Agricultural Science Commons^™

Bulletin No. 325 - An Economic Study Of Sheep Production In Southwestern Utah, Dee A. Broadbent, George T. Blanch, W. Preston Thomas

UAES Bulletins

Range sheep production has been one of the major agricultural enterprises in Utah, particularly in the southwestern part of the state, since these areas were first settled. Stock sheep numbers in Utah were about 2,100,000 by 1890, which is approximately the present number in the state. Since 1890 the numbers have fluctuated between 2,000,000 and 2,775,000.

This important industry has, from the time of its introduction, been closely associated with the use of public range lands. The unrestricted grazing of public range lands resulted in damage to a considerable area and was one of the important factors that led to …

Bulletin No. 324 - Some Physical And Chemical Responses Of Agropyron Spicatum To Herbage Removal At Various Seasons, L. A. Stoddart

UAES Bulletins

Management of arid western ranges must be based upon the physiology of the individual plants which constitute the range. Too little is known of the ability of range plants to continue normal functioning under stress of grazing. Grazing doubtless has some beneficial influences in arid climates because it reduces transpiring surface. Possibly "pruning" has some stimulating effect, especially upon shrubs, and also, grazing animals plant seeds through trampling action. Despite these possible benefits, both trampling and removal of herbage by grazing must be .regarded as fundamentally detrimental to the welfare of plants, especially in arid climates. Trampling, especially on wet …

Bulletin No. 323 - Migration: A Problem Of Youth In Utah, Joseph A. Geddes

UAES Bulletins

Migration has always been a problem of major importance in Utah. During early days migration to the Mormon area was known as the "gathering". The concept was unusual because it included not only the searching out of those believed to be the "honest in heart" from many nations through an extensive missionary system, but also because it possessed an "idealogy" of planned building of what was expected to be superior communities (Zions) to engage the efforts and strivings of such people when brought together. It is in the development of this idealogy--this method of building a superior culture with the …

Bulletin No. 322 - Irrigation Companies In Utah: Their Activities And Needs, Orson W. Israelsen, J. Howard Maughan, George P. South

UAES Bulletins

Utah has approximately 700 irrigation companies having more than 8,750 miles of unlined earth canals, 410 pumping plants, 1,973 diversion dams and nearly 400 storage dams which provide a storage capacity for more than 3,400,000 acre-feet of water. More than 42 million dollars is invested in irrigation works, with at least 1.5 million dollars spent annually for maintenance.

Irrigation companies have the major responsibility for safe maintenance and efficient operation of Utah's dams, canals, spillways, waste-ways, flumes, inverted siphons, head gates and lateral gates--the structures with which irrigation water is stored, diverted, and conveyed to 1.3 million acres of productive …

Bulletin No. 320 - Soil Erosion In Small Irrigation Furrows, Orson W. Israelsen, George D. Clyde, Cyril W. Laurit

UAES Bulletins

This bulletin reports experimental procedure and data collected in a three-year study of the effect of irrigation furrow slopes and size of streams on the amounts of soil eroded from the furrows. Studies were made in 10 furrows on each of two farm experimental plots, the furrows being in different directions from a central water-stilling basin. The experimental plots were maintained fallow during the season--no crops were grown. Furrow slopes ranged from less than 1 percent to slightly more than 6 percent. Irrigation streams from 5 to 30 gallons per minute at the furrow inlet were measured first by means …

Bulletin No. 321 - Utah Housing In Its Group And Community Aspects, Joseph A. Geddes, Carmen D. Fredrickson

UAES Bulletins

The method employed in this study is to select a comparatively important segment of living--housing--for careful appraisement with the purpose of comparing different groups and localities with respect to it. Comparisons are made (1) between Utah and other states, (2) between counties of Utah, and (3) between four Utah communities. The data include the house, home conveniences, the automobile, the streets ad joining the house, newspapers, magazines, books, and connection with water, sewer, power and telephone lines. The segment is thus not small. The groups are segregated by the vocation, farm and nonfarm, from which the living is made. The …

Bulletin No. 318 - An Economic Analysis Of Turkey Production In Utah, Dee A. Broadbent, W. Preston Thomas, George T. Blanch

UAES Bulletins

The production of turkeys for market by farmers in Utah has increased rapidly since 1935, and in 1944 was the highest in the history of the state. Although turkeys are produced on a relatively few farms , the enterprise is an important source of the state's agricultural income. In 1942 and 1943, the cash income from sales of turkeys was almost six million dollars or equivalent to 5 percent of the total cash income of the state.

In addition to the sale of turkeys, this new enterprise supports, fully or in part, other industries of the state. The processing plants, …

Bulletin No. 319 - Cherry Rootstocks, Francis M. Coe

UAES Bulletins

This paper reviews the history and status of the cherry rootstocks problem in Utah and the United States and reports 14 years' results from a sweet cherry rootstocks test orchard on open porous soil at Farmington, Utah.

