Gresham outlook., June 19, 1914, Page 19, Image 19

25
ITOMF AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
—
Late Gossip and News From O. A. C.
Mole Skins Are Valuable, Say Experts
Corvallis Students “ Make Good’’ at New York—Views and
Reviews From A11 Departments of CoUege.
Experiments by Department of Agriculture Demonstrate Domes­
tic Variety as Good as European for Skins.
G ROUP of boys from th e electrical
i E n g in eerin g courses o f O. A. C.
aro fin d in g instruction, practice
and em ploym ent in th e g re a t electrical
w orks of Slew York, th e largpst of the
kind in th e world. Several oth er form
er stu d en ts from th e Oregou cellege
aro in th e employ of the com pany, at a
tinned a t various p a rts of the U nited
S ta te s and o th er countries. These boys
a r ' m eeting th e com petition of th e best
produ ct o f most all leading colleges and
universities! of th e country, and w hat is
m ost im p o rtan t, they are m eeting it suc­
cessfully.
The stu d en ts now at the cen tral p lant
o f th e general electrical work in
Schenectady, on th e M ohawk River, are
m em bers o f th e g rad u atin g classes of
1910, ’l l , ’12 and ’13. They have
form ed an O regonian club and live to
g eth er at b eau tifu l Lake B allston, eight
miles out fro intlie works on a ear line.
They have lianifd th e ir cottag e the
“ O reg o n ian ,” and w ire first of all the
stu d en ts who m ake th e ir homes at the
lake to organize and m ain tain an
alum ni club fo r its members.
The com pany for winch these college
men are w orking has m ain tain ed stu ­
dent tra in in g courses fo r many years.
Every y ear a lim ited num ber of stu
dents especially qu alified iu th eir col
lege w oik and adequately recommend
ed by th e college officer-, are accepted
fo r tra in in g , p ractice and service, if
compi te n t. All th a t aro accepted for
tra in in g are ad m itted on positively
equal term s and a li g n e d to the course
technically known
the S tu d e n ts ’ En
gineerm g course. In order to receive
advan cem en t 't a d ' nts must do a mini
mum of one y ear'« work in th is course,
and can do much more, depending upon
the n atu re of th e «p -cialization they
undertak e. The ch ief value o f th is pre
lim inary course is di«ci| liniirv. although
a good liv in g wage is paid troin the
tim e the stu d en t enter« upon his work.
A t the end of < uch six m onth period
stu d en ts who ri main are given a stated
increase iu salary.
W hen th is p rep arato ry work is fin
isheil by any stu d en t he is assigned
e ith er to tlie in d u strial or to th e com
m ercial end o f th e p ractical engineering
business w ith th e com pany.
Both
phases of th e p ractical business as car
ried on by th e com pany are highly spe­
cialized. The stu d en t who has won his
jsisition in eith e r of these fields selects
h is specialty and goes into fu rth e r
train in g . He never q u its It until he is
com plete m aster of all its com plicated
details, a fte r which he is reg u larly em ­
ployed by th e com pany and may con
eider th a t his position is perm anent.
A
v
into th e ir construction, th e cost of
m an u factu re and handling, and avail
able m ark et te rrito ry . H e m ust like­
wise inform him self of supply condi­
tions, th e goods of com petitors, and all
o th er practical branches o f th is compli
cated business o f selling sw itch hoard«.
I t tak es a g re a t deal of tim e and e ffo rt
to accom plish all th e com pany require«,
but the rem u n eratio n is both liberal and
certain.
Aside from th e dozen stu d en ts now
a t th e leading w orks of th e company
m any older men from O. A. U. have
gone out into one of these specialized
fields of electrical business. The fol
low ing tnen have reported th e ir pres­
ent places o f labor, according to 11. 1.
Sm ith, of th e class of 1912, who has
recently retu rn ed to S ehncctady from
a visit to l i i s p aren ts a t M arshfield and
to th e ’14 com m encem ent exercises at
tho college:
II. R. Zim merm an, ’(19, o f The Dalles,
nt K ansas C ity ; 11. N. l ’rohst, ’10, of
A lb an y , in M o n ta n a : .1. <’. Planking
ton, TO, of The Dalles, a t San Fran
cisco, and J. D. Carnegie, ’l l , at Minne
apolie.
