EKimft3IS'pm
rajpw-. T 11R'-
IIOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
Editorial Page of Home and Farm Magazine Section
Timely, Pertinent Comment Upon Men find Affairs, Following the Trend of World News;
Suggestions of Interest to Readers; Hints Along Lines of Progressive Farm Thought.
TO ADVERTISERS
Advertisers in Hits locatity who wish to fully
cover nil sections of Oregon and Washington
and a portion of Idaho will apply to local pub
lishers for rates.
General advertisers may address C. L. Bur
ton, Advertising Manager of Orcgon-Washlng-ton-Idaho
Farmer, Orcgonlnn Hulldlng, Port
land, Oregon, for rates nnd information.
TO READERS
Readers arc requested to send letters and
articles for publication to The Editor, Oregon-Washington-Idaho
Farmer, Orcgonlan Build
ing, Portland, Oregon.
Discussions on questions nnd problems that
bear directly on the agricultural, livestock and
poultry interests of the Northwest and on the
uplift and comfort of the farm home always
arc welcomed. No letters treating of religion,
politics or the European war are solicited, for
the .Oregon-Washington-Idaho .Farmer .pro
claims neutrality on these matters.
Comparatively brief contributions are pre
ferred to long ones. Send us also photographs
of your livestock and farm scenes that you
think would be of general interest. We wish
to make this magazine of value to you. Help
us do it.
THE SUMMER TRIP.
EVERY farmer in the Pacific Northwest
owes it to himself and family to soo
that all enjoy a delightful outing tin's
coming Summer. The extent of the excur
sion will depend upon finances, but this
should bo a pretty prosperous season for tho
farmer, so let's aim liigh. It docs no harm
to plan your trip now, though Summer is
quite a bit off, for if you find at tlic last
moment you cannot go, you will at least
have had tho joys of anticipation, which, it
is truthfully said, often exceed tho joys of
realization.
In considering tho vacation question it is
most natural for eyes to turn toward Cali
fornia, for that is tho exposition stato of tho
world this year. By all means, if you can
afford to go to tho magnificent fair to bo
given on tho shores of tho great San Fran
cisco Hay, make that your destination this
Summer. It will bo well worth time and
money expended, for it is quito the most
wonderful pageantry of color and art and
industry that has been known to this mod
ern age. Tho millions of dollars being ex
pended to inako it tho most splendid expo
sition over held are not being wasted. Tho
resultant show dazzles the imagination.
San Francisco suggests San Diogo, for
there, too, is being held a world exposition,
along different lines. To somo tho mag
nificent splendor of Sun Francisco's fair
will appeal tho most; to others tho more
modest but none tho less perfect gem of tho
San Diego fair will have tho greater lure.
As wo lmvo said beforo in these columns,
San Diego is tho exposition breathing the
spirit of tho "West; San Francisco is the fair
whoso scope is the world.
Should finances not be of tho health and
stature to carry ono to California, don'J for
get tho beautiful resorts in which the North
west abounds. And, most important, don't
forget in planning your outing that tho City
of Roses, Portland, expects to present tho
greatest Roso Festival this year that it has
yet attempted. You know what that means.
DELINQUENT PARENTS.
EURIPEDES tells us that tho gods visit
tho sins of tho fathers upon tho chil
dron, which is a bit rough on the off.
spring. Thero may bo moro justice in a re-euntly-enacted
Now Jersey law which visits
tho sins of tho children on tho parents. In
Trenton a mother and fathor have been in.
dieted beet uso thoir progeny wore guilty ol
criminal offenses. New Jersey believes in
holding the parents responsible for the evil
deeds of their children ; it is a wise, sane and
necessary law.
A stream of miserable children flows
through our juvenile courts on the way to
tlio reform school, the city prison and the
stato penitentiary. In 99 cases out of 100
these unfortunates arc the offspring of de
linquents, men and women who have no con
ception of the duties and no realization of
the holiness of parenthood. As soon as pos
sible they rid themselves of tho responsi
bility of caring for their young, who arc
turned into the streets, hungry, lftwlcss nnd
predaccous. Sooner or later theso unhappy
little wretches becomo wards of the state,
which always diligently and frequently un
successful tries with tho whip of reforma
tion to cure tho faults which would havo
yielded to tho gcntlo suasion of parental in
struction. Now Jersey's enactment declaring that
her citizens shall bo held responsible for the
conduct of their children is worth noting.
If the offenses of the children wero visited
where they belong, thero would be no need
for future generations of children to pay
for the sins of their parents.
B-ll IN THE HELLESPONT.
