Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 1963)
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1963 MEpFORO MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON Farm & VIEWS PEARS Youne Michael ber of Simons and French, Ltd., London and New York, watches pears come off the belt at a local fruit packing house. He visited Medford truit snippers ana orcnaras two aays last ween on a general get-acquainted tour of Pacific Coast fruit areas. Medford Once Site Of British Firm Young Michael Simons, of Si mons and French, Ltd., London and New York and formerly Medford,' stopped in Medford for two days last week to become acquainted with the pear ship pers and learn of their problems in getting their fruit into the British market; This was part of a general swing through the Pacific Coast fruit regions which includes Cal ifornia, Hood River, Yakima, Wenatchee and British Colum bia. '.,'"' ' - i Simons and French used to have an office in Medford about the 1030' s on 11th and Fir sts. (then Simons, Shuttlcworth and French), but found it more eco nomical to base their operations in New York and London. Young Simons is the fifth generation In his family to be in the business. He said he wasn't forced into it, he likes it. Formerly of Merchant Marine ! The former British Merchant Marine officer is tall, fair com plc.vioned with blue eyes and Hunt brown, somewhat unruly brown hair. If he didn't have to work for a living he would settle in the Rogue valley, he said. Of all areas visited, he prefers northern California and southern Oregon. Previously he had spent a year, in New York City study ing the market. The peoples of Hie colder northern countries of Europe such -as England prefer citrus fruits, so Simons spent some time in tfc: California cit rus areas. He also visited Ixidi and Sacramento since his firm also imports prunes, grapes, nectarines and plums. Mite Spray Needed Now, Agent Advises ; Peach silver mites or rust are quite numerous in some of the valley peach orchards. : This pest has been trouble some from time to time but seldom has been in numbers sufficient to require . control measures. Growers should check their orchards and where mites are numerous, however, a fall spray for their control would reduce popul Uons for next year. . ' Miticides such as Krllhane or Chlorobenzilate will give con trol. Wettablo sulfcr also has controlled this pest. Chloro benzilate at one pound per 100 gallons, or Kelthanc at Vt pounds per 100, or wctlablc tulfor at three pounds per 100 fnay be applied this fall. The addition of a good sprcador would also be beneficial. ' Do not use Chlorobenzilate on peaches during the grow ing season. Where fall sprays are omitted a pre-pink spray or summer spray may be used to control this pest. Exams Opened for federal Positions i New examinations are open to ,lill several federal civil service positions, t They Include supervisory mil itary personnel specialist, me chanical quality control repre sentative, engineering drafts man, industrial specialist, and electricjt accounting machine project .planner. . I Information and applications may be obtained from the Civil Service commission In the Medford post office or from the regional office at the Federal Office building, Seattle Wash. I 4, Garden Simons, fifth generation mem The British importers like the fruit shippers here were watching the Common Market developments apprehensively. The British importers would not have gone along with any trade restrictions imposed if their country had joined the Common Market, the young importer said. , Much of the fruit which comes into England is from Italy, one of the Common Market coun tries. But, Italy can't duplicate the unform high quality which British importers get from this country and must have to satisfy their large chain market cus tomers. Under the new Common Mar ket conditions, however, Italy can ship, peaches into England threo days after harvest. The more uniform and speedier transportation system through Common Market countries to England makes the difference. A new transportation system al lows refrigerator cars to bo lifted off one set of wheels onto another set so the journey can continue in the same freight cars, but on a different' gauge track, . . . .,,.(. f. Typically British Typically British, the young importer said he had not changed his opinion on imports much after visiting the Pacific Coast fruit areas. But, unlypi cally British, he asked for a cup of coffee instead of tea. His firm has learned to rely on the qual ity of U. b. fruit shipped into England. Such fruit usually ar rives in 100 package lots or in lots of 20 packages for selling. Many of the pears move into restaurant trade. England has no gift box trade although the holidays see the usual boom in fruit sales. The coffee habit probably dates back to the several years served in the mcrchnnt marine. There Is no conscription in Eng land now so joining the mer chant marine was not a case of cither or. England has a small, highly trained and technical mo bile army, perhaps relying more on atomic weapons than the U.S. army which is also trained to fight "brush wars." Simons went to sea as an ap prentice when 16. He spent 2's years in the British Nautical col lege. After 16 years at sea he I was rcaily for the import trade ana entered nis family s firm. "Yes, I'm single." he grinned. "I probably wouldn't have been able to make this trip if I weren't. I am impressed with the highly economical, highly ef ficient fruit business here," ho added. Funds For Test Program