Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 1958)
. 3 'A 1 ; - li :-- .-. . 5 ' F ; - ? -1 i . i -V 'J : . H ;.,. - - ! , . i '' n V- 4.J n - 3 . i - "I ! TWO MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE Thursday, January 30. 19S8 Over 80 Peach Growers Attend Annual Stone Fruit Meeting Peach pruning must be treated in relation to all other cultural practices, : Henry Hartman, Oregon State college horticulturist told a meeting of about 80 peach growers In the county court-1 house Tuesday afternoon. Pruning must not be con sidered as a panacea for pro duction problems he said. Pruning should be treated in relation to all other factors such as split pits, coloring, and size of the fruit. Hartman also reaffirmed that red and yellow coloring are separate and distinct fac tors in peaches. Horticultural practices bring little control of the yellcw color, he said. This color is the result of nat ural pigments in the fruit and is directly related to the peach variety. Yellow is an especial ly dominant color in the Cling peach varieties. Also, too much nitrogen can reduce the yellow factor. A peach must have an in herent ability to produce the red color. The tree must be high in carbohydrates. This is converted into fruit sugar. If the tree gets too brushy the fruit doesn't get the carbohy drates it needs, Hartman said. Red peach varieties have a slightly higher sugar content, the horticulturist stated. The basic reason is that the red type of fruit must have high carbohydrates. Pruning Tied In The coloring is directly tied in with pruning practices since the fruit requires expo sure to the sun to help de velop the color. A grower must prune to admit some sunlight, but over-pruning can develop excessive new growth at the terminal points or produce the brushy condi tion which in turn reduces the amount of carbohydrates. Pruning is generally tied in with other factors in raising peaches as proper irrigation, fertilization and cultivation. Each of the operations should be staggered so they don't pile on all at one time making the growth of fruit irregular. The excessive sizing which may result from this too often results in split pits and re duces the market value of the fruit. Roland Grober, OSC mar keting specialist, told the peach men that the new phil osophy of marketing is a large volume with less profit mar gin. For this reason the grower is developing more in terest in the complex market ing program. Furthermore to meet these problems the grower has started developing cooperatives which took over Railroads Asked For Equal Rale Salem Robert J. Steward director of Oregon's depart ment of agriculture has urged the railroads serving the state to reduce Oregon's freight rates on potatoes equally with any reduction in rates given Idaho potatoes. His request supported those sent by the Oregon potato commission and by producers and ship pers throughout the state. This action followed re ported Idaho requests and railroad proposals to reduce freight rates on Idaho pota toes in all directions east, south, and northwest. There is heavy competition between Oregon and Idaho potatoes in the Los Angeles and San Francisco markets. In his request Steward ported to be largely respon sible for proposed reduced rates from Idaho, and point ed out that this applies equal ly to shipments from Oregon. He said the railroads' inter ests as well as those of Ore gon producers and shippers will be served if proper com petitive relationships with Idaho potato shipments are maintained. Voman Enrolls In Food Course Corvallis Wesley France of Bear Creek Orchards, Med ford, is enrolled this week at Oregon State college in the 37th annual food processors short course. The course is sponsored each year by the food and dairy technology department at the college as a service to the food processing industry. The 42 food processing workers at this year's course will also return in 1959 and 1960 for additional weeks of advanced training. Instruc tion covers a survey of the size and scope of the food in dustry, quality control and inspection, food adulteration and food engineering, sanita tion, food and drug laws, mo tion studies and heat and power. noted truck competition is re the packaging and other pro cessing problems. Farm population has shift ed drastically, Groder pointed out. Formerly 85 per cent of the population used to live on farms and 15 per cent in the cities. This has been reversed and 13 per cent of the popula tion now lives on the farms and 87 per cent in the cities Future indications are that the farm population will drop from 4V& to five per cent. To meet the demands of the increasing urban population new farming and marketing techniques are necessary. Further pointing up this shift of population and to meet the demands of mass