266 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



undoubtedly mean that the arid irrigated districts of 

 the world will become the great seed producing centers 

 for those parts of the world where irrigation is not 

 practiced. 



These are some of the problems that have been 

 studied at this institution during the last four years and 

 show the general tenor of the investigations. 



The crops investigated so far have not been very 

 many, but include wheat, oats, barley, corn, lucern, 

 brome grass, timothy, Italian rye grass, orchard grass, 

 potatoes, sugar beets, peas, onions, cabbage, carrots, 

 hemp, tomatoes and apples. As opportunity allows, 

 other crops will be studied in a similar exhaustive man- 

 ner. 



INCREASING THE IRRIGATED AREA. 



As already remarked, back of all these more or less 

 scientific problems lies the greater problem of using the 

 water at our disposal in the most economical manner, 

 and the results obtained show beyond doubt that the ap- 

 plication of scientific principles to the art of irrigation 

 will do for irrigation what such applications have done 

 for the great science of agriculture. Specifically, the 

 results of our investigations lead us to assert that even 

 under present conditions without building one new 

 reservoir or adding to the present irrigation canals, the 

 irrigated area may be increased one-third or one-fourth 

 or one-half. With such results the elaborate investiga- 

 tions carried on here for several years past are amply 

 justified. When, in addition it is recalled that there 

 is a strong probability of raising the quality of crops 

 by rational methods of irrigation, far above the quality 

 of crops in humid districts, it follows that all such in- 

 vestigations as those outlined can not be supported too 

 heartily. 



EQUIPMENT. 



It is evident that such work as has been outlined 

 requires a large and special equipment. In fact, the 

 amount and quality of the work that can be done depend 

 almost altogether upon the means which may be placed 

 at the disposal of the investigators. Three farms have 

 been and are being used in this work the college farm 

 containing one hundred plats, one-twentieth of an acre 

 each ; the Greenville farm containing one hundred plats, 

 one-twenty-fifth of an acre each, and the Frankhaiiser 

 farm containing eighty plats, one-twenty-fifth of an acre 

 each. These farms have been laid off into plats so far 

 removed from each other that the water applied to one 

 plat does not affect the soil water of the adjoining plats. 

 Large main and lateral flumes have been built so that 

 the water may be conveyed at will to any portion of the 

 farm and to any one of the plats. A large Cippoletti 

 weir, of the very best construction, is built for each farm 

 to enable the measurement of the water to be made in 

 the most accurate manner. The clock work recording 

 devices for water measurement have been found to be 

 unsatisfactory and have been discarded. Men are now 

 employed to attend to the weirs and to measure the 

 water at frequent intervals with micrometer gauge*. 

 All the plats are so ridged that all the water applied to 

 one plat is compelled to soak into the soil of that plat. 

 As far as the means at the disposal of the investigators 

 will allow, the conditions under which the water is ap- 

 plied to these plats are possessed of almost mathe- 

 matical certainty. 



In addition to the three farms, a large vegetation 

 house has been built, containing seventy-eight pots, 

 each one twenty-four inches in diameter and two and 

 one-half feet high. These pots are filled with vari- 



ous kinds of soils in which different plants are grown 

 with varying amounts of water. The vegetation house 

 experiments serve to check the work done in the field, 

 and to furnish data concerning problems that can not 

 well be solved directly on the farm. These pots are 

 placed on small, specially constructed cars, and are 

 kept in the open air day and night, except on rainy days 

 when they are sheltered under a glass roof. Weighing 

 contrivances have been constructed whereby the pots 

 may be weighed at stated intervals and the loss of water 

 under different conditions may be determined. 



Then several laboratories are in operation for the 

 chemical, physical and other studies of the soils and 

 crops used in the investigation. Beyond question, the 

 experimental plant for the study of irrigation at the 

 Utah Experiment Station is the only one of its kind in 

 the world. 



THE WORKERS. 



Such elaborate experiments can not be conducted 

 successfully by one man. The problems are so widely 

 different that various specialists are necessary to handle 

 them all. Three of the departments of the station are 

 therefore engaged in the co-operative study of the prin- 

 ciples underlying the art of irrigation. The seeding 

 and harvesting of crops and all the field work are 

 under the direction of the agronomist, Prof. L. A. 

 Merrill. The application and proper measurement of 

 water and all relative work were under the direction, 

 during the first two seasons, of Prof. G. L. Swend- 

 sen, now of the United States Eeclamation Service, 

 who was succeeded by Prof. W. W. McLaughlin, the 

 present irrigation engineer. The soil moisture work 

 and the chemical studies of the soils and crops are 

 under the direction of the writer, who also has general 

 oversight of the work. In addition to the heads of the 

 different departments, numerous assistants and laborers 

 are employed to look after the details of the work. 



Beginning with 1904 these investigations will be 

 carried on in co-operation with the irrigation investi- 

 gations of the Office of Experiment Stations under the 

 direction of Prof. Elwood Mead. With the support 

 thus given the investigations by the Washington office, 

 it is expected that future investigations will be even 

 richer and more valuable than in the past. 



The field is so vast that many investigators must 

 give many years to its study before the art of irrigation 

 can be said to rest on a rational basis. 



The report of the work done during the season 

 of 1901, only, has been published (Bulletins 80 and 

 86). The report for 1902 will soon appear, and the 

 report for 1903 will be published as soon as the mass 

 of data can be systematized and digested. 



In succeeding articles will be presented some of 

 the results gained in 1901. 



Mr. H. G. Ferrar, manager of 

 the American Beet Sugar Company, 

 of Nlew York, made a trip through 

 Nebraska a few months ago with 

 Secretary of Agriculture Wilson, 

 Henry Wallace, of Wallace's Far- 

 mer, and a few others. Mr. Payne 

 )f the Payne Investment Company, 

 f Omaha, accompanied the party, 

 and secured a few snapshots of the 



different genetlemen. Among them he secured the one 



shown herewith of Mr. Ferrar. 



