Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (July 2, 1914)
HOME ANT) FARM MAGAZINE SECTION J Home and Farm Magazine Section Editorial Page Suggestions From Our Associate Editors, Allowing For an Interchange of Views, Written by Men of Experience on Topics With Which They Are Fully Acquainted Hints Along Lines of Progressive Farm Thought. HANDLING THE BY-PRODUCTS, ARRETING is the farmers chief problem. '; Neighboring canneries are i Important in handling the by-pro-; duets of the farm. They are properly community en i terprisea, and bankers and mer I chaatB can profitably assist in put- ting thorn on a sound business basis. ' Here is rather an interesting atory on the starting of a new j cannery at Vancouver, Wash.: i "This cannery began business two week's ago," said 0. Misch, of IrVaneouver, in a recent interview, !"with 25 women, and today is em ploying 60. More will bo added tjust as soon as the business war rants it. For years the small paneher, with from 5 to 10 acres i.ach, has been unable to get rid of tAis produce. If he shipped it to the jieommission men he might get fair returns for it, but in the great 'majority of cases he did not. I fiknow one man, for instance, who lad four acres in strawberries. He t -allowed them to remain on the vines i And rot because he could not mar 3s.ot them. Now, with the cannery j established, he can sell them all, as lie has done, and will receive be- tween $400 and $500 for them. The i opening of this cannery will mean If 10,000 to the small ranchers. : "Just at present strawberries are , the only fruit being handled. These j are- being preserved in barrels and shipped East, where they are made into syrup. Clarke county is full j of ranchers who have been unable (,to Bell their products, and it has j been next to impossible to have i anything done for them. The can aery means that fruits and vegeta- bios which otherwise would go to J waste can be marketed and the j producer will be well paid for his I labors. Strawberries are not the f only thing which will be handled, j but all kinds of small fruits and yegetables. "The cannery is owned by the j granges, and between 600 and 700 I men and women own stock in the ! enterprise. It is not expected to be j a dividend-payer the first year, but I it is believed it will at least break ' even. ' "At Richfield a co-operative ' etarch factory Is to be started at ence, and here the rancher may i take his potatoes, for which he will receive 90 cents a hundred pounds. I I had six acres of spuds this year, from which I realized 29 cents a ' hundredweight, although they cost ; me 46 cents to raise." NITROGEN FROM THE AIR. THE widespread extraction of nitrogen from the air by means ) of electrical currents, and the : use of this nitrogen, in composition ; with substances like lime, as the ;. World's principal land restorative, j is predicted by Professor O. P. Stafford, head of the department of chemistry in the University of Oregon. Extraction of nitrogen for fertilizing purposes is already on a commercial basis. Professor Stafford says decrease in productivity is as perilous to the adequacy of the world's food sup ply as the increase of population. lUItimate exhaustion of the artifi cial fertilizers such as the Chilean ! nitrates will leave the future dense jly populated planet in danger of j famine if the soil is permitted to ; become depleted. "Most of the available agricultural land lias been j taken up now," says Professor , Stafford. i Nitrogen supply in the atmos plicrio belt surrounding the earth is inexhaustible. "There are 34,000 tons of nitrogen in the atmosphere for every acre of land on the earth's surface," says Professor Stafford, "and it is by use of this that the earth's producing power will be kopt up." So much electrical power is nec essary for extraction of this nitro gen, and for its transformation into usable form, that only a few coun tries can hope to become great nitrogen-extracting centers. One such country is Norway, where the process is now being used in soveral splendidly equipped plants. An other such country is Oregon and Washington, which are amply en dowed with waterpower sufficient to put the two beyond competition from most of the world's geo graphical divisions in cheap manu facture of nitrogen fertilizers. OUTDOOR WORK FOR WOMEN. kVER at Ambler, Pa., the other day they held a convention. It was for the purpose of dis cussing outdoor work for women. Recently many women have been taking an interest in the growing of fruit and the raising of poultry. And when a woman takes inter est that means she works. Some of the largest and best man aged farms in tho country are run by women. Some colleges are teaching girls agriculture, in which plowing is part of the regular curriculum. In fact, we published a photo graph recently of just such an in stance. The growing of berries offers a field to women who like to work outdoors. Women can also grow garden seeds; that is, operate small tracts which grow flowers for the profit there is in selling the seeds. Another field for profit is the raising of plants required by drug gists. There are a large variety of such plants. Those who make a specialty of raising them find their enterprise well rewarded. Outdoor work kis health-giving. It is enjoyable when the weather is right. Women find they soon learn to enjoy the exercise they get in the garden. Independence is one of the privil eges enjoyed. Many women prefer to earn their own livelihood rathefc-than be de pendent on relatives, There is no more independent life than that of tho gardener and poultry-raiser. SPEND THE MONEY AT HOME. AMERICANS spend $560,000,000 abroad annually. We favor spending this money at home. Let the rich Americans spend money seeing their own country. To this end wo favor the pro gram of Mark Daniels, general superintendent of national parks. Among the changes Mr. Daniels favors are the following: Establish San Francisco as the permanent headquarters of the na tional park system. Make the parks vastly more popu lar as resorts by attracting build ers of fine hotels through long term leases in place of the present year-to-year leases. The organization of a single ad ministrative system for all parks. Ultimate elimination of the army and substitution of a force of mounted police Bimilar to the Canadian Royal Northwest mounted police. Elimination of ugly structures and adoption of a type of artistie architecture that will harmonize