1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



45 



names upon which they have made decisions. 

 This board is the authority which determines 

 the official spelling of all the puzzling and 

 easily confounded names (in all countries) for 

 the greater convenience of the government 

 officials, as well as for the aid of commercial 

 correspondence. 



Water Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 81. De- 

 partment of the Interior, U. S. Geological 

 Survey. California Hydrography. By 

 JOSEPH B. LIPPINCOTT. 478 pp , i 'map, 4 

 diagrams. Government Printing Office, 

 1903. 



The purpose of this publication is to assem- 

 ble under one cover all available data concern- 

 ing the water supply of California. Gathered 

 from printed records, the investigations of the 

 Geological Survey and reports of'other engi- 

 neers. 



The relation of rain fall to run-off is treated 

 by diagrams and tables and by individual dis- 

 cussions of nine catchment basins. 



The subject of evaporation has also been 

 investigated at five points, one of which is 

 in Nevada. 



The body of the work is taken up by dis- 

 charge tables made up from observations on 

 more than 180 rivers, creeks, and ditches 



There are also measurements of maximum 

 floods, weir tables, and tables of rain-fall. 



Report upon the Administration of the Public 

 Works of Egypt for 1902. By Sir WILLIAM 

 GARSTIN, G. C. M. G. Pp 476. Ilus- 

 trated by photographs and colored dia- 

 grams. National Printing Department, 

 Cairo, 1903. 



This volume records the work carried on by 

 the Ministry of Public Works in Egypt during 

 the year 1902. It includes, besides the report 

 of Sir William Garstin, a number of reports 

 by the heads of the various branches of the 

 service. 



The Nile flood in 1902 was one of the lowest 

 four within a period of 100 years, and this re- 

 port is of especial interest on account of its 

 descriptions of the measures taken by the En- 

 glish officers to assure a normal crop. 



Water was distributed from the newly com- 

 pleted dam at Assuan and the barrages at As- 

 siut and Zifta, and, although this artificial 

 flooding was available only for a portion of the 

 season, the results were most gratifying. The 

 value of crops saved by the Assiut barrage 

 alone, in one season of 1902 is conservatively 

 estimated at $3,000,000, while the total cost of 

 the barrage was only a little over $4,000,000. 



Mr. A. Lucas, chemist of the Department, 

 presents an article upon the soil and water of 

 the Wady Tumilat. This valley, a portion of 

 the delta of the Nile, was probably a part of 

 the Land of Goshen, assigned to the Israelites 

 during their sojourn in Egypt. 



A few years ago a large percentage of this 

 area was out of cultivation on account of excess 

 of water and alkali within the soil. Drainage 

 and washing of the soil, carried on since 1898, 

 have so far remedied the unfavorable conditions 



that all but a small acreage of the damaged 

 lands is now profitably tilled. 



The book is unusually well printed for a re- 

 port of this kind and is very well illustrated. 



Second Annual Report of the Reclamation Service. 

 1902-1903. F. H. NEWEUU Published by 

 the U. S. Geological Survey. 



This paper is a continuation of the First 

 Annual Report of the Reclamation Service, 

 covering the field season of 1903. The state- 

 ments made in the first report are supple- 

 mented by an account of the results obtained 

 during the past year. The latter portion of the 

 report contains detailed descriptions of the 

 operations in the field, in alphabetical order, 

 by states and territories. 



In his letter of transmittal to Secretary Hitch- 

 cock, Mr. Charles D Walcott says: "There 

 has been criticism, particularly of what appears 

 to be slow progress in one locality or another. 

 The idea has been held by some persons that 

 the reclamation fund should be spent as quickly 

 and broadly as possible to stimulate business 

 in the West. Those who expect this have been 

 inclined to resent the somewhat cautious way 

 in which the work has been done and liabilities 

 incurred. The great body of thinking people, 

 how y ever, are apparently satisfied with the 

 present rate of progress, and demand that care 

 shall be taken to prevent mistakes and guard 

 these funds for their best vise in development 

 of the West. ' ' 



Mr. Newell says : "The reclamation law in 

 its practical application is, on the whole, not 

 only satisfactory, but exceptionally good, more 

 so than was anticipated when work under it 

 was begun." 



Department of the Interior. U. S. Geological 

 Survey. ProfessionalpaperNo.il. The 

 Clays of the United States. By HEINRICH 

 RIES. 287 pp. Half-tones, diagrams, and 

 colored charts. Washington, D. C. : Gov- 

 ernment Printing Office. 1903. 



This is an extensive and carefully prepared 

 treatise on the occurrence and quality of the 

 clays of the United States, with much infor- 

 mation concerning the industries which utilize 

 them, such as brick and tile making. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture. Division of 

 Entomology. Circular No. 55. Powder 

 Post Injury to Seasoned Wood Products. 

 By A. D. HOPKINS. 



Contains a description of the powder post 

 beetle (Lyctns planicollis}, with the nature of 

 the wide-spread injury done by it, and recom- 

 mendations for measures to be taken in pre- 

 venting its propagation in lumber yards, store- 

 houses, or other places where seasoned wood 

 is assembled. 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



Geological Survey of Michigan. Vol. IX. 

 Part I. The Delta of the St. Clair River. By 

 Leon J. Cole. 25 pp., 4 plates. 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



