The people can get what they want only by stating unequivocally through resolutions of organizations such as this, and by personal demands upon cur legislators our needs and desires. Bring influence to bear by argument and proof that the money spent in road improvement is an investment which will return large annual interest in reduced costs of transportation, greater freedom of traffic and travel, closer social intercourse between neighbor and neighbor, between town and country, and increased joy, comfort and happiness.

REPORT OF DRAINAGE DEPARTMENT.

There is a great deal of land in the state that should be improved by drainage, both by open ditch and tile. The purposes are: (1) To relieve flood situations; (2) to carry the water off marsh and swamp lands; (3) to lower the water table. Drainage is not confined to bottom lands, nor to any one soil region. It is being installed on the Loess Ilains and in the Sand hills as. well. At present dredges are opening up canals on bottom lands along the Missouri, Logan, Elkhorn, Platte, Salt Creek, Little Nemaha and the Big Nemaha

The Conservation Commission is now mapping the wet lands of the state. The Conservation Congress working in conjunction with the Commission has organized a Drainage Department with J. C. Robinson, president; L. W. Chase, secretary, and the following committeemen: D. V. Stevens, R. E. Grinstead, J. B. Weaver, R. B. Snyder, N. B. Randall, E. W. Badger, Joseph Roberts, A. N. Munn, J. P. Latta, E. C. Simmons, and H. T. Vauck.

Prof. L. W. Chase, secretary, reports the Drainage Department of the Conservation Congress as follows: The drainage section of the congress met on the afternoon of the first day's session. The meeting was well attended and a great amount of enthusiasm was shown.

Mr. L. C. Lawson, president of the Nebraska Farmers' Congress, called the meeting to order and in a very good natured and spirited manner kept the session running along smoothly. Mr. F. H. Allen, of Kinsman, O., a practical drainage engineer and farmer as well as extension man for that state, was the principal speaker of the afternoon. Mr. Allen illustrated with some of the most simple and yet plain illustrations how drainage affects the soil during both wet and dry seasons. His talk in part was about as follows:

"Tile drain the land, thereby getting all surplus moisture out of the soil and at the same time obviate the nuisance of open ditches. It is not cssential that land be so wet that water stand upon it, either above the surface or within the surface, for it to be benefited by tile drainage. The water in traveling down through the soil to the tiles leaves paths for plant roots and low forms of animal life to work in. The roots dry and decay, leaving pores in the soil. These pores, formed principally

by insects and roots, become filled with air; rain falls upon the surface of the ground, sealing up the upper pores of the miniature channels, then the rain gradually settling through the soil forces the air down through and out by means of the tile. After the water has settled out again, air enters the pore spaces, more water falls and forces the air through the soil again. The operation is continually passing on, thereby aerating the soil. It opens the soil up so that it holds more moisture than previously. It becomes so porous that the roots can work in it far better than before drainage. As a proof of this statement that drainage aerates the soil, causing it to expand and become porous, Mr. Allen cited the audience to many illustrations of where tiles had been laid in the bottom of slews for a number of years and that although the soil at one time just above the tile was lower than that on either side of it, the aeration incident to tiling caus d the surface to stand from five to eight inches higher over the tile than on eiher side.

"It is shown by laboratory experiments that soil finely pulverized or plowed holds more water than packed soil. As a rule, land too wet during part of the year has a very hard packed soil; consequently it does not hold very much water during the dry part of the season. When such a soil is drained it becomes so much more porous that it holds a much greater quantity of water. This is the explanation of why drained land withstands the drouth so much better than that undrained.”

After Mr. Allen's speech, Mr. Dan V. Stevens produced quite a little enthusiasm by giving his experiences on his land west of Fremont. Mr. Stevens bought a farm in that part of the state and soon after learned that it was entirely too wet; having heard of drainage, he investigated the matter and got some drainage men to come up from Missouri and put in a drainage system for him. This system was put in with the tiles about 200 feet apart, and they were not well placed, consequently the benefits to Mr. Stevens' farm were not great. However, he did not become discouraged, but soon after got an engineer to go over the work, lay out the system again, put in a larger outlet ditch and lay as many more tile. The result is that Mr. Stevens has made one of the best producing farms in the state out of one which was of such a nature that it was nearly impossible to get onto the fields part of the year. Mr. Stevens thought that his home place was one of the best illustrations there ever was, of endeavoring to do drainage without a drainage engineer in charge of the work. Last year was the first time the land had been cropped to corn since the tile was put in. The yield from 125 acres averaged something over seventy bushels to the acre.

Mr. R. E. Grinstead, one of the oldest engineers in the state, and a man who has absolutely given a great deal of his time for the benefits of drainage, told what had been done in the southeastern part of the state along the Nemahas. The work in that section of the state is somewhat different from that referred to heretofore. It is concerned principally in straightening and opening of stream channels and may

prove of more value to the state as a whole than the matter of tiling. It will prevent overflows and make land, unusually fertile, worth from $125 to $150 an acre. Furthermore, a stream crossing such a farm should traverse it in the very shortest possible path, thereby permitting the farmer to use far more of this valuable land. There is no doubt that there is more of such bottom land in the state to be benefited by the straightening of streams than there is that can be irrigated. The sooner the farmers learn this the sooner the men who own the creek bottom farms will commence to pay interest on the money they have invested.

At the close of the session Dr. D. V. Stevens took the chair and the State Drainage Association was organized with the following officers: J. C. Robinson, of Waterloo, president; L. W. Chase, Lincoln, secretary. After the drainage session adjourned, Mr. Allen went out over several farms in Lancaster County and pointed out several farms, both smooth and rolling, that might be improved for more than the cost if tile drained.

