Page Two
Heppner Gazette Times, Heppner, Oregon
Thursday, November 27, 1941
Sheep Feeding Project
Proves Wheat Unexcelled
By WALTER HOLT,
Umatilla County Agent
That wheat is without a superior,
corn included, as a grain for fatten
ing animals has been conclusively
proved by experiment stations quite
generally scattered over this nation.
Feeders, too, have demonstrated a
superior quality of cattle, sheep and
hogs fed with wheat as the prin
cipal concentrate in the ration. Those
who have been watching the pro
gress of this grain are fully aware of
the truths mentioned above.
However, wheat has not become
generally used in the fattening ra
tions of the West in particular and
it is apparent that the problem now
is one of convincing livestock feed
ers of its fattening value. Oregon
State college recently published a
bulletin showing how it would be
possible to remove the wheat sur
plus from the northwest by feeding
it to fattening animals for consump
tion along the Pacific slope. It
seems only reasonable then to con
elude that there should be a vigor
ous campaign to vastly increase the
utilization of northwestern wheat as
feed for domestic animals.
Most naturally, then, the Eastern
Oregon Wheat league has taken the
lead in an effort to show the farm
ing public how practical is the wheat
feeding recommendation. Visitors at
the wheat league convention in
Heppner next month will be given
an opportunity to see a great many
pens of ten lambs each which will
have been finished by that time
with wheat as the only concentrate
in their rations. These pens of lambs
will be exhibited by 4-H club mem
bers from practically all of the wheat
league counties in eastern Oregon
and it's our guess that these 4-H
clubbers will put on a great lamb
show.
In taking the initiative in this
demonstrational program, the wheat
league arranged for a uniform group
of top-notch feeder lambs originat
ing from one summer range to be
distributed equitably among the
young feeders, who since the 23rd
of August have been following the
most approved practices in lamb
feeding operations with wheat as the
staff of life. The wheat league has
arranged for livestock experts to
grade all the pens of lambs upon
the basis of modern packing house
requirements as to quality. Follow
ing the show at Heppner, the lambs
will be loaded and shipped by rail
to the Portland Union stockyards
where they will be offered on the
open market. It is planned to take
the 4-H club feeders of the lambs
to the Portland market to observe
the marketing processes, this phase
to be followed by a trip through the
packing plant, providing all of the
boys and girls an opportunity to see
the tremendously interesting opera
tion. Lamb feeders in the various
counties are as follows: Gilliam
county, Joan Morgan of Lonerock!
and Billie Jaeger of Condon; Uma
tilla county, Harold Smith of Pilot
Rock, Phillip Hoon of Milton, and
Glen Wilcox of Hermiston; Wallowa
county, Donald Vance of Enterprise
and Jim Nobles of Wallowa; Morrow
county, Freddy Rugg and Bobby
Van Schoiack of Heppner, and Don
ald Peck of Lexington; Wasco coun
ty, Wilbur Hendricks and Clifford
Bergen of Dufur, Norman Morrow,
Wesley Magill, and D. A. Harvey,
Jr., of Wamic, Bill Thomas and John
Miller of The Dalles; Baker county,
Ralph Leonnig, Jr., Royal Vander
wall, Bert Vanderwall, Bob Young,
Jim Young and Glen Daugherty, all
of Haines.
Gilliam County Cuts
Loss From Smut
By W. F. MARSHALL
County Agent, Gilliam County
Within the past six years almost
unbelievable progress has been made
in reducing losses from smut in
Gilliam county. A survey of the
records indicates that prior to 1936
approximately 40 of the crop
graded smutty representing a loss
to farmers of approximately $35,000
annually.
In 193G a project was adopted by
the Extension Service to reduce this
loss. The campaign was based on the
use of clean, smut free seed, thor
ough and careful use of approved
seed treatments, demonstrations of
the use of New Improved Ceresan,
and the introduction and use of
smut resistant varieties. Farmers
were quick to realise the possibili
ties of such a project and the first
year, 1936, wheat grading smutty
was reduced to 20 of the crop in
the county.
Since 1936 the project has been
continued without interruption and
smut losses have continued to de
cline. In 1937 approximately 18 of
the crop graded smutty; in 1938,
8; in 1939, 12; in 1940, 6; and!
from all indications not more than
4 of the 1941 crop will grade
smutty. In the past six years farmers
in the county have saved themselves
at least $125,000.
The highest percentage of smut
is found in the varieties, such as
Forty Fold, that are not smut resis
tant. The use of clean, smut free
seed and careful use of approved
seed treatments will, as a rule, re
duce the loss to a minimum in such
varieties. Smut resistant varieties,
such as Rex, Oro, and Rio, very
seldom grade smutty if proper treat
ment is used. New Improved Ceresan
has proven to be the most effective
smut treatment now available and
is used more extensively than any
other method.
Experience in Gilliam county has
proven conclusively that if fanners
follow the relatively simple pre
cautions of using clean, smut free
seed, thorough and careful use of
approved smut treatments, and smut
resistant varieties the loss from smut
can be held to a minimum.
Morrow Second In
Raising Wheat Grass
By C. D. CONRAD,
Morrow County Agent.
Morrow countty, with approxi
mately 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. 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 exam
ples of the advantage of being ready
in advance of an agricultural em
ergency. Here in Morrow county the first
crested wheat grass was seeded in
nursery trials in 1925. Its use has
grown steadily since that time, first
as a seed crop and more recently
for hay and pasture purposes. The
AAA program with its wheat acre
age limitation and emphasis on soil
conservation has provided the oppor
timity and financial assistance for
expandng the acreage, but without
the pioneer work of the state col-
lege extension service and experi
ment station, there would have been
nothing to expand.
