8 MA ft. TRIBUNE, Medford. Oregon, TtiunJay, Janugry 7, 1959
CHIT CHAT
By JOE COWLEY
Mail Tribune Farm Editor
Barbershop comments should be taken always, as a friend
of ours says - "with a large box of salt." And we like to
hear barber shop talk regardless of the truth of it.
One such comment was. "If a feller wants to really get
ahead he should go to Alaska and get himself a homestead.
Wouldn't pay for old fellers like us to do it though. Takes
someone who is in his 20"s. Yup, that's a young man's deal!"
Farm & Garden
!
We don't agree with that kind of talk. Life for an Alaskan
farmer is plenty rugged and requires the strength and tough
ness noted in the young. However, such pioneering isn't only
for the young.
Recently, we finished reading a story in "The Farm," a
quarterly publication on agriculture. This article was about
a young stockman from Nebraska and his family's exper
iences in founding a stock ranch near the Mt. McKinley
National park and not far from Nenana.
The "young ex-Nebraskan figured that to become a suc
cessful beef grower he had to develop a breed of cattle par
ticularly suited to stand both Alaska's 40 below zero weather
and the swarms of large, fierce biting mosquitoes. He pur
chased from South Dakota 54 head, 11 purebred Scotch
Highlanders, and 43 crosses, Highlander-Longhorn, Highlander-Hereford
and Highlander-Shorthorn.
The herd made it through the winter without severe
losses and most of it survived the fatal attraction of the
railroad tracks, bone-freezing winters and hungry Eskimos.
The purebred Scotch Highlanders seemed best suited to
Alaska. They were good foragers and had long shaggy hair
to withstand both the cold and mosquitoes.
The young farmer quickly discovered his stock burned
up a lot of hay in fighting the 40 below cold. During such
cold weather he had to provide four times as much hay as
he would during mjlder weather. He also discovered those
feeding on wild cranberry and other native plants get their
vitamins and did better. Oat-vetch-pea hay provided the
best nourishment during the winter when the stock couldn't
reach the wild plant life, the Alaskan discovered.
To pull through financially, the young rancher's wife
had to take a job in Fairbanks. The young farmer advises
anyone interested in this frontier farming to give Alaska
a trial before definitely deciding to farm there.
This Alaskan rancher has a 20-year lease. He must run
50 cattle the first year, 150 the third year and 500 the fifth
year. Lease costs the first three years will cost him $400
total. After that he will be charged 60 cents a head a year.
Under the lease terms, he can grow anything on the land,
but can only beef off of it. According to the revised home
stead regulations no homesteads can be established on
leased land. Also, he cannot purchase land vithin the lease,
and cannot homestead himself. Although Alaska only pro
duces about 5 per cent of the food it eats, many Alaskans
believe that the new state can be self-sustaining only in
bef. '
This pioneering isn't limited to Alaska nor to young
men. The other day we dug out a clipping of a feature story
we had written some time ago. This was about how a 60-year-old
man and his family dug and scraped a farm out of
rugged timber country in the Pacific Northwest. When he
was through he had a total of 716 acres of farm land and
was grazing an average of 300 head of "feeder" cattle.
To do it he and his two sons put in from 14 to 16 hours
a day. They started in 1947 with 320 acres. Three dulldozers
running from dawn to dark cleared 160 acres that first
year of 1947. Approximately 120 acres produced flax that
first year.
The farmer and his wife lived in a little granery shack
then. In the fall of the same year they moved into the
ramshackle farm house which they bought with the land.
They redecorated it inside and out and moved in. Gradually
more land was added.
This pioneering rancher firmly believes in the basic
practices of crop rotation and proper fertilization. His thick
stand of clover is proof of his practices. Those in the busi
ness who know, say that without this practice the clover
will completely disappear in 10 years - unless phosphorous
Is added.
This spry old farmer was housing his cattle in open
sided sheds made of peeled poles covered with aluminum
when last visited.
"Yknow a man gets pretty lazy when he gets old like
me, then he just has to sit down and figure a little before
he starts workin'. Sometimes it saves a lot of work. Like
I peeled all of those poles by using my tractor. Took me
just an hour," the veteran farmer said.
To feed the wintering cattle two 600 ton capacity ensilage
pits were used. Corn ensilage was preferred. To supplement
silage, cattle were fed two pounds per head a day of sup
plement "G," which is a mixed feed containing dehydrated
grass, molasses and minerals.
