812 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



RURAL ENGINEERING. 



Hydrologic work of the TJ. S. Geological Survey in the Eastern United 

 States, M. L. Fuller (Rpt. Interned. Geogr. Cong., 8 (1904), pp. 509-514). — An out- 

 line of the work of the division of hydrology which deals with underground waters. 



An American and a European bibliography is being prepared, statistics regarding 

 wells, and technical papers on pumping and drilling are published from time to time, 

 and both the scientific and economic sides of underground water supply are investi- 

 gated. A compilation of the law of underground waters is under way. 



The author discusses also the relation of hydrology to geography and the mapping 

 of hydrologic features. 



Hydrographic work of the U. S. Geological Survey, G. B. Hollister {Rpt. 

 Interned. Geogr. Cong., 8 (1904), pp. 515-522). — A general review of the work under- 

 taken by the hydrographic division, which includes measurements of the quantity 

 of water, both on the surface and underground, and records of stream flow extend- 

 ing over long periods, as well as studies of the quality of waters for domestic and 

 industrial uses. The publications of this division include annual reports and the 

 w r ell-known series of Water-Supply and Irrigation Papers. 



Prehistoric irrigation in the Navaho Desert, E. L. Hewett (Records of the 

 Past, 4 (1905), No. 11, pp. 323-329, pis. 4). — Remains of large irrigating systems have 

 been found in Gila and Salado valleys, which show great engineering skill, in sharp 

 contrast with the extremely crude earth and stone dams commonly found around 

 pueblo ruins. 



The writer, in a trip across Navaho Desert, found well-preserved ruins near Una 

 Yida of a reservoir puddled with clay and riprapped, fed by a diverting ditch; a 

 stone dam at Kinklizhin with a waste way cut in the solid rock; and at Kinbineola 

 a reservoir in a natural depression with a ditch 2 miles long run on a fairly uni- 

 form grade, showing stone retaining walls in places. 



These remains show " the existence of a system of prehistoric irrigation in the 

 midst of the Xavaho Desert that is intermediate in its plane of development between 

 the advanced system of the Gila drainage and the very rudimentary form common 

 to the entire pueblo region. It represents but modest achievement as compared with 

 that of the Gila people, but marked advance over the common achievements of the 

 prehistoric pueblos." 



Irrigation in Mildura, C. J. Grant ( Victorian Inst. En gins., 1905, pp. 2-18, 

 Jigs. 2). — The duty of water pumped into a canal and distributed to 9,000 acres in 

 fruit and vines is found to be somewhat higher than in America and India, the depth 

 applied being 2.2 feet measured at the head of the canal. 



The loose sandy "pine" soils require less water when well cultivated than the 

 heavy "blue brush" soil. On account of great heat and dryness, three irrigations 

 in a season of 125 days, applied in deep furrows, are made in preference to a number 

 of very light applications. The failure of rating flumes to give close results with 

 very light grades has led to the design of a new device for measuring water to indivi- 

 dual laterals, by means of an inverted siphon arranged so that a current meter is 

 turned by the water as it rises, a series of dials indicating discharge in cubic units. 

 In the main canal submerged weirs have been used for measurements to avoid 

 . unnecessary increase in pumping head. 



Season and crop report of the Bombay Presidency for the year 1904-1905, 

 H. S. Lawrence (Dept. Land Rec. and Agr. Bombay, Ann. Rpt. 1905, pp. 12+ 

 LX1). — This report contains statistics as to rainfall, areas of crops, yields, and prices 

 for the Bombay Presidency proper, and the Sind. • 



The season was one of short rainfall, and therefore of decreased acreage. Asa con- 

 sequence prices were in general higher than usual. Cotton prices, however, were an 



