The Ontario Argus. (Ontario, Or.) 1???-1947, 1921-08-04
0. A. c. SPECIALIST PRESENTS INTERESTING
REPORT ON EXPERIMENT IN RECLAIMINC LANDS
CONSTRUCTION DRAINAGE METHOD
DECLARED PRACTICAL SUITABLE CONDITIONS
WORK SECURED THROUGH FARM BUREAU

w. w. johnston, gives INTEREST
Ing account OF Experiments TO Re
claim Alkali Tract by drainage ac-
companied by various soil treat
ments and cropping plans.
In a letter to the County Agent,
w. w. Johnston. Assistant professor
OF soils at the Oregon Agricultural
College, who was assigned to have
charge Of the cooperative expert
ments in drainage and alkall remov-
nj on the tract which was started
last spring near Vale, as n result OF
Farm Bureau activity In interesting
the experiment station In such work,
raising funds. etc, the following in
teresting information Is given:
The following is a preliminary re-
port on the building OF farm
drainage ditch on the Burrelle ranch
near Vale. oregon. Thee work OF
building the drain was done by Mr..
Burrelle, the methods being worked
out In cooperation with the writer.
The drain was built as n part OF
an experiment conducted by the Ore
gon Experiment Station in coopera-
tion with local interests for the pur-
pose OF determining the best method
OF reclaiming alkali lands in NAL
heur County.
Condition Of Land 90 be Drained
The land selected for the expert
ment and that II was desired to
drain Ia OF type known an Grease
Wood" land. This soil naturally
contains a large amount OF slkali
and In this instance the alkaline
condition had been aggravated by
poor drainage. The field Is situated
on the bank OF a deep slough and Ia
within a quarter OF a mile OF the
river. being at least 10 feet above
the water level Of the river. A need
for drainage would not usually be
expected under these conditions. but
an examination OF the sub-soll with
a soil auger revealed the presence
OF itseriea OF hard-pan dykes run
ming parallel with the river anu In
the ease OF the first one extending
20 a depth OF about ~ feet where
II connected with a layer OF almost
impervious putty like clay, condi-
tion which OF course prevented the
proper drainage OF the land. The
remainder OF the field was found TO
be underlaid with streaka OF hard
pan running parallel TO the first
which occurred from 2k 10 feet
from the surface and varied In
thickness from inches 10 2 feet
Some places were entirely free from
hard-pan. The drain was therefore
located 30 as TO cross these hard
pan streaks.
sluicing
At the suggestion OF Mr.. c. l.,
Batchelder. OF the Warmsprings Ir-
rigatlon district and others. Il was
decided 10 attempt 10 remove most
OF the dirt by sluieing. Since II
was considered desirable TO have
some dirt for refilling, In case tile
were to be put In later, and in or
der 10 have a good basis for sluic-
Ing operations, ditch 2h feet deep.
o feet wide at the top, and s feet
wide at the bottom was built with
a fresno and groove. inches
deep and the width OF a slip scrap
per was made In the bottom In or
der to oonfine the water to narrow
channel.
Il was first planned TO sluice by
keeping the water falling with
straight drop OF five feet or more
and 10 loosen the dirt by working
ON the perpendicular surface be-
meath the falls with a long bar. the
idea being that the dirt would be
broken off In large pieces which
would be further broken up and
put into suspension by the force OF
the falling water. With this end In
view 20 feet OF the outlet where
the ditch crossed a shallow slough,
was taken down to grade with
scrapers leaving the ditch with a
drop of about 10 feet.
A head OF about 3h second feet OF
water was then turned In the ditch
and bar. made by welding shar-
pened piece OF steel on the end OF a
pipe. was used to pry the dirt loose
below the falls. This system was
fairly successful but the system that
gave the best results and which was
adopted was TO loosen the |
dirt with a shovel and instead OF
using the straight drop, the ditch |
was sluiced back In a series of lay
ers, about l6 inches and about 40
feet long. SO that the ditch was
taken TO grade as the work pro-