Besides the beef, from 90-100 acres of cannery corn was
raised on the ranch, plus 30 acres of field corn. This pro
duced about 10 tons of corn an acre.
Believing that diversification of crops also pays off,
the veteran farmer had a 200 acre tree farm, also. The
trees were thinned according to recommendations of the
forester attached to the U. S. Soil Conservation Service.
The far-seeing farmer believer this is the future of forestry.
This farmer had many rich accomplishments in his past
but never liked to talk of it.
"Don't .think about the past-sign's a man is getting old,"
the veteran farmer remarked, a grin creasing his ruddy,
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weather beaten face. "It's the future that interests me!"
The lanky, plain-spoken old political warrior believes
everyone can afford to devote a little time to the public
service. He was a county commissioner for six years.
"You know, I think thafs one reason why I liked this
place so well when I bought it. Then, the only way you
could get here was that shaky ferry across the river. Mighty
peaceful after hearing all those complaints in the court
house. 'Course now they have the new highway through.
Gave 16 acres of my land for it."
This man had been representative in the state legisla
ture, also. His aim was to put government on a business
basis.
"Farming? It's a big gamble. Never paid much attention
to betting on the horses. Why should I, when I can get my
money's worth of worrying out of my crops. Bet on a
horse and your worryin' is all over in a half hour. With
farmin' it's different."
All of which is the long way around the barn to say
that such pioneering requires a rugged constitution, shrewd
ness, inventiveness and lots of energy. And these qualities
don't seem to be limited to any particular age bracket.
Late Monday Gov.-elect Mark Hatfield appointed Frank
McKennon, director of the division of plant industry, as
state director of agriculture. McKennon is a veteran of 23
years with the department.
Agricultural experts and political observers inform us
this was a wise choice. McKennon is said to be well-liked
by all segments of agriculture and by many of those who
have had business with him. And what's even more, im
portant observers predict he will represent all parts of the
state's agricultural industry impartially.
McKennon's experience in the division of plant industry,
a part of the state department of agriculture will give him
the broad foundation of both technical and departmental
knowledge needed. Robert Steward, whom he replaces,
resigned effective Jan. 12. Steward was only in office for
lVz years much to the distress of the industry. Should this
position be removed from political appointment? That's a
question plenty of informed, misinformed and uninformed
people will be kicking around during the new year. How
ever, does anyone know of a bad state director of agricul
ture placed in office under the present system?
Stale Turkey Men To Attend Meet
Dairy Legislation
Set For Talks
Corvallis Legislation af
fecting Oregon's milk supply
and economics and manage
ment of dairy operations will
highlight the 65th annual
meeting of the Oregon Dairy
men's association, Jan. 7 and
8, at Gearhart.
Secretary Harold Ewalt, Or
egon State college extension
dairy specialist, says the meet
ing at the Gearhart hotel will
run the gamut of problems
facing dairymen including
recommended changes in agri
cultural laws slated to go be
fore the next legislature.
Dairy sanitary laws, pro
posed reorganization of the
state department of agricul
ture, and clarification of the
laws on retail milk sales by
"dairy breed names," will be
investigated.
Oregon's milk pricing sys
tem and some resulting prob
lems will be reviewed by Dr.
S. Kent Christensen, OSC ag
ricultural economist, who has
recently completed several
studies of the state's dairy bus
iness including comparative
costs of serving milk and cof
fee in Oregon restaurants.
D. O. Noorlander, Universi
ty of California veterinary de
partment, will discuss mastitis
control and proper use of
milking machines. Other top
ics include Oregon's water re
sources for irrigation by Ar
thur S. King, OSC soil conser
vation specialist.
4-H Club News
Happy Slilchers Sewing Club
The meeting of the Happy
Stitchers on Dec. 30 was held
in the home of our leader,
Mrs. Arthur Becker. It lasted
all day. All the members were
present but one.
We finished our needle
cases. Then we made wrist
pincushions, after that we had
lunch.
After lunch we learned how
to. fold and store sweaters. We
learned the parts of the sew
ing machine. Then we took a
piece of tablet paper and
without thread learned to sew
straight lines. We were served
cup cakes at the end of our
meeting. Then our assistant
leader, Mrs. Van Calhoun,
took us home.
Cherylee Becker,
Reporter.
Slilch-in-Time Club
The Stitch-in-Time club met
at Marcy Miller's and Molly
Ely's houses to finish the
needle cases. Around the out
side of the needle cases, we
put the blanket stitch. The
next meeting will be held at
Judy Dunlevy's to make pin
cushions.
