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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (May 13, 1915)
4 HOME AKD FARM MAGAZINE SECTION- Editorial Page of Home and Farm Magazine Section Timely, Pertinent Comment Upon Men and Affairs, Following-the Trend of World News; Suggestions of Interest to Readers; Hints Along Lines of Progressive Farm Thought. TO ADVERTISERS. Advertisers in tliis locality who wish to fully covef all sections of Oregon and Wash ington and a portion of Idaho will apply to local publishers for rates. General advertisers may address C. L. Bur ton, Advertising Manager of Oregon-Washing-ton-Idaho Farmer, Oregonlan Building, Port land, Oregon, for rates and information. TO READERS. Readers are requested to send letters and articles for pnblieation to The Editor, Or egon - Washington Idaho Fanner, Oregoniau tiuilding, Portland, Oregon. Discussions on questions and problems that bear directly on the agricultural, live stock 'and poultry interests of the Northwest, and on the uplift and comfort of the farm home always are welcomed. No letters treat ing of religion, politics or the European war re solicited, for the Oregon-Washington-Idaho Farmer proclaims neutrality on these matters. Comparatively brief contributions are pre ferred to long ones. Send us also photo graphs of your livestock and farm scenes that you think would be of general interest. We wish to make this magazine of value to you. Help us to 4 it. A GROUNDHOG CASE. THE groundhog is supposed to come out of his hole on February 2, and if he sees his shadow he returns to his hole and stays there six weeks. "We've had an overabundance of financial "groundhogs for the past year and none of them have waited for the second of Febru ary to arrive. They have been in hibernation for twelve months, only occasionally coming out. Then, as. soon as they saw the shadow of some fool's remark that times were hard, they have immediately gone back into hiberna tion, to remain as long as possible, and if they came out again it was only to grab some poor devil whose finances were in such bad shape that they could devour him. February 2 is a good day for all financial groundhogs to come out of their holes and stay out. Times are good and they are getting bet ter. If you have money in the bank use it. Buy something you need or something as an investment. The Pacific Northwest will not see a sim ilar time in ten years when conditions will so warrant the buying of farms, of stock, and of equipment. It will be a long time before you will see again the great oppor tunity for investment presented today. MACHINERY AND THE FARM. THE American farmer differs from the farmer in any other portion of the world in his extensive use of labor saving machinery. The development of American-made machinery, incidental to the necessities of our agricultural conditions, has added greatly to the productivity of the soil the world over; but it is in our own country that modern machinery has has made possi ble the present agricultural development. How, for instance, could all the vast acreage of the Northwest have been subdued in such an incredibly short time had it not been for the machinery which has been invented and manufactured first in this country and after ward sold to all parts of the world f Take away the gang plow, the manure spreader, the gasoline ensrino, the tractor and all the countless mechanical aids which do away with man labor, and how could we continue our farm output? It is only this machinery which makes it possible to main tain our present farm acreage. It is the scarcity of good farm help at a reasonable price which has driven the Amer ican farmer to become an extensive user of farm machinery. The real settlement of this country became possible only when ma chinery permitted the substitution of the machine forhe man. Human labor makes possible intensive cultivation of the soil, machinery makes possible extensive fanning. In view of the large acreage which he puts to crop each year, the American farmer is making quite as good a record in crop pro duction as is any other farmer. Machinery makes this possible. The thing for which every American farmer should strive is to make himself more efficient; to show each year greater results for his labor. For this reason he should make a constant study of those things which make for efficiency, and we know of nothing so valuable in this connection as the modern machine, whieh takes the place of the human being or of horse1 flesh, the machine which will do the work more quickly and more cheaply. This is the time of year when the farmer should be thinking of the mechanical aids which will help him to achieve greater results from his farm this year. Perhaps it is the tractor which will enable the utiliza tion of all the farm acreage. Perhaps it is the gasoline engine to help do the chores. Then, again, it may be one of the many me chanical aids to lighten the burdens of the home. Now is. the time to figure out the