ration. At the outset of the experiment of reestablishing this industry there will be many such costly mistakes, and I would therefore caution the would-be flax farmer to go slow. Let him put in only a few acres of flax seed (say 3 or 4 acres) for fiber, at first, regarding it wholly as an experiment. When he has gained knowledge, and the different wheels in the flax industry have been put in position, and are beginning to move, he will know something then of the demand for flax fiber, and he can extend flax culture accordingly.

The necessity of a careful study of the growth of flax for fiber can not be too strongly urged. We should satisfy ourselves as to the limits of successful culture and learn where the crop may be grown under the very best conditions to produce fine flax.

This means practically a study of the whole field of operations founded on present foreign practices. A study of soils and fertilizers is especially desirable. A strong loamy soil under a high state of cultivation has always been deemed essential to success with flax; yet I saw a field of flax in Minnesota recently, apparently in superb condition, which the owner informed me was growing in almost pure sand. A study of crop rotation is desirable-at least so far as to learn what crop or crops may be employed to put the land in the very best condition for a following crop of flax. In this connection weed-cleaning crops should be especially considered.

A study of varieties is essential, and experiments might be conducted as to the quantity of seed to be sown to the acre, ranging from 1 bushel to 2 bushels, though this is not so important, as it is a pretty well established fact that 13 bushels will give good seed and fiber, while 2 bushels is the proper quantity for fiber alone.

A study of the ripening of both stalk and seed is desirable to determine the precise point at which the pulling should be done to obtain the best results at the same time in both directions. I should also suggest a study of seed deterioration, with experiments to determine whether the deterioration may be retarded by special culture, fertilizers, or other agencies.

Our friends of the agricultural experiment stations in flax-growing States can aid us materially in this work, and do much toward placing this old industry upon a new and substantial foundation, and their coöperation in the good work is earnestly desired. The small beginnings made at the experiment stations the present year show encouraging results, and indicate that these institutions will be able to render valuable aid in the establishment of this industry. The work should be enlarged upon, particularly in flax-growing States, for it is only through intelligent experiment and careful practice, noting all errors and studying how to avoid them, that the system of culture best adapted to our country can be developed.

REPORT OF THE SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF THE ARTESIAN AND UNDERFLOW INVESTIGATIONS AND OF THE IRRIGATION INQUIRY.

SIR: I have the honor to present herewith a report of the operations of the office conducted by me, under your appointment and direction, for the year 1891. It covers all work done since the date of the last report made by this office, and brings to a close the Artesian and Underflow Investigation, first authorized by law on the 4th of April, 1890, extended by provision of appropriation act, September 30, in the same year, and again extended until the 1st of January, 1892, by appropriation act of March 3, 1891. Under the same section an appropriation of $10,000 was also made for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, for the purpose of enabling the Secretary of Agriculture to continue the collection and publication of "information as to the best methods of cultivation of the soil by means of irrigation."

Very respectfully,

Hon. J. M. RUSK,

RICHARD J. HINTON,
Special Agent in Charge.

Secretary.

FINAL WORK OF THE ARTESIAN AND UNDERFLOW INVESTI

GATION.

The extension for six months of the work of the Artesian and Underflow Investigation, "within the region between the ninety-seventh degree of longitude and the foothills of the Rocky Mountains," gave great encouragement to the able men in charge of the field work and final reports ordered by Congress. The provisions of law approved September 30, 1890, required the final reports to be made and published by the 1st of July, 1891. It became evident as soon as the winter of 1890-'91 begun that such a restriction of time would almost destroy the value of all the work then done in the northern and central portions of the great field of inquiry, embracing as it does nearly one-fourth of the whole national domain, exclusive of Alaska and the Aleutian Archipelago. The time extension granted has consequently been of the greatest value, enabling as it has the field staff in both the engineering and geological divisions satisfactorily to round out and complete the work required of them by law. In order to do this properly every effort has been made, under your direction, to give to the hard-working members of both staffs all the administrative aid and encouragement possible. The nature of their work and its advanced character necessarily rendered them independent, and therefore limited the assistance of this office beyond the general plans that were formed to aid in faithfully carrying

them out. Chief Engineer Nettleton had prepared and sent from the field, under his own direction, a new artesian-well blank and other forms for statistical information. Prof. Hay, the chief geologist, confined his work in such directions to correspondence, which has been quite onerous, considering that the largest portion of his time and that of all his assistants has been occupied with field investigation.

