The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, December 17, 1914, HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION, Image 16

The gazette-times., December 17, 1914, HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION, Page 8, Image 16

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Newspaper Page TextnOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION United States Department of Agriculture Special Page Bulletins and Special Articles Issued by the Government, of Interest to the Northwest; Suggestions Covering a Wide Range of Activities; Results of Federal Investigations, Etc. 8 Rumor That Foot-and-Mouth Disease Is Plot Unfounded SENSATIONAL reports that V:e foot-and-mouth disease Is being intentionally disseminated in tLe hope of interfering with America's exporting meat to the warring coun tries in Europe have now been proved to have no foundation whatsoever. They have been traced In fact to a story Invented by an irresponsible individual in Lincoln, Nebraska. This man stated to a State representative that he had overheard a conversation between two men who were equipped with hypodermic syringes and who said something to the effect that they would see to it that the allies got precious little meat from the United States. This alleged conversation was at first said to have taken place between 5:30 and 7:30 in the after noon. Investigation showed, how ever, that the man in question had already reported it as early as 4 o'clock that same afternoon. When confronted with this inconsistency, he admitted that he was so drunk at the time that he didn't know whether it was day or night. Furthermore, he 'has already acquired a reputation for similar sensational fabrications. No Evidence of Plot. On this slight foundation stories have been circulated which it is re ported are interfering with the mar keting of perfectly healthy stock. There is no other evidence whatso ever of any plot to disseminate foot-and-mouth disease, and it is hardly likely that any government which would undertake such a scheme would entrust it to men so careless as to discuss it when there was any chance of being overheard. The rapid spread of the foot-and-mouth disease is due entirely, In the opin ion of authorities in the Department of Agriculture, to the extreme con tagiousness of the infection, and In particular to the early Infection of the Chicago Stockyards, the great distributing center of the United Sfates. From these yards the disease was parried by various shipments into all the states in which it has yet appeared. From this point of view, therefore, it is said, the states can hardly be considered as widely sep arated, since they all were in close communication with Chicago. $750,000 Chinese Exhibit. Advices received from the Orient on November 23 by J. S. Teager, in charge of the classification of exhibits for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco, stated that 1000 tons of exhibits consigned by the Government of China to the big fair have left Shanghai for San Francisco on one of the big liners. They are due to arrive early In De cember, and are to be Installed In the various exhibit palaces. The large sum of $750,000 has been appropriated by China for par ticipation at the exposition, and this is the first of many shipments of exhibits to be made. The Chinese commissioners declare that this will be not only the most comprehensive and costly exhibit ever sent out of China, but that it will be a revela tion to the world, especially in the way of agricultural and horticultural products, silks and manufactured articles. The Chinese pavilions, oc cupying a large space east of the Canadian pavilion, are nearly com pleted, and work is well advanced on the Chinese village on the Zone. Fertilizer Use Increasing. Imports of fertilizer materials have Increased, according to data of the bureau of foreign and domestic com merce, Department of Commerce, for the period ending with April, 1914, indicating greatly enlarged arrivals of nitrates, potash, salts and other similar materials. Kalnit, a potash salt of very low price, was Imported last year to the extent of 466,000 tons, valued at $2, 000,000; sulphate of potaBh, 43,000 tons, valued at nearly $2,000,000, and other fertilizer salts, 172,000 tons, valued at $2,000,000. About 90 per cent of the Imported potash is used for fertilizers, and only about 10 per cent in - the manufacture of glass, soap-making and other chemical In dustries. The Imports of both the nitrates and the potash salts have more than doubled in the last 10 years. Drouth over Manitoba, Saskatche wan and Alberta has caused great loss to wheat fields. Poultrytnan Can Add to His Profits by Saving Manure i RECENT bulletin of the Maine fJ Agricultural Experiment Station shows that the poultryman or farmer can materially add to the profits of his business by properly caring for the droppings of his fowls. For example, it is shown that the droppings from 1000 fowls If pre served without needless loss are worth at least $300 per annum, and this estimate Is based on the assump tion that less than halt of the drop pings, or only 30 pounds per hen per year, can be collected. According to the Maine station, the droppings should b'e collected daily and mixed with substances which will (1) prevent loss of nitro gen, (2) add sufficient potash and phosphoric acid to make a better balanced fertilizer, .and (3) Improve the mechanical condition