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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1915)
HOME 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 Double-Entry Books for Co-operative Societies DOUBLE entry bookkeeping la urged upon all farmers' co-operative societies in a recent publication of the United States Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 17S, "Co-operative Organization Busiuess Meth ods." The very life of a co-operative organization, says the bulletin, depends upon the confidence its mem bers possess in it, and such confidence is impossible unless the records are unmistakably accurate. The double entry system is the only one which af fords a complete check and should, therefore, be adopted in all cases. Since the co-operative organiza tion acts as the agent of the grower in marketing his product, the books of the organization must not only contain the usual records of any business enterprise, but must also show a clear record of each grower's shipments. The system must be suf ficiently elastic to take care of the maximum volume of business at the busy seasons and at the same time be economical. The six essential requirement for such a system are stated in the bul letin as follows: (a) A complete set of financial records showing the business trans actions and the results thereof. (b) A record of each member's transactions with the organization. (c) Capability of taking care of a maximum amount of business during the shipping season. (d) Capability of returning to the members the proceeds from their products within a reasonable time. (e) Clear pooling records when kept, so that any discrimination can be shown quickly. (f) Auxiliary records which will give statistics and valuable informa tion for the conduct of the business. These records must be accurate. The necessity for providing a reg ular system for safeguarding the cash is also emphasized in this bul letin, and nine precautions are given which it is said should be adhered to strictly. (1) All entries of cash should be explicit, and items supporting such entries should be filed so that they are accessible for reference and veri fication. (2) No entries should be recorded in the cashbook which do not relate to cash. "(3) The full receipts of each day should be deposited in the bank. (4) All canceled checks should be filed in numerical order. (5) Duplicate checks should al ways be covered by indemnity bonds. (6) Reconciliation should be made each month between cash or check register and bank pass-book balances. (7) Permanent record of these re conciliations should be made. (8) Checks, sale3 slips, receipts, etc., should be numbered with a num bering machine. Any which are spoiled should be marked void and left in the book. (9) A' regular system should be used for the acknowledgment of all cash sales or miscellaneous cash items received. The auditing of accounts also should receive more attention than is frequently the case. At least once a year an expert accountant should go over the books of the organization. To minimize the cost of this, small associations or circles can be formed by the organizations within a certain radius and a competent auditor can be engaged to do the auditing for all. Unnecessary. A hungry customer seated himself at a table in a quick-lunch restaurant and ordered a chicken pie. When it arrived he raised the lid and sat gaz ing at the contents intently for a while. Then he called the waiter "Look here, Sam," he said, "what did I order? "Chicken pie, sab." "And what have you brought me?" "Chicken pie, sah." "Chicken pie, you black rascal!" the customer replied. "Chicken pie? Why, there's not a piece of chicken in It, and never was." "Dat's right, boss dey ain't no chicken in it." "Then why do they call it chicken pie? I never heard of such a thing.' "Dat's all right, boss. Dey don't have to be no chicken in a chicken pie. Dey ain't no dog In a dog biscuit, is dey?" Potatoes Make a Good Substitute for Bread IP wheat remains at its present high figure or continues to rise in price and if there is a corresponding in crease In the price of bread, scien tists In the United States Department of Agriculture suggest that the ordi nary household will find It advantage ous to eat more potatoes and less bread. With potatoes at 60 cents a bushel,' 10 cents worth or 10 pounds will give the consumer a little more actual nourishment than two one-pound loaves of bread at 5 cents each. The protein and fat are present in appre ciably larger amounts in the bread, but the potatoes will be found to fur nish more carbohydrates, and more heat units. Carbohydrates (starch) contribute greatly to the energy value of any diet and since potatoes are rich in these, families that wish to expend their money to the best advantage are recommended to consider wheth er they cannot make a more extended use of them. They are easy to cook and when prepared in different ways can be made to lend variety to the winter diet when green vegetables are hard to obtain. Like other