AGKTCULTURAL ENGINEEEING. 715 



practicable application of the water to the soil, but in the administration where com- 

 munity interests exist. There is no attempt on the part of the State to exercise 

 supervision or control of its appropriation and use, and the inevitable result of such 

 neglect, wastefulness, confusion, undefinetl rights, and, in times of scarcity, litigation, 

 are everywhere apparent. . . . 



"The probabilities are that the average duty of water the State over at the present 

 time is somewhere from 60 to 100 acres per second-foot. . . . There is no reason, 

 beside absolute wastefulness in methods of conveying and applying water, why the 

 average duty should not be at least 150 acres per second-foot for the entire State of 

 Nevada." 



It is estimated that with improved methods the irrigated area might be increased 

 to 1,000,000 acres, but this would make the need of storage more imperative. The 

 author concludes from his investigations that it is feasible " to construct in the upper 

 portion of the Truckee River basin seven storage reservoirs, with a gross capacity of 

 835,168 acre-feet, from which there can be drawn annually 288,768 acre-feet," and 

 "that the watersheds tril)utary to these reservoirs yield sufficient water, even in 

 seasons of minimum precipitation, to fill each of them." He also believes it feasible 

 "to construct in the basin of Carson River five storage reservoirs, with a total capac- 

 ity of 274,300 acre-feet." 



Water storage in tlie Truckee Basin, California-Nevada, I.. H. Taylor 

 ( Wall')- SujipJ[i nnd Irri;/. Papers, U. S. Geol. Surveij, Xo. OS, pp. 90, pis. 8, figs. 20). — 

 The results of surveys and examinations are reported wliich show that "by con- 

 structing various dams and other hydraulic works a large amount of water which now 

 runs to waste can be saved and conducted out upon vacant public land, furnishing a 

 supply also to some of the lands now in private ownership." The author's conclu- 

 sions regarding the storage possibilities of this basin are stated in the abstract of the 

 bulletin on "Water Supply and Irrigation in Nevada given above. 



Irrigation systems of Texas, T. U. Taylor ( Water Supply and Irrlg. Papers, 

 U. S. (rleol. Surrey, No. 71, 2>p- 137, pis. 9, figs. 27). — This is a revised and enlarged edi- 

 tion of an earlier bulletin on this subject (E. S. R., 11, p. 94) . "In the present report 

 Professor Taylor has discussed the principal irrigation systems in general geographic 

 order, and has given statistics as to the location, cost, and benefits of the devices for 

 ol)taining water. He has also devoted some attention to the irrigation of rice, a busi- 

 ness in which large amounts of capital are being invested. There has been appended 

 a brief statement of the laws governing irrigation in the State of Texas, also some of 

 the facts obtained from the recent census investigation." 



Irrigation from Big Thompson River, J. E. Field ( V. S. Dept. Agr., Office of 

 E.rperi iiient Stations Bui. US, pp. 75, pis. 6, fig. 1) . — This is a study of the operation 

 of the water laws of Colorado as illustrated by the irrigation from Big Thompson 

 River. The author gives particular attention to the so-called "water-loaning" law, 

 a recent enactment which has a tendency to unsettle existing rights. 



Geology and -water resources of the Patrick and Goshen Hole quadrangles 

 in eastern Wyoming and v/estern Nebraska, G. I. Adams {Water Supphj and 

 Irrig. Papers, U. S. Geol. Survey, No. 70, pj). 50, pis. 11, figs. 4)- — This report is largely 

 geologic in character, but "deals with some of the problems of water supply for this 

 area and discusses conditions which are to be found over a considerable part of the 

 public-land area," including data regarding irrigation; timber, grass, and agricultural 

 products; settlement and occupancy of public lands; and an appendix giving the 

 desert-lands and Carey acts, and an act providing for the construction of reservoirs 

 on public lands for watering stock. 



Report of the engineer, O. V. P. Stoi-t ( Nebraska State Bd. Agr. Rpt. 1901, pp. 

 143-150). — The main feature of this report is a statement of stream measurements 

 made in cooperation with the U. S. Geological Survey, including tables showing the 

 ratio of maximum to minimum monthly discharge (May-September, 1895-1900) of 



