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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1915)
IIOME 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; Result of Federal Investigations, Etc. 8 Para-Dichlorobenzene Is a New Insecticide 4P A RA-DICHl.ORO BENZENE" is the formidable name of a chemical compound which has only recently been used as an insecticide, but which, in being non-inflammable and comparatively inexpensive, pos sesses advantages over other fumi gants. The United States Depart ment of Agriculture's new bulletin (No. 167) is entitled, "Para-dichloro-benzene as an Insect Fumigant," and points out that the compound, al though deadly to insects, is harmless to human beings under ordinary con ditions and does not have an odor which clings to fabrics as do many insecticides. Para-dichlorobenzene is applied in most instances in the same manner as camphor and napthalene. Jt is not, however, necessary to sprinkle it around in corners or over rugs and other material, as is often the case with camphor and napthalene, but merely to expose a sufficient quantity in one or two open or par tially open receptacles, placed over, or higher, than the infested cases, goods, and materia which requires fumigation. Para-dichlorobenzene at the pres ent time is sold iu 5, 10, 23, 50 and 100-pound and barrel lots, the prices for which are as follows: 23 cents per pound in 5, 10 and , 25-pound lots. 18 cents per pound in 50-pound lots. 17 cents per pound in 100-pound lots. 15 cents per pound in barrel lots. if any considerable quantity ig to be used, it is much better to purchase of some wholesale druggist or direct from the manufacturers. Para-dichlorobenzene is applicable to many insect pests living under various conditions and environment, and therefore requires specific meth ods of application, and, unlike car bon bi-sulphid, it is at the present time used only indoors and in other places where its vapors can be close ly confined. As there is a great variation in the tenacity of life among, insects, the existing condi tions should be carefully noted be fore para-dichlorobenzene is applied. Beetles, such as the rice weevil, granary weevil, the confused flour beetle, the cadelle, the yellow meal worm, and a few others less com mon are particularly hard to kill when in the adult stage. The larvae of certain other mealworms are like wise found by experiment to pos sess great tenacity of life. It is therefore recommended that a pro portionately larger amount of para- dichlorobenzene be used when com bating these species. Moths, flies, roaches, ants and aphides are readily killed by para- dichlorobenzene when used in the ordinary strength as previously rec ommended. Fumigation Method for Imported Seed A SATISFACTORY method for de stroying injurious insects in im ported seed without affecting the value of the seed has been used by the United States Department of Ag riculture, and is described in a new bulletin (No. 18S) entitled, "A Meth od of Fumigating Seed." Interested individuals who apply to the depart ment at Washington, D. C, will be sent the bulletin. Jn the new method the infested jr? is placed in a chamber in which a partial vacuum has been created. The chamber is then filled with a very deadly gas-hydro-cyanle acid, which penetrates more effectively into the seed because of the previ ously created vacuum. It has been found that a considerably shorter exposure was necessary in using this method of fumigation than in the usual method. The bulletin de scribes the experiment completely, giving details and illustrations of the chamber used in the experiment. Hydro-cyanic acid Is, of course, a most dangerous poison and should not be handled by, any except those who are thoroughly familiar with it. Another gas carbon bl-sulphid is to be used by the department in a similar experiment, the results of which will be announced later. Alfalfa should never be allowed to dry thoroughly n the sun. It makes the leaves shatter and otherwise in jures the hay. Rural Community Organization S SCHEME for the organization of rural communities for both business and social purposes is worked out in an article which is to appear in the forthcoming Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, and which has already been printed as a pamphlet for the use of the Depart ment's office of markets and rural organization. The scheme calls for 10 commit tees, five of which are to deal with business needs, and five with social needs. Every member of the organ ization is to serve on some one of these committees. In addition, there is to be a central or executive com mittee composed of the president of the organization, its secretary, its treasurer, and the chairman of the 10 other committees. This central body Is to direct the general policy of the organization, raise all funds and control their expenditures. The committees that are to deal with the business interests of the community are as folows: Business Committees. 1. Committee on farm production. 2. Commitee on marketing. 3. Committee on securing farm supplies. 4. Committee on farm finance and accounting. 