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About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 1913)
FARM 5 ORCHARD Notes and Instructions from Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations of Oregon and Washington, Specially Suitable to Pacific Coast Conditions Preparing'Chickens for the Poultry Show "As the judges at poultry shows award premiums on appearance of the fowls on judging day," says Professor Lunn of the Poultry department of Jthe Oregon Agricultural college, it is nec essary that the boy or girl who is going to exhibit poultry at the county or and state fairs not only give them the best of care in getting them ready, but also in cooping and ship- ping them. As the final wind up of the boys' and girls' poultry raising contest is at hand, in a short time these birds will be shipped to compete for prizes. The appearance of their plumage and vigor upon the home farm will not be a factor. The judge will not consider the care spent upon thern nor make allowances for distance traveled. "Here are a'few points which may mean the winning of a premium other wise lost. Every boy and girl should send for a premium list of the show where the birds are to be exhibited, decide what premiums are to be tried for, then select and prepare the birds accordingly; The more nearly mature the fowls are the better. They should have maximum strength and vigor. They should be in good ' flesh and healthy, showing no signs of disease, especially scaly leg. "In preparing fowls for the show it is necessary to wash the white colored ones about four days before the birds are shipped. Use three tubs. The first should be half full of warm water, the second tub of luke-warm water, and the last tub with water from which the chill has been re moved. Put the fowl into the first tub and hold it under the water until the plumage is soaked. The head may be held under a moment or two. Place the fowl on a clean table, thoroughly soap with a good white soap. The plumage is now ready to be scrubbed, which is done gently with a small brush, in the direction the feathers grow. The bird is then rinsed in the second tub, removing all the soap so that the feathers will web out properly. The legs should be scrubbed and if necessary the dirt under the scales re moved with a toothpick. "The third tub is used for the final rinsing. If blueing is used in this water there should be not too much of it and it must be thoroughly mixed with the water or it will stain the plumage. The feathers are dried by hand, rubbed with- towels, and the bird placed in a well-heated room until thoroughly dried. It should . then be placed in a clean coop with four or five inches of chaff on the -floor so that the feathers will not be soiled. Dark col ored birds may have their plumage rubbed with a silk handkerchief and their legs washed as above. Now train'them to handling and to exhibi tion coops. Stroke and speak to them, as this will make them pose better when the judge is looking them over. If dull, the comb and wattles may be rubbed with an equal mixture of sweet oil and alcohol. "In shipping, the coops should be large enough to give the fowl ample room, about thirty inches for the tallest birds, grading down to a foot for the tiniest bantams. The comb should never touch the top of the coop. The width should be such that the plumage will not be cramped. A sin gle coop should be provided for each male, but females may be placed two or three together. A little grain may be sprinkled in the chafT, but it is not best to put drinking water in the coop. A few vegetables or apples will an swer the place of water very well and will not soil the plumage. It is not necessary to put grit or other food than grain in the coop." Topping Herds May Be Done by Grower. Growers of beef cattle may escape the disappointment of having their herds topped, by making the classifi cation themselves, and then offering only what the buyer wants, thinks Porf. E. L. Potter, animal husbandry- man of the Oregon Agricultural col lege. Buyers are operating under or ders from their employers to get only a certain grade that is wanted for the ' trade at that time, and must comply. "When you enter a grocery and ask for a certain grade of coffee," says Professor Potter, "you are not offered a mixed lot of fifty cent and thirty five cent and twenty cent grades, and urged to take it The salesman tries to sell you exactly what you want. If you want a fifty cent brand and take no other you are not condemning the other two brands. They are all right for the purpuse intended but you do not want them. "Now, that is precisely the situa tion in which the buyer finds