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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 1958)
TWO MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE Thursday, January 9. 1958 Form and Gamen New Plant Opening Marked As Boost To Dairy industry ." Most important event in the Jackson county dairy industry was the opening of a new manufacturing plant by Jor genson'i dairy company early in the year, according to the annual report of the Jackson county extension office. Facilites were provided for the manufacture of icerean and ice-cream novelties. The plant has the potential to manufacture cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, powdered milk and condensed milk in the future. County agricultural author ities reported that this opens up a large potential market for manufacturing milk. How ever, they also report at the present price of this grade of milk there is little incentive to increase production. Creamery Report The Rogue River Valley creamery was reported as pay ing 75 cents per pound butter fat for whole milk F.O.B. the farm. Production of milk de livered to the Rogue River Valley creamery in 1957 was 11,201,413 pounds as com pared to 12,293,997 pounds in 1956. This marks a slight de crease in manufacturing milk production in this area and is possibly the cause of the creamery raising the price Much Pepper Seed Originated in U.S. Geneva, N. Y. OP) The 350 pepper introductions from the far corners of the earth grown at Cornell's Experi ment Station here the past season merely returned home. Introductions from Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan repre sent germ plasm which origi nated in the Americas and was transported to other parts Of the world by travelers, ac cording to Dr. D. D. Dolar regional coordinator of the Northeastern Region Plant In troduction Project. two cents per pound butter- fat during the year, the report stated A volume of 18,600,000 pounds of milk was handled through the Grade A Pro ducers association, the Jack son County Milk Producers League and the Southern Ore gon Milk Producers associa tion. This is about equal to the volume in 1956, according to the report from those three organizations. It represents a farm pay out of $1,300,000. Tank Trucks Incorporated shipped 2,500,000 pounds of whole milk to Eugene which is said to be about equivalent to last year's production. A serious problem arose in this area when the Southern Oregon Milk Producers As sociation of Grants Pass dis covered they had an unusually large amount of surplus milk within their quotas, accord ing to the report. The surplus was sold at the prices for the lower grade of milk manufacturing milk and re sulted in low payout. The as sociation then looked to the Medford area market as an outlet. This, in turn, became Entomologist Joins State Dept. Staff Salem The state depart ment of agriculture announ ces the addition of an assist ant entomologist, Harold Fos ter, to its staff. Formerly a county agent in Greeley, Neb., Foster began work on Jan. 2. The new entomologist will work on Oregon's plant pest and disease survey program. He obtained a bachelor's de gree i the University of Ne braska and took additional courses at Colorado A and M and at York college. Foster takes the place of Kenneth Goeden, who was re cently promoted to state ap iary supervisor. a serious threat to the mar keting arrangements which the Jackson County Milk Pro ducers League held with local distributors. To prevent a conflict in markets the two organizations' officers and management are taking steps toward eventual consolidation. Meanwhile "any pirating in the milk shed" has been prevented, ac cording to the report. New Model Rules Given For Appeal A series of classes on con trolling weeds and insects on Jackson county farms will be held in the Crater high school agriculture class room start ing Monday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. it was announced. Representatives of the Ore gon Agriculture Chemical company of Tulelake, Calif., will be featured. Equipment and slides will be shown as part of the course, according to Ed Griggs, vocational agri culture instructor at Crater high school. No charge will be made for the first meeting. The course is sponsored by the advisory council of the agricultural department. It will deal with spray equip ment, weed control, types of weed sprays, the county weed control program, insecticides on the market, applications of insecticides and fungicides and insect identification. Guest instructors will in clude Roy Hubbell and rep resentatives from the exten sion service, Southern Oregon Experiment station, Oregon State college, and the Oregon Agriculture Chemical comp any. The study of insecticides will cover both orchard and field crop problems, Griggs explained. Help will be given on indivdual problems throughout this highly in structive course, he