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Eugene Or
Crook Coiihty ' Jomraal
COUNTY OFFICIAL PAPER, $1.50 YEAR PRINEVILLE, CROOK COUNTY, OREGON, THURSDAY, AUG. 29, 1912.
BntTM at the pottifllf at Frf nvlll
OrtoD, iieeoDd-cliwM matter
VOL.XVI-NO.40
Irrig
ation and
Hints for Crook
County Farmers
Its Problems
T. Cochran, Knot. VIt
DIvUIoii Nu. 2,
Tho future development (if nil
that part of Oregon lying east of
tho aummitof the Cascade mount
sins dopmids utmost cntlrtily up
on Irrigation. This arid region
extendi beyond tho boundaries of
Orrgon Into Idaho, Utah aud Nev
ada, and thin whole territory
naturally follows the water grade
to Its outlet down tho Columbia.
Irrigation Is a complex prob
lem bocause of the numerous
conditions and mixed situations
under which It Is carried on; to
solve this problem necessarily
means that there must be put In
some systematic uiethed of ad
ministration. It Is the tendency
of the human race In Its develop
cient to follow this lino of least
resistance.
In settling up this territory
the pioneers took up those pieces
of land first which did not re
quire Irrigation; as these lands
were absorbed, other farmers
ventured to tho less productive
semi-arid lands. As transpor
tation facilities grew and crops
became more valuable, those
linds which were uearest the
streams and more easily Irrigat
ed were put under water by the
owners; this would occur most
generally Id the most arid sec
tions. Putting water upon the lands
was a means of Insuring a crop;
soon the effect of water upon the
land was shown by .high values,
and this compelled the putting of
'water upon the semi arid lands,
and even upon lsnds which
ordinarily do not require irri
gation. - As this value of land in
creased the production of that
land begin to decrease. In order
to bring the production up to a
reasonable return upon the cap
Jtal invested the application of
water was necoseary. With such
application the value of land still
increased beyond our compre
hension. Our population has at
o Increased and all these con
ditions have united to make bur
irrigation problem not only of
state wide but also of nstional
interest and importance.
When you buy a piece of real
(State, lb. 9 first thing considered
is the title. No one will invest
his money in such property un
less the title Is good. As the
clamor for water has become
larger so in porportion have our
water titles become more and
mors chaotic Indeed, through
out our part of the state, land
valnes dopend almost entirely
upon water. It can be truly
said that investments In our
lands of Eastern Oregon depend
upon the value of water.
In order to make these titles
to water stablo, there must be
some system devised. That
system must be capable of en
iorcement, aii water users
must conform to it; if one water
user is not compelled to conform
to the system then you lose this
system. Furthermore, this sys-
must be flexible so that it can be
adapted to the various conditions
thah rise. No stream flows
regular and certain amount of
water. It varies with the sea
sons, and no year even, cau be
found hardly the same. This
flexibility therefore is absolutely
necessary. Our present state
law is an attempt to put in force
a system in Irrigation. Titles to
water are first investigated, ad
judicated and settled; in that in
vestigation there are a few very
Important matters to understand.
Naurs Cn , r tint Ttie anny me neuron In Connecticut, with the capture of New York city approaches at the problem to be solved, attracted
(lews OIIAPSIIUIS fmt Interest. Secretary of Bute Knoi started for Japan aa America's representative at the funeral of tbe late mikado. A poat
Of (hfl Week humous belr of John Jacob Aator waa bora. Dr. R. E. Doollttle waa named aa probable succeeaor to Dr. Harvey W. Wiley
VI lltsj ce M tb jjoYernnjenf, cbJf chemist. Jacob Uouid Bcburman, president of Cornell onlreraity. waa appointed minister to Greece.
Emory It But-kner, s young lawyer of considerable ability, waa named aa special counsel to the aldermanlc committee which la Investigating alleged graft In
the New York police department
First, It is necessary to settle the
date when water was first used
under each right. It is the at
tempt of the law to enforce that
old principle of law, first In time,
first in right. Therefore, we
need this date, fixed. When
water begins to get short; when
there is not a sufficient amount
to supply all the users; the
younger rights are cut off and
the older rights supplied. This
is determined by three dates.
