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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1908)
AY, JANUARY 1, 10O8. 9 Industry is Long Established and Profits Are Made. Certain by Fine Soil and Climate Mild as v That of Sunny France W.B8. i w - iW; -tiPw J':h By I'- B. Cameron. IT WOULD appear that the Great Giver gave his angols special charge con cerning the Rogue River Valley, for here in a dozen distinct lines of horticul ture as great success attends the efforts of the grower as distinguishes other dis tricts in one or two lines. Further, this district is so regular in its crop produc tion that in three separate years within the last decade nature lias showed up smiling with, a bumper crop of apples and pears here when all the rest of the world was short. This accounts for the won tlreful yields from all the bearing orch ards of the southern tier of Oregon coun ties In 1907. Not only this, but it is the good fortune of this section to mature Its fruit crop Just a trifle in advance of the rest of the state, and this "gives the growers of the Rogue River Valley the first call on cars. Its fruit crop was all marketed and shipped and most of it was transformed Into cash before the wail went up from the other fruit sections when the money stringency caused the . slump In prices last November. The crop Is always garnered in ideal harvest weather, with never a gale to cause loss by windfalls, and at. a time, too, when men glory in orchard work, which Is one reason why the growers of this valley have never had labor troubles. Many a young apple orchard of this val ley Dore its first crop last season, and there was a distinct Increase in the ton nage of fruit shipped from all the sta tions. Within five years from date there will be at least 3000 cars of apples and pears shipped from Rogue River Valley each year. Time was. and not so long ago. when a yield of J1000 an acre was considered the limit for apple production. Yet in 1907 there were many orchards in the Rogue River Valley which produced in excess of that figure, a few ranging even as high as JloOO an acre. In one case, one and one-half acres yielded fully J-500 worth of Spitz and Yellow Newtowns. i'he wonderful crop is shown by one orchard of low-grade Ben Davis apples, which always sell for about half the price of Spitzenbergs, yet in this orchard of 23 acres the owner gathered more than $10,000 worth of fruit. Few realize the amount of capital in vested In the apple industry in the south ern part of this state. Portland capital Is grouped in a large number of orchards planted just south of the city of Med ford. The largest one has 500 acres al ready set in trees, the next 2-5 acres, of which 70 acres Is in bearing, the bearing portion producing fruit which nets the owner, after all the expenses of carrying the entire ranch are paid, a profit of approximately $40,000 a year. In the same neighborhood a small orchard of 12 acres, which In lSOtt produced pears and apples to a value of $9ftJ0 last year yielded from the same trees no less than J1000 an acre. The growers of the Rogue River Valley are not addicted to 'hollering their heads tiff" whenever a record is broken or an unparalleled shipment is made. There are tiiose among them who gravely as sert that Mount Hood would have jumped from its base, and Portland would in future have ranked merely as a suburb if such record as have dis tinguished the Rogue River Valley ttie present season had been made in well, anywhere else. Yet. It was the Rogvie River Valley which put the Pajaro Valley out. of business In the London, England, Newtown apple, markets, and 1he number of cars of Rogue River Valley Newtowns annually shipped to London greatly exceeds all the cars of Newtowns shipped from all the oth er districts of the Northwest Coast. A sinsle firm bougiit in this valley last season over 40 cars of Newtowns from a pool of growers at a price of $2.60 per box. based on a three-fourths four tier grading. Wouldn't this have jus tilled a pardonable amount of shout ins;? The sum and substance of the mat ter is that the jrrowers of this valley are doing" in a strictly commercial way. K.ND MOUNT HOOD i nwi HMWimnif i i iMMBmnrTuMWii'ifiri- iiiiirini-ri-- , I -n...... ,. ..- ...... .., l.n-a mm WWI-rtllli ruin m . . . "' , .:-:- ... . - , .y"-- ';4 i i i , - . i m - - - r ii t ' ' "r if" -' J v : Li : V in i ti " rimi Y - -:- " :- --vt t i r-:x - iM hY 11 i ril -' ' J -' " :-' -' A - - - - - --lC-- t...s,..- . . . ., . , . , , , r, f , -, , - , v . ... r-w-, . . s . . . ..- . :ew v. - ... l 4 '..pjium npjiwiaiipi.ijwmM.wnjiip hwp inwmi iiiw ti i.iil ww jui iii 11 wii nr mil mi i I j I I n ' 1 " 1 i i i i ftt. . ' '-ws? , THE (tJZEATAm QBB iZ. era LEY TO 2EE YELLOW JVEVf- JZZ3ZJ2 on a large scale, and with most satis factory results, what other districts are undertaking in a limited way. with but a few varieties. The experimen tal stake has Ions: since been passed In fruit culture here, and it now only remains to extend the field to. cover, what nature Intended and made pos sible when this valley was given the Incomparable climate which is the envy of every other section of the Pa cific Northwest. The time is coming, and wo think it is near at hand, when the Rogue River Val ley will be as famous for its cherries, peaches, table grapes and apricots as it now is for its apples and pears. It is use less descanting upon the pear proposition, for all of America takes off its hat to the Rogue River Valley pears, all the records of the continent now being held by the growers of this district. There is not at this time a single commercial cherry or chard in the Valley, and yet old trees