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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 24, 1960)
Former Fruit Picker Now Raises Fruit What does a fruit picker doi when he settles down? Well, he starts farming on hii own if he is like Lester Igo, a resident of the Phoenix I area. Les is assisted by his wife, Ruth, and 11-year-old ion Tim. The Igos are farm ing because they like the in dependent living in the coun try. In that way they are like a good many small farmers and their families who put a heavier value on the type of living that goes with farm ing rather than the cash re ceived. Les is a tall, rawhide thin man whose face has been darkened by picking season sun as he roamed all up and down the coast picking fruit which he now grows on 15 acres. Part of it is located on the Pioneer rd. and the five acre piece on South Colum bus ave. On his home place, the Igos raise four acres of apri cots, fire or six acres of pears and about 7V4 acres of Talent alfalfa. The five-acre orchard is in pears. About 13 acres of the 40 acre home place is un der irrigation-Irrigated from a sump Les dug himself. Regretfully, like many an other small farmer, Les is get ting out of farming-at least as a full-time job. "I decided when I bought this farm 10 years ago that I would never borrow money from last y e a r's operation for next year's. That's what I'm gonna have to do if I keep this place," he remarked rubbing the back of his neck. Until now the lanky farmer has kept himself thin with various part-time jobs to stretch out his farming dol lars. This included work at S.O.S. packing house, a fruit growers' cooperative to which he belongs, pruning and var- : ious other odd jobs. However, now that equipment and ma terials' costs are mounting up, plus wages of what part time labor he hires, he figur es farming has to be a part time operation now and other work his full time occupation. . In Air Tore In the Air Force during World War II Les was one of the highly skilled technicians who worked on central fire control on the power turrets of the B-29's, Gen. H. H. Ar nold's pet project. He hopes to use this mechanical and highly skilled electrician training (he graduated near the top of his service school class) for a full-time job. We saw a sheath of Air Force records and commendations attesting to his proficiency When he quits farming full time we hope with others of his friends and acquaintances that Les and his family don't leave the community. Les, is an active elder in the Phoenix Presbyterian church. Highly religious, but down to earth on such church 'matters as budget and building mainte nance. His wife, Ruth is one of the hard core of working mem bers of the local P.T.A. "She's jus' like a powerful tractor." Less remarked fondly. "Jus' "If I were . . . and planning a family vacation, I'd make doubly sure it was a vacation. I'd go UP on the Domeliner 'City of Portland.' I'd give the children room to move around and the thrill of riding a real train. I'd think of my husband, too, and free him of the strain of a long drive on hazardous highways, and know for sure vt'i arrive safe and sane. For myself, this is the sort of a vacation I'd reafly enjoy. It would be fun for all of us. I could relax in my own reserved seat or in the Dome or Lounge. Most important, UP'i Family Fares would keep the cost within our means.' MEALS FOR LESS in the Coffee Shop Lounge. Open all day and evening for snacks, sandwiches, salad, drinks . . . even full course dinners ... at economical "coffee-shop" prices. FAMILY FAKES really save money for group family travel. For example, a husband and wife with two teen-age children on a round-trip to Chicago by Coach, eon tmx $118.30 under regular rail Jam and fiOi-96 under tht lowul airline fartt. point 'er at the work and let her go. She gets it done in fine shape. Don't even have to crank her up," he chuckled. Lik.t to Hunt Eleven-year-old Tim's life is centered on the farm. His dad cut down a .25-.35 caliber Winchester for him. The Igos don't have to go very far to get their deer. Tim has taken his share, too. Last season Les downed a deer a few yards from the road. He had it all skinned out just before the school bus came. Tim is proficient with a .410 gauge shotgun, too. One year he Killed live quail with one shot. When he isn't helping his dad on the far m. Tim is tramping around the woods with his dog. swimming, fish ing, or is out in the small house his dad built him of scrap lumber. "He said he wanted a house where he'd be boss, well now he's got one, Les said. A proud family possession is a .44 Remington six-shot revolver, stamped with the name Miles City, Montana ter ritory. The serial number 663 marks it as an authentic an tique The Igos