was made, from which the following table was constructed, under the orders of the court:

Table showing for each year the number of quarter sections under each canal entitled to water from Salt River as per decree of court.

The figures in the columns headed Salt River Valley Canal, Maricopa Canal, etc., indicate the number of quarter sections irrigated in the year designated in the column on the extreme left. Bearing in mind that priority in time denotes priority in right, it will be seen. that although the oldest water rights are in the Salt River Valley and Maricopa canals, such priority extends only to the quantity of water necessary for those tracts which were irrigated previous to lands irrigated under other canals. Thus in 1873 the area irrigated under the Salt River Valley Canal was increased by 12 quarter sections over that of 1872, but the additional water necessary for this increase was secondary in right to all lands irrigated in 1872, whether under the Tempe, the Wormser, or the Maricopa Canal. It will be seen that 5164 quarter sections, or 82,640 acres, were irrigated in 1884, requiring under the adjudicated duty of water 826 second-feet. In addition to this, Hayden's mill was entitled to 1,100 inches, but this amount need not be deducted from the irrigating supply of the river, because the water from Hayden's mill returned to the river above the head of the oldest canals and could be rediverted by them for irrigation.

Considerable effort has been made by the later-constructed canals, particularly the Arizona and Mesa Consolidated, to establish claim to what is called the surplus waters or flood discharge of Salt River. These rights are of somewhat doubtful value for any purpose to which these canals can put them, for the high waters embraced by such claims are of short duration and can not be utilized to mature any crop. They are used for "soaking up" the ground during the period of high water in the hope that a portion of the moisture will be retained by the soil to mitigate the drought through the low-water season, when such waters can not be applied. It is obvious that such a use of waters is not a use at all, but a waste. It is not especially objectionable at present, except that in some instances farmers are thus encouraged to plant crops which can be matured only by the use of water obtained either illegally or through the generosity of some of the older proprietors. What standing such claims to the surplus waters can obtain in the courts remains to be seen. If they are sustained, the result will be disastrous to the future development of irrigation, for it is these surplus waters upon which any project for storage on the upper waters of the Verde and Salt rivers must largely depend. Such storage works will hold the surplus waters for use during the dry season, when they are most needed, but if title is held in the manner claimed, they will probably continue to be wasted as at present.

IRRIGATION WORKS PROJECTED.

Having noted the principal irrigating systems taking water from the Salt and Gila rivers, and reviewed in a general way the demands for water and the claims made upon the flow of these streams, it is pertinent to discuss at some length the attempts now being made to increase the available water by means of reservoirs and other works designed to save in part the waste water occurring in floods. The principal projects which have been surveyed by individuals and corporations or examined by the Government are known as the Rio Verde, Tonto Basin, Walnut Grove, Agua Fria, Cave Creek, Buttes, Lower Gila, and Queen Creek.

RIO VERDE.

This enterprise contemplates the storage of waters at the site on the Rio Verde known as the Horseshoe Reservoir, in T. 8 N., R. 6 E., Gila and Salt River meridian. The drainage area tributary to this reservoir is nearly 6,000 square miles. The proposed height of the dam at this point is 150 feet above the present surface of the river, and it will extend to a maximum depth of 25 feet to bed rock. It will be 386 feet long at the low-water line of the river, and 1,250 feet along the top. It is proposed to build this dam of a rock-filled type having side slopes of 2:3, made impervious on the water side by a sheet of asphalt pavement extending to bed rock. The spillway is situated over