86 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



from drainage was the subject of a paper read recently before the Illinois 

 Society of Engineers and Surveyors, and there are given in this article notes 

 from the paper regarding suggestions as to benefits which can be assigned exact 

 money values. Examples of this are as follows : 



A tile laid where there was previously an open drain would save the railroad 

 the cost of removing and replacing a bridge, and the temporary traffic delay 

 necessitated by the passage of a dredge boat. Trestles or bridges can be dis- 

 pensed with as a result of the drainage, or perhaps shortened or replaced by 

 structures less expensive to maintain. In illustration of these methods an 

 actual case is cited. 



The works of irrig'ation in the United States, D. J. Xicolau and D. N. 

 PuiG DE LA Bellacasa {Lds Ohvas de Riego en los Estados Unidos de America. 

 Madrid: Ministerio de Fomento, 190S, pp. 285, pJs. 17, figs. 9, dgms. 71). — This 

 contains an account of the establishment and development of arid land reclama- 

 tion in the United States. There is a discussion of the natural conditions and 

 resources of this country, and of irrigation works and institutions, with detailed 

 descriptions of some of the large irrigation structures. 



Federal aid and laws relative to public lands and irrigation are treated at 

 some length with reference to the possibilities of successful application of the 

 methods used here to irrigation development in Spain. 



[Duty of water on alfalfa fields], G. E. P. Smith (Arizona Sta. Rpt. 1908, 

 pp. 371-373). — Measuring tlie duty of water on two alfalfa fields was begun in 

 1908. One of these fields, divided into plats A and B, contained 47.7 acres of 

 heavy loam and was watered by a gravity ditch, while the other, containing 23.2 

 acres of clayey soil, was watered from a pumping plant. In the larger field 

 plat A received 85.7 in. of water, or 19.8 in. per ton of alfalfa, and plat B 55.4 

 in., or 11.5 in. per ton of alfalfa, while the smaller field received 13.75 in. of 

 water, or 5.7 in. per ton of crop. The heavy application on plat A was due to 

 a mistake. The smaller field is regarded as having given the better results. In 

 February and March 2.5 in. of rain fell, and in July and August 7 in. 



Duty of water records, H. T. Nowell {Wyoming Sta. Rpt. 1908, p. 70). — A 

 table is given showing the average depth of water in inches applied to 29 dif- 

 ferent crops and crop mixtures on irrigated plats at the station farm from 1902 

 to 1907, inclusive. Only the data for alfalfa include each of the 4 years. 



Detecting' underground streams with an ear-trumpet (Sci. Amer., 100 

 (1909), No. 15, p. 277, figs. 2). — The apparatus described and illustrated is based 

 on the principle of the " acoustele," or sound trumpet. It consists of a large 

 ear-trumpet set mouth down on the ground with a device for considerably mag- 

 nifying sounds produced beneath it, such as running water. The instrument is 

 stated to have been operated with success in the vicinity of Paris. 



Concrete caisson wells, G. E. P. Smith (Arizona Sta. Rpt. 1908, pp. 373, 

 374). — A type of concrete caisson well is recommended for use where wells of 

 great lateral dimensions are required by reason of the water supply being 

 limited to shallow beds of gravel. There is given a brief description of a well 

 of this khid built under the auspices of the station in 1908. This is 8 ft. in 

 diameter and 24 ft. deep. It was built of reinforced concrete in 3-ft. sections 

 on the ground, and these were successively sunk by excavating inside of them. 



Power irrigation, E. C. Reybold, Jr. (Irrig. Age, 24 (1909), No. 6, pp. 169-172, 

 figs. 2, dgms. 2). — 'A steam pumping plant designed to supply water for the irri- 

 gation of 1,000 acres of fruit land in Utah is described in this article, with data 

 relative to its installation, operation, and cost. 



During 1908 the number of acres irrigated was about 500, 350 of which was 

 planted to trees, 75 to cantaloups, and about 75 to other crops. The pumps ran 

 for about 1,540 hours during the season and discharged about 7 second-feet. 



