Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 7, 1963)
TUESDAY. MAY 7. Ib3 MEDFOHD MAIL THIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON State Board Holds Review On Agricultural Legislation Salem - Legislation affect ing agriculture and the Ore gon Department of Agrlcul , tura was reviewed by the Ore gon Board of Agriculture at lti April IB meeting in Salem. Director of Agriculture J. F. Short told the board the department'! budget had no fat and had had one redufr tion of $20,000 by transfer of starling control from the de partment to Oregon State uni versity. This transfer was made to permit research on the problem. A reduction was also made In the meat inspection funds on the theory two slaughter houses now under state in soection would be transfer ring to federal inspection. Short said if this transfer did not materialize the depart ment would have to go to the : State Emergency board for emergency funds to cover Wool Pool Sold At 55.75 Cents J. J. Osenbrugge. Medford, was high bidder when the Jackson County wool rooi . was sold May 1, according to ' Don Bohnert, president of the pool. 1 Osenbrugge's bid was for 8S.75 cents per pound for 3,219 fleeces, f.o.b. Medford, to be delivered Aug. 1, 1963. Other bids for the pool were entered by Steve Mansur. Salt Lake City, Utah; Pacific Wool Growers association, Portland, Ore.; R. C. Elliott Co., Salt Lake City, Utah, and Portland Hide & Wool Co., Portland. The wool pool markets about half the wool produced in Jackson county. It is a cooperative venture of sheep growers. ' these two plants New this year in the cudgel was J2B.000 for a virologist at the state animal diagnostic laboratory at Corvallis. The board reviewed the progress of HB 1376, which i the milk stabilization bill, and the board chairman, Frank Rood, North Bend, re ported the board had gone on record at a hearing on me bill as supporting it. Director Short reported that Spray Berries Now, Agent Says Both home gardeners and commercial gardeners should spray strawberries for leaf rollers, according to Don Ber ry, Jackson County Extension agent. These pests are quite seri ous during the spring and summer in strawberry patch es and cause trouble by roll ing and killing the leaves on the plants. The damage is caused by a small worm which develops from an egg laid by a small buff-colored moth. These moths are easily spotted when walking through the strawberry patch because great numbers of them fly close to the surface of the ground during bad Infestation. Control measures consist of spraying during bloom with DDT, or later up to harvest with Malathion or Methoxy chlor. A heaping tablespoon of 50 per cent DDT powder in one gallon of water will gen erally control these pests for the season. If they recur, one heaping tablespoon of Mala thion or Methoxychlor pow der in two gallons of water may be used up to within three days of picking provid ing the berries are washed before eaten. Senate Bill 103, dealing with mobile slaughter units had been tabled. He said the bill had not been requested by the department but would have partially solved the mobile slaughter problem. Meat slaughtered by these units is not inspected and the depart ment Is concerned that some of It might be sold to the public as inspected meat. Mo bile slaughter units have been licensed to make available to farmers on-the-farm slaughter service. J. W. Southworth, assistant director, in charge of Live' stock Industries, reported on the survey and tests being made in an attempt to deter mine the cause of calf scours among the young calves in Baker county beef herds, State veterinarians have been working on the survey and Dr. Glenn Van Ness, from the National Animal Disease Lab oratory at Ames, Iowa, was called in to study the problem. Southworth also reported on the state-federal brucel losis control program. He told the board the control was im proving but not moving as fast as was needed to eradi cate brucellosis in the state. Farm & Garden Chit Chat By JOE COWLEY Mail Tribuno Farm Editor Considerable has been written about chemicals and public health during the past year. Considerably more probably win oe written. Gypsum Blocks Used To Check Moisture Corvallis - Oregon State university studies show that many farmers can irrigate more effectively by measuring soil moisture regularly with electrical resistance gypsum blocks. Marvin N. Shearer, exten sion Irrigation specialist, has written a new bulletin de scribing how to use gypsum blocks and the wide variety of meters and equipment that can be used with them. WW) ' I, o you'll have a Beautiful, Green Lawn soon with . . (m) nil v ii ORGANIC Wishing won't make your lawn green ... but Lilly's Organic Morcrop-containing slow-release multiple nitrogen-does it with ease. Long-lasting, non-burning Organic . Morcrop is specially formulated for warm weather greening. It's temperature-controlled. 