19191 RURAL ENGINEERING. 289 



The waters show considerable variation in the amount and character of tlie 

 soluble salts. Some are free from excess of objectionable constituents ; others, 

 good at their source, dissolve large quantities of alkali in their course. Viewed 

 in the light of Hilgard's interpretation, 13 of the streams contain amounts of 

 alkali which make them dangennis for irrigation, "or, if interpreted in the 

 light of Forbes' experience, only two, but according to the work of the Bureau 

 of Soils [of the U. S. Department of Agriculture] none should be condenmed." 

 Caution in the use of the waters is, however, advised. 



Surface water supply of Pacific slope basins in California, 1916 (U. S. 

 Geoh, Survey, Water-Supply Paper Ul (1918), pp. 330+ XX XVI, pis. 2).— This 

 report, prepared in cooperation with the State of California, j^resents the re- 

 sults of measurements of flow made on streams in Pacific coast drainage basins 

 during the year ended September 30, 1916. 



Laying out fields for tractor plowing, H. R. Tolley {U. S. Dcpt. Agr., 

 Farmers' Bui. 10^5- (1919), pp. 40, figs. 33). — This embodies descriptions of 

 methods found best suited to their conditions and recommended by a majority 

 of several hundred tractor owners who have reported their methods and ex- 

 periences. The methods in general use are divided into two general classes: 

 (1) Those in which the plows are lifted and no plowing is done across the 

 ends, and (2) those in which the plows are lifted in the ground while going 

 across the ends. The advantage of plowing by the methods of the first class are 

 that the short, awkward turns are eliminated, except in some cases at the be- 

 ginning and the ending of the lands, and usually less space will be left at the 

 corners to be plowed out with horses. It is considered generally possible also 

 to do a little higher quality of plowing if the plows are lifted at the ends. The 

 advantages of the methods of the second class are that little or no time is lost 

 in traveling with the plows out of the ground and that ordinarily the number of 

 dead furrows and back furrows will be considerably less. Taking' the country 

 as a whole, it is the opinion that the methods by which the plows are idle across 

 the ends are the more popular, but a large mnnber of farmers have a decided 

 preference for those by which the plows are kept in the ground continuously. 



"New labor-saving machinery for harvesting grain, W. R. Poetee {North 

 Dakota Sta. Bui. 128 {1919), pp. 8-13, flgs. iS).— This bulletin describes four 

 distinct tyi:)es of new machinery for saving labor and harvesting and thrashing 

 grain in iise in North Dakota at the present time, as follows : The Stewart 

 bundle loader, the Paulson shock bucker, the Fisher motor bundle truck, and 

 the Uraham-Roaeh stacker. 



Tlie bundle loader is designed to load the shocks directly on the wagon. It 

 is drawn by four horses and reqiiires one man as operator. It is stated that 

 one machine will load on wagons all the bundles that an ordinary separator 

 can thrash, that it gathers the grain cleaner than hand pitchers and shells 

 but very little grain in its operation, and that a saving of two teams and 11 men 

 can be effected by its use. An improvement of the machine loads and carries 

 tlie bundles direct to the separator. 



The shock bucker is intended to pick up a load of shocks in much the same 

 manner as the sweep rake and is drawn by four horses. When loaded the 

 sweeps are lifted off the ground, the machine runs "on two wheels, and the 

 load of bundles is dumped on the ground beside the separator. It does not shell 

 any grain, and gathers up the loose stuff. " It is claimed that two men with two 

 machines and eight horses can bring in all the grain that an ordinary separa- 

 tor can handle, so that five men with two of these machines and four teams 

 can keep an ordinary separator running as well as 10 teams and 20 men when 

 the grain is all forked by hand and hauled in on wagons. Two of these ma- 



