Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1960)
r,"v !.'. ". . 1 ' ' ' ' " ; ' o MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD, ORE. TUESDAY. SEPTEMBER (. I960 6 A ' 33,456 Youths Enrolled In Oregon's 4 Corvallls - Oregon's enroll- ment In 4-H clubs climbed to new heights this year with 33,456 boys and girls pledged 10 HlBKc weir ucai. ucfcvc.. ' - l L. Ballard, associate dl- ' rector of Oregon State college extension service, noted that membership in 4-H cluos is m rrvasins at a faster rate than Oregon's present population growth rate. . Nearly twice as many girls as boys are enrouea in i-n projects ZZ.Z1Z gins ana 11, 9RS hnvs. notes Burton Hut- ton, state 4-H leader. Youth's main interests appear to be in clothing, livestock ana iooa, with 29,000 youth enrolled In t least one of these projects. Four-H seamstresses, 10,690 girl enrolled in clothing proj ects, made a total of 38,052 articles last year, num er, state 4-H extension agent, reports that knitting was the fastest growing project with an increase of 984 members. Current fashion .trends In ' easy -to -knit bulky sweaters and youth's normal bent to ward creatlveness may ac count for some of this growth. Livestock Ponular Cal Monroe, state 4-H agent, reports that nearly a third of all-Oregon's club members are enrolled In livestock projects beef, dairy, dairy goats, horse, rabbit, sheep, swine or dog clubs. A nation-wide movement of families from cities and farms into suburbs ' and parent's desires to provide youth experience In raising - and caring for an animal is credited with some of the con tinued interest in livestock suggests Monroe. Food preparation, preserva tion and meal planning was practiced by 9,230 4-H youth in foods, food preservation and outdoor cookery projects. Beginning food manuals are being rewritten to include more on food buying, nutri tion, and experimental cook ery, according to Lois Red man, state 4-H agent. Other popular projects are health with 3,715 members, horticultural projects (flower and vegetable growing) 1,761, forestry 1,450,' Junior leader ship 1,209, photography 622, Vaccine Threatens livestock Market 1 A new vaccine against hoof- and-mouth disease, the scourge of the livestock Indus try in much' of the world, Is reported to have been devel oped by an Inter-American re search center In Brazil. 7 "If this vaccine proves as successful as the research la boratories of Brazil say, here is a further threat to our live stock Industry due to Im ports," comments the Idaho Wool Growers Bulletin. - The only thing that has saved the cattle business and to a .great degree the sheep industry, it explains, Is the "sanitary. ; pact" which pre vents imports from disease Infected . countries. ' The publication urges Im port quotas and congressional action to limit possible heavy Imports of cattle, sheep, hogs and the products thereof. . The production of ice cream in the United States has grown from 318,088,000 gal lons in 1940 to 697,922,000 . gallons in 1959. BARNES MFG. CO. , ,i announces the appointment of PACIFIC FARM SUPPLY ! Distributor of Barnes Pumps for . .. Jackson and Josephine Counties Floyd Robertson Well Known local Pump Salesman . will manage OUR NEW PUMP Department FOR A COMPLETI LINE OF Domestic and Irrigation Pumps Call or See PACIFIC FARM SUPPLY ..!. ..... 2810 Crater Lake Hlway SP 2-2633 - H Programs entomology aaa, ana pouury 370. Altogether Oregon 4- H'ers enrolled in 48,265 proj ects durine the year. Projects are revised and new ones introduced to keep the program up to date ana satisfy demand voiced by Ore gon youth, reports the state 4-H staff. New cnua aeveiop ment, health, and automotive projects will be offered this fall. Gun safety ana arcnery ropnnt additions to the wild life series, have stimulated enrollment of more than 400 more boys in the project. A total of 5.300 adults serv ed voluntarily as 4-H leaders last year. Hutton estimates that these leaders devoted than one-half million hours to teaching, training and counselling 4-H members. Oregon Cuts Out Bee Disease With Quarantine Salem - Prompted by in telligence of a threat to Ore- ann honeybees Industry, the state department of agricul ture has prohibited entry from anywhere in the world of the mite which causes the serious acarlne disease of bees. The Quarantine also rules out entry Into Oregon from any foreign country of the indica, florea and dorsata bee species and their sub-species. This mite, Acarapis wooai Ronnie: causes one of the most serlcfis bee diseases and has virtually wiped out the bee Industry In heavily in fested areas in other lands, says J. F. Short, who as di rector of agriculture signed the quarantine. He says the federal govern ment presently has no quar antine to protect states against possible Invasion of acarlne disease, which Is not known to exist in the United Stales. Short's action came follow ing word of a move on the part of a Portland resident to bring bees from overseas