Medford mail tribune., May 24, 1960, Image 6

MAO. TRIIUNIr MHtaf Or.
VWaWay, May 14, 1M0
- CHIT CHAT
y JO! COWLIY
Mail Trikua fm Hilar
We drove out tnlo the hinterlands last week to visit a
firmer friend. Both the trip and visit Impressed us.
It was the kind of day which makes the blood sing through
the arteries. With our daughter, Little Miss Mischief, stand
ing up on the car scat beside us we rolled out Colver rd.
past fields with cows grazing contentedly, trim white farm
houses and iron red barns. Our'a was the only car on Pioneer
rd. as we started to climb up toward the hills. Every country
cottage or fnrmhouse we passed on the way had its color
ful flowerbeds. We noticed varieties of yellow, white, blue
and deep purple iris standing flagpole straight.
After talking with our farmer friend, listening to his
experiences, plans and general comments punctuated by
his wife's remarks we thought Pioneer rd. was well-named
judging by the type of people living along its borders. Our
iarmer friend and his family arc members of the ever
dwindling group of small, independent farmers the same
pioneer type which fought in the American Revolution and
settled the west.
Unfortunately, our friend is getting out of farming.
He's looking for a job in town a full-time one. He's been
hit by too many fruit freezes. He belongs to a cooperative
shipping organization which may help him price-wise for his
crop. However, this same cooperative won t lend him the
equipment and materials he needs. He has to buy those
himself. And that's what mounts up, equipment costs. So,
he's selling his farm "up on the mountain" and figuring on
subdividing some other farm acreage he has down on the
valley floor.
This latter remark is what concerns us. More farmers may
find they have to subdivide their property later on, but very
few are attending the Jackson County Planning commission
meetings on zoning. Regardless of how they may think about
zoning now, it would pay all farmers in the Rogue valley
to obtain copies of the proposed interim zoning ordinances
They're all the same except for the description of the land
and study them thoroughly. Also, it may cost a little money,
but It would pay to consult nn attorney before these zoning
ordinances come up for public hearings. It will save con
siderable sweat and money later on.
The land down under has been shipping considerable
sheep to the U.S. posing a serious threat to markets In this
country. Now, American land developers are moving into
Australia. A California paper announces development of the
1 ! million nern Exnerance Plains in western Australia.
Thio nrnWt. U nlnnned bv American Factors Association of
Honolulu and Chase International Invesmcnt Corporation of
New York.
The sour etitrry outlook em oo4. Valley frees eame
through the frost season in food shape. (It is over, accord
ing to all expert predictions, but not officially over until
June 1.) A number of new plantings have been made. And
Bagley Canning company in Ashland promises a good
outlet. Nobody will get rich on this deal but it will expand
the agricultural income some by adding another variety of
fruit well adapted to the Rogue valley, according to th
agricultural experts.
We talked to perhaps the largest operator of a year-round
fruit and vegetable stands in this area last week on Rogue
valley fruit and vegetable prospects. He played on the old,
old local theme that growers expect too high prices and the
merchants won't pay a decent price. Our fruit stand operator
said he buys almost all of his produce in Sacramento since
he can get it cheaper even though the farmer must include
transportation and jobber costs.
Farmers here, including poultrymen, demand Portland
prices, but aren't willing to deduct the transportation and
jobber costs, he pointed out. "Then, when you get a bunch of
'em to agree on price everything is fine until one of 'em is
offered 10 cents a box more, then off they go. They're hurting
themselves, is what they're doin' because they destroy a
potential good steady market here." Perhaps the frozen
foods processor will help here.
High Dollar Farming suggests fertilization and irrigation
to help farmers turn their pasture forage into good solid
profit. Fertilized range paid off with an extra 125 Dounds
of beef per acre in California. Profit after cost of fertilizer
was $7.38 an acre. Irrigation in Tennessee increased milk
production 4,341 pounds for a $99 per acre profit. In North
Carolina, carrying capacity went up by 42 cows days per
acre. Usually pasture returns alone aren't high enough to
cover cost of installing irrigation, but it is a good way to
boost profits where irrigation is used for other crops, too,
this farm newsletter points out.