Approved SALEM Federal matching funds have been approved by Uie U.S. Department of Agn culture for development of 1 reproducablo fluorescence test (or annual ryegrass seed as a joint marketing service project by the Oregon department of agriculture and the Oregon Agricultural station. Word of tho approval was re ceived last week by Paul T, Rowell, agricultural' develop" ment chief for the Oregon De partment of agriculture. , Commenting on the approval of the funds, Rowell said the need for a more exact knowl edge on which to base'. testing methods and on the lactors In fluencing fluorescence in an nual ryegrass seedlings was emphasized by a recent federal regulation requiring labeling of all ryegrass seed at annual or perennial or mixtures of thest two, based on the fluoresenc i test. - FARM Woodiot By DICK OLSON Oregon State Farm Forester If you happen to be out in the woods and see a man wiui sack pursuing a squirrel, he is not trying to bag a gray dig ger. He is just gathering seed the same as the squirrel. But for a different reason. The squirrel uses the seed for future food but man uses it for future trees; trees that are processed into hundreds of wood products used by man every day. As the old growtn timber stands of the Pacific Northwest are depleted, the need for start ing a new crop of trees for the future becomes more and more important. Logging creates about 200.000 acres of new clear cut areas each year in the Paci fic Northwest. Fire denudes thousands of acres each year. Although nature has provided for ample and prompt restock ing, this does not often occur. In most cases, we cannot afford to wait for nature to do this and artificial reforestation through planting of seeding is neces sary. More than half a million bush els of seed cones are collected each year, providing a source of income for thousands of peo ple. Many folks have found that cone collecting provides an en joyable week end diversion in the woods and a chance to earn extra cash at the same time. Experienced cone collectors earn good wages during tne cone collecting season. To Inform People The mam purpose of this arti cle is to make the general pub lic, as well as the small wood land owner, aware of this im portant service performed by a few. Cone collectors find that it pays to get complete informa tion from cone dealers or their buying agents before they start to pick. These contacts are im- FROM THE GROUND UP By (ART BARTim The annual harvest of pears will be completed this week There will be some apple picking left. This is only on a small acreage of late winter varieties and does not involve a great amount of labor. The peach harvest was fin ished during the early part of last week. The harvest of the fruit crop for this area is being completed very early this year. This is because tree fruit crops were generally short this year. The season also played a part in compressing the harvest pe riod. This year bosc and cornice pears were ready to pick at about mid-anjou season. Hale Rio-osa, Gem and Ala- mar peaches ripened very close together. Another facet of the season was that all peach va rieties tended to drop heavily as maturity approached. This seemed to be correlated with a too short stem on the fruits as the final swell comes so that the peaches literally grew them selves off the tree limbs. It is not too late to check over any woody plant budding that was done this summer and replace any buds that failed to take. This applies to stone fruits as well as to apples and pears. A bud well placed now in a stock plant will do very well during next growing season. 1 he control of weeds by chem ical means has progressed to the point that it should be con sidered by every farmer. This field of farming is not so specialized as many of us have boon led to believe. If you have followed the suggestions that have appeared in this column, you now have, some basic, in formation as to what to do starting now. Some weedicides or herbicides should be applied at this time to effect the desir ed pest plant control during the coming growing season. Consult your spray chemical dealer for advice. Orchardists should apply a good fall cleanup spray before the fall rains come to make the orchard soils a sea of mud. A well applied fall cleanup spray can ease some of the necessity tor a full dormant spray that In most Instances means the use of heavy equipment in or der to make the application on very wet, boggy land during early spring. Consult your spray chemical dealer tor advice in regards to this spray applica tion. There is a special election coming up that concerns the stale tax measure. We regret to say that following the elforts of a self paid "hardest work ing" legislature we fail to agree that thoir' salary was worth the effort. Perhaps the four cent postcards marked voted by proxy might suffice for the next meeting of these gentlemen. It is notable that those con tributing the Urgent amount of verbiase In defeno of the pres ent state budget art mployecs of the system. i Facts portant to the picker to deter mine current prices and types of cones that aro in demand. By finding out where to pick, what to pick, and now to test cones for required ripeness and seed quality, they avoid the possi bility of collecting cones that they cannot sell. Cone buyers are sometimes able to direct pickers to heavier cone produc ing areas and advise them who to contact for permission to take cones. Nature usually produces heavy cone crops over a wide area at three to five-year intervals. During other years, the crop