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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1958)
A MAIL TRIBUNE, ModforJ, Oregon, Tnvrsday, October 2. 19S8 Ag Board Requests Water from Dams Salem - The state board of agriculture, meeting in Salem September 24 and 25, elevat ed Loyd - Key, Milton-Free-water, from vice chairman to chairman and named Ralph Witcher, Junction City, as vice chairman. The board took formal ac tion on seven matters: 1. Water problem. On mo tion of Robert Pierce, Ontar io, the board requested Rob ert J. Steward, director of agriculture, to contact appro priate agencies to seek relief from the acute water problem confronting farmers in the summer season of low water level. The board wants water released from dams for multi purpose use. 2. Origin labeling. After hearine a report on DroDOsed legislation to require state-of- orisin labeling of broilers sold in Oregon, the board recom mended that the department of agriculture and all others concerned "make a very care ful studv of this Droblem." Members said the study should take into consideration the effect origin labeling could have upon Oregon's large export business in farm products. (Motion by Ward Spatz, Medford.) Investigation Asked 3. Conservation practices Based on reports that certain agricultural areas with drain age, land leveling and irriga tion needs are hampered by lack of funds and personnel in the Soil and Conservation Service and Agricultural Sta bilization and Conservation Brocrams. the board asked an investigation. It asked the di rector of agriculture and Dean F.-E. Price of Oregon State colleee to explore the possi bilities of more funds for Ore gon on more equal distribu tion of funds now available to service needy districts. (Mo tion by Ward Spatz, Medford) 4. Freight rates. The board asked Director Steward to keep abreast of the freight rate problems as they affect Oregon agriculture and sug gested that he appear and tes tify at the Oct. 23 meeting of the ICC. This action folic ved a review of the freight rate and transportation situation with respect to Oregon farm This Week's Home for Living V 1 1 "- ; 77' n sm PATIO -Ji 1) ' 'V I -a I I 0 I mm eo20 By HIAWATHA ESTES The charm of this 1586 square foot home lies in its simplicity of line and ma terial. Soft toned used brick veneer lends color accent to the vertical board and batten. For contrast, horizontal wood siding faces the garage and the bedroom bay. A rough cut shake roof and diamond windows with shutters lend a rustic air. Natural, functional, sim plicity is the key to the floor plan as well. The center hall makes all rooms accesible from both the front entry and work center. With its deep brick fireplace and wide bank of windows, the front living room provides an attractive setting for either quiet adult conversation or group enter taining, leaving the family room for the younger mem bers of the family to study or exports and imports and the current status of rate hear ings before the ICC. (Motion by R. A. Long, Fort Rock.) 5. National cooperation. The board urged stepped up and continued interest with the next Congress on the premise that Oregon's agriculture is closely rated to the national program. The members re called that upon their appoint ment. Governor Holmes had charged them to c elop clos- er liaison between the board and Oregon's congressional delegation. Director Steward reported the department of agriculture has worked close ly with the congressional del egation on many items. These include onion futures trad ing, crop estimating on cane- berries, extension of the na tional wool act, Canadian em bargo on turkeys, freight rate hearings, and wheat and seed export programs under P. L 480. (Motion by Ward Spatz, Medford.) 6. Insecticide legislation. The board recommended that the department of agriculture assist the Nyssa alfalfa seed growers to develop necessary legislation to control insecti cide damage to alkali bees and honey bees. This motion, by R. A. Long, resulted from a plea for help presented by Wayne Garner of Nyssa. 7, Department budget. The board approved the depart ment of agriculture's proposed budget for the 1958-61 bien nium. The proposed budget is $6.2 million, which the board said was conservative and nec essary in view of the increased activities placed on the de partment by law, inflationary trend and the importance of agriculture to the state. The board will hold its next meeting in December. Stationed along the routes of early stagecoaches in the United States are posts for changing horses. Mail was taken off or on at these posts. Hence the present name of "post offices" for handling mail. New Jersey is the source for about 25 per cent of clay, zinc and magnetite in the United States. to watch television undis turbed. The family room will un doubtedly be the activity cen ter for the children. Wide glass doors slide open to a broad patio, sheltered on two sides for privacy. A half - wall above the range unites the kitchen and family room visually. Counter top stove and built-in oven, a deep pantry closet and well lighted breakfast nook make the kitchen a pleasant, as well as efficient, work center. Home laundry appliances with overhead cabinets are located in the service area. The service entrance is only a few steps from the rear door of the double garage. The half bath provides a place for the youngsters to clean up after play without going through