674 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 305. 



has developed during the past third of a 

 centurj' into a truly learned profession. 

 There was never a time in the history of 

 the world when the questions of general 

 education were more carefully considered 

 than at the present ; and there was never a 

 time when this country was more concerned 

 with the work of the engineer than now. 

 The nation, just awakening to a conscious- 

 ness of its power and responsibility, is tak- 

 ing its place among the nations of the earth, 

 and is seeking to decide the destiny of the 

 peoples of the earth. "We are now sending 

 our manufactured products to all parts of 

 the world, and if we are to have part in the 

 commercial conquest of the earth, it will be 

 because of the ability, the foresight, the 

 wisdom of our own engineers. The only 

 agency seeking to prepare engineers for 

 their work is the engineering college. Their 

 work in molding and directing the engi- 

 neering education of the future will be no 

 less important than in the past. They en- 

 joy the respect and confidence of the public, 

 and a still wider field of influence and re- 

 sponsibility lies open before them. May 

 the deliberations of this Society continue to 

 be a source of strength and inspiration to 

 the engineering colleges. May the engineer 

 of the twentieth century have better tech- 

 nical training, broader culture and nobler 

 aspirations. May the profession of engineer- 

 ing come to occupy a still higher position 

 in the esteem and respect of the public. 



Ira 0. Baker. 

 Univeesity of Illinois. 



PBOGBESS m IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS. 

 The organization and objects of the irri- 

 gation inquiries of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture have been partly explained in 

 an earlier number of this Journal.* Con- 

 gress at its last session increased the ap- 



>^ Science, 11 (1899), p. 798. 



propriation for this work from $35,000 to 

 $50,000. 



It was realized at the outset of these 

 investigations that a basis of settlement 

 of the controversies over rights to water 

 for irrigation purposes, which are very 

 frequent and acute in the arid region, where 

 the supply of water is limited, must be 

 reached before it would be wise to at- 

 tempt to greatly increase the use of water 

 for irrigation. The uncertainty of water 

 rights and ignorance as to the amounts ac- 

 tually needed for successful agriculture led 

 irrigators to claim more water than they 

 could possibly use, frequently more than 

 the natural supply yielded, and encouraged 

 extravagant rather than economical use of 

 water. It was for this reason that the De- 

 partment directed attention first to the col- 

 lation and publication of information re- 

 garding the laws and institutions of the 

 irrigated region in their relation to agricul- 

 ture, and a number of bulletins dealing 

 with this phase of the subject, as well as 

 with general irrigation practice, have been 

 published. At the same time it was realized 

 that an exact knowledge of the water re- 

 quirements of cultivated plants at different 

 stages of growth and under varying condi- 

 tions of soil, climate, etc., is fundamental 

 to an economical, rational practice of irriga- 

 tion. It was therefore determined that one 

 of the two main lines of work undertaken 

 should be the collation and publication of 

 information regarding the use of irrigation 

 waters in agriculture as shown by actual 

 experience of farmers and by experimental 

 investigations. It was decided, however, 

 that the strictly scientific studies provided 

 for in this plan could be more intelligently 

 pursued after the actual practice as regards 

 irrigation in the various localities where it 

 is already engaged in had been ascertained. 

 Inquiries having the latter object in view 

 were planned and put into operation on a 

 comprehensive scale. The results of the 



