HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION The Agricultural College Is a Friend to the Farmer rage of JNews JNotes ana interesting Armies written Dy v,ouege j&xpens. , 4 ft IflSfedsv.; J. V-wi VIEW OF OREGON AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE AT tORVALLIS, OR. ITS SOLE AIM IS TO AID AGRICULTURISTS. Now Is Time for Sweet Pea Growers to Hustle 4TT is time now to consider the 1 planting of sweet peas," says Professor A. L. Peck, landscape gar dener of Oregon Agricultural Col lege. "The sowing of this crop can be carried on either in the Fall of the year, or at this time in early Spring. The peas should be sown in good garden soil, providing this ground is not subject to heavy soak ing of water from now on. It should be planted in such situation that no trouble from over-shading can occur. A row running north and south, right out in full sunlight, is to be preferred. It is true that sweet peas often do well even planted along the north I side of a house, but speaking of av erage conditions, the open is to be preferred. "The soil should be carefully pre pared, spading to a depth of at least a foot, and turning in, in the lower six inches of this soil, a liberal amount of well-decomposed barn yard manure. It is best to prepare the soil in this manner during the Fall, and, if possible, to plant the seed at that time. Should planting not prove feasible, and in case it is delayed until Spring, the top six inches of the soil Bhould be stirred over again with a spade before plant ing. "As soon as the soil is in good working condition, the sweet peas can be set out, or sown. For sowing the seed, dig a small trench or furrow, about 4 or 5 inches deep, smooth the surface of the soil in the bottom of this trench and sow the seed evenly, using about one ounce of seed to 15 or 18 feet of the row. Then cover with two inches of soil. When the seedlings are four or five inches high, one can thin out so that the plants will remain about six inches apart in the row. At this time one should have cata logues from the various seedsmen at hand, and he will he able to use these publications to aid him in selecting his varieties of sweet peas. Many neoiile prefer to plant sweet peas in mixtures. In Ibis case some of the most satisfactory varieties can be ob tained, and at that somewhat more cheaply than could the named va rieties in separate packets. There are several places in town where sweet pea seed can be pur chased, and the prices run from E cents a packet, for a liberal amount of seed, up to much higher prices for the newer varieties, which are offered for sale for the plantings of the sweet pea fancier. Stump Pulling Demonstrated, (Special.) A land clearing demonstration was added to the numerous attractive events scheduled for farmers' week at the Oregon Agricultural College, February 1 to 6. The demonstration included stump burning, stump pull inz and stumo blasting. Each proc ess was handled by experts who showed six different processes. Th demonstration took place on a farm a short distance from Corvallis at o'clock Saturday afternoon, Febru arv 6. Carryalls left the college campus at 1:30 so that all who were interested in tne ciemonst ration could be taken to the ground with nut charge. Tho demonstrations were under the immediate charge of Professor H. D. Scudder, of th agronomy department. A page of Interesting items from the Oregon Agricultural College at Corvalll will alternate in tho farm weekly with a page of news notee from the Washington SI Hie College at Pullman. Thin will afford an In terchange of ven-e from the two big agricultural college of tho North west that should prove of benefit to the reader, for the Institution! deal with similar problems. Umatilla Sub-Station Issues Report of Work C OIL and climatic conditions pre J vailing on the Umatilla reclam ation project were considered by the reclamation service to be better adapted to the production of fruit than to other crops. As a result of this early decision, tho land was di vided into small units with a view to the development of small intensively farmed fruit and garden tracts." The foregoing is a quotation from the re port of the Umatilla branch experi ment station, made by Superintendent Ralph W. Allen and issued by the Oregon Agricultural College experi ment station under the direction of Director A. B. Cordley. The report tells further how and for what pur pose the branch station was estab lished, how it is maintained and man aged, how it views the leading feat ures of its activities since its estab lishment. The report says further 'The predominating soil type on the Umatilla project, upon which the station is located, is sand, ranging in texture from coarse to fine. Approx imately half of this area is of coarse sand and the remainder ranges in character from medium