Tbe text question that is im
portant is, what land has been
irrigated. Tbis Is comparatively
easy to determine and is rarely
disputed. In order that the
water titles mav be permanent
our law makes them sppurtenant
to the land itself. , " " '
In former days eppropriators
have sold their water right in
diacriminately. But in spite of
all these sales, they have kept
using the same amount of water
By making thesa water
rights appurtenant to the land,
and compelling a transfer in a
certain mode which is done under
our la through the Board of
Control; these rights are made
permanent. It becomes easy
when a sale is made to cut the
water off from the seller and give
it to the purchaser. Again the
acreage of the land Irrigated
should determine tbe amount of
water that the appropriator can
use.
Water is a natural resource
and no one should be allowed to
monopolize It; his requirements
are limited by a beneficial use of
that water.
Another question that arises.
Is how much water is necessary
to Irrigate an acre of land? This
is sometimes called the duty of
water. No more should water
rights be granted upon opinion
v;
and guess work testimony. Test
imony as to the duty of water
should be direct, and the results
of agricultural experiment as to
the application of the water. Ou r
agricultural college and our nat
ional department of agriculture
and many other organizations and
men are making a study of this
question.
Experiments in soil moisture
has shown thatagricultural crops
will not live where the mois
ture Is less than 10 per ceut.
In fact crops begin to wilt, when
moisture in the so!i reached about
15 per cent. Nor will our agrl
cultural crops live in land where
there is an excess of moisture.
This exeses occurs when the soil
contains somewhere around SO
per cent of water. Crops usually
begin to feel th? effects of too
much water when the soil moist
ure goes over about 25 per cent;
there is therefore a happy med
ium between this 14 or 15 per
cent of water in the soil and the
25 or 28 per cent. The result of
numerous experiments along tbis
line shows that the nearer tbe
soil moisture can be kept to 20
per cent the larger will be the
.crops. The irrigator of course,
desires some practical method of
knowing when they have about
this per cent of soil moisture. As
long as the farmer can take his
spade and go into his field, sink
the spade its full depth, lift out
the dirt, take a handful of it, and
press it into a hall so that It
sticks together the soil contains
plenty of water. When he press
es the dirt 'together and then
releases it, and it begins to fall
away In particles, the moisture in
the soil is getting close to the
wilting point. Of course, there
are other methods of determ
miug when to irrigate the land,
such as watcbiag the plant grow
th, etc., but these more parti
cularly enter into questions which
are brought home to the irrigator
after his titl? to water has been
settled.
Again, experiments hsve been
made as to just how much water
it takes to produce a pound of
dry matter, and the result of
thousands of such experiments
have been printed in various
bulletins and government publi
cations. Thes show that it takes
about 750 pounds of water to
produce one pound of dry matter
in alf at la. Five tons of alfalfa hay
is an ordinary season's crop, or
10,000 pounds. Alfalfa hay after
it has been cured contains ordin
eirily about 15 per cent water.
Deducting this 15 per cent from
the 10,000 pounds leaves 8500
pounds. Multiplying this by 750
makes 6,370,000 pounds of water
which is necessary to grow the
five tons of alfalfa. Now one
acre inch of water weighs 226.885
pounds. Dividing the amount of
water reguired to produce the
crop by tbe weight of one acre
inch we find that to produce five
ton of alfalfa it requires 2S.1 acre
inches This calculation does not
take into consideration seepage or
rainfall or water received from
any other source than irrigation.
After having determined what
all the water titles along a certain
streams are, it is then necessary
to administer them. Tbis ad
mlnstration is the only method
whereby stability of title can be
achieved.
A water-master is appointed
who has all tbe authority or a
sheriff and all the authority and
power of , tbe court behind him.
