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. ,
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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.