SUPPLEMENT TO ESTACADA PROGRESS T H U R S D A V , OCTOBER 7 , 1915 Published weekly hv the extension division o f the Oregon Agricultural College. R. I). 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 o f the Oregon Agricultural College. Editors are respectfully re quested to publish for the benefit of their readers such items as they think seasonable and suited to local use. EX TEN SIO N JUDGE C H ILD R E N ’S PRODUCTS The girls’ and boys' industrial club exhibits at the State Fair were judged by O. A. C. Extension specialist as follows: corn and potatoes, J. E. Lar sen; vegetables, M. O. Evans, Jr.; poultry, C. C. Lamb; domestic science and art, Helen Cowgill, Anna M. Tur ley and Sarah Lewis. Winners from each county will be awarded free trips to the O. A. C. Girls’ and Boys’ Sum mer School. C O O PE R A TIV E HOG M A R K E TIN G Finding that the local demand was not sufficient to take up their surplus products the growers o f Stanfield have organized a livestock shipping asso ciation and are now marketing their pigs direct. Committees were appoint ed to ascertain the best market time and all members agreed to finish a certain number of pigs by the date agreed upon. ITie pigs thus secured are quite uniform in weight and finish, so that uniform carload lots can be made up and sent to the stockyards in charge o f a lo :tl agent. The animals are reweighed at the yards, each shin- per standing his share o f the shrink age and contributing his pro rata of the agent’s expenses and other ship ping charges. The plan has proved very acceptable, says G. L. Gard, one o f the cooperators and until recently editor o f the Stanfield Standard. E X P E R IM E N T S T A T IO N S T A R T IN G IR R IG A T E D FARM That to begin reclamation of land in sandy, irrigated districts by grow ing orchards is contrary to the best immediate interests of the farmer, is pointed out by Raloh W. Allen, super intendent o f the Umatilla Branch E x periment Station. The decided need of fertilizers and the desirability of receiving profitable returns from the land soon after operations are begun, have turned attention to the produc tion of forage crops and the raising of livestock. The station is now engaged in a series o f experiments to deter mine for the benefit o f irrigation farmers just what processes and crops are most helpful and profitable in this newer work. POULTRY P O U LT R Y GREEN FOOD Plenty o f green food for the poul- try,all they will eat, is an important item in poultry rations during the winter egg-laying season as well as at other times of the year. This can he supplied by growing kale and other winter greens outside the pen and g iv ing the birds daily quantities, or by sowing a fall pasture o f vetch, rape, mustard, rye, wheat, oats, or other crop that will make consistent winter growth. In the latter case the fowls will have to be kept off the sowed area until the young plants get well established, when they will afford the hens all they need with no trouble to the owner. Provided in either way the greens will have a beneficial effect upon the health o f the flock as well as exert a valuable influence on the \ ield and quality o f the eggs. ing, mixed Jerseys and non-descrepit stuff, resulting in animals that are un dersized, without any meat on their backs, and exceedingly rough.” D A IR Y Six students o f forestry at O. A. C. are registered from states outside of Oregon. In addition to the recognized strength o f the forestry school the ad vantages in Oregon for practical lield work in forest propagation, protection and reforestration, and in logging en gineering, offer unequalled opportuni ties for instruction and training in this branch of industrial education. D A IR Y COW NEEDS G R A IN ‘‘The heavy producing cow, even on good pasture, should receive some grain, since it is impossible for her to secure sufficient nutrients on grass ne,” says Professor R. R. Graves, o f the O. A. C. Dairy department. ‘ A Jersey or Guernsey cow producing more than 20 pounds of milk a day, or a Holstein or Ayrshire producing more than 25 pounds, should receive approximately one pound o f grain for each pound o f milk produced by a Jersey or Guernsey, and one pound to each seven produced by a Holstein or Ayrshire. When pastures are poor, the grain ration should be heavier.” H O R T IC U L T U R E LO G AN B E R R Y F A M E SPR E AD S A recent issue of the National Pack er, representing every fruit-growing district of the United States, carries a column and a half review of the lo ganberry and its by-products, mostly quotations from the Loganberry By- Products bulletin issued by the Horti cultural department o f the Oregon Agricultural College. Since the Na tional Packer goes into every part of the country, reliable information as to the qualities and uses o f the berry will have a universal distribution throughout the United States, influ encing very materially the demand anu i larket for this important Oregon fruit. P IC K IN G F R U IT P R O PE R LY ‘‘ Picking is one o f the most import ant factors of getting the apple upon the market,” says the O. A. C. bulletin on Handling the Fruit Crop, “ it has < maiked influence upon the keeping qualities, size, color and flavor o f the fruit. loo much attention is frequent ly given to getting depth o f color so that over-ripeness, caused by the fruit hanging too long on the tree, very o f ten results. Some apples, such as the Gravenstein, drop before they are ripe. Others, such as Grimes Golden, drop when they become ripe. And still others, as the Jonathan, may hang on the tree after they are ripe and develop core rot.” Fuller infor mation may he had from the bulletin, copies of which will be sent on request o f any citizen o f Oregon. FORESTRY N O N -R E SID E N TS IN FORESTRY FARM D E M O N S T R A T IO N S O R G A N IZ A T IO N BEST “ Our demonstration work, club or ders for farm seed, our work with infectious diseases and practically all other forms of county agricultural service can be