Deming graphic., 1913-07-18
MEASURE ALL WATER
Study Of irrigation Is Necessary
for Future Success.
Measurement and Keeping Of Record,
Of Flow Of Streams, II Done Rloh.
10 Job for Man Of High Tech.
nlcaI Training.

counts" The wise sayings and writ.
ings Of great men are not the products
OF little effort. they are not things that
have come In an impromptu fashion.
they are the results Of long training,
studious effort, and careful making
and keeping OF records. Great books
grow; they do not come into the minds
OF their authors as pictures are
thrown upon a screen. A thought ia
elaborated into paragraph, a para.
graph into a chapter. a chapter into
an essay, and the essay is elaborated
into the great epoch making piece Of
fiction, or the classic mathematical or
scientific work. 30 wonderfully illumi.
mated with the divine spark that II
shines on indefinitely
II the york OF irrigation 10 to grow,
II out of II the greatest possible good
~ to come, we must study It's past;
Ne Of today must profit by the fail.
ares Of yesterday.
Water In the west at least, repre-.
U ofHlo iHOhCy touhbtu III mlt
lions. II u banker were to handle cash
Of one one.thousandth part OF this
/ value without keeping accounts, with.
cut making records. that banker would
and himself very quickly In the
clutches OF the law. 1t is as importan,
10 know and to keep a record Of the
amount Of water that flows In a
stream. to know to whom this water
belongs. and to whom and In what
quantities It Is distributed. az II Is to
keep record OF the amount Of gold a
mine produces, the amount OF cash q
bank handles. to whom this wealth
belongs, and how. to whom, and In
what quantities It Is distributed
You nsk. Who should measure this
water?" ask, who should keep the
records in the bank?" An expert Is
always required In the latter case and
an expert should be required In the
other case also. The expert Is always
used In the bank, where the values are
definite and the problem correspond
ingly simple. while. as rule, nobody
ls employed In the other case Where
water measurements are taken, how
ever, and records are kept, the per
son employed Is often wholly un.
trained. for this or any other technical
work.
II Is as important to keep record
of the flow OF water In the streams
and In the canals, and bitches, as It
IL to keep the books OF bank. You
who are at the head of great irriga'
t!on projects should come to this con
yention with reports containing infor'
nation, found In the records OF your
project and reading something like
this; The land irrigated under the
canals OF the irrigation project rep
resent is a heavy clay OF great depth.
For twenty years water to the amount
OF one acre foot per acre per season
has been used on this soil, but II has
been hardly sufficient to produce the
bnst results. For the same length OF
time one and one-half acre feet Of
water has been used on another sec.
ton Of the project with better results,
while where two acre feet OF water
has been used. the land has become
waterlogged and ruined. Since there
Is but one crop OF land--a fact SO ire
'uently referred to--is It not shame
that much Of II Is thus being and has
been rendered valueless? While every.
one can see that too much water has
been used, no one can come forward
and say how much In acre feet this
excess has been.
Where are the expert irrigation en-
gineers who have this information?
II there are any such they are few
indeed Those who own farms think
generally that they are economical
when they do their farming without
employing engineers. As well try to
build house without an architect
conduct school without a teacher, or
duct an irrigation project OF any con-
siderable consequence without an eI'
pert irrigation engineer. AS the day
has passed for that man who Is not
J capable of doing any other kind OF
work to be chosen to teach the school,
as that day has passed In which every
man makes his own shoes. as that day
has passed In which every man builds
his own house, so that day has passed
and gone forever In which man, who
is too old or too stupid to be other
wise employed. can perform the duties
OF watermaster. Every experience
in modern times teaches that 1t pays
to have technical work done by tech
nically trained experts. The measure
ment OF water, and the keeping OF the
records OF the flow Of streams, II well
and properly done, is work OF q high'
ly technical character. II you employ
real expert to perform this duty, ana
give to him as compensation that sal
airy to which he IL by experience ana
technical training fairly entitled, you
will find him the cheapest man on
the job" and the money you pay him
In salary will be the portion OF your
investment that is most wisely made
He will render you poor service, IN
deed II he does not save and earn
for his employer. on a project reauir'
Ing the full time Of man for water