used to raise their own chickens, keep some beef and a cow. However, they figure eggs and fryers are much cheaper at the store Three milk routes converge on their home and Les figures he would lose valuable time milking a cow-time he should spend in the orchard. The family sold the beef animals they had for needed cash. So, the Igos like so many small farm families are being forced out of a full-time op eration because of economic pressure. But, like many such families they would prefer I to live on a farm because they like that kind of life Froien Out Igo Isn't complaining, but the family has been hit by a series of misfortunes. This year, for instance, all of his apricots and pears at the high elevation on his home place froze out. It didn't hurt the trees but it did eliminate this year's crop. A veteran farmer of the district said this is the first time in 30 years frost has hit the higher ele vations. Few orchardists heat on the rolling uplands since the orchards higher up are usually warmer. The Igos say they have al ways done very well with home sales of their Perfection variety apricot which is larg er than the usual variety. Just as they were getting ahead last year Les was in the hos pital most of the year follow ing a serious operation. Their crops made just enough to pay for the operation and not much more. When the Igos bought their place it consisted of a small shack-type of house surround ed by a few acres of farmland. Then, in 1950, the Talent project was a long way from approval. Now the Igos can irrigate additional land from that project. j Of course, the I g o i had (V&mafr. . UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD For intwmmim ami nmnmtm miS: Turkeys Tricked; Year-Round Sale Prospects Helped Corvallis - Oregon turkey growers will be able to ship fresh turkeys to market every month of the year If research under way at the Oregon State college agricultural ex periment station continues to be successful. At present, most fresh tur keys go to market in the fall, since turkeys normally lay their eggs in early spring and poults hatched from January to May mature just in time for holiday markets. Turkey growers would like to be able to sell birds all during the year, however, so fresh turkey products would always be available in meat markets. This would require a supply of turkey hatching eggs the year-round, and J. A. Harper, poultry re searcher at OSC, thinks he has a scheme that will trick turkey hens into providing this supply. Light Affects Laying In past experiments. Harp er found that the amount of light a turkey hen sees each day can affect her egg laying habits. By restricting the amount of light the hen sees each day for a period of time, and then lengthening the length of day for the hens, he has been able to start turkeys laying almost any time of the year. But the best age for the turkey hens to be put on the restricted light period, and how long this period should last, are questions still un answered. Now, a grant of $1000 from the National Tur key Federation will help solve these problems. ,. MnI.D fi. i,.n ,, " At the end of the expen L:,u i,mo,i ,!, definite recommendations to turkey growers. They should then be able to produce tur key eggs every month of the year, and keep fresh turkey flowing to meat markets over the nation. GIRL'S WORLD INVADED Burlington, Vt. -WO- The only male nurse in Vermont says he "wouldn't trade it for the world." Paul Trauax said. "The first day was the hard est. There was a lot of twitter ing among the 36 girls in the class." But Truax didn't fare badly. He's president of the State Student Nurses's Assn. plenty of warning . farming wasn't going to be easy "up on the mountain." In Febru ary, 1950, shortly after they moved in their shell of a house was surrounded by snow 16 inches deep. Then Les could barely make it down the steep hill with chains on his truck. Mrs. Igo had to go to the hospital then. He got back, after leaving the boy with relatives, in time to feed the stock and chickens and thaw out every pipe in the house. And 30 days later there was another snow storm and Mrs. Igo had to go back to the hospital. 