Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 2, 1960)
o MAIL TRIBUNE, Mtdfore1, Or. GARDENING TIPS By DON BERRY County Exteniion Agent VELVET GRASS Velvet grass, theQnost dif ficult weedy grass in our lawns, shows more distinctly now than during most other seasons. It appears as light green patches among the darker lawn grasses. Velvet grass is sometimes erroneously called crabKrass. The leaves of vel vet grass are broad, iie green color, and covered with vel vety fuzz. The plant has prostrat'Q spreading habit. Clumps of velvet grass often are a foot or more in diam eter. Velvet grass Is difficult to control. Numerous herbicides have been tried, but few have been effective and none are practical at the present time. The most practical control of velvet grass in lawns is to pull or dig it when It first shows up in the lawn.Jf It becomes too numerous to pull or dig, the lawn should be broken up, prepared and re seeded. Prior to seeding the soil should be worked frequently for a couple months or more. Frequent cultivation will kill the velvet grass plants and prevent their reestablishing. Velvet grass readily In vades poorly kept lawns. It tolerates summer drought, poor drainage, low fertility, and compacted sc better than do the desirable lawn grasses. CHERRY KitUIT TREES Although flowering cherry trees are lovely signs of Ore gon spring, they may have to be banned in some parts of the slate because they carry a virus harmful to fruit-bearing cherry trees. Dr. J$h)i A. ibrath, Ore gon btiilo college plant path ologist, explained that the flowering cherries are com pletely unharmed by the vi rus. In fact, It takes exten sive research to tell when they are infected. But the virus is easily given to frult- ocanng cherry trees and will eventually ruin them. Since ornamental cherry trees are so popular, and since the virus doesn't damage the flowering tree, Mtlbrath's long-range research is aimed at developing a virus-resistant fruit-bearing tree, accord ing to a story in the spring issue of the OSC agricultural experiment station magnzin. "Oregon's Agricultural Prog ress." Until resistant (lock li do vcloped, flowering cherries should be removed from the vicinity of bearing orchards and from the neighborhood of nurseries where budwood is selected and stock propa galcd, Milbrath says. An insect-probably a com mon leafliopper-seems to be to blame for transferring the virus from flowering to bear ing trees. Early stages of the disease on pio cherry trees are hard to identify, but severely in fected trees have short, sparse foliage and little or no new growth. Fruit is the best in dicator of severity of the dis ease. Trees recently infected may have late-ripening cher ries somewhat smaller than normal, while trees In ad vanced stages of the disease bear orange-pink, irrogulerly sliaped, flnt-Ustlng cherries about half normal site, Backyard Trapper According to Andy S. Land- force, Oregun State college wildlife specialist, a good mole is a dead mole this time ot pear-especially it his pelt is lacked on a board. When properly seOa scls- sor-Jnw trap is one of the most effective for catching the western mole. This trap takes the animal without damaging ils pelt, and the set trap is safe from AJiildrcn and live stock. Directions for use of the scissor-Jiiw trap arc given In extension bulletin No. (121) ' titled "Controlling Rodents and Oilier Small Animal Pests in Oregon." Copies are avail able at county extension of fices. A mound of soil emerging from a lawn, garden, or pas ture is a sign that a molt i searching for food. The mole's main diet is worms and In sects. His normnl home paths are in holes 8 to 10 Inches underground. However, males lonige for their ftfd In looser soil, especially in flower beds, gardens, or well-managed pas- lures. The young are usually born in April and May, and this Is the time wun most damage from moles appears. It's also ' the time when a mole trap can be most effective in pre- . venting mole dag)ige. Pelts can be sold to any major fur dealer. The dense black fur Is used for various fur garments. Fanners' assets amount to $203 billion, about equal to the value of all stocks listed on the New York Stock Ex change, says the USDA. Thvridiy, June J, 0 rQjK BERRY Caunty Agent BEDDING PLANTS With the danger of frost prety well rier, hon gar dener! should try to get out their bedding plant aa soon as possible. Now is a gMd time to put in peppers, to matoes, egg plants, brussel sprouts, cabbage, etc. Peppers and egg plants are easy to grow and, even if vpu have no gardenQcan be St out as a border along with flowers and used as ornamen tals. They are quite decora tive In small spaces and should be set about 18 Inches apart. California Wonder Types are the best green pep pers while Red Chile are still recommended for hot peppers. The Black Beauty egg plant is the best home garden variety. o Tomatoes should be gotten out as quickly as possible and may be grown either as indi vidual plants on the wall or trellis. They can be planted in a home garden 3 feet by 3 feet and staked or pruned. When staking, it is