"Within the semiarid region there are millions of acres of rich, fertile land, now barren, some of which will be reclaimed through irrigation, but most of which can not be irrigated on account of the limited water supply, and must be farmed, if at all, without irrigation.... This land is now attracting eastern farmers who are prone to risk failure in view of the possibilities in years of favorable precipitation. There have been many deplorable failures during the recent years which could have been averted had the unfortunate settlers fortified themselves against periods of drought by irrigating small parts of their land holdings. It is realized that to accomplish this requires an outlay of capital and if this outlay is great it precludes the possibility of such procedure. With a view to helping these settlers, this Office has investigated the use of windmills as a means of pumping water for the irrigation of small areas in connection with the farming of more extensive areas without irrigation. It is the purpose of this bulletin to set forth in a simple, comprehensive way the possibilities of irrigation, using windmills only as means of power." -- p. 5

Report discussing the results of experiments undertaken to determine the viability of early oats in different regions of the United States since early oats typically thrive only in the Corn Belt and Great Plains regions.

"In the mountain valleys of Colorado are found conditions of altitude, soil, and moisture naturally favorable to the growth of the potato, with an almost entire absence of harmful freezes and bacterial enemies." -- p. 5. This bulletin explains how potatoes can be cultivated to thrive in the western United States.

"A practical manual, giving methods pursued throughout the irrigated beet-growing sections and thereby furnishing information to new settlers in irrigated districts, as well as suggestions to beet growers as to the practices in States other than their own, should be of value in introducing the growing of beets and improving the methods of handling this important crop. As the matter now stands, each community where this industry has found favor is proceeding along lines suggested by local conditions which are more or less peculiar, and this bulletin is designed to be a compilation of the practices throughout the West, to which are added the results of experiments conducted by this Office in irrigation of sugar beets during the past four years." -- p. 9