501b. bag covers 5000 sq. ft. on Lilly's "Better Lawn Plan"... $5.45 Put your lawn on Lilly's "BETTER LAWN PLAN." Ask your dealer (or the new revised 1963 edition. NEIGHBORHOOD SPECIAL . . . Buy Together and SAVE I S BAGS ORGANIC MORCROP 10 BAGS ORGANIC MORCROP 127.25 value for $25.73 ! $54.50 value for $49.50 AVAILABLE AT THE FOLLOWING GARDEN SUPPLY STORES SO-EaiH.ii",'!!) H.j'jiy Monarch Seed and Feed Co. eth and Barrier) 10th and South Fir MEDFORD S&H Landscape Nursery 3358 Bursall Read CENTRAL POINT Elton s Farm and Garden Store 4th and Fir MEDFORD One of the best publications we have seen on this is the new Du Pont Chemical company publication. "Chemicals and Public Health." Summing up Its case for chemical safety this well-illustrated pamphlet states: "The greatest force for safety is industry's regard for its own good name. In dustrial institutions have struggled over the years to merit nign regara; tneir integrity is the public's greatest assurance. "Chemical manufacturers are strongly motivated to work for greater safety because their own hopes of prosperity require it. It would be folly indeed for manufacturers to suppose safety can be sacrificed to profit opportunities. It Is equally fallacious for observers to suppose industrial organ izations dare play fast and loose with the public health. The Dusiness leader more than the social critic recognizes the necessity of operating as safely as he knows how, for his daily experience confirms his need for public acceptance of tne way he conducts his affairs. "Public enlightment, sensible legislation, and govern' mental vigilance all have necessary though limited roles to play in safeguarding the public health," the pamphlet con tinues. The pamphlet points out also that demands of a rapidly Increasing population and industry require a wide range of new developments. But some risks will always remain no matter how careful the chemical industry tries to be. "Certainly no chemical company can assure the safety of users and handlers who fail to read carefully and follow the manufacturer s instructions on labels and in descriptive literature," the pamphlet continues. "To insist on absolute guarantees of safety is to require the impossible and to deny progress. A society that does not continue to grow through adventure and willingness to take chances is not likely to survive long in the modern world. With regard to health as to all other fields, society must be willing to take edu cated and calculated risks inherent In a technological civil ization.' The fact remains that chemical controls are necessary. As the pamphlet points out, dangerous insects not now resi dent in the U. S. are stopped from entering at the average of one every 17 minutes by government inspectors. It takes more than 230 million pounds of insecticides each year to control this pest threat. "Without chemicals, cotton yields would be reduced 50 per cent. There would be no commercial crop of apples or peaches two out of three years, and a poor on the third. The ultimate pesticide has not been and may never be found but chemists are developing newer and better techniques all the time," the pamphlet points out. Jackson County Weed Control Supervisor Ray Hubbard has pointed out in his article so many times that applicators should always read the label on insecticides and weedicides that one might assume such labels are difficult to read. But, that's not the case. Looking at the array of labels photo graphed in the Du Pont pamphlet you wonder how anybody could miss them. A label for flammable liquids such as anti-freeze, for instance, is printed in bright red with large black print: "CAUTION, KEEP AWAY FROM FIRE." Other labels are brightly colored with big readable print, also. Human error is still the key to a good many accidents with chemicals. Yet, in the most critical area, the growing, harvesting and preparation of food, almost complete safety been reached. This, in spite of the fact that more than 4,000 chemicals are now used in processing, storing and handling today's food. There are no fatalities on record resulting from use of chemicals as mentioned. To make sure that all chemical products are properly tested, Du Pont founded the Haskell laboratory. It includes departments of