himself. If told to get prime beef he is not at liberty to include butcher stuff, or feeders or stackers. Mind, he is not condemning the other grades; they are only what he dosn't want." The professor then read from mar ket reports the Chicago quotation on fat steers ranging from $7.60 for culls up to $9.15 from primes. "How can buyers be expected to pay the same price for the lot?" he inquired. "The most profitable thing to do is to study the market and produce just that demand. The fat stuff should be cut and made up into carload lots, and shipped on the days, two each week in Eastern Oregon, when cattle trains pass. Two carloads are best, as then transportation is issued for the return trip. This will guarantee quick ship ments, which means money, as shrink age takes place faster the longer the journey. If the grower hasn't enough to make two carloads he can generally find a neighbor to go in with. Professor Potter thinks that it is more profitable for the growers to ship. Silos in Washington. The extension department of the State college at Pullman has received reports on more than sixty silos in the state, the figures being furnished by the silo owners. Some have furnished definite data while others could only give estimates. The reports will be tabulated in complete form. While they can not be considered absolutely accurate, as figures from silo owners they serve as a valuable guide. In cluded are 47 stave, 3 hoop, 3 con crete, 2 brick, 1 Gurler, and several square silos. The square silos are not considered in the statements below. Of the stave silos 40 are home made and 7 factory built. Factories have only recently entered the field. In western Washington the average cost of stave silos reported was $2.20 per ton capacity. Of those exceeding 46 tons capacity, average cost $1.69 per ton capacity. Of those less than 45 tons capacity, average cost $2.98 per ton capacity. In eastern Washington the average cost of stave silos reported was $2.25 per ton capacity. Of those exceeding 45 tons capacity, average cost was $2.08 per ton capa city. Of those lesa than 45 tnna mnncitv average cost was $2.41 per ton capa city. . The sm all silo is more expensive in proportion to its capacity. A silo should be not less than ten fpet. i n dia meter. The height should be at least twice as srreat as the diameter. On the average farm two medium sized snos are more satisforctory than one extremely large one. After-Harvest Cultivation or the Dry Farmer The moisture aunnlv for th oi-nmth of plants in dry land agriculture comes from-the. natural precipitation. The greater portion of our rainfall comes during the winter months. Plants are not growing at this season and can not mane use or tne moisture as it comes. How best to hold and conserve the winter precipitation is the problem. It has been found at the agricultural experiment station at Pullman, Wash., that soil which is in a loose, open con dition will take in and hold from 15 to 85 per cent more moisture than one which is in a hard, compact condition. Soils which have been thoroughly loosened up during late summer and early fall, before the rajny season, either by thorough discing or fall plowing, give yields of from five to ten bushels per acre more than the same type of soils that are allowed to go through the winter untouched after harvest Discing to a depth of four or five inches as soon after harvest as practicable, is just as efficient and beneficial as fall plowing, and is eas ier and more economically accomplish ed. More of the winter rainfall will be held, run-off and washing will be prevented and the soil will be benefit ted, where the stubble land has been given a thorough discing during late summer or early fall. Try it I Feeding for Fertile Eggs. For a breeding pen I use from 16 to 20 large, early-hatched pullets, with two large, vigorous cockerels. I have one cockerel in the pen each day, changing each night thus giving one a day's rest This makes them more vigorous and the eggs are more fertile. I feed in the morning a mash of one quart corn meal with one-tenth part beef scrap; at noon one pint of wheat or oats; at night one quart corn; I keep oyster shell before them. On this feed they lay plenty of fertile eggs in cold weather. I feed the chicks drv nrennrwl 0V1I0V taoA till about 12 weeks old, then feed the above ration, except that I use about one-twentieth part of beef scrap in morning mash. E. S. Boss in Farm ana xiome. MOTOR-DRIVEN LAWN MOWER Small Machine, Operated by Means of Gasoline Engine, Differs Little From Hand Devices. Many lawn mowers of the large type have for some time been anulnned with gasoline engines as motive