OREGOM HISTORICAL SOCIETY
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MII UNITED
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Volume 58, Number 27
Crested Wheat
Grass Arrives As
Major County Crop
Foresight Proves
Boon When AAA
Program Instituted
Morrow county, with aproximate
ly 37,000 acres of former wheat land
now producing crested wheat grass,
has become the second county in
the state in area devoted to this
crop, reports C. D. Conrad, county
agent. This popular dry land grass
has now "arrived" as a major crop
in this region, where its use consti
tutes one of the most striking ex
amples of the advantage of being
ready in advance of an agricultural
emergency, says Conrad.
Here in Morrow county the first
crested wheat grass was seeded in
nursery trials in 1925 by Roger
Morse, who was then Morrow coun
ty agent. Its use has grown steadily
since that time, first as a seed crop
and more recently for hay and pas
ture purposes. The AAA program
with its wheat acreage limitation
and emphasis on soil conservation
has provided an opportunity and
financial assistance for expanding
the acreage, but without the pioneer
work of the state college extension
service and experiment station,
there would have been nothing to
expand, says Conrad.
Crested wheat grass was first
grown in Oregon at the Moro ex
periment station, where the first
planting was made more than 20
years ago and where a field is still
in existence, under continuous pas
turage for 23 years. The wav this
grass stood up through good years
and bad at the station turned the
attention of eastern Oregon county
agents toward it.
When C. W. Smith became count v
agent in 1926 he continued to work
with various grasses and remarked
in his annual report that "while
all of the grasses sown gave promise
of doing fairly well this year, crest
ed wheat grass did exceptionally
well." Smith's report in 1927 added
that after two years' observation,
crested wheat grass was selected as
the most promising of the grasses
in the nursery and enough seed was
obtained for Clyde Wright to sow
40 acres.
With continued experimentation
and small field trials with this grass,
the acreage expanded gradually un
til by 1932 there were 250 acres
seeded. By 1936 the total had reach
ed 7000, since which time it has in
creased at the rate of nearly 10,000
acres a year.
One of the earliest, farm seedings.
made in 1932 on the Rood farm, is
still making good growth each sea
son. Several large blow areas and
many smaller ones have been "tied
down" in the county by planting
crested wheat grass. Seeding it in
alternate strips with wheat and fal
low on the "contour, in contour strip
farming programs has also proved
successful as an erosion control mea
sure on the steeper lands in this
county.
Use of the grass with alfalfa re
Contlnued on Page Two
Hardman School to
Improve Plant $8000
Bailey & Thomas, Heppner con
tractors, this week were awarded
a contract for building an addition
to the Hardman Union high school
building and making other improve
ments to the total of $8000. Bids
were opened the end of the week.
Chas. B. Miller of Pendleton is ar
chitect. The work will start imme
diately with no time limit.
Improvement of the Hardman
school plant is being made to bring
the school up to standard require
ments, in line with a policy adopted
by the school board last year, and
supported by the taxpayers through
authorization of the necessary bond
issue.
Riding Club Ready
For New Activities
With arrival of four new horses
at the Rodeo grounds today, Jim !
Kistner, president of Morrow Coun-1
ty Riding club, reports that organ-'
ization ready to start a program ofl
renewed activity following the Ro
deo interruption. ". !
First project in the offing is par
ticipation in the Round -Up parade
on Friday next week, and Kistner
urges all members, prospective
members or others who wish to par
ticipate in this event to advise eith
er himself or Earle Bryant, secre
tary. The club is making arrange
ments for transportation of any hor
aes participating in this project.
Kistner says the club now has
three rental horses which may be
used at the rate of 50 cents an hour.
This is 50 cents cheaper than is cus
tomarily charged. Those who desire
to leave horses at the grounds may
have them fed and cared for at the
rate of $2 a month plus the feed
priced at cost. Those interested in
riding should see Frank Tousley,
caretaker and trainer, and those in
terested in memership information
should see either Kistner or Bryant.
