The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-12-10


quantities of carbonate of soda, the usual
remedy is heavy applications OF gypsum
with drainage: If necessary; to insure
other alkai salts or seepage waters have
| accumulated in excessive quantities,
drainage is necessary. So sudden and
unexpected is the damage from the rise
! of seepage waters and aikali that estates
| worth thousands of dollars may have, to
| be abandoned in two or three years, with
an utter depreciation of value THESE
| waters are exceedingly intricate and diff
| ficult to work out. but the vas. import
ance of the economic problems depending
| upon these properties of soils JuStifleS a
| long and searching inquiry into them.
1T is acknowledged that there Is no
country in the world so rich in the num-
Der of variety of useful grasses and for
age plants as the United States. The in
! yestiga;ions of the division Of agrostoioey
have demonstrated that the country
abounds in native species adapted to near
| ly every variety OF soil and climate and
TO almost every requirement. There are
! upland and lowland varieties there are
/ woodland and prairie species. there are
! regions along the coast, and there are
! others which thrive in the arid regions of
| the interior. Some are productive nay
! grasses. or afford abundant grazing, while
! others again are valuable for fixing SANDS
or reclaiming impoverished or waste
lands. There are decorative species for
I the garden or lawn, and not few are
useful III the arts and manufacture
Grasses as Food Plants, -
:. Grasses are chiefly important, however.
as food plants for all kinds of stock,
y-e-ding beef mutton or other animal
prooucts, which are a source of great
wealth to the country and their investi-
cation along these lines is a Most useful
and essentially practical work of this
department. The fine quality of the for
! age Afforded by the native grasses CT our
vast cattle ranges is a matter of world
wide comment; the perpetuation and i'm
pIoVement OF the most valuable sorts are
matters of extreme Importance, and these
may well be the subjects Of practical
scientific investigations at our hands.
AS in former years. most OF the eX-
perimental work connected with the grass
forage plant Investigations is carried on
in cooperation with prominent farmers in
various parts of the country. to whom
SEEDS are sent for this purpose During
the year LOCO packages of seeds, COM
pris:ng lS5 varieties OF grasses and forage
plants. have been distributed in this way.
These seeds include choice varieties i'm
ported from foreign countries. in the hope
that they will snow special adapubility
to the conditions which prevail here, and
rative sorts. collected by agents sent
into the field to study the plants in their
natural condition and to select those pos
sessing characters of particular value for
cultivation In this way. it is being
varisties are likely to have wide range
of usefulness. and that some of the COM
monty grown sorts deserve to be much
more generally cultivated
hcA AdCh 1IdiuiAS.
'One great difficulty in irrigation in
YoStiGation is to fipd an adequate number
of men who have had proper training to
fit them to prepare publications or carry
on Investigations in the manner which
our work requires As a rule, the men
who are the best fitted for this work are
engaged in other enterprises and cannot
be induced TO enter the department >
In this, as in other lines of special in
vestigation which the department has
undertaken, it will be necessary to
organize force to work under the i'm
mediate direction of the expert in charge,
and some time must elapse before this
force can be thoroughly trained 50 as
10 perform the most efficient positions in
this service. The establishment of agri-
cultural colleges for education in the
sciences relating to agriculture has done
something toward preparing scientists in
lines in which very little has been done,
and this is one of them.
When the department. requires soil
physicists plant pathologists, or scientists
vel informed regarding animal hus-
bardry and irrigation, ii has been found
almost impossible to get them. The west
knowledge of the facts concerning irri-
CATION is most imperatively necessary,
are making vigorous efforts to educate
along these lines.
Study Water Rights.
1.-THE need of an impartial and thorough
methods of enforcing them is so urgent
that the department has been under con-
tinuous pressure from the people
of the arid states to devote all
the funds for irrigation Investigations to
this branch of the subject. The immense
area embraced in the irrigated regions.
the wide difference between the laws and
the methods of the different states. and
the compiexity and number of the prob
lens TO be considered have required the
expenditure of great deal of time and
thought in the organization of this in
vestigation. It is the intention. If sUf-
ficient provision is made, to include all
ths arid and semi-arid states in this
study during the coming year. In each
OF these states the law and methods differ
widely. Even where conditions are of a
similar nature, titles to water and meth
DDS of distribution are wholly unlike
Before we can rightly estimate the
value OF reservoirs we must know not
different drops. but the time when such
water is needed. The purpose of reser-
voirs Is to bring fluctuations in stream
flow into harmony with the variations in
the natural flow of many western rivers
permits of only small fraction of their
natural discharge being utilized, because
the waters run TO waste before or after
they are needed. We must know when
the water is needed. and how much is
needed in different months of the year.
before we can rightly estimate how much
must be stored in order to utilize the en-
tire supply.
Waste in Irrigation.
THE character of water right contracts
has much to do with the economy or
waste which prevails in irrigation. Many
of these contracts have been prepared by
people having little practical knowledge
of the subject. Among the class of con-
tracts which have been productive of
either discomfort or abuses are. first. per-
petual water rights. Under these con-
tracts the user pays a certain amount per
acre for all the land on the canal. whether
he irrigates il or not. These contracts
usually specify certain duty which has
or the crops to be cultivated were known.
Sometimes this duty Is so low as 10 be
4 direct incentive to waste: in others so
high as TO be manifestly one sided and
unfair
"A second class of contracts comprises
those for the delivery of water used at
a specified rate per acre, without regard
to the economy or waste of the irrigator.
These contracts lead to controversies.
because of the temptation on the part of
the irrigator to use all he can. regardless
of his necessities, since in that way he
gets more for his money; while on the
part of the canal owner the temptation is
TO agree to provide water for as many
acres as he can without regard TO his
ability. The objections to these two
classes of contracts are leading TO the
ment is made for the quantity OF water
used.
Injudicious Use of Water.
Many of the valleys of the mountain
states are being injured seriously by the
injudicious use of water. Wherever the
to the surface when too much water is
applied. and the land thereby rendered
infertile. More than one-thjrd of the
country depends upon the success of irri-
dustries and the political institutions of
that area and future growth viii also