MEADOWS AND HAY CROPS. 31 



Iii Jess Valley, in the Warner Mountains of California, timothy 

 especially is being introduced, even into the rocky soils surrounding 

 the bottom-land meadows, by diverting the waters from the melting 

 snows to these areas and seeding in the manner already described. 

 Much of this land could never be cultivated, and a large portion of it 

 is altogether too rocky to be mowed without a great deal of labor 

 expended in removing the rocks; but the amount of feed secured from 

 such areas is greatly increased by this treatment. These areas are 

 usually reserved until the hay is removed from the meadows, when 

 cattle or sheep are turned into them for fall and winter pasturing. It 

 is common here, as well as in the other hay regions visited, for hay to 

 be sold in the stack, together with the feed in the Held, to be pastured 

 and fed out during the fall and winter as the stockman may wish, or 

 as may be agreed upon. 



The methods employed in the irrigation of timothy and redtop in 

 many of the narrow valleys, especially the Okanogan, Cow Creek, 

 Si Ivies River and its tributaries, and Jess Valley, are very interesting, 

 inasmuch as they show that these grasses under certain conditions are 

 able to withstand large quantities of water for long periods. The 

 method of irrigation is a combination of ditching and damming pro- 

 cesses. The flood water in the early summer, May to July, is diverted 

 to the meadows in such a way as to cover them for periods varying 

 from ten days to two or more weeks at a time. Ordinarily this would 

 result in the destruction of these crops and in their being entirely sup- 

 planted by the sedges and the rushes. However, there is a large 

 measure of success attained by this method of handling the waters. 

 Being cool at this season and the water being in motion (i. e., flowing 

 water), there is not the usual injurious effect. Neither is the method 

 wasteful of water, for in a narrow T valley there is but little loss to the 

 irrigated lands below from having the waters spread out in this way 

 in the upper stream courses. In many cases it is actually an advan- 

 tage, as the flood waters are checked and distributed over a longer 

 period. It would appear that timothy and redtop grown on meadows 

 wdiich are occupied to a large extent by sedges and native clovers, when 

 handled in the manner described would need much more irrigation 

 than when grown on cultivated land. One of these areas along Silvies 

 River is shown in Plate VII, fig. 2, where these two crops, together 

 with some alfalfa on the better-drained sagebrush areas, are grown. 



The most extensive timothy and redtop region visited was that of 

 the Kittitas Valley, at Ellensburg, Wash., from which much hay is 

 shipped every year, mainly to Coast points. The alfalfa shipped from 

 here is sold at about $4.50 per ton, while timothy and redtop sell for 

 about &ti. 