of the ma nure so that it can be applied to the land with a manure spreader. This can be done as follows: To each 30 pounds of the manure add 10 pound3 of sawdust, good dried loam, or peat, 1$ pounds of acid phosphate, and 8 pounds of kainit. Such a mixture will contain about 1.25 per cent of nitrogen, 4.5 per cent of phosphoric acid, and 2- per cent of potash, which, used at the rate of two tons per acre would fur nish 50 pounds of nitrogen, 185 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 80 pounds of potash, and at the present price of fertilizing ingredients is worth about $10 per ton. The mix ture would furnish a well-balanced stable fertilizer, which, although not fine enough to work well In drills, can be successfully applied with a manure spreader. The treated manure should be well sheltered un til time to apply to the land that Is, shortly before plowing. Fertilizer Resources in America The ceasing of European Importa tions of potash need not create a permanent shortage of fertiliser in the United States. Kelp on the Pa cific Coast, coal by-producta and fish scrap may all be utilized In the man ufacture of potash or nitrogen, points out the United States Depart ment of Agriculture. IN DISCUSSING the fertilizer re sources of the United States, the Bureau of Soils, United States Department of Agriculture, in its annual report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1914, says in part: While the extraction of potash from such natural silicates as the feldspars Is quite feasible physically, it is not practicable economically, unless some other salable product is produced In the same operation. An investigation into the use of feld spar in the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen showed promise of a prac tical method of producing ammonia simultaneously with potash from feldspar. The most promising American source of potash, however, Is the an nual' crop of giant kelps on the Pa cific Coast. Working maps have now been made of nearly all the commercially available kelp beds from the Cedros Islands to the Shu magins, off the Alaskan Coast. The area of these beds aggregates nearly 400 square miles, capable of yielding annually, either as dried kelp or as pure potassium, chloride, over six times the present consumption of soluble potash salts in the United States, or something more than the world's present total production. The development of a great Amer ican Industry, based on the conserva tion and utilization of this important National resource, of fundamental importance to the National agricul tural interests, seems now to be a matter of time only. Getting Nitrogen. If all the coal that is now coked in the United States were treated in modern by-product ovens and the ammonia thereby saved, the nitrogen tonnage would be about that now consumed jn the fertilizer trade of the country. While the transition from the old "beehive" to the mod ern furnace method Is steadily pro gressing, the greater dependence for nitrogen carriers yet remains in cot tonseed meal, slaughterhouse by products, fish scrap, and some other less important materials. Tne growing and insistent demand for more nitrogenous feeds to sup Exports to Europe Show Big Increase Over Year of 1913 EXPORTS of breadstuffs, meats and other articles of food during September were larger than those In the corresponding month of any preceding year, wheat, oats, rice, and fresh and canned beet showing remarkable gains in comparison with their outward movement during Sep tember, 1913, and earlier years. An analysis of the September trade figures, completed by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, of the Department of Commerce, re veals the fact that American food stuffs are now in demand in foreign markets hitherto supplied in large measure by other countries. Examples in point are recent stilpments of large quantities of fresh beef to France (6,349,000 pounds), exports of flour to Europe and South Amer ica In unusual proportions, and sales of refined sugar in considerable amounts to foreign countries. The following table shows the ex ports of specified articles of food in the month of September, 1914, com pared with those in September of last year: Articles Sept., 1018. Sept., 1014. Foodstuffs, vslus.... 138,786,624 868,400,880 Cattle, number .1,8:4 8115 Hogs, number 101 286 Sheep, number 15,705 8,820 Bread, pounds...'.... 167.3S1 1,158.028 Corn, bushels 870,464 1,152,08 Corn meal, barrels... 26,506 2.1,527 Oats, bushels 818,028 10,780,165 Oatmeal, pounds 624,823 2,842,222 Hlce. pounds 1.486.903 10.44:1.817 Wheat, bushels 11,171,103 25,8(10,100 Wlieat flour, barrels. 1,231,445 1.237.000 Tanned salmon, lbs.. 2,84fl.6 4.MI.8U Beef, pounds 2.N.'