The gazette-times., November 05, 1914, HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION, Page 2, Image 8

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TTOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
Oregon Agricultural College is the Friend of the Farmer
Page of News Notes and Interesting Articles Written by College Experts.
S3
Oregon Agricultural Colloge, Corvallis, Oregon, tho Solo Aim of Which Is to Aid Agriculturists.
FARM MARKET PROBLEMS NOW
I I FOR SOLVTIOX.
CO-OPERATIVE effort to secure
r more profitable farm organiza
tlon and farm markets is be
tag made by the United States De
partment of Agriculture and the Ore
gon Agricultural College. President
Kerr has been authorized bv the
Board of Regents to establish in the
Agricultural College a bureau of
farm organization and markets to
act with groups of farmers in obtain
ing ample and profitable markets for
farm produce.
It will be the aim of the bureau
to ascertain the most profitable
methods of gathering, storing, manu
facturing and shipping farm pro
ducts, in each of the leading agricul
tural industries, and place this in
formation before the Individual
grower. Reports of ,he most suc
cessful operations will be collected,
together with photographs and blue
prints of typical farm factories, such
as creameries and canneries, and
these will be filed in the bureau of
fices. Information, based on this
material, will then be given to the
farmers through printed bulletins,
press notices, lecturers and demon
strations. As a result of these activities it is
expected that the farmers of tho
state will secure a more nearly just
share in the profits of their invest
ment and labor.
FIXDIXG XUMBER OF TOXS OF
HAY IX THE STACK.
SUBTRACT the width from the
distance over the stack, found
by measuring from the ground
on one side over the stack down to
the ground on the other side, divide
by two, and multiply by the width
and then by the length, which will
give the number of cubic feet. To
find the number of tons, divide by
612, if the stack has stood 20 days
or less, by 422 if between 20 and
60 days, and by 380, If more than
60 days. "This Is a fairly accurate
rule," says Dean J. A. Bexell, In the
Oregon Agricultural College text on
"Farm Accounting and Business
Methods." A more nearly accurate
method is given as follows:
Subtract the width from the
"over," as above defined; divide by
the height, then multiply successive
ly by the over, the width, the length,
and .225. This will give the num
ber of cubic feet, and the number of
tons may be found as above.
The former rule is not only very
easily applied, but the reasons for
each operation will doubtless be
clear to all who give the subject any
thought. It is plain that in measur
ing from the ground on one side of
the stack up, and across and down
to the ground on the other side that
all "measurements taken were either
distances up, down, or across. By
subtracting the width, the remain
ing distances are either up or down.
Since these were equal, dividing by
two gives the distance up, or the
height of the stack, The volume has
been reduced to a very nearly equi
valent volume having regular dimen
sions, In which the cubic contents
are found by multiplying together
the length, breadth and height. The
small inaccuracy arises from the fact
that near the top of the stack tho
measuring string cuts the corners,
causing the degree of error to vary
slightly with the shape of the stack.
Ordinarily it may be disregarded
with no injustice to either buyer or
oiler
XEED OF IRRIGATION IX WIL
AMFTTE VALLEY.
THE FACT that evaporation from
water surface in the vicinity of
Corvallis Is 24 inches from May
1 to October, while the average rain
fall for the same period is but E.52
inches, indicates the nossibilitv of
profitable Irrigation. That Irrigation
is actually profitable under certain
conditions has been shown in a
seven-year test with nine standard
Willamette Vallev crons. conducted
by the Agricultural College. The re
sults of these experiments have heen
written up by Professor W. L. Pow
ers, and will soon be published in
bulletin fonn for the benefit of Wil
lamette Valley farmers.
In a general way it mav be said
that irrigation caused an increase of
t)5 per cent in the average vield of
all crops, and increased the profits
of production to the extent of (2.66
per acre-inch of all water economi
cally used. The water was pumped
from the summer water table, ani
while the cost was in fact much less
than SI per acre-inch, the nrofits
were figured on that basis.
And on this basis corn showed a.n
increased profit of 43 cents per acre
inch of water, kale 60, beets $1.15,
alfalfa $1.65, clover $2.71, beans
12.79, carrots $6.83 and notatoeK
$7.75. While the most profitable
amount of water varies with the dif
ferent crops. It runs on some as hizh
as 6 acre-inches in dry seasons. This
makes the actual profit from irriga
tion $16.26 per acre. When water
is secured in commercial lots at cor
responding prices the profits would
De greatly increased over "these figures.
The main fonditions eovernlnc the
profits of irrigation are character of
soil and moisture content. In all
free-working soils in which the mois
ture content has dropped to 15 or 20
per cent, varying with the crops,
irrigation not only ereatlv increases
the yield, but It lowers the dry mat
ter cost and brings a splendid profit
to the user.
of Smith and Monroe, Spokane. The
Oregon team will contest with teams
from the leading agricultural col
leges throughout the country and to
win must beat more than two dozen
teams, representing the very pick of
their schools. Temn prizes of cash
and trophies will be given the win
ners, and Individual winners will re
ceive scholarships in various col
leges, all expenses paid, that are of
fered by representatives of the four
leading dairy breeds. The date ot
the show is October 22 to 31. All
expenses of the trip, usually pro
vided by the colleges, are borne by
the members of the team, which
shows their earnest purpose to learn
all they can.
BEEKEEPING OX THE FARM.
