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In the report upon Agriculture by Irrigation, prepared for the Eleventh Census, 1890, all the facts obtainable at that time concerning irrigation in Texas were presented and discussed. It was found by the enumeration that there were in the whole State 623 persons irrigating farms, having an aggregate area of 18,241 acres, or an average of 29 acres irrigated by each person. This did not include the smaller kitchen and flower gardens, of which there were probably hundreds, or even thousands, watered by means of city supply or windmills. The definition of "a farm," adopted for the purpose of the census, included " all staple nurseries, orchards, and market gardens owned by separate parties which were cultivated for pecuniary profit and which employed as much as the labor of one able-bodied workman during the year." The land which was irrigated formed on an average only 2.43 per cent of each farm, showing that irrigation where used was practiced on only an inconsiderable portion of each landowner's holding.

Since 1890 there has been considerable progress made in the development of irrigation, and interest has been stimulated by the success recently attained in various localities. This later investigation in Texas has, therefore, been made for the purpose of procuring fresh information, especially concerning the recent developments. The facts are of interest not only to the people of that State, but to a less degree to those of the whole United States, for Texas embraces such a wide range in topography and climate that success attained within its boundaries suggests the advisability of the same line of action in some other locality. On account of this great diversity of natural conditions, irrigation has been developed along many different lines. Not only is water diverted from creeks and larger rivers, but in some localities it is held by storage, in others it is pumped from ordinary wells, and in still others it is obtained from artesian wells. Where the conditions are favorable, the swiftly flowing streams are employed in pumping a portion of their own water up to the top of the adjacent banks, or the ever-present winds of the prairies are utilized by means of windmills to bring a needed supply of moisture from far underground. In short, in the broad stretch of country from the humid