14 CULTIVATED FORAGE CROPS OF THE NORTHWEST. 



The "Inland Empire." 



This region, sometimes known as the Palouse countrv, comprises 

 eastern Washington, northeastern Oregon, and northern Idaho. It is 

 characterized by a dark, tine-grained basaltic soil of great fertility and 

 of very uniform character over a wide area. The limiting factors of 

 agriculture here are rainfall and altitude. With Pasco, Wash., as a 

 center, where the annual rainfall is about 6 inches, the rainfall increases 

 in all directions, attaining a maximum of about 30 inches at the base of 

 the Blue and Rocky mountains on the east, and the Cascade Mountains 

 on the west. A considerable portion of this area in Washington and a 

 smaller section in Oregon have a rainfall of less than 10 inches. In 

 this portion irrigation is practiced. In Washington, about 150,000 

 acres are under irrigation within this area, alfalfa being the staple ha}^ 

 crop, with a yield of 3 to 8 tons of hay per acre, at three cuttings. 

 The principal irrigated areas are situated in Yakima, Kittitas, Walla 

 Walla, and Chelan counties, Wash. Smaller areas, especially in narrow 

 canyons along the smaller streams, are located in various parts of 

 Oregon and Washington. The Kittitas Valley in Washington, which 

 lies at a higher altitude (about 1,600 feet) than any other considerable 

 irrigated area in the region in question, grows alfalfa, timothy, and 

 clover, producing hay of excellent quality. Like all other regions 

 between the Cascades and the Rockies, the haying season is free from 

 rain, which fact accounts for the excellent quality of hay produced. 



Those portions of the "Inland Empire" having more than 10 inches 

 of rainfall have heretofore been devoted almost exclusively to wheat 

 growing. In recent years considerable attention has been given to 

 hay and pasture grasses. Brome grass {Bromus Inermis L.) has 

 proven to be an excellent pasture grass in this region. It also yields 

 profitable crops of hay the second and third years after sowing. A 

 superior quality of brome grass seed is produced here. Of the hay 

 grasses, timothy and red clover are preferred for lowlands and 

 alfalfa, red clover, and orchard grass for uplands. On these wheat 

 lands, which lie at an altitude of 1,500 to 3,000 feet, alfalfa produces 

 one or two crops a year, and is rapidly becoming an important hay 

 crop. Irrigation is not practiced in this region where the rainfall 

 exceeds 10 or 1-2 inches a year. 



Heretofore, and even at the present time, the principal hay of the 

 wheat-growing area has been a mixture of wheat and wild oats {Arena 

 fatua). Where the rainfall exceeds 18 inches wild oats are trouble- 

 some in the wheat fields, particularly on north hillsides, where snow 

 banks protect them against freezing. Hay is cut from those patches 

 in the wheat fields where wild oats predominate. When cut green 

 this hay is of good quality, but many careless farmers cut it so late 

 that the seeds are mature, and the hay is not only of poor (juality but 