foods relatively rich in carbohydrates, however, potatoes should be eaten with foods corre spondingly rich in protein, such as milk, meat, eggs, etc., and with foods like butter, cream and meat fat to supply the fat that the body needs. Under normal conditions in Europe and America the potato ranks next to bread as a carbohydrate food. If prices change sufficiently to make it desirable from a financial point of view there is no scientific reason why potatoes should not be substituted to a great extent for bread. In addition the potato like many fruits and vegetables, helps to neu tralize an acid condition in the body. This is another reason for its being eaten in combination with meat, fish and other animal foods. Many Varieties From Native American Plum THE wild North American plum has given rise to more cultivated va rieties than any other of the native fruits except the grpe. These varie ties have mainly originated in the Mississippi Valley, Iowa alone having furnished 175, Minnesota 74, and South Dakota 44. In Texas 97 va rieties have originated. In these Western and Southern re gions where several of the species ap pear to have reached their greatest perfection in the wild condition the greatest development in the future, under cultivation, may probably also be expected to take place, according to a new bulletin of the United States Department of Agriculture (No. 172) entitled "The Varieties of Plums De rived from Native American Species." The new publication is a profes sional paper which should be of especial interest to the growers of fruit, particularly those engaged In plum breeding. It gives a list of na tive varieties and hybrids showing the origin of each variety and the species to which it belongs, which should be of considerable value to the nursery man and orchardlst. With few fruits has there been an equal opportunity to report step by step the advance which has been made since the original of the first named variety was planted and culti vated in a garden. The new bulletin, therefore, places on record a distinct achievement of American horticultur ists who have developed a fruit the value of which was long overlooked. Foxy Pa. "He is very popular with his wife of late." "And him such a flirt. How does he do it?" "She called him up the other day and said: 'Hello, darling,' and he recognized her voice and replied: 'You have evi dently made a mistake; I am not your darling. I have the dearest, sweet est, most beautiful wife in the world, and she Is the only woman I permit to call me darling!' " March Estimate of Grain Crops THE crop reporting board of the bureau of crop estimate, from reports of correspondents and agents, estimates that the amount of wheat on farms March 1, 1915, was about 152,903,000 bushels or 17.2 per cent of the 1914 crop, against 151,809,000 bushels or 19.9 per cent of the 1913 crop on farms March 1, 1914, and the 156,483,000 bushels or 21.4 per cent of the 1912 crop on farms March 1, 1913. About 60.7 per cent of the crop will be shipped out of the counties where grown, against 53.9 per cent of the 1913 crop and t1.6 per cent of the 1912 crop so shipped. The amount of corn on farms March. 1, 1915, was about 910,894,- 000 bushels or 34.1 per cent of the 1914 crop, against 866,392,000 bush els, or 35.4 per cent of the 1913 crop on farms March 1, 1914, and 1,- 289,655,000 bushels or 41.3 per cent of the 1912 crop on farms March 1, 1913. About 18.6 per cent of the crop will be shipped out of the coun ties where grown, against 17.2 per cent of the 1913 crop and 21.8 per cent of the 1912 crop so shipped. The proportion of the 1914 crop which Is merchantablo Is about 84.5 per cent, against 80.1 per cent of the 1913 crop and 85.0 per cent of the 1912 crop. The amount of oats on farms March 1, 1915, was about 379,369,- 000 bushels or 33.2 per cent of the 1914 crop, against 419,476,000 bush els or 37.4 per cent of tho 1913 crop on farms March 1, 1914, and 604, 216,000 bushels or 42.6 per cent of the 1912 crop on farms March 1, 1913. About 29.4 per cent of the crop will be shipped out of the coun ties where grown, against 26.5 per cent of the 1913 crop and 30.9 per cent of the 1912 crop so shipped. The amount of barley on farms March 1, 1915, was about 42,889,000 bushels or 22.0 per cent of the 1914 crop, against 44,126,000 bushels or 24.8 per cent of the 1913 crop on farms March 1, 1914, and 62,283,000 bushels or 27.8 per cent of the 1912 crop on farms March 1, 1913. About 45.1 per cent will be shipped out of the counties where grown, against 48.4 per cent of the 1913 crop and 53.7 per cent of the 1912 crop so shipped. Soil Considerations for Grower of Apples DEPTH of subsoil as a necessity for successful apple growing Is strongly emphasized in a new bulletin of the United States Department of Agriculture (No. 140) which, al though dealing primarily with condi tions in Connecticut and Massachu setts, contains much information of value to orcbardlsts all over the country. The presence of unbroken rock, large ledges, or hardpan within