added. CHIT CHAT By JOE COWLEY Mail Tribune Farm Editor A meeting may be set up in the near future to discuss the dating of insecticides, fungicides, pesticides and herbi cides, according to a letter from Robert J. Steward, director of the state department of agriculture. The letter directed to Ward Spatz, Medford, member of the state board of agri culture, mentions the willingness of the northwest section of the Western Agricultural Chemicals association to meet with those people interested in the question. During a recent meeting of the group "considerable question was raised about the validity of any dating program even on organic pesticides," according to Steward's letter. This organization consists of a group of manufacturer's rep resentatives. The Jackson county agriculture committee is pressing for procedure compelling manufacturers of insecticides, fungi cides and other such chemical products to designate the date of manufacture either on the label or some place on the container. A number of farmers in Jackson county have suffered losses when material they used for control of an agricultural pest proved old and defective. One such farmer lost over $1,000 on his clover crop when slug pellets proved ineffective. J. D. Patterson, head chemist for the state department of agriculture, wrote that dating of concentrated pesticide materials would be of little value. In most cases he said, formulated pesticides are stable with dating having little significance. However, in some formulated pesticides (ready for application) a dating should show when a pesticide's effectiveness is questionable, Patterson said. Present infor mation on products on which dating limitations may be de sirable would include certain organic phosphate pesticides, nicotine, pyrothrine and certain chlorinated hydrocarbons in some formulations, the chemist said. This question was put to Dr. L. C. Terriere, pesticide research chemist, agricultural experiment station, Oregon State college; Dr. Paul Richter and associates, entomology department, Oregon State college; National Agricultural Chemistry association, Washington, D. C, the legislative committee, northwest section of Western Agriculture Chemis try association and the secretary of the association of Ameri can Pest Control officials, Maryland. Dr. Terriere believes dating of some materials might be helpful. However, he believes proper storage and handling is more important. Dr. Richter questions the value of general dating. He also wonders what the date would specify time of manufacture or of packaging. A list of short-lived materials with expiration dating should be established, he suggested. Industry recognizes the stability problem and governs manufacuring accordingly, according to the legislative com mittee of the Pacific Northwest section of the Western Agri cultural Chemistry association. Industry which fails to take this "stability" factor into consideration would soon be out of business, said the committee. Also, pesticides are coded and industry on request will supply prospective consumer information, its members added. this Week's Town, Country House I 1 pLTTo i M?7' 1 I fir. i J ,. I ft l.v "i- Zbi - I J 1 1 i;' SJM 1 M a. No state laws on this problem are known, according to the executive secretary of the Association of. American Pest Control officials. .Due to the limited manpower assigned to economic poisons law enforcement, checking for a complete "dating" program would be poor, authorities state. When requested, the present law allows an official sample to be drawn of any product whose potency is questionable. Some question has been raised regarding use of Randox on onions. According to a letter we received recently from the Central Point area. Randox used on this particular farm er's field proved to be completely useless and is believed to have been harmful to onion yields. Our information was obtained from the annual report of the Jackson county ex tension office. An extension agent said this weed and grass control chemical has been used effectively around the Tal ent area. Its effectiveness depends on how it is applied and the local conditions, he explained. Anyone desiring further information should contact the extension office. State Slaughter Houses Get 40,000 Stock Check PLAN NO. 3523 2 66 S Q. f T. a 6. P.. (2 .12 -.i Z By HIAWATHA ESTES - Here is a 1266 square foot home with the styling you like, the space you need and the proportions to fit a nar row lot and a modest budget. : The "hand crafted" look of the exterior is emphasized by the rough shakes of the roof and the combination of verti cal and horizontal siding. A brick planter and some brick veneer is located at the front of the garage. Pot shelves add spots of color to the front wall and a paddock fence motif makes an interesting pattern on the door of the double garage. -Small doors to the garage offer passage to