More interest in the club on the
part of the community is welcome,
Kistner emphasized. The fine horses
shown at the recent Rodeo is an in
dication of the better saddle ponies
expected to be brought into the
community as a result of the riding
club. The club's main purpose is
to give horse lovers an opportunity
to enjoy themselves.
7 County 4-H'ers
Attending State Fair
Seven Morrow county 4-H club
members are participating in the
Oregon state fair at Salem this
week. Tad Miller, Don and Buddy
Peck are exhiiting sheep and Dick
Edmondson and Buddy and Don
Peck are participating in the state
livestock judging contest. Mildred
Clary, Betty Jane Adams and Gwen
Glasgow left for Salem today where
Betty and Mildred will compete in
the state style review contest and
Mildred and Gwen will compete in
the home economics demonstration
contest.
At the time of publication of this
paper there were no results avail
able on the judging or exhibits.
Sheep classes are being judged to
day while the style review and dem
onstrations will be judged tomorrow.
Million Bushels Wheat
Under Loan Here
A total of 1,012,211 bushels of
Morrow county wheat has been
placed under loan to date, accord
ing to word received from the local
AAA office. This wheat has a total
loan value of $988,240.69. It is es
timated that at least another 500,
000 bushels will be placed under
loan within the next two or three
weeks.
It was also reported that 1942
crop insurance applications had
been received covering 54,585 acres
of wheat
LEAVES HOSPITAL
Mrs. Mattie Adkins writes rela
tives in this city that she is back
home at Weiser, Idaho, after being
confined for five weeks in the hos
pital at Walla Waala. She says she
is very glad to be home and very
slowly improving in health.
HOME EC CLUB TO MEET
Lexington Home Economics club
will meet with Mrs. Beach on Thurs
day, Sept. 11.
I Mr. and Mrs. Orville Smith and
Jim and Mrs. Smith's mother, Mrs.
! Jack Pfeiffer of Seattle arrived Tu-
Seattle, Yakima and Spokane and
Mrs. Pfeiffer accompanied them
home to visit for six weeks while
Mr. Pfeiffer is in the east on bus-
I mess.
Mr. and Mrs. Ray Coblantz re
turned home Saturday evening
from their vacation, spent at To
ledo and Depoe bay with with Mrs.
Coblantz5 parents.
Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, September
Council Finds No
Need For Washer
While 'Jupe' Busy
Effective Work of
Fire Extinguishers
Demonstrated
Some time back Heppner's city
council decided to purchase a street
washer. That action was rescinded
at Tuesday evening's regular meet
ing when the "dads" decided that
Jupiter Pluvius was doing a good
enough job for the time being. An-
other year might bring about neces
ity for this expenditure, but it just
didn't seem plausible at the mo
ment, the dads believed.
The double holiday took its toll
of city dads, only two being present
besides the mayor and most matters
were left on , the table while Mr.
Hansen of Baker demonstrated the
capabilities of two large fire extin
guishers recently placed 6n the city
fire truck.
This demonstration proved to of
ficers and firemen present that the
equipment is mighty handy in sub
duing small blazes, and left the im
pression that Heppner's already
efficient fire department will im
prove its record with this additonal
help.
Anyone who has burned an auto
mobile tire knows how hot a flame
one of these can make, and how dif
ficult they are to put out, once start
ed. The demonstrator placed a lot
of oil soaked excelsior in the center
of a big truck tire, ignited it, and
when the blaze had the tire boiling
nicely he shot a few squirts from
one of the new sodaphine extin
guishers, and swish! the fire was
out just like that.
Vote on Soil District
Appears Favorable
Favorable consideration appeared
to have been given the Heppner
Soil Conservation district by voters
who participated in Saturday's ref
erendum, reported Clifford D. Con
rad, county agent, this morning. Def
inite announcement must await a
re-cavass of the vote by the state
soil conservation committee, how
ever, Conrad said.