production, handling of farm products has shifted into the hands of a few large retail stores. Of all the stores, in 1935 to 1939, 110,000 stores handled 70 per cent of the re tail business. Now 40,000 such stores handle 70 per cent of the business. This means large blocks of growers are selling their products to blocks of stores and cooperative selling has also resulted. About 150 commercial growers in the Medford dist rict last year produced 250, 000 boxes of peaches, to make it one of the largest farm in dustries of the area. Raising peaches was an excellent source of income for part time farmers in the past, it was pointed out. However, such part-time operations were not of sufficient volume to sell through the commer cial houses and gradually gave way to a fewer growers in number raising large num bers of peaches. Peaches of this district are considered of high quality. carry well and command pre mium prices. It was also pointed out the whole city of Ashland was once planted to both peaches and cherries for part-time crops. Now few if any cher ries are produced there. The large number of smaller growers have given way to the producers on larger acre ages. Modern orchard prac tices require more equipment which is too expensive for the small grower. The area is go ing through a material change which has hit all at once Where 15 years ago there were a number of people with five acres or less there are a few people with considerably more than five acres. This Week's Town, Country House pq -. 5 PLAN NO. 20)00 7 33 SO. FT. Inspection Record For Carload Check Set in December Salem A 10-year record number of Oregon - grown fresh fruits and vegetables were inspected in December 4976 carloads. According to W. L. Close, federal-state marketing specialist with the state department of agricul ture, this figure is probably an all-time record lor tnat month. The number of carloads in spected midway in this ship ping point year, from July 1 through Dec. 31, stands at 21,' 117. This, too, is a favorable figure, Close added. Potatoes accounted for 58.5 per cent .of the total number of cars inspected in Decem ber. These were mainly from the Klamath Falls and cen tral Oregon regions. Potato inspection during the first six months of the shipping point year totaled 12,156. Almost 700 acrs of onions from Malheur county and the Wilamette valley were in cluded in the certifications. Total inspection of onions from July 1 through Dec. 31 amounted to 2194 carlots down about 600 cars over the previous six months. Total inspections of pears to Jan. 1 amounts to 4882 carlots. This figure is only slightly lower than last year. More than 700 cars of pears from Hood River and Medford were inspected for shipment in December. Walnut inspections record ed at the halfway point in the shipping point year total 185 cars more than double the figure recorded at the same point last year. This figure includes 33 cars of shelled walnuts. More than 577 car- lots of filberts were inspected in the same period including seven cars of shelled filberts Nearly 140 cars of filberts were inspected in Salem and in Portland during December alone. Other commodities inspect ed during December were apples, brine cherries, cab bage, carrots, parsnips and tangerines. CHIT CHAT I rVflpm canA OaarSBu I By JOE COWLEY Mail Tribune Farm Editor A proposal to explain the various slaughter grades of IStCltf PotfltO GrOWei5 To 50111100 1 cattle to farmers in this area fell through this week. The w session was scheduled for Fields and Stone's feed yard on JhIiS UnnfllinN OMaKMnr CaU lO Williams creek on Feb. 4. Keith Hockersmith and Bill Bray were working together to put on this event. The idea came after a number of farmers had asked questions as to the various grades. Trouble is Fields and Stone suddenly sold increased net returns for the their cattle to take advantage of some good prices. It looks state's $16 million potato har as II tnis project is postponed indefinitely unless, someone vest through processing and Corvallis A delegation of Oregonians with sights set on can come up with another location for such instruction. Reports have indicated that the field mouse problem in the Klamath basin area is on the wane. However, a man who owns some acreage in the basin says one of the county extension agents there is busy getting some poison spread on his own acreage. If anything, there seem to be more field mice evident, he said even in the plowed fields. We wondered how this -infestation of field mice would affect the sale of potatoes the average housewife being west perishable afraid of anything to do with mice. Official figures from the tion short course. better handling will take a look at southern Idaho s highly-developed spud industry, Feb. 18 to 20. The visit to potato storage and processing