.0,575 11.40U.3S7 Bacon, pounds 1,8;8.3S7 IT.sim.uie Refined sugar, lbs... 3,1)J4,540 02,2110,773 Eighty-two hundred head of cattle have been distributed among the Crow Indians of Montana. The cattle are Hereford grades. port the meat production demanded by the dietary customs of the Amer ican people is gradually, bUt steadily, withdrawing these "organic" carriers from the command of the fertilizer manufacturers, while the demand for nitrogen carriers is steadily increas ing. Necessity Predicted. The necessity for artificial meth ods of fixation of atmospheric nitro gen in the United States is not imme diately present, but is approaching rapidly. It would be premature to announce the results of the Depart ment's Investigations as yet, but the types of material which are of com mercial promise for American condi tions have been pretty well worked out and substantial progress has been made in the investigation of the fundamental technical factors which must control the production of these particular types. At the same time Investigation Is being made of other possible sources of nitrogen. Following up previous investigation of the possibilities In the fish-scrap industry of the Atlan tic Coast, already developed, a study has been made of the possibilities on the Pacific Coast, Including Alaska. The waste fish and fish refuse ap proximate annually 120,000 tons and can be made to yield about 12,000 tons of scrap (fertilizer) and 3,000, 000 gallons of oil, worth, perhaps, $1,800,000. A study is also now un der v;ay of the possibilities under American conditions of utilizing garbage and other city wastes. Phosphate Rock Wasted. Although Improvements are being made, the wastage of phosphate rock at the mines Is Btlil disconcertingly large. In Florida, where the most actively worked fields are situated, investigations of the Bureau of Soils have shown that practically two pounds of phosphorus goes to waste for every pound produced in mer chantable rock. Studies are now bfe ing made looking to the recovery or prevention of some of this wastage by mechanical methods, while sev eral chemical methods have been carefully Investigated. One of the latter is a modiriration of the well known sulphuric acid extraction, but by "steps." Extraction by electrol ysis has been shown to be econom ically impracticable, but the use of the electric current to produce tem peratures necessary for volatilization methods appears very promising, and at least two such methods are now being subjected to factory trials by outside commercial organizations. Attention Should Be Given Good Drainage of Barnyard DRAINAGE for the barnyard may be secured by preventing water from higher ground and from buildings flowing upon it, and by drawing off the water that falls. Flooding from higher grounds may be prevented by running a ditch or dyke along the higher sides, making the water go around the yard. From buildings the water should be con ducted by eave-troughs and down spouts to tile or pipes leading to a catch basin, built in a suitable part of the lot. Surface drainage provides for re moving the water from the surface by making the surface slope defi nitely to the catch basin, and by placing tiling about 30 inches deep every 20 or 30 feet apart over the entire lot. If necessary these tiles may be led to the catch basin for emptying. The catch basin should be made of stone, brick or concrete deep enough to catch the drainage and hold It until it settles. The water may be drawn off through a large tile or pipe into- the most convenient outlet. RIGHT KIND OF MEN ARE STUMP FARM SOLUTION Rrnl Pioneers on tlie Land Do the ItiiNlness More of Them Needed. "What man has done, man may do," seems to be. a very practical and useful maxim. "To find out what to do, go and see what someone else has done," Is another way of putting it that may bring it closer home to many readers. Pessimistic talk about the "logged off land problem" is much too fre quently heard these days. The logged-ott land problem is the problem of the man on ' the logged-off land. And when you put the problem that way, and go about to see what the man on the land has done with it, you at once see that the problem is quite soluble. Proof: " It is being solved all the time. GO AND SEE. Of course it is not being solved on as big a scale as It ought to be. But that Is simply because we have not enough of the right kind of men on the logged-off land. Clearing logged-off land Is no pic nic. To come right out in plain words, it is no place for a man who has gone out from town to pick money off the trees. In fact, clearing logged-off land Is pioneering, real pioneering, com parable to the kind of pioneering that originally laid this continent un der tribute to civilization. What we want Is the pioneering kind of a man on logged-off land. That kind of man who has for his partner that kind of woman is succeeding right along. If you don't believe that state ment go into any small city west of the Cascades and Inquire for the most successful farmer, for the man who now has the most In proportion to what he had when he started. When you have found that man's name, go get his story. You will be convinced. CASH THE CRUX. The writer of these words has had occasion to viBlt a number of such men. They farm In various ways. Some have pigs, some cows, some chickens, some all three. But they all strain every nerve to produce all the income possible on the place and to get rid of tbe stumps as soon as possible. These men usually have small places and very often do not have even a horse. Formerly they took their stumps out with hand work and dynamite. In the last year more and more of them are taking to the use of hand stump pullers. They almost in variably report that these machines enable them to get the stumps out quicker than before and with a less expenditure of cash for powder. And cash capital and Its econom ical use by the man on the land are the crux of the logged-off land prob lem. Apple wood, used almost exclu sively for saw handles, also furnishes the material for many so-called brier wood pipes and particularly for the large wooden type used la printing signs and posters.