Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1911-12-14
COMMUNICATED.
To the Farmers of Morrow Coun-
ty who are still floating above
the waters of perdition and
clinging to a straw of hope:

Farmers Union at Heppner OF
the 28th ult., it was unanimousl.
agreed that the Farmers Uniol
of this county take up the matter
of the wheat contest which have
been endeavoring to launch, anC
which many of you wereinformeC
through the Heppner Gazette as
to the nature of the same. But
for the benefit of those who over
looked the article l will state
again in these columns the nature
and object of the contest There
are a a few more names lacking
to make up the required number,
and we wish you to hurry along
with your applications, and let's
start the ball rolling.
We want farmers who take an
optimistic view of the future pos
sibilities Of Morrow county, and
who are willing to exercise their
best thought and judgment along
the line of bringing back to the
fold the prosperity which our
people once so proudly boasted.
I realize that the last few years
has been a great set back to your
cherished hopes and has some
what knocked the props from
under your enthusiasm, but let
us make another rally, remember
ing all the while that daylight
always follows the night, and
that defeat sometimes like the
defeats of General Gates of the
Revolution, has all the effect of
victory. The effect of our short
crops will cause, among the pro-
gressive farmers, new mode of
farming to germinate, and being
stimulated by the great contest
will spring up and put to flight
those medieval or primitive ideas.
Such a contest as herein describ-
ed, ! believe will mark the begin
ningof a new epoch in the raising
of wheat, and will prove to the
average farmer that he has taken
a bigger chew than he can thor
masticate.
Here is the nature of the con-
test as | had plannedit, but which
is subject to change to suit the
majority of the contestants. 1t
is this:
That 40 live energetic farmers
of the county subscribe $25 each,
a purse of $1,000 to be
divided into three prizes Of $500,
$500, and 5000, to be given to the
three contestants producing the
largest yield of wheat in proper
tion to the amount of precipita-
ton, on 40 acres of non-irrigated
land. In order to bar anyone
who might be so disposed to take
the 40 acres up some long narrow
rich draw, the land should lay in
a square.
The object of the contest is to
offer an incentive sufficient to
draw out to naturalization those
dormant ideas possessed by each
farmer, as to what constitutes
the most perfect method to en-
ploy in wheat raising, and to
cause him to study the latest sci
ences along that line.
In order that each might reap
the benefit of the experience of
all, each contestant is required to
keep a complete record of every
item that has any bearing upon
his crop. Such as the time and
the depth it was plowed; whether
ground was diSced previous to
whether the ground was
after the plow, and
nature of the cultivation; the kind
of plow, cultivator, packer, weed
er, and drill used; when the
ground was seeded, and the kind
of wheat and number of pounds
sown to the acre; how treated for
smut; whether or not the grain
was cultivated in the spring; and
also how the harvesting was done,
and any other item that might be
of any importance. At the end
of the contest these records are
to be printed in a pamphlet form
and each contestant be given a