66 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



EXTENDING THE WORK OF THE DEPARTMENT 

 OF AGRICULTURE. 



Secretary Wilson some time ago ordered the Weather 

 Bureau to prepare for publication meteorological charts 

 of the North and South Atlantic and the North and South 

 Pacific and the Indian Oceans, and of the Great Lakes, 

 and these charts are now being distributed. In collecting 

 the data utilized in the preparation of these charts, the 

 services of 2,416 co-operative marine observers have been 

 enlisted, and 10,669 books of weather reports have been 

 issued for their. use. The popularity of the meteorological 

 charts continues undiminished among ship-masters. The 

 wireless telegraph service and the vessel reporting service, 

 the first conducted through co-operation with various 

 wireless telegraph companies and the latter at the sea- 

 coast stations of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, have been 

 particularly serviceable to marine interests. Twelve 

 wrecks occurred between Cape Henry and Hatteras during 

 the year, all of which were reported by the Live Saving 

 Service to the officials in charge of the Weather Bureau 

 telegraph stations at Cape Henry, Hatteras, and Manteo, 

 who promptly telegraphed the information to agents, 

 owners, and others interested. It is estimated that fully 

 $328,250 was saved through the assistance rendered the 

 vessels as the result of these reports. Timely information 

 of 18 casualties on Lake Huron, in which property valued 

 at $350,000 was endangered, was also given out from 

 the Weather Bureau station at Alpena, Mich., as a result 

 of information received over Weather Bureau land and 

 cable lines. 



By further direction of Secretary Wilson the Weather 

 Bureau and the Forest Service are making an exhaustive 

 study of the entire question of forest effects upon climate 

 and streamflow. The experiment station at Wagon Wheel 

 Can, Colo., established for the purpose of this investigation, 

 is now on a firm basis, and a complete series of observa- 

 tions has been made during the last eight months. Co- 

 operative meteorological stations are also maintained in 

 the Coconino National Forest in Arizona, and in the Fre- 

 mont National Forest in Colorado, data from which will 

 be available for study and comparison in connection 

 with the records at Wagon Wheel Gap. However, it 

 should be understood that results obtained in this semi- 

 arid region would be without value as a criterian for deter- 

 mining problems in connection with runoff that obtain in 

 the humid regions of the East. It is hoped that in course 

 of time an experimental area may be secured and the 

 necessary plant installed in both the Allegheny and White 

 Mountain regions. 



WHAT OUR RIVERS CARRY. 



The Colorado river discharges during an average year into 

 the Gulf of California 338,000,000 tons of mud and silt as 

 suspended matter. In addition to this the dissolved sub- 

 stances in the water include 4,550,000 tons of sodium 

 chloride, or common salt; 3,740,000 tons of Glauber's 

 salts; 4,000,000 tons of lime; 2,400,000 tons of gypsum; and 

 4,800,000 tons of Epsom salts. In spite of all this dis- 

 solved material the Colorado at its mouth is not con- 

 sidered to be a stream of unusually high mineralization 

 for that region of the country. The reason is that the 

 river also carries so enormous an amount of water that 

 the dissolved salts constitute a comparatively small pro- 

 portion of the total discharge. Other streams in the 

 country contain dissolved salts in greater concentration 

 for example, the Elm Fork of Red river, in Oklahoma, 

 discharges nearly 1,300,000 tons of common salt annually, 

 Although this amount is not so great as that discharged 

 by the Colorado it is much greater in proportion to the 

 size of the area drained. The discharge of salt from the 

 Colorado is equal to 20 tons annually to each square 

 mile drained by the river, but the salt in Elm Fork of Red 

 river is equal to 1,680 tons per square mile of area drained. 

 The same river discharges annually 177,000 tons of mag- 

 nesium chloride, 168,000 tons of Epsom salts, 690,000 tons 

 of gypsum, and 54,000 tons of lime. These quantities, too, 

 are considerably greater than those carried in the Colo- 

 rado in proportion to the size of the drainage area. 



