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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 1911)
. ''''' .'V , ' . V ' THIS OREGON SUNDAY JOTOMAL. PORTZ2AND SUNDAY MORNING. SEPTEMBER 3, 1911. T rvttniiUii1wi'ii!i,'ii V. if SB 5 COOK HPXMB AND mil At tub AT "WORK. V Hil jv The Govemmeht s Successful Search for Hardy Grains Likely So Change the Agricultural Map . . .v - of the United States1 i i ' i 1 1 3A.CVL11IG 00 -BU3HL3 DAILY UlXATIlLiS. COUNTY NEW ,A.S0Ilir Written Especially for The Journal. WITH the harvesting of the greatest wheat crop In the history of Oregon conies the question, what of the future? Shall Oregon always remain near the bottom of the list, in wheat production, or shall she, through the scientific cultivation of the great stretches of semi-arid land and through the development of hardy wheats, lead all the states of the Union? The question may at first seem Idle. After consideration of certain new and rather startling facts It not only does not seem Idle, but there seems no an swer possible but an affirmative one. Hear the strange story of how all this le to come about. Oregon Is credited with producing lfi.000,000 bushels of wheat last year, while Minnesota, at Ue head of the ,11st, produced 94,000,000 butrhels. Ore 'gon has millions of acres of Idle land suitable for grain production: Minne sota has no Idle land worth mentioning. Immense Grain Production. Let us hava some cold facts upon the wheat crop. We grow, Bay 650,000,000 bushels; of this 76,000,000 bushels al ready are of the seml-arld grown durum wheats, acknowledged as the best bread flour wheat In the world. America's average yield of all wheats, soft and hard, por acre la 13 bushels; Kngland averages 32, Germany 28, and China, with her sewage fertilized farms, BO bushels. If we lived up with Eng land our crop would Jump to nearly 2,000,000,000 bushels from the same area of land, estimated at 60,000,000 acres under whent cultivation. The seml-arld wheats. Turkey red, as a winter wheat, and durum, as a spring wheat, the two best bread wheats in the world, are eminently adapted to Oregon's semi-arid lands and to dry farming methods. Large Dry Land "Farms." Under the Mondell act. settlers can "take up" 820 acres of seml-arld land In stead of the usual 160 acres of moist government lands. This Is because In dry farming half the farm lies fallow, half producing and the other half "rest ing" and storing up water. No dry farming land in a semi-arid district has as yet been known to fail in moisture sufficient to carry a wheat crop to a successful harvest. And the millions of Hcres of idle land! Who can say how soon they will be productive! Iet us look at the yields per acre.. Turkey red wheat, a superb bread wheat, rich In gluten, a winter wheat, yields on seml-arld dry farmed lands 25 to 60 buahels per acre. Durum,- a spring wheat, yet richer In gluten than Turkey red, richer In nat ural sugar and making a loaf of bread surpassing all other breads because of nourishing properties, sweetness and flavor, yields 20 to 40 bushels per acre from semi-arid lands, dry farmed. Searching for Hardy Wheats. In the Dakotas are stretches of dry lands, seml-arld lands. Farmers locat ing there had their crops dried up by the hot winds and burnt out by the sun. Nothing would grow. They laid down on Secretary of Agriculture Wilson 11 or 12 yearar ago and cried for help; asked that they be given a crop of some kind that they could grow and live from. Secretary Wilson sent Professor Carleton to the dry steppes of Russia to hunt for It. He brought home sev eral bushels of durum wheat, Kudanka durum wheat, that was on the ex changes of Russia considered the prize wheat, arid that always commanded a premium. The trip and wheat seed cost 110,000. The grain fitted the dry lands perfectly. Up to date nearly IOO.n00,ft(t0 bushels have been harvested In the ag gregate, valued at nearly $300,000,000. The method of dry farming Is the opening of the earth deep. 10 or 12 Inch plowing, securing the rainfall, and then mulching the surface by harrowing, and keeping the fields harrowed to prevent crust formation and the growth of weeds. This mulch, destroying capil lary attraction, seals the water In the ground as if covered with a rubber blanket. Conserving Moisture by Culture. 