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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1914)
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION , Oregon Agricultural College is the Friend of the Farmer Page of News Notes and Interesting Articles Written by College Experts. - Wfk r Oregon Agricultural College, Corvallis! Oregon, the Solo Aim of WhidTT?tTAlTAgii-iciilturlst!i. FOOT AXD MOUTH DISEASE AND METHODS OF SPREAD FOOT and mouth disease is one or the most contagious of all the diseases from which animals suf fer, says Dr. Simnis, veterinarian at the Agricultural College. Cattle, sheep, goats, and hogs are attacked most frequently, but horses, cats, dogs, and humans have been known to develop this trouble. Some in Testigators have claimed that the fowl is susceptible. The cause of this disease is not definitely known. Experiments have proven that a porcelain filter which will remove all bacteria from a liquid will allow this germ to pass through. For this reason it Is called a filtrl able virus. Practically all of the excretions of an animal affected with foot and mouth disease are infectious. The milk, the salvia, the feces, and the fluid in the blisters contain the virus. The sick animals may con taminate everything with which they come in contact The viru3 may be transmitted to other animals by di rect contact or indirectly. Cases have been known in which the disease was spread through hay carried from an Infected farm, through wool or hides of infected animals, and by people who carried the virus on their shoes or clothing. Hence the quarantine must be very strict to' control out breaks. From three to six days usually pass between the time of exposuro and the appearance of the first symptoms. At the beginning there Is fever and loss of appetite. This Is usually followed in less than twenty-four hours by the appearance of blisters or vesicles. As soon as the blisters form the temperature drops back to just about normal. In cattle the mouth Is nearly ai ways affected. The animals either eat very slowly or refuse food. The mouth is kept closed and the lips stick together. This causes a smack ing sound when the mouth is opened. The blisters form on the inner sur face of the cheek3. They vary iu size from that of a pea to as large as an egg. After one to three days they rupture and then healing fo' lowws rather slowly. In sheep the mouth Is quite fre quently not affected and In hogs the mouth Is usually free from disease. Hogs nearly always, and cattle and sheep very frequently develop similar vesicles or blisters on the feet. The most prominent symptom is the lame ness which appears as soon as the vesicles begin to form. The animals may Ue down the greater part of the time. The blisters are most fre quently between the toes and at the base of the dew-claws. Other parts of the body which may be affected are the udder, the kin around the base of the horns, the muzzle In cattle and sheep and the snout in pigs. v Most cases result in recovery in from two to three weeks from the appearance of the first symptom. The disease is a' very serious one not on account of its high mortality, but because it is very infecious and by attacking so many animals It causes a very considerable loss in milk, In beef, and in pork. Any suspected cases should be separated from all other animals as goon as the first symptoms appear and either the state veterinarian of the county veterinarian should b? notified at once. GOOD CULTURAL METHODS USE HALF THE RAINFALL AXIMUM production in the Ore gon dry farming areas is de pendent primarily upon the fullest possible utilizations of pre cipitation according to investigations conducted by H. D. Scudder, agrono mist of the Oregon Station. Till age operations were developed In these investigations whereby fully one-half of the total annual precipi tation was conserved for crop use. This is a much larger use of the available moisture than is now gen erally obtained, the average farm probably utilising for crop produc tion not more than one-fourth of the i total precipitation. ! Among the cultural practices which conserve moisture to the ex tent indicated are deep plowing, fall plowing and fall disking; or spring disking, spring plowing, harrowing, and sub surface packing. Methods of Bowing must also conform to the i special requirements of each case, I broadcasting being considered as en tirely out of place on the dry farm where the practice has largely been discarded. Pressdrilllng is employed where soil is loose and somewhat dry and where shallow seeding must be done. Rolling is occasionally practiced on -the dry farm, to brean an extra heavy crust formed on win ter wheat, or to form an overloose soil in which the wheat is sowed. Deep plowing is the first essential in moisture conservation. By this practice much of the railfall that is ordinarily lost through surface run off or evaporation is stored in the deeped soil for crop use during the succeeding season. "A furrow less than nine or ten inches deep cannot be considered deep plowing." Spring plowing may be somewhat shallower and a slight variation in depth each year is practical to prevent forma tion of plow holes. . Fall plowing is the second step. This leaves the land rough and loose practice much of the rainfall that is holds the snow and absorbs the rain fall for later use. The fall plowed fields should not be harrowed in the fall but left rough and uneven. If time cannot be taken for fall plowing the land should be disk har rowed after harvest. With the ordin ary disk harrow double disking should .always be done by lapping half the first round, never by disk ing crosswise. Where spring plowing must be done as is true in much of the dry farming