OREGON FARMER 



45 



Table 2 Continued. 



Miscellaneous Data on Farming Conditions in Oregon. (Table 

 2, herewith). 



The higher cost of clearing in Western Oregon is due to the heavier 

 growth of trees chiefly fir or oak. The average cost shown for 

 the Columbia Basin is for the clearing of lands having tree growth. 

 Sage brush covered lands in this division cost no more to clear than 

 elsewhere, about $5 per acre. In the Blue Mountain division the 

 clearing consists of sage brush and scattered trees and sometimes 

 floating rock although the latter is more common in the Central 

 Oregon division. The low cost for Central Oregon is because only 

 sage brush lands have been cleared there as yet to any extent. 

 Scattered juniper tree growth and sage brush together in that 

 division cost about $15 per acre to clear. 



The smaller number off irrigated acres per farm in Southern 

 Oregon and the Columbia Basin is due to the higher price of irrigated 

 lands and more restricted irrigable areas of those regions, while 

 the large number of irrigated acres per farm in Central Oregon is due 

 to the crude method of irrigation from winter overflow from streams 

 and to the more extensive type of farming done. The per cent 

 using irrigation, shown, is, like all other figures shown in the tables 

 from the Agricultural Survey only the per cent of representative 

 farms visited and reported upon by the Survey not the per cent of 

 the total number of farms of the region. Hence, in the Willamette 

 Valley, where almost no irrigation is done and none is necessary, and 

 in the Columbia Basin, where most of the lands are dry farmed 

 the figures might be misleading. 



The percentage of representative farms using rotations and the 

 amount of manure used per farm show the greater development in the 

 use of better farming methods and of dairy cows in the Willamette 

 Valley than elsewhere but still leaves much to be desired, for what 

 the average Oregon farmer calls a rotation is not a definite cropping 

 system for increasing fertility and farm economy and profits per acre, 

 but merely an occasional variation in the crop grown. It is this, 

 together with the fact that much of the crop is fed and sold as live- 

 stock, that makes the average crop sales per acre rather low, the 

 chief crops sold direct, being grain. Because of the large amount of 

 dairying this is especially true for the Coast region, while the bare 