into Oregon for research pur poses. Ho said the researcher had rejected tne u. s. gov ernments offer to secure Dees of the alien species and pro vide him supply after assur ance of ireodom from the mlto or acarlne disease, The arranttno was effec tive Aug. 17, the day after It was written. Klamath Spud Lands Frosted Last Month About one-third of the po tato acreage In Klamath coun ty was severely frosted last month, according to the Ore gon Crop and Livestock Re porting service. Temperatures dropped be low freezing several nights. Other fields In that area were hit moderately, with only the Henley district es caping damage. Early reports Indicate that frost damage may have been even more widespread on the California side In the Klamath basin Spuds from the damaged fields are expected to run to small sizes, which should cut expected yields. r k fa, I r j r CHIT CHAT By JOE COWLEY Mail Tribunt Farm Editor The big problem In Rogue valley agriculture seems to be that of creating local demand for local products. This applies to milk and other dairy products, vege tables, and poultry particularly. One of the old-timers told farmers would bring their butter and eggs to local stores and use their butter (and egg money for store-bought goods. Churning the butter was the farm woman's job and some farm families became well-known in the valley for the quality of butter produced. . Now cream from hundreds is run through one plant and the farmer's product loses Its identity. Now when you buy a pound of butter you don't know that it was produced by one of your farmer neighbors or that the cream is nice and thick because Far mer Brown's Jerseys produced it. Of course, there arc some exceptions. Some still make the trip out to the farm to buy their dairy products directly from the farmer. But generally the emphasis is on price, convenience and uni formity, which store sold products feature. .During the recent Medford cultural tour it was pointed out that Jackson county's popu lation has Just about doubled in the last 10 years, but the amount of milk consumed by the population remains the same. Perhaps this lack of increased consumption is why there were only 885 dairy farms reporting in the 195D census compared to 1,521 farms five years ago. Local egg producers face ently they are trying to convince local people they can produce a top quality egg as producers from any other area. Independently, because as one large egg producer said, it doesn't do any good to form even a stale-wide market group unless it has some teeth in it. Quality must be enforced, he said. You can't have some producers dumping their .trash on the market through such a market association and other consistently putting out top quality eggs. Poultry prices hit a disastrously low about a year ago and the market now Is just gradually recovering. The low prices forced many producers out, with the less efficient ones going first. This is shown by the farm census figures showing 824 poultry farms with chickens four months old and older reporting in 1959 compared to 1,699 in 1954 just about half. A veteran poultryman reports that banks were burned pretty badly from granting loans to people who wanted to Jump into the business when prices were good. Loans to newcomers in the business are going to be tougher to get from now on This naturally will limit the duction and should indirectly poultryman predicts. Of course, the census figures show the growing trend of agriculture fewer poultry farms In production but those few producing with almost as many birds-111,375 chickens over four months old In 1959 com pared to 117,006 in 1054. So, local people must also kind of a poultry Industry here. The other day we read that a family of four must earn $6,000 a year to maintain a current high standard of living. There are many farmers in this valley who earn much less than that. It s kind of a vicious circle, to bo able to make $6,000 a year, a poultry- man, for Instance must have poultryman can t expand unless the market is good enough to bring him enough money to pay for an expansion. This summer the Double a dozon or lo a wholesale price of 54 cents a dozen. Poul try people estimate feed costs amount to 35 cents a dozen without charging themselves for the labor, giving them a profit of about 15 cents a dozen. However, predictions in dicate that egg prices may go as low as 35 cents a dozen next spring, causing the poultryman just to break even. Perhaps because egg producers form one of the smaller agricultural Industries in the looked. A man and wife poultry operation we know of near were we live seems as confining as a dairy farm. It's one of the smaller poultry operations in the valley so there is little automatic equipment where they can cut corners. If the wife plays the organ to work all Sunday afternoon into the evening. Otherwise she works from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. Meanwhile, according lo reviews, Portland