During the early months of the year the chief engineer, with his assistant, Mr. Follett; Chief Geologist Robert Hay, with his assistant geologist for the southwest section; Prof. Robert T. Hill, of Texas, and Special Agent W. J. Gregory, of Kansas, were at work in portions of southwest Kansas, southeast Colorado, Oklahoma, the Indian Territory, and Texas, west of the ninety-seventh degree of west longitude from Greenwich; also in New Mexico, east of the Rio Grande. In March last, the weather permitting, field work was fully resumed in those sections of Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, South and North Dakota, and in Montana covered by the terms of law creating the investigation. Two able geologists who served with Mr. Hay in the first inquiry, Prof. Lewis E. Hicks, of Lincoln, Nebr., and Prof. Garry E. Culver, of Vermillion, S. Dak., were reappointed assistant geologists. Mr. Hicks was assigned to Nebraska and Wyoming, and Mr. Culver to the Dakotas and eastern Montana. Mr. Hill retained the southwest until September, when he filed his report and retired from the investigation. It is proper to remark, at the close of Mr. Hill's valuable services over his field of operations, that the general investigation with also which he has been associated has been advanced by the industry and trained intelligence displayed in that field work, and by the professional ability he has shown in the important report he has made.

The chief geologist, Prof. Hay, in addition to performing the onerous work of supervision, has reported on the geological problems of the mid-plains section, that is, of western Kansas and eastern Colorado. His intimate knowledge of the geology and hydrology of this section renders it certain that his report when published by Congress will be a positive addition to both our scientific and economic knowledge. Prof. Hicks has already demonstrated his intimate knowledge of the subject of inquiry, especially within the field of observation and study he has occupied. He has largely extended in the closing report his study of the stratigraphy of Nebraska, especially of the northern section, in connection with the drainage and water-bearing capacity thereof, and the results are sure to prove of value to the people of that section, as well as to the general advancement of the study of hydrogeological phenomena and of its use in advancing settlement and cultivation. Prof. Culver's work in the Dakotas has been in completion of work previously undertaken, and is so well done that it is almost superogation to say that his final report will be of even more value and importance than the one previously published by Congress. The chief geologist briefly summarizes for this report his own and his assistants' labors. The field work of the engineer staff has been arduous, unremitting, and most intelligent in results. The profiles and maps of the chief engineer will greatly elucidate the physical problems involved and largely enable the people of the States and Territories of the Great Plains region to comprehend the undeveloped hydrological resources that are at their command. One feature of the past year's work in South Dakota, as directed by Mr. Nettleton under the orders of the Department, has already done so much in the way of educating the farmers of that State in regard to irrigation that its value may even now be measured in prospective dollars and cents. I refer to the

policy pursued in the appointment of Mr. La Grange, of Greeley, Colo., as superintendent of irrigation experiments at Aberdeen and Huron, S. Dak. Owners of farms and artesian wells thereon at the points named gave the use of both for experimental work. They paid the cost of making ditchs, etc., for utilizing the artesian flow for irrigation purposes, and the engineers planned the works and directed their consrtuction. Mr. La Grange, a farmer of long experience in irrigation and an accomplished administrator of water interests, having served several years as water commissioner in Cache la Poudre water district, Platte division, Colorado, was placed in charge of these farms, so far as directing the use of the water was concerned. Hundreds of Dakota farmers visited both farms, and were enabled under Mr. La Grange's instruction and by reason of the object lessons afforded by the investigation to obtain practical information that otherwise would have been almost unobtainable. This work was done in reality without any cost other than that of the salaries and expenses of those who furnished plans and instruction. The chief engineer justly claims important results from the experimental work-a claim fully borne out by the correspondence of this office, proving as it does the knowledge afforded and practical encouragement given to communities otherwise greatly disheartened by insecurity and drought.

The report sent to Congress, with maps and profiles showing cross sections of the areas investigated, prepared by Edwin S. Nettleton, c. E., chief field engineer of the Department, who has been in charge of the field work of the Artesian and Underflow Investigation, will be found of great general value and live interest to all concerned in the security of agriculture on the Great Plains-nearly one-fourth of the entire area of the United States, exclusive of Nebraska. It embraces

(1) A report of examination and surveys of the underground water in the valleys of the South Platte, Republican, Loup, and Arkansas rivers; also of a survey across the country on the one-hundredth meridian in Kansas, and of a survey across the country from Crow Creek to the North Platte River in Wyoming. This report is accompanied with tabulated data, giving detailed information concerning the wells and water plane along the lines surveyed; also by maps and profiles of the lines surveyed. This part of the final report amplifies much of the matter that was in the chief engineer's progress report of last January, which was sent to the Fifty-first Congress and published by its order. The enlargement is necessary for the fuller completement of the work performed.