both the front and rear entrances of the home. G. 20.20 alcove are away from the street, commanding a pleasant view of your yard and gar den. Glass doors unite the living room and patio for summertime outdoor living. The broad corner fireplace and unbroken wall areas sug gest a versatility of furniture arrangements. Windows on two sides brighten the kitchen and breakfast nook. Appliances are built in and can be color matched to your decorating theme. The service area offers space for washer and dryer (vented to the outside) with storage cabinets over each. For quiet and privacy the bedroom hall can be closed from the activity area. Bed- Tile living room and dining 1 rooms are of moderate ' size, requiring the purchase of only basic pieces of furniture. The family bath has re cessed and semi-partitioned fixtures. Cabinets beneath the pullman lavatory offer storage space for accessories and towels. The second bath, with a stall shower instead of tub, opens to both the master bedroom and service area. A forced air unit keeps this home comfortable all year. Complete working drawings of the above plan can be obtained at a cost of S7.50 for the first set and S5 for each additional set, when or dered at the same time. This plan will be available for a period of four months from this date. Please allow two weeks for delivery. If the above home does not entirely meet with your satisfaction, a new home plan book, TOWN & COUNTRY HOMES may be purchased for SI. Send all orders for either plans or books to: Hiawatha, Estes, P. O. Box 104-T, Northrldge, Calif. Salem Almost 40,000 head of cattle were inspected at slaughter houses in Oregon during the first six months of 1957, according to state de partment of agriculture figures. When the full year's fig ures are compiled, it is esti mated more than 100,000 slaughter plant inspections will be recorded for 1957. It is illegal for slaughter house or packing plant oper ators to permit the slaughter of any livestock until it is in spected by an Oregon brand inspector. The inspections may be made either at the slaughterhouse, at the point of origin or enroute to the plant. Slaughterhouse -opera tors are also required by Ongon law to keep a copy of the brand inspection certificate of all livestock for a period of one year from the date the certificate was issued. , There are approximately 135 slaughterhouses located throughout the state. An Ore gon brand inspector is as signed to each one to do the required work there. Brand inspection at this time costs 20 cents per head, and the slaughterhouse oper ator is responsible for collect ing this fee from ranchers who have their livestock in spected on the premises, and paying it to the inspector on duty. A new duty of the Oregon brand inspectors is assisting meat inspectors in their work. The 1957 legislature passed a law which requires all live stock to be inspected before and after slaughter to deter mine whether or not it is wholesome for human con sumption. Brand inspection Davis, Calif. (IP) Univer sity of California agriculture experimenters, report that drafts normally occurring in a poultry brooder house "are of no great consequence after the chicks are two weeks old." personnel will be utilized in some areas to help with this lay inspection work. Besides their field work and duties at auction yards and slaughterhouses, one thing most Oregon brand inspectors have in common is member ship in the Ancient Order of the Blotch. This is an organ ization of brand inspectors the first of its kind in the na tion. Henry A. Matschiner, su pervising livestock officer or iginated the idea for the order. The group has as its goal greater companionship be tween state brand inspectors which brings about a better understanding of brand in spection problems throughout the state. Members hope the organization will be adopted by brand inspectors in other states and eventually become a nationwide group. Already several western states have asked the state department of agriculture for information about the Ancient Order of the Blotch. Midway Auction Yard Rates As Small Industry In Area Last Friday at the Midway Auction yard near Central Point cattle brought the high est prices in four years. Top on steers was 26 cents for a single and 25.10 cents for a truck load. According to Bill Bray, owner and man ager of the yard, this is seven cents a pound increase over the same period last year All cattle are up in price A big demand for them has been brought about by the surplus of feed. This surplus of feed has held certain class es of cattle off the market, Butcher cattle are scarce Then, too, Bray explained the big build up in cattle i;um- bers in the late 40's and early 50's has now been eliminated The cattle are more evenly distributed. Adding to this condition has been the fairly recent drought on the Pacific Coast, particularly in Califor nia, and the continuing