From the tabulation of local offi
cials, headed by John Hanna, ref
erendum chairman, it appeared that
58 per cent of the voters, represent
ing more than 70 per cent of the land
had cast favorable ballots. The mar
gin appeared sufficient to allow for
errors in tabulation, if any.
Th edistrict cannot be organized
until ordered by the state commit
tee. Lamb Movement
Heavy at Good Prices
Almost daily shipment of lambs
from the local yards for the last
two weeks has marked the peak of
the lamb movement season, with
good prices ranging to 11 cents re
ported. Harold Cohn has been one of the
most active buyers in the local mar
ket, while also taking deliveries on
lambs all the way from Prineville
to Wallowa. An especially strong
demand has been shown for young
breeder stock, while old ewes have
commanded a strong price compar
ed to the last few years.
Lambs generally are reported a
little lighter than a year ago, the
softer feed in the mountains being
given as the reason. Most raisers
are trucking their lambs to ship
ping point
Mr. and Mrs. Earl W. Gordon went
to Portland Saturday night, and on
Sunday and Monday visited Seaside
and Salem, attending the state fair
opening at the latter place. Mr.
Gordon came home on Sunday
night's train while Mrs. Gordon re
mained in Salem for a longer visit.
Mr. Gordon reports that the fair
opened in a deluge of rain.
4, 1941
Court to Ask Work
On Hardman Hill
Judge Bert Johnson and Com
missioners L. D. Neill and Geo. N.
Peck, 'members of the Morrow
county court, departed last evening
for Portland to attend a session of
the Oregon state highway commis
sion meeting today.
The court will make two bids for
further road work in the county.
First, they are asking that the state
put a gravel finish on the road be
tween Boardman and the munitions
depot in the north end of the coun
ty. Secondly, they are asking for
improvement of the grade up Hard
man hill and oiling from Rhea creek
junction to the mouth of Chapin
oreek beyond Hardman.
While there may be little chance
of getting either of these projects
this year, Judge Johnson empha
sized the necessity of the county
keeping its oar in before the com
mission so that the projects may get
the attention they deserve in due
seasons The judge felt that Morrow
county had been well treated by
the commission in the last two years,
with the large amount of work ob
tained on the Heppner-Condon and
Oregon-Washington highways.
Heppner Day Set
Friday at Round-Up
"Let's go to the Round-Up on
Friday." That's the call of Frank
Turner, chamber secretary, in an
nouncing that Friday, next week,
the day of the Westward Ho parade
has been set by that body as Hepp
ner day at the Round-Up.
A large block of reservations in
the grandstand was ordered by Tur
ner, who has tickets at his office
for those desiring them as long as
they last. This was done to facili
tate the Heppner group assembling
in one body to see the showr and to
let the world know that Heppner is
on the map. Other participation that
day will be made by the Heppner
championship school band and the
Morrow County Riding club.
"Pendleton turned out a big gang
to assist our Rodeo. Let's recipro
cate in kind," Turner says.
Band Prepares for
Round-Up Appearance
The championship Heppner school
band, under the capable leadership
of Harold Buhman, will perform at
the Pendleton Round-Up . the last
two days, September 12 and 13.
Although handicapped by the
graduation of many of their group,
the band will be on hand for the
Round-Up with approximately forty
pieces. Several of the alumni menv
bers are offering their services be
fore leaving for their respective col
leges. NAVY DEFERMENT ENDS 15TII
The navy recruiting officer of
Walla Walla advises that after the
15th of September, the navy may
not request deferment of an appli
cant for enlistment. Previously the
navy has been authorizing to request
a 90-day , deferment, pending the
completion of an applicant's enlist
ment papers. A man's enlistment in
the naval service must be completed
before any notice is sent to the in
duction board involved, and if the
man's notice to report for examin
ation or induction, has previously
been mailed, he must report to his
induction board and may not enlist
in any of the services. Those wish
ing to enlist in the naval service for
the four-year period for trade train
ing, are urged to do so as soon as
possible, before their notices have
been mailed by their induction
boards. The navy recruiting officer
will be in the postoffice on Septem
ber 15th.