land of 'Eastern Oregon, It should be done as early as possible to save the moisture. The spring plowing should be followed imme diately by harrowing. Rapid evap oration starts in April so that when a deep furrowed slice of moist soil is exposed to the sun and wind the loss of moisture is very rapid, unless stopped by a mulch created with a harrow. . BIG PROBLEMS UP. OREGON'S biggest agricultural problems will be up for consid eration at the Agricultural Col lege conference during Farmer's Week, Feb. 1-6. They will be handled by the most successful leaders of Oregon's agricultural interests, by experts from the United States De partment of Agriculture, and by spe cialists from the leading agricultural colleges of the country. Farmers are invited to bring their most im portant problems for solution. GREAT OPPORTUNITIES I FOR OREGON HORSEMEN lljyjRE-BRED horse breeders of Oregon are to have their chance," says Carl N. Ken nedy, horse specialist at the Agri cultural College. "The effect of the European war upon the importation of horses is bound to increase the demand for the home produced ma terial. This demand will 'give the Oregon breeders a chance to dem onstrate' to stallion owners that the home bred animal Is just as good I breeding stuff as that from foreign ! countries. i "The outlook for pure-bred horse has never been brighter than it is at the present time. Bnt with the great opening" for pure-bred horses in this state the pure-bred breeders should use discrimination In selecting thei istallions, castrating as colts those that lack any of the essential quail ties. It Is more than likely that with Increased demand there will be a tendency to sell anything that ts purebred, but this should be dis couraged. "Everything that can be done to encourage the breeding of pure breds to take the place of the grade and the mongrel is being done by the Agricultural College. It is the belief of the Animal Husbandry peo ple that nothing- can be done to im prove Oregon horses more quickly and surely than to use sound, pure bred horses for breeding. There Is no reason why Oregon breeders should not furnish this material." FARMERS' WEEK FEB. 1-6. FARMERS' Week exercises have been scheduled for February 1 to 6, 1915, and placed In charge of the Extension division. The charac ter of the exercises, modified to suit the changing conditions, will be largely that of congresses, confer ences and conventions of representa tives of the leading agricultural in dustries of the state. Among the conventions already announced are those of the Jersey, the Holsteln an.1 the Ayrshire Breeders' Association, and it is expected that an organiza tion of the Guernsey breeders will be affected at that time. The State Dairymen's Association will meet at 'the College during; the week. A conference of connty agricultural agents from the eleven Oregon coun ties maintaining the work will be a highly important feature. Leading representatives of the various rural Interests, social as well as Industrial and commercial, will be in attend-" ance from Oregon, from other states and from the United States Depart ment of Agriculture. A MAII TO BE First Considers Quality, Then" Buys at Lowest Prices. SEE ME TOR WATER SYSTEMS of All Kinds. LIGHTING PLANTS Electric and Carbide. PLUMBING SUPPLIES AT WHOLESALE. R. A. TWISS Fourth and Jefferson Streets Portland, Oregon. PURPOSE AND METHODS OF FINISHING SURFACE ALTHOUGH stains, fillers, var nishes, shellacs and waxes may be prepared by the finisher they are all put up by concern! handling them and it is usually best U6e. Oil stains and spirit stains ara for beginners to buy them ready to both used, writes H. C. Brandon, O. A. C. manual arts specialist, "tha latter being very penetrating. Oil stains are made by mixing the pig ments, such as timber, sienna an others well known, in turpentine c benzine. The desired tone is secured by combining properly two or mora of the pigments." Stains are used to change the color of the wood and to improve ita grain and texture. The purpose at the filling is to giva a perfectly level surface for the varnish or other fin ish. It should be used on all por ous wood after staining. Varnish la a resin dissolved in turpentine, ben zine, etc After being applied to the surface the spirits dry out leaving a thin coat of resin. Shellac Is dis solved in grain alcohol aad applied with a brush. After drying, the work Is free from dust Wax (bree wax and other ingredients) is dis solved in turpentine and applied as a polish. O. A. C HORT SHOW. OREGON fruit, vegetable and flow er growers were given an oppor tunity to see a4 exhibit in each of these lines designed and built up by experts, at the Agricultural Col lege Hort Show on the first Satur day in November. The exhibits wre educational in their nature, and in cluded mostly varieties of the me dium, commercial types, most p re ntable for home and market pur poses. Indeed the abnormally larg types were grouped Into separate ex hibits as "horrlbte examples" et what not to grow and display, and were plainly termed monstrosities Cultural methods and marketitis methods, including parsels pout ship ments, were demonstrated for the benefit of producers and consumers alike. The Hort Show was so suc cessful that it will be continued as a 'part of the work of the division of ; Horticulture. SOLVING, PEST PROBLEMS. INVESTIGATIONS of damage to strawberry vines In Oregon ara being conducted by the Agricul tural College Entomological depart ment with a view to more effective control of thte insect causing the damage. Extensive material collect ed in Eastern Oregon, and othei parte of the state is being made th subject of experiments by G. L. Mof nette of the Experiment Station, staff. SUCCESSFUL
