SUPPLEMENT TO
ESTACADA
PROGRESS
T H U R S D A Y , JUINE IO, 1915
Published weekly by the extension
division of the Oregon Agricultural
College. R. D. Hetzel, director.
Exchange copies and communica
tions should be addressed to Editor of
Press Bulletins, 116 Agricultural Hall,
0. A. C., Corvallis, Ore.
The Press Bulletin aims to keep
the state press informed in all mat
ters of interest and value related
to the work of the Oregon A gricul
tural College. Editors are respect
fully requested to publish for the
benefit o f their readers such items as
they think reasonable and suited to
local use.
E X T E N S IO N
HOUSING AC COM M ODATIONS
FOR GROW ING C H IC K EN S
Oregon Agricultural College, Cor
vallis, June 7.— 'the attention given
the young stock should not lessen ma
terially when it has been placed on
the range to mature or nas been
taken from the mother hens and
placed in large coops. The value of
the fowls as profitable producers at
a later period will largely depend
upon how well the stock has been kept
constantly developing up to maturity.
The house accommodations for the
growing birds are very important,
the house shotfld o f course be o f the
open front type to insure fresh air
and dryness through good ventilation,
it is very desirable to have the house
large enough and high enough for a
man to enter. This will guarantee
plenty o f air space and make it much
more convenient in cleaning or catch
ing the birds. It is also highly de
sirable that the house be portable so
that it may be moved about. In this
way the young fowls can be isolated
from the older Btock which is a de
sirable plan. The birds can then be
moved out on a pasture, stubble held
or orchard, and thus have the ad
vantage o f clean ground where they
will not be so liable to contract
disease which might be among the
old flock or in the ground occupied
by it. Then, too, the young stock is
interfered with considerably at feed
ing-time and do not have a fair chance
if larger fowls are about.
I f colony laying houses are used on
the farm, these same houses, if port
able. can be used for the growing
chickens. Or, a good growing colony
house could be built 6 x 8 feet in size
with an ordinary shed roof and open
front. This house could be used later
as a laying house to accommodate
about 20 hens.
ENTOM OLOGY
A M O U N T A R SE N IC N EEDED
TO K IL L C A T E R P IL L A R S
Oregon Agricultural College, Cor
vallis, June 7.— How much arsenic is
needed to kill tent caterpillars?
Evidently not nearly so much as is
generally used, if the right kind is
applied in the right way. Many thous
ands o f caterpillars have been poi
soned on sprayed foliage in the ento
mological laloratories o f the Oregon
Experiment Station in an attempt to
answer the question definitely. The
result o f having eaten
the leaves
sprayed with solutions o f varying
strength could readily be seen by the
ripidity with which the larvae died,
but in order to determine the actual
amount o f poison consumed Professor
Wilson, conducting the experiments,
had the bodies o f the larvae analyzed
and the recovered arsenic weighed.
It is generally known that there
are two kinds o f arsenate o f lead in
use as an insecticide. These are known
to the grower as acid and neutral ar
senates of lead and the acid form is
considered more or less liable to cause
foliage injury both alone and in com
bination with other spray materials.
Experiments o f previous years dem
onstrate that i f properly made either
kind may be used without danger of
foliage injury i f not used in combina
tion with other spray materials. When
used in combination the neutral or
basic form is preferable. Further ex
periments show that these two kinds
of arsenate of lead also have different
insecticidal values and that the so-
called acid or, better, lead hydrogen
arsenate is a quicker acting poison
than the basic and that less than one-
half as much lead hydrogen arsenate
is required as with the basic.
The experiments also show that
where strength o f 2-100 has been
recommended 1 to 100 or 200 are quite
effective.
The value o f this to practical grow
ers who ipust contend against the
caterpillar pests is in saving cost of
spray primarily and in some cases
saving foliage from damage by need
lessly severe applications o f poison.