is spotty with complete failure in some areas. Crop failures are most likely to occur the year before or the year after a bumper cone year. So far it looks like a spotty cone crop year in the Rogue valley area. Tree seed dealers buy large Quantities of cones during good cone years and accumulate suf ficient seed to supply demands through several lean years. Be sides being easier to. gather dur ing bumper crop years, cones produced at this time contain a greater number of sound seeds and fewer seed eating insects. The cone collecting season lasts for only a few months dur ing late summer and early fall. Cones must be gathered before the cones dry out and the scales open. The brown cones which are scattered about un der the trees or still attached to the branches are old cones and do not contain seed. Cones at lower elevations in Southern Oregon are now ripening. The ripening season gradually ex tends from lower to higher ele- stop when Douglas-fir, pine, spruce, cedar and hemlock cones start to open and shed their seed. In the case of noble fir, grand fir, concolor fir and other true firs, the entire cone will begin to break apart and shed both cone scales and seeds. ' Several Methods There are several methods used for collecting cones. One of these methods is picking from standing trees. Best cone picking trees are young, heal thy, well-formed and heavily laden with cones. Cone picking equipment includes: (1) hook with five-foot long handle, (2) safety belt, (3) gloves, (4) sol vent, (5) picking bag or bucket, (6) serviceable burlap gunny sacks, (7) old work clothing, (8) first aid kit, (9) cone testing knife. Another method of gathering cones is picking from felled trees in logging, land clearing, or road building operations. I have heard of cases where the cones were worth more than the logs. The third method of ob taining cones is from squirrel cutting and caches. Squirrel caches are much more difficult to find than freshly cut cones scattered over the ground. Squirrels usually cut cones ear ly in the morning and spend the remainder of the day hiding their cones in a number of caches. Squirrels locate their caches in moist, shady spots such as overhanging banks near streams or under an old moss covered log. Don't feel too sor ry for the squirrels because ex perienced woodsmen have ob served that they cut far more cones than they need for their food requirements. Large quan tities can be collected from un der trees or from caches with out depriving them of necessary food. The future for cone collecting looks good. Forest tree nurser ies require thousands of pounds of seed to grow planting stock for private and public plant ings. In addition, thousands of pounds of seed are treated with a rodent repellent and scattered systematically over nonstocked lands from helicopters. It seems probable that a strong demand (or forest tree seed will continue for many years. Jossy Attending Agent Meeting Earle Jossy, Jackson County Extension agent, is in Minnea polis, Minn., attending the 48th annual meeting of the National Association of County Agricul ture Agents Sept. 22-26. Jossy is past president and a member of the executive com mittee of the Oregon County Agents association. He Is repre senting that group as a delegate to the convention. Jossy has been an extension agent In Jackson county for over 20 years. He has the ma jor responsibility for serving the livestock, dairy and poultry industries. BEAUS NAMED Salem O. K. Beals, Oregon Department of Agriculture as sistant director for consumer services, has been named to a Western Association of Dairy', Food and Drug Officials com mittee, whose (unction it will be to compile and develop sources of reference Information mater ial for state use on V S. Food and Drug Administration pesti cide and food additive tolerances and other requirements of Inter est to states. Chit By JCE Mail Tribune It's a problem of communications. This is what the pear growers invited about so people to their This is the problem with veterinary services, starting at the top federal level. And this is the dustry has because people who often don t realize publishing or broadcasting is not an instantane ous process. The local pear industry no doubt convinced a number of people Thursday that the industry needs Mexican Nationals to insure picking all of its pear crop which can economically be picked It also convinced those who came and brought their friends that the food and lodging provided pickers is good. Somebody was smart in hiring Al Gonzales as cook for the several picking seasons at the 1943 as a Mexican National and has cooked for both Mexicans and the single transient pickers using the camp since 1951. He knows thoroughly the customs of his people-and provides the food they like. Less highly seasoned food is provided the non-Mexicans. The quarters provided the pickers, all single men, or men who left their families behind, costs the Fruit Growers League con siderable money each year to maintain.. The League has a high investment .in these buildings which housed an observation squadron-during the war years. The camp includes new build ings, water and sewer lines plus The fruit growers also use who have applied for their U. S. from Texas at $35 a man cost, including transportation and meals. This $35 plus $10 cash advance is customarily withheld from the first three weeks' pay checks. Joe Beeson, from the regional office of the U. S. Department of Labor, Seattle, Wash., explained that although the regulations pertaining to use of Mexican Nationals seem