'The land lies fallow. Idle through the season, or rather one half of the 320 acres, 160 acres only is not cropped. But- the land is not really Idle. The hot sun, the oxygen in tho opened soil and the moisture In the earth make a combination plant food factory. Nitrl filation of tho soil is going on. food for the wheat plant being prepared. The next seasons rolls around,- the land Is opened up for the rains' once more; then it is harrowed into a mulch, the wheat drilled In and growth commences. When the grain is up five or six Inches the wheat, covered land la again harrowed to a good mulch. The two 1 ! - ... -.1 1 . V mP&5Zl 1 '"llfiM-Sl1 4h 4 - AONA.U2A. FARMING TIT WVvWvc. . VMns OJOvmvvN... v to three Inches of harriwing ounnnt disturb roots several inches down in the earth. This final mulching 1m in valuable. There's six feet of absorbed moisture in the Boll of the rainfall of two pea sons, and It Is -n top ready for any call that can be made upon It. The sun gets busy sucking moisture out of the growing wheat plants, but the little rootlets fairly bathed in water deep down are ready for any call and give to the plant all the water It required; so with their heads In the sun and their roots In the wet eartli the wheat plants mature and ko on to a perfect harvest. There is no turmoil on the irrigation flume at the wrong time; there Is no drowning of wheat. In dry farming It Is nil up to Mother Nature, who Is quite an old hand nt the busincn.s and makes no "breaks." This plan, rigorously carried out, has never failed. No artificial Irrigating process compares in certainty and se curity to dry farming, for tho water, sealed In tho earth, Mother Nature will attend to all the details with a nicety that man cannot equal, nor ever hope to approach. Nowadays the manufacturing plant has a way of following the producing point of the' raw materials. The New Kngland cotton weaver is pulling up stakes and moving his mill to the cot ton fields of the south. Pittsburg gets close to the coal with her mills; Min neapolis Is close to the wheat fields and draws much of the power for her mills' from the Mississippi, or if not, uses chenp water-hauled coal from Du-luth. " ' And Portland? ,iHow about Portland, with the future grain fields right at her door, and a down hill haul to the ships nnd the mills? Sha must sue- , ci ed Minneapolis as the flour city. Great mills with capacities of 10,000 to 50,000 barrels of flour a, dayi will one day dot the waterfront. Tralnloadar ef flour and feed will go eastward and, passing through Minneapolis, drop off , a few cars en route. This la net dream; all It needs is- the hand of time to go round the clock and capital to put the mills into operation. ' WHY CORN IS KING Right to Crown Is Established From the New York Sun. CORN is the king of the grains In the number of bushels produced and in all around usefulness, de clares Farm Machinery. It is tba foundation for the livestock Indusr try of the, United States, especially hog raising. Corn Is used directly for food by thousands of people In the form of corn bread, hominy and many excellent dishes. Indirectly It Is the food for the entire meat eating world, but alde from Its food uses there are ntany others that many people have never heard about. pnni who like to talk In millions - and billions should revel In discussing the corn crop. Corn was tne giri or the New World to the Old. It probably originated in Mexico. Now it Is grown all over the world and the average an nual crop Is about four billion bushels. The United State furnlahes two-thirds of that tot4. Every year some new use Is found for corn. In the old days there were only two ways to dispose of It to feed, It to cattle and,- In the shape of corn meal, to some people. The meal had to be for local consumption, because ' when made as It then was, from the whole kernel, It soon became rancid, i From the germ, which Is separated -from the kernel In. the milling process, the ' oil Is extracted by chemical and mechanical processes and constitutes a product which is coming Into use In the manufacturing of paint. The Vulcanised oil la usred extensively In surfacing linoleum and oilcloth and Is applied to a number, of other-purposes. After the oil Is extracted there Is left a valuable residuum known as corn oil cake, which is sold here and abroad and Is used In the fattening of sheep and other animals. Nearly fifty million pounds of this material are an nually shipped to Great Britain and Germany and there used by farmers, who find It cheaper than materials of a similar nature which they can grow a home. Glucorfe Used Extensively. A corn product which is coming Into extensive use Is glucose, made from starch, water and sulphuric