to fine. The Igher land that lies back from the Columbia River is mostly of finer texture. The soils are markedly de ficient in organic matter and nitro gen. The physical character of this land renders the duty of irrigation water very low. From a soil stand point, the correction of these two dif ficulties, which are among the prin cipal factors influencing crop pro- uction, is of the utmost importance. "Climatic conditions of this district are very congenial lor crop growtu. They are a rare combination of dry atmosphere and dry weather. The effect is comparatively long growing seasons and mild, open winters. Conditions on this tract are such as render necessary scientific investi gation in eradication of alkali, secur ing stands of crops, crop rotations, and the economical use of water and increasing soil fertility. Reports of experiments with truck crops, strawDerries, cane iruits ana tree fruits as carried on in field plats are given in the new bulletin, free copies of which may be had by all In terested persons upon request ad dressed to the Oregon Agricultural College. Students Give Book Fund. With instructions to select a small library of books suitable to the farm home and covering as wide a range of practical subjects as possible, the Oregon Agricultural College short course students of 1915 have re quested the college authorities to ac cept the special fund raised for this purpose. This action by the short course students was taken tor tne purpose of expressing their apprecia tion of the courtesies shown them by the college and of. the valuable infor mation and training which they se cured during their short course work. This action was in line with prece dents , established by other short course classes at the college. While the books purchased with this special fund are designed primar ily for the use of short course stu dents, they are also accessible to the degree and the vocational students and to the college faculties. The list will be selected and purchased by Dean A. B. Cordley, of the school of agriculture, and Mrs. Ida Kidder, li brarian. The class of 1915 elected J. II. Glines, of Waldport, president, "be cause," said the members, "he has attended two short courses before and knows tho 'ropes,' ', Mrs. J. M. Waldrip, who owns and manages a farm on San Juan Island in Puget Sound,-was elected secretary, and H. F. Hawkins, of Salem, was elected treasurer. Mr. Hawkins is now man aging the dairy end of a 1600-acre ranch near Dallas. P, C. Burt, of Bend, was chosen to solicit the spe cial funds for the library donation Report of John Jacob Astor Branch Station IN 1913 an agricultural experiment station was established in Clatsop County for the purpose of investigat ing and demonstrating agricultural possibilities of reclaimed swamp liftid and logged off land. The biennial re port of this station, known as the John Jacob Astor branch experiment station, has been issued by the Agri cultural College Experiment Station under the direction of Director A. B. Cordley. In this report, issued as an experiment station bulletin, are summed up the principal facts of es tablishment and maintenance of the station and the result of its operation during the last two years. The John Jacob Astor branch sta tion is situated four miles from Asto ria on Young's River. Of the 70 acres comprising the farm, 50 acres are tide land and 20 acres logged-off hill laud. This represents the aver age types of land in Clatsop County and the methods and results secured In its management and use will prove of much interest to owners of similar types. Methods of draining and clearing the tide lands of their dense growth of rushes, reeds and swamp grasses are summarized in the report. Some of these methods were quite differ ent from those generally followed In clearing these lands and some very excellent results have been secured by them. Iu addition to this the bul letin describes the cropping systems that were employed successfully in connection with the clearing methods. Care of Spring Lambs. "The Spring of the year is the shepherd's harvest. After the long Winter of ceaseless toil and caro the lambing time is the joy and the fruit of the shepherd's labors. To him it is the greatest pleasure to welcome each new-born babe, whether it be single, twin or triplet. But like the grain harvest, lambing time is not a time of ease. The successful shep herd is very skillful at this time and uses his best judgment in feeding and caring for the flock." So says Professor 0. M. Nelson, specialist at the Oregon Agricultural College in sheep production, lie be lieves that a little grain should be given the ewes a month or so before lambing. Small amounts Bhould be used in beginning the feed, which may consist of one and one-balf parts of oats to one part bran fed with roots, silage, alfalfa or vetch