arbitrary and un reasonable, Congress's short period extensions of the Mexican National law is largely responsible. Each time the law is ex tended the regulations are pyramided by new regulations tacked on by Congress. Longer period extensions would make it possible to work out the "unreasonable" requirements, Beeson indicated. Beeson ob jected to the description of the bus carrying Mexican Nationals which was involved in a recent fatal collision with a train. The bus couldn't be "makeshift" as mentioned in news stories because transportation inspectors wouldn't allow such l conveyance to operate, he said. If this description is wrong than this is a breakdown in communications. The reporter orig inating that story on the UPI wire didn't realize the implications of that word "makeshift." A shipper-grower objected to the name Mexican-National be ing applied to two men of Mexican origin involved in a local knifing. They were not Mexican Nationals he said. A check of police records revealed one was and the other wasn't. One local police agency said it seldom has trouble with Mexicans Nationals because if they don't behave the Mexican government won't allow them to return. This is a break down in communications when the local pear growers haven't been able to educate local people as to the definition of the name, "Mexican National." One man leaving the labor camp lunch said he and his wife had often talked of picking local pears to add a little money to their budget. He has the impression the fruit industry doesn't want local people picking, even men. There, perhaps, is a more serious breakdown in communications for the pear growers. Perhaps more local men would pick if they felt they would be welcome in local orchards. Some, whom we know personally, already do pick. Dr. C. A. Manthai, director laboratory at Ames, Iowa, spoke in getting results of new research veterinarian in the field. His bulletin to inform them as to laboratory, he said. Research news is circulated to the federal veterinarians in each state who must get it out to the private practice veterinarians, he said. Why has one county been able to isolate and identify foothills abortion in beef animals when a neighboring county has not? Dr. Manthei didn't know. This is a break down in communica tions, he said. He felt keenly that the general public still does not know the difference between a vegetarian and a veterinarian. He sympha thized with a reporter's desire to get news on local problems in animal health. However, the local veterinarian probably doesn't know he has a problem of epidemic proportions until the federal veterinarian in his state has informed him, he said. The veterinarian has a difficult time justifying his small animal practice to the public. Saving a pet's life or health does not seem so important balanced on the scales of comparable life values. But, man has always had pets. He seems to need them for his emotional stability. "Furthermore, I would never raise any child without any pet, be it bird, cat or dog," the head of research veterinarians said with a twinkle in his eye. "A child needs something he can confide in." The public probably has a varied picture of the veterinarian depending on their contact with him. To some he is a man in a starched white coat who performs minor surgery on a pet cat or dog then "charges too much." Or, he may be a man who rattles up a country lane at midnight to care for an ailing cow. But, whatever your impression human. During the Friday night convention at the Rogue Valley Country club there was a goodly cross-section of personalities. One elderly veterinarian told us how he drove by buggy, then rode horseback lo local orchards to care for draft horses then spent a good share of the night scraping and bushing the "Big Stickv" mud off his horse's flanks. He rode horseback to Gold Hill to stand on a cracker box took him most of the night. And of other boys through veterinary A young veterinarian told us how he was a smoke-jumper to put himself through school. A wife of a young vet complained her husband "has practically wall to wall carpeting in his plane while I have the same darned He apparently uses his plane veterinarian across the table through dinner. I'ndoubtedly there were dozens more human interest stories in the room if we had had time to ferret them out. The stories told from the speakers' table were good. too. but we can't print them. Ed Snyder. o( the Portland and Snyder had a point on communications, too. Newspapers naven t convinces even a small part of tne public that considera ble effort goes into publishing a newspaper. The wave of a magic wand won't get a publicity story into print after deadline time, especially, but the public doesn't know this and still expects the impossible, he noted. We have walked through miles of orchards, driven hundreds of miles on cattle tours, visited dairy barns, poultry ranches and berry farms. How many of these people have visited our "farm" or "on-hard" where ideas sprout words, rows of words become sentences and other ideas depending on how each reader sees those words and sentences? And (or our labor we are sure to get a few raspberries, but seldom any orchids. c 4 Chat COWLEY Farm Editor were trying to solve when they fruit labor camp on Table Rock rd. problem the communications in contribute to the news far too migrant labor and the contract labor camp. He came here in other improvements. "Green Card Mexicans" those citizenship papers. These come of the national animals disease of the communications problem