[24] 



the ground six feet. Should alfalfa be found to drink water by the roots in 

 the same proportion as above claimed for clover the seven tons per year 

 given as the yield in the Snake River Canyon leads to the astonishing re- 

 sult of 2,310 tons of water per acre annually consumed, or about 27 inches, 

 which is yet so far short of the six feet mentioned by Mr. Samuel Fortier, 

 compiler of Bulletin 50, on the " water supply of Cache valley, Utah." 



The difference suggests such an immense waste of water where that 

 may be so truly called " the water of life," as to call for a wide range of ex- 

 periment, both as to the requirement of plants and economical methods of 

 furnishing what is necessary. 



In connection with Mr. Dosoh's brief description of orchards and farms 

 of Snake river canyon, the cultivator ought to know as near as possible 

 how much water he needs for each acre of apples, pears, peaches, prunes or 

 other fruit crop ; how much for his several field crops. These questions 

 will not only arise in limited localities, as between those who are drawing 

 from the same ditch, but will arise between districts as to what propor- 

 tion of a river, like the Snake river, shall be drawn out on the north side, at 

 the American falls for instance, and what amount will be required or can 

 be used on the south side. So, in such a situation as the Deschutes near 

 Farewell bend, the whole flow of the river might be taken on to the desert, 

 but on the west side the Tamilowa and Benton, or Squaw creek, can be 

 used over much of that area, while the whole of the stream could be taken 

 out on the east side and carried across Crooked river to fertilize a fine body 

 of dry plain on the north side of that stream. 



There certainly seems a wide field for intelligent enterprise. 



JOHN MINTO, 

 Secretary State Board of Horticulture. 



