101 



CHAPTER 5 



OTHER INVESTIGATIONS 



Other investigations, fully as important as those by the 

 Division of Irrigation, have been conducted by other agencies. 

 Standard methods have been used, and the results form an impor- 

 tant adaition to the general knov/ledge of consumptive use by 

 native growth. These data have been collected and are presented 

 in the following discussions. 



SOUTH-CENTRAL OREGON 



The early irrigation development of south-central Oregon 

 was largely by wild flooding with little regard to the economical 

 use of water. Much of the irrigated area was used for hay and 

 pasture. The practice of flooding when water was plentiful was 

 not only wasteful of the water supply but was also likely to in- 

 jure the soil and reduce yields. Reports indicate that at one 

 time 300,000 acres of marsh lands in Chewaucan and Harney Valleys 

 and in Klamath Basin were irrigated in this manner. 



In 1915 investigations were undertaken under a cooperative 

 agreement by the Oregon Experiment Station and the Division of 

 Irrigation (24) to determine the use of water by such native 

 marshlsind plants as were suitable for hay and pasture. Experi- 

 ments were carried out on fields and plots and in tanks. The 

 general plan was to apply water in three amounts: the usual 

 irrigation by the farm operator, a larger amount as determined 

 by the investigator, and a smaller amount. Investigations con- 

 tinued through the seasons 1915, 1916, and 1917- Marsh grass, 

 native meadow, sugar grass, and wire rush were grown in tanks 

 and plots. The amounts of water used are shown in Tables 26 to 

 29. 



