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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (May 21, 1914)
2 HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION Oregon Agricultural College is the Friend of the Farmer A Page of Bulletins and News Notes Concerning the Staff at Corvallia. A GOOD POULTRY RATION. PFERFECT ration for laying hens contains the required food elements in approximately the right pproportion, and in the forms most economical in the locality where the feeding is done. Pro fessor James Dryden, head of the poul try department, Oregon Agricultural Col lege, has prepared a list of five more or less exact rations for one laying hen for one year. The following is ration No. 4, considered to be one of the best for most places in Oregon: Material No. of Pounds Cost Wheat : 30 ' .45 Oats 10 " .15 Bran 10 .12 Corn 5 .10 Beef scrap 5 .20 Corn meal 5 .10 Linseed meal 5 .12 Middlings 5 .071 Shell 3 .03 Charcoal 2 .05 Green food .05 Total 1.48 While the cost of the above ration will ary in different seasons and at differ ent places, it is thought to be very close to the average cost. Moit of the mate rial, such as wheat', oats and eorn, can be produced more cheaply on the farm, and is marketed more economically when converted into poultry products. Other material such as green food, charcoal, grit and shell or their substitutes, can be furnished from natural sources with but little cost. Often milk and other farm products can be substituted for Borne of the materials' that otherwise would have to be bought. By a careful study of the given rations the poultry men will be able to supply the necessary food elements by substituting a moTe economical material. Of course the amounts should vary slightly with the difference in egg production and in size of fowls. If it is to be conceded that the cost of maintaining a hen for one year is $1.50, the necessity of securing better than the average six dozen-egg hen is at once apparent. The yearly product of such a hen has an average value of about $1.50. The yearly production of a good layer Is worth twice that amount; and most of the increase represents a clear profit. WEED PESTS OP OREGON. llgHEEP sorrel is spreading rapidly J over large areas and because of the large number of seeds formed on each plant bids fair to become a seri ous weed pest in Oregon," writes B. P. "Walls, of the Agricultural College botany and plant pathology department, in the Pacific Homestead. "Weeds may be objectionable because of theit ; poisonous qualities and on account of their crowding out more valuable plaits. Borrell seed is said by some writers to be poisonous when eatin in large quan tities by horses, but the plant can hardly be called poisonous." "In addition to spreading by seed the plant has large rootstocks that live in the ground from year to year, which Send up shoots every few inches. The Itaves are stalked, have ear like ap pendages at the base, and are shaped tomewhat like an Indian arrow head. Flowers are of two kinds, pollen bear ing and seed bearing, and seeds very mall. They are found in clover and many kinds of grass seed, which they lesemble so closely that their presence is hard to discover until after seeding. The chief injury of the plant is in crowding out crop plants. "Clean cultivation and liming the toil will eradicate the plant. The cul tivation should include plowing the stub ble to throw the root stocks to the sur face, keeping the surface free from the pest during the summer, and growing a cultivated crop the next year. Liming the soil will stimulate the crop plants making them outgrow the sour sorrel, and thus curtail the number of weed eed matured." DETAILED TO FIELD WORK. jHILE acting as the local represen tative of the Agricultural College department of entomology at Hood Siver, Professor V. I. Safro, assistant entomologist, will conduct some experi sents in the control of codling moth and apple leaf hopper. Professor Safro will carry on this work during the sum mer and remain in charge of the local department until next fall. STUDYING PEACH-TWIG MINER. EXPERIMENTAL work is being done in the Hermiston district by the Agricultural College entomological department with the peach-twig miner. Professor Wilson, entomologist of the college, spent last week that terri tory looking after tho work. . SUMMER SCHOOL COURSE. NNOUNCEMENTS of the summer sehbol at the Oregon Agricultural College have been made by Profes sor E. D. Re'ssler. June 15 and July 24 are named as the dates Of beginning and ending the summer sessions. Special railway rates cf one and a third fare have been granted by all railroads op eratiag in Oregon, good between the dates of June 5 and July 28. The two college dormitories, Waldo for women and Cauthorn for men, will be opened to the students and will accommodate more than 200 students with board and lodging. The use of the rooms with beds, mattresses, tables and chairs, will be free to those who make their hoqies i.i the halls. Two dollars will be charged for light, heat and use of laundry. Table board will be $3.50 per week at Waldo. "The college realizes its responsibility in fitting the