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About Estacada progress. (Estacada, Or.) 1908-1916 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 1915)
SUPPLEMENT TO ESTACADA PROGRESS T H U R S D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 2, lc>JS Published weekly by the extension division of the Oregon Agricultural College. K. D. Hetzel, director. Exchange copies and communica tions should be addressed to Editor of Press Bulletins, l ib Agricultural llall, O. 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 o f the Oregon Agricultural College. Editors are respectfully re quested to publish for the benelit of their readers such items as they think seasonable and suited to local use. BOTANY B E A U T IF U L O X-EVE D A IS Y DUBBED WORST OF WEEDS Oregon Agricultural College, Cor vallis, Aug. oil.— llie ox-eye daisy is one of the most handsome and popular flowers o f the thistle family, but when once established it is also the worst of weeds, irouldesome and haru to eradicate. Probably the best way o f clearing it from meadows is to mow it alter blossoming and before the seeds mature, und curing it for hay, says il. S. Hammond, o f the Ure- gon Agricultural College Botany de partment. Since the plant blossoms eight or ten days before maturing seed it is easy to cut it while in the best stage fo r hay, at which tune stock eat it fairly well when it is nicely cured. "in many eastern states,” says Pro fessor Hammond, "it has almost com plete possession o f pastures making them quite white when in bloom. It spreads chiefly by its seeds, scattered in hay, manure and various farm seeds. It has a perennial root stock from which it continues to propagate itself until killed. Many o f these root stocks will die when the plants are mowed during the blossoming period. “ The plant is shallow rooted and may be readily destroyed from mead ows and fields by plowing followed by cultivation. Rotation o f crops o f fers a good means of riddance. I f the meadow is to be continued repeated mowings and close pasturing by sheep to prevent blossoming may be con tinued until the plants die down. “ People who are not yet troubled with this plant should be on their guard against its introduction. When isolated plants appear about the fields and premises they should be dug up before they get established and begin to scatter seed.” D A IR Y COWS L IK E M IXED FEEDS Although a dairy cow ration may quite often be well balanced with one or two feeds it is generally better to have a larger number, according to Professor R. R. Graves, of the Oregon Agricultural College Dairy depart ment The ration o f the high produc ing dairy cow should contain at least two kinds o f roughage and several kinds o f grain. There should always be some laxative feeds among these, and otherwise they may be selected to afford carbohydrates and fat at the lowest cost possible when com bined with digestible protein in the most economical form. S O ILIN G SYSTEM FAVO R E D Soiling in dairy feeding is being more widely used every year where dairying is a leading industry or where it is conducted near large cities. Its advantages according to Professor R. R. Graves, o f the Oregon Agricul tural College, are increased yield of forage to the acre, saving o f land and fences, and more cows kept on a given area, it also generally leads to belter care and use of manure, keeping the soil built up. its disadvantages are more labor in feeding, more care in planning rotation, and difficulty of se curing green feed just when most needed. ¡Some of these difficulties may be overcome by supplementing pas ture with soiling and storing the sur plus green feed in the silo. come— livestock, dairy and poultry produtes, aggregating sixty millions o f dollars. The importance o f the field crop industries o f the state justifies the policy o f the United States De partment o f Agriculture and the E x tension division o f the Agricultural College in placing a farm manage ment specialist in charge o f farm sur vey work to learn how to make farm ing operation more efficient and satis factory. A IM OF MI1.K TE ST LAW “ The purpose of the recent laws li censing testers in Oregon is to insure accurate and honest tests for the pro tection o f both the producer and man ufacturer,” says E. B. Fitts, the A g r i cultural College Extension dairyman. “ To secure this result requires la ir and representative samples, correct measuring or weighing, accurate glassware, and correct reading o f the test.” AGRONOM Y TH IN G S T H A T B U ILD SOIL Among the more important factors that science has contributed to ag ri culture for maintaining the fertility of new soils and restoring fertility to depleted soils, the following are men tioned by the O. A. C. Press Pulletins: growing nitrogen gathering leguipes and plowing under humus forming green crops; systematic crop rotation that provides for the more nearly equal use of the various plant nutri ents o f the soil, lessens soil diseases, favors good physical condition and provides time fo r release of unavail able plant foods; use o f live-stock for returning organic matter to the farm, thus selling farm products in concen trated form and removing but a mini mum o f fertility matter; cultivated crops fo r summer fallow, serving the double purpose of protecting the soil and producing a source o f income; use of lime and commercial fertilizers to produce desirable soil conditions and supply needed fertility elements; and relentless warfare upon noxious weeds that waste the energy o f the soil and crowd out valuable farm plants. PLANT PATH O LO GY F IR E B L IG H T ON N A T IV E TR EE S That fireblight persists on native shrubs and trees has been pointed out frequently o f late by plant patholo gists of the Oregon Agricultural Col lege. Field men working to eradicate the disease find that this condition is one o f the most serious that has to be met. This source o f infection is declared by C. E. Stewart, fru it in spector o f Lane County, to be worse than fruit trees and that if it could be eliminated danger o f spread would he placed at a minimum. He thinks it would be a good thing to compel the destruction