1020] RURAL ENGINEERING. 185 



oases a third application was made. Tho rosults lod to the ronchislon that 

 where tl>e treatment of nianpe hy sulphur dioxid is conducted witli due precau- 

 tions it is an excellent and harndess method. 



RTJEAL ENGINEERING. 



Work done under the agricultural engineer for the year ended June 

 30, 1917, W, M. ScHUTTE {Ann. Rpt., Dcpt. Afjr. Bomhmj, 1916-11, pp. 57- 

 6,5). — This is the report of the work done under the agricultural engineer, 

 Bombay Presidency, for the year ended .Tune 30, 1017, covering experimental 

 well boring and water raising, mechanical cultivation, and oil-engine driving. 



Irrigation in Oklahoma, M. R. Bentley {Okla. Agr. Col. Ext. Div. Circ. Ill 

 {1920), pp. [S], figs. 8). — This circular contains information on past practice in 

 irrigation in Oklahoma and discusses future possibilities. It is estimated that 

 there are about 6,500 acres under irrigation in the State. Irrigation does not 

 seem to pay except for garden and truck crops, in eastern and central Okla- 

 homa, but field crops as well as truck crops have been irrigated profitably in 

 the western part of the State. 



It is concluded that reservoirs will be necessary for a considerable exten- 

 sion of irrigation in western Oklahoma. A study of the amount of water re- 

 quired for irrigation and of the supply available should be made before any 

 money is spent on an irrigation system. The cost of maintaining and operating 

 the plant as well as tiie first cost should be considered. Success or failure 

 may depend on knowing when to apply water and how much water to apply. 

 The irrigation of large areas from wells has not yet been successfully practiced 

 in this State. The lath-tile system seems to be well suited to the irrigation 

 of gardens. 



Water requirements of crops, R. L. Pakshall (Colorado Sta. Rpt. 1919, 

 pp. SO, 31). — From 1911 to 1918 alfalfa, sugar boets, and grain were grown in 

 buried concrete tanks with the water table maintained at 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 ft. 

 below the ground surface. The result in general indicated that the weight, 

 size, sugar content, and purity of sugar beets tend to mcrease with the depth 

 of the water table. Alfalfa with the water table at only 2 ft. below the sur- 

 face did not make a good stand, while in all other tanks the growth did not 

 appear to be influenced by the different depths of the water below the surface. 

 The results witli wheat and barley were not very definite, but an apparent in- 

 crease in production proportional to the deptli of the water table is reported. 



A study of the conditions under which water of tidal saline creeks is 

 utilized for crops production in Concan, V. G. Gokhale (Agr. Jonr. India, 

 14 (1919), No. 3, pp. 422-^30). — Analyses are given of waters used in irrigation 

 from the Amba River near Nagothna taken at intervals during the year. The 

 creek waters are usually sweet during the monsoon, but after December their 

 salinity increa.ses and they become unsuitable for irrigation except for brinjal 

 (Solanum melongena) and chilies (Capsicum frutescens), which grow more suc- 

 cessfully under alkaline conditions than other native plants. 



The regulation of water in the upland moors of Holstein, Reischei- 

 (Mitt. Ver. Ford. Moorkultur Deut. Reiche, 37 (1919), No. 22, pp. 405-4H, fiff- 

 1).— Methods of tile drainage employed in the reclamation of these moors are 

 described. 



Value of top soil as base for modern highways, D. S. Humphrey (Engin. 

 Neirs-Rec, 84 (1920), No. 12, pp. 566, .567).— The author relates experience on 

 road building and advocates a departure from more or less standard practice 

 by recommending tliat in road construction the earth's crust be left unmolested 



I 