teachers for teaching ele meutary agriculture, manual training, domestic science and art, and other branches of industrial learning in the schools of Oregon," declares tho an nouncement. Experienced teachers who devote their whole time to training for these duties will be able to secure suf ficient training to introduce some branch of industrial work in their schools. Definite courses Will be "pro vided, lesson plans worked out, and de tailed instruction given. These teachers will be further helped by correspondence courses throughout the entire year and by personal visitation arid supervision." Prospective students and all teaehers who are interested in the O. A. C. sum mer school will receive a copy of the Bulletin upon request mailed to H. M. Teunant, Registrar O. A. C, Corvallis, Oregon. STUDENT APPOINTED, BANK M. Harrington, of Cresswell, Oregon, who was graduated from thi horticultural department of O A. C. last year and has since filled a position in the Iovra experiment station at Ames, has been appointed an assist ant horticulturist in the United States department of agriculture. Mr. Har rington 'b appointment is based on a com petitive examination which he wrote up while attending 0. A. C. and is to be made effective at once, provided it is accepted. Whether the position will be accepted or not has not been decided by Mr. Harrington. His position at Ames is exceptionally good, and he is receiving rapid promotion. Hence, he may decide to remain with the state work, accord ing to Professor C. I. Lewis, head of the horticultural department. SECURING GOOD LIBRARIES. 61 gECURING good libraries for towns too small to purchase and manage a public library and too large to depend upon the small traveling libraries is one of the greatest library problems the people have to solve," said Mrs. Ida A. Kidder, librarian of the Agricultural College. The need of good books and tho influence of good litera ture are quite generally admitted, while the disastrous Tesults of sensational reading are quite as well understood. The great question in the small town is to supply the right kind of reading in attractive form. "Perhaps one of tho best ways to se cure the advantage of a good library is by "co-operation between a number of small towns of the same county. A goed general library ean be purchased by all the towns cooperating and lo cated in the most accessible place. In this way all the patrons of the library who contribute to its support may have all the advantages of a good library without undue cost to any one. "This community library idea has been used to good advantage in many parts of California for several years, and no doubt the benefit of the ex perience gained in conducting it could be had by writing to any of the libra rians in charge. Also much useful help may be had by writing to Miss Marvin of Salem, who is in charge of the Btate library. " PROFITABLE POTATO CROP. terjARMER8 in different parts of Oregon who are Snaking a spe cialty of potato growing, get al most uniformly profitable results, net ting from $40 to $30 per acre," says Professor Scudder in his Agricultural College Bulletin ou growing potatoes. "It is for this reason that in all diversi fied farming in this state the potato might profitably be given more atten tion. The use of a little extra care in growing potatoes added to the natural advantages of soil and climate would in sure steady Diaximum yields and profit Tho market for Oregon potatoes is us ually excellent. "Potatoes are an intensive crop that is, they will give an increasingly higher yield per acre with every bit of extra care addded. At this time much of tho crop is grown by the gen eral farmer, for whom the potato crop often gives an excellent .cash return with very little caro. Rather than giv ing (he potato crop tho additional care required to get the best results in un favorable seasons, tho farmer depends upon other crops,for his cash income. "The potato permits tho farming of high-priced lands close to shipping poiutB and is of great value in a well-planned, intensive crop-rotation system, helping to maintain fertility because of the ex cellent condition of tilth and the de struction -of weeds that its cultivation brings about. This improvement is needed in many parts of Oregon where poor farming methods have left the land fould With weeds and in poor tilth, so flat each succeeding Crop becomes poorer." RAISING SPRING LAMBS. RAISING spring lambs is well adapted to the climatle conditions of West ern Oregon and does not requite great capital or spenial skill, according to Professor E. L. Potter, head of the Oregon Agricultural College animal hus bandry department. The industry so fits in with approved crop rotations and is valuable in building up depleted soils. Neither is it in immediate' dan ger of being overdone. The industry may be made profit able on farms where grain, hay, clover, vetch and rape are grown. Much the same conditions are required for this industry as for dairying, except that it" need-not have the same accessibility to market and that some range land may be nsed. It is just as profitable as or dinary" dairying, although it may