and clover. The ewes should have the run of a good pasture and access to a shed. As soon as the lambs come the ewes should be tagged and taught to own their lambs. By tagging, that Is cllDoine the wool awfrora the udder, the lamb is given a good chance in his first claim to life. Many lambs have been killed by sucking locks of wool Instead of the nipple intended for them. Neglect to see that the lamb takes all the milk pro duced by the mother may lead to caked and Inflamed udders. Time Now to Set Hens to Get Winter Layers THE latter part ot March or first of April is the best time that Eastern Oregon poultry raisers can select for hatching next Winter's lay ers, according to Professor A. G. Lunn, of the Oregon Agricultural Col lege poultry department. Eggs for these hatchings would, of course, be set from the first to the middle ot March. "A difficulty in producing pullets that will lay during the Winter mouths is the problem ot preventing them from beginning to lay before cold weather," continued Mr. I.unn. If they mature and begin laying earlier than this they will likely molt when they should be producing eggs. When cold weather catches the pul lets in molt they need all their pow ers to maintain bodily vigor and usu ally will stop laying until the warm days of Spring come. "If pullets molt In Winter It is probably because they are hatched too early In the season. They reach maturity while It is still warm, be gin laying and then go into the molt. This is where one of the' greatest troubles lies. "It is a mistake also to Hiink that pullets hatched In Winter will make the best Winter layers. "A Leghorn hen requires on the average seven months to mature to the point where it will begin to lay. Heavy breeds of chickens require one or two months additional. Leghorn chickens hatched soon after the mid dle of March, if they make normal development, should begin to lay In October when their chances of molt ing will bo reduced to the minimum. "Chicks that are hatched in late Spring or early Summer are not apt to thrive well on account of the scarc ity of proper forage and because of other influences that tend to keep them from growing into vigorous and healthy fowls and good layers. Importance of Marketing. "The whole industry of vegetable production rests upon marketing, yet this phase of the subject has been given but scant attention while meth ods of production have engaged the serious consideration of Oregon grow ers for many years," says Professor A. O. Bouquet, head of vegetable gar dening at the Agricultural College "Every plan and all the activities of growers are based upon their ef fects on the sale of his products. SincH success in marketing each product by the route that brings the mlghest net returns to the grower depends upon having the kind and quality of produot demanded -by accessible mar kets, tho successful market gardener will always take his market demands into consideration In planning his garden and selecting his crops. It is what he markets, not what he grows, that determines the success ot the gardener." Rural Life Supports Urban. "Out of the agricultural colleges must come the solution ot the great and serious problem of building a rural life to stand the strain of car ing for the congested cities of the future," said Walter M. Pierce, of the Oregon Agricultural College Board ot Regents. "More than that, it will be the peculiar mission of the agricultural colleges to make farm life so profit able and attractive that rural settle ment will keep pace with city growth far more nearly than It has In the past. Why, when I was a boy on a farm near Chicago, that city num bered but 300,000 people. Its pop ulation has since swelled to about 3,000,000, while the rural community in which I lived has scarcely In creased at all. "Hero In our own Oregon the pop ulation of Portland is fast mounting toward the million mark, which it will reach in due time. But what about the Willamette Valley? We confidently looit to our own Agricul tural College to solve the problem of building a rural life here that will support the crowded city." Hog Breed Small Factor. In starting hog raising growers need not be concerned very seriously about the breed of hogs they select, according to the O. A. C. animal hus bandry department. Each of the three principal breeds in Oregon Poland China, Berkshire and Duroe Jersey, has its points of superiority and Inferiority, and there Is said to be about as much difference in indi viduals as between breeds. Some run more to tho fat hog and lard type and others more to the bacon type, while some are rather earlier maturing than others. But the main consideration in selecting the breed is to choose tho one that suits the breeder's ideas and purposes best, and then stick to it and build it up by careful selection and proper management.