tedly too small for use in soils of the light and silty character of the 

 Toft-Hanson field. It is thought that there will be more or less silting 

 up of the tiles whenever they are used in the sandy and white ash soils 

 of the Fresno district, and it is recommended that every possible pre- 

 caution be taken in putting them in. Much of the trouble may be 

 obviated by using no tile smaller than 4 inches, or preferably 6 inches 

 in diameter, and by giving the laterals such fall that the velocity of the 

 water will be great enough to wash out the sand as rapidly as it enters 

 the joints. The tile on the Toft-Hansen tract have a fall of 1 in 1,000 

 and the velocity of the water flowing through them is not sufficient 

 to remove the sand. With a 'fall of 1 in 500 the velocity is great 

 enough to remove practically all of the soil as fast as it enters. 



To prevent entirely the clogging of the tile with sand, and to insure 

 the removal of roots should any chance to enter, it is thought advis- 

 able to place in all tile a quarter inch galvanized strand- wire rope. 

 Then two or three times a year, or oftener if necessary, a wire brush 

 should be dragged through the tile in order to cut out all roots and stir 

 up the sand and silt. Wire rope of this kind can be bought for about 

 1 cent a foot. Six-inch and 8-inch drains have been in operation for 

 twelve years in the Sunnyside vineyard and have been kept in perfect 

 order in this way. From the experience gained the Bureau can unhesi- 

 tatingly recommend tile for drainage purposes, provided proper precau- 

 tions are taken in its installation. 



On July 15, 1903, after four and a half months of irrigation, an 

 examination was made of the tract to determine what percentage of 

 the land was sufficiently sweetened to grow a crop. This examination 

 indicates that all of the land, with the exception of small spots amount- 

 ing in the aggregate to less than 2 acres, is now ready for a crop. Most 

 : of it is sufficiently freed from alkali to warrant the sowing of alfalfa, 

 but as midsummer is not the best time of year for seeding that crop, 

 sorghum and Egyptian clover are being put in instead. These crops 

 will mature by fall if the supply of irrigation water does not fail, and in 

 the winter the land will be seeded to alfalfa. The small spots which 

 are not yet ready for alfalfa are rapidly approaching that condition and 

 will be ready for a crop during the coming winter. Thus it will be seen 

 th;it practically all the land in this 20-acre tract has been returned to a 

 state of profitable cultivation in a period of four and a half months after 

 irrigation was commenced, and the statement seems justified that any 

 alkali land in the Fresno district can be brought into profitable cultiva- 

 tion in less than one year's time, the two requisites for this being under- 

 drainage and a copious supply of water for irrigation. While the 

 Bureau considers the land of the Toft-Hansen field practically reclaimed 

 at the present time, the demonstration will be continued until a satis- 

 factory stand of alfalfa is secured. 