THE Hellespont has solid claims on ro
mance. When tho 1M1, Lieutenant
Norman B, Holbrook, R. N., command
ing, swam far enough into tho Dardanelles
to torpedo a Turkish battleship sho .was
cleaving very well known waters. Xerxes
crossed them on a bridgo of boats. So did
Alexander. Leander swam them from shore
to shore. Lord Byron tried to. And, really
going back, the good ship Argo threaded
that narrow channel in her voyage to tho
Euxine.
None of these earlier feats can begin to
compare with tho achievement of the B-ll
as an adventure or, a marvel. Had Homer
guessed that an underwater ship would ono
day divo into tho Sea of Marmora ho would
have longed for new adjectives. Yet we tip
our paper up on the breakfast table and read
the news without blinking.
Only after a new Homer, a century hence,
has done justice to the marvels of the B-ll
will sho have a chance to create real thrills
and rank with her predecessor in the Hellespont.
LIVING AND EXISTING.
THERE is a vast difference between liv-
JL nig ami just existing, to really Jivo
is worth while. To merely exist is a
bore and a nuisance to one's own self. Ev
eryone has it within his own power largely
to'dotermino whether ho shall really live or
whether ho shall only exist.
' To live is to enjoy one's work and tako
pleasure from tho Hiings around him. To
merely exist is to hato one's work and to
dospiso the things about him. "Whether ono
enjoys or hates his work depends" largely
upon his mental condition. "Whether ono
takes pleasuro from the things about him,
or whether he despises them, depends largely
upon the things themselvos.
"Whether tho things about ono are such as
to eauso pleasure or disgust is within tho
control of one's own self, for ho can chango
them to meet his own likes. Therefore,
whether one shall really livo or whether ho
shall only exist is within tho control of each
ono himself.
A few simple repairs, a few quarts of paint
properly applied to tho buildings, a flower
bed hero and there, a little core everywhere
these aro the things which will transform a
farm from'a placo of imprisonment and em
bittered existence into a home filled with'
happiness and content. Let those who have
been living tho -lifo of imprisonment in past
years make that siranlo and easy ohangc this
Spring.
ALFALFA MACHINERY.
THE Miui who is just Starting to grow
alfalfa can get along very well with'
his ordinary equipment of machinery.
As soon as ho gets to growing it on any very
extensive scale, however, thero aro some
special alfalfa implements that can be prof
itably used.
One of tho most important of these is tlfe
spring-tooth cultivator. "Wo aro just learn
ing that alfalfa needs cultivation almost ns
badly as corn. Ono or two cultivations after
every cutting, with tho possible exception
of tho lost, will keep down weeds, increase
tho yield, thicken the stand and prolong the . .
lifo of tho field. Tho cultivation can be given
with a disc, but a spring-tooth harrow is
much more effective. Whcro lf acres or
moro of alfalfa aro grown it will pay to get
the largest size, which is a four-horse tool.
The side-delivery rako is almost a necessity
in curing alfalfa. Cocking and capping is
not practical except for small fields. "NVitli
a side-delivery rako tho hay can bo piled into
windrows after is has wilted and turned
occasionally until it is thoroughly cured. If
this work is done carefully and at tho proper
timo, there will bo little loss of leaves. Even
when there is a good deal of rain after tho
alfalfa is cut, judicious uso of the side-dcliv-
ory rako will make it possible to euro it iulo
very fair quality liny.
Tho hay-loader is a valuablo labor-saver,
in hnndling lnrgo quantities of alfalfa or any;
other hay. An even more valuablo imple
ment where the hay is stacked in tho field,
or tho field is near the barn, is the sweep
rake. With this rako and a stacker or a
double-harpoon fork nt tho barn, tho work'
of putting up tho hay is greatly lessened, r
"Where alfalfa is' sown without a nurso crop .
a special alfalfa drill, with discs three inches
apart, will give a moro oven stand than can
bo. obtained in any other way. It would
hardly pay an individual to buy such an im- ,
plemcnt, however, unless ho is sowing a
great deal of alfalfa every year. In a neigh
borhood whero considerable alfalfa is grown -several
neighbors might go in together on
the purchaso of such a machine. --
WAR AND IMMIGRATION.
THE Pacific Coast has been oxpcctiug a
vast influx of European population
upon tho coinplotion of tho Panama
Canal. Will tho Europeau war check or ac
celerate this movement? From Russia to
Grcnt Britain nndfrom Sweden to Italy and
Spain thero aro moro than 20,000,000 men
under arms. Of course, for tho timo being,
the war is likely to "cheek emigration from
all theso countries.
But in tho end it is sifro to accelerate it,
for tho reason that tho people of all Euro
pean countries will in largo numbers desire
to escape from tho possibility of being
caught in such n maelstrom of war as that . .
entangling them now. Tho condition of
Europe for years lias been driving hundreds
of thousands of its best people to the United
States, and tho present terrible war canuof
but counsel all who Can to got out of condi
tions so adverso to human life. -
J Ml