best to set stake with the plant. As stem grows, tie it to the stake at 8 inch intervals and remove all side shoots as they appear. Tomato Variants There are many tomato va rieties. Burpees ttg Early or Morses Early 498 are good earlK plants, while Ace and BlgTtoy are recommended as late varieties. It should be rememDerea that most early blossoms break off at a swelling on the stem. This natural shedding occurs most years until the early morning temperatures stay above 50 degrees for sev eral consecutive nights. Ear lier setting can be encouraged through the use of hormones but fruit which is set by this method will often be seedless and misshapen. With all bedding plants, a dip Into a DDT solution be fore planting, using one heap ing tablespoon of 50 per cent DDT In a gallon oi water, aias in flea beetle control. Booster solutions using two heaping tablespoons of a complete fer tilizer to a gallon of water, and a cupful applied to each transplant, Is also beftficial. SOIL INSECTICIDE Home owners who are hav ing trouble with worms in radishes, turnips, potatoes, carrots, etc., might try a soil Insecticide. Where vegetables have already been planted, drenching rows using two to three teaspoons of Aldrln emulsifiable concentrate (liq uid) per gallon of water Is Benerally beneficial. Recom mended rate Is one pint of this solution for each 29 feet of row. It can be dipped along the rows from a tin can with a large nail hole punched In the bottom. Three applications timed ten days apart starting when the first true leaves are showing should be made. If the garden was ireaiea prior to planting with a dust or granule form of Aldrin, Chlordane or Dleldrln, the drenching treatment may not be necessary. Soil treatment is easy ana effective. Generally live pounds of 5 per cent dust or granules, or 10 pounds of 2V4 per cent granules per thousand feet mixed into the soil before planting Is the recommended practice. Onion root maggots are ex tremely difficult to control and here the best practice is to dust onions at ten-day In tervals with DDT as soon as the onions emerge through the surface of the soil. This dusting must be continued throughout the season, Rhubarb Scad Stalks A. A. Duncan, Oregon State college vegetable specialist, ciipirnit vnu be on the look out for seed stalk on rhubarb. At the first sign of seed stalk development in rhubarb, cut the stalk off close to the plant; cutting the seed stalk causes less damage to the olant than pulling it off. Early seed stalk develop ment Is usually more notice able In old plnntings and In fields of low fertility. Varie ties also differ In seed stalk development. Farmers should check their grain bint often n the weath er gets warmer. Hrgh temper atures plus moliture in the grain spell fun and good liv ing for the Insect world, but trouble for firmeri. A good solution, says South Dakota State College researchers, 1, drying the grain before stor age. Evenpwlth higher retail food prices, the average con sumer this year can buy more fo with Income from an hour's work than at any time In the past 20 years, says the U. S. goveQimcnt.. Enough beef, pork, lamb and veal will be produced this year to provide 161.5 pounds per person In the United States, according to estimates by theUnlted States Department of Agricul ture. D More, Better Filberts Aim Of OSC Study Corvallis-More and better filberts are goals of Oregon State college rQrticultur.Us who have planted nearly 500 nut trees at the new filbert experimental plot near Wil sonville. Although OSC has done fil bert research on a limited scale for more than a quarter of a century, this Is the first time the college has had its own test plot. Previous studies were made in private or chards. Dr. S. B. Apple, head of the OSC horticulture depart ment, pointed out that trials In the new plot will enable a comparison of different va rieties under identical condi tions. He hopes eventually to have 200 varieties and selec tions under study. A $1,600 grant from the CjPcgon Filbert Commission made it possible for the OSC filbert experimental plot to get under way. Filbert varieties from all over the world will be planted and tested as first step to ward an ultimata Deeding program. The scientists hope to reduce percentage of blank (empty) nuts and find heavy producing varieties with thin shells and plump kernels without rough skin. They hope to overcome hardiness and pollination difficulties. Dr. Quentin Zielinski, OSC horticulturist is in charge of variety studies. Crop Production Varies Oregon filbert producers. who grow about 90 per cent of the nation's filberts, have been plagued by a heavy crop one year followed by a short crop the next, The horticul turists hopo to find ways of overcoming this condition. John H. Painter, USDA hor ticulturist at OSC, has done some preliminary work on this problem by systematic pruning to keep trees in constant state of vigor. Painter has some spacing tests at the Wllsonvllle site to establish the best initial spacing of trees for future pruning studies, and to show how much production increase may be expected with