HOME ANT) FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
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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