Whether the same fact is trU3 o f other
insects has not been determined but
there is possibility that it is the same
with some or all o f the pests that call
for spraying.
T H E T R U E C LO TH ES MOTH
A N D T H E B U F F A LO MOTH
Oregon Agricultural College, Cor
vallis, June 7.— The adult clothes moth
is about one-half inch from tip to tip
o f extended wings, is a light grayish
yellow or buff color, and is usually
seen flying about the house during the
spring and summer. The larva is a
dull white caterpillar, always found in
a movable case or jacket that it con
structs and carries with it, enlarging
the case as it increases in size. Bits
o f wool and fur incorporated in the
case often gives it the variety o f col
ors o f Joseph’s coat.
The Buffalo moth is not a moth at
all in the adult stage but is a small
black beetle o f mottled black, gray
and reddish color and is three-six
teenths inch in length. The larva is
a flattened brown, hairy, active crea
ture, about a half inch long. It is
probably more o f a carpet pest but
will attack all woolens and furs.
Heroic measures are necessary in
the control o f the beetle when it in
fests houses.
House-cleaning must
be undertaken seriously. All rugs,
carpets
and
woolens
should
be
thoroughly brushed and aired in the
sunshine. Floors should be well
scrubbed and all cracks and crevices
sprayed with benzine and then filled
with a crack-filler. Very serious in
festations call for fumigation, which
should ordinarily be donq. by some
one acquainted with the work. Gar
ments may be stored as recommended
in last week’s bulletin for protection
from clothes moth.— A. L. Lovett,
Assistant Entomologist, Oregon E x
periment Station.
A GRONOMY
F L A X CROP FOR FIB E R
AS GROW N IN OREGON
Oregon Agricultural College, Cor
vallis, June 7.— Flax in Oregon is
grown fo r two purposes, fiber and
seed. For a long time there has been
considerable agitation toward getting
a flax fiber industry started in W est
ern Oregon.
Various business men
and women's clubs have tried to fos
ter this industry and at one time some
vears ago a flax mill was established
in Salem. It burned down very shortly
after beginning and the industry has
never been revived until in recent
time. The legislature which met in
1915 appropriated a considerable sum
f money for the installation o f a flax
mill in the Oregon pen'tentiary. In a
number of ways this was a very happy
choice in that it will give a consider
able amount o f hand labor for the in
mates o f that institution and also it
does not in any way conflict with or
ganized labor or established industry
in the state. Further than this, for
those who are close enough to Salem
that penitentiary labor may be used,
it will be a very desirable thing be
cause the labor will be cheap. Cheap
labor is the primary requisite in con
nection with the production o f flax
fo r fiber purposes.
When the crop reaches maturity it
is pulled by hand and tied into small
bundles which are later moistened by
dew or by being put in a pond or slow-
moving stream and put through what
is known as the “ retting” process.
This process is a bacterial action in
which the fiber is loosened from the
woody part o f the plant. A fte r it is
thoroughly retted, it is then put
through a breaking mill and later a
scutching machine which removes this
coarse material and leaves the fiber.
The tyne suited to flax production is
a long, slender, plant having very few
branches. It is ready for harvest for
flax purposes shortly after it has
♦ assed the full-bloom stage. Broad
casting is necessary in order that
♦here be a uniform size and weight of
plant.
A N IM A L
HUSBANDRY
C A R E OF M AR E S IN F O A L
“ There is a lot o f nonsense about
the care of a mare in foal,” say the
Animal Husbandry officers o f the Ore
gon Agricultural College. “ A fte r she
is bred she should be kept rather
quiet for several hours, but after that
the best thing she can have is steady
work and three good meals a day.
She should not be worked so hard as
to become run down on good feed.
I f there is any slackening o f work it
should be about the fifth or sixth
month. During the last three months
she can do a lot o f farm work, such
as plowing and harrowing, without in
jury clear up to the time she drops
her foal. She will then be in good
condition to stand the physical strain
and have her digestive system in good
working order.”