drought condition in the mid west which hit its peak two years ago. "Just stockmen in the busi ness now," Bray commented "I don't think it's any time for amateurs to get in." And Bray should know. He has been in the auction yard business here since 1945 when he bought half interest in the Midway auction yard from N. A. Mead. Mead had founded it in 1944. When the yard was first started, a big sale would draw 25 head of cattle. Now -the highest num ber of cattle sold there are 1,368 a sale, according to Bray. Quite a number of sales have been held for over 1,000 head of cattle and the aver age weekly sale features from 400 to 500 cattle, according to Bray's estimates. These fig- ures are on cattle alone, al though the yard handles all livestock. Midway also han dies special sales on farm ma chinery and on farms. It has come a long way from the time when it used to mix in furniture sales with its live stock Bray started expanding the yard from the time he bought out his partner N. A. Mead in 1949. He estimates it now has a capacity to handle approxi mately 2,000 head of cattle at a time. Approximately $138,- 000 worth of cattle have been sold in one day. The gross dollar volume was $2 million for 1957, according to Bray's figures. One of Largest Yards .This makes it one of the largest auction yards in the business. Midway is unique since 95 per cent of the cattle sold there are from Josephine and Jackson counties. One of the local veterinari ans has stated emphatically that Midway Auction yard and the Southern Oregon Auction yard at Phoenix are the two cleanest and best- managed yards in the state. Bray has developed his yard by vigorously pushing his philosophy that the auc tion method is the most prof itable way to sell livestock He and others of his trade or profession must be convincing salesmen because 10 times as many livestock are being han dled through auction than 15 years ago, "The auction method has two main advantages," Bray emphasized. "You pool your livestock and buyers at the same time and open competi tive bidding. Also, you dis play cattle to everyone inter ested. Through the auction- Chicago (IP) A compar atively simple and inexpen sive test promises to elim inate dwarfism in purebred cattle. Tomatoes Studied By Radioactivity Urbana, 111. flPl A pair of researchers have put radio activity to work in their study of tomatoes. J. P. McCollum, University of Illinois agriculturist, and John Skok, of the Argonne Laboratory, recently conduct ed tests to determine the ideal time to pick tomatoes off the vine. A tomato is ripe when plant sugar has stopped moving into the fruit. The experi menters were able to deter mine through their tests just when this movement stopped. The men coated leaves of the plants with a substance made of sugar and radioactive carbon. The radioactivity of the carbon made it possible for the researchers to trace sugar movement through the leaf, into the plant and into the fruit. They discovered that a to mato is at its peak of ripe ness and makes the best eat ing "about six days after the first appearance of color." Resistant Barley No Longer Good Davis, Calif. (IP) A Va riety of barley developed 10 yars ago to resist mildew and other fungi no longer has what it takes to ward off these diseases, University of California agriculture scien tists report. The scientists said it is not that the barley variety Atlas 46 has changed. New types of fungi have infiltrat ed where they had not been found before. The "resistant" kind of barley came down with a scald disease as early as 1953 and by 1956 the variety was very susceptible to scald in fection. The farm scientists now have the job of finding a variety of barley that can resist the new fungi diseases as well as the old. Interstate Highway Network Cost Soars Washington (IP) The Com merce Department has re ported that the estimated cost of completing the federal in terstate highway network has increased by $10 billion since June, 1956. In a report to Congress the department fixed the revised estimate for building the 40,-000-mile road system at $37, 600,000,000. This compared with the $27,600,000,000 Con gress authorized. eer's constant promotion, cat tle from a particular area such as the Rogue River val ey are advertised so they be- pcome well known. "Here, the feeder sales have done a lot for promot ing valley cattle as shown by the increasing number of Cal ifornia buyers bidding," the auctioneer pointed out. "Dur ing three consecutive years have seen the feeder cattle prices here raised by $2 a hundred over prevailing coun try prices immediately pre ceding each feeder sale "Another advantage is most of the cattle in the valley are in small units," Bray pointed out. "The auctioneer brings cattle from these small units together for the buyers. The auction yard gives all buyers equal treatment. No one man or group is given first choice,'1 