work to be saved, and you can afford the machine that helps you extend your energy. CLIMATE. CLIMATE is an asset that can readily be reckoned in dollars and cents. Climate is often overcapitalized, but its value should not be underestimated. The Pacific Northwest is particularly rich in that will-o'-wisp, yet tangible product. Do not let our visitors from the East this year go away without currying with them full realization of the glorious weather that the Northwest has to offer. Certain California cities have overcapi talized climate. Los Angeles prides herself upon a climate that can be sidetracked by many Northwestern cities and towns. In the Northwest the Summers are never unbear ably hot, the Winters are seldom too cold. Yet the Winter air has a sting that sets cheeks glowing and the blood leaping iu riotous health. In the Southland too often the weather while not unpleasant is merely insipid. God preserve us from an insipid climate a cli mate that lacks the self-assertion to be any thing definite. We want a climate with contrasts. We want stormy weather that we may appreciate our clear skies; we want rain, and snow, and ice, that we may later revel in green woods, that we will better love our Springs, our Summers and our Autumns. A CRITICAL SITUATION. THE market reports from the stockyards of Portland and Seattle show there has been an excessive number of hogs mar keted since January 1. This is due, no doubt, to the high price of wheat. The same condition.prevailed during 1907. It will be remembered that a number of buyers went East to secure brood sows the next year and not only paid excessive prices for them but a heavy transportation charge as well. The same condition, .will soon prevail in Ihe Pacific Northwest if the fcirmers do not provide some means of retaining a reason able supply of brood sows, Too many farmers depend on wheat alone as a hog feed. There is no reason why every farmer cannot raise his own hog feed, such as alfalfa, corn, peas, etc. He should con duct his business so he may buy wheat for feed when the market justifies, but to de pend on it almost solely is sheer folly. Retain the brood sows even if it becomes necessary to borrow the money to do so. EXPOSITION YEAR. THE Pacific Coast and the world has lu-enlooking forward to 1915 with the expectation of great things doing. It is the year of, the great expositions. The enormous sum of $50,000,000 is being spent on the great one in San Francisco. To most of us this sum is beyond comprehension, and to all of us descriptions of what has been ac complished are of little value. To get any idea of the greatness of the Panama-Pacific, one must stand on the hill tops near the Presidio and look down upon the wonderful coloring of the world's fair buildings. The exposition will open on February 20. The San Diego Exposition opened on the evening of December 31, or rather at the' moment of midnight on the morning of Jan uary 1. Thousands of people from many parts of the world were there to honor the opening ceremonies. The President of the United States, in his mansion at Washington, pressed the button. Ills representative, Secretary McAdoo, with his wife, the President's daughter, was pres ent and-joined in the opening ceremonies, which lasted for several days, and report tells us that at this writing the exhibitors are set tling flown to the routine of the great expo sition, which will continue for 12 mouths, for it will not close until midnight of De cember 31. These two great expositions are not to be compared, for they are along materially dif ferent lines. San Diego's exposition is more 1he exposition of the West, of the Americas, than of the world. Its site in Balboa Park and its architecture and coloring features all have a touch that is strictly American. In beauty of setting the world has never seen anything more perfect, It is not, so near the blue waters of the ocean as is the Panama Pacific, whose entire grounds' front along the great bay and harbor. At San Diego the harbor is in full view from many parts of the grounds, though it is several blocks from the entrance. See San Francisco's international exposi tion to appreciate the wonderful advance ment of the arts and sciences throughout the world; see the San Diego exposition to view America at its best. President Wilson objected to having his grandson named Woodrow, saying it would be better for him to develop his own person ality. Then they named the youngster Francis, after his father, which leads to a natural wonder as to what opinio Wtod row has of his son-in-law. "Thankfully let it be said that thus far there has been no National organization of the children born, in the White House. At' least it would be exclusive, and that is more than can be said of many organizations. Then, in the real estate notes, we glimpse the fact that Villas in Mexico have few at tractions for American investors. , Airships as scouts serve a good purpose, but as a rule they have failed as destructive agents.