THE IEEIGATION AGE. 



17 



from inundations of the Nile river. In the lower delta 

 of the Nile the drainage engineer, by means of drains, 

 has succeeded in carrying off the alkali dissolved in the 

 soil, and thus making the soil adjacent to the Nile 

 among the most fertile and productive soils in the world. 



In Italy irrigation has been practiced for centuries, 

 and their knowledge of utilizing water and producing 

 crops in abundance makes it hard for any one living in 

 the present day in this country, unless he has visited the 

 older sections of Europe, to realize the extent of the 

 possibilities of the agricultural engineer. 



In our own country, the Morrill Endowment Acts 

 of 1862 and 1890 were the cause for establishing and 

 maintaining colleges for the benefit of agriculture and 



of agricultural engineering in this country and the 

 prospects are now bright that this science will be 

 rapidly developed, and that it will be of great benefit to 

 agriculture. 



The subject of irrigation engineering has been 

 taught as a distinct subject at the Colorado State Col- 

 lege for the last seventeen years; at Montana Agricul- 

 tural College during the last eight years, and at the 

 University of California for the last six years. The 

 subject is also given some' attention at the Utah, 

 Wyoming and Washington agricultural colleges, and at 

 the Nebraska University, though not in a separate 

 department. The first work leading toward instruction 



.JOHN HENRY SMITH. SALT LAKE CITY, 

 First Vice-President the Fifteenth National Irrigation Congress. 



mechanic arts in the various States of the Union. The 

 "mechanic arts" part of these institutions have been 

 developed into engineering colleges, and most of them 

 are now offering courses in civil, mechanical, electrical 

 and mining engineering. 



It was evidently intended by the Morrill Act that 

 the courses in agriculture and mechanic arts should 

 strengthen and help each other. They have, however, 

 diverged so that the engineering courses are now entirely 

 professional for the varied industries, and the agricul- 

 tural students have received no mechanical training 

 except the small fraction of time devoted to manual 

 training, such as carpentry and blacksmithing. 



Something is beginning to be done along the line 



in farm machinery by any American agricultural col- 

 lege was no doubt in Wisconsin, by Prof. F. H. King. 

 He conducted a number of experiments with wind- 

 mills, pumps and feed grinders, as well as along the line 

 of drainage and irrigation, and taught the subjects to 

 the students under the name of agricultural physics. 

 In 1898 the legislature of Illinois appropriated money 

 for a building for farm mechanics at the university, 

 and since that time a course in farm mechanics has 

 been offered at that institution, and instruction given 

 in setting up farm machinery and similar subjects. This 

 building has now become too small to accommodate the 

 students, and a new and more commodious structure 

 will soon be constructed for that department. 