Joan Eslinger,
Reporter
Sam's Thumpers
A bake sale will be held by
Sam's Thumpers 4-H rabbit
club some time in January or
February at the Valley Lock
er, it was decided during a
recent meeting.
Nancy Day will give a dem
onstration on how to feed rab
bits during the next club
meeting at the home of Daryl
Zapell on Jan. 4.
Nancy Day,
Reporter.
Corvallis A delegation of
50 Oregon turkey producers,
representing the Oregon Tur
key Improvement association,
will leave Portland Jan. 2 to
attend the national Turkey
Federation convention, Jan.
4 to 8 in Des Moines, Iowa.
The Oregon turkey associ
ation is taking along a booth
to be exhibited at the conven
tion, reports N. L. Bennion,
Oregon State College exten
sion poultryman and secre
tary of the association. The
booth, with a theme, "Oregon,
the Home of Foundation
Breeding Stock," will explain
the state's contribution to im
proving the turkey industry
in the nation, he said.
Oregon's $10 milli.on-a-year
turkey industry is famous for
its production of broad-breasted
bronz turkey eggs and
poults, Bennion pointed out.
About one-half of the eggs
and poults produced in the
state each year are sold to
turkey growers over the na
tion. Eight of the state's turkey
producers are also taking
along booths to set up at the
national convention, Bennion
added. These booths will fea
ture exhibits of both live and
dressed turkeys.
Cattle Club Sels
Yearly Meeting
Lynn Bramkamp, manager
of the California Milk Produ
cers federation, wild be guest
speaker at the annual meet
ing of the Rogue River Jer
sey Cattle club at the Rogue
Riviera on Saturday, Jan. 10,
it was announced.
Final plans for the annual
luncheon to be held at the
Rdgue Riviera were made at
the December meting of th
Rogue River Jersey Cattle
club. Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Mon
gold of Eagle Point were
hosts for the monthly busi
ness and social get-together.
A gift exchange and election
of officers for the coming
year were highlights of the
meeting.
New officers elected were
W. D. Mongold, Eagle Point,
president; J. E. Parsons, Gold
Hill, vice president; Bess Mc
Colm, Grants Pass, secretary;
and E. B. Poyer, Ashland,
treasurer.
It was decided to continue
the popular guest speaker
program along with partici-
EXAMINE GRASS SILAGE-Carl "Jake" Jacobson, feed
salesman for this area, left, and Bill Hubbard, Eagle Point,
are shown analyzing some grass silage on the Hubbard
farm. Jacobson and Nat Etzel, Eagle Point vocational agri
culture instructor, have sampled about 35 samples of local
and imported hay and local grown silage. These samples
plus the analysis for moisture, crude protein, carotene and
fiber will be presented at the fourth meeting of the winter
adult course on livestock feeding at Eagle Point High
school.
owTo Buy Best Hay
Included In Course
How to get the best hay for
the money is one of the things
farmers will be taught while
attending the winter adult
course on livestock feeding
starting Jan. 8 in, the Eagle
Point vocational agriculture
building.
Class sessions start at 7:45
p.m. every Thursday. The
fee for the 10-class sessions
will include refreshments and
a supplemental outline to be
given of class notes later.
"Everyone buys hay on
sight and we are going to try
to make the farmers more
conscious of analyzing hay
that is purchased, especially
since we import so much into
this area," Etzel said.
Instructors for the course
are Dr. Eugene Hanawalt,
Central Point veterinarian;
Dr. Keith Hockersmith, man
ager of the Grange Co-op,
Central Point; Carl (Jake)
Jacobson, General Mills, Inc.,
Medford; Earle Jossy, Jack
son county agent, Medford;
Paul Wilson, Albers Milling
company, Medford; and Gene
Winters, Jackson county
agent, Medford.
First Meeting Set 1
The first meeting, to be
conducted by Hockersmith,
will cover proteins, carbohy
drates, fats, minerals, . and
vitamins. An explanation of
what can be learned from the
feed tags will be grven also.
During the second and
third meetings, Hockersmith
will instruct on the use of
feeding tables in Morrison's
bocks on "Feeds and Feed
ing." These sessions will
cover also practical purposes
pation in youth activities.
More plans are to be made
at the next regular meeting.
Slug Control Studied
At Oregon State College
Corvallis Slugs, the re
pulsive and damaging pest of
a wide variety of ; garden,
truck and field crops in west
ern Oregon, had a "big year"
in 1958 because of favorable
weather conditions, in June,
but a new control project at
Oregon State college is aimed
at reducing their numbers and
damage in years ahead.