the house to the family bath. If LIVING ROOM ENTRY S tir Farm Courses Set For Crater High Central Point F i r s t vet erinarian practices class at Crater high school starts at 8 p.m., Monday, Oct. 13, an nounced Ed Griggs, vocational agriculture instructor. Material for instruction in cludes care and use of "com mon veterinary instruments, diagnosing, preventing and treating common livestock diseases, Griggs said. Films will be shown for illustration. Another course in the agri culture instruction series starts at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 16, when the farm me chanics course will be' held. The course will include in struction and practical experi ence in working with motors, the high school teacher said. Several motors will be used for practice demonstrations. Each of the courses will run for 10 weeks with instruction scheduled for one night a week, Griggs said. Those in terested in either course should contact the Crater high school vocational-agriculture department by calling NOrmandy 4-1103 in Central Point. Deadline Oct. 3 ASC Rate Request Oct. 3 is the deadline for filing a signed request for rates in applying for contract by Oct. 17, 1958, according to Jackson county ASC com mittee. Harry Martin, ASC office manager, explained that a farmer wishing to take land out of production for a pe riod of years may do so and draw annual rental payments by either offering his whole farm and receive 10 per cent incentive for doing so, or by offering part of his farm by reducing his soil bank base acres. Martin also mentioned that before coming to the County ASC office to make applica tion, farmers should list in formation about the acreage of each crop on the farm for the past two years and the average yields of the crops. The Canadian packing in dustry exports meat and by products to 81 countries. in ( if Ul o .. ' L. ... I BEDROOSJ 1512 " PLAN NO. 3625 1586 SQUARE FEET The master bath in the se cluded bedroom wing has dual lavatories, recessed tub and stall shower. The linen closet is conveniently near. Wide sliding panel ward robes and broad high set windows are luxury features of the bedrooms. The water heater, forced air unit and family bath are centrally located to keep plumbing lines and air ducts short. For easy servicing, the water heater closet opens to the outside. Complete working drawing 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. Homes for Living, may be pur chased for SI. Send all orders for either plans or books to Hiawatha Estes, P. O. Box 407-7, Northridge, Calif. CHIT CHAT Bt JOE G. COWLEY Mail Tribune Farm Editor Water has always been sought after by man. Since it is so valuable it has also been the cause of many controversies. Not long ago the long standing legal hassle over use of the Colorado river waters ended: Locally, management of water hit the headlines ,during the present controversy over the Eagle Point irrigation district. Those managing the Eagle Point irrigation district know, especially now, that managing water for people is far from easy-many problems result. As one manager of a local irrigation district said, "Storage water is money in the bank!" Water is to farming what blood is to a man. Often people think of it that way. I remember seeing two ranchers, one in his 60's and the other in his late 50's slug it out over irrigation rights. So it goes. Thinking the other side of the coin should be shown also, we asked two managers, of local irrigation districts some of the problem.- involved in managing water. Their answers showed human nature or just plain human orneriness cause a good man: of their problems-some funny and some not so funny. As a local attorney remarked, "Questions over irri gation waters can be highly emotional." How do you figure how much irrigation water can be portioned out to your customers, we asked. It takes a lot of figuring and second guessing, we were told. The irriga tion men figure how much storage water is available at the start of the irrigation season and they pro-rate it con sidering what might be needed for hold-over for another season. Naturally, the weather has to be figured, for storage reservoirs will not fill every year. The carry-over is the big factor. It's the cushion. Weather is a big factor, particularly during the summer when the canals are full of water flowing down from the foothills into the irrigation ditches or into the arteries of Rogue valley agriculture. A sudden cloudburst may cause a flash-flood and take out a section of canal. The irrigation district personnel must foresee the danger and be there to spill the excess roaring through the canals until it spends its fury. This means the irrigation district people stay pretty close to home during the summer. Trickiest job is pre-determining the demand for water. It takes 32 hours to bring the water down to the bottom of the valley from Fish lake, for instance. The water must be released from Fish lake to fit the demand here. A few degrees in the weather can make the difference in demand. Everything must be figured 32 hours in advance since the managers don't like to start the water down unless someone needs it. Now, take a deep breath, this is only part of it. That's only part of it and probably explains why good irrigation district managers are held in such high esteem-most of the time. Here in the Rogue valley water demands are split between orchardists and those raising pastures. Those