Belle Fourche river, at Belle Fourcbe, S. Dak., dis- 

 charges 191.000 tons of gypsum, 79,000 tons of Glauber's 

 (Continued on page 73.) 



AN OFFICIAL VISITOR FROM INDIA. 



That a state in Central India should send a repre- 

 sentative to America to study irrigation and other prin- 

 ciples of farming is one of the marvelous facts of the 

 day. Mr. S. V. Kadam, an educated native belonging to 

 one of the high castes, has been in the United States for 

 several weeks investigating farming conditions, particu- 

 larly the use of modern machinery. After going west 

 in Canada as far as Calgary he came over to this country 

 and attended the Colorado convention, since which he 

 has spent most of his time in and around Chicago. The 

 gentleman is a special representative of H. H. the Maha- 

 raja Scindia of Gwalior, one of the wealthiest and most 

 progressive reigning princes of India. He made a careful 

 study of farm machinery here and will report on its merits 

 and cost as soon as he reaches home. His trip, like 

 that of Prof. Mclntosh of South Australia, will amount 

 to nearly 40,000 miles by the time he has closed his inves- 

 tigations. 



One of the odd things about his visit to America was 

 his purchase of a collection of breakfast foods, especially 

 those made from corn and wheat, grains which are com- 

 mon in India. Although the natives live chiefly on corn 

 they know little about its varied uses, and the breakfast 

 foods were a great novelty to the visitor, as they will be 

 to his sovereign, for whom Mr. Kadam bought a supply. 

 His state is naturally wealthy, but in agriculture is 

 strangely backward. There is little machinery at present, 

 but as an awakening has come under the progressive 

 reigning prince it is probable matters will soon take 

 on a modern aspect. Chicago dealers expect to sell a 

 large order, or several of them, as soon as the visitor is 

 able to make his official recommendations. 



Mr. Kadam stated to THE IRRIGATION AGE that he had 

 learned much since coming to America that will be of in- 

 terest and importance to his people. He declares that 

 the United States leads the world in machinery, but 

 not in economy of production. There is better farming 

 in Europe, and methods will improve here, he assumes, 

 as land values advance and people are forced to take 

 smaller tracts. It is the cheap land that has caused waste- 

 ful methods in this country. This fact is seen at a glance 

 by visitors. Mr. Kadam has visited nearly all the large 

 cities of the United States. It seems almost beyond be- 

 lief to a man from India that a place like Chicago can 

 be developed in a period of a hundred years. Equally 

 wonderful to him was the sight of motor plows and 

 reapers in the great wheat fields of the Northwest. 



One dollar per annum brings THE IRRIGATION AGE to 

 you for a whole year. Just think of all the good and useful 

 reading matter pertaining to your work you are getting for 

 this little sum. 



CEMENT PRODUCTION IN UNITED STATES 

 BREAKS RECORD. 



Ten years ago the production of PortVand cetneat for 

 the first time passed the 10,000,000-barrel mark, showing 

 an increase of 2,600 per cent over the production of 10 

 years previous, and the giant strides that had bee made 

 in the industry were widely remarked. Even this produc- 

 tion was small compared with that of the present day 

 In 1910, according to the report on cement by Ernest F. 

 Burchard, of the United States Geological Survey, the 

 production of Portland cement reached the enormous total 

 of 76,549,951 barrels, with a value of $68,205,800. This is 

 equivalent to 12,986.152 long tons, valued at $5.25 a ton. 

 It is an increase over the output for 1909 of 11,558,520 

 barrels, or nearly 18 per cent, and an increase in value of 

 $15,347,446, or more than 29 per cent. This increase alone 

 is greater than the total output of Portland cement in 1900. 

 In addition to Portland cement there was also produced 

 last year 1,139,239 barrels of natural cement and 95,951 

 barrels of puzzolan cement, a total of 77,785,141 barrels. 



The price of Portland cement in 1910 was as low as 

 73 c-ents a barrel in some places, the average for the 

 United States being 89.1 cents a barrel. In 1890 the aver- 

 (Continued on page 76.) 