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 way this
grass stood up through good years
and bad at the station turned the!
attention of eastern Oregon county
agents toward it.
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
increased at the rate of nearly 10,000
acres a year.
Several large blow areas and
many smaller ones have been "tied
down" in Morrow county by plant
ing crested wheat grass. Seeding it
in alternate strips with wheat and
fallow on the contour, in contour
strip farming programs has also
proved successful as an erosion con
trol measure on the steeper lands
in this county.
In eastern Oregon as a whole the
crested wheat grass acreage has in
creased steadily from 583 acres in
1926 to 202,854 acres at present.
From 1930 on the acreage of crest
ed wheat grass gradually moved into
'. commercial production so that when
the opportunity for wholesale ex
pansion came under the agricultur
al conservation program, Oregon
was the only western state where
every county had completed its own
testing and where adequate seed!
was available. As a matter of fact,
the Oregon work paved the way for
the rapid use of the crop in all oth
er western states.
The state highway commission is
beginning to use the grass on newly
constructed highways in order to
reduce fire hazard, control weeds,
prevent erosion, and in order to
improve the appearance of the high
ways. Mile after mile of green, wav
ing grass is certainly more attractive
to the tourist than jumbled masses
of unsightly, partly dead weeds.
Land use committees of this and
other eastern Oregon counties have
uniformly recommended the plant
ing of crested wheat grass as a means
of insuring continuance of farming
here orv a stable, long-time basis.
Wheat and livestock have always
been, and must continue to be the
mainstays of eastern Oregon agri
culture. With the loss of foreign
wheat markets and necessary limit
ation on wheat acreage, the use ofi
crested wheat grass on these poorer!
wheat lands and on steep slopes
where erosion has become serious
is going far to maintain the long
time stability of eastern Oregon agriculture.
Morning Glory Land
Grows More Wheat
Than Weedless Soil
By WALTER HOLT,
Umatilla County Agent
More wheat from an acre of morning-glory-infested
land than from
an adjacent weed-free acre while
killing the weeds will constitute one
of the most startling facts to be
presented to Eastern Oregon Wheat
leaguers at their convention in
Heppner in December. There was
no application of stable manure, no
alfalfa plowed down, no commercial
fertilizer used to produce accurately
measured yields of 60 to 68 bushels
of wheat to the acre in 1941 upon
land that three years ago was rent
ing for 50 cents an acre, covered
with a tightly-woven blanket of
morning glories. Nearby weed-free
land under the usual summer fallow
system produced 12 to 15 bushels
less.
Lynn Harris of the Oregon experi
ment station will tell, by words and
colored pictures, how farmers may
rid their lands of the grasping mor
ning glory while growing better-than-average
crops. Harris will base
his information upon facts develop
ed at the Oregon morning glory con
trol experniment in Umatilla county,
bolstered by findings of other exper
iment stations. He'll tell the folks
how to plow in the spring, when to
cultivate in the summer, and it's
pretty certain the advice will include
fall plowing, maybe once maybe
twice. Since this is a tillage and
cropping method of weed control,
Mr. Harris will bear down on such
points as what to seed and when to
do it. How much seed to plant will
be important if quick destruction
of the weed is sought, as well as
the management of the land during
the year it is being cropped. All
these points, and more too, will be
covered in this most important dis
cussion. So, if you are using high-cost soil
destroying methods and still have
this clinging vine, or if your neigh
bors are threatening to give you the
work as ,a community spreader of
How come? Just tillage and crop-1 this pest becaue you are waiting
ping. JNo weed killing chemicals. 1 tor a cheaper, more eitective metn-
No fancy gadgets or patented ideas,
And a slick angle of the whole deal
is the fact that in most cases the
present allowance under AAA will
take care of the extra cost.
At the wheat league convention
od of control to be developed, may
it be suggested that you let the hired
man run the outfit for a few days
while you go to Heppner for the
wheat league meeting? It seems
like a smart thing to do.
Welcome Wheat Growers
Thursday, December 4
BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST
(In Technicolor)
Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Marsha Hunt, Felix Bressart,
Fay Holden, Samuel S. Hinds
An mspiring, heart-iwarming story that should be seen by
very man, woman and child.
o
Friday-Saturday, December 5-6
WHISTLING IN THE DARK
Introducing RED SKELTON, the stage's most brilliant come
dian. He's a mile-a-minute whirlwind of laughs, giggles and
guffaws! With Ann Rutherford, Conrad Veidt, Virginia Grey.
PLUS
FLYING BLIND
Richard Arlen, Jean Parker, Nils Asther, Marie Wilson,
Roger Pryor, Eddie Quillan
An eventful flight that has everything to please patrons
seeking entertainment.
o
STAR THEATER
WHITE FOR SAFETY AT NIGHT
Nearly 85 of the pedestrians
killed in traffic accidents during thei
first six months of 1941 were dressed
in dark clothing, indicating the need
for persons on foot to wear or dis
play something white while walking
at night, according to the state traf
fic safety division.
In winter time, wear white rain
coats, carry white umbrellas, or dis
play a lighted flashlight.
We Sell All
HOMEGROWN
and Much
WHEAT FED
MEATS
Welcome Wheat Growers
CENTRAL MARKET
& GROCERY
HEPPNER
BOWLING
ALLEY
Bids You
o
WELCOME E. 0. W. L
and Invites You to
Relax and Play