166 



THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



In this issue will be found a photo 

 Prof. O. P. V. half-tone of Prof. 0. P. V. Stout, Irri- 

 Stout. gation Engineer on the staff of the 



Nebraska State Board of Agriculture. 

 Prof. Stout is a native of Illinois, but has spent the 

 greater part of his life in Nebraska. He graduated in 

 civil engineering from the University of Nebraska in 

 1888, and was employed for a time in railway and muni- 

 cipal work. In 1891 he was appointed to an instructor- 



PROF. O. P. V. STOUT, 

 Lincoln, Neb. 



ship in the department of civil engineering in the Uni- 

 versity of Nebraska, and since 1893 has been in charge 

 of that department. Prof. Stout has also engaged ex- 

 tensively in outside practice, and has given considerable 

 attention to hydraulics and irrigation. In addition to 

 private engagements along these lines, he has been for 

 a number of years resident hydrographer of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture. 



Anderson's We have in course of preparation, a 

 "Primer standard, practical book on irrigation, 



of Irrigation." the first chapter of which appears in 

 this issue of THE IRRIGATION AGE, 

 and other chapters will follow in subsequent numbers. 



It is our purpose to reduce the whole art and sci- 

 ence of Agriculture connected with Irrigation, to the 

 plainest language, within the comprehension of every 

 one who desires valuable, practical information on the 

 subject. In its bound form the matter will fill a vol- 

 ume of over 300 pages. 



The time is ripe for a practical and comprehensive 

 book on the subject, years of experience having demon- 

 strated the fact that irrigation is the most profitable 

 means known to agriculture to secure profit in farming. 



In its scope, the book begins with soils and their 

 nature, expressed in clear language, takes up Arid and 

 Semi-Arid lands, and shows plainly the benefits to be de- 

 rived from irrigation and proper cultivation, in every 

 branch of agriculture. The book is really a work on 

 farming for profit, whether the farmer raises cereals, 

 or limits his productions to a vegetable garden. 



It tells how to utilize any kind of soil, how to raise 

 the proper kind of profitable crops, how to irrigate, how 

 to feed plants with the proper food, and how to avoid 



failure. Anyone who reads this book will find in it 

 just what he wants, just what he has long been looking 

 for without being able to find it, and how to utilize 

 every foot of ground he owns or controls. 



There has never been a similar book put before the 

 farming community, and when we say it is to be the 

 "standard," we mean that there may never be another 

 book with so much practical information, and so com- 

 plete in every detail. It is a book every farmer who 

 practices irrigation needs to attain success for his labor. 

 The work will be finely illustrated. 



Influences in We begin elsewhere in this issue a dis- 

 National cussion of some of the influences that 



Irrigation are affecting the program of national 



Program. irrigation provided for by the National 



Irrigation Act of June 17, 1902. This discussion has 

 been prepared by the editor of this journal with the sole 

 purpose of telling the truth about the operation of one 

 of the most important and far-reaching enterprises that 

 has been launched by Congress in recent years. We 

 have hesitated to publish the facts presented because 

 we believe that a work of such magnitude and importance 

 as is contemplated by the National Irrigation Act should 

 receive the unqualified support of a united West, and 

 that, if possible, all shortcomings in administration 

 should be allowed to correct themselves through the 

 further experience of those in charge. We have also 

 hesitated lest a plain statement of the truth might seem* 

 to reflect adversely on some of the public-spirited men 

 who have unselfishly and unremittingly given their sup- 

 port to the movement for national aid to irrigation. 

 Among these none has been more conspicuous than Mr. 

 Thomas F. Walsh, the president of the National Irri- 



PROF. CHAS. M. HALL, 

 Fargo, N. D. 



gation Association, and others who have been identi- 

 fied from the start with the movement conducted under 

 the name of this association. The part these men have 

 voluntarily played has been both praiseworthy and com- 

 mendable and nothing could be farther from our de- 

 sire than to connect them with what is uncalled for 

 and unwarranted in the present national irrigation pro- 

 gram. We believe that these gentlemen have been 

 placed in false positions by those who have sought to 



