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About The Coos Bay times. (Marshfield, Or.) 1906-1957 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 1915)
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION The Agricultural College EKEj9PRXM'f4 j Jt jt v?T X.tIi K I 'fif t I H 1 if ifBJBJJBKi ilBff iBMBBi fi fkl Jkk' hkmH VIEW OK OUKUON Poisonous Plants Arc Numerous in Northwest (Special.) COMBWIIAT contrary to tho gon- J oral bollof poIboiious plants are fairly numerous In tho Northwest Ono hundred nnd thlrty-throo differ ent specimens, poisonous or under grnvo suspicion, havo been listed by tho Oregon Agricultural Collcgo bot any nnd plant pathology department. Tho long list of plants regarded as poisonous at uomo tlmp of year or other nnd to somo form of aulmal life, Includes bacteria, fund, ferns. nnd both inonocotylcdlnous and dl- coyicuinoiis plants, somo nro grasses, somo generally regarded as weeds, somo nro shrubs nnd somo water plants. The reasons for their poison ous notions, ns related to their nictli ods of growth and other vital nroc esses, nro described by .Mr. Lawrence us follows: Among tho several differences be tween plants nnd nulmnls, tho ability to manufacture organic food from Inorganic food materials Is perhaps tho most Important. Upon, this ono physiological process depends the life of nil plants and animals. This Is tho rlilor characteristic of tho com monly cultivated plants. I'lunt Poisons. Another Important difference lies In tho retention of tho by-products of plnnt metabolism. Tho construc tion of plant food nnd its Incorpora tion Into tho protoplasm nro both building-up processes, in which (hero is a storing of energy chiefly obtained from tho sun. Tlicso up-bulldlng processes nro followed by tho partial or complete 'roleaHO of tho energy thus stored. If tho relenso of ouorgy Is only partial, Intermediate decom position products will bo formed, such ns tissues, temporary food substances nnd pormnnont by-products. To tho latter class belong most of tiro medi cinal substances, perfumes, flavors, spices and poisonous substances, formed In plants. Plant poisons may bo grouped as thoso affecting tho skin by contact, cnuslng chomlcnl and mechanical Irri tation; digestion nnd urinary organs; nnd tho blood and ucrvous systems of uuimnls. Virulent Stages. A tow of tho mora Important poi sonous plants found In this region nro the wntor hemlock (Clcuta), and larkspur (Delphinium). Thcso aro perhaps tho most sorlous on account of causing a rapid death. Other ones nro loco (Astragalus), digitalis and lobelia (tho latter when found In hay). In general, stock do not oat poisonous plants when plenty of good grass or other odlblo plants aro at haud. If animals aro hungry they may ent almost anything, not making any distinction botwocn poisonous nnd nonpolsonous plants. It Is at tho tlmo when such plants as lobellu nnd fern are found in the hay that poisoning is most likely to occur. It Is perhaps only Just to emphasize that many plants nro poisonous only In certain seasons at certain stages of tholr development or in certain conditions (as wilted, mouldy or frozen plants after thawing). Gen orally tho poison is found only in ccrain parts of plants, as tuber, leaf, seed or fruit. The deadly poison of tho Cieutns Is found chiefly in the root; in tho leaves of tho larkspur; in the bulb of tho death camas; In tho seed of tho luplno; In tho bark, leaves and flowers of black locust, otc. svwv A page t Intrrrktlnjc llriiu from tht Oregon Agricultural College ut ConullU will alternate In tlio farm weekly with a page of nrna nutfi from the tVutlilngtou Mute College nt I'ullmuii, Till. afford an In. tertlmnge of le from the tno big ngilculturnl colleges of the North. et that khmilil proe of brneflt to tlio rc.wlcr, for (lie liutllulloiu ileal ltli tliullur problem. fagO 01 INGWS JNOICS ana lmcrcsuilg AMIIICULTUItAli COLLUUU AT COUVAM.IS, (111. IIS bOI.U AIM l TO AID Aiding Old Prune Trees to Bear BY C. I. LUWIK, Chief Dl virion of Horticulture Oiccon Agricultural College. (Special.) j? N Increasing number of Oregon L prune growers find that as their trees age tho fruits fnlls to grow so largo as when tho trees wcro younger and more vigorous, and nro Inquiring how the old trees. 