the dif ferent planting distances. In another project, bush type trees will be tested against normal tree types. In some nut crops, the bush type has proven more productive than the tree type, Painter explained. The 24-acre experi mental plot, leased to OSC by the state board of control for $1 a year, li on the Dam masch state hospital grounds. Moth Imported For Trial as Weed Control Corvallls - A French moth with an appetite for an Ore gon weed has been imported in an experimental effort to control the weed, tansy rag wort. The weed is poisonous to cattle and horses, and Is a vlgorAU grower, crowding out more desirable plants. Jackson county doesn't have this weed problem. The Oregon State college entomology department re leased nearly 1,000 adult cin nabar moths this month In cooperation with county tension agenUrin Linn Polk counties. ex- and Dr. P. O. Rltcher, head of entomology at OSC, and Rob ert W. Every, extension ento mologist, emphasized that the project Is purely experimen tal. At present, there's no way to know how effective the insect will be In controlling the weed, they said. And it will take several years for the cinnabar moth population to become established In Ore Ron. Native of France Thpstriklngly beautiful red and black moth Is a native of France, where U.S. Depart ment of Agriculture entomolo gists found It to be a natural enemy of tansy ragwort with no liking for any useful plants. The Insects were flown by Jet from the USDA'i entomol ogy research laboratories In New Jersey. Some of the Ore- Farm Washington- ll-The agri cultural department predicted that producers of eggs, broil ers, and probably turkeys will do betteOinancially this year than in l!l). Farmers' gross income from poultry enterprises In 1959 was down to the lowest level since 1944, according to de partment economists writing in the publication, "The Poul try and Egg Situation." At $3,100,000,000, the 1959 com bined value of sales plus home consumption of eggs, farm clrj-jkens, broilers, tur keys, and other poultry was 12 per cent lower than in 1958. The Agricultural Depart ment has predicted a further seasonal increase in the price of hogs. Since December, live hog prices have gone up about $4 per hmidredweight. The Recipes Readied For Green Bean Sticks, Fritters Corvallis - Oregon's famed Blue Lake green beans may soon appear on the dinner table in a new disguise-as green bean sticks and crispy fritters. Lois Sather, Oregon State college food technologist re ports that recipes for mese new green bean products have been developed for Oregon processors who may want to package them for consumers. To make bean sticks, beans are cooked, chopped into small pieces, seasoned and pressed into molds and frozen. Frozen molded beans are then sliced into sticks, breaded. deep-fat fried, refrozen iQd packaged for the supermarket freezer cabinet. Fritters are made by dipping green beans into a muffin or biscuit batter and frying in deep fat. A bowl of crispy golden brown frit ters is suggested as a new party appetizer idea. New Ways To Serve JJomemakers ore expected to welcome both new grecr. bean products as appealing new ways to serve vegetables to children, says Mrs. Sather. Both receipes retain fresh green bean flavor and can be dressed up with ham season ing or cheese sauces. Bean sticks are also tasty topped with hollandaise or mush room sauce, continues the home economist. OSC student "taste testers" last week reg istered a definite like for the new bean products. New green bean forms have been developed to meet de mand for easy to prepare con venience foods, the food tech nologist notes. Both are ready to serve after 12 minutes heat ing in a 400 degree oven. Other promising new green bean recipies include frozen green beans au gratin (with cheese sauce) and frozen Spanish" beans, beans topped with a spice tomato sauce. New recipes, such as these, ate providing another outlet for Oregon's $10,000,000 a year snap bean crop, say OSC experts. Processors are also expected to enjoy savings and convenience of using top qual ity irregular or extra large green beans that do not fit standard size packnges. Ore gon is the largest producer by far of snap beans in the U.S. gon shipment was kept in the OSC greenhouse to lay their tiny yellow eggs on tansy rag wort plants. Most ot the moths were released in patches of Gnsy ragwort on farms near Valley Junction and Lyons. California, Washington and Oregon all have heavy infes tations of tansy ragwort. The weed is aggressively spread ing over more land each year. Chemicals control it, but areas of infestation are so great, and in many cases ! inacces sible, that spraying is eco nomically unfeasible, California got a shipment of cinnabar moth larvae for release last year, but the May shipment to Oregon was the first for this state. Rotation - grazed pastures may yield three times as much grazing per acre as con tinuously grazed pastures, says Purdue University. 