712 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



madly, as it were, past the boulders that have fallen from 

 the cliffs. If one has imagined that he would like to go 

 through the canon his slightest wish quickly leaves him 

 on seeing the danger of such an undertaking. 



"The most sublime sight I ever beheld was to stand 

 on the edge of this canon and see the tilted strata, the 

 Archean to the left and below, and look to the right and 

 see the great number of strata through the series to the 

 characteristic red beds of the Triassic and above these the 

 Jurassic. The scene impresses one in a way that words 

 meagerly describe, but the feeling comes that here is an 

 epitome of Nature's records inviting one to read the 

 history of these formations, see the principles of structural 

 geology here unfolded, and conceive the great length ot 

 time necessary for their consummation. 



"The noted Fremont fault is about three miles north 

 of the canon. Here the carboniferous lime and sandstones 

 are faulted and lying on the Jurassic, apparently, almost 

 conformable. Here are five hot springs, the temperature 

 of the largest being 140 degrees. The entire route through 

 Wyoming afforded a most excellent opportunity for study- 

 ing geology. The great amount of tilted and eroded strata, 

 and the sparse vegetation, enabled one often to follow far 

 miles, with greatest ease, a single formation, or to cross 

 a great many different ones in traveling only a short dis- 

 tance." 



As to the practical value of this expedition, Professor 

 J. E. Todd of the Department of Geology and Mineralogy 

 of the University of South Dakota, says: 



"It enlarged greatly the stock of knowledge of every 

 geologist enlisted, and of that sort best calculated to im- 

 prove his teaching capacity. It substituted clear typical 

 object lessons for the meager illustrations and halting de- 

 scriptions of text books. Even those familiar with typical 

 examples in the eastern part of our country were greatly 

 impressed with the great advantage of the absence of vege- 

 tation and clearness of atmosphere in Wyoming. 



"Views were moie comprehensive and details more 

 distinctly exhibited. This was true particularly of folds, 

 faults, wind work and stream work, stratification and con- 

 cretions. It afforded opportunities for excellent acquain- 

 tance with most interesting formations and fossils not ac- 

 cessible in the east. 



"The erosion forms, the work of untold ages on the 

 granite axis of the continent; the carboniferous rocks 

 without coal; the glowing red beds; the Jurassic, with the 

 various horizons, including probably the oldest great fresh 

 water lakes, with their huge dinosaurs; the stretches of 

 Cretaceous with its sandstone ridges and mesas, its gumbo 

 plains and slopes, its chalk cliffs, glaring across the waste, 

 its swarms of fossil shells, its gigantic globular concre- 

 tions, its coal beds with fossil palms and deciduous trees; 

 the Tertiary lake beds, with their monstrous mammalian 

 bones, remnants of Nature's efforts in preparing the vari- 

 ous beasts of the present time; the gravel-spread and 

 boulder-dotted terraces of the Pleistocene age, records of 

 the former floods which worked so faithfully_to humble the 

 pride of the rising Rockies, and convey their grandeur to 

 beautify and enrich the plains of the Mississippi all these 

 are now vivid realities in the minds of all who rode over 

 them and worked about them with this expedition. 



"It will furnish substantial contributions to science. 

 It is not yet time to sum up results in this line. Months 

 and perhaps years may pass before we know what new 

 species have been found, what conclusions are reached by 

 many minds brought face to face with that wonderful^ re- 

 gion. It was not an unknown region. Many bright minds 

 had already traversed it. Yet some new discoveries may 

 be, at least, hinted. Numerous deciduous leaves were 

 found mixed with abundant marine forms in the Fox Hills 

 beds. 



"A considerable fauna of fresh water invertebrates was 

 found in the dinosaur beds of the Jurassic. This will no 

 doubt be fully presented by those more closely identified 

 with the discovery. The opinion that the Fox Hills' 

 group is but a sandy local development of the Fort Pierre 

 will be strengthened by the work of the expedition, and 

 furthermore it may appear that the Laramie is but a local 

 fresh water stage of the same. 



"Several additional new features have been revealed 

 in the dinosaur bones unearthed by this expedition. It 

 lias and will promote popular interest in science and edu- 

 cation. This is not only bv the public press and the pic- 

 tures and fossils scattered by the members of the expedi- 



tion throughout the country, but by the individual articles 

 and lectures and by the proposed illustrated history. 