20 years old or more, can bo im proved. It Is only by tho best of enro that tho old trees can be kept vigorous enough to maintain fruit ns largo as that of tho young trees. Good pruning and the best cultural methods with eoll fertility maintained nro necessary In a special degrco nftcr tho trees enter upon the lntor stages of their life. The size of tho prunes depends upon several factors, but tho leading fnctors are good tillage, plenty of plant food, nnd annual pruning. You havo already noticed, prob ably, that tho largo fruit Is borne on tho vigorous young wood, and It Is only by having a largo amount of young, vigorous wood coming on each onr that you can hopo to maintain tho vigor of your trees nnd at tho same tlmo produco largo crops of good-sized fruit. I would encourage you especially lu the annual pruning. If thcso trees hnvo been abandoned In their pruning, or yon hnvo neg lected It to a certain extent, there are ono of two things you could do. One thing would bo to cut them back heavily nnd force out practically a now top. I know one orchnrd In tho Willamette- Vnlloy that Is 18 years of ago, that wns cut back heavily, new tops havo been built on tho trees, and tho trees nfter two or three yenrs are now bearing heavy crops of extra largo prunes. Pruning. It tho trees, however, arc In fair shape, I wouldn't ndvUo such severe cutting, but would suggest that you thin out some of tho spurs. The clinnces nro that you have n great many wenk spurs. You can tukc lit Mo haud shears aud reduce tho num ber of thcso spurs on your trees, nnd get splendid results. Tho tendency tor tho older trees is to bear too tunny specimens nnd of course this reduces tho slzo. This same principle portnlns to apples, pears and other fruits. Often by reducing the num ber of fruits to the tree, you increase tho avcrago size. With tho apples, It Is generally a matter of thinning out somo of tho branches. With old pears wo find that thinning out some of the spurs often rives splendid re sults. The first suggestion I would make with regard to fertilizers would be along the line of cover crops and shndo crops, For Western Oregon I recommend cover crops, sown In late August or early Septembor. For your section, it you havo irrigation wntor, you can practlco growing shade crops, This Is, grow clover or alfalfa atnoug your trees and Irrigate both the trees and tho shade crop. This will cause your trees to pick up it you are care ful in your Irrigation and uso suf ficient nmounjs of water. It you don't havo sufficient amounts of water,"! wouldn't advise the use of clover and alfalfa among the trees. Fertilizing. If you can get a good, abundant supply of barnyard manure there would bo nothing better to increase tho vitality of j-our trees. Your wood ashes, especially, hardwood ashes, Is very valuable, and should bo saved, as should also hen manure, which Is splendid for building up the soil In our prune orchards, We aro conducting a number of ex periments In this state in prune or chards, to determine the value of commercial fertilizers for such fruit, and until we havo had a chance to carry this work a seabon or two far ther along, 1 would urge the prune Is a Friend to the Farmer itiuuiva vrumu v.r v"-" - growers of tho stnto to bo somowhat conservative. If you feci, howovcr, that you would 111(0 to try under your Individual conditions to deter mine what your trees need, I could suggest for yon a simple exporlmout which should determine thlH point. Whllo tho chemist can tell you If certain plant foods arc missing, or If certain Injurious Baits aro present, ho couldn't tell you tho exact avail ability of tho plant food lu your soil. You will have to test that out your self. Commercial Plant Fowls. Tnko from a dozen or two dozen trees. Havo them In rectangular blocks, ror each plot. On tho first plot apply ultrato of soda at tho rate of 100 to 150 pounds per ncro. On the second plot apply sulphato or muriate of potash, in about tho same amount. On tho third plot apply hlgh-grndn superphosphate at the rato of 100 to 200 pounds per ncro, or ncld phosphate, at the rato of about 000 pounds per ncro. Then take additional plots fur tho combin ation of two. On ono plot uso ultrnto and potash; then ultrnto and phos phoric ncld; then potash and phos phoric acid; then all threo. Then If you would like to try out something along the lino of lime, tnko and try n little lime nt the rate of about 2000 pounds per ncrc, on n small plot. Havo the fertilizers applied early in March, sowing It lu under tho branches of the trees aud harrowing It thoroughly. I very much doubt whether llmo nnd phosphate In themselves would cause any Increased color In tho fruit. If you hnvo too much nitro gen In the soil it will delay tho ma turity and probably tho talcing on of color. Phosphoric, acid Is sup posed to bo beneficial In helping form tho seed of the fruit, nnd In that way would perhaps help early ma turity. Perhaps early maturity would moan hotter color. It would prob ably be duo to the early maturity, lather thau any direct effect of either llmo tor fertilizer. The llmo sets certain plant foods frco nnd might havo Influence on tho cell structuro of tho plant. How Poisons Form In Plants. Tho forming of poisonous elements In plants, explained by W. B. Law rence, of tho