egg prices since early August. Double a dozen while other grades and sizes held unchanged except for a three-cent decline at smalls. Grade A large and smalls are up four to eight cents compared to early summer prices and mediums are selling seven to nine cents a dozen higher. However, present prices on Double A large are only two to three cents above a year ago levels. Grade A large are two to five cents higher and smalls are up a nickel from Poultry experts continue financed poultrymen lo go into raising turkey breeder hens. Demand for Oregon produced turkey eggs exceeds the sup ply. Those planning this business venture should check with turkey hatcheries here, ag census tor Jackson county an enterprise with 360 farms hens kept for breeding. Estimates for 1959 place total num ber of turkey hens kept for to 150,400 In 1054. The current price on eggs may continue until January, according to the OSC chicken raised report for 1960. The number of chickens raised on Oregon farms during 1960 is estimated nt 3,929,000 birds compared with 4,271.000 for 1959. This drop amounts to about 8 per cent from last year, but Is almost one-fourth below the 1949-58 average of 5,157,000 chickens raised. This does not include com mercial broiler production. , Number of chickens raised on U. S. farms In 1960 Is expected to total 339,057,000, and the smallest number since year there was a cut of 7 per cent. All regions of the coun try show decreases in chickens raised this year. A local pear man was illustrating the difference between professional, amateur and Mexican National pickers the other day. Perhaps this may help the local people under stand the pear industry's point of view in hiring Mexican Nationals. A local family crew earned $1.02 an hour and picked about 60 boxes per person per day. Some professional pickers came In and picked 107 boxes per person per day and net ted $1.63 an hour. A group of Mexican Nationals, who had never picked pears before, spent a part of their first day In an orchard, netted $1.19 per hour for their first day, and filled 671, 4 lugs per person. One thing we will predict, though, and hope It doesn't come true-a nasty pile up of cars on the highway at the south entrance to Bear Creek Orchards packing plant. See ing the traffic signal and concrete island up ahead, drivers expect B-.ar Creek workers to turn in at the island and not at the south entrance. They don't always stop in time for the workers' cars which make the quick turn into the parking lot. A barrier across this entrance might save some nasty rear-end collisions and perhaps some lives. This situation is particularly hazardous during tourist sea son, when motorists arc not apt to be aware of such local trffleroblcms, and in the foggy fall season. us how in the early days, of Grade A dairy farmers Chamber of Commerce agri the same problem. Independ good, u not Better man egg in, he predicts. number going into egg pro help the market, the local buy eggs to maintain any at least 5,000 layers. Yet a A large eggs went up 10 ccnls valley, they are too often over used. Labor is the only place Their own labor is donated. in church Sundays, she has OSC poultry and egg market to producers changed little A Large advanced one cent the top of the price range on a year ago. to advise experienced, soundly however. The newly released points up the room for such reporting in 1959 on turkey breeding at 165,932 compared 15 per cent below last year records began in 1909. Last Tarm By GAYLORD P. GODWIN United Press International Washington - OIPD - Farm prices plunged 2 per cent in the month ended Aug. 15 un der the impact of lower re turns for meut animals, chick ens, vegetables, potatoes, feed erains and tobacco, the Agri culture Department reported last week. Partially offsetting the gen eral average decline were higher price's for milk, eggs, cotton and wheat. The decline left farm prices 2 per cent below those of a year ago. The overall change in pro duction and living costs was not enough to cause a shift in the index prices paid. Farm costs remained about one-third of one per cent higher than in August, 1959. The decline in farm prices received was large enough to kick the parity ratio down one point to 79 per cent. This com pared with 80 per cent in mid July and 80 per cent in mid AuRiist last year. Parity Is the price needed to put the value of commod ities sold by farmers on a par with the cost of things they must buy - theoretically a fair return for their products. Turkey Crop Good The 1960 turkey crop is rated by the Agriculture De partment as equal In the big 1959 output. Actually, this year's crop promises to be a little larger - by 200,000 birds. The preliminary estimate by the crop reporting board shows this year's turkey crop at 82.3 million birds. This compares with 1959 output of 82.1 million. Growers expressed their in tentions in January to raise about 6 per cent more tur keys. The reduced number of breeding