plants be tween Idaho Falls and Twin Falls is part of the three-day ninth annual Pacific North- loss preven- Oregon department of agriculture show 1726 carloads or their equivalent were shipped out of the Klamath basin in December and 1346 carloads in November. In December, 1956, 1390 cars were shipped out and in November, 1956, 1351 cars. Meat Inspection To Be State-Wide Salem The entire state will be under full-time meat inspection by the first week in February, Robert J. Stew ard, Oregon's director of agri culture, reports. Under meat inspection law, plants in a few areas in which there are no available veterinary per sonnel, will come under an exemption provision, he add ed. Inspection began in four plants in Hood River and Was co counties the week of Jan. 20 two in The Dalles and one each in Hood River and Parkdale. Two local veterinarians, Dr. Homer B. Webb, The Dalles, and Dr. H. C. Morse, Hood River, will work with the program in this area. Fred Woods. Canby. will do lay meat inspection work in the Hood River - The Dalles region along with Vern Mc- Cauley, local brand inspector. Also coming under the full- time inspection program the week of Jan. 20 were plants in Scappoose, St. Helens, Rainier and Warrenton. Dr. R. Howarth, St. Helens; Dr. William Menaul, Long- view, Wash.; and Dr H. M. Adams, Astoria, make up the veterinary staff at these places. Lay meat inspection per sonnel will be Irvin P. Groh, Portland and L. W. Kessel, Tillamook brand inspector. For reasons of efficiency, brand inspection and lay meat inspection work has been combined wherever possible. This would indicate more potatoes are being shipped out of the Klamath basin instead of fewer. A sidelight on potato production in the area is interesting. Inspectors state rodent damage accounts for a small! percentage of the sort- off and is negligible compared to mechanical injury and bruising. These factsare enclosed in a report on December operations by W. L. Close, who is the federal marketing specialist attached to the department. He represents the government in the federal-state shipping point service which is operated jointly in the state. Close reports an abnormally high sortoff this year due mainly to the wet ground at harvest time. It took a lot of shaking on the diggers to separate the spuds from the dirt and this contributed to much bruising and mechanical injury. In turn, it also set up some active decay. As of Jan. 1, 1958, Close estimates that 6,000 cars of potatoes were left in the Klamath basin and 4,000 cars in central Oregon storage. An interesting point on the federal-state shipping point inspection service is that approximately one-tenth of the certifications were made in the Medford inspection district in December. Inspections in Medford included 419 cars of pears, 3.8 cars of onions, and three-tenths of a car of apples. Total inspections in the state were 4024 cars which does not include 953 cars of potatoes inspected under the diversion program. The recent .meeting of the Rogue Valley Broiler Growers association seemed to indicate that maybe this agricultural industry was starting to forge ahead a little in this area. So we asked one of the more prominent growers about the status of this business in which the independent operator is faced with rugged competition. The broiler industry in this area is about the same as far as demand and supply go. The industry spokesman predicts a fairly steady market price for this spring. Present price is 23 cents a pound Tvhich is considerably better than it was for a while," he said. The scarcity of chickens in the south for the lasirthree weeks has helped' the local growers, the spokesman said. This has brought the price of southern broilers up to 21 to 23 cents a pound on a par with those produced in this area. The latter are usually two to three cents higher than the southern product. Lower feed, brood, and labor costs all contribute to keeping the prices of the southern broiler down and enable the southern growers to dump large quantities on this market, crowding the local boys out. Our contact seemed optimistic over the future of the broiler industry here. Two things should help, he thinks; the newly formed broiler commission which will promote state birds and a better type of bird. Under the provision of the state broiler commission each grower will be taxed a half cent a bird for all birds sold in the state. This money will be used to advertise and otherwise generally promote the broiler industry in Oregon. A new type of broiler chicken to this area, the Bantress cross, is expected to com pete better with the southern birds. It is rated by our contact as a quicker feed converter and a more meaty bird. This breed will develop into a 3V6 pound bird in 9 weeks whereas it takes 10 weeks of feeding to