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About Estacada progress. (Estacada, Or.) 1908-1916 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 1915)
N MISTAKES IN EAKLV OREGON FARMING Apples Grown Without Mar ket for Crop, Grain Pro duction Depleted Soil i l VERSIFICATION I. A C K I N G I n balanced Specialization Resulted in Waste o f Labor, Expense and Re sources. i By 1). A. Brodie, of U. S. Department of Agriculture in O. A. C. Lecture) Before there were any railroads in the west the earliest pioneers planted large apple orchards all over the W il lamette Valley. Why they did it no <:.,e stems to know. The only use they ever were was to furnish an abund ance of gnat led and scabby apples, cnly a few of which could be used by the family. The bulk of the crop rotted on the ground. No commercial use was ever made of the fruit except in certain localities in which cities be gan to grow up and created a small io-*al demand. There is hardly a trace ' f the old pioneers orchards left. They died out quickly after fruit diseases . nd insect pests came in because the trees were too large and had been neg lected so long that the expense of renovation was too great. A fter the railroads began to build ui ross the mountains, wheat growing developed rapidly and as long as good 1 rites prevailed the farmers made money, but a period of low prices and the uepleted fertility of the soil made it impossible for the Willamette Val ley to compete with sections where he lands were new and rich. Hop growing has been a feature of agriculture o f the Northwest, but the .ndustry is held within certain limits by the limited market for hops. When ever the farmers begin to plant hop yards, which invariably occurs after a few years o f good prices, it is not long before the price goes below the cost o f production and the whole hop industry passes to other hands simply because it was overdone. When the country is young, and in dustries are being developed, types of farming develop as the derrland for certain products grows. When the de mand for these products change the type o f farming must change. A fter the country has passed through a long period o f uninterrupt ed growth its business becomes settled . k 1 stable. The temporary industries and manufacturing of New York, Phil adelphia, Baltimore, and hundreds of lesser cities have steadily grown up without any disturbing influence since that time. Whatever changes are tak ing place in the types of farm ing of th r locality are taking place so grad ually that a period o f 20 years makes so little change that it can hardly be noticed. Where older sections have been dis turbed in their development, as wxs the South when it abolished slavery, the types of farming are rendered un stable. The old plantation system with its splendid organization was disrupt ed Its labor uncontrolled, became un reliable. The single crop system de veloped because it was the easiest way to handle the labor. Now this system has been proven to be out of adjust ment with the local needs, because, with cotton the only revenue pro ducer, there are periods when the prLe is below the cost of production, and the population suffers for lack of money to buy the necessaries o f life. There is also disaster when something unusual destroys the crop, as in the case o f the boll weevil ravages or when the markets are closed by inter national disturbances such as exist at the present time. In either o f these cases the need o f other products is greatly felt. Contrast this with conditions in New York State this year. The prices o f apples and potatoes are away be low' the normal, yet the farmers are not suffering because they never have relied on any one crop and with other crops to sell at good prices they do not fee! the loss of revenue from ap ples and potatoes. Protection From Weather and Predacious Animals Is Required SIZE I M !• (> II T A N T F A C T O II Structure Either Colony House or One Room of Large Centralized House in Section. (B y G. R. Samson, Swine Specialist at 0. A. C.) The features to be embodied in a farrowing pen are sunshine, cleanli ness, slope or drainage o f the floor, protection o f the sow’ from weather and dra ght and from other pigs, and o f the pigs from predacious ani mals. These points will involve a space at least 8 ft. x 10 ft., and preferably N ITTONAL RECOGNITION FOR PHARMACY DEPARTMENT Oregon Agricultural College, Cor vallis, Ore., Oct. 4.— The department of Pharmacy at the Oregon Agricul tural College has been received as a member of the American Conference o f Pharmaceutical Faculties. As a result of this membership the credits o f students in the department will now be accepted by all other members of the Conference, which comprises practically all the great state univer sities having schools o f pharmacy in this country. The standards of the conference are accepted, moreover, by practically all state boards of phar macy, including the Oregon State Board. The requirements o f the lat ter. issued in its latest circular of in formation. are as follows: Beginning January 1, 1917, all candidates for examination as registered pharmacists or assistant pharmacists must be T Th** u ltim a te fa te o f m an y o rch a rd s—s h a llo w soli, poor d ra in a g e , w ro n g va rieties, and im p ro p er m a n a gem en t re n d e rin g the business u n p ro fit able under such condition s. such as lumbering, exploitive farming, and the like die out and manufactur ing and broader lines o f commerce be come established, creating a steady demand for certain products from the farm which adjust themselves as to distance from market and means of transportation into definite and settled channels. To illustrate this all we need to do is to look back over the history of the past 20 years of this country. We have seen how Oregon passed through three successive changes and what Mused these changes. Compare this with the history o f Chester Co.. Pa., the ground upon which the Battle of Brandywine was fought during the Revolutionary war. The commerce FEATURES EMBODIED IN FARROWING PEN graduates o f a college o f Pharmacy recognized by the American Confer ence. Graduates o f the O. A. C. de partment o f Pharmacy are eligible to take the state examinations. Stu dents who have had a year’s work in the department are eligible to take the examinations before January 1, 1917. The admission o f the department to the Conference is a result o f the re organization o f equipment and courses of study completed last year under the direction of Professor Ziefle. the new head of the department. Graduates o f its four-years courses will now be on a par with those o f the leading s* bools of Pharmacy throughout the country. 