ipi8 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page II 



The Hardie 



TODAY AS IN THE PAST 



These Two Orchard Ladders 



REPRESENT QUALITY 



The same grade of clear well seasoned spruce, the same 

 practical design, the same workmanship are still there. 

 No attempt has been made to lower the high standard 

 of these ladders by cheaper materials or 

 unskilled labor. Now as never before you 

 should select high grade orchard equipment. 



The Apex 



Labor is scarce and high'priced. 



Hardie orchard equipment will 



help you keep within sight of 



your old production cost. 



Price per foot 45c 



We issue a small folder describing more fully these two 



ladders and other orchard equipment. 



Send for it today. Get your equipment early. 



Price per foot 45c 



THE HARDIE MFG. CO. 



55 North Front Street 



PORTLAND, OREGON 



Evaporation of Prunes, Etc. 



Continued from page 7. 



degrees F. Again, if the temperature at 

 the cooler end or where the fresh fruit 

 is being introduced is too low, there 

 will be danger of considerable loss 

 from brown rot and fermentation. The 

 temperature here should be maintained 

 at not less than from 115 to 125 degrees 

 F. The importance of the use of stand- 

 ard thermometers to eliminate guess 

 work and to give an absolute check on 

 the conditions within the drier is ap- 

 parent and cannot be over-emphasized. 

 It is dilTicult to give any definite time 

 as being ideal for evaporation of 

 prunes. Roughly speaking, if condi- 

 tions are favorable, the process will be 

 fairly rapid and drying should be com- 

 pleted v.'ithin thirty to thirty-six hours 

 as a maximum. Some driers will turn 

 out excellent fruit in as short as 

 eighteen hours, thus obtaining maxi- 

 mum use of their equipment and turn- 

 ing out the largest tonnage for given 

 amount of fuel consumed. If too much 

 time is being occupied it is apparent 

 that there is something radically wrong 

 either in the construction ot the evap- 

 orator or in the circulation of the air, 

 provided the proper tempcmture is be- 

 ing maintained. Where the drying time 

 is too long the finished product is less 

 desirable. Experience alone will tell 

 when prunes are dried sulliciently. In 

 general, they should be black and 

 glossy, firm to the touch, not sticky, nor 

 flattening out under the fingers when 

 the hand is passed over the tray; the 



prunes should show no water on press- 

 ing a slightly torn section and the flesh 

 should separate clean from the pit. 

 When the prunes are finished they 

 should be removed from the trays while 

 still warm, any under-dried prunes re- 

 moved to be redried and the finished 

 fruit placed in sacks or in bins to cure. 

 If placed in bins they should be 

 shoveled over from time to time that 

 the moisture content may become uni- 

 form throughout. 



[Note. — While the foregoing discus- 

 sion necessarily has been rather brief, 

 a more extended review of this subject, 

 together with suggestions on buildings 

 and equipment, appears in .Station Bul- 

 letin 115 of the Oregon Agricultural 

 College Experiment Station, copies of 

 which will be sent free to residents of 

 Oregon who request them.] 



War Boosts Land Clearing 



One of the most notable cll'ects of the 

 Great World War is the casting of the 

 limelight on the farmer. He is today 

 one of the most important financial 

 factors in the unprecedenled situation 

 that now exists, for food is going to 

 help greatly in winning the war. The 

 world's wealth is being (llniini.shcd at 

 the rate of millions monthly. The only 

 means for restoring this wealth and 

 putting the world back on a sound 

 financial basi.s is by increased produc- 

 tion of farm products. The soil is the 

 original source of all wealth. Anieri- 

 can farmers alone are in a position 



both to increase this wealth and mar- 

 ket it. 



Since increased production per acre 

 of cultivated land is too slow a process 

 to meet the world's pressing needs for 

 more wealth and more food, it becomes 

 obvious that the quickest solution of 

 the problem lies in putting more land 

 under cultivation, and the prevailing 

 high prices of crops provide the funds 

 to cover the expenses of clearing and 

 draining land that now stands as a 

 liability. The business farmer sees the 

 opportunity and is taking advantage of 

 it. Clearing of stump land and drain- 

 age of wet land is going on at an un- 

 precedented rate. This is true not only 

 on farms having large areas of hitherto 

 waste land, but on those having waste 

 spots that represent a fifth to a third 

 of their available area. Almost every 

 farm has a cut-over woodlot an acre or 

 more in size, wet-weather ponds or 

 wet spots varying from a fourth acre 

 to several times as muclv, or meander- 

 ing streams that cut corners and break 

 into fields in the most troublesome way. 



By clearing the stump land, removing 

 the occasional stump or boulder that 

 has been plowed around for years, 

 draining the wet spot or pond and 

 siraighlening the creek, a total of sev- 

 eral acres can be added to the average 

 farm, and made to produi o profitable 

 crops instead pf remaining a taxable 

 load on an otherwise good farm. The 

 stumps may either be blasted out or 

 pulled. But for the other work ex- 

 plosives arc the quickest and cheapest 



