4 
with the changes consequent on irrigation, which make less ^ 
water necessary, will increase our water supply in effect, if ' 
not in amount. 
It is safe to say that a good system of measurement will 
save a large amount of water. Every one knows that in finan¬ 
cial affairs a close account is the basis of sound economy. It 
is also true in water matters. The mere fact of measurement 
makes users more careful about waste, and in the aggregate 
the saving is considerable, as some cities which measure water 
to consumers have found. With water plentiful, the system, 
or lack of system, works without friction. The practice is to ^ 
give enough to stop complaint, if there is water enough. But 
as water becomes scarcer and the demand greater, then the 
system works gross injustice. If some one gets more than his 
share, it means that some one else gets less. And this may 
mean ruin to his crops. Inmany parts of the state the pressure 
for water is already being felt. It is only a question of time 
when the other localities will feel the same pressure, and with 
time, all will feel the demand more. Hence it is that there will 
never be an easier time for arranging satisfactory measure¬ 
ments than now; for the demand will not be less, and with 
time and the increase in value of water then there will be 
many who will feel that they have rights vested in certain 
methods of measurement which may be intrinsically unjust. 
This bulletin is the result of the consideration of the 
measuring devices forced upon my attention by various trips 
over the canals of this state. The study has extended, espec¬ 
ially since the first edition, to devices in use in other states 
and in other countries than our own, in the hope of finding 
a device which should meet all the desirable conditions. It 
cannot be said that any are free from objection, but there are ^ 
some which can be recommended, and, since even on some 
canals with a presumed system of measure I have found dis¬ 
crepancies amountingrto as much as 400 per cent., there is 
much room for improvement. It may be said, with the pres¬ 
ent knowledge, there is no need for the variation to be more 
than 10 or 20 per cent., except in occasional cases, and it is 
scarcely necessary to except these. 
On this subject, as well as on others in the line of irriga¬ 
tion, the experience of Italy is useful. Her physical condi¬ 
tions are not so far different from ours. She has the accumu¬ 
lated experience of six centuries with irrigation ; we of 
scarcely thirty years. While the progress made here by a 
people who had to rely on themselves for their knowledge of 
irrigation has been marvelous, it is unquestionably true that 
we may learn much from her experience. The physical laws 