The stu d en ts now in th e shops of
the general com pany are th e follow ing:
•I. Gordon, ’10, of P o rtla n d ; F. E.
E w crt, ’IO, o f P o rtlan d ; J. 1). C arnegie
(assig n ed ); H. Pfam loefer, ’l l , of
S a lem ; II. P. Cadv, 'l l , o f C orvallis; F.
(). M cM illan, T2,' of Salem ; II. E Mc­
Lean, ’12, of W allowa; IL I. Sm ith,
T2, of M arshfield; W. DuM olia, T2, of
C orvallis; G. W. M orris, '13, o f Cor­
v allis; R. R. M cKenzie, '13, Lostine,
and S. R. Cohen, ’13, of Portland.
“ S tu d en ts tra in a t these g reat elee
Irical work« from most o f the leading
colleges of th e country.*” said Mr.
Sm ith. “ Several other schools ot' the
W est, am ong them the U niv ersity of
Oregon,
U niv ersity of W ashington,
W ashington S ta te College and the Uni
versify o f C alifornia are represented.
The la tte r in p articu lar has a large
delegation, although th o O . A. C. is most
largely rep resen ted of th e C o a st schools.
“ We find, too, th a t our stu d en ts are
as well train ed fo r the work as those
o f any o th er school. When stu d en ts are
firs t received it is on recom m endations
alone th a t th e o fficers of th e company
must rely fo r info rm atio n about the
fitn ess of th e students, and d u rin g the
firs t y ear th ere is no distin ctio n made.
A fte r th a t, how ever, stu d en ts are ad
vanced on th e ir own m erits, and here as
elsew here in life, the personal equation
is th e im jairtan t factor.
“ The Oregon group was recommend
ed fo r th e work by P rofessor Hilla-
b ran d , who snpplied us w ith applica
tio n form s, and by o th er o fficers o f the
college. O ur com pany is v ery liberal
and broad in its policy to w ard us, and
stu d en ts who show th e q u alificatio n s
may consider th e ir em ploym ent p erm a­
n ent w ith good prospects fo r advance
merit. It seems to me th a t th is is the
best p ractical work open to gradu
Q ualificatio n s fo r salesm anship are
equally ex actin g w ith those for opera
tion. Should th e employe elect to h an ­
dle sw itch-boards as his sp ecialty he
m ust m aster all th e technique of the
operato r in order to act p ro fita b ly as a
dem on strato r.
H e m ust know the
sources and n a tu re o f m aterial going ate«.”
VIEWS AND REVIEWS.
t
tim e it is g ra tify in g to h ear th a t the
most system atic a ttem p t ev er m ade in
th e N orthw est to ascertain th e most
successful control m easure fo r apple
scab are now being carried on in a
field te s t conducted jo in tly b y th e Lane
C ounty H o rticu ltu ral Society and Pro
fessor H. 8. Jackson, p la n t pathologist
of th e A gricultural College. The ex p eri­
m ent is designed to te s t th e e ffe c tiv e ­
ness o f th e stan d ard sp ray s and th e
most effe c tiv e m eans o f ap p ly in g them.
W hen th e in fo rm atio n acquired in these
experim ents is bro u g h t to b ear upon the
pest under fav o rab le conditions, it may
be seen which w ay th e b a ttle i s going.
ELF FEEDERS for either fowls or
swine are easily and cheaply made
and give excellent satisfaction
when properly constructed. Aside from
decreasing the cost of labor, they are a
great saving of time and of worry over
the fact that hand tended animals must
be fed regularly two or more times a
day. The use of seif feeders also save«
feed by giving the animals a chance
to balance their own rations, by pro­
viding it regularly, and by saving all
the scraps that usually result from
hand feeding. Methods of constructing
home.made self feeders, accompanied by
The establishing of vocational courses
drawings and photographs, w ill be pub st the Agricultural College will open
lished from time to time in this jour­ the doors of the institution to the peo­
nal.
