THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



363 



fornia. There it requires a ten-inch covering to afford 

 anything like complete protection. This was plainly 

 indicated by an experiment conducted near Riverside, 

 Cal., during the first week of August, 1905. Tanks to 

 the number of fourteen were filled with soil and divided 

 into four groups. The soil in group 1 was irrigated on 

 the surface, that in No. 2 four inches below the surface, 

 that in No. 3 eight inches below the surface, and that in 

 No. 4 ten inches below the surface. In other words, the 

 irrigated soil was covered by means of a dry mulch to 

 depths of four, eight and ten inches, respectively, while 

 the first group had no mulch whatever. In twelve days 

 the losses by evaporation were in the proportion of 22, 

 614, 3 and 1. That is to say, while the tanks which were 

 protected by a ten-inch mulch lost on an average of 

 lialf a pound of water, the tanks that received no mulch 

 lost on an average of eleven pounds, or in the ratio of 

 1 to 22. In determining the moisture content at differ- 

 ent depths by means of a large number of borings on a 

 ten-acre orange tract, the same fact was demonstrated. 

 This tract was irrigated in the fall of 1904, received 

 eighteen inches of rain water during the winter months, 

 and was frequently cultivated, but in June, 1905, little 

 or no free water was found in the upper ten or twelve 

 inches of soil. Neither were there any roots in this layer. 

 The bulk of the roots were found in the second, third and 

 fourth foot, but a considerable number were also found 

 as low as nine feet below the surface. 



The Effect of Shade. One should not underesti- 

 mate the effect of shade in reducing evaporation. The 

 effect of shade can most readily be observed in orchards. 

 The loss by evaporation from tanks shaded by orange 

 trees was much less than on those exposed to the rays 

 of the sun. This difference is chiefly due to a difference 

 in temperature. At noon on July 5, 1905, the tem- 

 perature of shaded soil was 941/0, while that in the sun 

 was 148 Fahr. 



WINTER IRRIGATION. 



In conclusion I desire to recommend the practice of 

 winter irrigation as a means of checking evaporation. 

 Many of the orchardists of the Santa Clara Valley in 

 California irrigate during the rainy months of Febru- 

 ary, March and April, and by applying twenty-four 

 inches of water over the surface in addition to the six- 

 teen inches derived from rainfall, they manage to grow 

 excellent crops of deciduous fruits without resorting 

 to summer irrigation. Some may think that soil irri- 

 gated in March will become very dry in June, but the 

 dry soil is confined to the top foot. Beneath there is 

 moisture, which deeply rooted plants have no difficulty 

 in securing. This practice of applying a heavy irriga- 

 tion during rainy weather, or when the top layer of soil 

 is moist lessens surface evaporation and permits a large 

 part to be stored in the deep sub-soil. 



Winters is paying 30 cents a pound for butter and 

 22 cents for eggs, both shipped here and from irrigated 

 districts, even farmers are buying them, while they grow 

 wheat at prices that may or may not pay expenses. 

 Some of these farmers are opposed to the use of water. 

 The United States Agricultural Experiment Depart- 

 ment published the other day the results of irrigating 

 barley land. Where six to ten sacks were a good yield, 

 the application of eighteen inches of water resulted in 

 twenty and twenty-two sacks to the acre. Another 

 year the land will need less water to achieve the same 

 result. Winters (Cal.) Express. 



NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS A SUCCESS. 



C. M. Heintze, Editor of The Rural Calif ornian, Expresses His 

 Views. 



Mr. C. M. Heintze, editor of The Rural Calif ornian, 

 who attended the Thirteenth National Irrigation Con- 

 gress, has the following to say concerning it : 



"It is indeed gratifying to record that the last ses- 

 sion of the National Irrigation Congress, held in Port- 

 land, Ore., from the 21st to the 24th of September, in- 

 clusive, was remarkably successful and far surpassed any 

 previous sessions, both in the work accomplished and the 

 general ability and character of the delegates present. 

 The resolutions passed are, as a whole, free from am- 

 biguity. They are clean cut and to the point. In the 

 one relating to Texas, however, many exceptions will 

 be taken. The recommendation that that State be 

 brought under the provisions of the national irrigation 

 law can not be considered in any light other than ab- 

 surd. And for the Secretary of the Interior to direct 

 engineers of the United States reclamation service to ex- 

 amine and report upon feasible irrigation projects in 

 Texas would be a greater absurdity if it were possible. 

 The Government of the United States owns not a foot 

 of land in that State. Therefore, how is it, possible in 

 the dealing out of equal justice to give Texas the benefit 

 of the same service that is now extended to other arid sec- 

 tions? The national irrigation law, enacted for the 

 benefit of the greatest number, must not be diverted to 

 the interest of private individuals, as it surely would 

 be if made applicable to the Lone Star State. 



"The resolution relating to the reclamation service 

 rings true, as does also the one commending experi- 

 ment work by the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. Of equal clearness and force is the following 

 resolution which we print in full : 



" 'Believing that too much capital, public and pri- 

 vate, can not and will not be invested in the reclamation 

 of arid lands, it is the sense of this congress that Govern- 

 ment, as well as private enterprise should both be ex- 

 tended to the utmost, and that Government enterprise 

 should not unnecessarily interfere with prior private en- 

 terprise actually engaged in a particular field, nor 

 should subsequent private enterprise interfere with nor 

 prevent government enterprise from reclaiming arid 

 lands.' 



"But most significant of all, and the one that will 

 attract attention in all parts of the country, and more 

 particularly in southern California and Arizona, is the 

 one that struck at the devious methods of the Maxwell- 

 Boothe combination. It reads : 



" 'Resolved, that there is not now nor has there been 

 any connection whatever between the National Irrigation 

 Congress and the incorporated company known as the 

 National Irrigation Association; and it is hereby an- 

 nounced that no person, corporation or company has been 

 or is authorized to solicit or collect money for or in be- 

 half of the National Irrigation Congress.' 



"Thus the National Irrigation Congress formally 

 divorced itself from and renounced all conections with 

 the 'National Irrigation Association' sometimes re- 

 ferred to as the 'Maxwell-Boothe combination,' and 

 which, in our opinion, is the' appropriate title. 



"The introduction of the above resolution precipi- 

 tated a warm debate. McAlpine, of Minnesota, stated 

 that in his own State 'several thousands of dollars had 