in veterinary medicine to the laboratory staff gets a regular what is going on in their own of him is he is very, very to pull some horses' teeth which he put his sons and a number school. old furniture in the living room for his practice as did a fellow- from him. They talked flying all public relations firm of Goodrich I 'i '-t BUDDING Mrs. Ora Meadows. Talent, is ond leafing. shown budding in some cherry trees in the signs of bacterial canker, but so far appear Culbertson orchard on Old Stage rd. Culbert- tolerant of it. son and OSU horticulturists feel the trees have has planted made an unusually good growth for their sec- tolerant. GIRL AND CHERRIES Susie Berry, daughter of County Agent Don Berry and Mrs. Berry stands beside a sweet cherry tree on acreage owned by Paul Culbertson on South Stage rd. to show size of the young trees. They include Lamida, MacMars and Corums. Local Orchardists Plant New Sweet Cherry Varieties By JOE COWLEY Mail Tribune Farm Editor The Rogue valley could have a new fruit industry cherries if recent plantings of sweet encrnes continue to show good growth and disease resistance. Paul Culbertson and Ernest Hamilton are two fruit growers who feel sweet cherries could make a comeback in the valley after the Albino cherry virus which wiped out whole orchards started about 1945. Prior to that this county had about 70 acres of sweet cherries. The virus swept the valley for 20 years. Culbertson has BOO trees on 12 acres on the Old Stage rd. Hamilton has 30 trees represent ing seven different new vari eties on one third o( an acre on his home place on Table Rock rd. Hamilton's varieties include S9-15, OSC 11)7, Corum, OSC 304, jg season making this a more OSC 212, OSC 197 and Esperan. I attractive situation for pickers. Hamilton has a wait and see j This would help the pear grow attitude. He may plant a few Crs by having a supply of pick- commerciai trees later, ne saiu, but "will not go too strong." All of these varieties are gumosis resistant and virus - tree, Ham ilton noted. Culbertson is raising Lamida, MacMars and Corums; ail on F12-1 root stock. The root stock is bacterial canker tolerant. The three varieties are resist ant to albino cherry virus. Lamida is a Lambert cross, a black type of cherry. Mac Mar and Corum are Royal Anne type cherries, lighter red. Corum is a pollenizer. Culbertson, a pear grower, is proud of the fact that his trees are believed to be the first Mac Mar commercial planting in the U.S. His trees have made a good growth. This summer is their second leaf. He expects cherries on them next year and a good crop in 1965. Swine Research Set For Session Agenda CORVALLIS Oregon Slate university research on swine. ' nutrition and breeding prac i tices will be reported today at the fifth annual OSU Swine Day. The program began at 9 a.m. in Withycombe Hall on campus. In their reports to Oregon's swine indlistrv. OSU researh. ; ers will show' how thoir find- ings relate to the number of pigs farrowed and raised, growth rate, feed efficiency and carcass merit all factors determining profitable swine operations. 4 He has an ideal soil for cherry trees. It is well-drained, warm, deep, free-working sandy loan. It has been levelled so as not to remove too much of the top soil. Soil is one big valley prob lem. Too much of it is wet, sticky clay. This means poor drainage. Cherry trees are more apt to be damaged from poor water drainage than apples and pears. Culbertson feels strongly that raising cherries may be at least a partial solution to dwindling incomes from pears. Cherries come on the market before pears about June 15, which means more pickers available. Sour cherries come about July 1. 1 Some early apples like Graven- j steins coming off about early August and following up cher- rj0s would also extend the nick- BATTERY SPECIALS IIAMWS OP Oft THI lOCAL BftANCH ItfMw Mw liu Iticiat "'"M S"'"d North.est Jfmfiyti!! I7 W 4'h II 1,77 We &f ASSOCIATION f Some of the trees are showing The F12-1 rootstock Culbertson is considered bacterial canker Spray For Mites Before Oct. 15 A spray should be applied to pear trees (particularly Bartlett and Cornice) before Oct. 15 for blister mite con trol if any blister mile injury to fruit or foilage was noted this year, according to Dr. Peter Wesligard, of Southern Oregon branch experiment station and Dr. C. B. Cordy, Jackson County Extension agent. Thirty pounds of wettable sulfur per ace or 6 pounds per 100 gallons, gives com mercial control. Somewhat better control is obtained by mixing 20 pounds of wettable sulfur with 10 gallons lime sulfur per acre in an air blast sprayer or 4 pounds wettable sul fur and 2 gallons lime sulfur per 100 gallons in a hose rig. Fifteen pounds of polysulp hide per acre or 3 pounds per 100 gallons may be used in place of the lime sulfur in the above mixture. This is strictly a blister mite spray. crs already here when the pear season starts. Some early apples are being planted here. However, Culbertson figures sizeable cherry orchard blocks would make mechanical har vesting feasible thus eliminat ing the problems of a haphazard picker supply. Very little change would be required in present fruit packing houses to handle cherries, he feels.' STOCKMEN FEED PELLETS Your coarse or unpalatable roughage will make a bate for a modern balanced ration rhat you can feed with little labor and no wastage. The increased meat or milk pro duccd will give you maxi mum returns on a small cash, investment. MORTON MILLING CO. 500 Ross Lane, Medford AS MUCH AS 20 OFF SAVINOS 773-8239
