THE RECLAMATION OF ARIZONA. 



HAS THE HEARTY APPROVAL OF GOVERNOR BRODIE, 

 WHO MAKES VALUA-BLE SUGGESTIONS FOR THE WORK. 



THE Honorable Alexander A. Bro- 

 die, governor of Arizona, is in 

 hearty sympathy with the aims and pur- 

 poses of the Reclamation Service. As 

 chief officer of a commonwealth that 

 embraces large tracts of arid land, he 

 appreciates the benefits that will follow 

 a system of scientific irrigation. In 

 response to an invitation from the Di- 

 rector of the United States Geological 

 Survey, he has recently made some per- 

 tinent suggestions in regard to the work 

 of measuring streams and investigating 

 the water resources of the territory for 

 irrigation purposes. 



Next to the Salt River dam, which is 

 now in process of construction, Gov- 

 ernor Brodie thinks that the Colorado 

 River project is the most important. 

 There is no greater area of irrigable 

 land in the Southwest, he declares, than 

 that along the Colorado River from 

 above Needles to the Mexican border. 

 The available land continues in vast 

 stretches after the river has departed 

 at Yuma for the sea. This river fre- 

 quently overflows its banks and damages 

 crops in the cultivated section about 

 Yuma. It would, therefore, seem ad- 

 visable to provide means for storing its 

 flood waters. Governor Brodie also 

 advocates the construction of a levee 

 from the town of Yuma to the Mexican 

 line to prevent the overflow of the river. 



He suggests that the water supply of 

 the Santa Cruz Valley be investigated, 



that proper attention be given to the 

 artesian belt in San Pedro Valley, and 

 that the numerous small reservoir sites 

 in different parts of the territory be 

 exploited. He thinks it would be ad- 

 visable to extend the surveys already 

 begun to the upper stretches of the Salt 

 and Gila rivers for the purpose of locat- 

 ing available reservoir sites on those 

 streams and their tributaries. The 

 same might also be said of the Little 

 Colorado River, which takes its rise in 

 the vicinity of the White Mountains, in 

 the eastern part of Arizona. It is prob- 

 able that on all these streams and their 

 tributaries reservoir sites may be found 

 where flood waters could be stored for 

 use on lands in the valleys below. Sub- 

 sidiary dams might be constructed in 

 the upper tributaries of streams, and 

 assistance thus rendered to those farm- 

 ers who are struggling with uncertain 

 water supplies. 



Governor Brodie also thinks it advis- 

 able that surveys for the location of 

 underground water supplies should be 

 extended. These will be useful in fur- 

 thering irrigation enterprises dependent 

 on power-pumping plants. 



In connection with Governor Brodie' s 

 suggestions, it is interesting to note the 

 announcement of Mr. N. H. Barton, 

 chief of the Survey's western division 

 of hydrology, that provision will soon 

 be made for a study of the waters in the 

 Santa Cruz and San Pedro valleys. 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 



New England Ferns and Their Common Allies. 

 By HELEN EASTMAN. Illustrated. Pub- 

 lished by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Bos- 

 ton, Mass. $1.25 net. 



The ferns, always of interest to botanists, 

 do not, however, come in for the share of crit- 

 ical study they should. This book by Miss 

 Eastman should do a lot to spread a desire for 

 more careful study of this interesting family 

 of plants. 



This volume is a guide to all the ferns of 

 New England and some of their allies club- 

 mosses, horsetails, etc. It contains brief and 

 untechnical descriptions of over sixty species 

 or varieties of ferns, with eleven of the allies, 

 and points out more distinguishing marks of 

 difference between species resembling each 

 other than are found in any other work. The 

 illustrations, of which there are nearly fifty, 

 are from direct prints of specimens on photo- 



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