Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1914-05-21
CREATOR WAS
KIND To SALT
RIVER VALLEY
Special Investigator Of
Agriculture Department
Believes This Project
Best Equipped Of All to
Succeed

The surprisingly accurate and
and the crop results therefrom on
the Salt River project were very
pleasing to Don II. Bark, irrigation
engineer from the office of the eX
pertinent station of the department
If agriculture at Boise, Idaho who is
making round of all the projects
il completing a study of water duty.
Mr.. Bark, who has been quietly pur-
suing his work on the local project
fer four days, left last evening for
Tucson to so over the pumped irri-
cation farms of that region.
OF immense benefit to the irri-
gators, will be the lengthy published
report to be issued by the agricul-
ture department from the data gath
cred by its expert. Don II. Bark is
probably the best informed water
uuty man in the engineering corps
OF the United States.
Il am highly pleased with condi-
lions here he said yesterday before
he had quite completed copying lists
of crops at the Water Users build
ing. ITO find such a clean layout of
figures is mighty encouraging to an
investigator who usually has had to
dig up all his data for himself.
God Made Valley
1T does seem to me that the
Creator must have been thinking of
a future irrigation system when He
laid out this country The lay OF
the land is perfect The fields are
all level and easy to water, the
mountains seem fashioned just for
storing floods. 1t is all so orderly.
IF ever there was. project
equipped by nature to succeed, it is
this one. l am not very familiar
with its people, but l hear they are
the right sort to take advantage of
the splendid opportunities here.
Il have never seen such diver
sity of crops as you have here
have had to go over lists of crop
returns, and my hand fairly aches
from copying them. l think you can
grow anything here that will thrive
in any part of the temperate zone
For five years, assisted by fifteen
keen observers. Bark has been study
ing water usage in Idaho. Hundreds
Ct fields We're located in every part
of the state. Forty acres was the
usual selection OF this sized field
the workers made three divisions. on
ere they applied the amount of wa
ter the farmer had been accustomed
tC using On another part they
tried a greater flow, and on thu
third a less. Every crop was care
fully measured or weighed, and in
spected. In this way it was possible
to study the effects of three differ
ent quantities of water, and from
the results, it was easy to show just
how much water was best for thai
special crop The work was madt
more accurate and effective because
the fields were widely separated anC
were planted to every growable cror
The net result of the five years OF
hard work was as complete a table
of water duties as ever has beer
compiled
Why. ten years ago we had ~
iGea whatever of the amount of wat
er necessary to certain crops. Now
! can study the mechanical qualitie:
Of the soil it's grain, porosity, etc.
and come pretty close to naming the
amount of water best for any par
ticular crop"
The work has been conducted wit.
the aid of the state engineering de-
partment Strangely enough one o