OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 233 



needs of the farmer whose land lies scores or even hundreds of miles 

 away from the snows which must moisten it in order that he may not 

 be robbed by the farmer whose ditch or canal taps the water supply 

 at the mountain's base. It involves the adjustment of diverse and 

 conflicting interests of individuals, communities, and sometimes of 

 different States. Because the whole subject is new, development has 

 outgrown organization. We have built ditches and dried up streams 

 faster than we have evolved laws and customs for the protection of 

 the users of their waters. The beginning of this investigation was 

 the beginning of a disinterested and scientific study of these ques- 

 tions. The value of these labors is now becoming manifest in all of 

 the different Slates of the arid region. It has stimulated the move- 

 ment for better laws and in many cases has resulted in a reform in 

 methods that has increased yields and extended the area cultivated. 

 With these changes there has come a demand for information and 

 advice wholly beyond our means to supply. It now is confronted by 

 two needs — increased means for more comprehensive study of facts, 

 and a larger force of trained and capable men to assume the impor- 

 tant responsibility of directing the gathering of these facts and the 

 interpretation of their significance when secured. 



For continuing and extending the irrigation investigations an esti- 

 mate of $75,000 was made a year ago. With the progress of our work 

 during the year the demands for its extension from various quarters 

 have increased and the opportunities for the useful employment of a 

 larger fund have widened. I therefore recommend that this amount 

 be asked for in the estimates for the ensuing fiscal year. 