Bray stated further, Handling Speeded The auction yard also facil itates handling of cattle for both the buyer and seller Cattle are sorted according to quality, grade and size tagged and disbursed to pens for classification. Those re quiring testing for Bang's dis ease are shunted to the test ing chute and those requiring Stock Districts Set For Counties Salem The state depart ment of agriculture named six livestock districts in Mai neur county and one in Baker county, in recent rul ings signed by M. E. Knicker bocker, chief of the animal industry division, and ap proved by Director Robert J Steward. Livestock districts are created areas in which cattle horses, mules, asses, sheep. goats and swine may not be permitted to run at large. In Malheur county, the six stock districts roughly follow the irrigation areas in the northeastern section. The Wingville livestock district in Baker county covers ap proximately 9565 acres acres lying northwest of the town of Baker. Orders also point out that no livestock districts exist in public roads passing through federal lands or in land sub ject to Oregon laws entirely inclosed by federal lands, un less otherwise provided by federal laws and regulations, Weather Poses Feeding Question Chicago m The National Livestock Producer magazine says "weather is the big question mark" in the 1957 cattle feeding picture. "Over-all it appears that 1957 is not likely to go down in cattle feeding history as one of the 'good' years," the magazine reported. "But neither will it be listed as one of the really 'bad' years although it may turn out somewhat below average." The magazine said weath er's effect on pastures, water supplies, feed prices and feed ing conditions will leave a natural imprint on the mar ket. What's more, the weath er's effect will be felt indi rectly in trends on rates and times of marketing which could dominate the market situation through much of the year. "Choice steer prices so far have averaged better than $1 above January levels of 1956 and there is a fair chance they may continue above last year's levels through the first half of the year," the maga zine pointed out. "But there is a danger that continued severe and wide spread drought will reduce the spring demand for re placement and breeding stock and force more of these cat tle into slaughter channels with resulting lower prices for all beef." The magazine said the so lution lies in "more orderly marketing of cattle now in feed lots." Guernsey Bull Gels Special Sire Title .Peterborough, N. H. Bon- nibell Dawn's Noble, register ed Guernsey bull," owned by Josephine County Guernsey Dairy Bull association, Grants Pass, has become a summar ized sire, according to the American Guernsey Cattle club. To attain this distinction, a bull must have at least 10 daughters with official pro duction records. Noble", has tested daught ers that have made 42 official records. Their avtrage produc tion is 9,828 pounds of milk and 479 pounds of fat, when converted to a twice-daily milking, 305-day, mature equi valent basis. i - vaccination to the vaccina tion chute. All the producer has to do is bring them to market and the yard person nel will do the rest. "We keep the yard ex tremely clean and disinfect all pens which have held con taminated cattle," Bray said. "A full-time veterinarian in spects all the livestock. Dis eased animals are so marked, the condition is announced at the time of sale. Or they are sold subject to kill. This means the producer receives his money if government in spectors pass them at the slaughter ' houses," Bray ex plained. Young cattle are held un der roofing and all cattle are bedded in shavings and vac cinated for shipping fever Sorting, yarding and loading are all free services, Bray said. Charges made for such special services as vaccina tion (other than for brucel losis which is provided by the government) and feeding. It takes a good crew to han dle the cattle smoothly, speed ily and efficiently as they are brought in, shown and ship ped out. Bray has four full time men and 12-16 men, mostly farmers, working on a part-time basis during sale days. In one day the yard loaded over 1,000 head of cat tle and Bray has recorded selling 1,277 head of cattle in four hours and 20 minutes. All facilities are rigidly in spected by Bray and by fed eral and state veterinarians and a sanitary inspector. The scales are checked regularly by an inspector from the weights and measures depart ment, and at Bray's expense, by the scales company. Scales Mark Card When weighed, a card is punched by the scales ma chinery, eliminating human error through misreading or illegible writing, Bray ex plained. This, however, is not new. Such a set of scales have long been in use at many yards. Questioned as to how bids are made, Bray grinned. "Each buyer has his own pe culiar signal for making a bid. One buyer here will look directly