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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 4, 1944)
PAGE 4 THE BATTALION TUESDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 4, 1944 YUP—She come down to see me from Orvy Holler fer the shindig this hyar weekend. Don’t want no bird dogs either. Freight Car Shortage Handicaps Wheat Harvest The tightest bottleneck in Texas wheat harvest at this time is the shortage of freight cars and their restricted movement from termi nals to, country elevators. The shortage is occurring mainly at Claude, Spearman, Perryton, Pam- pa and Panhandle, according to in formation to C. Hohn, state farm labor supervisor. Shortage of labor at terminal elevators for unloading cars upon arrival also is preventing the max imum use of the limited number available. The War Food Admin istration and Office of Defense Transportation at Washington, as well as local agencies are working to relieve these conditions. Reports to the state farm labor office at College Station indicate that the small grain harvest is well advanced in the low rolling plains of the Wichita and Abi lene area. Harvesting in the high plains, begun the week ending June 24, is rolling to a peak which is expected to be reached during the first week of July. Meanwhile, the shortage of combines and trucks, and truck and combine operators and farm labor remains acute. Favorable weather, which caused the wheat to mature three days to a week sooner than was expected, is having the effect of definitely spreading the areas ready for cutting every 24 hours. A recent survey indicates that more than 45,000,000 bushels of the estimated 61,000,000 total wheat crop for Texas will be harvested in the area from Plainview to the Oklahoma line. Many north plains counties will average more than 30 bushels of wheat an acre; 50 bushels for barley, and 40 to 50 for oats. The monetary value of VICTORY UNITED STATES WAR BONDS AND STAMPS the wheat crop in the Panhandle alone is estimated at $63,000,000. Elsewhere the labor picture shows a need for labor in Denton, Tarant and Johnson counties for threshing, cotton chopping and tractor operation. Cotton choppers are needed in Burleson and ad jacent counties of the Brazos bottom; in several counties of the blackland area, and in a number of the large producing counties of the low rolling plains. Hoe hands for all row crops also are needed in the latter area, Hohn says. Cotton picking is expected to start in Hidalgo County about July 10. ' Marquisette Looms Now Used As Insect Netting Looms ordinarily used for mak ing marquisette now are busy mak ing insect nettings for military use. In every textile field the con sumer will find war-time answers to all her questions, says Mrs. Dora R. Barnes, clothing special ist for the A. and M. College Ex tension Service. Swiss and voile, ordinarily popular for summer wear are non-existent, and manu facturers no longer are able to give full guarantees against shrinkage or on wrinkle-resistant finishes. One type of cotton fab ric which is still available is eyelet embroidery, but it is higher in price than ever before. Most clothing now on the mar ket is made of rayons that resem ble cotton. Rayon chambray house- dresses and work clothes are be ing shown, but are higher in price. Good sheer rayons are difficult to find, and these are best dry clean ed, Mrs. Barnes says. One new fabric is balloon cloth for women’s dresses and foundation garments. This cloth was original ly made for barrage balloons, but the government has released some to manufacturers. It is a high- priced cotton, strong, smooth, even in texture and has no fuzz. At some stores you may find it sold by the yard, Mrs. Barnes reports. Most cotton mills still are busy with war orders. Some, however, which make percales and ginghams are turning them out in the lowest “count” allowed by the War Pro duction Board. That is in order to get more yardage out of the yarn. “Count,” Mrs. Barnes ex plains, indicates the number of yarns to the inch—the fewer the yams, the less fiber required. More Cotton To Be Used In Future Due To New Improvements Being Made Some Texas cotton now is being used in textile mills and more will be used in the future as a conse quence of the cotton improvement work going on in the state, declares E. L. Ellwood, cotton work spec ialist for the A. and M. College Extension Service. The future of the cotton indus try will depend upon the coopera tion of grower, ginner and the pro cessor. Most mill operators be lieve that cotton should be bought on variety as well as grade and staple because manufacturers must have uniform cotton in order to meet competition, Ellwood says. Choosing and growing a variety which has desirable manufacturing characteristics will gain for farm ers and organized communities a good reputation with buyers and users. Producing with undesirable characteristics will result in dis advantage from the standpoint of marketing. Ellwood believes the importance of variety both as to staple and spinning performance in the cur rent carryover of Texas cotton is definite evidence *that growers are not now producing an adequate supply of the most desirable var ieties. Texas producers have made conspicuous progress in cotton im provement during the past five years. But further achievement will require organizing more one variety communities with well- rounded programs of cotton im provement. This however, awaits group action of growers because an individual producer standing alone is rather helpless. The one variety approach greatly simplifies the quality prob lem in marketing, Ellwood ex plains. Assembling of cotton into even running lots as to staple length and spinning utility is fa cilitated. Also, the one variety community should be responsible for good ginning. More cotton per acre can be produced by planting approved varieties using fertilizers where needed, use the soil building crops and more suitable land, reducing insect damage, and through better care from planting to picking. Grades depend very largely upon the care exercised by grower, pick ers and ginners. DO YOUR PART—BUY BONDS Flies Are Main Causes Of Diseases, Infection Millions of flies help to cause the illness and death of thousands of children and adults each year in the United States. Hundreds of these casualties may be in the State of Texas this year if resi dents fail in their responsibility for developing the best possible sanitation measures in the area where they reside. Typhoid fever, summer complaint, and other intes tinal diseases can oe traced to the 4 common housefly as the carrier of infection. Dr. Geo. W. Cox, State Health Officer, speaking m this connection recently said, “Be sure that your ^ ' windows and doors are tightly screened so that stray flies from ~ a careless neighbor will not en danger your family. Be sure that flies are kept away from food, drink, and utensils used „ in the preparation of food. Make sure, if you live in rural districts, that outside privy vaults are tight ly covered so as not to permit the entrance of flies. Infections * from this source can be picked up and spread to human beings through contact with food, drink, and utensils. Keep all garbage „i covered until collected or buried. Eliminate all breeding places for flies and you will be helping your community in its work of control ling communicable diseases and * preventing unnecessary illness.” Dr. Cox said that the State Health Department would furnish - upon request a pamphlet outlining safe and practical methods recom mended for use in fly control. HELP BRING VICTORY • • * BUY WAR BONDS TODAY! - LOUPOT’S Watch Dog of the Aggies Heq You, Aggies™ If you paid your Student Activity Fees and didn’t get your Batt card—do so at once! Take your yellow receipt to the Student Activities office, Room 3, Ad ministration building and get your card issued. Beginning Thursday, the Batts will be distributed by circulation lists only and unless you are signed up and on the list, you’ll not get your Batt. C’m on gang, let’s get head-out and get this matter of Batts cards cleared up right now, so you wont’ miss a single issue. It’s simple—just take your yellow recepit to the Student Activities office in the Ad building and get your blank Batt card. \ *' THE BATTALION