with the environment of natural beauty. Better accessibility to the parka through the building of more roads and trails. $ WHAT OUR NEIGHBORS ARE DOING. HERE are some of the things our neighbors are doing: Through the Wcnatchee Val ley Fruit Growers' Association 10 straight ear loads of peaches will be shipped from the valley as soon as the season is on. The fruit will be marketed in bushel baskets, holding about two and a half boxes of peaches. The peaches will not be wrapped or packed, an innovation fruit shippers are watehing eare-fulljr. Work has been commenced on the 400-acre tract of land one mile from Hermiston, belonging to R. N. Stanfield, with the purpose of seed ing the entire aereago to alfalfa. Mr. Stantield has lived iu that vicinity for 35 years and owns a large alfalfa ranch on Butter Creek. He expects to have the tract in condition in time to produce two or three crops next year. He has already built a good house and barn. He also owns 120 acres north of Hermiston, from which the first crop of hay has just been harvested. Besides Mr. Stanfield several other men are seeding large tracts to alfalfa this season. The Washington-Idaho division of the Farmers' Educational and Co-Opera'.ivc Union at the closing session of the annual meeting held in Spokane reaffirmed its stand in favor of the state-wide prohibition amendment which is to be voted on this fall. Tho union also indorsed the Quincy irrigation project and bond ing arrangement in the present referendum measure which also will come before the voters of Washing ton in November. METHOD IN MADNESS. N INDIANA religious sect has adopted resolutions that it will have nothing to do with auto mobiles. It is not quite sure whether they are a work of the devil. So the brethren decided to "plav safe." If it were not amusing, it would be pathetic to find such a group of people living in the world, vet not of it. The futility of the resolution re calls the old lady with her broom trying to sweep back the rising tide. Old King Canute tried to do the same thing with a simple command and commands of kings were the resolutions of those days. But there is, after all, some method in the seeming madness of those Indianans. They may have had experience with the motor car. There is nothing that will take piety out of a man quicker than an automobile with a mean disposi tion. Perhaps they wanted to retain the piety. A GOOD INVESTMENT. VERVONE will agree that S. Benson, of Portland, is a good business man. When a man starts in this west ern country with nothing but his own resources, native ability and strength, and accumulates a fortune of $7,000,000 honestly and honor ably, it seems safo to say that he is a good business man Mr. Benson is a firm believer in good roads. When he says that the Pacific Northwest is losing a revenue of $18,000,000 a year from automobile tourists by not having good roads, we believe him. Mr. Benson believes ia construct ing main trunk highways as well as roads to the farm. We believe in both kinds of roads. We believe that the farmer would get 1 his share if $18,000,000 were spent in the Pacific Northwest. DO YOU WANT A PONY JHILE at the stock show at Un ion, O. M. Plummer, secretary of the Union Stock Yards, and general manager of the Pacific In ternational Livestock Exhibition, bought a pony. This pony is to be given as a prize for the boy or girl who makes the best gain in pig production this year. The awards will be made at the boys' and girls' show at Taeoma, this fall. This prize is given every year by the Union Stock Yard. SAVE THE SKUNKS. A ROSE by any other name would smell as sweet A skunk if called a fragrant flower would smell no better. But the U. S. Department of Agriculture has come to the rescue of this much-hated animal. It is declared to be useful to tha farmer m destroying noxious in sects. It is also valuable for fur. If domesticated and raised in cap tivity they can be made a source of profit. Anyway we are glad the skunk is good for something. He is a failure in the perfume business. LA GRANDE HENS BUSY. lNE HUNDRED EGGS from four hens in one month, with one contributing two eggs the last day, is the performance of four Silver Campines owned oy C. A, Nichols, of La Grande. The eggs are so fertile that an average of 95 per cent of chicks have been hatched. These are the first Campines in that section of the Grand Ronde Valley. These La Grande hens deserve a medal. $ GOOD FOR THE BOYS AND GIRLS. ENDITSTRIAL clubs have been formed in many places for boys and girls. The industrial club at Gresham, Oregon, has 80 boys and girls; rang ing from 10 to 18 years of age. The Oregon Agricultural College is co-operating in this movement. It is a good thing. Mothers and fathers should encourage it. s WINNING OUT. THIS is an age of specialization. Only those succeed in a big way who pick out some partic ular job ana stay with it till they know more about it than the other fellow. Concentration is the surest road to success, finance and honor. Keep your mind on your job, whatever it may be. TO ADVERTISERS. Advertisers in this locality who wish to fully cover all sections of Oregon and Washington and a por. tion of Idaho will apply to local pub lishers for rates. General advertisers may address C. L. Burton, Advertising Manager, 411 Panama Building, Portland, Oregon, for rates and information. The publishers will accept busi ness from no advertiser whose relia bility can be questioned. The Housewife's Epitaph. Here lies an old woman who always nl tired. She lived ia a house where help was nol hired. Her last words on earth were, "Dear friends I am going Where washing ain't done, nor sweeping nor sewing, Bat everything there is ei&et to my wishes. For where they don't cat there's no walk ing of dishes. I'll he where glad anthems forever are ring ing. But having no voice I'U he clew of Om singing. Don't mourn for me now, don't moon tec mo never; I'm going to do nothing forever and ever.1 An Endorsement of Nattrr. Dame Nature ia ever busy Each season of the year, She hath fnll much to perilex be? To clothe her world so dear. She hath a palette of color For spring, summer and fall, Whilst for the garment of winter She owns the snowflakes feJL She loveth the wondrous cv'nlng When the pale moon blends Its light with purple shadows As night all slow descends. O, Nature Is every busy With gentle, subtle art, Then love her, mortals, and greet het With mimi s4 soul and heart I Yerk