farmers with clover pastures want the water as soon as the hot weather hits in April and May right down to the first rain in fall. Pastures use the water every 10 to 14 days. (Every 14 days up to and after the peak demand in July and every 10 days in July.) Pear orchardists used to one irrigation made with the or the flood water. Since the start of pear decline in 1955 this practice gradually ceased. Now orchardists wait until after the stream flow. The irrigation water . supply has been building up gradually. Spraying demands cause another problem. It seems as if all orchards want to irrigate want to hold off until after spraying. When showers hold up a haying operation all the farmers with hay are delayed and want the water at the same time. To satisfy all those who want their water at the same time it would take a flow of 1,000 cubic feet per second feet compared to the present 150 c.f.s. There just isn't that much capacity avail able in the canals. "Of course the ideal situation," one manager said Is -to set up an uninterupted rotation system early in the spring. This way the water users stagger their water use. On this staggered basis district managers could more easily figure their water demands through The hardest season comes all set up on schedules, then the rain come. This means some water users must irrigate while their lands are still rain-wet to avoid others from Still talking about the water users-new tract owners with no experience with irrigation make many district manager wrinkle their brows. They don't realize how much water their particular type of soil will take. It should be stopped right at the saturation point. Plants have root or growing zones. After the water passes those zones it ceases to do the trees or plants any good. The new irrigators have to learn "to put the water over fast, penetrate the root zone and shut it off, to avoid waste," one manager said. Twenty four hours of irrigation is plenty for heavy clay soil as is found in much of the' valley. The "sticky," as the Bear creek adobe soil is called, holds the water tenaciously. The local managers have little booklets which explains they are legally entitled to shut the water off if it is being wasted by a farmer. But how are you going to tell when a farmer has taken all the water he actually needs? One thing which helps in the valley is tne unique system of the various districts picking up the surplus water from each district as it flows down. Talent Irrigation district may start it flowing from one reservoir high up, Medford Irriga tion district picks it up farther down at a diversion point, carries it through its ditches, then Rogue River Valley dis trict pickf it up at its diversion point. The Irrigation district managers give a pat on the back to men of the Soil Conservation Service and the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation committees who have taught many of the valley farmers to properly "level and drain" their lands to get the most use of their water. These prac tices are being applied to the newer orchards in the valley. Many of the older orchards were set up as dry orchards. Irrigation water was applied later as it became available. In fact more new orchards have been going in during the last two years than in all the previous 20 years. An increasing problem to irrigation districts is suburbani zation. Sixty acre tracts are being chopped up into one-acre tracts or less. The addition of streets and other improvements alter the drainage and irrigation patterns. Medford Irriga tion district, for example, started with 400 units. It now has approximately 2,000 units. Talent Irrigation district started with 600 units and now has 1,200 units. The. worst of it is that the best land is in the bottom of the valley. This is the land that is being rapidly subdivided and these subdivisions are reaching deeper into the irrigation districts. So what happens? Normally, the farmers with the poorer lands are forced to bear more of the irrigation costs. That's why local irrigation districts don't exclude the non-agricultural land. And that's why Talent irrigation district will be bringing 5.000 additional acres under irri gation. The district needs all the customers they can get to spread the indebtedness for the Talent project development. "Promising Pete," the huckster type of real estate sales man, is the bane of the irrigation district managers. They sell tracts promising clients that the water flowing past in the adjacent irrigation ditch or creek, is free. The property may not be under irrigation. As the lawn gets brown under the searing July, sun the new owner suddenly realizes this. He should have checked with the irrigation district man agers, but he didn't. (They are the only ones who can tell what property comes undeil irrigation district water.) irrigate in May with at least first water down the streams either before spraying or the summer. when the water delivery is becoming too dry. Director Named For Pear Bureau, Manager Reports Portland M. L. "Les" Mc Mahon, formerly sales promo tion manager of Calavo Grow ers of California, has been named merchandising direc tor for the Oregon-Washington-California Pear bureau, it was reported by Richard A. Patterson, bureau general manager. In this newly-created posi tion, McMahon will have di rection of the bureau's field representatives super vising the merchandising program for the marketing of