THE VALUE of bees in Increasing
the yield of various farm crops
is explained in "Beekeeping for
the Oregon Farmers," a bulletin
written by H. F. Wilson, entomolo
gist of the Oregon Experiment Sta
tion. Those Interested in this sub
ject may get free copies by sending
requests to the Oregon Agricultural
College. Conditions under which
beekeeping proves profitable or un
profitable are pointed out In this
bulletin, and methods of handling
that secure the most satisfactory re
sults are fully explained. One de
duction that holds possible Interest
for every farmer of the state Is that
bees on the farm are often highly
profitable, even though not paying
for their expense In honey products.
Their influence In enlarging crop
production by their pollination work
is worth far more than their keep
costs. The bulletin also contains a
distribution map of bees In Oregon,
and a brief history of the beekeep
ing industry in this state.
TO JUDGE STOCK AT CHICAGO.
A DAIRY-JUDGING team of four
students from the Oregon Agri
cultural College, In charge of
Professor Graves, head of the Dairy
Department, has gone to Chicago to
enter the contests at the National
Stock Show. On their way to the
Eastern metropolis the team inspect
ed the noted Ayrshire herd of J. W.
Cliiie, Seattle, and the HolUein herdts
BEST SIZE OF FARMS FOR EAST
ERN OREGON.
EXPERIMENTAL data so far ob
tained by the Agricultural Col
lege Experiment Station, go to
prove that the most successful size
of farm in the older settled areas of
Eastern Oregon is within the limiU
of 320 to 640 acres. This -estimate
supposes that the extensive diversi
fied system of farming best adapted
to each locality, is used. The ex
amination of the assessor's tax rolls
in a Columbia basin county, made
by Professor K. D. Scudder, shows
the proportion of the different sized
farms as follows:
Farms between 640 and 1,000
acres, 50 per cent.
Farms between 1,000 and 2,000
acres, 34 per cent.
Farms between 2,000 and 5,000
acres, 16 per cent.
as farm agent of Talbot County,
Maryland, at a salary of $1,800 per
year. His study of the weed problem
has been of great value to Oregon
farmers and gardeners, and his series
of weed articles will be published In
one of the leading agricultural pa
pers of the slate during the present
year.
DEMAND FOR OROHARDI8T8.
TRAINED orchardists are In great
demand in Oregon and in other
states. Of 21 graduates of hor
ticulture at the Agricultural College
last year five are members of the
O. A. C. staff, one is assistant at the
Southern Oregon Experiment Sta
tion, two are instructors in Eastern
universities, one is school landscape
gardener of Alameda County, Cali
fornia, four are managers of depart
ments in large commercial orchards,
three are graduate students at O. A.
C, two are managers of the home
orchards, and three are owners of
large orchard and garden tracts. Al
though attractive salaried positions
were offered most of the graduates
not thus employed, the positions
were declined in the belief that fur
ther study or working for them
selves is more profitable than work
ing for salaries.
WEED SPECIALIST GOES.
EP. WALLS, author of a widely
a circulated series of Oregon
weed pest letters, has resigned
as Instructor In Botany at the Agri
cultural College to accept a position
IXCREASE FERTILITY.
ttf HE most striking need on the
I older settled dry farming
lands," says Prof. Scudder,
"both from the fertility and economic
standpoint, is for a more intensive
and diversified system of farming to
maintain or Increase fertility, em
ploying a smaller farm unit, and
thus increasing the population and
social economic development of the
rural districts.
"The present large size of the
farms, together with the continuous
grain cropping on the 'bonanza'
scale, and the practices associated
therewith, is reducing the fertility
of soil at such a rate as seriously to
threaten the permanency of agricul
ture in this entire region. Associated
with these large sized wheat farms,
so common in the Columbia Basin in
particular, there is a corresponding
scanty population, which in some of
the oldest and best farming areas of
that region is actually on the de
crease. Added to this is the faot
that, as a rule, the largest land hold
ers are either absentee owners or
not permanent residents on the
farm, hence the major portion of the
income the land produces is taken
out of the country Instead of re
maining there to assist in its de
velopment. "In the Tichest county of the Co
lumbia Basin dry farming area, It
has been estimated that not 10 per
cent of the dry farm land owners
live on the land, and that less than
6 per cent of the land acreage is
lived on by the owner. Many of
these land owners live in inearby
towns. Many live at a distance and
rent their lands. Renters, as a class,
as is generally recognized, will not
build np a far mor aid much in the
development of the community."
Judging Swine Is a new O. A. C.
bulletin, which will be of great in
terest and help to boys in the pig
raising contests as well as to farm
ers and other growers. The bulletin .
tells briefly how to know the good
hog, and was written by Professor
G. R. Samson. Address the Oregon
Agricultural College for copies.
WE ARE CASH BUYERS FOR
YOUR POULTRY, EGGS, VEAL
AND HOGS. NO COMMISSION'.
Highest Pricai Alwayi Try Ui.
PATTERSON & CO.
54 Front Street, Portland, Oregon.
Itofornnci): Northwest National Bank.
A MAN TO BE SUCCESSFUL
First Considers Quality, Then
Buys at Lowest Prices.
SEE ME FOR
WATER SYSTEMS
of All Kinds.
LIGHTING PLANTS
Electric and Carbide.
PLUMBING SUPPLIES AT
WHOLESALE.
R. A. TWISS
Fourth and Jefferson Streets
- Portland, Oregon.
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