POULTRY
BIG A D D IT IO N A L R E V E N U E
FROM B E TTE R EGG Y IE L D
Oregon Agricultural College, Cor
vallis, June 7.— “ There is no telling
what may be accomplished by poultry
breeding in the way o f increased pro
duction o f eggs,”
says
Professor
James Dryden, head o f the Poultrv
'e^artment o f the Oregon Agricul
tural College. “ When it is known
that the average o f the State o f Ore
gon and o f the United States as a
whole is about 80 eggs per hen in a
year and that it is posible to secure
an average o f 200 eggs a year, the
great possibilities w ill be at once
rc-ognized. As it is, the production
o f eggs alone in the State o f Oregon
amounts to over $5,000,000 a year and
o f eggs and poultry over $8,000,000.
An increase o f a dozen eggs a year per
hen in this state would mean about
$1.000.000 aded revenue in the year
and at the some time a much higher
percentage o f profit to the producer.
Taking the whole country over the
increased production would soon pay
the cost o f the Panama canal.
“ There Is no section of the United
States better adapted to profitable
poultry production than localities in
Oregon. Men and women equipped
with the requisite knowledge and in
dustry need not hesitate to embark
ih the business here. The only danger
is that people rush into the business
who know nothing about its many de
tails.
HOME
E C O N O M IC S
HOW TO H AN G HOME PIC TU R E S
Pictures should always be selected
with regard to the room for which
they are intended, taking into consid
eration the use of the room, its size,
the relative spacings o f the wall, and
the wall coverings. I f the room to be
furnished is a dining room, then one
may use for it marine scenes, land
scapes, still-life, but almost never are
the so-called “ dining-room” pictures
o f fruits and fowls either beautiful or
appropriate. Family portraits or por
traits o f famous men are also out of
place in the dining room. They may
be displayed to advantage in the li
brary; or i f the house be too small
to include a room given over to this
purpose, the portraits o f famous men
might be grouped in the living room
and the fam ily portraits hung in the
bedrooms o f the members o f the fam
ily. The widest range o f choice lies
in the selection o f pictures for the liv
ing room. Here one may use almost
any subject; scenes, still-life, or copies
of any o f the old masterpieces are al
ways in good taste.
CO LLEGE NEW S
O. A. C. L O A N F U N D GROWS
BUT SHOULD BE DOUBLED
Oregon Agricultural College, Cor
vallis, June 7.— The Oregon Agricul
tural College has developed a loan
fund o f $4.145, to be loaned in small
amounts at long time and reasonable
interest to students who have to bor
row a little money or give up their
education until they earn money. To
May 1, 1915, 178 loans had been made
by the committee in charge o f the
fund. “ But until our loan fund reach
es a minimum o f $10,000 we cannot
hope adequately to meet demands
made upon it by deserving students,”
says the committee report.
The fund was made up o f subscrip
tions by friends o f the school in d if
ferent parts o f the state, by student
body associations and by faculty con
tributions. A minstrel show given by
faculty men recently netted $247.07
for the fund and the base ball games
with the U. o f O., $48.40.
FACULTY
Y. W. C. A. S E C R E T A R Y CHOSEN
Miss Lillian Francis, o f Chicago,
has been employed as Instructor in
Domestic Science and Secretary o f the
Young Women's Christian Association
o f the Oregon Agricultural College.
Miss Francis is a graduate o f the Uni
versity o f Chicago with the Bachelor
o f Science degree, and has taken grad
uate work in the same institution. Her
major subjects were in home econom
ics and sociology.
A number of
courses were taken in the Divinity
School under Dr. Schailer Matthews
and Dr. Willett. She was graduated
with honors, and has since traveled
extensively. For three years she has
been in charge o f the home economics
work in the Mary Crayne Nursery,
which is a sub-division o f Hull House.
She has always taken a very deep in
terest in Christian Asociation work.