discussed and handled more effectively through community organizations than through any other me*tv>." says A . E. Lovett, county a g riculturist: o f Crook County. ‘‘Where fgvtfters’ organizations are already working, effective work may be start ed at once. Where there are no or ganized farmer bodies, one of the most important problems on projects undertaken is the organization of farm communities.” CO LLEGE NEW S O. A. C. G A IN S T W E L V E PER C E N T Registration at the end of the first week o f the College year at O. A. C. showed a gain o f about 12 per cent over that of the corresponding date last year, which was the heaviest up to that time. The exact figures are, 1255 entrants this year to 1112 last, a gain of 143. There are 391 study ing agriculture, 275 home economics, 178 engineering and industrial arts, >110 commerce, 61 mining, 58 pharma cy, 48 forestry, 34 optional subjects, and 23 music only. Five of the forest ry students are from states other than Oregon. Twenty-three are from foreign countries, representing En gland, Germany, Japan, Scotland, Au stralia and India, among the belliger ent nations. A G R IC U L T U R E N E W FARM M ECH AN ICS IN S TR U C TO R A T O. A. C. Oregon Agricultural College, Cor vallis, Oct. 4.— Students of farming at the Oregon Agricultural College are to have the assistance o f a very able instructor in the use and care of farm machinery. W. J. Gilmore, of BEEF IN W E STERN OREGON the Manitoba Agricultural College, has been appointed assistant professor o f Farm Mechanics. " I have often heard it said that Mr. Gilmore is a graduate of civil Rood beef cannot be produced any and agricultural engineering of Ames, where in Western Oregon,” says Pro fessor E. L. Potter, of the 0. A. C. ’• wa. He has had practical exper Animal Husbandry department, “ and ience in surveying and drainage and that feeds are not suitable for making . has worked for the International Har ¡rood smooth cattle. A fte r careful in-1 * vester* Co. He has had four years’ vestigations I am convinced that this experience in instructional work at is not true. Just as good beef can Manitoba as teacher o f farm me be produced in Western Oregon as in chanics. any other part o f the state. Inferior The College is well equipped with quality is not due to poor natural con farm tools and machines, which afford ditions or to poor feed and grazing. a broad opportunity for use of his It is due almost entirely to inferior qualifications in teaching his students cattle. A very large portion of the ’ h*» construction and proper handling steers are of a most miserable breed o f modern farm machinery. A N IM A L HUSBANDRY F A L L -S O W N GRASS SUCCEEDS BEST Seeds Germinate in Low Temperature and Grow in Winter STRONG G I{ O W T H FOLLOW S By G. R. Hyslop, Crop Specialist o f Oregon Agricultural College Under Western Oregon conditions, usually our best results follow the seeding o f grass in the fall. Grass seed usually germinates at a low tem perature and i f seeded fairly early in the fall, it gets a prompt start. It grows at considerably lower temper atures than most o f our weeds so that with an early start in the fall it develops considerably during the winter and early spring so that it has the advantage of weeds germinat ing later. It also has a good rooting system established to keep it grow ing during the dry weather of sum mer. It is therefore an/ excellent lan to sow the permanent grass land as early as possible in the fall after the danger o f dry weather is over. In the case of burned-over land, it is desirable to get the grass seed sown on the dry ashes as promptly as pos sible after they have cooled so that the first rains will beat' the seed down into the ashes and cover it. On ! \nds that are cultivated and where a seed bed is prepared, it is better to delay the seeding until after the sur face soil has become well moistened <o that there can be no opportunity for a drying out o f the soil and the killing of the small plants. In the case of those hill lands where the grass is not up to standard or where conditions are such that lands may not be plowed, the seeding should be delayed until after the rains have set in and the ground is somewhat moist. Subsequent rains will cover the grass seed in part and Ihe moist condition of the surface soil, even without cov- e ing is, in many cases, sufficient to germinate the seed and get the root lets started in the soil. Where sheep and other live stock are available, it is often a good plan to run them over the newly seeded land in order that their tramping may press the seed into the soil and give it a better opportunity for germina tion. However, there is one vital thing in connection with the successful seed ing o f grass, either in fall or spring and that one thing is to secure good seed. As many people are not fa miliar with grass seed and its im purities, it is always a good plan to secure, before purchasing the seed, a sample for testing. This sample should be representative o f the lot and should also bear the lot number so that after the test is secured, if satisfactory, the seed from which the sample was taken may he bought. AM samples for testing should be sent to the- Co-operative Seed Testing Lab oratory, Oregon Agricultural College, Corvallis, and requests should accom pany them for a purity or germination test, or both, as desired. The purity test tells the kind and the amount of we- ds and other impurities present and the germination test tells how much o f the pure seed will grow. This valuable test, made free o f charge, gives an idea o f the real value o f the seed, tells definitely whether or not the seeds are objectionable, and the germination test tells how much of the seed will grow and thus help in determining the amount to sow per acre. Purity tests usually reach the sender in three to six days and germination tests usually follow in about six days more; although, with some grasses, two to four weeks are required for the completion of the test.