of every wild crab- apple tree in the county, if that were possible. O f course the policy would have to lie extended to every other county in which the blight has ap peared. and include other native hosts, notably the hawthorn, service berry and mountain ash. A G R IC U L T U R E OREGON F IE L D CROPS More than 40 per cent o f Oregon’s agricultural products are field crops, according to recent estimates. These consist chiefly o f grains, hay, hops, root crops, and green forage. They are important not alone for the in come they produce hut because of their relation to other sources o f in fo r imparting instruction and are working up the proposed course with the help o f the College either by cor respondence or in person. Others needing the help o f the College depart ment may get it by addressing Frank H. Shepard, O. A. C., Corvallis, Ore. E X T E N SIO N F A R M E R S C O U N T COST IN D U S T R IA L C L U B S ENCOURAGING T H E BOYS Opportunity will be offered to 25 Oregon boys to attend the Agricul tural College summer camp school, all expenses paid, if the plans now under way mature successfully. N. A. Maris, of the State Educational de partment, anil F. L. Griffin, state agent o f boys' and girls' industrial clubs, have agreed upon the general features o f the plan, which provides fo r sending the winner of each o f the 25 main and subdivision projects in which the industrial club work is to be caried this year, to the popular Boys' Short Course at the College next summer. It is the plan o f the depart ments to have all expenses o f every winne' fully paid from the time h, leaves urttil he returns, no matter what part of the state he comes from. A N IM A L HUSBANDRY E X A M iN IN G H O R SE S EVE FOR D AM AG ING DEFECTS Oregon Agricultural College, Cor vallis, Aug. ¡10.— Examining a horse’s eye for defective vision or other un soundness is best done in a darkened stable having a door through which strong daylight is admitted, says Carl N. Kennedy, specialist in horses at the Oregon Agricultural College. While making the examination the examiner should have his back to the light while the horse faces it. Some o f the defects and their indications to be sought for, if present, are the fo l lowing: The two eyes should he compared as to size, color and relative position in their respective sockets. The eye lids should be examined fo r injuries, infiammaton, and lashes growing in the wrong direction. The pupils should be o f equal size and should respond readily to light. This may be tested by holding the hands over the eyes in such a position that light is shut off fo r about half a minute. When the hands are removed both pupils should lie equally dilated, and both should contract upon exposure to light. The posterior chamber o f the eye, as seen through the pupil, should be o f a uniform dark color. White or gray spots in this region usually in dicate an abnormal crystalline lens. E D U C A T IO N M A N U A L T R A IN IN G W A N T E D Oregon school boards are calling for more teachers of manual training than can be found among those trained to teach the subject. The en tile available list o f 0. A. C. gradu ates o f manual arts, who are listed with the teachers’ appointment com mittee. has been exhausted but the demand still continues. In some in stances the school boards have asked teachers without preparation for teaching the subject to install a plant and do the best they can. Some of the teachers thus urged have availed themselves o f the College facilities The Oregon farmer is beginning to take note o f the decreasing yield of crop production and its increasing cost, says E. T. Reed, o f the A gricul tural College, and to keep records and count the cost. lie is giving more and more attention to growing the kind and quality of products demanded by the markets and to grading them to conform to market standards. He is beginning to value his real estate at prevailing prices, to appraise his hay and grain at market rates, and to make due charges for the labor of himself and his family at current ways rates. He is taking these means to secure a reasonable income on his investments and his labor, and though he has not yet succeeded in doing so he has made a good start and should succeed on these lines, other things being properly cared for. E X TE N SIO N O F FIC E R RESIGNS Paul M. Collins,, secretary of E x tension at the Oregon Agricultural College, has resigned to accept the superiptendency o f the city schools o f Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Mr. Collin^’ labor for the advancement or agricul tural interests in Oregon has been highly efficient and his retirement from extension work will be regretted by the College and by the citizens of the state, many o f whom have bene- fiuod by his extension work. ENTOM OLOGY SI’ R A Y FOR T O M ATO A l'H IS The tomato aphis i s u small, dark green insect that attacks the tomato frequently in Oregon, and less often the potato, says A. L. Lovett, assist ant entomologist o f the Agricultural College. It does not often occur in injurious numbers, but when it does the contact sprays ns employed for similar aphids will prove effective in the control o f this aphis. Y. M. C. A. Y. M. C. A. ON D U TY Bert Howell, secretary o f the Y. M. U. A. at the Oregon Agricultural College, has returne i from a study of college Christian Association methods in other parts o f the United Stale«, and is organizing hU committees for effective service at the opening o f the c ollege year, September 17. The as sociation assists students in many ways, two o f which are in finding sa tisfactory homes lor them while at colic; e and finding employment for the very large number that contribute to their own living. Lists o f room ing and boardii . places have been made out and all new comers will be informed o f suitable places. Those who desire advice will be given the judgment o f the committees, after the particulars of their requirements are known. Students coming for the first time should as far as possible send advance notice o f the date and train on which they expect to arrive. Ad dress Bert Howell, Y. M. C. A. secre tary, Corvallis, Oregon.