HEARINGS BEFORE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. 857 
ply of the stream. Those canals can be extended to irrigate 300,000 
acres of land, and yet do that without an excessive duty of water—do 
it with a less duty of water; that is, the applying of a less quantity of 
water to the land than is done in Colorado; and the whole question of 
whether they have 100,000 acres of land irrigated or 300,000 acres of 
land irrigated rests on the establishment of better practices on the part 
of those farmers. 
Mr. Brooks. Is it true that as a usual thing the tendency is to over- 
irrigate and waste water? 
Mr. Mrap. It is with the beginner. It alway is. 
Mr. Brooxs. Your idea is that there can be a more economical use 
of water instituted under the direction of this Bureau? 
Mr. Mean. Oh, yes. I think the work we are doing is going to 
result ultimately in making the water that now irrigates an acre of 
land irrigate 2 acres, and that means larger profits, of course. 
Mr. Brooks. That is just the point, the less water the best results. 
Mr. Mean. Yes, to a certain point. The same situation exists in 
Utah. There we are cooperating. I will say the work we are doing 
in Washington is being carried on in cooperation with the State agri- 
cultural college and experiment station, and there is such an interest 
in the work that we are doing in the Yakima Valley that they are 
desirous that next year we should issue monthly bulletins which will 
give to the settlers and the ditch owners of that country an idea of 
what is actually taking place in the application of water to those lands, 
how much they are putting on the lands from month to month, so that 
they can guage themselves whether they are making advances in their 
lessening the use of water, because they all realize—the ditch com- 
panies realize, the farmers that are not irrigating all their land realize— 
that the complete development of that country rests entirely on the 
adoption of better practices in the use of water. 
Mr. Bow1z. How many thousand acres of land have you already 
irrigated there now? ~ 
r. Mrap. In the Yakima Valley? 
Mr. Bowrr. In that western country which you have been discussing. 
Mr. Meap. It is approximately 10,000,000 acres. ‘ 
Mr. Bowrs. In which you expect to increase the sufficiency of the 
water supply so that it will cover 20,000,000 acres? 
Mr. Mrap. Yes; there is about 10,000,000 acres irrigated, and 
about 5,000,000 additional acres under canal already built that is not 
irrigated, and I feel certain that it is a safe proposition, by better 
methods of administration and operation of the canal, that you can 
operate every acre of that additional 5,000,000 acres without any 
additional canals or any additional water supply. That covers the 
principal line of our work in the arid region. Now, let us take up the 
semiarid region. 
Mr. Brooxs. May I ask you a question before you do that? 
Mr. Meap. Yes. a. 
Mr. Brooks. Does the presence of seepage permanently injure the 
land? 
Mr. Mrap. No, sir. 
Mr. Brooxs. If it can be removed, the land will be restored to its 
original condition? : 
Mr. Meap. Entirely. Drainage is not only a remedy for the sur. 
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