DRIVERS ADVISED OF CHANGE
Daily service, in examining driver
license applications in the Pendleton
area was discontinued August 30,
according to announcement from
the office of the secretary of state.
Persons in the Pendleton area will
find the state license examiner in
that city on Saturdays hereafter, it
was said.
Subscription $2.00 a Year
School Opens With
198 In Grades, 102
In High School
Smallest Freshhian
Class in History, Big
Primer Group Seen
Fourteen freshmen, the smallest
number entering Heppner high
school in many years caused much
of the drop in registration in the
local schools with the opening Tues
day, reports Alden Blankenship, su
perintendent. The fewer freshman dropped the
total high school enrollment to 102.
But compensating for this in the
total school enrollment was an en
tering primary class of 43, causing
the addition of a second first grade
teacher and bringing the grade
school enrollment to 198, and a to
tal of 300 for the two schools com
bined. These figures compare with 126
in high school and 167 in the grades
for a grand total of 293 a year ago.
Enrollment by grades was: 1st 43,
2nd 18, 3rd 24, 4th 17, 5th 21, 6th 27,
7th 27, 8th 21. High school, fresh
men 14, sophomores 28, juniors 29,
seniors 29, and 2 postgraduates.
Aside from some new equipment
that was late in arriving, everything
was in readiness for the opening
and the schools got off to a good
start, Mr. Blankenship said.
All teachers were on hand,, includ
ing, in the grades: 1st, Miss Virginia
Lee and Miss Maxine Browning; 2nd,
Mrs. Elizabeth Dix; 3rd, Miss Lela
Peterson; 4th, Mrs. Lera Crawford;
5th Miss Frances Weaver; 6th, Miss
Rose Hoosier; 7th, Ted Stanley Ja
ross, also' grade school athletics; 8th,
Harold Buhman, also grade school
principal; and in the high school,
Alden H. Blankenship, superintend
ent; Lyle Swenson, principal and
boys' athletics; Dorothy Gene Da
volt, home economics; Arthur Straus,
Smith-Hughes agriculture; Margar
et Wright, social sciences; Norbert
Peavy, English and mathematics;
Virginia Humphrey, commercial.
Angland Parolded on
Non-Support Charge
Judge C. L. Sweek, fresh from a
months' vacation at his cabin at
Seal Rocks on the coast, came to
Heppner yesterday to preside over a
short session of circuit court.
John Angland, on entering plea of
guilty to ' charge of non-support,
was given a three-year parole.
Execution was signed in the case
of Pepper vs. Benefiel.
The judge also signed the final
order of dissolution for the John
Day Irrigation district, recently vot
ed by taxpayers in the district. The
way is now cleared for settlement
of claims as provided in the petition
upon which the election was based,
and all affairs of the district liqui
dated, reports Jos. J. Nys, attorney.
Personnel Changes
Made at CCC Camp
The Soil Conservation force at
Camp Heppner, CCC, has seen sev
eral changes in the last few weeks,
reports Jim Kistner, project super
visor. With transfer of Raymond Mich
ener, engineer, to Klamath Falls,
Mr. Ralphs, recently of Monument
took over the position. Wm. Har
mon and Elmer Hoselton are gone
on furlough, and arriving are Chas.
Hollinger, assistant technician; Bill
Mitchell, foreman, and Roy Tiller,
foreman, all from Stanfield, and
Chet Brown, foreman, from Monu
ment. The Monument and Stanfield
camps have been closed.
MASONS MEET SATURDAY
Heppner lodge 69, A. F. & A. Ma
sons will hold their first meeting for
the fall season next Saturday eve
ning, announces Tom Wells, wor
shipful master.