not pay so large a pTofit as dairying con ducted in the most approved manner. No expensive equipment is needed in the way of buildings. The sheds neces sary to shelter the flock may be con structed at a very small cost. A shed 18 feet wide and 60 feet long was re cently constructed at the college at a total cost of $25. It accommodates about 50 sheep but does not provide storage room for hay. The most profitable time for growing a good, cheap lamb in Western Oregon is March, April, May and June. The best results aro generally obtained by pasturing the lambs on sown pasturage. It is necessary to have several fields in order that each kind may be utilized in its proper season. It is also nccessnry to have a special pasture to be used for finishing. Ordinarily no grain need bo used but it may occasionally be fed with profit when it is very cheap or when mutton is high. The grain should be fed in a creep so that the lambs may get the grain while the ewes are kept from it. The gnin should be about one half a pound a day which by extra feeding and care may be increased to nearly one pound. GOOD ROADS MEETING. S AERIES of good road meetings were held at various points in Coos county during May 11-10. These meetings were presided over by County Judge John F. Hall and addresses were made by Professor G. E. Skelton, of the highway engineering department at the Oregon Agricultural College. The lutes for the good roads meetings in Coos county were: Myrtlo Point, May 11; Coquille, May 12; Bandon, May 13 j Marshfield, May 16. Profosesor Skelton has recently re turned from a good roads tour of tho middle and eastern parts of the United States which was niado primarily to in vestigate the most approved methods of highway construction in other states. Ha comes prepared to consult with farmers and officers of the Oregon counties in regard to the construction of highwayc throughout the state. Professor Skel ton advocates primarily the use of local material for the coustruction of Oregon highways. During his work in Coos county Prof essor Skelton desires to meet road su per visors aud with them take up the problem of highway construction and maintenance. ' GUMM0SI3 CANKERS. dHpHE cherry guminosis fight is now I on," says Professor II. P. Barss, of the Oregon Agricultural Col lege department of plant pathology, "and many new infections can be pre vented by cutting out the old cankers. The canker diseaso that causes most of the guiumosis west of the Cascades, is due to au organism that lives over win ter in the edges of the old cankers, es pecially in the larger ones that were formed the' previous season. From these hold-over cankers the disease begins to spread in late winter, enlarging the old injuries and infecting many trees grow ing neT by." These old cankers should be cleaned up at once and new infections should bo watched for and treated upon their first appearance. With a draw-knife or similar tool cut aVay all -bark that is affected, being careful to remove all discolored tissue. If the disease shows signs of spreading up or down the tree, the bark should be cut away considerably beyond the discolored area. All infected substance should be removed. The wonnd should then be washed, with a 1 to 100 solution of corrosive sublimate, which can be bought from the' druggist, Who will give directions for preparing and us ing tho wash. It is a deadly poison, and should be labeled Poison, and kept in glass, not metal, containers. After washing out the wound, which is absolutely essential to. success, it should be allowed to dry, and then covered with a good tree or pruning paint to protect it from fungi and heart rots. Do not depend upon exuding gura to indicate cankers. Bud ones sometime form with very little external gum. Watch should be kept all spring for the faintest signs of canker and for blighted fruit spurs and buds. No other successful treatment for this disease has come to the attention of the experiment station here. But if extreme watchfulness is maintained and the above treatment thoroughly, ap plied, the damage done annually by the disease will he materially reduced. 9 HARMFUL EXTERNAL PARASITES. EXTERNAL parasites frequently canso heavy poultry losses, and poultry men should quarantine their flocks against them. Special methods are required fir the control of the vari ous kinds of pests, but certain general measures aro often advisable One of the best general methods is fumigation. While not very effective against any of the external parasites, it should bo omployed for its great sani tary value. It is conveniently applied by slipping a tent that lias been treated with linseed oil or carbolincum over the colony chicken house and weighting down the sides with a little dirt. Ths fumes are then applied, after which the tent is removed to tho next house, and so on. An account of the special methods for most of the common poultry para sites is given in College Bulletin "Some External Parasites of Poultry," written by Dr. IT. E. Ewing, research assistant at the Oregon Agricultural College. Free copies may be had by sending for them to R. X. ITetzel, Extension director Corvallis, Oregon. ., ,
