The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-02-12
WATER ON
MAUI ISLE
Investigation Of
irrigation by
Smith.

Jared G. Smith, director of the Ha
waiian Agricultural Experiment Sta
ton, began yesterday upon his stud!
OF the irrigation problems of Hawaii
under direction Of the Irrigation Blu
reau at Washington. The statistics t.
he collected by him and the report up
Oh his Investigations are to be for,
wGrded to that department upon ON
pletion.
Mr.. Smith will first make a tour OF
the Island of Maui, and departed on
the Claudine yesterday to begin work
There. He will remain there about ten
days, and during that time intends to
visit all the plantations and pumping
tstations of the Island. He will take in
Haiku, Spreckelsville, Hawaiian Com
lmercial and other plantat ions, and ex-
Ipects to make as thorough a study of
the irrigation systems there as the
limited time at his disposal will per-
nit. He will be assisted while there
by George HI. Baldwin of the Haiku
Sugar Company, who has already be-
gun a study of the water supply on
that Island, and has SO informed the
Department Of Agriculture at Wash
! ington.
| Upon his return from Maui, Mr..
Smith will make a tour of this Island,
and will later go to Kauai for the
purpose of looking into the condition
| of the water supply on that Island.
He will not include Hawaii in his in
designations, both because of the short
time at his disposal, and also by rea-
son of the fact that a great many of
the plantations on the Big Island are
not dependent upon artificial sources
of water supply. The work is to be
done under the direction of Elwood
Mead who is in charge of the Irriga-
ton at Washington, and as Mr.. Smith
has but two months at his disposal the
investigation cannot be a very COM
plete one.
Below is given an abstract from the
letter of instructions sent to Mr.. Smith
by Mr.. Mead, which will show the scope
of the Investigations:
Owing to the limited time you are
to devote to this work, / believe it
will be we'll to restrict the field of your
investigation to the pumping of water
for irrigation"
The following is the outline of work
to be done by Mr.. Smith:
Collection of information regarding
annual rainfall. and sources of water
supply for irrigation.
THE kinds of pumps used in provid-
ing a supplemental supply: their cost;
the volume of water furnished; the
total height of the lift; the cost per
acre Gf it can be ascertained) of pro-
Viding a water supply for irrigation.
1.-The amount of water used in irri-
eating an acre of land.
1.-THE acres irrigated from each pump
ing station visited.
1.-The yield and value of the crops
grown.
1.-The methods of applying water to
crops.
Number of irrigations required.
I'VE would like to have you to ar
range to secure, if possible. a record
of the pumping operations of some Of
the most important stations for the
year. this record to include the
total volume of water lifted. the acres
of land it was used on. the kind of
fuel consumed to furnish power, If
steam rather than electricity is the
motive force"
The letter states also that George H.
Baldwin of the Haiku Sugar Company
of Maui is arranging to begin a sys-
tematic investigation of the water re-
sources of that Island.
Mr.. Smith has been notified also that
the Agricultural Department is soon to
send to Hawaii an expert to make
of the Hawaiian laws re-
garding water rights, though it is bare
ly possible that one of the members
of the staff now at work at the Expert
ment Station may be given the detail