East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1904-12-02
GOVERNMENT IRRIGATION EXPERIMENT.

ment and concrete instead of wood in
irrigation structures.
Duty of Wafer and Application to Soil
The increasing value of water has
given added Importance to the studies
of its duty, which have been a lead
ing feature of this investigation from
the outset. Rights which originally
were purchased for So an acre are
now selling for $35 an acre. Annual
water rentals have risen in certain
districts from 81 to 81 an acre.
Every extravagant appropriation of
water is a dinect incentive to waste,
and excess contracts and DEGREES will
continue to be made so long as the
quantity actually used has not been
determined By accurate impartial
measurements. This fact is giving the
work of the department increasing
Importance. Its reports are being
used in fixing water right DEGREES,
and measurements of the duty of wa
ter on streams where adJudications
are proposed are urgently requested.
Scarcity of water in the arid West
makes it desirable that 1t shall be
used by irrigators I'm the most econ
omScal and skillful way. To aid in
making this possible the department
is carrying on a series of scientific
studies to determine the quantity of
water which will give the best results
and the best methods of applying it to
crops In one important irrigated
district these measurements show
that the quantity needed to irrigate
so acres of land under the method in
common use will irrigate 100 acres
when applied by another equally
feasible method. They also show that
the time of irrigation and the quantity
of water used have an important in
fluence on the quality as well as on
the yield of crops.
Pumping Water for Crops.
During the past season records of
the performance of over 1000 irrigat-
ing pumping plants, scattered from
Texas TO Washington, have been OBJ
tanned. These included many types
of pumps operated by gasoline, crude
OIL distillate. by steam generated by
u,
trio motors, windmills, and water
power. The rapid extension of pump
ing as a means of extending irriga-
ton gives great practical Importance
to these studies.
Nnd is one of the neglected but
promising sources of power for pro-
viding water for irrigation and for
nNlr A.
ment has been made with the depart
ment of farm mechanics in the Iowa
state college, to supplement the field
studies made during the year by more
careful tests of the efficiency of diff
ferent makes of windmills. The maxi
ers of these machines have manifest
ed much interest in these investiga-
tions and have not only offered to
supply the mills needed for testing
free of cost but to manufacture others
according to any special designs sug-
gested by this department.
Last seasons pumping studies lead
to the conclusion that there is a broad
field for irrigation by pumping; that
where the lift of water is less than so
feet the number of failures are COM
paratively few. The failures noted
have been due to two principal causes:
Lack of mechanical knowledge or
skill on the part of farmers needed
to keep machinery in proper condi-
tion, and the selection of pumps of
too great or too small capacity for
the work to be done.
Irrigation In Humid Sections.
The studies of irrigation I'm Italy
show that irrigation is highly profita-
BILE in region having a larger rain
fall than the Mississippi valley, and
there seems no doubt that in a similar
way it is to have a large field of use
fulness in the eastern and southern
portions of the United States.
One of the special crops which re-
quires irrigation is cranberries, and a
cooperative arrangement has been
made with the experiment station of
Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Gran
berry Growers Association, under
which the department is attempting
to formulate the principles which
should govern the irrigation and
drainage of cranberry beds. The
studies made in Wisconsin are being
supplemented by similar studies in
Maui Taroa,y