2 O W Jackson County 4-H Members Top Show C - nrau-la nf lnnn gate, Richard Anderson of ; Eagle Point and Joan Smith, of Grants Pass were the topi individual 4-H club members at the annual Rogue River j Jersey Cattle Club Junior i Dairy shnw held Saturday atj Grants Pass, according to i Glenn Klein, 4-H club exlen-' sion agent. Miss Brewster was selected as the Jersey cattle princess to reign over dairy activities in the Jackson - Josephine county area. Selection was based on beauty, poise and dairy knowledge. Young Anderson repeated as the champion dairy show man and will receive the ro tating cup presented by the Jersey Cattle club. In winning the trophy he topped over a hundred Junior Showmen from the two counties. Joan Smith of the Roving Herdsmen club in Grants Pass was the top individual judge and will receive the plaque for that honor. The Roving Herdsman 4-1 1 club received the pitch fork presented by Cliff Moore of Eagle Point for the club with the most club members par ticipating in the show. Jackson County 4-Hers re ceived their share of honors at the show, as noted in the Judging Contest results and Showmanship placings listed below: Judging Contest - Joan Smith, Grants Pass, 382.4; Candy Gail, Rogue River, 367.4; Mary Ann Cantrall, Ruch, 362.6; Clara Lou Mar tin, Rogue River, 361.8; Dave Strickland, Rogue River, 360.5; Ronald Thames, Ruch, 360.1. Kathy Larson, Ruch, 353.8; Susan Head. Applegate, 351.2; Adrianne Brion, Applegate, 348.2; Mary Herriott, Apple- gate, 343.8. Showmanship Contest Champion, Richard Ander son, Eagle Point. Senior Division "A"-First, Lanny Parsons. Rogue River; second, Joyce Rogers, Grants Pass; third. Tom Case, Grants Pass; fourth, Russell Ogle, Grants Pass; fifth, Marilyn Deckelman, Rogue River; sixth, Dave Strickland, Rogue River; seventh, Sandy Brew ster, Applegate; eighth, Mary Herriott, Applegate. Senior Division "B" - First, Ernest Lathrop, Grants Pass; second. Georgia Hubbard, Eagle Point; third, Kay Stev enson, Eagle Point; fourth, Karen Jossy, Eagle Point; fifth, Ron Greb, Eagle Point; sixth, Diane Barton, Eagle Point; seventh, George Mar tin, Cave Junction; eighth, Ruby Whitaker, Cave Junc tion; ninth, Julie Bird, Grants Pass. Intermediate Division "A" First, Jerry Sorenson, Grants Pass; second, Diane Brewster, Applegate; third, Karen Fos ter, Grants Pass; fourth, Dave Strickland, Rogue River; fifth, Rita Parrish, Grants Pass; sixth, Duke Jansen, Ap plegate; seventh, R o d n cy Ogle, Grants Pass; eighth, Tim Hofmann, Grants Pass. L. J. Ziesmer, General Traffic Aftnt 1307 Watt Main Medford, Owjjpn, SP 3-53K- Intermediate Division "B"- First, Richard Anderson, Eagle Point; second. Richard Bottgcr. Ruch; third, Jerry Moore, Eagle Point; fourth, Bobby Hubbard, Eagle Point; fifth, Kathy Larson, Ruch; sixth, Judy Prother, Grants Pass; seventh, Karen Wan gcrin, Cave Junction; eighth, Mary Ann Cantrall. Ruch. Junior Division "A"-First, Susan Head. Grants Pass; sec ond, Barry Brumbach, Grants Pass; third. Clara Lou Martin, Cave Junction; fourth, Adri anne Brion, Applegate; fifth, Debby Howard, Cave Junc tion; sixth, Marilyn Winning ham, Ruch; seventh, Paul Si monsen. Grants Pass; eighth, Joan Smith, Grants Pass. Junior Division "3" - First, Stephen Strickland, Rogue River; second. Kenneth Crouse, Grants Pass; third, La Queta Stevenson, Eagle Point; fourth, Dave Calloway. Eagle Point; fifth, Carol Gillette, Grants Pass; sixth, Jerra Mor rison, Cave Junction; seventh, Dickie Crouse. Grants Pass; eighth, Kathy Hill, Grants Pass. Oregon Poultry, Hatchery Group To Meet June 17 Corvallis - Four national poultry leaders will give their views and answer questions at the June 17 annual meeting of the Oregon Poultry and Hatchery association, accord ing to Noel Bennon, exten tlnn poultryman at Oregon State college. The 40th annual meeting of the association will be held in Withycombe hall on the OSC campus, Bennion said. Registration will start at 8:30 a.m., with the first session scheduled to open at 9:30 a.m. Speakers will include Her man I. Miller, director of thhe poultry division for U.S. De partment of Agriculture, Washington. D C. He will dis cuss feed additives, egg qual ity control, and the poultry stabilization bill now before Congress. Ray E. Parmenter, presi dent of the American Poultry and Hatchery Federation, Franklin, Mass., will be an other out-of-state speaker. He will report new trends tn the poultry industry, and tell about changes taking place in New England poultry produc tion. ' Parmenter and his father developed the Parmen ter Red strain of chickens. To Discuss Production Dr. A. William Jasper of the American Farm Bureau, Chicago, will discuss produc tion controls and K. K. Heide- man of the Poultry and Egg National Board, Chicago, will be luncheon speaker. Other program features in clude a special panel that will report what's new in poultry processing, egg handling, and broiler production. And Dr. E. M. Dickinson, head of the OSC department of veteri I vr W7' if 'x m Livestock Health Hints (Prepared as a public servict by Iht Oregon Veterinary Medical Assn.) BLACKLEG DISEASE In pioneer times, blackleg disease killed more young cat tle than probably any other single disease. Today control of this fatal disease which affects primar ily calves and, sometimes, sheep lias been made possible by veterinary