East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1910-12-27

country. To many of you, perhaps,
1t Is known as timber and livestock
country. To tell you Oregon Is dry
farming country might surprise you.
To speak briefly Of the geography of
Oregon would make clear at once the
immense moisture laden winds from
the west over the Coast range and
deluges western oregon with a rain
fall of from 40 to 70 inches, which
brings generous crops of fruit and
dairy and forage products; but as this
moisture-laden wind passes over the
Cascades and reaches eastern Ore
gon 1t has reached high attitudes and
that moisture Is practically out of
sight. There are but remnants of the
moisture from this wind from the
Japan current left after it has gotten
over the crest of the Cascades More
than two-thirds Of the state lies east
OF the Cascade range-siXty thousand
square miles of territory, 100000
acres, practically, a dry farming
country. There are several great ir-
rigation projects in the midst of this
territory where alfalfa and fruits are
raised. but the great bulk of this 4O,-
100000 acres has a rainfall of only.
10, or at the most Is inches, annual
ly
Central Oregon.
The eastern oregon dry farming
ground may be divided into two sec
tlons, the one of which Mr.. Hunter
has spoken, the Columbia basin
wheat belt, the section which is now
partially developed by dry farms and
which has a rainfall of from seven to
nine and sometimes l or II inches,
and south of this Columbia basin the
great country called central oregon,
often marked on the many maps in
school Biographies still as a desert.
I have Just come from a 1200-mile
trip through central oregon, and II
those OF you who are not familiar
with the dry farming country in ore
gon could have taken such a trip /
am sure Il would make clear the I'M
mense territory yet to be developed,
largely through dry farming methods.
TilIable Lands.
In eastern oregon we have some A.
600. 900 acres of tillable land suscep-
tible Of profitable crop production un-
der dry farming methods. OF this
4. 900, 900 acres there Is only 100000
acres at present under cultivation,
producing annually some 100000
bushels Of wheat. The great bulk OF
this country Is n livestock country. the
Columbia basin has an average eleva-
ton Of 1000 feet, while the central
~ plnVl-
ton OF 1000 feet The rainfall in
the Columbia basin is about eight or
nine inches; in central Oregon 1t is
10 to as high as 90 inches towards the
southern boundary. The Columbia
basin has a silt loamy soil volcan-
&C. ash. often called an ideal soil for
the dry farmer; the central oregon
country has a sandy loan soil, not
perhaps so good for moisture conserv-
ing. but it has a higher rainfall and
those two regions, almost equal In
their dry farming area are also al
most equal in their comparative re-
turn for dry farming productions,
FalI Flowing.
As to the particular practices we be-
lieye the best for this entire section,
fall plowing is the most important
although fall plowing is but very
slightly practiced as yet in eastern
Oregon. due largely to the dryness OF
the soil and the difficulty in handling
It at that time Of the year. This diff
ficulty may be avoided by discing
thoroughly the stubble Immediately
after harvest. preventing the soil dry
ing thoroughly and catching the early
fall rains. and making It possible to
plow more easily at that time. Wher-
ever fall plowing has been done we
have found 1t has worked successful
ly.
Deep Flowing.
Deep plowing of course, goes with
us as il does everywhere. Where the
farmer cannot plow in the fall, or
thinks he cannot. we find that thor
ough discing is Of the greatest bene-
Fit, Where he cannot, or does aet,
disc in the fall, we find that very
early spring discing before plowing Is
of the greatest benefit not only in
preparing land for spring plowing
and getting rid of the early weeds and
stubble, but making the only perfect
bed for dry weather coming later on
OF course. in the spring we belleVe
in subsurface packing and spring
blowing. We also believe in the more
common practices, such as the har-
rowing of grain in the spring we
find that a little narrowing after plow-
ing is necessary We find that press
drilling where a packer is not used
after a drill is a great advantage, ana,
above everything else, is the import
ance of the tillage of the summer
fallowed land.
Summer Fallowing.
Many are interested in the question
of summer following. For oregon,
we can say that summer fallowing
will also be necessary over a consld-
erable area, where the rainfall runs
from 10 to IS inches. AS summer fal-
lowing Is now practiced, we do not
believe that summer following is ne
cessary every other year. We believe
that fallow crops may ne substituted
for that practice in eastern oregon,
ana that summer following Is not as
successful as it might be If thorough
tillage was instituted. We advocate
the summer tillage as will maintain
n mulch, but variation in the imple-
ments used in producing that mulch
will leave the land somewhat rough,
in order to prevent blowing.