Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1922)
i'i ValleiY Motor Go. s ' t . -j - The Subject as Treated by W. L. Powers, the Chief of Soils at the Oregon Agricultural College Experiment Station-Half a Million Acres in the Willamette Val- J ley on Which Crops May Be Increased by Irrigation from 50 to 75 Per Cent Growing Interest in the 'I mi.i- Aa1r's tinmh!" nf Ka pacific Homestead, the farm pa per ' Issued from the. Statesman building, contains a most Instruc tive article on irrigation, giving the research' work" and experi ments that have been and are being carried on at the Oregon Agricultural college. The article deserves the careful reading of ? and preservation by every i person interested In the progress of this . whole section. " The article is as "follows: -. Supplemental irrigation for in tensive and late season crops is proving profitable on some fire to six thousand acres of Willam ette valley, lands, according to in vestigations ; conducted by W. h. Powers, chief of soils at the state agricultural ? college , experiment of each crop are manured, so that there is a dry-farmed plat of each crop in the rotation, a second one that is dry-farmed and manured, a third that is irrigated and ro tated, and the fourth quarter re ceives the advantage of irrigation, rotation, and manure. At the beginning of this experi ment, the beans yielded about 12 bushels an acre. During the first pine years or three rotations the yield dropped on the continuous crop plat to about 6 bushels an acre and it was increased -with irrigation, rotation and manure to about 22 bushels. The aver age for continuous cropping has I 9 trials, or duty of water trials, to been 9 bushels, and with irriga- qetermine how much irrigation I tion, rotation and manure the would pay best and to develop yield has been built up eo that practices ior securing the highest the average for the period is 18 einciency and greatest net profit bushels a year. The water re from the pumpel wafer employid. quirement or pounds of soil, rain Water requirement studies were and irrigation water required per added and also observations of pound of dry matter produced, the effects of irrigation upon soil with continuous cropping has and crops. The soil employed is been 2,909 pounds; with irriga- representauve . Willamette 8ty tion, rotation, and manure it has ahl am m a - m. .ft al V ium, one oi tne leading son i been reduced to 1125 or about types Jn the valley floor. It is one-half. The net profit from rather heavier than some of the rotation and irrigation has aer bottom lands and less free work- aged $14.90 more than with con ing than would ba ideal or Irriga- tinuous cropping and with Irri ,,5C a,.Ci, vi gation, rotation and manure the rrnno toot an v rn r a - i v.vKO B, o. Duu. iuwuuu was gain In net prof it an acre has watering, it should never become waterlogged and sour. Needed Every Summer There has been perhaps no sum mer since the white man came to Oregon that a little water at the needed time. In June or July, would not have been helpful to crops; there have been many years when it would have made the difference between prosperity and ruin. . The crops on many farms this' year have been abso lute 5ruin: this was not much more true in this Santiam section than In Bomp others, but the great difference is that the Santiam district has the water within reach, so easy to apply. Gravelly Soil Ideal The gravelly soil is ideal for irrigation in that it "subs" or sub-irrigates by capillarity, fof considerable distances on either side of any water supply. On the Bowne farm, an eight-acre flefd of potatoes that now looks like 200 sacks to the acre three or four or ten times the probable yield of many fields in the coun ty water was run slowly down Itha Hftn1-fiirrrvwB' th hfnd ditch "U8a' employing crops mai been f23.02. fwas at the side of the field, the rr.,:f" ::ri fur .32 feet uTj j"uia:oiheT tvnes of f.miin it u w away, and the next furrow was wnicn is usuauy umrngaiea, anai.. . V -- including the rotation of grain IRRIGATION IS NEEDED IN SALEM DISTRICT (Continued from page 2) , In summer time, drainage isn't going to help that