ple of Oregon. These courses are de
signed primarily to giro opportunities
Apple jcab is reported to be greatly for college training to those persons
on the increase in some of the fruit of the state who feel the need of this
districts of Oregon. While this seems training and are not in a position to get
to indicate that orchardists are losing it by the usual degree courses. If they
ground in their fight against this pest, are desirous of entering degree eourses,
the conclusion is not at all inevitable. they can ordinarily find means of pre­
The season seems to have teen unusual paring to do so in the local high schools
ly favorable to it in some parts of the and other institutions of learning. If
state, and control measures were applied they merely wish to secure the benefit
too late, if at all. Growers are more of the training and study at college
thoroughly aroused over this enemy without reference to college degrees,
than formerly and doubtless make fuller the vocational courses are open doors
through which they may enter. The
W ING to th e gradually decreasing
num ber of w ild fu r b e arin g a n i­
mals, mole skins have found a
ready m ark et and are valuable com
m ercially according to F a rm e rs ’ Bui
letin 583, D epartm ent of A griculture.
I t is sig n ifican t to the lack of atte n
tion to small business m atters, how ever,
th a t A m erican moleskins are not quoted
or offered on the m arkets. All the skins
used by A m erican fu rriers a re im port
ed from Europe.
A uction lists of fu r dealers in Lon
don show th at more than 3,000,000 mole
skins were sold in 1911, 1912 and 1913.
A sm all lo t o f A m erican m oleskins se­
cured by th e Biological S urvey, U. 8.
D epartm ent of A griculture, w as pre
pared and m ade up by an ex p ert f u r ­
rier who pronounced them in every r e ­
spect equal o r superior to E uropean
skins. I t seems likely, th erefo re, th a t
a new in d u stry am ounting to many
thousands o f dollars annually m ight be
developed in th is country.
O
Five Recognized Groups.
Tn th is cou n try there are five recog
nized groups of tru e tnoles, tw o of
which arc confined to th e P acific Coast
and th e oth er three arc d istrib u te d over
th e section cast of the one hundredth
m eridian, extending from C anada to
the G ulf of Mexico. In the la tte r d is­
tric ts and in th e g re a te r p a rt o f Penn
sylvania. New York and New England
the common mole ocenrs w ith th e star
nosed mole and B rew er's mole.
The ntole is so seldom seen, even by
those who are fam iliar w ith its work,
th a t it is often confused w ith other
sm all creatu res, p a rticu larly th e shrew,
tho mole or meadom mouse, and the
pocket gopher. H ow ever, it can be
readily distinguished by its sto u t, short,
fro n t lim bs ending in broad, ronnded
hands with palm s turned outw ard. It
has a ra th e r elongated body, close
plush like fu r, a pointed snout, and a
short tail. N either eyes nor ears htp
ill evidence. It ia a creatu re of strictly
su b terran ean h abits.
Molae Are Disliked.
It is believed commonly th a t the
mole works only a t regular periods each
day, b u t direct o bservation tak en in
la te r sum m er and fall fail to su b sta n ­
tia te th e theory. The moles are dis­
ta s te fu l and seldom eaten by domestic
cats and dogs w hich have learned to
catch them . H aw ks and owls ta k e small
1X P R E 881N G th e view
th a t i t
toll from the mole tribe, as an examina­
tion of the stomach contents of over
2,000 of these birds disclosed the re­
mains of but 13 moles, 5 of which had
been eaten by the red tailed bawk, 4
by the red shouldered hawk and one
each by the broad-winged hawk, tho
barred owl, the great gra yowl and
the sereech owl.
Stomachs Are Examined.
From an examination of the stomach
contents of 200 moles taken in all
months of the year it was found that
earthworms and white grubs constitute
the bulk of the food. Beetles and their
larvae, spiders, centipedes, cocoons and
puparia also form a part of the diet.
Seed coats of corn, wheat, oats and
peanuts have been seldom found in
stomachs of the moles.
Complaints of damage or depreda­
tions by moles are frequent and insis­
tent. However, in very many cases a
thorough investigation would show that
the smaller rodents which follow tho
mole’s runways are responsible for tho
damage to corn and other cultivated
seed products that grow under ground.