0 NOW-- THRIFTY GREEIi STAMPS at- SEE AD ON Notes department said that by mid summer, marketings will be considerably below a year earlier and will stay below the rest of 1980. Prices dur ing this qjurlod are likely to average substantially higher. Cattle slaughter through 1960 probably will continue above 1959, the department said. Production, however, will continue to exceed slaughter. Numbers are like ly to increase again this year, but probably at a rate slower than last year's 4,900,000 head. The crop reporting board saQ a 1 pt cent increase over last year's planted acre age of nine processing vege table crops was indicated for 1960. Increases in 1960 over 1959 acreage: Green lima beans, 15 per cent; snap beans, 6 per cent; beets for canning, 7 per cent; cabbage for kraut, 14 per cent; and green peas, 2 per cent. These larger acreages were nearly offset by declines in sweet corn and cucumbers for pickles, each off 3 per cent; combined winter and early spring spinaig, 7 per cent; and tomatoes, 1 per cent. The chanjOs indicated for all crops except green peas and spinach were based on processors' intentions be fore planting time. The FAS said one of the most significant developments in livestock production con tinues to be the emphasis be ing given by most Commu nist bloc countries to pro ducing faster-maturing ani mals, one type of which is sheep, in their drive to In crease meat production. The FAS said the slow increase in world numbers partly re flects the relatively low world wool prices in 1958 and early 1959. Russia, Red China and East ern burope provided more than 80 per cent of the world increase in sheep numbers during 1959, and about half of the world gain from the 1951-55 average. These gains, mostly in the Soviet Union, resulted mainly from the spe cial government emphasis and encouragement to all phases ot sneep production, particu larly better pastures and breed improvement. Washington - IUPD - Red grapefruit juice in its natural color soon may be on the way to the canned goods section in grocery stores. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has developed a method for producing natur ally colored single -strength canned juice from red grape fruit. In the process, some of tne coior-oearlng pulp nor mally removed is finely ground and added back to the juice. Before the product becomes available to the general pub lic a processing firm must pick up the patent from ARS and begin producing it com mercially. The agriculture department said the . pulp-fortified juice does not develop the objec tionable muddiness or brown ing characteristic of juice made by conventional meth ods. The product also has a higher pro-vitamin A content. ARS said this is carotene, a substance the human body can convert into vitamin A. Interior Secretary Fred A. Seaton has suggested a new use for the government's sur plus grain. He called for leg islation authorizing use of surplus grain by state fish and game departments for emergency feeding of resi dent game birds and other wildlife threatened with star vation. Under the proposed legisla tion, the Commodity Credit corp. would furnish the grain free, with states paying the cost of transportation and packaging of the grain. A study by the Illinois dairy herd Improvement asso ciation shows that 10 cows averaging 10,239 pounds of milk a year can give the same Return over feed iosts as 34a cuws producing an averagg oi 3,jn puunas. The study showed that high producers eat more feed than low producers but, as a cow's production increases, feed costi rise it a slower rate than returns above feed costs. PAGES 4C and 5C Soviet Attitude Blamed Oft Agricultural Problems By GAYLORD P. GODWIN United Press International Washington - IUPB - In the fall of 1959, a Soviet agricul- State Program Meat Inspect About Double Salem - S?aughter plants which were under state meat inspection in the first quarter of 1959 handled about 10 per cent more animals in the first three months of this year. But that's only part of the story. Total animals under state meat inspection in the first quarter of th year climbed to 109,125 head cm pared with 58 685 head a year earlier - nearly double. Dr. M. L. Houston, meat inspection supervisor for the state department of agricul ture, says the higher total Is swelled by output from threeifor 10:30 a.m. Monday, May city of Portland plants and six others which were not under the program a year ago. The Portland and more recently enrolled plants account for slightly more than 4,000 head of theQiuarterly increase, Animal condemnations on antOmortem (live) inspections climbed in the 1960 quarter to 37 head, compared with 32 a year ago. On the post-mortem or after-kill inspections, con demnations were down to 171 carcasses from 217 a year earlier. Percentagewise, meat animals withdrawn from mar ket as unfit for human con sumption were considerably Lp w e r than a year ago -!B100ths of 1 per cent com pared with 33100ths of 1 per cent. In the first 1960 quarter, the state meat inspectors re jected 211,014 pounds of edi ble jirgans, including livers, hearts, hearts, kidneys, and tongues; also 1756 pounds of meat food products. Live animals inspected and total condemnations (both live and carcass) in the first 1960 