condition. The drainage season is when the water is on and in the ground The time for irrigation is in the sum mer, when there is no water. when the crops are burning up for lack of moisture. A drain tile ditch every foot wouldn't help a single little plant to grow a sin gle strengthening root, in a red- hot July like the one just pass ed. Irrigation would! At Small Cost There are thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of acres in the Willamette valley that could be watered at small cost. The price set upon the Stay ton project is $50 an acre, for a per petual water right; the annual maintenance charge might run to about $1 an acre, a year, for the first few years, and almost certainly less as the system got thoroughly settled and organized This is a low cost, both for the initial installation and for the maintenance; and the results promise to pay an enormous inter est on the Investment. There are water courses up in the Cascades, that will give a perpetual water supply for every acre that look ed profitable to irrigate in the valley. Lands adjoining the Wil lamette river, might be more profitably watered by pumping, where the water needs to be raised only a few feet, and the saving of land far canals would all the' blood stains of the vic tim's anatomy, even to the soiled feathers; then turn the bird loose among his fellows. The pungent odor of the tar will turn them away, and there need be no more trouble. The tar is healing, which is to the benefit of the in jured bird, and at the same time harmless to the uninjured. TTs Ktataunofttf CW tn Aim Mieved important to nractice a 95 feet away or 63 feet between station. It Is further ascertained m.. Za v systematic rotation of croDs in- tn ,ast lw. irrigating mrrows. , . difference in the - -v i vivici a iiu uuLauinn. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 w ni iit . . x. i fronCHhese investigations thaU manurJn(, and crocmne to rnrn eluding the use of legumes, with Ye ttie 8011 naa taken tms water CQst operation between a gravity there are approximately a half 1 Against this rotation alfalfa has tne application of barnyard ma- ana maae tne wnoie iiewi oi a-and a iOCal pumping system. That Roof Should Have Attention at Once We can supply you with Cedar Shingles or MaJ thoid Roofing in three weights. When you build that new house be sure and get our prices. Everything in building material SPAULDING LOGGING CO. i. t . 1 . ( i 1 - 4. r 't million acres 20 per cent 'of the entire area ot th valley exclusive of forests of free-working soils of the valley in which irrigation may be made to increase crop yield from 50 tK75 per cent. On some sandy river bottom, lands of the valley the increase amounts to 100 per cent or more. " , A meeting of valley farmers fn- terested in irrigation development was held at the college Saturday, 1 Uo I . .. " ! . 1 CT. onili . : . . . I n 11 TO Irtr tha nurnm. nT K,,ITP(n . I IIIUKl NJUiU ill UC auiuc ou'u ween grown , continuously since uu.,uu6 . , . . ink One-tenth acre of each UD an up the water ca- need watering ey few .J plant has been: dry farmed or crop- Dacy and; available fertility of n inkAes; this SaAbamv soil l.i . .... th on ti, does not. It reduces the irnga- pea unaer tne. natural rainiau i "w iiu o icuiu-i- , - , th t 1, ... I tA nnH i!T- orv,, r ..m I tion labor to a merely nominal r"irln and of course reduces the land when it is needed; supplying and 'use to the land. The Important Fact This, however. Is a mere detail of expediency. The central face getting water to the been given light, medium heavy irrigations. t . I As a result of this practice the The amount that has given the supply of organic matter in these maximum net profit a. year as a Plats has been Increased byone 1 2-year average, . with, meadows half to 1 per cent. By practicing ranges from S to 13 incnes,- an av these methods. It appears practi- September 9, to study the present 1 erage of about S inches an acre! cable to save one-third to one- .A . - 1 M. X- . an- . . I I. 1 1L. M, . Status and OUUOOk tor irrigation, I ior iue seasoa. i ne cuitivatea i uu me irrigation water otner cost of watering to almost noth ing Some Doubters left There are men in the Santiam country wiio, looking out over their barren fields, still say "irri gation won't pay? Don't we get enough water here? I'll tell you the efficiency during the growing season, from the mountain waters that fall 'during the non-usable part of the year. It is a cala mity that these two local projects, that could have been of such ines- timable value during this past disastrous season, were In litiga tion, and that they watered only a score of acres where they should have watered 25,000. Some of the Santiam i Unit, as it is known, is not held. Eyesight Specialists MORRIS OPTICAL CO. 301-5 Oregon Bldg. alem, Oregon A call today may save needless pain and suffer- ing in the future. I r . r i ..'.mna is .f.iAn irHniinn IcroDa have rannlrari from a n G I wise needed. nniJ tri-oativ nioa I what's the matter " and they AUU OMlUlUlf W I ' w w i u,aii Qi-f fa nlAt. snrl ivafam a! farmtnv miiflA mClieS &11 ftCre A neAKOn. tlrODS I tUQ Tlelda And net nrnfita ThU "l ittiuuttuo, u. mMav iaM mrsA wiia Kv I of DotatoeR haye done hAnt -where lift erwviallv imnnrtjint in thA wAol foreign competition, or enxnen i iv iuuvuv nuuk ivttM i ------- ' , i.v. ijitJ uuutjr urujeci. experimental application ot water. I LU1 is aypuea .m iwo urigauons i rigauon oi ratner Heavy soils in uueD ;7 A number of these farmers are h jWhu.hi ua vauey. irngauon nas given """"f , r"7,T:r " fa the courts, though it is unfor- now practicing irrigaUon with sue- oJ Is calculated at 41 : an aere higher efficiency where, applied sand kinds and their own fields tunat,y Unked witfe tbQ b,gger cess or planning to install irriga- ww iu oisui-ummw just at tne right moisture point; u"" - v; " project in a financial kinship tion iystem as' shpu, as possible. W'??ei or when the soil has dried to the fck JhelJJ; ' that has held it back. But it has Some of thentjikflr skare taking Li! eonditlonjnee.it, as in- Ston '"JXZ'Z recently passed Into the control oat individual wate rights frof f v aicaaoy sou mowtur tests. ""v "v7; "",7 Zi of J. T. Sullivan, a pioneer Ore- irrigaaon.-- .W: -.l" t?'? bought point for clwer ha. fn-but if they would only Qr wh; haJ done 80me Increased Interest in irrigation mL"" 1 !!" L" l0.be.more for LL wTw bter -did development work in the uogue Kiver. country, ana whose knowledge and standing on irri gation matters promises to bring the matter through. Mr. Sullivan is now offering water to the land owners of this upper Santiam unit of 6940 acres, at $50 an acre and expects to have the con tracts completed and water deliv ered for the season of 1323. If every acre of the 6,940 acres under this project were to produce like the Bowne logans, a little more than J300 an acre, it would mean $2,000,000 worth of crops a year in that one little spot! This is too mucn to expect, per- 260 North High Street Phcsel995 Boost This Community by Adver tising on the Pep and Progress x x Pages ). I ! ' Statesman Classified :Ads. Cost Little But Pay Big HOTELMARION SALEM, OREGON Tke Largest and Most Complete Hostelry In Ore gon Out of Portland GJt Fnrmaoe for I your honte U Boy the Ore SJ gon Made. W. W. ROSEBRAUGH CO. Foundry and Machine Shop 17th and Oak Sts., Salem. Or. Phone 881 Dodge Brothers sedaii - Bonesteele lloiorCo: 1148 3. Coml St, Phone 48S Big crowds will gather round about To see flames take your noma. But when your loss Is figured oat You stand It all alone. The Journal of Commerce statistics show the following fire losses In Am erica for July mt. $10,189.1001 for July. 120. 9Zs.1ss.bZK. Build of Hollow Tils and help pre vent this waste. SALEM BRICK & TILE CO. Brick building tile, drawn tfls , Phono 917 Salem, bra. increasea iptwwja .rngaou an acre more beans.i-A summary poutoes in the course of these chi dren would has beea shown In the valley due of these' studies is elven in the p T; . -0tt' : ! rinthP and have to the tiidfld Att weather this . i , v, B1Ten p me experiments. The best retutns clothes and nave Lii:! fojlowlng table., v ? ; ,f p have'heeni secured where water books and have ' V e w -. . TLZ M -i -m M o n a 0 y) is u ! 0) t- w o a t: n H h N ... - k Q T w m ei o o to season, . with l the result that . the foramtlou of irrigation ) districts in two or three counties la being ' contemplated and the namber of water filings by flttdvlduala . has ' ' beeu Inereaaedl'il.il f ?!'" i , big agrtcuUuraYufiding where W. U Powers, thief in soils, ex i plained the work of his depart- meut and showed the men through the soils laboratories where soil analysis work is done for the farmers of the 4staev-; Professor Powers told of the model pump- r Ing plant and ' demonstrated how the water is applied to the experi- mental Ileld. ; f! , " The four-Inch centrifugal pump ts of the' general type advocated for use by valley Janners If it is necessary to, lift the water. This type of pump is supposed to pump r a cubic foot of water a second, wukh will cover an acre ot ' ground one Inch deep in an h6ur. , . Irrigation in the valley should 'be simply a1 supplemental propo- tiou ' Professor Powers brought ouf." Water must be used care ' .fully In order to obtain the most profit. Application of manure and practice of crop rotation I i-omon. nf th y make it possible to get along with M most nH m district; R. B. ' 60 si s r 0 t& 9 ty w ' o o o o oo 0 CO CO -O J5 v- rH . O Q I to o u o o a, u u n s W more and better homes of com- was applied when ths soa reached fort, and the fanners themselves the drought point and In. suffic- woia 800n De wpd icnt amount to raise the moisture haPPy instead of as now. Pros- rnnf Ant . fn lha Afpnua rtrklnt an1 I perity is good morals; poverty, at .. Jw ki. j I ipast lenorant. willful Doverty, is wj Buyi usauit; iuuui,ire uunui, - ?riiir:iai- immoral in the highest degree ways sufficient moisture in -the 1 Marion county might be the most i n v. , j. I moral county in the world With BUU3U11 Ul liivoQ uviLi J 2cbUU4, ' , but the surface soil becomes dry Irrigation! in late summer and capillarity is Tom of Beans intorrimtftH an niant fonri an. When the Salem King's Prod parently goes out of solution in company contracted last i r..vAr a little mnniamatt. I snrinsr for 300 acres of string tjii irriaHon rfi-estahiiahM canii. beans, here is what happened i rvomonf r.mrto mnf.tnro DianT of the beans never had a for bacterial a'ctivitv and libera- UroP of rain frbm the day of haps; and yet many a crop would Hon f nlant fond, and affords planting until the rain came m beat this record to death. It sclution and conveyance into the August. The yield has been so would take 20, or 50, crops like niant. Trovidinp- thia tuoisture Hght that sonii fields hafe not those on much of this ground rtnrit,. tho. w crrnwfn weather been picked. But a two-acre this year, to make as much moiu has made it possible to produce eW of Kentucky Wonder feeans ey, or even as much total yield, Hrr matter at a lower reauire- Uly a stone's throw from the as the Bowne irrigation lands. ment per pound than has been realized with the dry-farmed plats. Some valley farmers who have made successful use of Irrigation for 10 years or more and still continue it are the following: Zlna Wood, Judge George Bagley and Hutlmen brothers, intensive dairy farmers of the Hillsboro OREGON PULR '& PAPER CO. SALEM, OREGON Manufacturera of ""''-" - High Grade Wrapping Papers aai Paper Specialties A. C. Bohrnstedt Realtor Life, Fire, Health Acci dent, Anto and Indemnity Insurance. Bonds and Mortgages, City Building Loans 40T Masonic Bldg.. Salem. Or. FAIRMOUNT DAIRY Perfectly Pasteurized MILK AND CREAM Phone 725 "Where The Crowds Always 1 - ... -!..,. i " Shop" I i if1- - i i , t THE PEOPLE'S CASH STORE SALEII, OREGON less water. A farmer should irri gate according to the water ca- an acre, as an average or ail sea sons, has been 5 1-3 Inches per r 9 paclty of the soil, this specialist toQ alfalfa and 3 incnea 100 Chase & Son, greenhouse and outdoor vegetable crowing. Eugene; Frank Huson, intensive trucking, North Albany; p-otnted out. The plant food buahelg potatoea ThIa repres6nU Cummings ranch, trucking, Can tion should be kept up. If there is a well balanced plant food solu- water the crop producing power of by. tion, lf cuts down on the amount of : water needed. Rotation - of crops - costs little and la very profitable on all the soils of the valley! the visitors Some particularly promising In the early years ot this ex- districts for immediate irrigation contractors; it may indeed pa Stayton cannery,. belonging to A. Newmeyer, under the Wil lamette Valley Irrigation com pany ditch, has already, produced and sold 8360 pounds of irrigated beans, and the crop wasn't half finished when these figures were given. That would be at the rate of more than four tons to tne acre. And the irrigation was not well done; the fields were fiooa- V.ir a f lanA n rrpnt that 81- cu " . II.. 1 I- I r- . most tore up the plants by the mas 10 rUmiSn hOOd roots, instead of gently soaks Nearly Three Other Fami- ruT.f;TUaacreIwm lies Besides His Own probably pay as much profit as any other 25 acres of the King's or the Newmeyer beans- Let's irrigate! THE FllfS JOB IS A GROWING 01 OUR TREES Carefully Grown Carefully Selected Carefully Packed tWill Give Satisfaction to the j - Planter . SALEM NURSERY i COMPANY 428 Oregon Building I Phone 176S ; Aaaiuonai salesmen wameu .HARDWARE I ANDrimwnjRE ca SS20 N. Commercial Street Phone 1050 1 "SIBLOCO" . Pipeless Furnaces $79.60 And Up : Send Tor circular , v SILVERTON BLOW pipeco; BILVERTON, OREGON H. B. SEAGROE, 198 S. v 12th St, locral agrent. All work fully guaranteed periment Irrigrated legume sod land was plowed up and cropped to potatoes. And there was a sur- Drisine increase in yield. With were told. It permits increasing , rf Uon ther0 naa Deea more root growth as well as top growth and. this resulted in better condi tions of available moisture and the humus and nitrogen supply by the turning - under of clover sod and other crop residues. As fc a seven-year average, rotation on the Oregon Agricultural College Experiment station farm has giv- 9 en'an average net profit of $8.32 with rainfall farming and $14.09 with Irrigation farming above the profit from ' continuous cropping. In 1907 the federal office of Ir- tQ become consoiidated. . rigauoq investigations Began some iirigation testi at and other po!nt3, to determine the value of irrigation water plement to . the limited summer rainfall and of irrigating as a means oit; increasing production and profits particularly with more intensive agriculture that was beginning to take the place of grain growing. Inareases In yields of corn, potatoes, mangels and clover with gTalru ranging from 27 to 186 per cent were secured, development are listed by Profes- j.w Powers as follows: Several thousand acres of nice free working soil in the first and second bottoms along the Wil lamette north of Eugene can be more Kecent statistics sent out by ! the census authorities show that actual profit than tneir whole planting, for many acres tne rarm population of the United hive been a dead loss. Irriga- States Is only 31,614.269, a little tion naid G. A. Newmeyer! ; I less than 30 per cent of the total 19 Easy to Learn This includes farm operators and Hundreds of acres of ground farm laborers and their families, Irritated, and will be suitable for in the valley have been watered whH live in the country, and small fruit, truck and very in- this, year by pumping. Most of J shows an average of about five fertility for each succeeding le- tensive forms of agriculture when the fields received the water too persons to each farm. About half gume crop. It has also been no- reclaimed and improved. There iate; the crops were stunted be- the people in the nation are ticed that with a rank feeding are also other acres of free land fore the pumps were bought and classified as rural that is, they crop like kale or corn, there is ner the Santiam river in Marion started. The results ot the live in the, country or in towns a tendency for the soil to be de-J county and along Dairy creek injpumping have not been uniform-J having fewer than 25.000 inhabi pleted of its organic material and j Washington county; also some hy successful, from a monetary tants, but only 61 per cent of the for Irrigation water to cause land lands of less sandy texture but standpoint: mostly,; however, be- suttable for intensive crops with I cause the pumping was not start rtn ainnnt nf thnao things, a I .... 1 1 I rr ! tra t i nn Perhans I a A 4n tlma fnr n fair trial. In .... , , . , I WM w w ' u . . . . . . ' I some aingauon iesi ai ITa"lb Uecondarjr experiment was plan-1 the largest field for development Ume cases the Irrigation was ana otner points, to ceiermme me ied ln 1914 to te8t the value of here Is in connection with the done on the theory that If a lit- , : ll .; i rotation, irrigation and manure as nge 0f 8mall individual pumping tie water is good, a lot is better; affecting the water requirement, Iniants.. and it is possible by prop- and the plants were fairly drown vicAA ati1 nrnfit TTnnrtPPn nlatj? I i..lmllnn tn rlnnhlA thft Vleld I aA Inatoail nf 1nt watered. A of gray-brown clay loam soil were 0f about onersixth of the soils in fair knowledge of plant habits employed In this experiment, one- the valley, being the naturally and of the duty of water is as half of which has been irrigated drained free working soil areas essential for the farmer as know each Beason, the other half being that are not too heavy on the ing how to harness a horse or dry-farmed'. Two plats were used cne hand or too sieve-like on the milk'a cow or come in for lunch, for beans grown continuously, one other. The enterprise is delayed But it would be so easy to learn, without and the other with irriga- partly due to lack of knowledge if one would but try! - indicating -that supplementary non' ana 01 ine lW81ve remaining 0f the walue or irrigation or skhi 'Drainage ana irrigawin f Irrigation,-wisely used with most Plats, four each season are in n jts use. However, there are Some land owners have said, . late season crops, would prove four In white beans, and here opportunities for irrigation ""If you'd talk drainage, we'd be profitable on the naturally dfaln- four In clover. The clover fol- farming in a region where there for it." Drainage is indeed im- ed free working soils of the valley Iowa the grain in , the rotation fs a onr growing season with portant, and in some of the low, s accessible to water. andr the beans have the favored pood transportation facilities at sluggish parts of the Willamette In 1910 the experiments were Place on the clover sod land. One- fMnat and a healthful settled - valley It might be the first con-v- extended to Include soil moisture half of each crop is irrigated and tion free from hardships of plo- sideration. But where the ground investigations and water variation one side or two of the four plats nearinr in a raw. arid section. dries up Into a glaring desert tor i Peerless Bakery Makers of Peerless Bread jTry Our Donghnuts jj T0 North Commercial St, USE BUTTERCUP BUTTER Capital City Cooperative Creamery 137 S. Coml St. Phone 299 Our Idea: Our Method: The Best Only Co-operation 'rurals" are actually engaged in farming. Thus 39 per cent of the rural population and the entire c-ty population most be fed by the men engaged in agriculture. It gives the farmer a big job. Only a few years ago each far mer had to provision his own fam ily and one other family now he must furnish food for nearly three other families besides his ! own. Hi occupation should not fail. Farm L4fe. TE CANNIBAL CHICK Every once in awhile we hear j of chicks picking a wounded spec imen to death, which soon finds expression in picking the toes of each other; all of which is bad. A remedy said to be efficacious is to purchase a bottle of pine tar at the drug store and apply it to Webb & Clough Co. Leading Funeral Directors Expert Embalmer Cor, Court and High 8ta Phone 120 DRAGER FRUIT CO. Dried Fruit Packers 221 S. High St Salem, Or, Always in the marketfor dried fruits of all lands THE BOY SCOUTS deserve the support of everyone who wishes to inculcate high prin elples of manhood into the youth of our land, This space paid for hy Thielsen & Rahn ' THE CAPITAL BARGAIN HOUSE Buys and Sells Anything Associated with CAPITAL JUNK COMPANY 111 Center 81 Phorolls W. T. Rigdon & Son Progressive Funeral Directors SALEM "1 Silverton Foundry Co. Iron , and Brass Castings SawmlH and "Logging Re pairs, nop and Fruit Stoves, Castings of all kinds SILVERTON. OREGON Paoue Qrees 111 - . ... . ... .... . 1 ii
