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The Agricultural College
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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.
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