The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1924-04-17
johnson Reviews Expert
ments Conducted at Pros
ser Branch Station
TAKES TIME TO
MAKE A SHOWING
He Shows That Feeding of
Livestock has not been
" Chief Activity

An interesting review of the work
carried on at the state experiment
farm at Prosser was given at today's
Commercial club luncheon by Edward
C. Johnson, director of the expert
ment station and dean of agriculture
at the State College. -r lbs. .a
As a background for his talk Dean
johnson read the law of 1917 author
izing the establishment Of an irri.
cation agricultural experiment farm.
The law outlines the work which
is to be carriel on at the farm and
the speaker showed that with little
exception this outline had been fol-
new tract into a. productive stage
fact that five years ago the present
farm was raw sage brush land, actual
development having started May 1.
1919.
One reason raw land was selected,
Dean johnson said, was to afford an
opportunity to study the problems
which every settler who purchases
raw sagebrush land must face, and
to collect data and information on
the best methods of bringing raw
land under cultivation. "Those of you
who have had experience in develop
ing raw land know what to bring
new tract into productive stages
requires three or four years and the
most feasible method is to crop the
land to alfalfa or some similar crop"
said the dean. "This is what we had
to do at Prosser. While we have been
doing this we have been conducting
experiments, the results of which
will be valuable to irrigation farmers.
You will also understand that the
only way to prove experiments is tn
conduct them over period of years."
Taking up one by one the purposes
for which the experiment farm was
established Dean johnson told what
had been done. A series of expert
ments in water duty have been and
still are being conducted by c. C.
Wright, irrigation engineer stationed
on the farm by the u. S. depart
ment Of agriculture. Mr.. Wright has
been compiling facts as to how much
water is required to grow different
crops on different types of soil. He
has also been studying the different
methods of applying the water to
the land, ascertaining how much
drought different crops will stand
without serious injury etc. He point
ed out that there is no drainage prob
lem on the farm and consequently
no opportunity to conduct drainage
experiments there, but Mr.. Wright
has been conducting these expert
ments in the Sunnyside district.
Fertility methods have been tried
and tested. Experiments have been
conducted with barnyard manure,
fish scraps, sheep manure and COM
mercial fertilizers. Results of crop
rotation are also being tabulated.
This method Of fertilization, how
ever, requires a long series Of exper-
iments over period of years.
Experiments are also being made
in tillage methods, corn, sun flower,
cow peas, and soy beans being the
crops used. The farm hopes soon to
be able to announce some very val
liable information on the best meth
cd of cultivating corn on irrigated
land.
1t has been possible to do only
limited work experimenting with the
control Of plant diseases and pests.
The farm has no bearing orchard
consequently no experiments for the
control of orchard pests have been
possible. Work under this head has
been confined to the study Of potato
diseases and to methods of control
of the wire worm.
As means of contributing to the
general knowledge of farm manage
ment, pure bred herd and a flock
OF 500 laying hens are maintained on
the farm. Dean johnson explained
that neither the cows nor the chick
ems are being kept for experimental
tion in breeding and feeding methods
but to demonstrate the value of the
COW and the hen on the small irri-
gated farm and with the cows TO
work out pasturage experiments
Something has been accomplished
under the head of new and improved
crops. Not so much with new and
untried crops as with different vari-
ties of alfalfa, corn, cow peas, soy
beans etc. Some really worth while
.-a-a-