produce the same poundage on other types being used in this area, he said. potato harvest for top-grade i French fries, potato flakes. iresn mantel or taoie siock. The slightly lower grade U.S. No. l's and high No. 2's go into processing in those areas, the specialist explains. Oregon's harvest all grades are trying to compete on the fresh market against only the best from other main pro ducing areas. In Idaho, Groder continues, the grower gets paid for everything he produces since and other new potato prod ucts. Speakers for the three-day short course will be drawn from agricultural colleges throughout the nation, indus try, the Association of Ameri can Railroads, and the U.S. department of agriculture. Groder urges all persons connected with the Oregon potato industry to attend for this first - hand information the less select tubers are pro- j on problems and goals of the The short course is a co operative project of Oregon State college, University of Idaho, the Washington State college, and the American Railway Development associa tion. Meetings rotate among the three states to take up problems of fruit and vege tables common throughout the Northwest. OSC representative to this year's short course is Roland H. Groder, fruit and vege-1 table marketing specialist. who will join with Oregon po tato growers and shippers in studying the center of Idaho's potato empire. Lack of potato processing plants in Oregon has squeezed local growers into a poor com petitive position, Groder says. Idaho and other key produc ing areas are skimming the cream of the crop from their cessed into such highly mar ketable products as frozen Pacific Northwest potato in dustry. 1 V. Oft j. Schools Planned For Meat Facts To Aid Shoppers Corvallis A series of five meat information schools will be held in four Oregon cities during February to help con sumers learn more about meat. Schools are scheduled in Portland, Salem, Corvallis and Medford. Sponsored by Oregon State college extension service and the National Live Stock and Meat board, the schools are open to persons who keep consumers posted on food facts and trends. Representa tives of the extension service, agricultural and home eco nomics teachers, dieticians, restaurateurs, and retail food groups are invited to attend. They, in turn, will pass on in formation to consumers. Moreland Martin, National Live Stock and Meat board representative will conduct the schools. He will discuss research, education and in formation services offered by the meat board, show some do-it-yourself ways with meat, provide practice dem onstrations, and discuss grad ing, selection, storage, and r MS- ? i-.fi'- & i 8. ft 4s .5 PRESENTS HEIFER Bill Bigham, Eagle Point rancher, presents a Hereford heifer he donated to Elvin Hawkins, freshman in vocational-agriculture at Eagle Point. This dona tion starts a livestock Hereford beef chain in the Eagle Point FFA chapter. Other chains in operation at the chapter in clude two beef chains, sheep, dairy and swine. Bigham has been active in 4-H and other youth work for over 25 years. Prices Predicted At Red Bluff Bui! Sale The local broilerman has the same complaint as many farmers in this area the housewife just won't buy local products. The local market should be a large outlet for local marketin 0f meat Diros. A staie Drouer meeung in oaiem reu. io is exireuicu nf to oeai wnn mis ana omer reiaiea prooiems. By HIAWATHA ESTES The small home builder is frequently overlooked in to day's scramble for bigger and better homes. Yet the need is insistent. The retired couple whose family has grown, the young married couple with a limit ed income, the property own er who wants a small rental unit all are looking for such a home as this. . Here in 733 square feet of floor space are all that is needed for comfort, beauty - and a touch of luxury. Vertical siding and field ; stone lend color and textural "interest to the trim exterior lines. The roof of crushed rock extends to shelter, the porch, which is bordered by a wide stone planter. Small windows flank the stone fireplace in the spacious living room and a picture window gives a view -of the street Built-in appliances and an abundance of overhead cabi nets conserve space in the kitchen, allowing room for a well lighted eating nook. The water heater is in a closet which opens to the out side for easy servicing, and to avoid damage to the house in case it leaks. Both bedrooms are of com fortable size, with ample clos ets and windows on two sides for cross ventilation. Windows are set high to allow extra wall space for furniture. A linen and broom closet opens onto the hall, and a second linen closet in the bath pro vides a place for towels and toiletries. The home is heated by a dual wall heater located be tween the living room and hallway. A