16 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



and ten thousand may be superseded by the Greek numerals, 

 deka, hecto, kilo, myria, although the writer cannot see any 

 advantages gained thereby. The system outlined above has all 

 the advantages of the metric system so far as adaptability 

 and saving of time is concerned and at the same time is 

 simple in many of its parts and is particularly well adapted 

 for use in the United States on account of the fundamental 

 unit, the mile remaining undisturbed, and on account of its 

 similarity to the monetary standard. 



NEW GAME LAWS. 



A comprehensive summary of the game laws of the 

 United States and Canada, including those enacted during 

 the present year, is set forth in Farmers' Bulletin 470, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, soon to be is- 

 sued by Secretary Wilson. The bulletin brings the data 

 relating to game up to date and shows, by states, the new 

 as well as old laws, changes, and modifications of all laws 

 relating to shipment, sales, limits and licenses. 



It is stated that while the 1911 laws exceeded in vol- 

 ume those of any previous year, that was due to changes 

 in the warden service, control of license funds, and to the 

 curtailment of the bag limit rather than to modifying of 

 seasons. Notable modifications in the warden system 

 were made in Delaware, New York, North Dakota, Ore- 

 gon and Wyoming. Other states also passed laws increas- 

 ing the warden force. Montana created three; North 

 Dakota two game preserves, while Idaho and Washing- 

 ton added one each to their preserves. Massachusetts 

 and Oregon made permanent arrangements for the creat- 

 ing of future preserves. California, Maine, Massachu- 

 setts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey and Wisconsin 

 passed laws permitting the possession and disposal of 

 game reared in private preserves. North Carolina joined 

 the lists of states prohibiting the exportation of live quail 

 for restocking purposes. New York adopted legislation 

 closing its markets to all but a few foreign species and 

 game raised in captivity. 



A novel feature of new legislation was the prohibit- 

 ing of the belling of dogs or use of other noise-producing 

 devices in wild-fowl shooting in Delaware, and the pro- 

 hibiting by North Dakota of the use of automobiles in 

 duck hunting. 



The deer season was shortened from eleven to six 

 days in Colorado, and from 109 to 62 in California, but 

 was lengthened in Michigan, South Carolina, Vermont 

 and Wyoming. Cottontail and bush rabbits were placed 

 on the game list and provided with a season in California. 

 Wild ducks were added to the lists in Delaware and South 

 Carolina; Delaware placed woodcock on the game list; 

 Kansas, squirrels and snipe; Maine, eider ducks; Nebraska, 

 kill-deers and doves; and New Jersey, Hungarian part- 

 ridges. Much needed protection was given gray and 

 black squirrels by Kansas; wild ducks by Massachusetts; 

 wood ducks by Maine and Vermont; and doves and swans 

 by North Dakota. 



Rhode Island shortened its shore bird season, open- 

 ing October 15 instead of July 15. Tennessee prohibited 

 the sale of quail and robins. North Carolina revoked the 

 authority of the Audubon Society to issue permits for the 

 exportation of quail. Arkansas. Alabama, California, Col- 

 orado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, In- 

 diana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, 

 Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hamp- 

 shire, New Jersey, New York, Jvjorth Carolina, North Da- 

 kota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode 

 Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, 

 Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wiscon- 

 sin all made changes in these laws. The total number of 

 new game laws passed in 1911 was about 250. 



THE EFFECT OF EROSION. 



Some very interesting investigations by the United 

 States Geological Survey of the erosions of nu- 

 merous drainage basins of the nation reveal that the sur- 

 face of the country is being removed at the average rate 

 of about an inch in 760 years. Though this amount may 

 seem trivial when spread over the surface of the entire 

 country it becomes stupendous when considered as a 

 total, or even in separate drainage basins. 



The Mississippi river carries annuallv to the Gulf of 



Mexico 136,400,000 tons of dissolved matter. Of this total 

 the Ohio river carries 83,350,000 tons, while the Missouri 

 river contributes more than twice that much. The Colo- 

 rado river, which, like the Mississippi, has built for itself 

 a vast delta, brings down more suspended matter than any 

 other river in the United States, delivering annually 387 

 tons for each square mile of its drainage basin, or a total 

 of 100,740,000 tons. 



The rivers of the United States, the Geological Survey, 

 reports show, carry to tidewater each year 270,000,000 tons 

 of dissolved matter and 513,000,000 tons of suspended mat- 

 ter. This total represents more than 350,000,000 cubic 

 yards of rock, or 610,000,000 cubic yards of surface soil. 

 If this erosive action could have been concentrated on the 

 Isthmus of Panama, the report says, at the time of Amer- 

 ican occupation, it would have excavated the prism for 

 an 85-foot level canal in about seventy-three days. 



These figures were prepared by the Geological Survey 

 for use by the National Irrigation Congress, which meets 

 in Chicago Dec. 5 to 9 of this year, and which is inter- 

 ested in the drainage of the vast areas of the swamp lands 

 created at the mouths of and along the nearby plains of 

 many of the nation's waterways, the entire area thus cre- 

 ated and possible of reclamation being 80,000,000 acres. 

 The congress, at its sessions this year, hopes to bring 

 about an extension of the work of the United States 

 Reclamation Service by which reclamation work might 

 be furthered in these lowland areas. This national devel- 

 opment phase will be one of the most important topics 

 before the December gathering. 



CO-OPERATION BETWEEN EDUCATION AND 



AGRICULTURE. 



Universities throughout the country have awakened 

 to the present day need of a deeper application on the 

 part of our college men to the study of agriculture in all 

 its various branches. Not detracting from the advantages 

 of the many professions that are encouraged in most edu- 

 cational institutions, suffice it to say that there are, each 

 year, graduated from institutes of learning more lawyers, 

 doctors, dentists, teachers and preachers than are re- 

 quired, while the country stands in absolute need of at- 

 tention by minds and men scientifically trained in all of 

 the varied branches of agriculture. 



There is need of a course in agriculture that will be 

 complete, and offer a term of study fitting the student 

 to play an important part in the general development of 

 the nation. With the advance of irrigation, dry farming 

 methods, scientific plant breeding, intensive farming, seed 

 selection, soil physics and fertility, the various branches 

 of animal husbandry and modern methods of water and 

 rainfall conservation, the need of scientific training is be- 

 coming more necessary. In this age of competition the 

 combination of science with practical experience will help 

 in a large measure to overcome the problems of crop un- 

 certainty, which yearly occasions chaos and loss to the 

 nation. Instead of this condition, a system of crop relia- 

 bility ever increasing in usefulness and scope will be de- 

 veloped by the colleges where agriculture plays an im- 

 portant part in the educational work. Arizona has been 

 quick to realize the advantages of scientific agriculture 

 and prompt to establish a four-year course at its univer- 

 sity at Tucson, which is perfect in completeness and 

 which carries with it the degree of B. S. The university 

 is entitled to the hearty commendation of the agricul- 

 tural interests of the country at large for taking this step, 

 the effect of which will be of national importance. 



OUTDOOR STORAGE CELLARS. 



Cheap and Useful in Both Summer and Winter. 



On every farm in any locality there is need of a good 

 outside cellar. In cold climates they afford the best and 

 cheapest winter storage for fruit, vegetables, and bees. 

 They are just as valuable in summer for keeping berries, 

 milk, and butter. In the southwest such cellars offer the 

 only means of safety during cyclones. Because they can 

 do all the work themselves, farmers everywhere are build- 

 ing their cellars of concrete. 



Building the Walls and Floor. 



The most popular size for the average farm is a cellar 



