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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1945)
I onday, October 1 jtatioih 1945 THE LA GRANDE EVENING OBSERVE!, . GRANDE, OREGON Page Seven Section C Carries Out: Forage Tests Product of experimental feeding of beef cattle and sheen at the Union experiment station is more than 75 tons of fat Seiitle and lambs finished for market since Dec. 9 of last veai fcjjto Sept. 1, according to H. G. Avery, superintendent. Line siauun aisu carries on experiments wiin several nun fcd grains, forage crops and fertilizers, and production Ithods. The crops produced are marketed through live ck fattened on this station. ommenting on results of this r's livestock experiments, AV' said, "We produce in our ex iments many varieties of grain ich are not all readily market- in the small quantities pro- uted. All of this gram and a Sarfce tonnage of hay and forage Crdtos are marketed through feed ing to cattle and lambs and sale joflhese fat animals. We are espe teisjly pleased this year with the that we have produced the hUhest quality of both cattle and nbs in the history of the sta- n. Since 1903 Immediately west of the town Union, the agricultural experi- ent station was established by t of the legislature in 1901 and gan active operation in 1903. hile several men were connect- with the operation of the sta- on in its early years, residents f this community will remember est Robert Withycombe, super- ntendent for over 20 years un- his death in 1932, and Supt. E. Richards, who succeeds him nd served until his resignation n December of last year. The I'oik of both these men has had n important influence on the farming operations of this com munity and eastern Oregon. I Reviewing some of the ex- perimental work carried on in I past years, Richards says the I field pea crop, which in these Mlays of caueries has produced raveral million dollars of in 1 come in this and adjoining 1 counties, has been successfully grown at the experiment sta , tion for more than 25 years. ' Production of grass seeds has been the subject of experimenta tion at the station to determine fates and spacing of plantings, ,jind best use of fertilizers. This 'work has aided in the develop ment in Union county of what is tiow said to be the most impor tant production of fancy lawn ind turf grass seed in America. Many olhcr instances of t h e ast work of the station, includ ing development and introduction Of new grains and grasses, crop T'ttationpractices and fertilizers, could be enumerated. Perhaps the most important of these ex periments is the .series of fertil izer plots and rotation crops which include alfalfa for a five year period, peas and barley hay one year, corn one year, and winter wheat one year. In the 23-year period (begin ning in 1922), in which this se ries of experiments has been car ried on, the yield of winter wheat plots not fertilized, but grown In rotation with two legumes peas and alfalfa, has increased, and in the past five years of the experi ment was 21 percent higher than the yield of the first five years of the test. Good results and still larger increases in yield were also secured from several fertil izers. Use of barnyard manure increased yields when applied to peas and barley, corn and alfalfa, and showed a good profit above costs of application. Phosphorus fertilizer on wheat has consistent ly shown a profit from its appli cation. Either landplaster or sul phur applied to alfalfa has given increased yields and this practice has been generally adopted in the county with several hundred tons used annually. Lower Cost Of current interest to livestock men are the results of this year's work in fattening yearling steers. Contrary to results in all previous years only one light ease of bloat occurred, and cost of producing gains was lower than in the pre vious year. Providing a hay ra tion consisting of about one-third grass and two-thirds alfalfa chop ped together is believed to be the reason for this freedom from bloat, an opinion in which au thorities of the federal experi ment station pt Bcltsville, Md.. concur. Chief grain used in all experimental feeding pens was wheat. Cheapest gains and also heaviest gains were made by lot IV which was fed an average of 2.20 pounds of dried beet pulp and 7.5!) pounds of chopped wheat daiiv, and lot V which was foci an iverage of 9.52 pounds of chopied wheat. New information in sheep pro duction is provided by this year's operations in lamb production and lattcning en the station. Using the same corrals and pastures whore sheep have been fed for .many years and where severe losses of lambs from