power, but tne accompanying Illustration shows a gasoline enirine-drlvfin the small type, ordinarily pushed over uie iawn Dy the operator. The actual mowing machine differs but little from thn hnnd.nnahari riara but attached to the handle Is a frame work bearing a small air cooled engine, gasoline tank, isrnltion devlrn And tVin gears required for harnessing the pow er to the mower proper. The weight of power plant Is disposed on the 8mall Lawn Mower. frame In such a manner as to be bal anced In respect to the center of grav ity or tne mowing mechanism. The operator walks behind tha ma. chine, grasping the handle in the same manner as If he reallv had tn mmh it All that Is required of him is to keep 11 Daiancea and control the engine. ELIMINATION OF BIG VALUE Sufficient Attention Not Given to Cut ting Out Process for Betterment of Farm Products. (By A. O. CHOATE, Illinois.) The road to much of the comnara- tive perfection In live stock, etc., leads inrougn elimination. By the elimination of weeda nf In. ferlor specimens. In the thinning of poor seed and poor plants in planting we do away with most of the chances of failure and the production of rub bish. I believe we have not given suffi cient attention to this elimination process for the betterment of our stock and crops. , This year, for Instance, I have found that the elimination of noor seed no. tatoes and of course selection of good seeds In their places, has Increased my potato crop fully 20 per cent When we carry this same principle of elimination into other lines of farming, and disposed of the scrub hens that barely lay 75 eera a vear. and the cow that gives but little, or poor milk, the unprofitable mongrels or no particular breed of stock, then, ana not until then, will be be on the road to a more satisfactory outcome generally and soon see loss turned to profit 8ummer Feed Experiments. The animal husbandry denartment of the University of Illinois Is feed- wg (o steers experimentally in dry lot Ten breeding heifers are be ing carried through the summer In dry lot on silage and cotton-seed meaL There are also 30 head-of breeding heifers being carried through on pas ture; one lot on blue grass alone, one lot on clover alone, and another on blue grass supplemented with silage. The object of the summer experiment is to obtain a compari son between blue Brass pasture alone clover pasture alone and blue grass pasture supplemented with silage for breeding heifers. Clean Feed for Horses. Don't feed dirty grain to your horses. The dust weed seeds and other foreign matter In the grain Is disagreeable to tha anlmala and in jurious. Use a sieve to measure the train and give It a few shakes to allow the dirt and seeds to fall out before feed ing. Borne pour water over the grain In the sieve or din the sieve of train In a bucket or tub of water a few umes. This Is a good plan, as it re moves all dust and smut. The feed boxes are kept cleaner br treat! n a the grain In this way before feeding. Don't Crowd Poultry. Shippers of live, poultry should never use coons which are too small to carry the poultry properly. Poul try arriving m a cramped and wretch ed condition will not command aatia. factory prices, and furthermore the commission man Is apt to get himself Into serious trouble with the society for the prevention of cruelty to ani. mail unless the stock Is removed lm- mediately into other coops, and these ara not available at al times. ffiwwH'i"! ..M,y .,'.r-i-M "wj, , 114 1 ..n.n,!m . i.'iim.. jiii,ini.i.i,i.i.ijmiiiiu .- j.i,nunumniii 4 ty, ,i,....f.. v 4Ql l , Xnqjts Bartering TUrs knt HURSDAY morning found us In II another world. The pretty. If squalid, Chinese villages thatched roofs and embowered in billowy foliage; the endless stretches of plowed grain land dotted with laboring natives In blue overalls and straw lampshade hats; the great herds of cattle and horses and the browsing camels had gone. Our train was rolling slowly through a wooded hill country, Virginia to the eye, though the map called It western Manchuria, writes Bassett Dlgby in the Chicago Dally News. Here and there we cut athwart a water meadow, skirted by a noisy lit tle creek that foamed and frothed Its way through half a dozen channels In the pebbly bed. "A smiling meadow" Is a popular figure of speech that you can understand when, after many weeks' sweltering In the hot treeless plains of the Llaoyang peninsula you wake up among the hills of Tsltsitcar. The flowers I I sat on the step of the end plat form of the coach as we tolled up a steep gradient and counted over four dozen kinds in full bloom wild roses, red, pink and white. Flaming acres of peonies; shoals of Iceland