REPORT ON THE SANDHILL REGION.

The Soil Survey will finish its preliminary survey in this region within three or four years, mapping the dry valleys, wet lands, lakes and dunesand lands. During this time a committee composed of R. J. Pool and assistants will make special studies of sandhill forage with the idea of finding a desirable substitute for the lean bunch grass. Dr. R. H. Wolcott will continue his study of the lakes, making analyses of the water and determining the nature and amount of fish food. The problem concerned with the fencing and control of the land should be solved by the ranchmen.

Your committee on the Sandhill Region respectfully submits the following statement:

1. The sand hills are primarily grazing lands, and as such they should be developed and improved to the fullest possible extent.

2. Grazing problems in the sand hills demand immediate scientific investigation.

3. The valley and hay flat of the sand hills are fertile, and it is believed that much of this land may be made to yield valuable products by certain cropping systems if properly managed.

4. Methods of conserving and improving the fertility of both grazing and agricultural lands should be put under immediate investigation and practice as soon as practicable.

5. Landowners should co-operate in working out grazing principles in order that the range may be conserved and made to yield its largest returns.

6. Landowners and corporations should co-operate with scientific men in a study of shifting sands and methods for their control.

7. Many sites in the hills will support stands of certain timber trees. The cottonwood (grown on valley land) should be planted and managed by the woodlot method. Numerous cases of successful cottonwood plantations have been recorded.

8. Plantations of other trees, especially Scotch Pine and Jack Pine, should be placed under experimentation by landowners in co-operation with the United States Forest Service.

9. The fish and the game of the Sandhill Region should receive very careful study in order that this resource may be developed and conserved.

10. The different classes of land and soil in the Sandhill Region should be surveyed, mapped and described.

REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON LAND EROSION.

One of the large problems in our state is that of checking the erosion of soil and land by wind and water. A committee, composed of N. A. Bengtson, P. B. Barker, Mr. Filley, L. S. Herron, R. J. Scarborough and C. W. Weeks, have begun a careful study of soil wash and land erosion. Their report to the Conservation Congress is condensed thus: Unchecked water erosion is a menace to the continued prosperity of the southeastern half of the state, an area of approximately 40,000 square miles, and to a lesser extent in the High Plains section of the West. The muddy streams of eastern Nebraska are notorious, for they have impressed visitors with their lack of beauty. Our own people have become accustomed to them, have accepted them as a matter of course, and have not studied them from an economic standpoint. Until recently we have not awakened to the fact that every cubic foot of muddy water that empties into the Missouri or its major tributaries represents a loss of part of the very basis of our wealth.

Erosion caused by running water may be outlined under three heads: 1. The cutting of the banks by streams.

2.

Gullying of uplands and slope lands.

3. Soil wash from slope lands, whether steep or comparatively gentle.

The extent of erosion by streams cutting their banks is not always appreciated. Fairly careful studies made of the work of the Missouri river at four places along Nebraska-Santee, Decatur, Bellevue, and Peru-show a loss of at least 5,640 acres since 1880. This land was all high grade, ranking with the best in the United States in productivity. Thus a money value of about $600,000 has been suffered in four places along our border. Similar losses are annually occurring at other places along the Missouri, and along the Republican, the Blues, Nemahas, Loups, and Elkhorns. The control of channels is a problem deserving attention.

Gullying of lands is a serious problem, particularly on that of glacial

origin, as the hilly land of the southwestern part of the state. Thousands of farmers in Richardson, Nemaha, Pawnee, Johnson, Gage, Otoe, Sarpy and Douglas counties are being scared by the encroachment of gullies and ravines. The southern counties have similar conditions. As yet the relation of soil type to erosion is imperfectly understood, but many truths have been worked out. Toward the solution of these problems the committee suggests the need of studying carefully the soil texture that will offer effective resistance, the maintenance of organic matter in the soil, rotation of crops, cultivation of legumes, proper soil tillage, contour cultivation, and the use of cover crops such as grasses, alfalfa, shrubbery, fruit trees, and forest trees, should be carefully studied, for it is known that these are effective weapons against soil erosion. There should be more effort to check gullying by the use of straw, brush, etc.

Soil wash from steep slopes is another phase of the problem that needs attention. Outside of the sandhill district there are few counties that do not have many steep hillsides under cultivation, where erosion has removed the soil to the extent that common agriculture is unprofitable. The presence of barren hillsides in Nebraska is generally unnecessary, even criminal. Where slopes are too steep for retention of soil under intelligent management, the land should be used for grass, fruit or forest trees, according to conditions. Education along these lines should be undertaken by this congress.

Wind erosion is active in the areas of lighter soils, particularly in the western part of the Loess region, in the transition zone from Loess to sand hills and high plains, in the Sandhill Region and in many parts of the high plains. As examples of the first class may be mentioned the counties of the southwest extending from Red Willow and Furnas to the east and northeast, including such counties as Clay, Fillmore and York; of the second class, Custer, Greeley, Holt and Antelope; of the third class, the counties in the Sand Hill country; and of the fourth class, Banner, Box Butte and Sheridan. In these regions the same problem is presented; i. e., how shall the soil be held in place, resistant to the shift of the wind? The answers will vary with soil and climatic conditions. Unorganized efforts have given some hints of the solution, in the protection afforded by proper tillage, cover crops, and grasses. We have thus but outlined the field. We trust that this statement will cause you to realize the need of devoting careful study toward the solution of the problem of soil erosion.

REPORT. ON FORESTATION.

The congress committee includes C. E. Bessey, C. J. Ernst, A. A. Taylor, O. L. Sponsler, E. F. Stephens and R. V. Pierce.

Report and. recommendations: