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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1914)
Irrigation in Willamette Valley By Prof. W. $ Froper irrigation may be of & $ groat valuo to farmers in the $ $ Willamette Valley, according to $ the Oregon Agricultural College. ? $ In the following article Profea- $ sor W. L. Towers shows how this $ is truo. 3 (Special to the Farm Magazine.) FROM experiments and observations made by the Oregon Agricultural College it appears that proper irri gation in the Willamette Valley will provide a more favorable moisture con tent of the soil, and will aso aid in the liberation of plant food and in its solu tion and conveyance to the plants. Likewise it will increase the bacterial etivity of the oil and lead to a great er root and top development 'of the plant. Furthermore, extra root develop ment of the plant will tend to offset any running together of tho soil duo to , irrigation. Irrigation farming tends to remove larger crops from the land and conse quently larger amounts of fertilizer iu the way of refuso must be returned to the land if its fertility is to be main tained. It is more important to prac tice a careful rotation of crops that will permit the growing of clover or some other soil building crop on the land every few years, in irrigation farming that in other methods. It is also moro necessary that irrigated fields bo plowod up deeply at freqnent intervals to maintain a good state of tilth. Crop Rotation. Crop rotations in irrigation farm ing should provide for the growing of a good proportion of cultivated crops each year, since cultivated crops re quire less water and use it later in the season than do the meadow crops. A rotation of soil-building crops together with the application of manure main tains the water holding capacity and fertility of soils, thereby lowering the water cost of dry matter. Larger amounts of manure can also be used without making the coils too open where irrigation is practiced. A free working soil can be built up and kept in a higher state of productivity by tho nso of rotation including legumes- and tho use of manure, in con nection with proper irrigation. Irrigation farming finds its highest dovolopment in connection with in tensive cultural methods. It will become of increasing importance in Western Oregon on all free working soils in connection with intensive dairying, hop production and truck farming. Moisture Points. Willamette Valley silt loam nnder field conditions has several important moisture poii.ts. It will bo recalled in this connection that water in the soils has threo distinct aspects free, capil lary and hygroscopic. The free moisture appears as water and moves chiefly by gravity. Tho capillary water moves THE SHORT LINE IS THE Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Co. 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Irrigation during a seven years' test gave a higher seasonal mois ture content, which was associated with higher yields of nine standard Willam ette Valley crops. Interesting and Important Some of the incidental effects of irri gation as shown by these tests are not only interesting but highly important to the irrigation farmer as well. It was shown among other things that irrigation is associated with a tempo rary loss of moisturo in the sub-soils due to reversed capillary movement. The highest seasonal moisture con tent in irrigated plants was obtained in connection with early spring plow ing, manuring, crop rotations including legumes, and frequent cultivation, thereby maintaining a crumb soil mulch 2 to 3 inches in depth over the surface. Irrigation likewise caused a lowering of the temperature to the extent of as n.ueh as 4 degreeB of soils in cultivated plats and as much as 10 degrees in meadow plats. Aside from these and other inciden tal features irrigation is shown to have accomplished its main purpose by pro ducing an increase in the crop yields. During the seven years the average in crease of all crops has been 65 per cent. It altered the shape and size of the plants and affected the seed products, causing better shaped ears and a high er germination of corn with a lower germination of beans. Effect on Market. Irrigation has likewise altered the percentage of marketable products, causing more beans in proportion to plant, more beet in proportion to top, but fewer potatoes in proportion to the top produced. Irrigation has also caused a slight change in the chemical composition of the products. The effect of continued irrigation upon the soil for several successive years varies with the character of the crops grown. The soils show a slight tendency to decrease in water capacity and increase in volume weight with irrigation where rank feeding crops were grown, but to be improved in these respects where soil building crops were grown. Irrigation has caused a decided increase in organic content where leguminous crops were grown. This comparison was made with soils upon which legumes were grown with out irrigation. Profit Possible. Irrigation had but little appreciable to PUGET SOUND " CENTRAL OREGON SPOKANE and EASTERN CITIES effect upon the acidity of soils and on the content of available plant food, although it assisted in the solution of available plant food-and in its trans mission to the proper parts of the grow ing plant. Altogether these field experiments and observations have shown that un der proper management there is a good profit in irrigation in all cases where the water can be supplied by pumping or otherwise at a cost of not to ex ceed $1 per acre-inch for all the water used. Troperly managed irrigation prac tice taken in connection with the free- working soils will give the farmers of j the Willamette Valley such control of j the moisturo content of their soils as i will not only increase the volume of i the crop, but will likewise increase the profits and improve the tilth and fer tility of their soils. Emergency Rate REQUESTED emergency rate of 10 cents reduction to all points EaHt, asked for by the North western Fruit Exchange in behalf of growers and shippers of the North west, has brought to tho aurfara an al most universal plea. All of the rail roads in the Northwest carrying fruit. were addressed in a memorial setting forth the need fir alleviation of mar keting cost of apples this year. Business men generally and news papers have added to tho strong argu ments as given by the Exchange with a comprehensive analysis of conditions as they see them. Growers and ship pers are endorsing the request on every hand so that it may well be Said that the request is unanimous. It is the belief that the railroad'? will decide to do everything in their power to aid the grower in the face of this year's conditions which are represented by an immense ero; over the entire country and the closing of dependable exports. The railroads are vitally interested in the marketing of the crop. It has been pointed out that aid from this sourco will allow the grower to place upon the market un doubtedly a much larger percentage of his crop than he would otherwise do, and it is possible to figure out that the railroads will be able to make more money this year hauling apples at a temporary reduced rate than they could at their regular rates. This cer tainly will be so in the long run if, as What Are You Going To Do? Your futuro depends upon your training. Let us train you for a suc cessful business career. 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