quarter: cattle, 34,276 and 110 condemnations; calves, 3604 and 8; sheep 3448 and 54; swine, 66,937 and 81; goats, 54, no condemnations; horses, 562 and 1. WESTERN VJFA MARKETING SERVICES MEAN GREATER FARM PROFIT lYNPEN Brands, produced to fill consumer specifica tions, have become the corner-stone of stable sales commit ments In 1959 9 YOU, TOO, CAN INCREASE YOUR FARM PROFIT! BY USING tural newspaper published an ertlcle entitled, "You can be lire, Mr. Benson, we win catch up and surpass you." The article was published about the time Agriculture Secretary Ezra T. Benson com pleted a good will and trade development trip to the Soviet Union. It referred to Russian efforts to out produce the United States agriculturally. Trying to make good on the headline boast may be one of the reasons Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev threw a Hearing Slated On Dairy Budget Salem - All dairy produc ers and filbert growers are in vited to attend public hear ings on the proposed budgets for their respnetive commod ity commissions next week. The Oregon Dairy Products mmmlBEinn cnsslnn was set 23. and the Oregon Filbert Commission's proposed budget will come up May 24 at 10 a.m. Both sessions will be In the conference room f the state department of agricul ture building, 158 12th st N.E., Salem, The proposed budget for Wie dairy commission will total $199,955 fot) the fiscal year commencing July 1. This is di vided about one-third each in support of the Oregon Dairy council, the American Dairy association and for commis sion research and promotion programs within Oregon. The Filbert Commission's budget proposals total $24,847, rgt including a $1,500 emer gency fund, for the same per iod. This includes $7,000 for grants-in-aid and research on both production and market ing problems; $1,500 for studies of legislation and im port controls; and $11,600 for adveritsing and promotion programs. Each commission will hold a meeting following its hear ing to adopt the final 1960-61 budget. According to the USDA, the average farmer spends $418 a year for petroleum products. insuring continuous, Also our ever-expanding activities supplying feed, seeds, fertilizer, farm production supplies, petroleum and seasonal production credit on a co operative basis furnish members with quality supplies at competitive prices. member received the following patronage returns: 8 -f -farm production uppllos; 6 -lead; 3,a.f8t8eK Q Servina Northwest Africulture Since 1917 monkey wrench into the open ing session of the lumrrt con ference at Paris Monoti)(j It may be that Khrushchev was trying to divert attention of the Russian people from a pressing home problem -Agrictfture-New Farm Area Since 1953, Russia has ex panded her cultivated areas by almost 100 million acres, To do this Soviet farmers plowed up arid and semiarid land, plus millions of acres covered with grass. Much of this plowing was gdone in Kazakhstan which was to become a companion "bread basket" to the rich Ukraine and Crimea areas. Apparently the idea was, that with new acres in cultivation, all Rus sia farmers had to do was plant their seeds, cultivate the land, and harvest bountiful crops, weather permitting. The anticipated bumper crops would give Soviet lead ers an opportunity to tell the world that Mother Russia could feed her own millions and those of satellite coun tries, and out-produce the capitalist United States. The Russian leaders may have reckoned without the weather. For example, wind and dust storms. On April Id a Russian newspaper in the Ukraine said dust storms there were "very severethe worst ever." The newspaper said "crops have simply been blown out" by terrific winds. The spring was referred to as "very trying." Farmers, the newspaper said, have been hard put to get their seeding done. Similar storms were re ported in the Crimea. Last Harvest Poor Last December Khrushchev disclosed that the 1959 Soviet harvest was the worst in four years. He blamed the weather and "leaders who do not understand a thing about ag riculture." He centered his at tack on the failure of the lead ers to come with a good harvest in Kazakhstan, where much new land had been opened to cultivation - and Call SAM JONES SP 2-9220 for quality used equipment CRATER LAKE MACHINERY profitable returns to members JADDOCIATIOfi( to considerable wind erosion. A U.S. agriculture depart ment official said that in 1657. some 400,000 hectares (988,. 400 acres) in Kazakhstan had Quffered sQerely from wind erosion, f oreign agricultural analysts, basing their reason ing on that Information end adding Khrushchev's 0 w It words to it, are notOuH th situation has improved much, if anO , u could be mat twrusn chev has heard loud mutter Ings about Adverse agricul tural conditions in his own country - and consequently used the summit conference as a vehicle divert h countrymen's attentlonfrnnj their internal difficulties. "The Massive Hunt for a Cancer Cure" 5S "The Skyscraper, . Nurse" "America's Best. Boat Waters" ? O fc "Cookbook Section" Medford Mail Tribune o WA SERVICES Family wl ')S$m ........,J!uiitf 0 0 o