Although a majority of authorities favor or recommend the mazzard root for sweet cherries, the mahaleb is also widely used and preferred by many nurserymen and growers. Many authorities condemn mahaleb stocks as being dwarfing and short lived. Two orchard tests on heavy soils in the Atlantic states decisively favor mazzard.

In the Utah test orchard, the trees on mahaleb proved to be …

Bulletin No. 317 - Range Lands Of Utah County And Their Utilization, L. A. Stoddart

UAES Bulletins

Utah County, comprising about 1,394,760 acres, lies in the north central part of Utah immediately west of the precipitous Wasatch Mountains. These mountains, which occupy about the eastern half of the county, vary in elevation from 4,700 feet at the bench lands to 9,000 and 10,000 feet. Extreme elevations of 12,000 feet are found on the highest peaks. The western half of the county, although broken by small mountain ranges, is much more level, lower in elevation, and more arid. Whereas the mountainous eastern parts of the county are marked by higher precipitation and, consequently by relatively dense vegetation, mostly …

Bulletin No. 316 - Marketing Fruits And Vegetables In Utah, W. Preston Thomas, George T. Blanch

UAES Bulletins

During the period from 1920 to 1941 the fruit industry in Utah and other areas or the west went through a period of adjustment. Previous to and during World War I, growers received high prices for fruit which resulted in increased production. However, following the sudden drop in prices of 1920, fruit growers had a hard time to market the large tonnage produced. Returns were low. During this period keen competition for the sale of fruits developed between individual growers and various producing areas. Although the problems of adjustment were severe in most fruit areas of the west, the marketing …

Bulletin No. 315 - Biennial Report, 1942-1944

UAES Bulletins

The war years have made new demands on Station personnel and facilities. With fewer staff members and less adequate equipment the Station has not only carried on the regular project work, but the research program has been expanded, and numerous activities resulting from the emergency have been assumed.

The Station has taken a leading place in the victory food production program. Each year it has assumed the lead in a study of the wartime agricultural production capacity of the state and desirable crop and livestock adjustments studying all the agricultural assets and the ability to produce various crops.

As a …

Bulletin No. 314 - Gains Made By Cattle On Summer Range In Northern Utah, L. A. Stoddart

UAES Bulletins

The Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, in 1934, began experimental studies on the grazing of beef steers on mountainous summer range lands. Although the direct purpose of this work was to find whether supplementing phosphorus in the diet of grazing steers would increase their gains, many incidental observations proved of great interest. Among the most significant were the distribution and extent of weight gains through the summer grazing season and the effects of various factors such as weather upon the gains, causing them to vary greatly from year to year.

Bulletin No. 311 - Water-Application Efficiencies In Irrigation, Orson W. Israelsen, Wayne D. Criddle, Dean K. Fuhriman, Vaughn E. Hansen

UAES Bulletins

There is today an urgent need for information on how to distribute irrigation water uniformly over land surfaces. Land and water are no longer cheap. Prices of the better irrigated lands in Utah range from $200 to $400 or more per acre, whereas dry farm lands are worth less than $100. Water stock which formerly sold at $25 per share now costs $100, or more. Storage water in the newer reservoirs costs from $30 to $50 per acre-foot, an amount equivalent to $9,000 or more for a full water right to irrigate 100 acres. Because of these high costs of …

Bulletin No. 312 - Cache: A Beardless, Smut-Resistant Winter Wheat, R. W. Woodward, D. C. Tingey

UAES Bulletins

Resistance to dwarf smut is one of the major characteristics sought in the development of any new wheat variety for growing in the Western States. Before the development of resistant varieties, winter wheat losses in northern Utah and adjacent areas resulting from soil-borne dwarf smut were estimated to approach $500,000 annually.

In three principal locations, western Cache, Box Elder, and Juab Counties, Utah Kanred had for years been a good quality, hard red winter wheat variety of high producing ability, but susceptible to smut which in some years almost destroyed the crop. Losses from smut have been greatly reduced in …

Bulletin No. 310 - The Influence Of Cropping On The Nitrogen, Phosphorus And Organic Matter Of The Soil Under Irrigation Farming, J. E. Greaves, C. T. Hirst

UAES Bulletins

Most soils contain sufficient nutrients for normal plant growth, with the exception of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. These elements are used by plants in the largest quantities and the amounts of these in the soil govern its productivity. Soil organic matter is of prime importance for it is the matrix which holds the nitrogen and modifies the structure, temperature, and water-holding capacity of the soil. The organic matter is the very life of the soil, for it is in and on it that bacteria work and by so doing determine the kind and speed of reactions which occur. It is …

