Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-13

ber of generations. Therefore the live,
thinking women of the country have
taken up this work with a will, and
| when a woman sets her will upon any
thing she usually accomplishes it.
DIR. A. G. True, director of the office
of experiment statistics of the depart
ment of agriculture. spoke at today's
session of the irrigation congress, ex-
planning the scope and purpose of the
| irrigation Investigations carried on by
his department. The scope, he said, is
the use of water in irrigation, and its
purpose is the largest use of our water
supplies and the adoption of the best
methods in their use.
Irrigation Waters Needed
"At present the greatest need of the
arid region, judged by the calls on us
for help, is along the second line of
work committed to us by congress
the use of irrigation waters. with espe-
| cial suggestions of the best methods
for the utilization of irrigation waters
| in agriculture" said DR.. True.
Throughout the arid region the in
crease in the area under ditch has out
run the natural Increase in population,
and as a consequence you must look to
| the humid region for the farmers who
will give value to the bitches built and
| the lands covered. These prospective
farmers are uninformed as to the gen.
eral conditions under which they Will
have to live and also as to the methods
of using water in the production of
corps. The ditch promoters do much
to supply the first deficiency. but the
I people of the east are suspicious of
| advertisements, and they write by hun
dreds to our department asking about
this or that scheme, whether it is
! legitimate and whether the claims as
| to crops grown are true. 1t has been
| impossible to answer these in detail,
but we have during the past year had
prepared and issued a series of bulle-
| tins on irrigation in different states and
territories. the central idea of which is
to present the information needed by
person who is considering settlement
on irrigated lands anywhere in the
west.
information Not Sufficient
"These bulletins contain the infor-
nation the settler needs in deciding
whether he wishes to take up irrigated
| lands and where he shall settle. But
he is in greater need when he goes on
the lands. He does not know when
nor how to apply the water to his
soil. Much of this he must learn by
experience, but we are doing what we
can to meet his needs by publishing
bulletins describing the best practice
of the sections already highly devel-
oped and giving plain directions as to
how to perform every operation con-
nected with the use of water in irrl-
cation. In addition, our field men de-
vote as much time as possible to Civ
| ing oral advice and public talks along
these lines. Just now more of our
energy is being devoted to the needs
of the new settler than to any other
! line of work.
Taking the country as whole,
however, and looking at the arid region
| from national standpoint, economy
in water is more important. The high
est estimate of the area which can
be served by the available water sup
ply is about 10 per cent of the total
area, while the more conservative stu
dents of the arid region place it at
5 per cent. All admit that the water
supply is the limiting factor In the
development of the west. 1t follows
then that every reduction in the guam
tity used upon a given area makes
possible n corresponding increase in
the area which can be reclaimed.
Water Used on Plants Is Little
"The quantity of water actually used
by plants in the processes of growth
| is very small as compared with the
quantities diverted from streams for
use in irrigation, and 1t may be pos
sible to decrease this quantity by
breeding drouth -resistent crops, but
| this does not offer a very large oppor-
| tunity for saving on account of the
small quantity required by any plants.
But in order that plants may secure
! their supply it is necessary to keep
in the soil considerably larger guam
titles of moisture. which must be held
| there against losses by evaporation and
| percolatiop. And in order that this
amount may be supplied to the soil
much larger quantities must be di-
Verted from streams to supply evap-
| grafton and seepage losses in transit.
Many farmers use much more water
than is necessary through mistaken
| ideas as to the quantities required
while careless and wasteful use is re-
sponsible for much loss.
"Seepage, evaporation, excessive use
and waste are the great sources of loss,
and while this loss is regrettable, there
| is hope in the fact that most of it is
preventable. 1t will never be possible
to limit use to the quantity consumed
| by growing crops, but experiments and
the experience of farmers in regions
where water is scarce and high-priced
have shown that by improved meth
ods of applying water and by tnten-
| sive cultivation after irrigation the
larger part of evaporation losses can
be eliminated that by careful study
! of his soil and subsoil conditions the
| farmer can apply water in such quan-
| titles and at such intervals of time
that little will be lost by percolation
beyond the reach of plant roots"
! Former Gov. F. E. Gooding of Idaho
told of the work done in his state
under the Carey act He said that in
| five years the land under ditch in
| the Twin Falls projects has come to a
point where the best fruit crops in
the western states are produced
through irrigation.
| Paul Clagstone, speaker of the Idaho