Local agriculture experts seem to agree that the Rogue
valley puts out top quality sweet corn for the dinner table.
Only troube is that it comes on when sweet corn production
in the U.S. is at its peak. The Southern Oregon Branch
Experiment Station on Hanley rd. near Jacksonvile is ex
perimenting with earlier varieties of corn and tomatoes.
Alrazine will be available for corn growers for the first
time this year. It has been recommended already by many
college weed specialists. Like Simazine, Atrazine has been
very effective against both broad-leafed and grassy weeds.
Research men say it has a little advantage on Simazine be
cause it is more soluble in water and mav be more effective
in dry soil. But, for Pete's sane read the label and follow
directions before using it and any other chemicals!
Experance Plains is located about 450 miles southeast
of the city of Perth and consists mostly of virgin lands. Tnesc
will be cleared for pasture and farming over a five-year
period. As it is developed, the land will be sold to individual
farmers in blocks of a thousand acres or more. Chase In
ternational will help arrange the financing and will invest
some of its own funds in the development, according to the
news story. Wonder if they have zoning there?
Syndicated financial expert Sylvia Porter fired a shot
for the farmers recently in a column which appears in many
of the nation's papers. She sums up her her observations
after a shopping trip that "the cost of living rises of this
era are coming mostly in services not in food, not in cloth
ing, not much in housing, either."
She reports startling variations In price trends from
food to food compared to earlier postwar years when all food
prices were climbing rapidly. She noted "sensational dif
ferences from neighborhood to neighborhood and from store
to store. Because of the abundance of foods wise shoppers
can save money now on a much larger scale. Another point,
(made before the break down in summit talks) there is
nothing in the outlook suggesting another takeoff in the
price of food.
All of this points out that today food is your biggest
bargain. How much you want to pay depends on how much
processing you expect. For Instance, do you want your fryers
all cut and wrapped in an attractive cellophane package
ready for frying or are you willing to take the chicken and
prepare it yourself. Do you want tomatoes all uniform size
in cellophane cartons or are you willing to buy them from
a roadside stand and do the selecting plus scrubbing yourself?
County Extension Agent Don Berry Is striving diligently
to better the lot of the fruit and vegetable growers. One
frozen foods processor is trying some vegetable processing
for local farmers on a limited basis. However, this is a
promising step.
High Dollar Farming also predicts egg prices "could
zoom skyward next fall" if producers don't buy more chicks
than they have been. Early hatch is only two-imras wnat it
was in 1959. Besides that, flocks were already down 3 per
cent at the first of the year. Even a 10 per cent production
cutback has been known to cause a 30 per cent price gain
since demand for eggs is not very flexible.
Last summer, an experiment with rootplowing brush
was tried on the Applegate. The first experiment, the one
closed to the general public because it was a trial run, was
by far the most effective one. Mainly, because the ex
perienced operator on the huge cat could make it Just about
dance a jig on the steep hillside. For some reason, the Cater
pillar company changed operators for the large public dem
onstration on much less rugged terraine. This demonstra
tion was not nearly as effective. In the near future we want
to go out and check the grass planted.
We mentioned this because we understood another root
plow demonstration would be conducted in another section
of the valley this spring. Also, we noticed the San Francisco
Chronicle carried a story about another system of brush
eradication. The Dow Chemical company has developed
a form of 2,4-D that, when sprayed from the air, will do
a quick effective job of killing sagebrush, according to
Henry Schlacht, farm reporter. Schlacht recently Inspected
the spraying results on 8,000 acres of sagebrush in the Sierra
Valley. This is located from 5,500 to 7,500 feet elevation on
the eastern slope of the mountain in Plumas and Sierra
counties.
