106 EXPEKIMENT STATION RECORD. 



tained in our land-grant colleges. In fact, the profession of agri- 

 cultural engineer, so prominent in Europe, is almost unknown in 

 this country." 



Since the above was written Mr. C. G. Elliott, chief of drainage 

 investigations in this Office, has submitted a report to Congress on 

 the unreclaimed, swamp, overflowed, and wet lands of the United 

 States. He estimates the extent of the permanent swamp land at 

 52,665,020 acres, of wet grass lands at 6,826,019 acres, of periodically 

 overflowed lands at 14,747,805 acres, of periodically swampy lands 

 at 4,766,179 acres, and of occupied farm lands needing drainage at 

 150,000,000 acres, a total of 229,005,023 acres. 



The drainage of these lands is a matter of public health, and the 

 benefits to agriculture are placed so high in the millions as to be well- 

 nigh incomprehensible. Perhaps the most surprising thing about 

 this inquiry is that each State in the Union is in need of drainage. 

 The figures giving the total extent, exclusive of occupied farm lands, 

 vary all the way from 8,000 acres in Rhode Island to nearly 20,000,000 

 acres in Florida. 



Of even greater importance is the subject of irrigation. Two- 

 fifths of the United States is arid and the remaining three-fifths, 

 although humid, is subject to periodical droughts during which crop 

 failures can only be averted by artificial watering. In the past 10 

 years nearly 16,000,000 people have been added to our population. 

 The public lands suitable for cultivation in their natural state have 

 been taken up, and the farms for the future millions must be wrested 

 from the desert by irrigation or from the swamps by drainage. 



About 13,000,000 acres of desert land have been reclaimed. The 

 water which is applied to this area each crop-growing season would 

 cover the whole of New England to a depth of 15 inches. The 

 handling of this enormous volume, its distribution over Avidely scat- 

 tered areas, and the preparation of the surface of fields so that water 

 may be spread evenly over them, call for an amount of experience 

 and skill not equaled in any other branch of agriculture. 



Western farmers deserve great credit for the lands they have 

 reclaimed, but their task is not completed. So great is the waste of 

 water at present that from 50 to 100 per cent more land might be 

 reclaimed if the waste waters were saved and utilized. It is, however, 

 doubtful if the farmers will accomplish this reform by their unaided 

 efforts. They have gone about as far as they can without the assist- 

 ance and supervision of the trained specialist. 



All over the iri'igated West from every district and from nearly 

 every farm, and also from the drought-stricken States of the East 

 and Middle East, comes the call for help. How shall I line my ditch 

 to prevent loss from seepage; how much water is needed for this and 

 that crop, and when should it be applied; how shall I prepare my 