O. A. O. botany depart ment, is a result of tho natural proc essor Of crnwtli. trnm wlllrll In iinnin plants it Is inscparablo. Tho con struction or plant food from Inor gnnlc substances and Its transforma tion into protoplasm nro both building-up processes in which tho stored energy is largely obtained from tho sun. In these organizing and build-lng-up processes there Is n partial or complete releaso of energy thus stored. If tho relenso of energy Is only partial Intermediate decomposi tion products aro formed, such as plant tissues, temporary food sub stances, and permanent by-producta. It Is certain of theso by-products thnt constitute tho poisonous substances In the poisonous plnnts. In other Plants tho by-products mny form mo dlclnal substances, perfumes, flavors and spices. Ciihtnmer AIhhjh Hlglit. Tho Lntln maxim thnt means lot the buyer bowaro hns as little place In tho mercantiln imaitmiia ,i. world today as tho language In which .; .. '""" according to uean J. A. , . ,.. , ,, ,, Di-uuui oi com merce, who believes that it is tho aciiui mm snouiu newnre. It thus becomes tho duty of tho seller to sell tho customer what he wants, not ..i .iut.au uu uiauo to tano. The Wnnamaker thpnrv nf caiun i,., customer Is always right." is a' much nun moro profitable attitude that should be assumed by sollors of farm produce as well as of any other commodity. AUUICUl.Tlllt IST8. Many Students Borrow From O. A. C. Lonn Fund ONE hundred and foitj -eight Un dents have borrowed from the 0. A. G. student loan fund since It vis OBtabllshed about three years ago. Many othcra havo sought loans but could not bo accommodated became tho fund was cxhnustcd. Tlio loam wcro too small to mnko for tho high est efficiency, hnviug avcrnr.cd but S38. In vluw of the need o( mote InniiH and lurger tho necessity ot In creasing tho fund Is appnieiit. Tho purposo ot the fund Is to aid worthy young pcoplo to complete tholr collcgo work by lending them small sums of cash on miliablo tcrmi of Interest and ropnj incut, it vu started by friends of tlio college, Hon. nrnble It. A. llooth being tlio largcit contributor with n $1000 gift. The Plcrco fund ot $C0O was nleo tab scribed and Mrs. Clara II. Waldo added another hundred In cash. The faculty contributed $STD and ctudent organizations, notably the Ilaromctcr aud Oregon Countryman, ir.uclo up the bulk of the remainder. Tho short courso elnss of 191-1 gave $141 and tlio wholo fund now totals J 3 SO 3.3 8. Although tho fund Is growing, 11 hns not nearly rYachcd the point whero It cau supply the demand for legitimate and much-needed loam, and friends ot tho college hope to ice It brought to tho 10,000 mark. froviiiK Own Vegetables. Although no stnto lu the I'ulon af fords bettor climatic or soil condi tions for market gardening or truck fanning than Oregon, yet It lias al ways been n vogetablo Importing state. "Carloads of prodii'-o come lo our markets annually from outside sources," says Professor A. 0. Bou quet, tho O. A. C. garden specialist, "although ii largo " "' ll t0 Just as woll iih not bo grown In this stnto. Tho smaller markets are the ones most neglected, the average grower directing his attention more townnl such markets as Portland, al ways Ilablo to market tioublcj, due to heedless consigning nnd to the mnrkotlng of poor produce. Oregon murkolH aro In a somewhat crude con dition but nro now undergoing rapia dovolopmont, nnd there nro big op portunities in tho vegetnblo buslnen when rightly mannged." Luiik Worms Trouble C'ahcs. Serious lung worm trouble of cnlvos has arisen in some parts or tn state whoro tho calves aro Pu"a on low landB during wet wcatber. Theso troublo aro treated by J. J Smith, county ngrlcultural Snt" Coos County, by hypodermic Inje. tlons ot turpentine Into the tracheae of tho affected nnlmal. or by causing tho nnlmnl to Inhnlo sulphur fumes M putting its head Into a sack and Bow ing it over a sulphur smudge, w nlso recommends that farmers remote calves suffering with lung worms w higher ground nnd give them more protection from tho rough weatner. Moro Loam Itoqulicd. Tho compost recommended for potted plants in a recent Issuo oft" O. A. C.'Dullotln should havo reao two measures of loam soil, ns'" of ono. Tho other components we correctly given aa follows: Onc-na" measuro of sand and one measuro each of woll rotted manuro and w mold. The double portion of loam Is required to prevent acidity, wniw Is very Ukoly to develop when tno compost Is kopt too wet. 1 h,,8,a?K. of acidity can bo eliminated by naa Ing about ono per cent of alr-siacim llmo to tho compost. Absolutely Free A beautiful 42-pIcce set oi J Blvcn to our direct cream WPP w year. "Write for particulars. T. S. TOWNSEND CREAMERY CO. V. O. Ilox 233. ,ril"l,-,1lrett,6Hi Creamery U Seventh and Mereii