Bulletin No. 309 - An Economic Analysis Of The Milking Enterprise On Farms In The Ogden Area, Utah, 1937-39, George T. Blanch, Dee A. Broadbent

UAES Bulletins

The area included in this study is part of the better irrigated section of Utah. Although the soils are variable, that part used for arable agriculture is generally fair to good. The poorer soils are used largely for pastures which makes necessary a forage-consuming livestock enterprise in the farm organization. Dairy cattle is the type of livestock most common. Topography, climate, irrigation water supply, transportation, and markets all permit or favor a relatively intensive and successful cash-crop and dairy type of farming. The average farm is relatively small in area of cultivated land which also makes necessary intensive usage, high …

Bulletin No. 308 - A Farm Management Study Of Farms With Dairy Enterprises In The Ogden Area, Utah, 1937-39, George T. Blanch, Dee A. Broadbent

UAES Bulletins

Farmers in the irrigated sections of Utah are confronted by several difficult problems in the management of their farms. The farms are far distant from the consumption centers of the country which results in high freight rates and a need to produce concentrated products for market, and also in violent fluctuations in farm prices. The farms usually consist of relatively few crop acres which makes intensive usage necessary for an adequate sized business. Most farms also include a considerable acreage of land unsuited to tillage. The utilization of this land makes necessary the inclusion in the farm business of a …

Bulletin No. 303 - Utilization Of Irrigable Land In The Reservation Area Of Uinta Basin, Utah, George T. Blanch, Clyde E. Stewart

UAES Bulletins

Several years ago the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station began a project entitled "Study of agricultural resources in Utah and their utilization." This project contemplates conducting detailed soils, irrigation water, range and economic studies in all areas of Utah. To date these studies have been made for a portion of the state including the Uinta Basin. However, in order that the information so obtained can be more effectively used for public and private programs of operation, there is a need to combine and correlate the basic data.

The primary objective of the study reported herewith is to bring together and analyze …

Bulletin No. 307 - Skin Folds In Sheep, Milton A. Madsen, Alma C. Esplin, Ralph W. Phillips

UAES Bulletins

Sheep vary greatly, even within breeds, in the number and size of folds in the skin. At one time producers were emphasizing the importance of having a large number of skin folds in fine wool sheep such as the Merino and Rambouillet. This was based on the belief that skin folds were associated with high yields of grease wool and fineness of wool fibers. In recent years the trend has been toward a smoother bodied sheep with longer staple and less grease in the fleece.

The objects of this bulletin are to present a review of the available information concerning …

Bulletin No. 305 - The Composition Of Sumer Range Plants In Utah, L. A. Stoddart, J. E. Greaves

UAES Bulletins

In Utah, a vast industry of livestock grazing, which is the backbone of the state's agriculture, has arisen during the past 75 years. Range land furnishes between 6 and 7 million animal unit months of forage to some 2 1/2 million sheep and 275 thousand range cattle. Income from meat, wool, and range livestock sales in Utah is about $15,801,500 annually, of which $11,700,000 is calculated to be obtained from range lands exclusive of cultivated pastures.

These range lands can be used economically in no other way than by grazing livestock and, because of heavy winter snows and protracted dry …

Bulletin No. 304 - Phosphate Reserves Of Utah, J. Stewart Williams, Alvin M. Hanson

UAES Bulletins

To supplement the work reported by the senior author in Bulletin 290 of the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, the writers have visited the phosphate outcrops in Weber, Morgan and Salt Lake Counties, as well as those in the Park City District of Summit County and others west of Midway in Wasatch County. These areas were found to contain considerable phosphatic shale of 25 to 35 percent grade, but no rock of 40 percent grade, the minimum quality included in the estimates in Bulletin 290. However, the data recorded for the sections visited are valuable in showing the leanness of these …

Bulletin No. 302 - Nutritional Inadequacy Of Beet Molasses Rations For Swine, Russel A. Rasmussen, Harry H. Smith, Ralph W. Phillips, Ton J. Cunha

UAES Bulletins

The feeding of large amounts of beet molasses to young hogs causes a condition that is characterized by a wobbly gait, and that is frequently fatal. Hog raisers have apparently recognized this condition for a number of years, since a number of farmers have reported it in their animals. Some farmers have also reported breeding failures and abortions when beet molasses was fed to brood sows. Consequently, beet molasses has not been considered a good hog feed by Utah raisers.