medical re search discovery of a vaccine which is nearly 100 per cent effective. Blackleg is an infectious bacterial disease. Susceptible cattle are mostly 6 to 18 monlhs old. Occasionally ani mals recover but most die from 12 to 36 hours after in fection. Symptoms of the dis ease include acute lameness. nary medicine, will discuss control of respiratory diseases in poultry. An evening banquet will feature a talk by J. W. Schcel. assistant director of the OSC extension service. He will re port how changes in agricul ture are affecting the role of field men in the poultry as well as other agricultural in dustries. An afternoon lea has been scheduled for ladies attend ing the annual meeting, and a special ladies program is being prepared by the Cackle belles, ladies auxiliary of the association. 6 1 X ASL0WAS ati ai pi vrpriN Ke PRICE slf ""M A LAO rLTOKUN pu, , pu, u Uk CUSHIONAIRE 'hl iwoprtu tradi-ta uada-m 7.50-14 (White) ,. 6.70-15 (Black) 4 8.20-15 (Whit.) .., Tubelets 47.45 $35.60 ATI A "tG PPIC' WCE fttuns plullii plulUiwilh GRIP-SAFE fitapait lida-in bada-ii 6.00-16 (Blick) .,, 6.70-15 (Black) ... ,. ..... Tub.dV. .25 14.S5 7.50-14 (Whit.) .... Tub.l.s. UB.3S J22.70 .00-14 (WhH.) ,,. tever, followed by character istic swelling of hip, shoulder, 1 chest, back and neck. I Usually losses from black leg occur from early spring to! autumn and arc caused by a spore and gas-forming germ in I pasture soil. Vaccinations asiiint black-: leg are inexpensive and are! advised tor all calves over three months old. Often confused with black leg is another disease, malig nant edema. Symptoms often appear the same. The disease is nearly always fatal and only laboratory tests can posi tively distinguish the differ ence in them. Unlike blackleg, however, malicnant edema affects cat lie of all ages (besides other animals such as horses and swine) and, an even more important difference, it is one of many animal diseases which can be transmitted to man. As with blackleg, inexpen sive vaccinations hold the key to prevention. (Editor's Note Questions from readers on subjects of general animal health inter est are welcomed. They may b. addressed to Farm Edi tor, Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore.) CIVIL WAR LINK I Wcllesley, Mass. -OCT Mrs. ' Frances Huston Audin bc 1 lieves that, at 43. she is one of the nation's younuesl wom en now living whose fathers fought for the Union in the Civil War. Mrs. Audin's fa I ther, Charles A. Huston, was 1 72 when she was born. He was killed by an automobile I five years later. V ff I I T V t I 1 " III w 1 PLUS Weather Blamed For Sales Drop Salem Along with lis damper on other farm activi ties, tile weather is charged willi 27 per cent drop in fer tilizer sales in the first three months of this year. Tonage of fertilizers sold in Oregon tile first quarter of this year totaled 44.840; a year earlier. 61.682 tons. Sales of agricultural min erals suflered an even steep er drop, from 28.751 tons in the first quarter of 1959 to 2.1)17 tons in the same 1960 period clown about 90 per Edmund E. Hass Vice-President ml ft Sacific Northwest Sine 1911 SUITE 303, FLUHRER BLDG. PHONE SP 3-7319 S SOUTH CENTRAL AVENUE Consult With Mr. Hass on Investment and Retirement Programs Using tht Securities of . Utilities Banki Iniuranco Other offices in Portland, Salem, Eugene, Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma Aocrdccn, Bclltngham. Yakima, Wenatchce and Walla Walla Mutual Fund Shares urn nr MAIL TKTlUNl Mtato.d, Or. Tuesday, May 24, 1960 On the other hand, agricul tural minearls sold at a high er clip than in January-March 1959: 6,602 vs. 4,939 tons. These figures w e r com piled by the state department of agriculture from inspection fee reports made by firms selling these products. Good weather the second quarter should take up con siderable of the drop In fertil izer sales. The department says industry attributes the decline simply to inability to get farm operations fully un der way. Compani Oatfr nduitrial TAX a reeappabl. tratte-ln, sin 6.70-15 Qrip-Saf. Mack, tubed-typ. New low prices! Now, just in time for vacation travel, prices ' have been cut on all first-line Atlas Plycron Cushionaircs . . . and economy Atlas Grip-Safes. Whitewall or black, tubed or tubeless, they'll save you money, give reliable, low-cost mileage. Sizes for ail passenger cars, including late models with 14' wheels. You can depend on Atlas Tires sold at the sign of the Chevron, because Standard Stations and Chevron Dealers know their business depends on keeping you well satisfied with their products and service. Easy terms ... up to 9 months ... or buy on your Chevron National Credit Card. WE TAKE BETTER CARE OF YOUR CAR Stan art Statims, IncClinnM Dmhra