THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



379 



-enlarged and extended season by season, 

 and the farm gradually enhanced in value. 

 A farm that has a fair home-made irri- 

 gation plant is practically independent of 

 the weather. The farmer is then sure of 

 his crop no matter how hot or dry the sea- 

 son may prove. The great benefit derived 

 from an irrigation plant is so apparent that 

 it seems strange that so few are in exis- 

 tence. It is not always necessary to build 

 a windmill for irrigation, for there are of- 

 ten natural advantages which any farmer 

 can avail himself of. When brooks flow 

 through farms they furnish in the winter 

 and spring seasons an abundance of wa- 

 ter, but when summer advances they often 

 dfy up and prove of no earthly good. The 

 question of importance is how can such a 

 stream be converted into use for irrigating 

 the plants. It would not be so dfficult if 

 a reservoir was dug and built on the farm, 

 so that the water could be stored. Such a 

 reservoir could easily be increased in size 

 each year, and with the water stored in it, 

 what would prevent digging ditches to 

 carry the water to the fields when needed. 

 Some will say that such work represents 

 an immense amount of labor; but if the 

 farmer intends to live permanently on his 

 farm, will it not pay him to do a little to- 

 ward the improvement each year, even 

 though it may take ten years to complete 

 the job? He can rest assured that he is 

 increasing the value of his farm fully ten 

 per cent every year, a fact which he will 

 realize when he comes to sell it. Profes- 

 sor James S. Doty, New York. 



RECENT WORK OF THE DIVI- 

 SION OF FORESTRY. 



The result of the work of the Division 



has been to turn practical forestry in the 

 United States from a doubtful experiment 

 into an assured success. Special studies 

 of some of the most important trees, com- 

 mercially, have been made, from which 

 can be calculated their probable future 

 yield. Cheap methods of harvesting the 

 present lumber crop without inj'uring the 

 productivity of the forest have been put in 

 operation. Such concerns as The Great 

 Northern Paper Company and The Deer- 

 ing Harvester Company have been led to 

 undertake conservative management of 

 their forest properties. Meanwhile, the 

 work of tree planting, particularly in the 

 almost treeless Western States of the 

 plains, has been furthered; the relation of 

 the forest to the volume of streams, 

 erosion, evaporation, and irrigation have 

 been studied; matters connected with irri- 

 gation and water supply have been investi- 

 gated; hopeful progress has been made in 

 the direction of regulating grazing in the 

 Western reserves in a manner fair both to 

 the important interests of .cattle and 

 sheep owners and to those who look to the 

 reserves as a source of continuous supply 

 of wood and water; and studies of forest 

 fires were conducted with a view of reduc- 

 ing the great yearly loss from this source, 

 a loss which has been estimated at $50,- 

 000,000. 



Field work is to go on this summer in 

 17 States There are in all 179 persons en- 

 gaged in the work of the Bureau. Of this 

 number 81 are student assistants young 

 men, largely college students, who expect 

 to enter forestry as a profession, and who 

 serve during the summer on small pay for 

 the sake of the experienced gained. 



