1 903 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



277 



in 1900-1901, but abcmt $3,000,000 was 

 spent on seven new works in Upper 

 Burma, the Punjab, and Sind. With 

 regard to works constructed out of the 

 famine grant as ' ' famine - protective 

 works ' ' not expected to be remunera- 

 tive, it is noteworthy that they yielded 

 a return of 2 . 35 per cent on capital. But 

 this is largely due to the great and in- 

 creasing success of the Swat River Ca- 

 nal, which alone yielded 10.41 per cent. 

 Five more protective works are under 

 construction. There is a large number 

 of "minor works," which irrigated 

 2,625,456 acres in 1900-1901, and re- 

 turned 7^ per cent on capital. Those 

 in Sind proved the most lucrative, yield- 

 ing 26.18 per cent. Another class of 

 "minor works," for which no capital 

 accounts are kept because they were 

 mostly constructed under native rule, 

 irrigated 2,581,829 acres. Moreover, 

 Madras Presidency has 28,000 tanks 

 and 6,000 irrigation channels, irrigat- 

 ing 3,173,250 acres. The total area ir- 

 rigated by all descriptions of works in 

 1900-1901 was 19,646,000 acres, the 

 largest on record. The total capital 

 outlay on works for which capital ac- 

 counts are kept has been about $141,- 

 000,000, yielding in 1900-1901 about 

 63/4 per cent, after payment of interest, 

 etc. The value of the crops 'raised on 

 the irrigated area during the year was 

 estimated at $138,000,000, or approxi-- 

 mately the amount of the capital outlay. 



Water Power In connection with the 

 in the Adiron- gagings of streams in 

 clacks. the State of New York 



by the U. S. Geological 

 Survey, an examination of the water- 

 power resources of the western slope of 

 Lake Champlain has recently been made 

 by Mr. Robert E. Horton ; and two gage 

 stations have been established on Sara- 

 nac River, the largest stream flowing 

 out of the region. This river has its 

 headwaters in the Saranac group of 

 lakes, in southern Franklin county. 

 These lakes lie at an elevation of about 

 i ,450 feet above Lake Champlain. The 

 stream where it leaves Lower Saranac 

 Lake has acquired, from the extensive 

 drainage area and the great volume of 



stored water of the lakes, a large, steady 

 flow, and in falling more than 1,400 

 feet in its course of 25 miles to Lake 

 Champlain at Plattsburg, it produces 

 numerous waterfalls, which afford not 

 only beautiful scenery but also great 

 water-power facilities, some of which 

 have been utilized. The largest water 

 power on the river, however, affording 

 the unusual fall of 245 feet to drive 

 turbines, remains still undeveloped. 



The object of the gagings is to deter- 

 mine the volume of the flow and its 

 variation from day to day, so that the 

 amount of horse-power the streams can 

 furnish may be ascertained. One of the 

 gaging stations is located near Platts- 

 burg, at the mouth, and the second is 

 near the foot of the Saranac group of 

 lakes. 



Other streams of the Champlain 

 region the Au Sable, Bouquet, and 

 Chazy have also been examined with 

 reference to their industrial value. The 

 streams of this locality resemble one 

 another and are notable from the fact 

 that their headwaters lie in the heart 

 of the Adirondack region, the most ele- 

 vated part of the state, while the sources 

 of other outlets into Lake Champlain 

 are only 90 feet above tide water. 



Studying Last year within two 



Forest Fire weeks over $12,000,000 

 Problem. worth of timber and 



other property was de- 

 stroyed by forest fires in Oregon and 

 Washington. This enormous .loss oc- 

 curred upon a restricted area and repre- 

 sents only a very small part of the an- 

 nual loss from this source. Every 

 timbered region of the United States 

 suffers year after year from fire. The 

 annual loss is estimated at from $25,- 

 000,000 to $50,000,000. Forest fires 

 have been regarded as almost inevitable, 

 and few systematic attempts have been 

 made to prevent or control them except 

 in the states of New York, Pennsyl- 

 vania, and Minnesota, which have effi- 

 cient systems of fire protection. 



The Bureau of Forestry has this year 

 undertaken a thorough study of the 

 forest-fire problem in several different 

 regions. It has placed men in forest 