5. Committee on communication and transportation. Social Committees. Similarly, the five committees that attend to the community's social in terests will deal with: 1. Education. 2. Sanitation. 3. Recreation. Beautification. 5. Household economics. The work of most of these com mittees is indicated sufficiently clearly by their titles; for example, the committee on production can do much good by improving the breeds of live stock in a community through co-operative purchases of pure-bred males. It can encourage the formation of corn, poultry, pig, cattle, canning and gardening clubs which have al ready demonstated their value in the sections where they have been estab lished: and it can carry on useful studies of the type of agriculture best fitted to local conditions. Marketing. In the same way. the committee on marketing can secure the stand ardization of the community's prod ucts and thus obtain better prices than are possible when nondescript goods are dumped upon the market. The committee can also search out the best markets, make contracts on a large scale which will be more fa vorable than any Individual can se cure for himself, and In many other ways economize in the selling -i the community's goods. Even if co-operative marketing Is not actually re sorted to, the information which the committee collects can hardly fail to be of great assistance to the individ ual shippers. Just as the committee on market ing can facilitate Belling, the com mittee on farm supplies can econo mize in buying. Farmers are warned however, not to underestimate the cost of running a store or commer cial agency, and not to overestimate the saving which this can effect. The co-operatiive society, of course, does away with the necessity of the store's making a profit, but somebody must manage the store and that somebody must be paid for his time. His sal ary, therefore, corresponds in a way to the ordinary store's profit, and it is not always possible to secure a good man for less than he would be able to make in business for him self. Purchasing. There are, however, several meth ods of purchasing farm supplies co operatively, which will be found to be of advantage. The simplest is the joint order, In which a group of farmers can buy a given article in large quantities, thereby effecting a considerable saving in the expense of handling, commissions, etc. Some times when this method is adopted a warehouse is added which Is owned or rented co-operatively, and in which the goods are stored until the associated purchasers need them. If these two methods have been tried and found successful It may be desirable to carry them out to their logical development and con duct a co-operative store which ren ders the same service to its cus tomers that a private enterprise would. This, however, inevitably leads to complications and should only be undertaken after some ex perience with similar methods of co operation. With the committee on farm finance and accounting, the first duty is to ascertain what farm en terprises can safely be financed. This is only possible when accurate ac counts are kept and carefully ana lyzed. After this has been done the next step is to secure the most fa vorable terms for financing proper and sound enterprises. This is fre quently not difficult if the commit tee has thoroughly mastered the sub ject and is able to put it clearly be fore local bankers. Securing Capital. Where the local bankers are un willing to finance genuinely product ive enterprises at a reasonable rate of Interest the committee must con sider other ways of securing capital. One of the simplest plans for accom plishing this is a credit union or co operative credit association. The es sential features of this plan are that a group of farmers organlzo them selves to receive deposits and make loans. By keeping the expenses down to a minimum It has been possible in some cases for such associations to pay interest on deposits that is within 1 per cent of the Interest It charges on loans. The committee on communication and transportation should deal pri marily with the roads and telephones. The keynote of the work should be organized self-help, not appeals to get Government help. Just as the five business commit tees are to grapple with the funda mental problems of producing and selling in their various forms, the five social committees should direct their efforts to the improvement of living conditions In the country. Increasing Average Income. To increase the farmer's Income is not the only thing needed to make rural life what it should be. As a matter of fact, says this article, it is the prosperous farmer who Is more inclined to move to town than his less fortunate neighbor. Having accumulated a competence he wishes to enjoy it, and there are five principal reasons which lead him to believe that he can do this better in the city: First, there are usually better facilities for educat ing his children; second, the sani tary conditions are frequently much better in towns, and the time does not seem to be far distant when the cities will be actuallj more health ful than the country. Again, house hold conveniences such as hot and cold water, heating and lighting sys tems, etc., are more abundant in the