complete survey of the legal problems relating to irrigation will be completed for the entire irrigated region of the United States. The other general line of irrigation investigation which this Office has undertaken relates to the determination of the amount of water actually used or required for the growth of different crops on different soils. This involves, first, the accurate determination of the amounts of water actually applied by farmers under different conditions, and secondly, experimental investigations with reference to the minimum amounts of water required and the best methods for the utilization of the available water supply. These investigations are needed for the information and guidance not only of the farmers in the irrigated regions, but also of the legislatures, courts, and administrative officers. Hitherto one great difficulty in securing the passage of satisfactory irrigation laws and their just interpretation by the courts has been the lack of definite and thorough information regarding the actual requirements of agriculture under irrigation. In the absence of any standard authority regarding the amounts of water required and the proper regulation of the distribution of water during different seasons of the year, each legislature or court has followed its own imperfect view of the case, often with most disastrous results as regards the best interests of the farmers. It is obvious that the experimental investigations in this direction can best be carried on in cooperation with the agricultural experiment stations in the irrigated region, and this plan has therefore been followed by this Office as far as practicable in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress. A considerable portion of the first year was occupied in a preliminary study of the conditions existing in the different States and Territories, with a view to determining the best plan of operations and the organization of a force to do the work. It soon became apparent that more funds would be required to carry on these investigations in a satisfactory way, and Congress was therefore asked to increase the appropriation, with a view to putting the work on a more permanent basis. Congress responded to this appeal by increasing the appropriation to $35,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900. The terms of the appropriation act were also changed so as to indicate that the decision. had been reached to put these investigations upon a basis which promised their continuance as long as they proved successful. Under this act the money is appropriated "to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to investigate and report upon the laws and institutions relating to irrigation and upon the use of irrigation waters, with special suggestions of better methods for the utilization of irrigation waters in agriculture than those in common use, and for the preparation, printing, and illustration of reports and bulletins on irrigation; and the agricultural experiment stations are hereby authorized and directed to cooperate with the Secretary of Agriculture in carrying out said investigations in such manner and to such extent as may be warranted by a due regard to the varying conditions and needs of the respective States and Territories, and as may be mutually agreed upon." The investigations having thus been more satisfactorily provided for, measures were at once taken to organize the work more systematically and on a more permanent basis. As it seemed clear that the work would be most efficiently prosecuted by having its headquarters in the irrigated region, an office was established at Cheyenne, Wyo. Prof. Elwood Mead, for many years State engineer of Wyoming, who had previously been aiding this Office very materially in the organization of these investigations, was appointed irrigation expert in charge and undertook the active management of the enterprise, which, however, remained subject to the general supervision of the Director of the Office of Experiment Stations. The organization of an expert and clerical force was undertaken under the general regulations of the service, and arrangements were made for the cooperation of the agricultural experiment stations and the employment of experts in the different States and Territories to aid in carrying on special investigations. The study of the irrigation laws and institutions was greatly broadened and a large amount of data in this line is now being collated. Arrangements were made for the measurement of the actual volume of water used in irrigation and the time of such use. During the past season these investigations on the duty of water have been carried on in 15 States and Territories. A special form of register for recording the amount of water used was designed for this work by the expert in charge. The measurements themselves are to determine (1) the general duty of water, or (2) the difference in the time of use, and the relative volumes required by different crops. The first class of measurements embraces determinations of the water used in the irrigation of large areas devoted to different crops. Record is kept of the volume flowing through the main canal, and a measurement of the acres cultivated gives the duty it has performed, including loss in transportation through the main canal and in distribution through the lateral. No distinction is made in these measurements of the requirements of different crops, although the final record will probably show their influence. Under the second class of measurements losses in distribution are eliminated. Measurements are made at the borders of the field where the water is used, the object being to determine the crops which require large amounts of water and those which do not; also to determine those crops which require to be irrigated during the season when streams are low, and those which can be brought to maturity by irrigation during the flood period. The latter measurements have a special reference to the usefulness and value of storage reservoirs. The location of the official stations and the names of the observers are as follows: The establishment of additional stations was prevented by delay in securing apparatus for measuring the variations in discharge, but records are being kept by volunteer observers in cooperation with this investigation in Montana, Washington, and Kansas. The usefulness of this investigation is not limited to the arid region. On the contrary, there is no