472 REPORT OK OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



mated 1»\ Professor ^^'i(lly(•olIlh(' to include ;>,( 1(10. (!(»(> acres of land, in 

 which aunicidture is on the horch'r line between ability to jrrow crops 

 without iri-iuation and failure in 5ittein|)tin<r to do so. Thei-c^ are otluM 

 lai-«,^e areas ha\ inj,^ ample water su^jply, but where the climatic condi- 

 tions are not as yot understood. It is therefore one of the most 

 attractive and at the same time most dillicult tiekU for the conduct of 

 the studies intrusted to this Ollice. 



At a conference held in Poitland, Oreg., under (he auspices of the 

 chaiuber of commerce of that place and attended tiy the director and 

 board of trustees of the State experiment station, it was agreed that 

 the study of the I)est means of utilizing small (|uantities of water and 

 a determination of the best means of applying it to crops would be a 

 work of great practical value in the agricultural deveh)pment of the 

 State. For this purpose special api)aratus has been designed by this 

 investigation and installed by Professoi- Withycombe, by means of 

 w hich measurements of difierent (juantities of water applied in irriga- 

 tion are being made. 



At Umatilla G tanks 20 inches in diameter and 3 feet deep have been 

 installed. They are filled with soil in such a wav as to reproduce 

 natural conditions— that is, in the l>ottom is placed 18 inches of gravel 

 and sand mixed, and above this 18 inches of volcanic ash and sand 

 mixed, which is the character of the surface soil in that localitv. 

 These tanks were filled and weighed, and then w^ater to 15 per cent of 

 the weight of the soil was supplied to each tank. Nos. 5 and 6 were 

 planted to soy beans, Nos. 3 and 1 to Ijarley, and Nos. 1 and 2 are 

 fallowed. One of these tanks will be cultivated — that is, the soil will 

 be stirred similarly to cultivating, and in the other it will remain with- 

 out stirring. These tanks will ))e weighed about every fifteen days 

 and water supplied to bring them up to their original weight, so that 

 the exact loss of water from the difierent tanks can be ascertained. 



Alongside of these tanks in the same inclosure are .5 plats 3 by 

 feet each. They are separated by means of sheet zinc cnjbedded into 

 the ground 3 feet deep, so as to reduce the lial)ility of the water pei-- 

 colating, laterally, from one plat to another. These plats are sup- 

 plied with eqaal amounts of water, namelv, 15 per cent by volume, 

 except No. 4. This is subirrigated by means of an iron pipe placed 

 18 inches below the surface and running about -4 feet throuoh the 

 middle of the plat, and just one-half the water was supplied to this 

 plat that was supplied to the others. Plat No. 5 is planted with soy 

 beans, plats Nos. 3 and 4 arc planted Avith barley, and the other two 

 are fallowed to be treated similarl}' to the fallowed tanks. Samples 

 of soil taken from these plats have been forwarded to the chemical 

 laboratory of the Oregon State Experiment Station for moisture 

 determinations at the same time the tanks arc weighed. 



The climatic conditions of difierent sections of the State are being 