scattered through the , county annually produce J40 to J50 worth of that luscious fruit, and the great advantage we enjoy over other sections to the north Is that Rogue River Valley cherries" will hold up and carry clear across the continent, where in moister districts the fruit is subject to rain cracks and has to rely upon 'the near-by cannery. Apricots and peaches produced here, aside from their superb quality and color ing, have the additional advantage of reaching the makets of the Northwest cities just enough in advance of other supply districts to get the advantage of the highest first-season price each year, and this condition is attracting much at tention to the value of these, fruits, es pecially when considered as "fillers" be tween the rows of apple trees in or chards now being set. They not only give quick returns from the land, but help to supply a demand which is yearly growing more Insistent in the Northwest coast, cities for the highest type of Sum mer fruit. The apparent isolation of the Rogue River Valley Is the cause of frequent in quiry as to the cost of getting the fruit products of this section to the markets of the East and Europe. It Is not generally known, but it is a fact, nevertheless, that APPLES IN THE By A. TV. Nelson. M ODERX methods, careful attention to filling orders, climatic conditions and a splendid soil all join in making Grand Ronde Valley apples a source of enormous profit to the orchardists. While IN THE DISTANCE. THIS PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN AT ONE EXPOSURE WITH REVOLVING LENS 73 I Si 3 S.1 3 . TSS yoUJL -JSAR- OZV 5J!ZZZ AND JVEWTOIW J73ZZES JVAZUS A ZfEW GROWTIf AXSEAGZMZ ZW EXCESS OP SIXFSET T-HK.077GJI0Zr, SMALL CJLOJ CJ JANCY:JHPPCES IW2fOS. this fruit district gets the same transcon tinental freight rate on deciduous fruits in carlots that all other fruit districts of the Northwest and the inter-mountain section get on the same commodities. A car of apples or pears from Medfprd can be landed in New York. Boeton. or even Montreal, for the same money that is re quired for the same car from any point in Washington. Idaho or even Colorado, barring the expense of icing refrigerator cars on the longer trip. GRAND RONDE old and neglected orchards dot the valley today, there are scores' of large orchards which today stand like hazel bushes that but. a few years hence will bring thou sands of dollars to their qwners. If a grower has less land than he can readily V- II 1 1 SrC: v" . T ? 3.-X.; c-vWt.V... W . . J..K-u ff.,.--. .b-jjlt.-'i . - M control and cultivate, he invests some of his profits to increase the size of his or chard. The past season has been remarkably successful. E. Z. "Carbine, aside from the crop grown by himself, has purchased and practically completed shipment of 60.000 boxes of luscious apples that com pete with the .best Hood Rivers In the Eastern markets, and at a cost of 1.40 a box. These 60.000 boxes represent 110 car loads valued ft J90.000. Knowing for a certainty that Grand Ronde apples are as much in demand wherever they are known as any grown in Oregon, the apple-growers of this sec tion are exerting every effort to bring the fame of the Union County appje up to that of the best in the country. They advertise freely and they sell what they advertise. Each apple, regardless of how large the shipment may be, is separately examined and packed. This, more than any other one thing, aside from the nat urally high quality of the fruit, is respon AZfO - WILZ AK -A sible for the rapidly Increasing renown of the fruit gTown In the Grand Ronde Valley. Another thing which tends to make ap ple culture popular in the fertile valley is the amount of annual rainfall. In a few instances sub-irrigation Is resorted to, but generally, practically always, the 10, 20, 30 or even 60-acre apple orchards see no other Irrigation than that Nature provides. Ben Davis, Spitzenberg and especially the Gano varieties thrive greatly in the Grand Ronde. While there are a few Fall varieties, the "principal shipping fruit is the Winter apples, and orders leave this valley from early in the Fall until late in the Winter. The money stringency has had fcut little effect on apple shipments, and but for a continued car shortage th.e principal buyer of the valley, Mr. Car bine, would have had his entire stock started eastward before this date. Apple cider is becoming a valuable product in Union County. The principal TWV -ACRES OfGZOZZRD 2W1907 YIELDED ZW EXCESS OE ZZTnr WORTH OF TVEJNT INTO THE ItOlFDOJT JXrASJCETS THE JVEWTOfVflT EZPJZW: EEARER ZN OTHER. DISTRICTS, IW THE JlOffOE JUVER. TVLLLEIT ZS AS EROUFIC AS TEE EEAT DAWS apple-growers of the valley own their own presses and such fruit as, is not fit for shipment is run through the cider presses. Then there is also an apple dryer, erected, equipped and operated last season, that consumed much of the apples of low grade. Considerable vine ear 9 manufactured in connection with thocB twn fnrliictricd . There are few localities in Eastern Ore gon that are not suitable for apples, but the Grand Ronde Valley is now the only WHERE T&IS SPKAY ZAIV . T r55Uit3 esaj PDFD ax A JiTJV- one where apples are grown on a larg scale. Umatilla County has its wheal farmland Baker County Its mining, stock ranches and farms, but to Union County Eastern Oregon must look for its apples. Every year the industry enlarges itself until now the county depends on apples largely to enrich the small rancher. Every year' new orchards are coming Into ir. bearing, and this growth will continue until the entire valley will become vlr tually one gigantic apple grove. -Gilford. Photographer. The Dalles. Or.