Trap Efficient Destroyer,
When it is desirable to destroy tho
mole the trap will be found to be the
most efficient means. So far all ex­
periments undertaken with the object
of finding an acceptable poison bait
have given negative results, as the very
nature of the animal's food makes it
difficult to secure a satisfactory sub­
stitute of live worms, grubs, and in­
sects. Moreover, the little animal seems
to be shrewd and quick to sense tho
danger in poisonous substances.
There aro a number of excellent mole
traps on the market, most of which will
give good results if properly set. Thero
are the harpoon, tho scissor jaw and
the choker types. Harpooning traps
are designed to impale the mole in tho
ground by spring driven spikes. Tho
scissor jaw traps aro intended to bo
set astride the runway to grasp ths
mole firmly when he attempts to pass
in either direction, and the choker
trap lias a set of wire loops that en­
circle the burrow when the trap is se t
All three types are designed to bs
sprung by the same sort of mechanism,
a trigger pan resting on a depressed
portion of the mole ridge in such a
way as to be lifted when the animal
passes beneath.
is the product as is feasible in the fresh
I
easy to dispose of firs t class pro­
ducts, h n t th a t the p ro fit o f the
fr u it an d vegetable business depends
v ery largely upon a ntilizatio n of the
second and th ird class products, Pro
fessors C. I. L ew is and W. 8. Brown
h av e issued a new college bulletin call
ed “ F ru it and V egetable By P ro d u cts,”
in w hich th e y explain the conditions
and processes of organizing and ru n ­
ning by-products factories.
The highly important questions of the
amount of money necessary, the qnan
tity of products raised within the pro
posed by products territory, and what
kinds of plants to establish, are treat
ed intimately from the point of view
of the grower.
“ The question of what kind of plant
should be put in—cannery, vinegar
works, evaporator, or jelly factory—
cannot be answered off hand,” says
Professor Lewis. “ There is undoubted
ly a splendid field for all these manu­
facturing plants, t l would be unwise,
however, to try working all our low
grades into any one of these forms. If
we were to attempt to work all valu­
able produce into vinegar we should
easily overstock the market. We must
remember that there are only certain
types of products that are adapted to
each of the special uses. The ideal to
which every association should work is
first to handle as large a percentage sf
courses provide for one year of college
work in agriculture, one in dairying,
one in home making, three years in in
dustrial arts, five months in forestry
and two years in business short eonrse.
What a wonderful opportunity this of
fers to people of Oregon who desire to
fit themselves for doing their ebosen
work in the most efficient manner. O.
A. C. may justly be called a college of
the people, by the people and for the
people, and its open doors invite all
state, to establish a canning factory
that can handle large quantities of both
vegetables and fruits, and to install an
evaporator for the handling of all
classes. Finally the vinegar works
should be added. In other words wo
should aim to have a plant no organ­
ized that nothing would go to waste,
each plant supplementing the others.’*
As an example of thin method it is
shown how peelings and eores from tho
cannery eould be used in the vinegar
works, or if more profitable, how tho
peelings eonld be dried to excellent ad.
vantage and later worked into jam«
and jellies. By a combination of plant«
losses in all lines would be reduced to s
minimum.
>
Because the sueeeos of tho association
for handling these products would de­
pend very largely upon the character
of the contract entered into by the
growers this question is treated quite
fully in the new bulletin and sample
contracts are presented in ths appear
dix. Methods of organization are also
treated quite fully so that the bulletin
is of the greatest practical valve to all
producers who must face the profit and
loss situation in their industry. Tboe«
desiring eopies may secure them by
writing to B. D. Hetzel, director, cop-
vail is, Oregon, for Extension Series 3,
No. >1.
who find the time and the means te
enter. Tho foregoing eourte begin«
September 22, 1914.
Students of the Oregon Agricultural
College are working st the forest nurs­
ery on the Hitislaw forest. Tho srrang«*
ment -e said To bo mutually satisfactory
since tbe students gain experience ia
forest nursery practice and their as­
sistance lowers the cost of nurseCF,
w ork.