three feet of the surface, the bulletin con siders prohibitive, and a soil depth of at least six feet is almost a neces sity. An even greater depth is de sirable. There Is also no foundation tor the popular belief that the pres ence of stones is useful. Their only benefit is to loosen to some degree the excessive compactness of clayey, stiff soils which, however, are never the best fitted for fruit growing. True hardpan, the bulletin points out, is not a clay loam which may under certain circumstances consti tute a desirable subsoil, but is a mix ture of sand, gravel, Boll and clay with more or less cementing material which binds the mass together so that the movement of moisture in both directions Is seriously impeded. where hardpan Is found close to the surface it can sometimea be broken up by the use of dynamite. This, however, is an expensive process and with tho prevailing prlceB for good or chard lands, it will te better for the fruitgrower to select soli which does not require it. The cultural methods employed In an orchard should always be flexible and .adapted to the Individual soil characteristics. It Is better to adapt the varieties to be grown to the soil rather than to attempt to change the nature of the latter. For any kind of orchard planting the soil should be deep, well drained, and friable, yet not so porous as to be droughty. The exact soil best suited to each variety of apple will depend largely, however, on such climatic factors as the range of temperature, the rainfall, the surface drainage, ex posure, etc. If these climatic fac tors are unfavorable for any given variety the character of the soil will not make it possible to grow this fruit successfully unless it serves to offset the unfavorable conditions. For example, apples ripen a little later on a northerly Blopo than on a southern one. They also ripen earlier on a sandy loam than on heavier soils. Thus a light soil on the north 6lde of a hill may produce earlier fruit than a heavier one on the south side. STOCKS OF WHEAT AND CORN ON FARMS, AND PRICES, MARCH 1, BY IMPORTANT STATES. STATE. Pennsylvania. , Ohio Indiana Illinois Michigan. . . . . . Wisconsin Minnesota Iowa Missouri i North Dakota. South Dakota. Nebraska.. ... Kansas Kentucky Tennessee. . . .. Texas Oklahoma Montana. , . , Colorado. . .. , . tlfnh Idaho WunhlnKton. Oregon WHEAT. CUll.N. Millions of I Price, Millions of Price, Bushels. t Cents. Bushels. . Cents. IFlve Flve Yr. Year Av. 191G. 1914. 1916. 1914. Av. 1915. 1914. 1 1 1 1 1 B.5 6.6 6.9 142 95 21.8 21.7 20.4 S3 71 8.0 9.8 8.1 141 92 45.7 54.1 60.6 73 63 6.5 8.0 6.5 142 91 68.8 65.3 74.3 70 61 6.6 7.1 6.2 134 87 99.0 101.6 150.0 68 60 4.0 3.3 8.9 139 92 19.5 18.0 18.4 73 66 0.9 1.3 1.1 132 83 18.9 24.7 18.7 71 59 10.3 19.7 17.5 126 83 26.4 33.6 27.2 62 50 3.0 4.3 3.6 137 79 140.2 125.2 147.3 65 56 6.9 6.7 5.6 137 87 38.0 28.4 71.3 76 72 15.5 15.0 20.0 134 80 2.7 2.2 1.4 67 67 6.9 9.2 10.0 128 78 23.4 20.9 19.2 62 64 10.9 13,7 12.4 131 74 71.3 27.4 64.3 64 60 30.1 10.4 12.6 133 79 29.2 1.4 44.6 74 71 1.3 1.3 1.4 143 97 84.7 25.4 35.3 77 79 1.8 1.3 1.5 143 103 33.0 28.9 83.8 81 82 1.5 1.4 1.0 139 90 28.7 49.0 86.4 96 87 4.8 1.4 2.1 130 80 10.0 9.4 19.2 88 75 3.5 4.8 3.4 120 65 0.2 0.3 0.1 . . 2.0 2.3 2.2 120 75 4.0 2.0 1.8 68 68 1.7 1.8 1.8 181 715 O.l T-4 2.4 2.7 2.9 122 67 O.l SO 73 5.0 0.4 0.3 128 77 0.2 0.2 O.l 08 71 1.8 1.7 2.1 128 80 0.1 0.1 O.l 100 77 152.9 lRl.8jl50.6ll3S.ti 83.1 910.9 866.4 1.036.6 75.1 69.1 Pack "Spuds" for South America With Due Care NEW markets in South America opened by the war to potato growers in this country are being en dangered by lack of care In packing and shipping, according to reports re ceived by the United States Depart ment of Agriculture. Before the war South America was supplied with Its potatoes, in great measure at least, from Europe, and these orders have now been diverted to this country. Federal inspectors stationed In New York who have Inspected pota toes offered for shipment to see that they complied with the requirements of the importing countries, report, however, that because of the long voyage and the high temperatures en countered In the tropics, certain ship ments from New York to Brazil and Uruguay have arrived In bad condi tion. Some of these potatoes were found to have been attacked by fungi causing a soft rot, and others which appeared perfectly sound externally were black in the center. To obviate this difficulty, shippers are urged to take a fow simple pre cautions. In sorting and packing po tatoes for export through the tropics the following points should be care fully obKerved: 1. All badly bruised or cut pota toes should be thrown out. 2. Frosted potatoes should be ex cluded. 3. No potatoes that have even small spots of dry rot or that show the sunken discolored spots caused by late blight should be included. 4. Barrels should be well ventil ated by cutting a liberal number of holes in their sides. 5. Shippers should insist that the potatoes be stowed in a cool, well vonilated part of the vessel.