Schlacht points out that the valley's 200,000 acres raise
mainly cattle. Since the growing season is short ranchers
must get the most from the rangeland. Brush, which covers
about a fourth of the valley floor is the big handicap.
Cost runs about $5 an acre of which the federal govern
ment, in its conservation program, pays half. Ranchers of
the area estimate that the productive capacity of the range
is doubled and tripled within five years of spraying, the
San Francisco farm reporter repeated. One application seems
to kill the sage for about 10 years, he reported.
Ragweed Control Off To Start Early
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TREES
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P.O. Box 611
Madford - SPring 2-627
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PtlllKf Idttt lo Wrk
FOOt MACHINERY AND CHEMICAL COAPOKATION
Niagara Chamloal lvlslm
ANAHSMM PMINO RICHMOND VKIMA
Mont Of flea I MIDOL1PORT, NSW VOIIK '
Salem - The state's rag
weed spraying got off to an
unusually early start this
year, with the first work done
May 13 in Josephine county
with pre-emergence spray on
corn fields. Before this work
Is completed, about 60 acres
of corn will be treated.
On the corn fields, the state
is using the new chemical,
atrazine, which has been
cleared by federal food and
drug administration for pre-
emergence use only on corn.
The application used on this is
1.6 pounds actual atrazine per
acre - or a low rate so other
crops may be planted on the
land next year.
Ragweed plants In the Wil
lamette valley are showing
decidedly uneven germination
this year, with the first onPs
appearing about 20 days earl
ier than any time since the
state control measures started
In 1957. In some valley areas,
plants were 2 to 3 inches high
by May 13.
Spraying in the -Willamette
valley will not start imme
diately, as the irregular germ
ination would mean a second
coverage over the same
grounds.
"Ragweed pollen, the cul
prit which causes human al
lergies and suffering, will not
show for many weeks. By the
time It does, spraying will be
complete on all known in
festations so that Oregon may
retain its zero pollen count,"
states George Moose, assistant
plant division chief, state de-partm-nt
of agriculture.
In most of the spraying
operations, the department
will continue to use 2,4 D
which Is the same material
succassfully used in prior
years of the controt program,
Sawdust
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SCRUBBING Mrs. Dora Dorich, assisted by her grandson,
17-year-old Eddie McGrew, scrubs down a Landrace boar in
a squeeze chute. Eddie's hand and arm are seen holding a
long metal pole. The pole has a loop of wire at the end
which goes around the hog's snout. This holds him still and
his head up. Last Thursday, Mrs. Dorich shipped nine pure
bred Landrace hogs by boat to Hawaii where they will be
used for breeding purposes. This is a repeat on a previous
order.
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Farm and Garden
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CHILDREN HEAR ALL
Salisbury, Vt. -IUPD- Mrs.
Shirley Noble, who drives a
school bus for 42 children,
says she's learned at least
one thing from her job:
"Don't talk too much in
front of youngsters. It's
amazing how much they over
hear family matters. They're
quick to discuss all sorts of
things."
INTO CRATE Eddie gives the Landrace hog a final shove
from behind as it moved protestingly into the crate for ship
ment to Hawaii. Eddie's father, E. E. (Pink) McGrew, took
the afternoon off from the lumbermill to assist in the loading
operation. McGrew held the top of the gate to the crate,
ready to ease it down as the hog goes in. S. L. Shanklin,
Jacksonville, a hired hand on the Dorich farm, looks on.
Th truckdriver is in the background.
Bright Future Predicted
For Oregon Beef Cattle
HEYl MOVE ALONGI Seventeen-year-old Eddie Dorich
worked a hog down the chute to the truck where it was
loaded into a crate for shipping to Hawaii. Five boars and
four sows were shipped by freighter Thursday. The picture
was taken on the farm erf Eddie's grandmother, on Hanley
rd. across from the Southern Oregon Branch Experiment
station last week.
