444 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



October 



In Piedmont, which has an annual 

 rainfall of more than 30 inches, or about 

 the same as eastern Nebraska and Kan- 

 sas, the Italian government has built 

 nearly a thousand miles of canals and 

 expended about $20,000,000 for irriga- 

 tion works. The annual income from 

 the government canals in this province 

 is nearly $600,000. Pumping plants 

 have been established to raise the water 

 to lands above the government canals. 

 One of these was put in at an expense 

 of $47 per acre for the lands irrigated, 

 in addition to which the farmers are 

 required to pay the annual maintenance 

 expense and $82 per year for a cubic 

 foot of water per second. Irrigated 

 land supplied by this pumping plant is 

 worth three times as much as unirri- 

 gated land adjoining. Under another 

 pumping plant the annual expense to 

 the farmers is $5.80 per acre, in addi- 

 tion to $10 per year for a sinking fund, 

 making an annual charge upon the 

 farmers of nearly $16 per acre ; and 

 this also in a region where crops can be 

 raised successfully without irrigation. 



The Italian government disposes of 

 water directly to farmers at retail in 

 some sections, and in others sells it to 

 cooperative associations of farmers. One 

 such association has 14,000 members, 

 operates 9,600 miles of ditches, has 266 

 miles of telephone and telegraph lines, 

 supplies water to 141 ,000 acres, and does 

 an annual business of $600,000. Eighty 

 water masters are employed by the asso- 

 ciation to distribute the water to its 

 members. The farmers in this associa- 

 tion pay from $1.60 to $9 per acre per 

 year for water, according to the dis- 

 tances of their land from the main canal 

 and the crops raised. 



In addition to giving information as 

 to the organization of the industry in 

 Italy, the bulletin describes the principal 

 canals of Lombardy and Piedmont, and 

 gives details as to the structures for di- 

 verting water and carrying k over or 

 under the streams or canals crossed. 

 Drawings and photographs of a large 

 number of structures are given. 



Italian engineers have given more at- 

 tention to the measurement of water 

 than any other bod}' of men in the world. 

 The bulletin describes the methods of 



measurement of water in use along the 

 Po, and gives a general discussion of the 

 subject of water measurement. 



The most striking points brought out 

 by the report are the large expenditures 

 for irrigation in a region where crops 

 can be raised without it, the enduring 

 and expensive nature of the structures, 

 and the efficient cooperation of irrigators 

 in using water and in canal manage- 

 ment. Along each of these lines Italian 

 experience is full of suggestion for those 

 interested in American irrigation. 



Perpetual In the United States 



Injunction. circuit court at L,os 

 Angeles recently Judge 

 Wellborn signed decrees in the cele- 

 brated Fresno "sheep cases," granting 

 a perpetual injunction against the de- 

 fendants, which restrains them from 

 driving their sheep across the Sierra 

 Forest Reservation without permission 

 from the Government officers. 



Marvin Simpson, George Shipp, 

 Frank Estelle, Anderson Blasiugame, 

 and John Shipp, all of Fresno, are the 

 defendants in these cases, and, as the}' 

 are among the largest sheep-raisers in 

 the state, the cases have attracted a 

 great deal of attention. 



Largest Tree. The largest tree in the 

 world is reported again, 

 this time from the vicinity of Mt. Etna. 

 It is a chestnut, said to be 212 feet in 

 circumference 60 feet from the ground. 

 More remarkable than its huge girth is 

 the point on the trunk at which this 

 measurement is said to have been made. 



Oregon 



Reclamation 



Work. 



.at 



Under the direction of 

 Mr. j. T. Whistler, en- 

 gineer in charge of the 

 Malheur (Oregon) rec- 

 lamation project, field parties were en- 

 gaged during August in the develop- 

 ment of topography of irrigable lands 

 under the system, followed by location 

 of preliminary canal lines. Drill work 

 was begun the first of the month on 

 four possible dam sites at the upper end 



