believed that these studies of dikes and drains should be continued until enough information has been gained to enable this Office to make definite recommendations for the improvement of the rice industry of this region. At the request of Mr. J. H. Stewart, director of the State experiment station of West Virginia, a visit was made to Parkersburg in order to determine whether or not a feasible location could be obtained for pumping water from the Ohio River to irrigate a small experimental tract in the vicinity of this city. The wide difference between the high and low water levels of this stream is not a favorable condition for pumping, and it was concluded to examine some of the tributary streams to see if a reservoir which would furnish water by gravity could not be built. The search for such location has not yet been completed. DRAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS. C. G. ELLIOTT, Expert in Drainage, in charge. From drainage surveys made in the Fresno district, California, in 1902, plans and estimates were made and published in circular No. 50 of the Office of Experiment Stations. The tract for which drainage was proposed contains about 25 square miles of fruit land which requires drainage to reclaim it from injury which has resulted from excessive quantities of soil water and alkali. Through the efforts of those intimately concerned in the drainage of land in that State requiring combined effort, the passage of a drainage law was secured during the session of the legislature in 1902-3, and a district is now being organized under its provisions. During the summer of 1903 measurements of the fluctuation of ground water were made for the purpose of ascertaining more accurately than had previously been done the quantity of water that should be removed by drainage. These measurements lead to the conclusion that during the month of March 0.15 acre-inch should be drained from each acre in twenty-four hours, in April 0.08 acre-inch, and in May 0.02 acre-inch, in order to prevent the soil water line from rising. The tile-drain system proposed for that district is designed to remove 0.09 acre-inch each twenty-four hours. This, from investigations thus far made, it is believed will meet the requirements. At the request of farmers at Sunnyside, Wash., who desired some assistance, examinations and surveys of land showing seepage and alkali were made in the early part of the season of 1903. Drainage for 1,500 acres was planned and surveys, with estimates of cost, were made, together with suggestions for necessary supplemental farm drainage. A district for the execution of this work has been organized in accordance with the provisions of the State law. The Ahtanum Valley and lands about North Yakima were carefully |