slight change of roof pitch and the addition of wood shingles would trans form this home into a week end cottage on your moun tain property. Exterior mate rials could be those most suit able or available at your location. Complete working drawings of the above plan can be obtained at a cost of $7.50 for the first set and $5 for each additional set, when ordered 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 satis faction, a new home plan book, TOWN & COUNTRY HOMES, may be purchased for SI. Send all or ders, for either plans or books to: Haiwatha Estes, P. O. Box 404-T, Korthridge, Calif. Group Says No To Grade Ease Salem The potato ad visory committee to the state department of agriculture ex pressed strong opposition to proposed changes in federal grades for potatoes at its meeting in Salem Wednesday. The proposed changes in clude lowering of tolerances for certain defects in potatoes and elimination of minimum size requirements for grade. The committee is an un official group appointed by various segments of the in dustry to advise the depart ment. The members felt withhold ing smaller size potatoes and those with undesirable defects from the market could be better handled through pro visions of marketing agree ments than through grade changes. The committee's secretary, Merrill Webb of Redmond, was instructed to relay the opinion to the U.S. Depart ment of Agriculture and oth er interested parties. The Dominican republic was founded in 1844. A local agricultural authority cautions against any over- optimism in the local broiler industry. The integrated broiler industry of the south provides lots of rugged com petition for the independent grower. A few cents in costs means a big difference in this slim margin business, the authority emphasizes. Southern broiler men are located in an area of surplus feed and cheap labor. Integration has reached such a point there where one man or company may own the feed mills, the hatcheries which produce the chicks for broilers, the processing plant, and the retail outlets. How can a small producer compete against this setup? he asks. lows: Portland February 17, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Oregonian Hostess House; Portland Feb. 18, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Oregonian Hostess House; Salem Feb. 19, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Senator hotel; Cor vallis Feb. 20, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., OSC home econom ics auditorium; and Medford Feb 21, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., court house auditorium. More information about the schools is available from county extension offices. Deadline for entering stock in the annual California Oregon Hereford association sale at the fair grounds has been extended to Feb. 1. The sale is scheduled for March 19 and 20. So far 55 animals have been registered for the sale half of them bulls and the other half heifers. Such sales as this have done a lot toward building up the quality Given Fof Valley Ol cauie in uus area ana a aemana lor mem, xius bene deserves everyone's support. Fertilizer Needs Don't forget the annual Jackson County Stockmen's association meeting scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11 in the Central Point Grange hall. Board of directors is to be elected during the morning session. Bob Steward, director of the state department of agriculture, has definitely said he will come as the mam speaker. As you have probably noticed the cattle market in Port land this week slipped considerably from its rating last week as the number one market in the country in choice grades, anyway. Last week choice cattle were bringing $25 to $27 per hundredweight in Portland. This week the choice grade was bringing from $24 to $26. Fort Worth, Tex., was tops in the nation this' week, paying $26 to $27 for choice grade. Chicago was second with $25 to $27 and Omaha on a par with Portland with $24 to ?26. Controls Outlined On Heelflies In County Heelflies or cattle grubs should be controlled now, suggested Earl Jossy, Jack son county extension agent. Methods vary. On small herds or herds of dairy cattle, a 5 per cent Rotenone wet table powder dusted on the back and rubbed in with the hands or a stiff brush is very effective. Larger herds can be sprayed, using 7V pounds of 5 per cent wettable Rote none powder in 100 gallons of water. This should be sprayed on the animals' backs at not less than 400 pounds pressure. The nozzle should produce a coarse spray and be not more than fourteen inches from the back, Jossy said. This Corvallis Willamette Val ley farmers can now get a quick picture of fertilizer needs for individual crops from a new series of ferti lizer recommendations pub lished by Oregon State college. Complete plant food