THE IBBIGATION AGE. 



269 



IRRIGATION IN THE SUBHUMID PORTIONS Or THE 

 UNITED STATES. 



The subhumid portions of the United States pos- 

 sess certain advantages in the employment of irrigation 

 which must in time greatly extend its application in 

 this section of the country. There is a greater rainfall 

 and a more humid atmosphere than in the arid region, 

 so that a given water supply and a canal of given 

 dimensions will irrigate more acres than in the region 

 wholly arid. Much of the subhumid district east of 

 the Rocky Mountains is remarkably well suited to the 

 distribution of water in irrigation. The slope of the 

 country away from the mountains is about what is 

 needed for the construction of canals and the distribu- 

 tion of water over the ground. ' The practical obstacles 

 to be encountered, either of an engineering or agri- 

 cultural character, are less, as a rule, than in either the 

 arid or humid sections, and the cost of supplying water 

 is proportionately reduced. Important studies have 

 been made during the past year in this region by Prof. 

 0. V. P. Stout, of the Agricultural Experiment Station 

 of the University of Nebraska, acting under the direc- 

 tion of this office. This station is in a section where 

 lands have been cultivated for many years, and where 

 agriculture is a demonstrated success without the aid 

 of irrigation. The question to be settled is whether 

 the use of water on general farm crops will give suf- 

 ficiently increased yields to repay with a profit the 

 cost of providing the water supply and distributing it 

 over the land. Results thus far secured show that it 

 will. The maximum yield of corn in this locality with- 

 out irrigation is about 40 bushels per acre, while the 

 lands irrigated during the past year yielded from 40 

 to 60 bushels per acre, with a maximum yield in rare 

 instances of 90 bushels per acre: Two adjacent fields, 

 one irrigated and one depending on rainfall alone, 

 yielded 66 bushels and 20 bushels per acre, respectively. 



The methods of diverting and applying water were 

 those of the ordinary irrigator; the soil and climate 

 were typical of the territory which extends westward 

 from the Missouri River for 250 miles> and the results 

 can fairly be taken as representing what may be ex- 

 pected in seasons of scanty rainfall throughout the 

 greater part of the subhumid district. 

 (To be continued.) 



Wesley A. Stuart, of Sturgis, S. 

 D., is a gentleman who has been 

 prominent in irrigation matters and 

 has always shown an active interest 

 in the National Irrigation Congress. 

 His picture shown in this column 

 would lead one to pick him for a 

 New York banker rather than an at- 

 torney from the wind-swept prairies 

 of the Da-kotas. 



GRADUATE HONORED. 



Prof. Elwood Mead Receives the Highest Honor at Disposal 

 of Purdue University. 



Gen. W. H: H. Beadle, president 

 State Normal School, Ma-dison, S. 

 D., was active at the Irrigation Con- 

 gress held at Colorado Springs in 

 1902 and has been prominent in 

 educational work in his State. 



Purdue University recently conferred the highest 

 honor at its disposal and recognized an engineer of dis- 

 tinguished merit in conferring the honorary degree of 

 Doctor of Engineering upon Elwood Mead, chief of the 

 Government bureau of Irrigation. This degree is rarely 

 given and only to persons of distinguished attainments 

 in engineering. It has not been given at Purdue before. 



Mr. Mead graduated from Purdue in 1882, was ap- 

 pointed professor of mathematics in the Colorado Agri- 

 cultural College in 1883, received the degree of Master 



ELWOOD MEAD 



of Science from Purdue in the same year, and the 

 degree of Civil Engineer from the Iowa Agricultural 

 College soon after. He inaugurated the course in irriga- 

 tion engineering at the Colorado college and soon be- 

 came a recognized authority on the subject. He bore 

 an important part in securing legislation in Colorado 

 on water rights. Later as territorial engineer for 

 Wyoming he was largely concerned in shaping the law 

 and practice of irrigation. Recently he has been made 

 special agent of the Government in charge of irrigation 

 investigations. 



His work on irrigation institutions is a recognized 

 authority on the subject. 



Mr. Mead has been for many years a member of 

 the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is pro- 

 fessor of irrigation instruction in the University of 

 California and also delivers a course of lectures each 

 year at Harvard university. 



Our readers who, are acquainted with Professor 

 Mead will be pleased to learn of the honor conferred. 

 We are showing herewith photo of the gentleman. 