toxicology, biochemistry, pathology and physiology. The toxicology section of the lab studies what harm chemical doses can cause living organisms. It covers not just one white rat but generations. Tests are made by mouth by Inhalation, by injection and by absorption. This department has the final responsibility of evaluating the safety of a chemical product. Biochemistry studies the changes In the body chemistry of animals tested. The pathology section examines toxicity in tissues. A dozen to 600 animals may be used for "guinea pigs" and 15 to 40 organs checked in each. Physiology stu dies the total environment. How important is the chemical industry O the farmer. "A single chemist employing the advanced techniques qf science provides the farmer the equivalnt of a whole town ship of workers at a few cents' cost. Otherwise, it would require 26 million farm-hands and an additional $15 billion to harvest what seven million people now produce," accord' ing to the pamphlet. "Even with present improvement In controls, pests an. nually remove from the markets the equivalent of 120 mil lion acres' production, the publication continued. . The pamphlet concludes: "Although one may yearn for the uncluttered and tranquil world he Imagines as his youth' fill residence, very few people today can expect to return to any close-to-nalure existence. The accelerated trend to urbanization is inevitable, and must be sustained by every bit of knowledge, imagination, boldness, prudence and de termination man can muster. , Ninety Leaders Attend Meeting Ninety leaders from Curry, Josephine, Douglas, Klamath and Jackson counties attend ed the regional 4-H leaders' conference at the Jackson county fairgrounds recently. Glenn Klein and Miss Ruth Brasher, both of the state 4-H office at Oregon State univer sity, and James McAlistcr, OSU rural defense specialist, conducted the meeting. Two sessions during the day were spent on junior leader and empire builder projects. Main emphasis was on how to deal with teen-agers and their problems. McAlister gave a special lecture on how to ob tain and use a medical self help kit. The kits are avail able to rural groups through county public health offices, ! he said. Francis K rouse is regional chairman. Livestock Market Rid Bluff live lock Auction Rtpnrt Tntiday, April 19, 1MJ CATTLE: Salable 3M. including around 120 calves. fUprttented flatlet active. Cnmparrd with last Tuesday: Slauihter cowi eboui Heady; feeder calves steady to strop . yearlings scarce: stock cnw steady. Bulk of supply comprised of s locker and feeder daises, around 48 per cent of the run was comprised of cows, the bulk of these beinf cow-calf pairs and about 20 cowi selling onto slaughter accounts Slauihter rows: Tew Utility 0r.(Ml3O lb. 1150M6.30. few Cutter JI3J5-HQO tew Canner 113 tiP-12 fO. feeder steers: f ew choice 310-400 lb raltta 137 50- 10. Tew Good ia-t Hi-J5 IP Few Choice R3 0-898 b feeders 123 9022 tj reeder heifers: Few Good and Choice M(M lb. cajvee 923.10 24 30 Mock rows: Severs? shipment Medium and Good with email calves at side 1 1 9330-340 per pair HOGS: Salable J Supply insufltnent to test market SHEEP: Salable none. Market untested From Dust Bowl To Valley Big Shift for Pear Foreman Br JOE COWLEY Mail Tribune Farm Editor . O. E. (Ople) Frailer, Phoe nix, learned the fruit business as a boy and supported his brothers, sister and mother the same time Like many Oklahomans this foreman is used to working long, hard hours for every cent he earns. And he has worked 21 years for Dave Lowry and Highcroft orchard. He's been in the business 26 years. He has worked for Rogue River Orchards and for Bear Creek. The hard work started on his family's large farm In Oklahoma. He and his five brothers worked from dawn until dark and did their gen eral chore, before and after working In the fields each day. Farming then meant to him grain and row crops with some cattle. The Oklahoma drought caused the whole family to work hard to survive. Opie was head of the fanv ily when he came to the Rogue valley at 17 years in February, 1938. He rented a small house on Camp Baker rd. The landlord was dubi ous at first about renting to a boy, but admitted later that few grown men paid the rent as regularly as he did. First Job . "My first job was with Ted Fish in Phoenix. I worked in the tomatoes on the old Corliss place. He raised good tomatoes and got a good yield. I told him if he could not afford to pay me I would work until he could," Ppie related. "Figured I was bet ter off working than just lay ing- around. But, he never missed a pay