THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



115 



suggest the recommendation be made, through the 

 proper channel, that a committee composed of busi- 

 ness men from the irrigation sections be appointed by 

 Congress to supervise the selection of reservoir sites 

 and general work under the Irrigation Law of 1902, 

 and to investigate the effects of the present law and 

 whether it should be repealed or not and why; and 

 in view of the fact that eventually a larger sum of 

 money will be expended under this law than will be 

 used in the construction of the Panama Canal, it is 

 the opinion of your Committee that the control of so 

 large a sum of money should not be placed in the 

 iiands of one or two individiuals. 



It is inconceivable to us how any intelligent man- 

 ufacturer can afford to remain ignorant regarding arid 

 laud and irrigation when, as before stated, one of 

 the greatest openings for manufactured products now 

 is, and will be in the future, the reclaimed Arid and 

 Semi-Arid West." 



[Following this is a complete report which may 

 be secured by addressing Mr. C. G. Rowley, Chair- 

 man. Jackson, Mich. EDITOR.] 



DRAINAGE: 



REPORT OF THE SECOND ANNUAL IOWA STATE DRAINAGE 



CONVENTION. 

 Held at Atne-, Iowa, Ja uary 13, 1905. 



The second annual Iowa State drainage convention 

 was called to order Friday evening, January 13th, at 

 the Iowa State College, by President D. A. Kent. Sev- 

 eral hundred of Iowa's land owners, statesmen, civil 

 engineers, supervisers and drainage experts were in at- 

 tendance, and a goodly number were also present from 

 neighboring States. Great interest was manifested in 

 the program throughout the two sessions and many 

 profitable discussions were taken up with great en- 

 thusiasm and with much profit to the delegates present. 



The opening address was made by Prof. C. F. 

 Curtiss, director of the Iowa Experiment Station. He 

 spoke most interestingly of the progress of the drainage 

 improvements in the State during the past year but 

 stated that the keynote of this convention would un- 

 doubtedly be an effort to secure as speedily as possible 

 a test case which would prove whether or not the pres- 

 ent drainage law is constitutional. The uncertainty 

 regarding the law is a great barrier to the progress of 

 drainage at the present time. 



Mr. C. G. Elliott, drainage expert for the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, spoke upon "Drain- 

 age Claims and Equitable Assessments in Drainage Dis- 

 trict 'Work." This is a subject of Statewide interest in 

 Iowa and Mr. Elliott presented facts which will prove 

 of inestimable value to the scores of county officials and 

 land owners who heard him. 



"The New Iowa Drainage Law" was discussed at 

 length by Hon. R. M. Wright, of Fort Dodge, Iowa. 

 Representative Wright was one of the chief advisors in 

 framing the law, as well as its steadfast sponsor before 

 the legislature. In his address, Mr. Wright cited many 

 cases which he believes prove that the present law is con- 

 stitutional. 



Saturday morning, the convention assembled for its 



last session. Many of the delegates spent the greater 

 portion of the preceding night in discussing ways and 

 means for getting a test case to the supreme court as 

 soon as possible. This must be done before drainage 

 improvements can be successfully carried out. This sub- 

 ject was fully discussed by the convention for over an 

 hour. A resolution was unanimously adopted urging 

 the various counties to financially support the test case 

 of Bollali vs. Monona-Harrison Community Drainage 

 District. The thought prevailed that if this case could 

 speedily carried to the supreme court, a great forward 

 step will have been taken in drainage work. 



A committee of five was appointed to interest the 

 land owners and county officials in this case. 



Prof. A. Marston addressed the convention on "The 

 Importance of Drainage in Good Roads Construction.'" 

 Professor Marston has made a careful study of road 

 conditions in Iowa and his statements were heard with 

 the greatest enthusiasm. The people of Iowa are await- 

 ing with interest the publication of the Professor's bul- 

 letins on the results of his investigations regarding the 

 building and maintaining of Iowa roads. 



''The Drainage of Meandered Lake Beds" was the 

 subject of a comprehensive paper by Prof. L. E. Ash- 

 baugh, of the Iowa State College. The paper reviewed 

 the provisions of the new drainage law regarding the 

 drainage and sale of meandered lakes, and inaiiy facts 

 were presented regarding the work that had been done 

 in compliance with the provisions of the law and the 

 number of lakes which had been filled up in recent 

 years and were now simply sloughs or bogs. 



Mr. F. J. Ford, of Fort Dodge, sent a paper on 

 "The Progress of Drainage Improvements During 

 1904.'' There is now contemplated not less than 1,600 

 miles of artificial waterways to furnish outlets for drain- 

 age of our low and swampy land and to furnish service 

 to drainage districts comprising no less than 1,300,000 

 acres of land of which not less than 350,000 acres is 

 practically worthless at the present time on account of 

 lack of drainage. This acreage, if in one body, would 

 be equal to an ordinary county. 



Prof. C. J. Zintheo spoke at length upon the use 

 of the traction ditcher on various types of soil. Trials 

 showed that tile ditches could be cut more cheaply 

 with the machine than by hand, but that on heavy, 

 sticky land it was difficult to operate the ditcher. 



The regular program was concluded by an address 

 by Prof. W. H. Stevenson, secretary of the Iowa Drain- 

 age Association, on "The Relation of the Soil to Under- 

 drainage." This address was of unusual interest to 

 land owners and drainage engineers who have charge of 

 the drainage of clay, gumbo, muck and peat soils. 



The Iowa Drainage Association was organized Jan- 

 uary 16, 1904. The purpose of the organization is the 

 advancement of drainage improvements in Iowa. A 

 large number of new names were added to the member- 

 ship list during the convention and no doubt the state- 

 wide interest in drainage work will not flag during the 

 year. 



Hon. F. C. Hartshorn was elected president for the 

 ensuing year and Prof. W. H. Stevenson, of the 

 Agricultural College, was re-elected secretary-treasurer, 

 and was instructed to publish the full proceedings of the 

 convention. 



The IRRIGATION AGE has arranged to publish in 

 full all of the addresses delivered in its issues of March, 

 April and May. 



