The times-herald. [volume] (Burns, Harney County, Or.) 1896-1929, 1920-03-13
DRAINAGE AND IRRICA-
TION FOR Wild LANDS
Water Properly Applied VIII
Add to Product n on
Idle Swampy Land.

Journalism or the oregon Agricul-
tural College. II IL timely aud OF
much interest to land owners OF this
valley. II contains an argument IN
favor OF proper methods Of irrigation
that should be- needed hy local men
who are prone 10 leave the water aud
soil as II is today. n shows from "a
personal and scientific knowledge
that the swamp lands OF this country
can be made TO produce better and
more profitable crops by proper
drainage and the application OF
water In right proportions TO pro-
duce results. Read II:
Drainage and irrigation OF The
Wild meadow and idle tulo lands OF
eastern Oregon would add near one
million tons OF hay TO the state'a
annual output. This form OF reclaim
alton has been proved feasible for
much OF this territory by investiga-
tions conducted by the state college
experiment station and the federal
bureau OF soils. The findings and
reports OF the investirationai work.
extending over long period OF time.
have becn published In a station bui-
letin by w. l.. Powers. chief ~ soils
~ the college. and w. w. Johnson.
assistant
or these lands $4,000 acres arc
Wild meadow. the most OF which ny.
erages about three-fourihs tons OF
Wild hay per acre per year. The
tule lands. 100 600 ncres. are prac.
tically Idle. hence the annual produc.
ton from the entire half million
acres u only some 2G5,OOO tons
When these lands are reclaimed by
drainage and properly irrigated they
may be- planted 10 alfalfa. alsike aud
timothy, and brought To produce two
10 three tons per acre. a total OF one
third million tons.
The quality OF tho domosticafed
crops IN much superior 20 that of the
native grasses. They are more pal-
atsble. digestible and nutritious, as
shown by feeding trials and chemi-
'tai analyses.
Tho taric grasses are grown nj an
average wnier cos. OF about 100
rounds per ton of dry matter. white
the water cost Of the wild grasses 10
1000 pounds and upward.
In reclamation Of tule lands drain
age precedes irrigation. A channel
Sc feet wide and 25 miles long has
been run through the Bitten valley.
and another OF like dimensions con-
structed through the Chewaucan
marshes. In the Klamath basin |
dykes have bcecn erected TO hold
back the lake and river waters IN
nood season. and artificial channels /
run 10 carry incoming waters direct /
ly Into open water.
Irrigation is given the best OF the !
Wild meadow lands, largely by the 4
Wild flooding system produced by
erecting dams across the natural
water ways. This system In wasteful I
OF water and tends to drown out the
best grasses.
The most profitable irrigation OF
tame plants IL about f2 TO is acre
inches per acre. while that prod ucing
maximum yields IL Is to "a.
The soils are chiefly fine siit loan
on the meadows. and peat In the tule
marshes. Both are fertile. but the
loan is usually better aerated. Il ~
n dark, deep soil slightly sioping and
occurs on most OF the valley floors Of
the eastern and central Oregon
areas.
The largest bodies of both tule
and meadow lands are chiefly In
Klamath. Lake and Herney counties,
but many smaller tracts are In sever
Al Others. In Klamath the Agency
marsh contains 10000 acres OF
meadows. and Klamath basin 80, 900,
While the Agency contains 10000
acres of tule lands and upper and
over Klamath marches AZ, 900 acres
of tule 900 IN all, The
largest single body OF meadow lands
d $4,000 acres In Harney county
The experiment station helped sew
sral farmers establish timothy and
llsike on Klamath reclaimable lands
n 1912. since which time many farm
srs have put an aggregate of many
thousands OF acres into tame crops.
The Investigations have been thor
'ush and demonstrate the feas-
bility of increasing the agricultural
ind livestock production of Oregon
~ reclamation of these land.
IL IL believed that II will be TO the
'est interests of the swamp land own
RS TO have the water stored and APP
'lied In periods and gradually to re-
,lace the native growth with domes-
icated grasses and legumes. The
'xcess water can then be used to do.
'eIop the finer textured areas.
Following drainage the rank mass
Il tules can be removed by burning
m when dry and while the soil be-
ow is still moist enough not be be
'urnt out Burning of the tules pro- !
'ides little available plant food asld
ends 10 overcome any rawness or
ourness Of the soil, II must be care y
ully done to avoid injury. The first
ear the plowlng should be OF only |
moderate depth. TO aid decay tho
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