"It calls fresh attention to the conclusions of geology 

 concerning the building of the earth and the development 

 of the life-forms. It reveals to many a new world of the 

 imagination. Science has swept into oblivion the whole 

 brood of mythological monsters, centaurs, griffons, chi- 

 meras and dragons, that once delighted the lovers of the 

 terrible and strange, but now it is substituting the mon- 

 sters of geological lore. It arouses new interest in 'The 

 fairy tales of science and the long result of time.' 



"It will stimulate a more healthy interest in science 

 for its own sake. Let us hope that this expedition may 

 arouse such lasting interest in scientists and the patrons 

 of public museums in the wonders of the West that it may 

 be but the first of a long series of similar vacation excur- 

 sions which mav prove of mutual advantage to all engag- 

 ing in them and to the public at large." 



(Continued from page 704.) 



nia. The cultivation is done with one horse and a small 

 cultivator. A clear space 3 to 4 feet wide is left on each 

 side of the young trees. In the Verde River Valley of 

 Arizona, strawberries, lettuce, onions and melons are 

 raised in the young orchards. In parts of Idaho, alfalfa 

 fields are frequently plowed under to plant trees. When 

 this is done, berries, beans, melons, onions, and tomatoes 

 can be grown between the rows for several years without 

 any apparent injury to young trees. In northern Colo- 

 rado, raspberries, gooseberries, currants, as well as corn, 

 beans and peas are often planted in orchards, while in 

 southwestern Kansas it is usually cabbage, melons and 

 sweet potatoes. 



In the young apple orchards of Hood River Valley, 

 Oregon, strawberries are frequently planted between the 

 rows. The maner in which this is done, as well as the 

 system of contour planting which is there practiced, is 

 shown in figure 32. The manager of a large apple orchard 

 company in Montana states that no appreciable effect is 

 noticed on apple trees as a result of growing potatoes, 

 cabbage, beans, onions, and other vegetables between the 

 trees, providing the intercrops are well cultivated and irri- 

 gated. In the fruit districts of Washington, intercropping 

 is a common practice. In 1907 a fruit grower raised on 

 10 acres of two-year-old trees cantaloupes, tomatoes, pep- 

 pers, cucumbers, corn, radishes, beans, peas, potatoes, and 

 turnips, all of which netted him $2,086.50, or an average 

 of $208.65 an acre. 



While opinions differ regarding the wisdom of grow- 

 ing such crops as have been named between the tree rows, 

 most fruit growers are convinced of the beneficial effects 

 of cover crops. Notwithstanding the scarcity and high 

 value of water in the Riverside citrus district, the superin- 

 tendent of a large fruit company has for years grown peas 

 and vetch in the orange and lemon orchards under his 

 management, and advocates the free use of irrigation water 

 to supplement the winter rains for the rapid and vigorous 

 growth of such crops. In the walnut groves of Orange 

 County, Cal., bur clover is sown in the fall, given one or 

 two irrigations during the winter if the rainfall is below 

 the normal, and plowed under in April. 



The cost of such cover crops as peas, vetch, or clover 

 includes the seed, the labor of sowing it, the water, and 

 the time required to apply it. These items, according to 

 Dr. S. S. Twombly, of Fullerton, Cal., amount to from 

 $2.50 to $3.25 per acre. Twenty tons per acre of green 

 material is perhaps an average crop. In this tonnage there 

 would be about 160 pounds of nitrogen, which at 20 cents 

 per pound represents a value of $32 per acre for a cover 

 crop like vetch. 



Other beneficial effects of cover crops are quite fully 

 summarized by Prof. W. S. Thornber, horticulturist of the 

 Washington Agricultural Experiment Station. 



Winter Irrigation of Orchards. 



When water is used outside of the regular irrigation 

 period or, what is in many cases equivalent, outside of 

 the growing season, it is termed winter irrigation. Over 

 a large part of the arid region the growing season is 

 limited by low temperatures to 150 days, or less, and when 

 the flow of streams is utilized only during this period 

 much valuable water runs to waste. 



