East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1920-09-24

was found that the soil was capable OF
holding approximately an acre-inch
OF water in each acre-foot OF soil Sc
the applications of water on the Uma-
tiila project are limited so far as pos
sihlc to four acre-ii.ches which wets
the soil to a sufficient depth for the
plant roots.
Results Arc Shown.
The duty OF water per acre-foot of
tons of hay produced by the acre-feet
of water applied. The results of this
trial showed that slightly more hay
could be produced by irrigating once
\ a week than by irrigating once in two
weeks but that the additional hay was
not great enough to warrant the addi-
tional labor involved in Irrigation and
the addltioal water charge.
The greatest return for the water
used or in other words the highest
duty of water per acre foot was also
secured ON the plat irrigated once in
two weeks. The production on the
plat irrigated once in three weeks was
SO low thar it would not be economi-
cal farming to irrigate at that long an
interval.
Border Irrigation Used
In the early years of Irrigation on
the Umatilla project furrow irrigation
and wild flooding were generally used.
The furrow method was undesirable
in that the head of water was divided
so that the loss from deep percolation
below the rootzone was excessive and
it was difficult to reach the lower ends
of the fields. The wild flooding was
unsatisfactory because parts of the
field We're irrigated more than once
4. -.
rigated. These objections were over
come by the border method because
the head was not divided in using the |
method and so could be forced over
the land quickly without excessive per-
collation. loss. The duplication of ir-
rigation was overcome by dikes which |
controlled the water and when a bor- /
der is properly constructed there are /
no high spots which are difficult to ir- |
rigate.
BY the border method of irrigation
the land is laid out in strips from 20
to 40 feet wide and from 100 to $50 !
feet long. the size depending upon the
type of soil and the slope of the land
lengthwise. The water is controlled /
from spreading too far sldewlse by
dikes at right angle to the ditch. This
method has come into very general I
use on the Umatlla project largely
the sorts of the experiment
farm and th- local representative of
the office of demonstrations on recla-
nation projects of the United States
department of agriculture. At pres
ent 20 to 80 per cent of all the land on
the project is layed out under the
border method and 80 per cent of the
new land is employing 1t. It's use is
rapidly spreading to the other light
soil projects of the Columbia Basin as
a result of the usual success secured
on the Umatilla. The advantages of
the system are that it is compara-
lively economical means of preparing
and for irrigation originally, that eco
aomical applications of water may be
made with it, that the distribution of
water is uniform and the labor of ir-
'igatition is greatly reduced as COM
pared with the flooding or furrow
methods.
Length and Width Vary.
The border method work being
lone by the experiment farm with al
alfa consist of length and width of
'order experiments. The length of
border experiment has borders 100,
L75 and 250 feet long and 22 feet wide
nd the width-of-border experiment
las borders 20. 25, 80, s5 and 40 feet
ride and 200 feet long. =
The average amount of water used !,
n the length of border experiments
'as only slightly more on the 175
Dot border than on the 100 foot bor-
er but considerably more water was
equired to irrigate the ESQ foot bor- 4
er than the IT'S foot border. Only
IS acre-foot per acre was required to
rigate the extra 75 feet which the
rs foot border was longer than the
DO foot border while the extra 10
'et of the ESQ foot border over the
10 foot border required 2.26 acre
et per acre.