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HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
The Agricultural College Is a Friend to the Farmer
1UJJC 01 iCWS 111 Oll'S Hint liiltitaiins .. .. .. o- .
Vll'.W OP OKEfiO.V AnniCVLTCIMb COUXCB AT CORVAIXI OR. IT SOUS AIM IS TO AID AHKICUMTUKISTS.
Now Is Time for Sweet
Pea Growers to Hustlo
T la tlmo now to consider tlio
1 planting of sweet peas," says
Professor A. L. Feck, landscape gnr
dener of Oregon Agricultural Col
lego. "The sowing of this crop can
bo carried on cither In the Fall of
tlio year, or nt this tlmo In early
Spring. Tho peas should bo bowii In
good garden soil, providing this
ground is not subject to heavy soak
ing of water from now on. It should
bo planted In such situation Hint no
trouble from over-shading can occur.
A row running north and south, right
out In full sunlight, Is to bo preferred.
It is truo that sweet peas often do
well even planted along the north
side of a house, but speaking of av
crago conditions, tho open Is to bo
preferred.
"Tho soil should bo carefully pre
pared, spading to a depth of at least
a foot, dnd turning In, In tho lower
six inches of this soil, a liberal
amount of woll-decbmposed barn
yard manure. It Is best to prepare
tho soil in this manner during tlio
Fall, and, if possible, to plant tho
seed at that time. Should planting
not provo feasible, and In caso It Is
delayed until Spring, tho top six
inches of tho soil should be stirred
over again with a spado beforo plant
ing. "As soon as tho soil Is In good
working condition, tho sweet peas can
bo set out, or sown. For sowing the
seed, dig u small trench or furrow,
about 4 or 5 inches deep, smooth tho
surfneo of tho soil In tho bottom of
this trench and sow tho seed evenly,
using about ono ounco of seed to 15
or 18 feet of tlio row. Then cover
with two Indies of soil. When the
' seedlings aro four or flvo Inches high,
one can thin out so that tho plants
will remain about six inches apart in
the row."
At this tlmo ono should hnvo cata
logues from tho various needsmon nt
hand, and ho will bo ablo to uso these
publications to aid him In selecting
his varieties of swcot peas. Many
peoplo prefer to plant sweet peas in
mixtures. In this caso somo of the
most satisfactory varieties can bo ob
tained, and at that somewhat more
cheaply than could tho nnmed va
rieties in scparato packets.
Thcro nro several places In town
wlioro sweet pea seed can bo pur
chased, and tho prices run from 5
cents a packet, for a liberal amount
of seed, up to much higher prices for
the nower varieties, which nro offered
for salo for tho plantings of tho Bwcet
pea fancier.
Slump Pulling Demonstrated.
(Special.)
A land clearing demonstration was
added to tho numerous nttractlvo
oventa scheduled tor farmers' week
at tho Oregon Agricultural College,
February 1 to C. Tho demonstration
Included stump burning, stump pull
ing and stump blasting. Each proc
ess was handled by experts who
showed six different processes. Tho
demonstration took placo on a farm
a short dlstanco from Corvallls at 2
o'clock Saturday afternoon, Febru
ary 0. Carryall loft tho college
campus at 1:30 so that all who were
interested In tho demonstrations
could bo taken to tho ground with
out chnrgo. Tho demonstrations
wuro under tho Immediate chnrgo of
Profossor 11. D. Scuddcr, of tho
ngrouomy department.
A M( of lulrrrtllnjc limit from
tlio Orrgou Acrlrultural Ollrc t
t'onallU nlll altrniate In Ilia furni
Mrtkljr Willi it iinee of . notr
7 from the Wmliliigtoii HUte Callrce
I at I'ullm.in. lliU nlll afford un In.
I trrrhause of W from tlio two bis
iiKrlriiltum! rvllrar of tlio North.
wrt that hculil i.vr of hrnrflt lo
1 tlio rraiirr, for tho Inotltullou ileal
I nllli tlmllur proulriiu.
--- ------- --..
Umatilla Sub-Station
Issues Report of Work
C OIL nnd climatic conditions pre
O vnlllng on tho Umatilla reclam
ation project were considered by the
reclamation scrvlco to bo better
adapted to tho production of fruit
than to other crops. As a result of
this early decision, the land was di
vided Into small units with a view to
the development of small intensively
farmed fruit nnd garden tracts." Tho
foregoing is a quotatlou from the re
port of tho Umatilla branch experi
ment station, made by Superintendent
Italph W. Allen and Issued by the
Oregon Agricultural College experi
ment station under tne direction or.