acid. Con- fectloners use large quantities of glu cose,' which is a Colorless, sweetish syrup useful, as food when properly taken. Nearly two , hundred million pouudar of glucose are sent out of this country each year to all parts of the world. ; From cornstarch also comes dextrin of several kinds, used extensively In the making of glue, paste and) mucilage. When one licks a postage stamp one gets a taste of dextrin, flavored often with some harmless preservative. One other use of oorn may be men tioned as In all probability having an' Important bearing on future Industrial pursuits. Denatured alcohol Is already extensively manufactured from corn, both at home and abroad. Despite the adyancing price of the grain It Is still one of the most economical sources of a product which under different legal restrictions, from those now in existence may become Important as a source of heat, light and power In homes, espe cially farm homes. , , Experiments conducted here and abroad demonstrated that bulkheads constructed of cornstalks were -nearly. Impervious to water when a shot passed. through them. Borne of tho largest ships are now protected with a belt of corn pith cellulose made largey from .corn grown In the Ohio valley. The same material, or modified forms of it, tar used in the manufacture of high ex plosives, such as guncotton and smoke less powder. Pyroxlla varnish, another material made from cellulose. Is a very useful product manufactured in connection with the other products Just mentioned. From time to time tho attention of the country haar been directed toward the vanishing supply of wood for the manufacture of paper or paper pulp. Various attempts have been made 'to manufacture paper from other materi als and a good many years ago samples of fine paper were produced from corn stalks. The processes as followed were, however,' not economical, so that the work was abandoned. More recent ly new light has been thrown on the subject through Improved methods and prooesses. Corn Stalk Products. Uke the grain the stalks contain a number of product which can be sepa rated under proper chemical, physical and mechanical processes. It has beon demonstrated that a form of low gradn molasses can be taken from cornstalks without In any way detracting from their value for the manufacture of pa per. In pasvlng It would be well to call attention to another part of the corn plant which Is considered a more or less useless thing by the farmer, the cob. With the increased knowlcdgw which experimental work has developed at the agricultural colleges and Htatlons the usefulness of this material as a stock food when ground In connection with grain has been shown. Large quantities therefore of ground grain and cobs are now used for feed ing. The cob Is also ground and mixed with various highly concentrated feeds such as cottonseed meal and sold for stock food. Large quantities of cobs, furthermore, are utilised In certain parts of tho Mississippi valley In the manufacture of corncob pipes. FIRST NEWSPAPER ON THE AMERICAN CONTINENT POLICING THE WHITE HOUSE AND WHY From the Boston Advertiser. PROBABLT no other building li America is so well policed as the White House. It takes forty two men to do It dally. If any ( mischievous stranger should seek entrance he would not get far. Twenty four men guard the outside of the build ing' and elgthteen the Inside. Eight are In the executive offices. Fourteen guard the White House within and with out at night. The number of men enum erated does not Include the secret ser vice men who guard the person of the president and who sometimes are In service to guard the members of the president's family. Every door to the White House has Its policeman constantly on guard. There are always two In the basement of the executive offices, where there is a large door leading from the street for ' the reception of supplies. There is always a policeman at the kitchen entrance. Two men in livery, not po licemen, guard the main entrance Into the White bouse at the north, portico, . i In the daytime there is a policeman in the east room and one each at both stairways that lead to the private apart ments of the president and his family on the upper floor. There Is a police man always in the basement, the en trance to which Is from the east wing of the mansion. At night a policeman gaurds the base ment corridor of the interior, another the corridor of the main floor, and an other the corridor of the upper pri vate floor. Outside tthere Is constant vigilance in