at me and as long as he looks right at me I know he is still in there bidding. When he looks away I know he has stopped. A twitch of a thumb may indicate a bid, or a nod. Buyers sometimes cross their arms and waggle their thumbs or waggle their thumbs from their hips. They may even drape an arm around their neighbor's shoul ders and waggle a thumb from behind the man's ear. The natural movement in the crowd makes it hard to spot bids. Of course we know who the constant customers are and once we spot a bid der we stay, with him. If we mistake a nervous twitch we always keep track of who is bidding what so we can back up to the next bidder. And it's only the amateur bidders who wave their arms. "We have a man on each side of the ring and the auc tioneer calling off the bids. When one man has a dead spot he helps the other man and catches any bidders that may have been missed. Once a final bid is recognized that's all. It's a sale." Bray guarantees the seller a fair market price for his livestock by placing the start ing bid on each animal or a pen of animals as they enter the ring. If no buyer raises this starting bid, then the sell er is paid by the auction com pany at the starting price. Success of the livestock yard centers on three people, Bray said, the yardman, auc t i o n e e r and bookkeeper. Bray, as auctioneer and yard owner, in chiefly responsible for the operation. He must know both human nature and livestock. He must be able to size up the livestock as they are brought in and be able to judge what prices they will bring. He must know if the buyers are financially respon sible. Like any of his crew who work the ring, he must have a sharp eye and be on his toes every minute. Bray knows livestock since he was raised on a large ranch in California. There his family ran both dairy and beef stock. Meat Inspectors In Klamath Area Salem Compulsory meat inspection started Dec. 31 in slaughter plants in Klamath county in the Coos-Douglas coastal area. Robert J. Steward, director of the state department of agriculture, added that one plant in Lakeview will come into the program on Jan. 7. Initially, inspections are being made by a training crew while the permanent staff learns the new program. Dr. Ray Mast heads the train ing crew in Klamath county, and two local veterinarians. Dr. Harry A Leonard and Dr. Marley A. McFadden, have been appointed to work with the program on a per manent basis. Two lay - in spectors have been assigned to this area. Three slaughter houses two in Klamath Falls and one in Merrill are being inspect ed. Another assistant state veterinarian, Dr. E. R. Der flinger, is in charge of train ing in the coastal area, which covers two plants in Coquille, and one each in Coos Bay, Bandon and Reedsport. Dr. Philip R. Morgan, Dr. R. N. Crawford, Dr. Robert J. Whittaker, and Dr. Robert C. McKnight, Jr., are the local practitioners who will handle the veterinary meat inspec tion has been employed. Dr. R. C. Sexauer, assistant state veterinarian in charge of the meat inspection pro gram, reports that some de partment brand inspection personnel will supplement the work of the full-time em ployes. Under the meat inspection program, all animals are in spected before and after slaughter to determine whole someness for human consumption. Beef Commission Sign-Up Revealed Salem Registrations for the forthcoming Beef Com mission referendum from 57 cattle producers in Jackson county representing 6,320 cat tle were received by the state department of agriculture through Jan. 2, Market De velopment Chief Paul T. Ro well announced. Throughout the state, 3,220 cattle producers had register ed representing a total of 400,114 cattle on the tax rolls Jan. 1, 1957. All persons presently rais ing cattle are eligible to reg ister and vote. Each business unit producing cattle whether an individual, partnership or corporation may register and cast one vote. Registry books will be open at all Oregon county agent's offices until Jan. 21. New Type License Assists Policemen Salem Anyone who con tests a state department of agriculture move to revoke, suspend or refuse a license under any of its laws will have a hearing under the mod el rules recently drawn up by the attorney general. Under a department order signed Dec. 30, Director Rob ert J. Steward established the new model rules as the future pattern for all department ad ministrative hearings which involve rights of individuals or specific parties. This uniform pattern for headings was authorized by the 1957 legislature. The agricultural director expects to designate one member of his staff who will conduct most or all hearings under the model procedure. BRILL METAL WORKS Commercial Industrial Residential Sheet Metal Work Stainless, Galvanized and Copper Fabrication 2287 West Main PHONE SP 2-4440 JANUARY CLEARANCE Bargain Grade 2x4-8' S5.00 Per M' Cheney Stud Mill CENTRAL POINT