" As part of the project, OSC
entomologistst are trying for
the first time to raise slugs on
an extensive scale inside the
laboratory.
Raising the slugs "in captiv
ity" will assure a constant
supply of the pests throughout
the year for chemical control
tests and will also provide
new information about the little-known
biology of the pest.
Metaldehyde baits, dusts
and sprays are now used for
control of adult slugs, but oth
er controls at other stages of
development such as in the
egg stage may be more ef
fective, the OSC scientists be
lieve. Various new chemicals are
being screened in an effort to
find something that will be
less expensive, longer lasting
and even more effective than
metaldehyde.
Cooperating on the project
in the entomology department
are Leon C. Terriere, H. H.
Crowell, and E. A. Dickason.
Richard Boose is assisting on
chemical testing and Robert
Arias, graduate student from
Thermal, Calif., is working on
the insect rearing phase of the
project. A S3, 000 grant in sup
port of the study was recently
received from the Oregon Ag
ricultural Research founda
tion. Improved controls will not
come easily, the scientists
warn. Slug studies were start
ed in Oregon some 40 years
ago and they have been con
ducted in England, where
slugs are a very serious pest,
for nearly a century.
Two Girls Questioned
On Attempted Holdups
Salem-dTD-Police said two
girls, 15 and 16 years old,
were taken into custody late
Wednesday in connection with
two attempted holdups the
day before. They were turned
over to juvenile court.
Mrs. Shirley Miller, 22, said
two girls wearing bandanas
tried to rob her at her home.
Later, Mrs. Mable Stokes said
two girls tried to rob her
small grocery store.
The first Protestant Sunday
schsol in America was found
ed in Savannah, Ga., in 1736.
Lodge To Be Dedicated
At Bachelor Butte
Bend-CTD-The James Egan
Memorial lodge at the Bache
lor Butte ski resort will be
dedicated Saturday.
The lodge was named in
honor of the man who was
Deschutes National Forest su
pervisor for two years and
was instrumental in establish
ing the ski area. His widow,
now living in New Mexico,
will be here for the ceremonies.
JEWISH HISTORIAN DIES
New York (UPD Dr. Adolf
Kober, 79. widely-known rab
bi and Jewish historian, died
Monday night after a heart
attack.
EX-CONGRESSMAN DIES
Glendale, Calif. -(ITD-Fu-neral
services were held Mon
day for Thomas F. Ford, 85,
Democratic congressman from
1932-42.
THE
DANMOORE
HOTEL
1217 SW Morrison St.
PORTLAND, OREGON
All transient guests. All those who
come, return. Rates not high, not
low. Free garage, TV's and radio.
Reputation for cleanliness.
Reservations by long distance
phone refunded on request
upon arrival
of feeding standards and bal
ancing rations.
The fourth class session, to
be conducted by Jacobson,
will include analysis of local
samples of hay and silage for
crude protein, moisture and
carotene, importance of the
stage of growth in nutritional
value along with proper cur
ing, silages and pasture.
Hockersmith will instruct
the fifth meeting which will
cover use of pellets and waf
ers advantages and dis
advantages and their future.
Feed additives will be cov
ered in the sixth meeting,
also to be conducted by Hock
ersmith. This subject will in
clude Stilbestrol, aureomycin
and terramycin, effects on
different animals, and prac
tical uses and future uses.
Calf Raising Courts Subject
Wilson will instruct the
second meeting on dairy and
beef calf raising which will
include nutrient require
ments, precautions, feeding
grain and roughages and
weaning weight.
The eighth meeting, to be
conducted by County- Exten
sion Agents Earle Jossy and
Gene Winters, will cover pas
tures. This subject will in
clude the best varieties, pro
per management, pasture
analysis, and physical chang
es for best yield. ; j
The ninth meeting discusses
parasites and diseases associ
ated with malnutrition.
New equipment for best
utilization of pastures, hay
and silages will be discussed
during the 10th meeting. Fur
ther information on the
course may be obtained by
calling Nat Etzel, vocational
agriculture instructor, at
Eagle Point high school.
COMING! Another BIG
John Deeire Pay!
m
NitMiIitHilhlill
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For FARMERS and Their FAMILIES
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COME STAY ALL DAY AS OUR GUESTS!
HUBBARD-WRAY CO.
25 SO. RIVERSIDE
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TABLE ROCK ROAD AT 4 CORNERS
CRISP SOLID GREEN
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