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About Estacada progress. (Estacada, Or.) 1908-1916 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 1915)
UNSOUND SIRES GET WORTHLESS COLTS Growing Interest in Horse Breeding Demands Good Breeding Stock Having fu rth er proceeded this fa r with exam ination, and having d eter mined the i nsoundness, if any exists, the horse should be tested for wind, and here ngoin it is t l solutely neces sary to know the norm al sounds made by a horse when breathing. A boy or REINVIGORATING THE OLD ORCHARD Fading Leaves, Splotched Bark and Small Fruit Show Lost Vigor H EREDITARY FA U LTS BARS Horse Kaisers and Users Told how to Detect some Im portant Defections in Judging Horses. SOILS R EQU IRE TREA TM ENT Cover Crops of Legumes and Rye Recommended to Restore Both Land and Trees. By Carl N. Kennedy, Horse Specialist a t O. A. C. (Concluded from f a s t Week.) H aving finished the exam ination of the fore limbs, the trunk should be examined for any abnorm al develop- (By W. S. Brown, Extension H orticulturist a t O. A. C.) Not long ago the w riter spent a day with a company of grow ers in going about am ong the prune and apple or chards of a little valley th at has been raising considerable fruit for some time. L ast year he spent three days tram ping about the orchards of this district, noting the troubles of the grow ers and giving them such advise as, in his judgm ent, seemed best to fit the needs of the community. One of the m ost serious conditions seen last year w as the lack of vigor in m any of the older orchards, prunes especially, as indicated by the light colored foliage and lifeless-looking bark of m any of the trees. Leaves were often wilted, showing a lack of m oisture, also. The crop of prunes on the sick trees w as noticeably sm aller on an average than the crop on trees still vigorous, and the size of the fru it w as sm aller. One orchard in particular was neg lected by its owner last year because it had little fruit. The result was th at by m id-sum m er the trees were yel lowing badly and the leaves w ere roll ing up w ith drouth. This grow er w as advised to drill in a cover crop of oats and vetch during the la tte r p art of A ugust and to plow this cover crop under as soon as his grow th was in good shape for plowing in the spring and to follow w ith good cultivation. This advice w as followed w ith the result th a t the trees are fresh and vigorous in appearance this year and are carrying one of the best crops in this valley. W hile it is unw arranted to say th at the cover crop and good cultivation were alone responsible fo r this quick recovery—because the owner had ta k en good care of his place up to last year— still a large p a rt of the benefit w as due to the treatm en t it received the past season. This orchard and this valley are fairly typical of m any old orchards in different sections of the state. These old orchards are fa st gettin g to the point w here they are unprofit able. They need re-invigorating, m ore food, m ore drink, b etter pruning. The question is often asked) “W hat fertilizers shall I buy for my orchard? It is running down.” While chemical fertilizers m ay be needed in some cases, a large m ajority of the orchards m ay be rejuvenated in a cheaper and sim pler w ay, by the use of cover crops. W hat is a cover crop? I t is a crop sown late in sum m er, allowed to grow through fall and w inter and plowed under in the spring. W hat will a cover crop do? It will add fiber or “hum us” to the soil and loosen up the soils which have become com pact and lum py because the fiber has been “burned” o r oxidized out of them by cultivation or because the soil has suffered from w et plowing or other poor handling. By breaking the soil up into sm aller particles, the cover crop adds to the am ount of film m oisture around the soil particles available for plant grow th and also increases the feeding surface for the roots of plants. The roots of plants m ust have air or, in other words, they m ust not have the soil puddled or packed about them so closely th a t a quantity of oxygen sufficient for grow ing purposes cannot get to the roots. Cover crops m ake the soil more porous and adm it m ore air. Some plants like rape, m ustard, cowhom turnips, and the like feed heavily on potash and, upon decaying, leave a large am ount of this plant food ready to r the roots of the trees. Another fam ily of plants, called the pea fam ily, m ake excellent cover crop Unusually large and prom inent side- bone. m ents, such as umbilical or scrotal hernia. The horse should have one front foot held up in order to compel him to stand firmly on both hind feet. The hips should be closely observed for any unusual developm ent and the hind limbs should next be examined in the sam e m anner as the fore limbs. The hock has already been noticed from a slig ht distance, but it should be again examined very carefully, the two hocks carefully com pared, and if spavin is suspected the foot should be lifted aril the leg well flexed, then lowered and the horse started sharply. Spavin in which inflam m atory action exists will be revealed by lam eness; Bone spavin on left hock— note bony deposit. man should be placed on the horse o r he .should k hitched in a light v agon tend given a hard run of three or four hundred yards. Have him pull up sharply as he reaches you and lis ten for any unusual sounds. A horse sound in wind should draw three or four long breaths and then breathe as usual. One th at roars, w histles, ra t tles in the th ro at or heaves a t the flanks in breathing should be con demned. The im portance of the exam ination for soundness cannot be ovesestim ated and no stallion should be used for breeding purposes th a t possesses any of the hereditary unsoundness p re viously mentioned. The presence of so many w orthless horses on our m arkets today is due largely to the use of unsound sires and dam s. Along with the present increased interest in horse breeding we should have an in creased interest in the soundness of the breeding stock. BETTER FEED IN G MAKES H EA LTH IER CHILDREN Oregon A gricultural College, Cor vallis, Ore., August 2 . “We do no; have to go east