RURAL ENGINEERING. 589 



Revenue report of the irrigation department, Punjab, for the triennial 

 period 1905-6 to 1907-8 (Rrr. Rpt. Irru). Dept. runjab, 1!)0r>-JD08, pp. 

 ')+Jf) + LXXIX, (loiux. .?. limp I). — This contains data relating to the cost, operat- 

 ing expenses and revenues of irrigation works in the Punjab, together with 

 figures of various irrigation worlds, the nature and extent of ci'ops, the duty 

 of water and items relative to a<lniinistration and management. 



Report of the drainage convention held at Tallulah, La., March 11, 1909 

 (Vicksburg, Miss., 1909, pp. 58). — This contains a report of the proceedings and 

 the papers read at the above convention. Among the papers were the follow- 

 ing: Drainage, the Requirement of which is a Thorough Tojiographical and 

 Geological Survey, by T. G. Dalmey ; Necessity of Drainage for Building and 

 Maintenance of Levees, by F. M. Kerr; A Drainage Policy and Principle for 

 Louisiana, by C. G. Elliott; Agriculture and Drainage, by J. E. Wing; and 

 The Benefits of Drainage from a Financial and Sanitary Standpoint, by Bolton 

 Smith. 



Road improvement in South Carolina, E. J. Watson (Good Roads Mag., 

 n. ser., 10 (1909), No. 8, pp. 251-253). — This article describes the methods of 

 construction and cost of sand clay roads, a type which has proved to be the 

 most suitable and economical in South Carolina. The materials are easily 

 obtained and with convict labor the total cost of a SO-ft. road is stated to be 

 not over $400 per mile, with an average annual cost of $10 per mile for main- 

 tenance. Additional advantages claimed for these roads are that they are 

 improved rather than injured by automobile traffic and that very little machinery 

 is needed in the construction, a road scraper, wheelers, dump wagons, and a 

 road plow being all that are used. The roads are built without drains except in 

 swampy places, a shoulder being left at the side which permits the surface 

 water to be carried away. 



An American farmobile, F. C Perkins (Set. Amer., 101 (1909), No. /f, 

 p. 61. fig. I). — This article contains a description and an illustration of a gaso- 

 line i)low tractor having a cable and drum which is thrown into gear by a clutch 

 for hauling in connection with the driving wheels. The machine is of American 

 manufacture and is similar to one in-eviously described (E. S. R., 21, p. 291). 



Steam plowing and-machinery investigations (Philippine Agr. Rev. [Eng- 

 lish Ed.\, 2 (1909), No. 1, pp. 15-18). — This article contains an account of 

 experience in steam plowing by the Bureau of Agriculture in the Philippine 

 Islands. 



Data are given as to the operating cost of a 35-horsepower engine hauling a 

 12-disk ])low and of an IS-horsejiower engine with a 6-disk plow. The first of 

 these plowed an average of 2.58 liectares (0.375 acres) per day, at a cost of 

 ?=12.54 per hectare ($2..54 per acre), while the other plowed 1.72 hectares (4.25 

 acres) a day at a cost of P11.24 per hectare ($2.28 per acre). The conditions 

 were unfavorable as the land was not previously prepared, resulting in delays 

 and breakage, and considerable variation was noted in the results of the tests 

 according to the conditions met with. The costs are also high because, when 

 the machine was halted for repairs, the wages of the help had to be continued. 



ContrasttKl with these figures is, for the 18-horsepower 0-disk plow, an aver- 

 age of .3.80 hectares (9.39 acres) a day at a cost of ^3.25 ])er hectare (00 cts. 

 per acre) on a straight run of five days using wood instead of coal as fuel as 

 was the case in the other runs reported. 



[Mechanical milking machine] (Enginerr [London'], 108 (1909), No. 2792, 

 p. 13, figs. 2). — There is illustrated in this article a milking machine recently 

 exhibited at the show of the Royal Agricultural Society (England). It was 