day." Like other leading orchard foremen in the valley Opie at first was handling the reins to a team of horses almost as much as pruning shears. While working for Rogue River Orchards, Ople start ed pruning, mainly cutting out blight which was a big problem in those years. Spray ing then was done by horse drawn rig with two to four men per rig. Now, Opie is in charge of S00 acres under Associated Fruit company - in Phoenix. He operates 85 acres of his own. Like other packing house field superintendents and foremen he has the problem of scattered orchards. The 500 acres consist of 25 separate fruit blocks requiring the field man to drive about 100 miles a day. Good help for each of the blocks makes the job easier, he noted. Like the other foremen and superintendents, Opie works long hours, but not as long as he did in 1936 or 1937 while heating in the Medford Pear company orchards. Then he worked 36 hours without stopping. Hot coffee and sand wiches were brought to the crews in the orchards. Bad Fraese The veteran orchard man ranks the worst freeze night tnis season, on April 19, with the 1954 freeze. The freeze hit hard the first of May. but unlike this season few pots were in tne orcnards. A warm wind Immediately following caused rapid temperature rise and ktlled the buds. Like others in the business he is concerned over the poor pollinization this year follow ed Dy tne intense cold spells. opie noted the company's Dark Hollow rd. orchard had 50 pots to the acre with all pots going during the heavy freeze night, but had trouble holding the temperature to the safe level. "That's almost a pot per tree," he remarked "Undoubtedly there . has been a little fruit damage to most orchards, he added. Like other orchard men Opie 'eels the old open-burn ing slide-lid heaters are the most efficient although the most smoke - producing. The noticeably less orchard heat er smoke this year is due to a better grade of diesel oil being marketed by oil com panies now. "It's so clear it looks like water in the pot," he commented. More Bins Wind machines can be used effectively in California with its much lower Inversion (a layer of warm air atop cold air), but seldom In the Rogue valley with its higher inver sion. Some orchards are so sit uated they can use them be cause they can draw the warm Garden Tips The CREDIT BUREAU IS NOW ' AUDITING ACCOUNTS for the next REDBOOK! You make your own rating by the way you pay your bills. Pay promptly and make a good rating. A Slow Paid till looks better than a Slew Sill that's still ewlnf. "Pay them today! CREDIT BUREAU of Medford By JOHN McLOUGHLIN County Agent Tree Wrap Wrap the trunks of newly transplanted ornamental and fruit trees. This wrapping will protect the bark from sun scald and will help to prevent borer infestation. Burlap, paper, or a similar material may be used. Wrap the trunk from the lower branches to the ground level. Bind the wrapping with string. Rhododendrons Remove the spent blooms of rhododendrons as soon as they fade. This will prevent seed formation, which is a drain on the vigor of the plant, and will hasten the start of new shoots. It is im portant that these shoots make an early start, if maximum growth is to be obtained and flower buds are to set for next spring's bloom. Cut the faded flowers with pruning shears or a knife. Be careful not to injure the new shoots and leaf buds that are below the flowers. Also re move the spent blooms of azal eas, mountain laurel and an dromeda. Dahlias Dahlias may be planted now. For best results choose a sunny location and keep the plants well watered. Plant the tubers in a horizontal posi tion with the eye up about five inches deep. Well, rotted manure mixed in with the soil will provide a good source of fertilizer. To prevent future root damage, place the stakes in the ground while planting. If a bushy plant is desired, pinch the top when the plant is about a foot high. To keep your heather plants compact and producing an abundance of flowers, shear them back as soon as the flow ers fade. air from nearby heated or chards through the trees. Harvest season, generally another big problem time for growers, will probably see more and more "tote bins" being used in local orchards instead of lug boxes. The large bins which can contain the equivalent of several lug boxes of fruit reduces the fruit handling thus reducing possibility of stem punctures and other causes of pear blem ishes. Opie pointed out that one serious handicap in using pos sible pear picking machinery is that the D'Anjou pears have short stiff stems, making punctures