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UP SHE GOES Eddie's persistence paid off as he moved
this Landrace hog from the chute into a crate ready for
shipping to Hawaii. The Landrace hog, originating in Scan
danavian countries is well known for its meat and bacon
type. It provides a lean type of meat to fit In with today's
fatless diets.
Home Gardeners Save on Budget
Corvallis - If your family
budget balks when it comes to
savings, take a tip from an
Oregon State college horticul
ture specialist who says a
home garden can be an enjoy
able savings plan.
R. Ralph Clark est mates a
one-acre garden can produce
$800 worth of fruits and vege
tables for a farm or suburban
family. Cost of seed, fertilizer,
sprays and water normally
will run less than 10 per cent
of the Income from a garden,
he added.
A city family with a small
er yard will find the income
from a garden proportionate
to rural garden plots.
Added benefits of home
gardens are outdoor exercise
for the whole family and bet
ter flavored fresh fruits and
vegetables, with higher vita
min content than found in
processed products.
Clark pointed out that it is
late now to plant early crops
like radishes, spinach and
peas, but excellent results can
be obtained from many other
vegetables.
Corvallis - Oregon has the
right combination of resourc
es and market potential to
make the future bright for
the state's beef cattle indus
try, forecasts Marion Thomas,
Oregon State college exten
sion agricultural economist.
But, he emphasized, to
make the best eating, Oregon
cattle need to spend some
time in feedlots.
Six factors prompting the
agricultural economist to pre
dict further growth in the
beef cattle industry include:
1. Oregon cattle and feed
raisers are near tne iastest
growing group of highly-paid
beef eaters in the world. He
pointed out that the West
Coast population has grown
by more than one-third in the
past 10 years and is expected
to gain nearly as fast in the
next 10 years.
2. Oregon has cattle to feed
-more than 600,000 calves are
born in Oregon each year.
This is 50 per cent more than
10 years ago. More than two-
thirds of these are beef calves.
Besides calves and yearlings,
Oregon cattle herds yield
about 75,000 cows each year.
These numbers can be Increas
ed by rangeland improve
ment, shifting land and feed
from other uses, supplement
al feeding, and other methods
as economic conditions war
rant. Grain Supply Large
3. Supply of grain available
has been record large, and
will continue to be
4. Feeding of hay could be
increased, for pelleting and
watering make it more feasi.
ble to move hay into produa
tion areas.
5. Wheat could be available
for feeding in substantial
amounts if federal legislation
were changed to permit pric
ing at feed levels.
6. Oregon has the market
ing facilities to move cattle
to feedlots and beef products
to consumers.
On the other side of the
picture, Thomas pointed out
that a feedlot needs to oper
ate on a year-round basis and
handle relatively large
amounts of livestock and feed
to be efficient and successful.
This takes people with
know-how and relatively large
amounts of capital. The know.
how can be learned from
county extension agents, feed
companies, marketing agen
cies, farm press and others.
The capital is available
when necessary terms can be j
met, Thomas said. Reluctance!
to put capital into cattle!
feeding ventures should grad-
ually give way as opportuni-;
ties are recognized and as
experience builds confidence.
: WEED
: PROBLEMS?
V) Industrial
2 Agricultural
I RAYSPRAY
! Phone SP 2-9279
NAMESAKES IN COURT
Mobile, Ala. (UP&- Andrew
Jackson and George Washing
ton appeared on the Circuit
Court docket together here,
Jackson was appealing a
drunken driving case and
Washington a conviction for
driving without a license.
NO COLOR LINE
Mobile, Ala. (UPD Segrega
tion apparently doesn't oper
ate outside the law in south
Alabama. Police said they
cracked a profitable holdup
gang with the arrest of two
white men, a white woman
and three Negro men.
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ROGUE VALLEY
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tops of trees where spray rigs may not give good cover
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