168 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



should not be speedily adjusted to the satisfaction of all 

 concerned. 



Then we would have regulation, not extermination, of 

 our important business concerns, which will keep the blood 

 running in the veins of trade. 



stances. All of these problems require study and attention 

 and should be considered along with the greater ones, so 

 that the final result will be satisfactory, in every way. 



An important decision of general inter- 

 An es t to our readers has recently been ren- 



Interesting dered by Judge Smith of the Superior 



Irrigation Court of California, who issued a writ 



p of mandate directing the directors of the 



South San Joaquin Irrigation district to 

 exclude eighty acres of land owned by W. B. Harleson, 

 whose property lies within the regularly organized dis- 

 trict. 



Harleson, prior to the organization of the district, had 

 installed irrigating pumps, run ditches and established an 

 irrigation system on his farm. At the time of the organi- 

 zation of the district Harleson protested before the board 

 of directors for exclusion, but failed to gain the exclu- 

 sion sought. 



In his opinion Judge Smith states that the expenditure 

 of moneys sufficient to afford irrigation to the tract prior 

 to district organization, coupled with the fact that exclu- 

 sion was sought pending the process of formation entitles 

 Harleson to exclusion. 



This decision is no doubt based on equity, since Mr. 

 Harleson should have been given some allowance or 

 credit for moneys spent in developing irrigation on his 

 holdings. On the other hand, the conditions under which 

 the larger project was organized might mean improved 

 irrigation facilities to Mr. Harleson, and by the same law 

 of equity he should be willing to pay the difference to the 

 South San Joaquin Irrigation District. 



The movement for the reclamation of 

 Drainage swamp lands in the United States will no 



Problems doubt receive a very important impulse at 



Renuire tn e forthcoming meeting of the National 



Attention. Drainage Congress, which will be held in 



New Orleans, La., from April 10th to 

 April 13th. This body, though newly organized last Decem- 

 ber in Chicago, has been very active in pushing this impor- 

 tant subject to the front and is now making good headway 

 toward systematic work along these lines. The scope of this 

 work covers even a greater area than the lands which can 

 be irrigated, and the drainage problems are, as a general 

 thing, less expensive than the problem of irrigating similar 

 amounts of land. 



Elsewhere there is a detailed statement giving the area 

 of swamp lands within the various states of the United 

 States which may be reclaimed by drainage. This tremen- 

 dous area, nearly twice as big as the state of Illinois is, by 

 no means all the wet land that can be reclaimed in this 

 manner, for this shows only the larger continuous stretches 

 and does not take any cognizance of small patches of a few 

 acres on the various farms that might often easily be con- 

 verted into very fertile and productive land by a slight ex- 

 penditure of money by the individual farmers. It is safe 

 to say that if all these small areas now forming waste lands 

 be added to the reclaimed acreage it would swell the total 

 enormously, and the beauty of the operation would be that 

 legislation for its inauguration or accomplishment will be 

 unnecessary, each individual owner solving his drainage 

 problem in his own way, best suited his particular circum- 



Erosive 

 Action 

 of Our 

 Rivers. 



Few people realize that there is an 

 almost imperceptable but nevertheless 

 continuous process going on which in 

 the course of time will level down all 

 our mountains and hills and will leave 

 finally the surface of the world slightly 

 above the sea level, an almost level plateau, while the area 

 of the seas will be considerably enlarged. This will be 

 the consequence of the erosive action of our rivers, which 

 are carrying constantly tremendous quantities of solid 

 and saline matter from the mountains and uplands into 

 the sea. It is estimated that the Mississippi river de- 

 posits into the Gulf of Mexico annually about 140 millions 

 of tons of soil and salts, while the Colorado river carries 

 two and one-half times as much matter into the Gulf of 

 California. The geological survey of the United States 

 discloses the fact that all the rivers of the United States 

 taken together carry to the sea annually 270 millions of 

 tons of saline matter and 513 millions of tons of soil. 

 This represents something like 600 millions of cubic yards 

 of earth; if this were spread over the total area of the 

 United States it is found that this action will reduce the 

 thickness of the soil on an average of one inch in 760 

 years. 



Hence there is no immediate danger of the land be- 

 ing swallowed up by the sea, but the fact that such is 

 the tendency should be borne in mind; also while the 

 erosion is very slight on level and moderately inclined 

 surfaces it is very much greater on hilly and mountainous 

 surfaces, and consequently the mountains and hills are 

 contributing the bulk of the substances which the rivers 

 carry to the sea. 



Thoughts 

 That 

 Come 

 And Go 



A Parcel Post System, similar to the one 

 in Australia, is what is needed in the 

 United States perhaps more than any 

 other one thing. This applies with par- 

 ticular force to the rural population. 



In Australia the Government carries packages up to 

 eleven pounds for 72 cents any distance, while in the United 

 States we pay 64 cents for four pounds, with all packages 

 above four pounds excluded. 



* * * 



The Farmers' Parcel Post Letter Day has been set for 

 March 18th ; this is the date on which every farmer within 

 the United States should write a letter to his congressman 

 demanding laws for an efficient Parcel Post. 



* * * 



If you miss March 18th, or if you don't read this until 

 some later day, write anyway. Do not neglect to write your 

 congressman in Washington that you want a Parcel Post 

 which will deliver packages to your door for a reasonable 



charge. 



* * * 



With the rural free delivery system in operation all 

 through the United States the extension of the Parcel Post 

 is an easy problem; the machinery of distribution is now 

 operating at a loss for the want of packages which might be 

 carried practically without additional cost. 



