THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



231 



"Halo" 



or 



It is a question in the minds of many who 

 will attend the sixteenth National Irriga- 

 tion Congress what will be offered the 

 "Lemon." officers of the Reclamation and Forestry 

 Service. That there will not be as many "sunbursts" 

 in attendance as at former meetings is fairly well as- 

 sured, owing to the recent laws passed by Congress 

 which restrict the expenditure of funds in either de- 

 partment to the actual expenses incurred in the legiti- 

 mate transactions of business connected therewith. 



It is possible that a few "experts" may be shipped 

 in and their expenses charged up to "hay and grain" 

 accounts. For explanation see report before Congress 

 on Agricultural Appropriation bill of May 5, 1908, 

 page 5,910. 



THE IRRIGATOR. 



BY ROBERT V. CARR. 



DEMONSTRATION FARMS UPON RECLAMATION 

 PROJECTS. 



The government, through the Department of the In- 

 terior, is spending about $40,000,000 in the construction 

 of irrigation works intended for the reclamation of im- 

 mense bodies of land in all the states of the arid West. 

 It is a part of the plan that this money be returned to 

 the treasury by the farmers who settle upon these lands 

 and who use the water supplied by the works. 



In view of the fact that a very large majority of 

 the farmers who settle upon the reclamation projects 

 are likely to be unacquainted with the peculiar condi- 

 tions of agriculture under irrigation, it is realized that 

 it will be hard for them to establish homes and meet 

 their payments to the government if they are compelled 

 to work out for themselves the methods of a type of agri- 

 culture which is entirely new to them. Therefore, the 

 Department of Agriculture has been asked to establish 

 demonstration farms on te reclamation projects so the 

 new settlers may learn correct methods of irrigation 

 and if possible avoid those serious losses due to unsuit- 

 able irrigation practice. Such farms have already been 

 established at Bellefourche, S. D., and at Minidoka, 

 Idaho, and will be established on the other projects as 

 they are completed. 



The demonstrating of correct methods is not, how- 

 ever, confined to reclamation projects, as it is a part of 

 the plan of the work of the department in Utah to fur- 

 nish such aid to settlers in the former Uintah Indian 

 Reservation in the eastern part of the state. Similar 

 work is being done in the recently opened Wind River 

 Reservation in central Wyoming, which is largely being 

 settled by farmers from the humid sections. 



In some localities where water has become scarce 

 through the extension of the irrigated area, the pre- 

 vention of losses, which in other sections are not so im- 

 portant, is practically the only means of further ex- 

 tension. This is especially true in southern California, 

 although the same condition is approaching in many 

 other states. This has led to investigations of means of 

 preventing seepage losses from canals in California and 

 Oregon, and to measurements of losses of water by evap- 

 oration from the soil of fields, together with experiments 

 to determine the effectiveness of different methods of 

 cultivation in preventing these losses. 



From Cowboy Lyrics. (Copyright, 1908, by Robert V. Carr.) 



Was ridin' down a-past his place 



An' then I thinks I'll 'low 

 To sort o' pass the time o' day 



An' speak a friendly "how." 



He's mussin' 'round there in the mud, 



A little dam he's got; 

 He 'lows to make a cacti flat 



Into a garden spot. 



I says to him the land's no good 



Fer farmin' she don't win, 

 But all he does is slop around 



An' kind o' funny grin. 



I says the land's jes' useful fer 



Some cows to raise an' range, 

 But he jes' grins an' hollers back, 



"There's goin' to be a change." 



He's mussin' 'round there in the mud, 



A little dam he's got; 

 He 'lows to make a cacti flat 



Into a garden spot. 



LOSS OF DITCH RIGHTS BY ABANDONMENT. 



THE IRRIGATION AGE: 



Will some reader of THE IRRIGATION AGE please 

 state in its columns what the Supreme court decisions 

 have been on the following questions : How many years 

 does it take for an abandoned ditch to lose its recogni- 

 tion on the river, and for the right of way to revert 

 back to the owners of the land ? 



The page in your magazine devoted to Supreme 

 Court Decisions is very much appreciated by me and 

 others in this locality interested in irrigation. I am 

 making a file of the Supreme Court Decisions as I get 

 them from THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Yours very truly, 



JOHN G. HALL. 



Pro-fit in Spraying. The Nebraska Experiment Station 

 has just issued a bulletin giving the results of spraying 

 operations conducted in two Nebraska apple orchards in 

 1907. Detailed records are given of the cost of spraying, 

 and of the yield and value of sprayed and unsprayed fruit. 

 It is shown that spraying not only controls many apple pests, 

 but also that it is profitable to control them. Suggestions 

 are given in regard to the preparation and _ application of 

 spray mixtures. The bulletin is free to residents of Ne- 

 braska. Address the Agricultural Experiment Station, Lin- 

 coln, Neb., asking for Bulletin No. 106. 



We are in receipt of a copy of "The Romance of the 

 Reaper," by Herbert N. Casson, which is a reprint from a 

 recent issue of Everybody's Magazine. This is a work which 

 has been mentioned in a previous issue of this journal and 

 contains 184 pages, and is finely illustrated. This book gives 

 the first inside history of one of the greatest American busi- 

 nesses which has spread all over the world. It is a truly 

 wonderful story and will be found highly interesting. It 

 contains 26 illustrations from photographs. Doubleday, 

 Page & Co., New York City, are the publishers. Price, 

 $1, net. 



