THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



95 



thermore, the downspout should be provided with a cut- 

 off, so that the first flow from the roof of the building 

 may be kept out of the cistern. The cistern may be used 

 for water storage after it is 1 month old. 



Below is given the bill of materials and a liberal es- 

 timate of their cost. By consulting local dealers, it may 

 be found that the cost of the cistern can be reduced. 



Crushed rock, 12 cubic yards, at $1.10 '$13.20 



Sand, 6 cubic yards, at $1.00 6.00 



Portland cement, 21 barrels, at $2.50 52.50 



Reinforcement (112 rods ^ 

 inchxlO feet) 420 Ibs, at $0.02!4 9.45 



$81.15 

 If ornamental features are desired, moldings or tile 



decorations may be used. The point to bear in mind is. 



that an inexpensive cistern located on top of the ground 



provides the country house with the conveniences of a 



costly city waterworks. 



The prices of materials vary, of course, according to 



location and other factors. 



n 



rich garden soil and a similar plant in a coarse-grained 

 compact soil produced only eighty feet of roots. Other 

 conditions being equal the root systems of plants usually 

 develop in proportion to the development of the aerial 

 parts. D. W. FREAR. 



Colorado Agricultural College, Fort Collins. 



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Cross-Section of Cistern Built on Top of Ground Showing Forms and 

 Reinforcing. 



WEIGHT AND LENGTH OF ROOT SYSTEMS 

 OF PLANTS. 



Different investigators have found the following 

 amounts of root systems for the common farm crops. 

 The percentages are based on the dry weight of the aerial 

 part of the plant, that is, the part above the surface of 

 the ground: 



.Clover roots, 100' per cent of the weight of the total 

 year's crop; brome grass, 100 per cent; wheat, forty-five 

 per cent; oats, forty-five per cent and fourteen per cent; 

 rve, fifty-two per cent; flax, thirty-four per cent; peas, fifty- 

 two per cent and nine per cent; barley, thirteen per cent. 

 These figures vary considerably, but they show that the root 

 systems of plants are very extensive. There is a tendency 

 for a greater development of root system under arid 

 conditions, due to the greater distances which the roots 

 must travel for water and to the greater difficulty which 

 plants experience in absorbing the necessary amount of 

 soil solution. 



The total length of root systems of plants has been 

 found to vary as follows: Barley, 128 feet; oats, 150 

 feet; wheat, 268 feet, and 1,800 feet; rye, 385 feet; a 

 corn plant in the upper three feet of soil, 1,452 feet, and 

 a full grown pumpkin vine, fifteen and five-eighths miles. 



It has been observed that root systems tend to 

 greater length in a richer and more porous soil. In 

 one case a barley plant produced 128 feet of roots in a 



SMALL FARM UNITS MORE PROSPEROUS THAN 

 LARGE ONES. 



In compliance with the requests of numerous settlers 

 on the irrigation projects of the government the Secre- 

 tary of the Interior has issued the following regulation 

 governing the subdivision of farm units: 



1. A homestead entryman subject to the Reclamation 

 Act may relinquish a part of his farm unit and have the 

 payments which had been made on the relinquished part 

 credited to the charges on the retained part, provided that 

 the amendment in question may be allowed without jeo- 

 pardizing the interests of the government in the collection 

 of the charges against the portion of the tract relin- 

 quished. 



2. The entryman desiring to make 

 such relinquishment should submit his ap- 

 plication therefor to the project engineer, 

 who will transmit the same with his recom- 

 mendation through the proper channels to 

 the director, who, if he finds no objection, 

 will proceed as in other cases of proposed 

 amendments of farm units. 



This ruling is regarded as one of the 

 most important of recent years relating to 

 the reclamation work. It is a confirmation 

 also of the prediction which the officials of 

 the Bureau made several years ago that 

 the greatest successes on the reclamation 

 projects would be those on the small farms. 

 The requests for permission to subdivide 

 their farms comes almost without exception 

 from the men who have taken up land in 

 excess of their ability and means to culti- 

 vate. While the large land holder has been 

 wasting his energy, time, and capital in an 

 attempt to subdue his farm, and now finds 

 the burden too great for him to meet the 

 charges for building, operation and extra 

 u, labor, the small farmers as a general rule 

 have prospered and are slowly but surely 

 gaining a competence. 



Strong influence was brought to bear 

 upon the department in the beginning to 

 fix the farm units at not less than 160. 

 Every effort was made to convince the de- 

 partment that a man could not make a liv- 

 ing on less than this acreage. The most in- 

 fluential advocates of the large farm were the prominent 

 farmers and business men in each of these communities. 

 In this connection a recent letter from Col. H. W. Rowley, 

 the president of the Billings Chamber of Commerce, is 

 particularly interesting in view of the fact that until re- 

 cently he was apparently in doubt as to the small farm 

 idea: 



"I am most earnest in favoring the small farm unit 

 for this section of the country. The forty-acre farm unit, 

 as established on the Huntley U. S. Reclamation project 

 has proved a great success, and as a whole, it is perhaps 

 today the most prosperous section in our country, due en- 

 tirely to the small farm units. Our experience certainly 

 is that the small twenty to forty acre farmer is as a rule 

 successful, while the large units are not. 



"One of the most important problems that our Cham- 

 ber of Commerce will deal with during the next year will 

 be to educate our people to the advantage of the small 

 farm unit devoted to diversified farming. When this is 

 brought about we will have a wonderfully productive 

 country capable of sustaining a very large population of 

 successful home builders." 



Yours very truly, 



(Signed) H. W. ROWLEY. 



On some of the projects, the department, yielding in 

 part to the importunities of the people, fixed the units at 

 80 and 40 acres each, and has often since had occasion to 

 regret that it did not insist upon the smaller unit. 