needs based on OSC field research are spelled out for each crop on separate sheets of paper that lend themselves to a looseleaf notebook collection. not be slaughtered within 60 days, or with Methoxychlor in the case of dairy cattle or cattle to be slaughtered with in 60 days, the extension agent said. For convenience 0.5 per cent Methoxychlor or 0.04 Lindane can be mixed with the Rotenone as recommend ed above to make a spray or dust for both cattle grubs and lice, he suggested. Rubbing devices made by treatment must be repeated in 30 days and again in 60 days if any grubs appear on the animals. Cattle grubs cause consid erable loss of hides and meat wrapping several strands of to cattle producers. As Heel- barbed wire, a chain, or small flies they cause considerable cable with burlap and fasten- loss of weight or reduce pro- ine between two trees or duction of milk by causing posts are effective in control the animals to run or stand of lice. Fuel oil or kerosene in water instead of grazing, containing 5.0 per cent Meth Rotenone is also a fairly oxychlor or 1.0 per cent Lin good material for the control dane is used to keep the bur- of lice so both jobs can be lap moist. The animals rub- done at one time. It is neces- bing on this device will rub sary, however, to cover the off enough material to effec animal pretty thoroughly with tively control pests. Self- the insecticide. Cattle which treating devices have not been have many lice should be successful in control of cattle treated with Lindane, in the grubs but work well for con- case of beef cattle which will l trol of lice and flies Price average for the 350 bulls to be sold at the Red Bluff, Calif., bull sale Feb 6. 7 and 8 may be even less than the $609 overall price for all breeds last February. Charley Stover, one of Cal ifornia's most successful beef producers for the past 50 years made the prediction at a meeting of his Red Bluff bull sale committee last Sat urday. "Even though feeder cattle have been selling for two to three cents more per pound during the late fall and early winter than they brought a year earlier, bulls may not sell for higher prices at our February sale, as some seem to think. Stover said. Stover said his prediction was founded on the fact that the unusually high average for Hereford bulls at the Feb ruary, 1957 Red Bluff event was based on the simple law of supply and demand. Were Short On Bulls "We were short on bulls and long on buyers," he ex plained. "This February, be cause we have 100 more Here ford bulls to sell than we had last year, our buyers could be edging into the driver's seat." Stover also predicted a brighter cattle picture. He said it was caused by a num ber of cpnditions: breaking of one of the nation's most dis astrous droughts in the south west, demand for cattle to re stock ranges there; unprece dented favorable weather and natural feed conditions exist ing on the Pacific Coast, a record supply of soft corn in the midwest which had to be fed because no government loan could be secured on it, and the fact that the normal 15 to 17 year cattle number cycle was approaching a bot tom in total cow population. The Red Bluff Bull sale was started in 1942 by Sam Ayer, then president of the local stockmen's association. Sidney Watson, still a member of the bull sale committee, the late Roy Owens and Donald M. Smith, manager. Ten breeders consigned an imals during the first sale. To secure enough volume to make it pay its way it was necessary to sell registered females for a number of years. However, the sale continued to grow and in 1951 or 1952 almost 500 bulls were sold or a half-million dollars worth. Large Number Sold Since the beginning of the) sale about 4,810 bulls have been sold to 905 buyers in nine western states for a little over 4 million dollars. Smith said. Eighty - eight Tehama county cattlemen purchased 725 bulls to improve the qual ity of the cattle in the county. Generally speaking 75 per cent of the bulls are purchased by cattlemen living within 300 miles of the sale site. "It is generally conceded by slaughterers and others that the sale has had a decided in fluence on the improvement of the cattle in the area," the sale manager said. "This is due not only from usefof bulls bought at Red Bluff, but from the educational value of the grading program here and a continued emphasis through advertising." The sale has developed the Red Bluff type which means a service age bull with plenty of size for its age, big and smooth with ample bone and conformation. A?y Builders Supply m QUALITY BLOCKS Bricks, Flues, Drain Til 727 W. McAndrews Ph. SP 2-4107 BRILL METAL WORKS Commercial Industrial Residential Sheet Metal Work Stainless, Galvanized and Copper Fabrication 2287 West Main PHONE SP 2-4440 Daily's U-Drive Medford Airport