Director A. D. Cordley. Tho report
tells further how and for what pur
pose the branch station was estab
lished, how it is maintained nnd man
aged, how it views the leading feat
ures of Its activities since its estab
lishment. The report says further:
"Tho predominating soil typo on
tho Unlatllla project, upon which tho
station is located, Is sand, ranging In
texture from coarse to fine. Approx
imately half of this area Is of coarse
sand nnd tho remainder ranges in
character from medium to fine. Tho
higher land that lies back from the
Columbia Itlvcr is mostly of finer
texture. Tho soils aro markedly de
ficient In organic matter and nitro
gen. Tho physical character of this
land renders tho duty of Irrigation
water very low. From a soil stand
point, tho correction of theso two dif
ficulties, which aro among tho prin
cipal factors influencing crop pro
duction, Is of tho utmost Importance.
''Climatic conditions of this district
nro very congenial for crop growth.
They nro a raro combination of dry
atmosphero and dry weather. Tho
effect Is comparatively long growing
seasons and mild, open Winters."
Conditions on this tract aro such
as render necessary scientific Investi
gation In eradication of alkali, secur
ing stands of crops, crop rotations,
and tho economical uso of water aud
Increasing soil fertility.
Hoports of experiments with truck
crops, strawberries, cano fruits nnd
treo fruits as carried on in field plats
aro given in tho new bulletin, frco
copies of which may bo had by all in
terested persons upon request nd-
dressed to tho Oregon Agricultural
College.
Students Give Hook Fund.
With Instructions to select a small
library of books sultablo to tho farm
homo and covering as wide a range
of practical subjects as possible, tho
Oregon Agricultural Collego Bhort
courso students of 1915 have re
quested tho collego authorities to ac
cept tho special fund raised for this
purpose. Tills action by tho short
course students was taken for tho
purposo of expressing their apprecia
tion of tho courtesies shown them by
tho collego aud of tho valuable Infor
mation and training which they se
cured during their short courso work.
This action was in lino with prece
dents established by other short
courso classes at tho college.
Whllo tho books purchased with
this special fund aro designed primar
ily for tho uso of short courso stu
dents, they nro also accesslblo to tho
degree and tho vocational students
and to tho collego faculties. Tho list
will bo selected and purchased by
Dean A. U. Cordloy, of tho school of
agriculture, and Mrs. Ida Kidder, li
brarian. Tho class of 1915 elected J. II.
Gllnes, of Waldnort. president, "be
cause" said tho members, "ho has
attended two short courses beforo nnd
knows tho 'ropes,'". Mrs. J. M.
Waldrlp, who owns and manages a
farm on San Juan Island In Fuget
Sound, wns elected secretary, and H.
F. Hawkins, of Salem, wns elected
treasurer. Mr. Hawkins is now man
aging tno uairy end of a ICOO-acro
much near Dallas. P. C. Durt, of
Uoud, was chosen to solicit tho spe
clnl funds for tho library donation,
Report of John Jacob
Astor Branch Station
IN 1913 an agricultural experiment
station was established In Clatsop
County for tho purposo of Investigat
ing nnd demonstrating agricultural
possibilities of reclaimed swnmp land
and logged off land. Tho biennial re
port of this station, known as tho
John Jncob Astor branch experiment
station, has been issued by tho Agri
cultural Collego Experiment Station
under tho direction of Director A. B.
Cordley. In this report, Issued ns an
experiment station bulletin, aro
summed up tho principal facts of es
tablishment and maintenance of tho
station nnd tho result of Its operation
during the last two years.
Tho John Jacob Astor branch sta
tion Is situated four miles from Asto
ria on Young's Uivcr. Of tho 70
acres comprising tho farm, DO acres
are tide land and 20 acres logged-off
hill land. This represents tho nvor
ago types of land In Clatsop County
and tho methods and results secured
In Its management aud uso will provo
of much Interest to owners of similar
types.
Methods of draining and clearing
tho tldo lands of their donso growth
of rushes, reeds nnd swnmp grasses
aro summarized In tho roport. Somo
of theso methods wcro qulto differ
ent from thoso generally followed In
clearing theso lands and somo very
excellent results havo been secured
by them. In addition to this tho bul
letin describes tho cropping systoms
that wero employed successfully In
connection with tho clearing methods.
Cnro of Spring Lambs.
"Tho Spring of tho year is tho
shopherd's harvest. After tho loug
Winter of ceaseless toll and euro tho
lambing tlmo is tho Joy and tho fruit
of the shepherd's labors. To him It
Is tho greatest plcasuro to welcome
each new-born babe, whether It bo
single, twin or triplet. But llko tho
grain harvest, lambing tlmo Is not a
tlmo of ease. Tho successful shep
herd Is very skillful at this tlmo and
uses his best Judgment In feeding
and caring for tho flock."
So says Professor O. M. Nelson,
specialist at tho Oregon Agricultural
Collego In sheep production. Ho be
lieves that a little grain should bo
given tho owes a month or so beforo
lambing. Small amounts should bo
used in beginning tho feed, which
may consist of ono and one-half parts
of oats, to ono part bran fed with
roots, silage, alfalfa or vetch and
clover. Tho ewes should havo tho
run of a good pasture and access to
a shed.
