880 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Irrigation in Victoria, H. G. McKinney (Engin. Rcc, 59 {i!)()n), \n. 3, pp. 

 (i2, 63). — This is a l)ri«'f historical review of irrigation in the State of Victoria, 

 sbowiiiK the causes of failure of many of the promoting companies and Kivinj? 

 an account of the work of the conuuission appointed to investif^ate the sul^jeet 

 of irriKiition and rural water supply, and of its efforts to extend irrigation 

 works in the State. 



Experimental irrigation farm, W. J. Allen (Agr. Gaz. zA'. S. Wales, 

 19 {1908), No. 11, pp. 927-937, figs. 17).— The author describes the Yanco irri- 

 gation farm established by the government as the first to make use of the 

 water provided by the Great Northern Murrumbidgee Scheme. The implements 

 iind methods nse<l in ])reparing the land for water are described and illustrated. 



An Egyptian steam cultivator (Sci. Amcr., 100 {1909), No. 7, p. 133, fi(/-'<. 

 2). — This macliine is constructed with the idea of pulverizing the soil and 

 stirring and aerating it at the same time that it is broken up. It is illustrated 

 in this article and its mode of operation described. 



The e.ssential feature is a set of six disks rotating in a vertical itlane trans- 

 verse to the length of the machine, with curved cutting blades attached to the 

 periphery of the disks at right angles to their plane. The disks are supported 

 at the rear of the locomotive on a U-shai)ed frame, which can be raised or 

 lowered, allowing the depth of cultivation to be varied up to 12 in. Official 

 tests of the cultivator showed a working capacity of 1.58 acres per hour at 

 an average depth of 9 in. in very dry and hard ground. The engine used 

 was of the vertical type, but will be replaced in later models by a 2-cylinder 

 horizontal type to give more room and better access to the engine parts. 



New cotton picking machine (Xat. Cooperator and Farm Jour.. 30 (1909), 

 No. Ill, p. .9).— There is described here a new machine which is reported to have 

 been successfully operated under difficult conditions. It consists essentially 

 of a large drum containing a fan operated by a 21 horsepower gasoline engine. 

 On the outside of the drum are connected 4 pieces of spiral rubber suction hose, 

 tapering from 25 in. at the drum end to 1% in. at the nozzle. The cotton is 

 drawn into the machine thi-ough these tubes and passes into a square exhaust 

 pipe over the top of the machine and down to about 4 ft. from the base of the 

 wagon carrying the machinery. 



Destruction of concrete by alkali, W. P. Headden {Colorado iita. Bui. 132, pp. 

 3-8). — This contains chemical analyses, made by the author, of cement drain 

 tile, which had disintegrated after only S or 9 months' use and also of river 

 water which is assumed to be similar in composition to that which acted on the 

 tile, with a discussion of the relative influence of the chemical constituents 

 involved. 



" The salient features in the composition of the salts present in the ground 

 waters of this section are the large amount of sulphates and the presence of 

 carbonates." 



The action of a mixture of sodium sulphate and carbonate on coarsely ground 

 concrete was also experimenteti with and found to yield rapidly a white de- 

 composition product rich in carbon dioxid. The final conclusion from the results 

 of the experiments is that " the action of the ground waters seems to have been 

 one of chemical change converting the lime of the cement into a sulphate and 

 carbonate, accompanied by the removal of silicic acid, alumina, and lime and 

 t(»tally destroying the cohesiveness of the concrete." 



The construction and filling of silos, W. A. Linklater (Washington 8ta. 

 Popular Bui. 10, pp. 8, figs. 11). — There are described and illustrated silos of 

 the following types : The King, a stave silo bound with iron hoops, a round silo 

 with wooden hopps, and an eight-side silo of concvete. Practical suggestions 