10 ft. x 10 ft. The farrowing pen may be one unit o f a large or centralize I l iggery or it may be a detached build ing, or sty in the nature of a colony house. In the latter case 8 ft. x 10 ft. or ever 8 ft. x 8 ft. is very satis factory if a platform outside is pro vided on which to place the trough in muddy weather. For late spring and summer pigs, however, it is suitable and the initial cost is approximately only one-sixth that of a farrowing pen in a centralized house. To secure direct sunlight on the floor, the windows should be located in the side of the pen W'hich promises the greatest amount o f sunshine. This will usually be the south side, and if the pen is in a centralized house, the latter may well face the south, the windows being at such height that the light strikes the floor o f the pen as long as possible during the season when farrowing is planned. I f colony houses are used and rains do not come from the south, the house may have the open front to the south or ha- e a window’ in the south end; if rain; prevail from the south, a sash may b j inserted in the south side of the house or the house may face north and have a glass in the back. The latter is less satisfactory for the light either pass es over the bed or else if the window is low enough for the light to strike the bed, the sow is likely to break the glass. To secure drainage o f the floor, the latter is frequently sloped toward the door, the bed being highest. Some rdan for removing the manure and liquid excrement will need to be pro vided both for sanitary and economic reasons. Sometimes the entire floor slopes to an intake for liquid w’hich is piped to a cistern or pit and the solid manure is cared for separately. The roof should be tight to keep the bed dry and avoid an excess o f liquid to be cared for with the manure. The walls o f the pen may be tight except for openings for ventilation which should be so located as to avoid direct air currents on the bed; or i f a cen tralized house is used, the bed at least should he enclosed on the windy side by tight boards two or three feet high. This may he either a part of the en closure or if the partitions are of woven wire or open work o f any kind, wind breaks around the bed should be temporarily provided as large houses are likely to be draughty. Protection from other pigs will, of course, be secured by excluding them from the farrowing pen. Other hogs sometimes eat the young and in this way may also induce the habit in the sow. The little pigs need protection from their mother lest she lie on them or mash them against the wall. A fender rail such as shown in the drawing a f fords a fair degree o f protection, though a sow may lie on a pig or step on it in the middle of the pen; but by far the most young pigs are killed by being mashed against the wall or in the bottom o f too deep a pig bed. This latter can be avoided by seeing to it that only a small amount o f straw be provided, and that it is fairly chaffy. WORK BEGINS AT O. A. C. WITH LARGE ATTENDANCE Oregon Agricultural College, Cor vallis, Sept. 27.— Enthusiasm reached its height in opening the college year at the Oregon Agricultural College when the student body first assembled for convocation. Because o f a change in the system o f registration it had been impossible to secure comparative figures on registration and while it seemed evident that an increase would be shown no one really knew. But just before the first assembly, on Wednesday of the first week, the registrar succeeded in tabulating some registration data. This showed that on the preceeding day 1062 stu dents had registered as against 836 one year ago. Completed registra tions at 11:30 numbered just 1133. But it was when the students en tered the large convocation hall and attempted to find seats that the full effect o f the heavy registration was seen. All chairs were filled and scores o f young men were forced to seek standing room in the rear o f the hall. As President Kerr and the faculty entered lusty cheers broke from the student ranks and were promptly fo l lowed by pledges of student loyalty in the work of the opening year. President Kerr then greeted the students, new and old, and in a few earnest words, eloquent with purpose to direct and encourage young men and women in taking full advantage o f their college life, showed how the unequalled opportunities o f this year may be most fully used. He pointed out that although student govern ment has been in operation at O. A. C. for eight years, it has not fully passed the probationary stage, and that its final success depends upon a wise and unselfish use o f its many advantages. INSECT PEST BULLETIN A new and revised edition of the O. A. C. Extension bulletin, Insect Pests o f Truck and Garden Crops, is now ready for distribution. To those Oregon gardeners that have been forced to fight insects in order to pro tect their crops from the ravages of the many pests, this announcement will come as a welcome hit of news. Numerous experiments and trials lie back o f all recommendations offered specifically, while less definite infor mation is invariably given as reports. In this way growers may discern the tried-in-Oregon c o n t r o l measures, which can be definitely relied upon, while in cases where this personal knowledge is lacking helpful sugges tions may be found. W rite for copies and save more o f your own crops while protecting your neighbor’s from mi grating swarms out of your garden. BUSINESS SIDE OF FARMING With the publication o f the third number in the business side of farm ing series o f O. A. C. bulletins, Ore gon farmers have a vast fund o f care fully selected and reliable information on three important phases o f this subject. The latest number deals with real property rights, titles, transfers, etc.— and was written by Hon. E. E. Wilson, former member of the Board o f Regents. The preceding numbers are farm accounting, by Dean J. A. Bexell. and rural organization and co operation. by Dr. Hector Macpherson. Copies of these numbers are free to all residents of Oregon.