hens, however, lim ited the production of poults and did not permit growers to meet their intentions. There also were warnings by the department that a hike in production might result in lower prices for producers. The number of heavy breed turkeys being raised this year is up 9 per cent from 1959 with heavy white breeds up 19 per cent and bronze and other heavy breeds up 5 per cent. Light breed turkeys, which account for only 12 per cent of the total raised this year, are down 37 per cent from 1959. Peach Method Told Agricultural. Market Ing Service researchers have found that costs of transport ing peaches by truck can be reduced materially If the baskets are loaded by the alternately inverted" method -every second basket upside down. The advantage is that the alternately inverted load per mits shipment of more baskets per truck than in the con ventional all-upright arrange ment. The more compact load reduces both transportation and refrigeration costs per basket. Cow Numbers Drop Although the number of milk cows in the United States continued to drop in the first half of this year, the decline was the smallest since 1954. As of June 30, the Agri culture Department reported today the number of cows was State Proposes Rule Changes In Garbage Feed Salem-Anyone who wants a voice In proposed changes In state rules for feeding of garbage to swine and inspec tion of poultry and rabbits should make himself known before Sept. 15. The state department of ag riculture is proposing amend ments to both regulations. The major change proposed in voluntary poultry Inspec tion regulations would require two rooms for poulltry slaugh ter. One room would be de signed for bleeding, scalding and defcathcring; the second for evisceration and packag ing. No change is contemplat ed in the present one room ap proved for rabbit slaughter. Another proposal would stipulate hot water for the daily cleansing of all process ing floors. A third change would add "leak proof to the fly -tight container required for offal held on the premises. The proposals would also stip ulate ante-mortem and post mortem inspection procedures. The move on garbage feed ing rules entails a general tightening tip on sanitation, drainage, cooking and con struction requirements. Pur pose: to reinforce protection of humans and animals against possible spread of disease through garbage feeding to swine. Any opinions on the propos als should be addressed orally or In writing to J. F. Short, director, state department of agriculture, Salem, Notes o down nine-tenths of 1 per cent trom a year earlier, compar- 3 wun a i.z per rent drop ist Deppmhpr inri n t 9 no,. cent decrease in January, The number of milk cows tlliS COllntrV hue fallan In every year since the mld- isius, except in 1053. OffKPttln0 thA Hoxlina In cow production per c w has been increasing ahnnr n cent a year. Total milk out put probabjy will continue to run ahead of last year through the remainder of 1960, the department said in its publi cation, "The Dairy Situation." Meat Production Up Production of rpri mpat fnr the first seven months of this vear totaled 15S hillinn pounds, up 5 per cent from tne same period a year ago. Of the January-July volume Included? ft 9. hllllnn nnnnd. of beef, up 8 per cent from, last year; 084 million pounds of veal, up 8 per cent; 6.4 bil lion pounds of pork, up 3 per cent; and 426 million pounds of lamb and mutton, down 3 per cent. Red meat output In July totaled two hiTllnn nniinHc down 5 per cent from July,' 1959. Meat Exports Down The United States exported 6,730 beef breeding cattle dur ing July - December, 1959, nearly 30 per cent fewer than in January-June, 1959. Declines in exports to Ven ezuela and Cuba accounted for a large part of the de cline. Shipments to. Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Canada also were below the previous year. In 1959, Brahman account ed for 52 per cent of total ex ports, Hereford 27 per cent, Santa Gertrudis 9 per cent and Aberdeen Angus 5 per cent. 9.850 Agree to Rates Since the department's new uniform grain storage rates for price supported commod ities went into effect July 1, a total capacity of 4,201,- 414,000 bushels has been signed with the government. The department said that as of the middle of August, 8,850 commercial w a r e h ousemen have agreed to the rates. The warehousemen who have not agreed control capacity total ing 31,148,000 bushels. IT'S THE EjMNGE C4MMP for all your WAJUL PLANTING NEIEDDS! A full line of Seed Grains Wheat Oats Barley also Rye Verxh Peas Clover Alfalfa Grasses and Pasture Mixes EVERYTHING IN FERTILIZERS, TOO . . . Gyp turn, Superphosphate, Nitrogen Fertilizers and Mixes. In the long run, you won't do better than trad ing at Grange Co-Op! REMEMBER . . . You don't have to be a member to trade here and save! Public Relations Is Farm Need According By SID HOLLINGSWORTH Mail Tribune Correspondent Berkeley, Calif. - I attend ed sessions of the American Institute of