NovEsnjEE 2, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



675 



first year's work along this line are given in 

 a bulletin * on ' The Use of Water in Irri- 

 gation,' which is now in press. This bulle- 

 tin deals with the methods in use in the 

 arid States in the distribution and. use of 

 water in irrigation, and gives a large num- 

 ber of measurements made to determine the 

 ' duty of water ' and the losses from seepage 

 and evaporation in canals ; and discusses the 

 methods by which the water supply may be 

 more effectively and economically applied 

 to crops. It contains papers discussing the 

 results of the year's investigation by El wood 

 Mead, expert in charge ; tables for use in 

 measuring water and diagrams showing use, 

 by Clarence T. Johnston, assistant ; and re- 

 ports and discussions of irrigation investiga- 

 tions in different localities by special agents 

 Thomas Berry, Colorado ; W. M. Reed, New 

 Mexico ; W. H. Code, Arizona ; W. Irving, 

 California ; E. C. Gemmell and George L. 

 Swendsen, Utah ; D. W. Eoss, Idaho ; 

 Samuel Fortier, Montana ; and 0. V. P. 

 Stout, ITebraska. The bulletin is illus- 

 trated by numerous plates, diagrams, and 

 maps showing the location and character of 

 the investigations made. It is probably 

 the most complete collection of data on the 

 ' duty of water ' in irrigation which has 

 ever been published, and is especially valu- 

 able because it is based on measurements, 

 systematically planned and synchronously 

 made, of the amount of water actually used 

 on a large number of farms in widely sepa- 

 rated portions of the arid region. 



Among the important facts brought out 

 in the report is the enormous loss of water 

 from canals and reservoirs by seepage and 

 evaporation. From actual measurements 

 made it is estimated that in some cases at 

 least the loss from these causes might be 

 so far reduced by better methods of con- 

 struction and management as to double the 

 area at present irrigated by the canals. At- 



*TJ. S.Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations, 

 Bui. 86, pp. 248. 



tention is also called to the large losses occur- 

 ring when water under small head is spread 

 in a thin layer over soils heated to the high 

 temperatures common in some parts of the 

 arid region, and to the great advantages of 

 rotation in the use of water as contrasted 

 with the wasteful methods encouraged by the 

 common system of contracts which gives to 

 the irrigator the right to a uniform and con- 

 stant flow of water. The results, therefore, 

 not only furnish the basis for improving 

 methods of irrigation already in use and 

 for framing more equitable laws, but it is 

 believed that they indicate more clearly the 

 lines along which strictly scientific inquiries 

 may be most successfully directed. 



Owing to the absolute dependence of 

 agriculture upon irrigation in the arid re- 

 gion, attention was first directed to the irri- 

 gation problems of that region, but the 

 work is being extended to the eastern or so- 

 called ' humid ' portion of the United States, 

 for the necessity for irrigation is by no 

 means confined to the region west of the 

 hundredth meridian. The aggregate loss 

 from total or partial crop failure as a con- 

 sequence of periods of drought in the re- 

 gion where the rainfall is usually considered 

 sufficient for the needs of agriculture is far 

 greater than is generally realized. This 

 fact is clearly brought out in a report by 

 E. B. Voorhees on ' Irrigation in New Jer- 

 sey.'* This bulletin discusses the need of 

 irrigation in N"ew Jersey, reports the results 

 of experiments at the experiment station at 

 !N"ew Brunswick and elsewhere in ISTew Jer- 

 sey during 1899 to determine whether irri- 

 gation during periods of drought is a profit- 

 able undertaking, and gives descriptions 

 and statements of cost of a number of 

 small irrigation plants in New Jersey. 



The rainfall records of Philadelphia for 

 70 years are cited to show the frequency of 

 injurious droughts : 



"■ U. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations, 

 Bui. 87, pp. 40. 