Beet molasses is a relatively cheap source of carbohydrates and could be used advantageously in pork production if the cause …

Bulletin No. 301 - Economic Analysis Of The Weber Central Dairy Association, Walter U. Fuhriman, Harold H. Culter, W. Preston Thomas

UAES Bulletins

At the request of the dairymen in the Ogden milk shed the Department of Agricultural Economics, Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, made an analysis of 162 dairy farms in the Ogden area for the years 1937, 1938 and 1939. The study covered the entire farm business and a detailed analysis of the dairy enterprise.

Since production of dairy products is closely associated with, and is affected by, the marketing institutions which provide outlets for these products, an analysis of marketing phases was made through a study of Weber Central Dairy Association , one of the larger dairies of the area . …

Bulletin No. 306 - Report Of The Agricultural Experiment Station Utah State Agricultural College, Logan, R. H. Walker

UAES Bulletins

The agricultural experiment stations have contributed in a very material way to the progress of agriculture in the United States not only by the development of better crops and livestock and production practices, but, through basic research on the many and varied problems of agriculture, they have furnished an understanding of those principles upon which progress must depend.

The permanent value of these research centers to the progress of agriculture is no better illustrated than in the present emergency. The ability of farmers to meet the tremendous additional contributions to defense in the way of increased food supplies is dependent …

Bulletin No. 300 - A Study Of Farm Organization By Type Of Farm In Sanpete And Sevier Counties, W. Preston Thomas, George T. Blanch, Edith Hayball

UAES Bulletins

This study is one of a series being conducted by the Department of Agricultural Economics which are designed to furnish a general description and a detailed analysis of the type of farming in various parts of Utah. The specific purpose of the general state-wide study is to: (1) locate and delineate the major type-of-farming areas of the state; (2) analyze and describe the major and some minor types of farming within each area; and (3) indicate the fundamental reasons for the principal differences which exist within and among these type-of-farming areas.

Upon the completion of the first part of the …

Bulletin No. 298 - Wool Scouring Tests In Utah, Alma C. Esplin, Ralph W. Phillips, Milton A. Madsen

UAES Bulletins

Wool, as it is shorn from the sheep, is known as grease wool. The first step in the manufacturing of wool is scouring, or removal of all grease and foreign matter. Within any given grade, as determined by length of staple and fineness of fiber, the yield of clean wool is the primary factor in determining the value of the original grease wool. The price of scoured or clean wool is multiplied by the percentage yield of clean wool to determine the value of the grease wool.

Bulletin No. 299 - Control Of Chlorisis In American Grapes, F. B. Wann

UAES Bulletins

The production of grapes is not a major agricultural industry in Utah, but in some areas of the state the crop is an important adjunct to the general fruit farm. This is particularly true in Washington County where European (vinifera) varieties are grown with considerable success, and in the north central counties where American (labrusca) varieties, especially Concord, are grown for the local markets. In this latter area the nutritional disease, chlorosis, is probably the most serious difficulty encountered in the development of a successful vineyard.

Bulletin No. 297 - Pale Western Cutworm, C. J. Sorenson, H. F. Thornley

UAES Bulletins

THE PALE WESTERN CUTWORM ( Agrotis orthogonia Morr.) has caused periodic damage to dry-farm grains in Utah during the past 25 years. In the spring of 1916, entomologists of the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station were asked to determine the cause of large bare spots occurring in fields of fall-planted wheat in the Indianola district of Sanpete County. A moderately severe infestation of pale western cutworm was found to be the causative agent. Pack reported that during the spring of 1929 this insect had inflicted serious damage to fall wheat at Fairview, Sanpete County.

Bulletin No. 296 - Uton: A New High-Yield White Oat Resistant To Loose And Covered Smuts, D. C. Tingey, R. W. Woodward, T. R. Stanton

UAES Bulletins

Oats have been among the five or six leading crops in acreage grown in Utah since its settlement. For many years Swedish Select has been by far the most predominant variety. This variety is well adapted to Utah conditions, but because of its high susceptibility to loose and covered smut, it is not the most desirable.

In 1934, after extensive trials, the variety, Markton, which is resistant to loose and covered smuts, was introduced into the state to replace Swedish Select. In those trials, Markton averaged 13 percent higher in acre yield than Swedish Select. Markton possessed one drawback in …

Bulletin No. 295 - Comparison Of Two Methods Of Determining Wool Density, Milton A. Madsen, Ralph W. Phillips, John V. Christensen, Roy L. Henrie

UAES Bulletins

Density of the fleece is one of the primary factors determining the wool-producing capacity of the sheep. Sheepmen have attempted to evaluate density by handling the fleece. This method is not sufficiently refined for use in experimental work, and may be subject to errors and misinterpretations. For example, if two fleeces are alike in density and diameter of fibers, yet differ in length, the longer fleece will feel less dense. If, on this basis, the sheep with the fleece that appeared most dense were selected for breeding, selection would be away from the longer fleece. Any method that can be …