(2) A report of the examination made of the drainage, springs, and subterranean waters of the Pecos River in southeastern New Mexico.

(3) A report relating to the artesian wells in the Dakotas. This contains all the information and data which the engineer staff has been able to collect up to the date of withdrawal from field work in October, 1891, embraces a discussion of the chief problems relating to such artesian wells and their sources of supply, and is accompanied by maps and profiles, by which profiles a line of wells from Yankton to Manitoba in Canada will be shown. There are also profiles of lines east and west across the artesian basin. The report embodies the result of Chief Engineer Nettleton's examination in Montana of the supposed source of the artesian supply, and also the results of gaugings of the upper Missouri River. Col. Nettleton was also authorized to supervise the irrigation experiments conducted during the summer of 1891 at points in South Dakota by the utilization of artesian water from wells. The report made of these experiments, which were under the immediate direction of Mr. La Grange, of Greeley, Colo., contains valuable data and shows that the farmers availed themselves largely of the object lessons offered. The results are in every way encouraging. (4) A report on the shallow or drift wells in the Red River Valley in North Dakota, and of those at Miles City in east Montana, supplemented by a tabulation of detailed data in connection with these wells.

(5) The springs and underground waters along the eastern side of the Couteaux, which lies between the Missouri and James rivers, are fully reported on.

(6) A reconnoissance was made of the Turtle Mountains drainage basin in North Dakota, and a report thereon is given.

(7) St. Mary's Lake, near the British-American line, was made the subject of

examination for the purpose of determining if the waters of the same can be retained in the United States by the diversion of the St. Mary's River. A valuable report on this interesting problem forms part of the chief engineer's closing work. The chief engineer's report also contains a good deal of valuable miscellaneous information concerning subjects pertinent to the inquiry.

The chief geologist, Robert Hay, realizing that under the law extending the time of the investigation considerable work must be done during the winter months, directed Prof. Robert T. Hill to begin at once in Texas and New Mexico. Prof. Hay himself proceeded to make explorations of the water conditions of the mid-plains region of east Colorado, west Kansas, and southwest Nebraska before the severe weather set in. The assistant geologists for northern Nebraska and the Dakotas were not commissioned until early spring, in order that their time might be used during the longer days of the late spring and early summer for the field work of the more northern regions. The chief geologist employed his time and force, as already indicated, in personally making some examinations of southeast Wyoming, spent a little time with each of his assistants, and also devoted the whole of the month of July and part of August to North Dakota, and afterward made a short reconnoissance in Montana, about and below the Great Falls of the Missouri. The report of the geological field inquiry is now complete and is being rapidly put into shape for printing. It will be illustrated by valuable maps, diagrams, and photographs. Prof. Hay states that the sources of the waters of artesian wells both in Dakota and Texas are fully dealt with. It is shown that the James River Valley wells have their head far to the west, and that wells supplied from the same source may probably be expected in a considerable portion of South Dakota, between the Black Hills and the Missouri River. The wells of northeastern Dakota are shown to be unconnected with the source of the James River basin. Incidentally, it also appears that the water of very few of the wells is injurious to vegetation, and that probably some of these would lose their deleterious properties if stored in open reservoirs before using.

In Texas the Fort Worth-Waco artesian basin is carefully delineated, and the direction in which extension may be expected is pointed out by Assistant Geologist Hill. Other artesian areas in Texas are defined and the sources of their waters indicated. The source also of the series of enormous springs stretching across Texas from northeast to southwest is considered, and its relation to the rainfall of the region discussed. In the same way the structure of the plains of west Texas is shown to be substantially the same as the plains region between the Arkansas and the White River of Nebraska, and that underlying this whole region of high prairie plateau there is a supply of water sufficient to redeem a fair proportion of the land from aridity, where the rainfall is under 20 inches and where precipitation often fails at the critical period of crop growth. This water will have to be raised by artificial means, and only locally will it be found to have artesian conditions. The existence of the same water-bearing rock formation over the larger part of this great area, from the Black Hills to the Rio Grande, is conclusively shown, and its value in reclaiming a large proportion of the so-called or actual arid plains and making it serviceable to the prosperity of the country is demonstrated.

What has been called the underflow has been carefully examined. The methods of using it belong properly to the engineering part of this investigation, but whether the term is properly used outside the great river valleys has been investigated. A careful study of the exposed geology of the plains shows that the waters under the region so named are not found in any one great sheet, but are separate for each divide