jour, and South. 

 Farmer, 15 (1912), Xo. 5, p. 3, fig. t). — ^A description is given of a plan for 

 draining an area of 41,000 acres of land in Louisiana. This work involves about 

 38 miles of ditch, requiring about 053,400 cu. yds. of excavation. Specifications 

 for clearing and excavating are given. 



Drainage, E. J. Watson (Ann. Rpt. Comr. Agr., Com. and Indus. 8. C, 8 

 (1911), pp. 101-111, fig. 1). — This report deals with the South Carolina drainage 

 act, surveys and preliminary examinations of drainage projects in the State, 

 the organization of the National Drainage Congress, and the South Carolina 

 State Drainage Association, and the growth of irrigation developments in the 

 State. 



Cost and methods of clearing land in western Washington, H. Thompson 

 (V. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Bui. 239, pp. 60, figs. 25).— This bulletin 

 represents cooperative studies with the Washington, Wisconsin, and Minnesota 

 stations, and a portion of the work reported has been previously noted (E. S. R., 

 26, p. 787). It calls attention to the extent of waste stump land in western 

 Washington and deals with the methods and costs of clearing this land for 

 farming purposes and for general use, briefly discussing the methods for con- 

 verting stump land into pasture and describing and discussing the methods and 

 apparatus required for removing stumps by heavy blasting, by a stump puller 

 with and without blasting, by a donkey engine, and by char-pitting and burning. 

 Cost data are given for removing stumps of varying sizes under varying condi- 

 tions by each of the above methods. 



It is concluded that a man without capital can not hope to clear, in a short 

 time, a large enough tract of land upon which to support a family. Under 

 the most favorable conditions and with the lightest clearing ground, the cheapest 

 rate at which logged-off land can be prepared for the plow is $50 per aci-e and 

 the maximum is about $150 per acre. The method of clearing by donkey engine 

 in connection with blasting. char-i)itting, and burning seems to be the cheapest, 

 most efficient, and most serviceable method, especially when the work is done 

 on a large scale. 



Highway engineering, A. H. Blanchabd and H. B.. Drowne (New York 

 and London, 1911, 1. ed., pp. X+299). — This volume gives a large mass of infor- 

 mation relative to the construction and maintenance of roads and pavements, as 

 presented at the Second International Road Congress, held at Brussels, 1910. 