Under the decrees he has a great
deal of discretion. He has the
power to compel head gates to be
p it in; to arrange for rotation,
and as the water begins to get
short he has the power to set the
time of irrigation and the amount
of wster that can be used at each
time. In. order, therefore, for
our system to be a success the
water master must be a man of
good judgment and able to deal
with men and handle them. He
also must know his stream and
know the land. He must learn
the various differences between
the different pieces of land. He
must keep minute records so
that these records will show
the differences. As his system
works out better and better each
year and comes more nearly to
wards the goal of perfection, then
it is that our development will
reach its highest point. All the
land possibly in our great state
will be under irrigation. The
hum of industry will resound
from every part. Earm product
ion will be at its highest. All the
valleys will be thickly settled and
dotten here and there with
schools and churches, and the
songs of children will gladden
the hearts of all those who hear
them. Country life will be a
pleasure and a joy and our whole
state will prosper for when the
valleys laugh and sing, it is not
the farmer only but all creation
that rejoices.
Work Wanted
Girl wants place to work for board
and go to high school. Address "O"
care ol Journal. o-t
Stud Horse for Trade.
Big registered Percheron. Will
take broke horses. Walter Quack
enbush, postoffice box 254, Red
mond, Oregon. 815-2p
Notice. v
Partiea driving beet cattle on Burns
road to Priueville can get pasture at
Colby's ranch, one mile of! the road,
below the old Davia ranch on Crooked
river 8-S-lm
, H. Splllman, Assistant Supt.
Dvnionatratlon Karma.
There U probably nothing that
adds more to the home atmosphere
of a farm than a few fruit trees and
berry bushes. Still, in going over
the country we notice that many of
the new homes that are being es
tablished are without fruits of
any kinds, either those that come
into bearing early or those that we
must .wait several years before rej
ceiving returns. Yet there are few
places where with the proper care
hardy tree and bush fruits may not
be grown. While they may not
bear each year because of adverse
climatic conditions, still they
are ornamental and will give ns
fruit for home consumption oc- '
caaionally, which means much where
fruits are scarce. Still, such small
fruits as gooseberries and currants
yield heavily each year, while straw
berries and raspberries also do well.
So with these small fruits bearing
practically every year and an occa- '
sicnal crop of hardier tree fruits
there is no reason why each fanner
should not have an abundance of
fruit of one kind or other each year.
In planting a home orchard under
our conditions, it is preferable, when
so situated, to plant the trees on a
north or northwest slope. Never set
your trees on your lowest ground.
because of the added danger of
frost. Always plant in your higher
locations if they are so situated that
you can give the trees proper care.
This will give you less trouble with
frost as the cold air naturally drains
into the low places and your high
places are so situated as to receive
the benefit of any air currents that
may be in motion, and this also tends
to prevent frost injury. In any
case give your trees as good a loca
tion as you possibly can as regards
exposure, and always as deep soil a)
you can with the above principles in
mind. Set your apple trees not less
than thirty feet apart each way ;
pears and other tree fruits twenty
five feet apart each way.
Under our conditions the selee.
tions of varieties is an important
matter and nothing but the hardier
ones should be selected. Do not
make the mistake of selecting some
much talked of varieties that may
require entirely different climatic
conditions than exist here, for if
you do you can at best expect hut
inferior fruit, while in all probabil
ity your trees will very seldom set
fruit at all. This pertains also to
the bush and small fruits. '
With our altitude and cold win
ters it is advisable to set the trees
in the spring fall set trees are apt
to be winter killed. In setting the
trees cut back the longer roots and
others that have been broken off,
cut off with a sharp knife. Make
the holes large enough to admit all
the roots without their ends being
bent upward. Set the trees several
inches deeper than they were in the
nursery row. If you have a pre
vailing wind, set the trees slightly
leaning in that direction. Cut off
the tree about two feet above the
ground. Always where possible
secure one-year old trees, as they
can much more readily be, made to
take the desired form than older
trees. . . , . ,
The selection of varieties is of
much importance and often determ
ines whether your planting will be
a failure or success. Conditions
as they exist over the greater part
of this county call for hardy, north
ern grown, rather early varieties of
apples. ; The Russian group fills
these requirements quite well and
include such varieties as the Astra
chan, Yellow Transparent and Grav-
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