easy. "But, nothing is impossible. They used to think cotton would never be picked by machinery. Now it's an ac cepted thing," Opia comment ed. . i More machinery will be used, however, to get a man into the pear tree and to leave his hands free for picking. Some sort of conveyor will be needed to carry the fruit down into bins. The harvest problem isn't in numbers of pickers avail able so much as lack of con sistent, steady pickers, the orchard operator said. "More people come into the valley than we actually need for picking. Trouble is, most of them don't stick to the job. Fruit growers pay all they can afford. They can't pay much more," Opie ex plained. "We've - tried different ideas on the picking deal in cluding bonuses, but the mon ey doesn't seem to keep them any longer. When they are ready to move out, they move. Medford seems to be merely a stop over," he added. "An other problem is those good at picking beans and corn aren't necessarily good with ladders needed for pear pick ing. They either don't know how to set the ladder, or are afraid of it and have to keep one hand on the ladder which reduces their picking capaci ty." Nationals Steady Mexican nationals are used the last two-thirds of the sea son. They stick and are steady workers, Opie noted. Opie has to do a lot of in structing like other orchard supervisors. He is mainly con cerned with proper pruning so the men will leave the younger, more vigorous pear wood which bears fruit. Thin ning , is another problem. Crews have to be taught to thin to size not space, he said. Records are important in orchard work as in other types of agriculture, the or chard operator pointed out. Calf Tatooing Now Suggested To Half Thefts Salem - Members of the Or egon livestock advisory com mittee have recommended the tatooing of new-born calves in the ear as a means of dis couraging the theft of young calves. The committee, which serves in an advisory capacity to the department of agricul. ture, made this recommenda tion at an April 23 meeting in Salem. The committee also pro posed that cattlemen with brands use the brand for the tatoo. Because as many as six , persons may use the same brand by having it in a dif ferent location on the animal the committee suggested that numbers from one to six be used with the tatoo of the brand to indicate the position of the brand on the animal. For those cattlemen with out brands the committee rec ommended the use of a design, number or initail as an ident ifying mark to assist livestock inspectors in identifying stol en calves. Other Suggestions Other recommendations made at the meeting were: That the department of ag riculture redefine livestock running at large to mean cat tle of different ownership grazing together or co-mingling in a particular area. That the list of recognized livestock beef breeds be en larged to include the most prevalent beef breeds and that the department also permit in clusion of community designa tion of additional beef breeds found in that particular com munity. (Hereford, Angus and Shorthorns are the breeds now listed in open range reg ulations.) And, that a study be made on the possibility of requiring brand inspection at auction yards, stockyards and slaugh ter points of catth moving into the state. He uses his records to refer back to when problems arise. Experience is the best teach er, especially when notes are kept on that experience, he indicated. STOCKMEN FEED PELLETS - Your coarse or unpalatable roughage will make a base for a modern balanced ration that you can feed with little labor and no wastage. The increased meat or milk pro duced will give you mail mum returns on small cash investment. MORTON MILLING CO. 500 Ross lane, Medford fDo apples and pears need that much protection?" They sure do, for a big, healthy crop. And this is only the first dose. . Seems like an expensive proposition. Not compared to the terrific job it does. It' insurance against trouble. You mean by protecting your cropf That's right. Karathane protects against powdery mildew. I apply it for prebloom, calyx and first cover sprays There's no damage to blossoms, foliage or terminals no russeting of fruit. Practically no winter carryover of infection. And it helps con trol mites. Whatabouttheotherbag MsKELTHANEAP? Best miticide I ever used ! Fast kill long residual action. European red, two-spotted, McDaniel, clover. You name almost any mite and Kelthane controls it. I can use it up to 7 days before harvest, too. It sounds as if you've got what you need . . . but I'm sure glad mail is my problem and not mites. ROHM R
