The herald., 1897-09-02
4 81. IT,
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Easy, quick markets breed carelessn ess.
We must all attend exchange meetings
and see to the selection of proper men
and methods. There should be no prox-
| les. Each of us should attend all meet
| ings and vote for the best men and best
methods Never give away your proxy
unless you are sick in bed, getting mar
ried, or attending your own funeral, and
it were better to postpone the two last
until after the annual meeting Of the
exchange. The exchange solves the prob
lem of profitable fruit production. The
| excellence of the exchange depends upon
us-the growers.
| Very earnest discussion followed the
reading of the papers. There Is certain
ly rapidly growing sentiment that the
exchange is here to stay, and that it's
continuance and best development Is the
great hope of the California fruit grower.
WHEAT GROWING
Messrs. G. r. Sprague and L. o. Live
sey Of Fairmount discussed ably the
methods Of wheat growing most success
| fully practiced in the Antelope valley.
The need of a compact seed bed made
| the. summer fallow indispensable. Early
deep plowing-at least six inches-should
be followed by frequent and ample cul-
tivation to produce an earth mulch to
conserve moisture. Early seeding was
desirable, except seeding just before a
seriously cold spell. That was always a
great misfortune. A plow seeder that
placed the seed at bottom of furrow.
where the ground was compact, was de-
sirable. The present high prices are
stimula ting to more wheat sowing. The
fact that Antelope valley wheat has
taken first prize for excellence at one of
the national expositions, the fact of the
good crop raised and the high price now
secured, will greatly increase the acre.
age. sown next year. One man sowed an
eight foot strip between his trees in a
100 acre orchard and secured 200 tons of
| the best wheat hay. Mr.. Sprague be-
lieves that the seed should be changed
frequently.
There is general association in the
Antelope valley. This is made UP of
| three clubs, one west at Fairmont, one
middle at Lancaster and the third east
at Palmdale. Each will be represented
at the big Los Angeles club institute,
prepared to present some subject Of
great and general interest.
FROST PROTECTION
The frost question is one that deeply
concerns Antelope valley. The mercury
often goes down alarmingly at just the
time the almonds, the valleys great
crop, are in bloom. Mr.. o. l.. Livesey
gave very interesting paper on ''Frosts
and Frost Protection" Mr.. Livesey
found that the thermometer registered
as low as % degrees and "a degrees F.
on several nights during bloom of the
almonds and apricots, and yet the orch
ards bore full crops. Several others
gave similar evidence. Prof. e. J. Wick
son said it was everywhere regarded
that 27 degrees F. was fatal. If the dry
air or other peculiarities of the Ante
lope valley would permit fall to % de-
grees F. with safety, it was exceedingly
interesting and important.
GOPHERS
| Mr.. J. w. Mills of the Chino expert
ment station, as is his wont, gave very
| practical paper on Holding in Check
Gophers, Squirrels and Linnets." While
| trapping gophers has the advantage Of
satisfying the injured grower, by pre-
senting the pests "laid out and done for"
it Is yet unsatisfactory. Even cleaning
out the burrow with the hand for the
trap will frighten the gopher away. 1--WE
use trowel to make place for trap.
! We also rub our hands with orange
leaves before handling the trap. An or
ange leaf on the trigger Of the trap is
| attractive to the rodent and will often be
eaten on the spot. Trapping is too i'm
perfect to give satisfaction. Mr.. Gopher
IL oat n hxyc In O. IN ic
taste we can do more than in any other
| way. The cheapest, most effective and
/ most convenient way to get rid if these
little pests is to always have a bottle of
poisoned raisins at hand and drop one
or two into an open hole whenever seen.
A mere pinch of strychnine dropped into
slit in the raisin does the work. Kept
in vaseline bottle, two or three can be
| shaken into the hole with no handling.
The Pasteur virus has not yet been
tried at the station. The agent at Full
lerton has tried it, but with small sue
cess. Occasionally an old, wise gopher
refuses to be caught or poisoned. These
may be reached by aid of the shotgun If
watched for just at sunset or sunrise.
''It is easy to clear out squirrels, if all
in a community will work together The
outside places will be hardest to protect.
We at the station have been very sue
cessful with poisoned wheat. Wheat
soaked in dissolved strychnine, used in
winter and spring, when everything is
green, and poisoned melon rinds in sum-
mer and fall when vegetation is dried
up. Inch cubes of rind with a particle
of strychnine in each are left to stand
over night. Two or three pieces are
dropped in each hole in the early morn.
This is repeated in day or two. 1t takes
about bushel of these pieces to treat a
circular area of one half mile diam
+ eter. While this nearly cleaned out the
marauders, they are coming again after
! the lapse of a year. The Chino ranch
company used poisoned wheat success
fully on 10000 acres, but now the squir-
} rels are becoming numerous again, and
the work must soon be repeated. The
Y Pasteur virus is said to work we'll for
squirrels, though the Chino Ranch COM
pany tried it with poor success. The
station is preparing to give 1t trial
and we shall soon be ready to report oul
experience with this microbe remedy.
OTHER PAPERS
i, J. S. Murdoch of Westminster reae
valuable paper on "Three Neglected
! Vegetabl in Southern California ,
namely, asparagus, celery and rhubarb