towns and add greatly to the com fort of living. Finally, there is more opportunity for recreation In the city, and frequently, strange as It may ap pear, more to appeal to the Bense of beauty that Is Inherent in practically every man. Co-operation on the part of rural communities can do as much to al ter these conditions as it can to in crease the average cash income. The committees that have these matters in charge should, therefore, be re garded as quite as important as those which deal with business questions, and they should receive the same support from the entire community which they are endeavoring to ben efit. The result will be a community spirit which. In its way, is capable of producing as valuable results as the National spirit. In fact, says the article in closing, "Patriotism, like charity, begins at home that is, in the neighborhood." Out of (lie Mouths of Youths. "Remember, boys," said the mas ter, "that in the bright lexicon of youth there is no such word as fail." After a few moments a boy raised his hand. "Well, what is it, my lad?" asked the master. "I was merely going to suggest," replied the youngster, "that if such Is the case it would be advisable to write to the publishers of that lexicon and call their attention to the omis sion." Kansas Cily Star- January Movement of Apples From Storage ACCORDING to Investigations con ducted by the Office of Markets, United States Department of Agri culture, there was an increase In the movement of cold storage apples dur ing January' as compared with De cember. It is impossible to give the total quantities of boxes and bar rels in storage on February 1 be cause many firms withhold informa tion as to their holdings. However, it is thought that a sufficient num ber are co-operating with tho Office of Markets to warrant conclusions as to the total movement throughout the country. Basing estimates upon the returns from a large number of commercial apple cold storages and granting the conditions for this number are rep resentative of the whole, it appears () that holdings on February 1, 1915, wero 28.4 per cent greater than on the same date two years ago; (2) that 25.2 per cent of the total holdings have been moved since December 1, the decrease of barreled Btock being 28.4 per cent and boxes 17 per cent; (3) that during Janu ary 17 per cent of barreled apples and 10.6 per cent of boxed apples were taken out of cold storage, the total decrease on the basis of hold ings December 1 being 15.6 per cent. It was not thought that the de mand for cold storage apples in Jan uary would be very much greater than in December, owing to the fact. as pointed out In a previous report, that the large supply of common storage stock, together with Christ mas purchases, would restrict the movement of apples from cold stor age during last month. The attention of those interested is called again to the fact that prac tically all common storage apples. as a rule, rass Into consumption by the first of February, if this con dition has been true of the present season, it is thought that the move ment of cold storage apples will be very large during February and March. The supply certainly Is bountiful and, as the result of low prices and a largo demand, it Is thought the consumption during the next few months will bo sufficient to exhaust tho supply. The advisability cf moving the stocks as rapidly as possible Is urged upon growers and dealers so that the unusually large holdings may diminish sufficiently to preveut dis aster in April or May. Progress in Campaign Against Powdery Scab THE campaign against powdery scab In Maine nntntnen hn nn resulted in the freeing of the fol lowing districts; The towns of Med way, Woodvllle, Mntlewamkeag, Winn, Kingman mid Trentiss, and the plnnlatlons of Webster and Drew, in Penobscot County; and the plantations of Molunkus and Mac wahoc, In Aroostook County. Table potatoes grown within theso areas may now be sniped In interstate commerce without restriction. It is also announced In the service and regulatory announcements of the Federal Horticultural Board that the Island of Bornhoim, In Denmark, has been freed from the disease, and that potatoes can now be Imported into this -country from there. These Importations were stopped In May, 1914, when powdery Bcab was found in two bags among a consignment of 4 80 from tho Island. The regulations governing the po tato quarantine have also been amended in one or two respects. Un der the now regulations potatoes transported in packages can only be put In containers which are either new or hnve been Rterllized since last used. Each container must also have a card initialed by the inspector who issued it, In tho case of car load lots, however, one card is suf ficient. Car or schooner lots must be kept separate, in ease of reBhlp ment, from other potatoes. The service and regulatory an nouncements of the Federal Horti cultural Board also contain notices of three fines, of $25 each, Imposed for violations of tho glpHy moth and brown-tall moth quarantine by per sons who shipped Christmas trees out of Massachusetts; and two other fines, of $25 and $15, for shipping forest products out of the same state.