Cooperation held here by the University of California recently. It is doubtful if many, even in Oregon where the coopera tive movement in agriculture is highly developed, know that this organization exists. It's purpose, as one repre sentative explained. Is to edu cate where the National Grange conducts the legisla tive and field work of farm and cooperative groups. Three to four thousand members and their families attended from all over the country. What makes it doubly im portant is that the speakers said, that agriculture is in the "dog house" and wants to climb up to the level of other segments of the national economy. Dislike Role "We are tired of being the underdog when we lead the world In production as well as scientific development," said D. W. Brooks, general man ager of the Cotton Producers association of Atlanta, Ga., in a keynote address. He told of a remark made Egg Prices Rise; Hens Decline Corvallis - Egg prices are again on the upswing as farm ers throughout the nation cut back on the number of chick ens raised this year-the fewest since records were started in 1909. This trend also holds in Ore gon, reports Mrs. Elvera Hor rell, Oregon State college ex tension agricultural economist. Oregon farmers are raising the smallest number of replace ment chicks since state rec ords started in 1924. Present cutbacks are a re action to record-high egg pro duction last year that brought sharp price declines, the econ omist explained. Cambridge, Mass.-IUPD-Clar- ence H. Haring, 75, professor emeritus of Latin American history and economics at Har vard University, died Sunday ttk, (Griraimge (CflDp Hiway99 CENTRAL POINT0 Phone NO 4-1261 To AIC President0 by the chairman of a war board on which he served when he questioned the wis dom of not keeping within the budget as a matter of principle. "There, are times," the chairman was quoted as say ing, "when it is necessary to rise above principle." This may show the mood of these agricultural repre sentatives of today. They are a little worried by the large task ahead, but they want to retain their cooperative spirit along with a sense of humor. There is nothing to fear from Russia in the Soviet at tempt to pass American pro duction and achievement, Brooks said. "If all we have to do is to lick Russia in agriculture, we could all go fishing," he said. "Their production is only one fifth of ours, and it will take 10 years or more to get where we are today." He had made Weights, Measure Standard Checked Salem-Oregon's weights and measures program added to its reputation as one of the best in the nation recently in a National Bureau of Stand ards regional testing stand held in California. The Oregon department of agriculture sent two 500- pound state standards to be checked by the nation's su preme authority in this field. This is the first time the Na tional Bureau has brought the federal standard west to check state standards. The Oregon weights each came within 14 grains of hit ting 500 pounds square on the nose. They each weighed 14 grains too much, according to word reaching Salem a few days ago. No other state reached this peak. And if anyone doesn't know how close 14 grains is, here's the dope sheet; an ounce con tains 437.5 grains, a pound 7000 grains and 500 pounds 3.5 million grains! W. B. Steele, in charge of the weights and measures work, says the National Bu reau didn't alter the weight as it was well within the ac cepted tolerance for state standards. ') co-op ! 4h -4 Um s t i ... I m 421 A Street ASHLAND Phone ML) 9-6281 a first-hand study of condi tions there. Leon Garion, of Oregon State college, in one session discussion, stressed that "efforts to increase farmers' incomes more in line with their contribution to the na tional economy during the past several decades have in cluded a mixture of individual actions, governmental pro grams and cooperative ef forts." The individual farmer has little or no bargaining strength and must turn to cooperatives to affect changes in the mar ket structure, he said. Oregon's experience with the milk situation was re viewed by Will W. Henry, general manager of the Dairy Cooperative association, Port land. , "For five years after the re peal of the milk marketing law, the industry conducted itself in a way that was bene ficial to the entire industry, including consumers," he said. "In the past year, however, certain action on the part of a large group of producers has caused a disturbance on the market which will ultimately work to the detriment of the producers themselves." Lack of understanding of the simple economic laws handicaps this industry, Hen ry declared. J. K. Stein of Washington, D.C., president of the AIC, stressed the need for better public relations. This can be gained, he said, by the mem bers collectively working to cultivate favorable opinions from consumers and the pub lic generally. '. "Everything you do in fluences public opinion ons way or the other," he pointed out.