parasites or disease have occurred in pre vious years, the death loss this year has to date been three head out ot 438. Feeding of grain in creeps from birth and use of a new drug known as phenothiazine mixed with the salt is credited with the low death loss. Since losses of farm lambs have been heavy in the Blue mountain counties for a considerable number of years, this new drug should prove wel come to the owners of farm flocks. Pasture grasses under test at the station continue to interest farmers as this common but lit tle understood crop is studied. In the pasturing of the various gras ses which are planted in separate plots in an experimental pasture, sheep in late May and early June in 1945 ate 90 percent or more of orchard g r a s s, smooth brome. meadow foxtail nnd tall meadow oatgrass, and seemed to prefer these to 17 other varieties in the enclosure. Crested wheatgrass which is very palatable to sheep in the early part of the seasun was not attractive in Juno with these other grasses available. Varieties of grain which have given best results at this sta tion end also at some other ex periment stations In Oregon and nearby states are listed herewith i.i the order in which they yield at this station. Win ter wheat, first Elgini second Alicoli third Rex Selection M il fourth Hybrid 128: fifth Gol den (Improved Fortyfold)) sixth Athena. Among spring wheats Union, the club type of spring wheat re leased from this station, excels when moisture and growing con ditions are favorable. Federation has proved the highest yiclder on most stations. Several n e w high yielding spring wheats are now being grown in the nurser ies at the Union station, but in sufficient testing has been made to determine whether they are worthy of release for commercial planting, Among barleys, Olympia inlro ducod through the county agent's office several years ago has prov ed the highest yielding winter bailey at the station. Wong, also a winter bai ley, has been distrib uted by the station to a few farm ers in this area. In comparison with Olympia, which lodges rath er badly, Wong is stiff strawed. Neither variety is as winter hardy as our common .winter wheats. Of spring barleys, Trebi i 3 r feed and Hannchcn for browing and milling are the leading va rieties at this time. Several new high yielding varieties are being tested n the nursery. Victory oats continues to be the leading variety at the station from the standpoint of both yield and milling quality. Several new varieties show promise. ALL KINDS OF FARM NEEDS! 9 J. I. Case Farm achinery TRACTORS DISC HARROWS DRILLS MANURE SPREADERS HARVESTORS CULTIVATORS PLOWS HAY CHOPPERS MANURE SPREADERS ELEVATORS Feeds! Seeds! Fertilizers! Choreboy Cream Separator Two Unit DAIRY SUPPLIES INSECTICIDES STOCK & POULTRY REMEDIES STOCK SALT SPRAYERS CHICK FEEDERS AND BROODERS WE BUY POULTRY Baby Chicks and Poults in Season f XlllctllLl J. UUltl V i I MS JeffeiMm II ARLF.Y I). SMITH Phone S2fi Of Loca 4 Grown Livestock $900,000 lly t T f St,. lb is Purchased and Processed by our Packing Plant Yearly! &h m s 5 Ai ' I . . . ' ft' i 1. ? :r--m n y i. I'icluii'fl at top is the plant of the Kldriflxe I'HckitiK: company. To the rijrhl is a view of the stockyards and sheds, showing a group of the cattle beinjf fattened for slaujfhtor. To the left is a view of the refri geration plant in which more than 200 heef can be hung at one time. We Produce tii&c Famous Mt Hants Emily Bacon - S rand We Have Doubled Our Refrigeration Capacity Part of our extensive improvement has been devoted to Hit! refrigeration roonl which has been modernized and en larged. In this roont beef is aged. All Eldridge meuls arc choicest produced in our area. ausagc - Lard Mt. Emily Brand moat products are produced from nnrlheaslern Oregon livestock, pur chased from stockraisers in the best area.1 ;md carefully processed to furnish the re tailer with a superior product for t !) lions" u il'e. Our objective is to furnish a market for northeastern Oregon stockraisers and a local source of high quality meats for the consuming public. Our Annual Payroll is $36,000 Our annual payroll have avi-raged n mi c than $.",(',,000. As soon as post- . war demand necessitates and loosening' of restrictions allow, we expect to increase our staff and production. 500 Cattle Are Fed the Year Around to Produce Fine Beef A daily average of more than "00 cattle are kept in our yards and sheds, being fattened to produce 'the finest kneat. Our handling of meat from receipt tit our yards to delivery insures the house wife of high quality. FI .SIR IDC F. '1 --r L Hi. li IftsSki Polk and Unicn ACKING CO. La Grande, Ore. t