front and In the rear, if the White House may be conceived as having any rear. The south front Is as beautiful as the, north front, and, indeed, mora so. A policeman Is always on guard at the south portion, and especially so at night: One parades with the regularity of a sentryman the half covered cor ridor, leading from the White House to the executive offices. That the White House should have to be thus carefully guarded may seem strange tp Americans whose chief ex ecutive Is after all only a democrat who Is a citizen temporarily holding a high public office. Put It is necessary. Three presidents have been assassinated, although none ever at the White House. It would seem none ever oould be, be cause of the vigilance kept there. But a fierco light plays . upon the White House and the-occupants of it, especial ly the president. It attracts all kinds of people, and cranks are ever danger ous. Many Is the one apprehended be fore he has gone far. And In this land of liberty there are also Other peo ple who have dangerous ideas center ing on the life of the chtef magistrate. Besides, Americans, and especially American women, are very inquisitive and given much vandalism. They come in shoals to Washington, and their first thought Is the White House. They want to Inspect it from bottom to tpp. They want to miss nothing, and many of them would like to take away me mentoes. Their audacity and lack of manners and observance of other pro prieties Is atnailng. , IT WAS a little over ?07 years to be exact, April 24. 1704 that the first number of America's first newspaper, tho Boston News Let ter, made Its bow to tho public. Two earlier attempts had been made In the Journalistic line one in 1689 and ono in 1690 but both attempts were suppressed by the Massachusetts gov ernment. The Boston News Letter, however, mnpaged to weather the storm and successfully faced the battle and the breexe for 72 years. This pioneer newspaper. In what is now the United States of America, was published by John Campbell, postmas ter pf Boston, who may fairly be called the "father of the American press. It wan printed sometimes on a single shext of paper, foolscap size, and sometimes on a half sheet, with two columns on each side.' When the News Letter was 14 years old Campbell enlarged It, In order, as he Informed hla readers, "to make the news newer and more acceptable." "This tlmo twelvemonth," he says In his announcement, "we were 18 months behind with, the foreign news beyond Great Britain, and now less than five months since January last," and he encourages his ' subscribers with tho assurance that If they "will continue steady until January next, life permit ting, they will be accommodated with all the news of Europe that Is needful, to be known In these parts." , Competition Is Met. It Is Just possible that the wonderful enterprise thus suddenly manifested by the proprietor of the News Letter may 1 have been helped along some by the fact that hV now had a competitor In the Journalistic field In the shape of the Boston Gazette, published by William Brookes, the first number of which ap- peared In December, 1719, about the time that Campbell had hla . big an nouncement to the subscribers of the News Letter. The battle between the old pioneer and its rival was a strenu ous one. but the newcomer' at last bit the dust, leaving the Nws Letter lit full possession of the field. After Its seventy odd years of "life our first newspaper met Its end In 1776, with the British evacuation of Boston. It may be said In passing that a com plete file of this original American newspaper, the only one In existence, la . preserved In the collection of the New j York Historical society, When the old Boston News Letter . went out of business, in Independence 1 year, Massachusetts haJ seven news-.' papers. New Hampshire one; Rhode Island one, Connecticut three, Pennsyl vania eight. New York three, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina two each, : South Carolina three, and Georgia one; the total being 31, all of them of week- , ly publication. - , Whew' the constitution went Inte op eration. In 1789, there were printed eseh : week In the entire United Stste 7f , : 438 copies of newspaper a circulation that is many times exceeded by that of the New York American alone. ,' ;:.-. . ' Wonderfully Gallant. , ' From the 8t Louie Mlrrer,i;v-i:'r4'' - (he JDo . you prefer an ugly ' worn wlh brains td a pretty woman without brelnsT ' ' ' ': ' ' vlIe--Madme, I prefer present com pany to either. ;