winter pears, Mr. Patterson said. McMahon has had a varied experience in the fresh food field. It was while he was a student at Cornell university, where he was specializing in the storage, transportation and marketing of fresh fruits and vegetables, that he was hired by the Dole Pineapple company to become assistant superintendent field mainten ance department for a 15,000 acre plantation in Hawaii. He left Dole late in 1949 to be come market economist for the Industrial Research Advis ory Council of Hawaii. In Oc tober, 1950, he joined the Ca lavo Growers of California, working out of the San Fran cisco sales office. Worked in Los Angeles In November, 1951, the new Pear bureau merchan dising executive was trans ferred to the Los Angeles ca lavo sales office, where his work involved direct selling with major emphasis on ar ranging for special promo tions and instalaltions of point of sale advertising ma terial. He became assistant sales promotion manager in 1954 and was elevated to the top job -in 1955. In this posi tion, he worked in all 33 branch cities for the Calavo group. McMahon held the office of treasurer and later secretary of the Los Angeles Sales Pro motion Executives association and was first vice president when he moved to Oregon this year. He has authored several articles on the mer chandising of fresh produce and is well known to trade audiences for coining the phrase, "The Last 20 Inches". This is the length of the ave rage housewifes' arm which he contends to be the most im portant distance traveled by any fresh fruit or vegetable. He also is a member of the American Society for Horti cultural Science. He holds a degree in agri culture from McGill univer sity, Montreal, and a master's degree from Corntell univer sity. He is married and the father of a son and daughter. People Reminded Of Tree Planting In Soil Bank Plan Corvallis - Oregon farmers planning to put land into the Soil Bank's 1959 conserva tion reserve are advised to consider tree -plantings for profitable, long-range conser vation. Douglas fir, pine, or other commercial trees planted on marginal cropland can in crease land value rapidly and provide an excellent invest ment in the nation's future I 11111 UCL UCGUB, OOJ O J.1C1X Ross, Oregon State college farm forestry specialist. Current estimates point to a 25 to 40 per cent increase in timber demands by 1975. Trees 'planted now under the Soil Bank program can be harvested when they reach small sawlog size and return a per-acre income comparable to that from much of Oregon's cropland, Ross explains. The conservation reserve program pays up to 70 per cent of the cost of getting tree seedlings planted on cropland, according to Arnold Bodtker, administrative officer of the agricultural stabilization and conservation state committee. Receive Rental In addition, farmers receive yearly rental payments aver aging $16 an acre in Oregon but varying according to value of the land. The con tracts run for 10 years. Ross says Oregon forest nurseries have a good supply of seedlings to meet expected demands for Soil Bank plant ings this year in contrast to a year ago when the demand ran ahead of supplies. L BRILL METAL WORKS Commercial Industrial Residential Sheet Metal Work Stainless, Galvanized and Copper Fabrication 2237 West Main PHONE SP 2-4440 Farmers' Questions Answered On Conservation Reserve By GENE WINTERD County Extension Agent The following questions on the 1959 Conservations Re serve program came from Jackson County farmers and were directed to the County ASC office and County Ex tension office: Question: What is the pro ductivity index? Answer: The productivity index represents the County ASC Committee's estimate of the productive capacity of any one farm compared to the average productivity of all non-irrigated land in the county. The maximum amount of annual lease or payment the government is willing to make for soil bank acres on any one farm is based on the productivity index.' Question: Does the govern ment, represented by the ASC office make an offer to lease my farm for placement in the Soil Bank, in part or all of it? Answer: No. The individual farmer offers to lease to the government at a certain price. Offers above rates shown by the productivity index will be automatically rejected. Question: Can I make an offer to lease my place in whole or in part below the figures represented by the productivity index? Answer: Yes. In case there are more offers than money the lower offers will be ac cepted but not the higher ones. Question: After obtaining the original form from the ASC office between Sept. 2 Names Submitted For Vo-Aq Board Members Eagle Point-A list of nomi nees for directors of the Eagle Point vocational agrigulture advisory board was submit ted at Monday's meeting of the board. Four members of the seven man advisory board will re tire in November, it was an nounced. These include John Osterhout, Bill Jess, Gordon Predatory Animal Kill Reported Salem-Kirby J. Tant, federal-state hunter in Jackson county, took 92 predatory animals here during a twelve weeks, June 1 to Aug. 23. This figure includes 59 coy otes, seven bobcats, 14 Rac coons, two badgers, six por su pines and four skunks. Tant also reported 22 sheep killed by coyotes and dogs during April, May and June. These livestock losses are only discovered by Tant in his routine operations. They do not fully picture total losses suffered by stockmen