question that irrigation can be profitably employed in the cultivation of large areas in both the eastern and southern States. There are now over 100,000 acres of sugar land being irrigated in Louisiana alone, and the area is being constantly extended. The irrigated rice fields of the Carolinas produce a product unequaled elsewhere in quality, and wherever natural conditions will permit of its aid there is no agency which will do more to increase the yield or insure the quality of crops than the application of moisture when needed. There is a wide field for the employment of irrigation in the East and South in market gardening, in the irrigation of alfalfa and of pastures, in the cultivation of high-priced products, and in the utilization of the sewage of cities and towns. A beginning of irrigation investigations in the humid region has already been made. Prof. E. B. Voorhees, of the New Jersey Experiment Stations, is now collecting data showing the area of land irrigated in that State, the methods employed, the duty of water obtained, and the benefits received. Arrangements have also been made for experiments in irrigating tea plants, in connection with investigations on tea culture, made by this Department under direction of Dr. C. U. Shepard on his tea plantations at Summerville, S. C. Several bulletins containing information collated in these investigations have already been published and a number of others are in course of preparation. These are being widely distributed, chiefly in the irrigated region. A list of the irrigation publications of this Office may be found in the Appendix. THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS IN THE SEVERAL STATES AND TERRITORIES. ALABAMA. Agricultural Experiment Station of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama, Auburn. Department of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. GOVERNING BOARD. Board of Trustees-Committee on Experiment Stations: F. M. Moseley (President), Union Springs; J. G. Gilchrist, Hope Hull; Jon. Haralson, Montgomery. STATION STAFF. W. L. Broun, M. A., LL. D., President of the College and of the Station Council. P. H. Mell, M. E., PH. D., Director; Botanist. B. B. Ross, M. S., Chemist. C. A. Cary, D. V. M., Veterinarian. J. F. Duggar, M. S., Agriculturist. J. T. Anderson, PH. D., Associate Chemist. C. L. Hare, M. S., 1st Assistant Chemist. A. McB. Ransom, B. S., 3d Assistant T. U. Culver, Superintendent of Farm. R. W. Clark, Assistant in Agriculture. HISTORY. The Alabama College Station is located on the southern edge of the middle agricultural section of the State, a region several hundred feet above sea level, where good maize and cotton are produced. The temperature is high at times in the summer and there are occasional frosts in winter. The annual rainfall averages about 50 inches. South of this is a lowland region of light but productive alluvial soil with a warmer climate and larger rainfall. The northern section is a mineral region containing much poor and hilly land, but embracing the fertile valley of the Tennessee River. This section has a more moderate climate and is naturally adapted to a more diversified agriculture. The settlement of the State began with the eighteenth century, and agriculture developed rapidly when cotton growing with slave labor was enormously expanded in the United States from 1820 to 1860. This system led to the rapid depletion of the soil and the use of large amounts of commercial fertilizers. Cotton has since remained the principal crop, and the station has therefore given much attention to investigations relating to it. The inspection of fertilizers undertaken by the State has also been a large matter. In general the improvement of the soil and the diversification of agriculture have been the main objects of the station's work. The college with which the station is connected was established in 1872, and has been developed largely along technical and scientific lines. It is a well-equipped institution with about 350 students. The history of experimental work in Alabama is comprised within three well-defined periods. The first period is that of work by the agricultural and mechanical college, and extends from the inauguration of experimental research in agriculture in the State in 1875 to the establishment of a State experiment station in 1883. Experiments were carried on both at Auburn and at a station in North Alabama called the branch station of the college. The latter occupied 10 acres of land, and its first bulletin was on the subject of fertilizers in the cultivation of cotton. This bulletin was published in the annual report of the president of the college to the State legislature for the year 1875. At the college the farm was conducted mostly as a model farm for students and farmers of the vicinity, although a few experiments were carried on, the results of which are also to be found in the president's report. The first separate and systematic report of the results of experiments made at the college farm was printed in March, 1882, and consisted of a bulletin of 89 pages treating of the following subjects: The vineyard and analyses of grapes suited for making wine; brief notes on strawberry culture and the orchard; experiments on field peas, grass, Desmodium molle, Symphytum asperrimum, maize, and cotton; nitrogenous experiments; agricultural museum; chemical work of the station; bones and how to use them; feeding stuffs; cotton seed; analyses of chicken corn; and an appendix devoted to meteorological data. The second period is that of the State experiment station and extends from its establishment in connection with the agricultural college by the State legislature in 1883 to its reorganization under the act of Congress in 1888. The officers appointed were Prof. J. S. Newman, director, and Dr. W. C. Stubbs, now director of the Louisiana Stations, chemist. A farm was purchased near the college and equipped with live stock and the necessary appliances for experimental work. By enactment of the legislature, the State department of agriculture, just then established, was also located at the college and the commissioner was required to publish the bulletins of the station. The third period is that in which the station has been a department of the agricultural college and extends from the reorganization of the State station under the provisions of the act of Congress, April 1, 1888, to the present time. The lines of work were much extended, but not |