of the Cascade moun tains to see Am erican children th at are suffering from lack of nutrition due to im proper feeding,” said Dean H enrietta W. Calvin in a popular lec ture on dietetics a t the 0. A. C. Short Course. “Quite recently I saw in a W illam ette Valley town a little anemic child th a t in size and developm ent was not m ore than three years old, al though in years it was past five. This child had no m eat, eggs or milk in its diet, and strange to sav its m other was proud of its idiosyncracies. She will have sad cause to change her mind when study, work and play make demands on the little stunted body, th at cannot be met. The child will al m ost certainly be ineffective in its school and home work and fall behind the better nourished children. “W hile the tendency of old age is to over-eat, th a t of *he young is to un- der-eat. In children the substance of grow th m ust be provided in the food in addition to th at for the repair of waste, greatly increased by g reater activity. In general this substance should be supplied in w hat carbohy rates the child will take in wholesome Skeletons of foot showing location of d form s, one-fifth the am ount of pro sidebone (A ), and ringbone (B ). teins and one-tenth the am ount of fats. This ratio will vary with individuals but if inflam m ation has ceased the and seasons, but form s an approxi lam eness will not be apparent. A fter finishing with the hock the m ate guide to selection and p rep ara rest of the bind leg should be ex tion of food to m eet the dem ands of amined in the sam e way, and for the nutrition. “And these dem ands should be met, sam e unsoundnesg as the fore limbs. Disease or unsoundness are much less since nutrition is an im portant factor common here, however, but one trouble in national vitality. An efficient na which som etim es occurs is cocked tion calls for good brains; good brains ankle, which is partial dislocation of demand good blood; good blood de the fetlock joint. If very m arked it mands good food, and good food de m ust be considered an unsoundness, mands the most careful and intelligent and is alw ays objectionable. consideration." plants because there are usually pres ent on th eir roots bacteria th at nave the power of fixing the free nitrogen found in the air into nodules or swell ings on the roots. W hen these nodules decay the nitrogen becomes available for other plants. N itrogen is the chemical which, taken in by the plant through the roots, causes the dark green of the foliage and re-invigor- ates the tree. It is the m ost expen sive elem ent we have to buy in com m ercial fertilizers, hence it is much b etter to add it to the soil in this in expensive way. Some of the nitrogen gath erers or legum es, as they are called, th at are grown m ost commonly for cover crops are spring and hairy vetch, crim son clover, soy beans, cow peas, etc. The cover crops for run down o r chards in w estern and southern O re gon should consist of some one of the legum es planted w ith a strong up right-grow ing plant like rye, or oats to keep the legum e from lodging. Some of the m ost popular com bina tions for the regions nam ed are either oats and spring vetch, (Vicia sativa) a t the rate of 20 to 30 lbs. of oats to 40 lbs. of vetch or rye and spring vetch, using 10 to 20 lbs. of rye w ith 40 lbs. of vetch. In eastern Oregon, where, in many places, w inters are colder than in the w estern p art of the state, the hairy vetc, (Vicia villasa) will m ake m ore grow th than the spring vetch and not kill out so quickly. Tw enty pounds of hairy vetch if carefully drilled in will m ake a good stand. Tw*o things m ust be observed care fully if the crop is to be successful. It should be drilled in lated in sum m er or early in the autum n so as to get a good s ta rt before cold w eather sets in. This practice insures a good stand to plow under in the spring. In the second place, the plowing should not be p ut off until the cover crop has become tough and woody. W hen in this condition the fiber of the cover crop does not decay readily, conse quently m ay cause a drying out of the soil, doing m ore harm than good. W ESTERN TRAIN IN G BEST FOR W ESTERN TEACHERS Oregon A gricultural College, Cor vallis, A ugust 2 . W estern trained teachers for vocational teaching in w estern schools are said' to be best by Dr. Wm. T. Bawden, vocation special ist of the U nited States B ureau of Education, who receitly addressed the Oregon A gricultural College faculty in connection w ith the vocation sur vey th at he is m aking fo r the Bureau. He said th a t he used to think th a t any well trained teacher of vocational sub jects would be a good teacher of them anyw here, but th a t the wide difference in eastern and w estern industrial con ditions requires a local view, which can be gained only by local training. Industrial demands being the basis of vocational instruction, the instruction should be best suited to the demands. In this way vocational train in g was said to be the first factor in logical educational reform . Instead of enact ing compulsory attendance law s the reform ers should have found out w hat the trouble was and rem edied th at first. The real cause was a desire to practice a vocation fo r purposes of gain or training, and by supplying the opportunity for the training sought in leaving school, the schools would offer the best possible incentive to girls and boyis to finish the school course. Dr. Bawden also called attention to the fact th a t the Federal G overnm ent thinks the vocational work of so much im portance th at it has appointed four specialists to travel over the country and m ake a survey of the subject with a view to fu rth e r im provem ent. One of these four specialists surveys ag ricultural conditions, two of them su r vey home economics and Dr. Bawden surveys industrial arts. One of the home economics specialists is H enri etta W. Calvin, form er Dean of Home Economics a t O. A. C. Self-feeders can be built so as to feed from only one or from both sides and can be built to hold any am ount desired, but too large ones are hard to move if it is ever desired to do so and also take up an undue am ount of room in the feeding pens.