through predators in this area. These figures come from a joint report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state department of agri culture. Friday and Saturday USE 15 LAWNS - PLANT 'EM NOW! ELTON'S SPECIAL LAWN MIX 95c lb. Best for our locality, proven over many years' use; makes beautiful, long-lasting, hard-wearing lawn. Use our rollers, spreaders, seeder FREE! ELTON'S FARM and GARDEN STORE 217 W. and Oct. 3 "am I under any obligation to offer a portion or all of my tillable land to the Soil Bank? Answer: Absolutely not. The information received is for you to take home and study. In fact, no contract will be accepted prior to Oct. 17. Question: After offering a lease agreement may I change it? - - Answer: No. The first offer on your part is final for the program beginning in 1959. There will be no arbitration or adjustment. Help Available Question: Can I obtain help in properly filling out the ini tial papers and the final con tract? Answer: Yes. Trained perr sonnel will be available at the ASC counter for this pur pose. Question: Will signing of a contract for participation in the 1959 conservation soil bank reserve affect conserva tion 'reserve contracts now in operation? Answer: No. Nor will the rate of payment of previously signed contracts be affected. However, existing contracts may be expanded to include additional eligible land. Question: How long will Soil Bank contracts run? . Answer: In case of a pre viously established cover, 3 years. When a new cover is established, a minimum of 5 years, a maximum of 10 years at your discretion at time of signing the contract. Forest tree plantings must be under Stanley and Darrel Stanley, present board chairman. Mer ton Bradshaw was elected new chairman for the coming year. During the business session adult classes for the new school year were discussed. Arc and gas welding will again be taught this year. In structor is Ed Learning, head shop foreman for Steve Wil son. First session will be held at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 16. Registration for this class is limited to 15 people. Another adult class in tractor and machinery main tenance will be taught by C. L. (Blacky) Gunter, ma chinery repairman for Hub bard Wray Farm Implement company. This course will consist of maintenance of tractor and machinery on the farm. Special emphasis will be placed on motor and tracT tor maintenance. This class wil start at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 14 and be restricted to 15 in dividuals. An adult class in livestock nutrition will start, on Jan. 9. This will deal with practical livestock feeding of dairy, beef, sheep and swine in the Eagle Point area, it was ex plained. The course will be conducted by local feed sales men. L OJ C LfU IS Z3 ONE DOZEN CROCUS BULBS While They Last To Each Adult Customer Making a Bulb Purchase of $2.00 or More SOIL DUSTO for better bulb success BONE MEAL for larger flowers LARGE ASSORTMENT Tulips - Daffodils - Hyacinth Croft Lily 20 and 40 each NICE ASSORTMENT OF. FLOWER POT STANDS SAVE! GARDEN HOSE SPECIAL! OFF ' I Example: 50 ft.,'.8-year guarantee hose Reg. REG. PRICE $3.50. Now - 15 Off - only $2.97 length. 6th SP 10 year contracts. Question: Are previously established grass lands eligi ble for lease to the govern ment under the 1959 Soil Bank program? Answer: Under certain con ditions. Older than five year plantings are acceptable pro vided hay has been taken, at least once, during the previous two years. Plantings made after 1953 are acceptable pro vided the planting in ques tion was made on an area in the farm in tillable rotation prior to the planting. Question: Will nontillable land be accepted in the new conservation reserve? Answer: No. The land must have been in recent cultiva tion. One of the objectives of this program is to reduce total crop yield as an aid to reducing surpluses. Trees in Program Question: Is the planting of Christmas trees acceptable un der this program? Answer: Yes, provided there is no harvest as long as the contract is in effect. Question: In what way can I utilize the land which I may have contracted under the soil bank? Answer: In no gainful way, whatever. You may use ap proved management practices, for instance, in a tree plant ing. But again, the general idea is to remove the con tracted acres from production. Question: Suppose I live in the hills does the soil bank hold any promise for me? Answer: Forest tree plant ing is suggested especially on part time farms. Liberal cost sharing is provided for plant ing either trees or permanent ground cover. When reforest ing what better can one ask than a rental payment for 10 years during which trees are unpToductive? , Question: What happens to my contract with the govern ment in case the land in ques tion changes ownership? Answer: The original signer must return all previously paid practice payments to the government, unless the new owner takes over the con tract. This is allowable. Question: How may I ob tain more detailed informa tion relative to the 1959 soil bank program? Answer: Go to the County ASC office for literature and an application for a contract. You must make a written re quest for rates by Oct 3, al though the application for a contract does not have to be filed until Oct. 17. ' Builders Supply fejUW QUALITY PR BLOCKS H J?pf Bricks, Flues, Trl 1 Drain Tile 1 I I 727 VI W. McAndrwi Ph. SP 2-4107 Friday and Saturday 3 - 5539