popples over the rocky hillside and along by the track yellow Iceland poppies as big as those unattainable Ideals in the seedman's lists. Vetches, yellow and mauve. A kind of double daisy, now blood red, now snowy rimmed. Waving edges of yellow and blue and the little pale blue Chinese ground sedge. Hemlock, starwort and bedstraw. Wild straw berry In profusion. Dandelion, thistle, buttercup and feathery marsh flowers, bushy heads on stout stems that over topped the rushes. Lilies of the val ley, pink stock, yellow trumpet lilies. In the meadow grass, up on the dry hills, great drifts of deep blue forget-me-not The brakes ground, and we came to a standstill at a tiny wayside sta tion. On a parallel siding lay a long train of wlndowless horse boxes, dark and filthy horse boxes packed with Russian emigrants bound for Amur land and the Paciflo coast near Vladi vostok. It costs nothing to emigrate to fil. berla, even though you do not Jour ney as a convict In consequence, some half a million peasants come out every year, while 40,000 return. An annual emigration by far the most gigantic the world has ever known of twice the bulk of that to Canada, yet one of which the nations havB no cognizance. On an Emigrant Train. On the emigrant train you see what purports to be civilized humanity at its very lowest level. You do not quail at the housing and surroundlnn of the black races, but you will do unprepared ror this degree of degradation among whites. During long walti on the sldinn an emigrant train Is sidetracked to let coal trucks pass! the poor creatures risk a call-down from the station po lice and slide open the middle door of the horse box for a breath of air and a ray of light There are trucks for families and uiEraii& trucks for single men. Both are sta bles. In the former three human gen-" eratlons, the grandparents, the man and his wife In their prime, and their children, herd together with the popu lation of their little farm yard back In Russia. Three cows and half a dozen sheep quaint black and white sheep that seem to have been hand-painted by a Beardsley enthusiast lie In knee-deep straw, munching hay and green stuff. Bales of hay and straw are stacked to the roof and among them wander ducks ana fowls and tur keys. A couple of big dogs crouch In a corner. Room for Everything. Now, a Russian log hut has not much furniture. It all fits comfort ably Into a horse box, even when cows and sheep, backed by a small hay stack, swell the family circle. Goods and chattels are disposed here and there. The chairs are set around a table. A lamp and even a nip f crude framed prints of saints are tucked to the wooden side of the truck. Baby la installed in her awlnvu ing cradle at the end of a spring. The peasant cradle in Russia Is like a meat scale and rocks upward and downward. The single men's quarters contained an intimidating band of ruffians, one's conception of a shipwrecked crew aft er ten strenuous years on the desert Island. Bareheaded, barefooted, shaggy-bearded creatures, with flat, animal faces and wild, bloodshot eyes. Very dirty, in rags and tatters, shirt-tails streaming in the breeze. In one truck a fierce flght was going on.. A dap per military policeman, hearing the din, strode over to a pair of yelling, scratching combatants, their faces streaming with blood, and put curt inquiries. A grinning fellow emigrant made answer. : "He Bays," translated my compan- . ion, "that they do not like each ozzer" a not Improbable thesis from ap pearances. However, this' satisfied the policeman and off he strolled. Toward the tail of thn train coach of dazzling white the hospital, a very necessary adjunct to the emi grant train on a journey undertaken under such conditions and lasting worn iwo to. three weeks. Through the open door I caneht urass ana white enameled bedstead, a spotless white counterpane across It and surrounded with all the speckless fittings of a good city nursing home. The uniformed nurse sat embroidering on a chair by the window. Here the clean, white little room and next door the bleeding, shaggy brutes, living shoulder to shoulder with their cattle In the 111th of the dark, miasmatic horse boxes. All afternoon there had been the growling of distant thunder and now Jagged lightning flickered and spurted in the coppery clouds. Suddenly the heavens opened and poured marbles of ice that drove at a long cutting glide across the plain and rattled like shrapnel on our steel cars. And, un noticed In the din. In gilded the pala tial international sleeping car express ao luxe. I caught a glimpse of a gay throng around the piano In the draw, lng room car as It shot by - o cUAa'Dv vi