As soon as tho lambs como tho
owes should bo tagged and taught to
own their lambs. Dy tagging, that Is
clipping tho wool away from tho
udder, tho lamb Is given a good
chanco In his first claim to life. Many
lambs havo been killed by sucking
locks of wool instead of tho nlpplo
intended for them. Neglect to sea
that tho lamb takes all tho milk pro
duced by tho mother may lead to
caked and Inflamed udders.
Iniportuitro of Marketing.
"Tho wholo Industry of vogctablo
production rests upon marketing, yet
this phase of tho subject has been
given but scant attention whllo meth
ods of production havo engaged tho
serious consideration of Oregon grow
ers for many years," sayB Professor
A. G. Bouquet, head of vegetable gar
dening at tho Agricultural Collego.
"Every plan and all tho activities
of growers aro based upon their ef
fects on tho salo of his products. Since
success In marketing each nroduct
by tho routo that brings tho mlghcst
net returns to mo grower depends
upon having tho kind and nunlltv at
product demanded by accesslblo mar
kets, tho successful market gardener
will always take hla market demands
into consideration in planning Ills
garden and selecting his crops. It Is
what ho markets, not what ho grows,
that determines tho success of tho
garueucr."
'I'tmn lJiia ft 0i It
.....i. w iu o nens
to Get Winter Layer,
1 of April Is the best tlme h
Eastern Oregon poultry raisers can
select for hatching next Winter's lav
era, according to Professor A o
Limn, of tho Oregon Agricultural'toi"
logo poultry department. EgH fn,
theso hatchings would, of course 11
set from tho first to tho middle ot
March. vi
"A difficulty In producing pullets
that will lay during tho SI
months is tho problem of prcvcntlnc
them from beginning to lay befo
....... ,.., .., u pruuueing ears
When cold weather catches tfae pal
lots In molt they need nil their bow.
era to maintain bodily vigor and un
ally will stop laying until tho warm
days of Spring come.
"If pullets molt In Winter It li
probably because they nro hatched
iuu i;uiijr in iuu nt-nson. iney reach
maturity whllo it la still wnr y,Z
gin laying and then go Into tlio molt
This Is whero ono of the greatest
UUI1UIUH HUH.
"It Ib a mistake also to think that
pullets hatched In Winter will m.t
tho best Winter layers.
"A Leghorn hen requires on lh
average seven months to mature to
mo point wnero it win uegln to lay.
Heavy breeds of chickens renulro m.
or two months additional. Leghorn
chlckciiH hatched soon after tho mid-
uio oi Aiarcn, it tncy mako normal
development, should begin to lay In
October when their chances of molt
lug will bo reduced to tho minimum.
"Chicks that aro hatched In late
Spring or early Summer are not apt
to thrlvo well on account of tho scare
Ity of proper forago and because ot
other influences that tend to keep
.thorn from growing Into vigorous and
healthy rowis and good layers."
Rural Lifo Supports Urban,
"Out of tho agricultural colleges
must como tho solution ot tho great
and serious problem of building a
rural Ufa to stand tho strain ot car
ing for tho congested cities of the
future," said Walter M. Pierce, of the
Oregon Agricultural Collego Board ol
Regents.
"Moro than that, it will bo lh
peculiar mission ot tho agricultural
colleges to mako farm life so profit
able nnd attractivo that rural settle
ment will keep paco with city growth
far moro nearly than It has la the
past. Why, when I was a boy on a
farm near Chicago, that city cum
bered but 300,000 people. Its pop
ulation has slnco swelled to about
3,000,000, whllo tho rural communltr
In which I lived has scarcely In
creased at all.
"Hero In our own Oregon tho pop
ulation of Portland Is fast mounting
toward tho million mark, vhlch It
will reach In duo time. Dut what
about tho Willamette Valley? V.'e
confidently look to our own Agricul
tural Collego to solvo tho problem
of building n rural lira hero that ll
support tho crowded city."
Hog Jlrcctl Small Factor.
In Btnrtlng hog raising growers
need not bo concerned very scrlonslf
about tlio breed of hogs they select,
according to tho O. A. C. animal hus
bandry department. Each of tn
throo principal breeds In Oregon
Poland China, ncrkshlro and Duroe
Jersey, has lta points of superiority
and Inferiority, and there is said to
bo about ns much difference In Indi
viduals as between breeds. Some run
moro to tho fat hog and lard type awl
others moro to tho bacon type, while
somo aro rather earlier maturing tiaa
others. Dut tho main considerate
In selecting tlio breed Is to choose tn
ono that suits tho breeder's Weim
purposes- best, and then stick to ii
and build It up by careful selection
and proper management.
urn?