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About The Medford mail. (Medford, Or.) 1893-1909 | View Entire Issue (March 9, 1906)
THE MEDFORD MAIL, Friday, March 9, 1806 10 EDEN mLEY-PRETTYRND PRODUCTIVE A Mail Correspondent Makes a Pen Picture of this Fertile Locality, and Cites a Few of the . Many Interesting and Profitable Pursuits Followed. (The following In from th pen of . Prof. K. H. Jouas, woo is now teach ing sohool Id Eden .preoinot. Only part of the artlole 1b nere printed, beoauBe of the laok of apace and time It has been a difficult tank to boll the article down to handling dimension, beoause that every line and every word of U waa good as pretty and deserving a word ploture as wbb ever made of any particular looality. What Mr. .Jonas Bays of Edeu Valley is just Medford, the prospect is a beautiful one, the broad aores of orchard inter spersed with fields of grain and alfalfa form a pleasing foreground, the well kept orchards and neat homes on the root bills stand out conspicuously. while here and there areaB of unoleared land covered witb young oaks or obap' pnral and manzanita brush give beauty ana variety to the scene and add to 3 The Melons Raised ilere Cannot be Beat. Photo by Hull iib true of nearly every otbei looality or uelghborboo 1, wbiuh togetber,form tho great Roguo Kiver Valley. There is the Applegute Valley, Bams Valley, Table Rook, Willow Springs, JaoKson Tille, Talent, Phoenix, Eagl Point, all of these an as produotive of bb ex collent a quality of fruits, cereals and vegetables as auy sections of the vul ley. ED.) Southward from Medford Btretob broad acres of wheat and orohard land, rising gontly, until, at about live miles distance from chat thriving town, they break abruptly into foot bills wbioh in turn soon give way to the rugged peaks of the SlBklyoui. Viewed from any vantage point in the charm of rustio nature, occasional groups of pine furmshiug the ariistlo finish by adding their tints of light green and on beyond the dark greet of the of the forest clad mountains fade into a hazy blue in the distanoe, contrasting with the clear blue sky in summer and the snow oapped peaks ia winter. In this particular lnstanoe it CHunot be Bald that "distance lenda enohautment to the view," for bb the wearied tourist drives out from the bustling little city tbe air seems purer and tbe sky brighter than ever before. Two miles out a road turns to tbe MjuthweBt that looks so inviting as to tempt the homeseeker to turn his quest in that dlreotion. lie passes tbe Voorbies siding and be has entered Eden Valley. Ahead of bim and situ ated on a slight elevation of land overlooking a large part of the Bear Creek Valley, Is a mod' at white build ing. .Tola is Independence sohool boute and it is here that the young folks of dtstrlot No. 15 get their start in education. From association with It the community 1b often called Inde pendenoe and owing to, the fact that the ridge on wbioh tbe sohool bouse is located was once oovered with obap paral brush, the somewhat lgnomlous title .of, "Chapparal" has bIso been bestowed upon tbe locality, but those who have lived there and those who know best tbe beauties and resouroes of the distriot always lovingly refer to it as Eden Valley and after having spent six months in tbe locality amongst itB hospitable and most es timable people, tbe writer can bear witness that tneJtitle Eden Valley is by no means a misnomer. But the traveler has no sooner'espled tbe mod e t sohool bouse than a elightjturn in tbe road brings bim alongside . the largest orchard in 'the Jvalley the Eden Valley orohard ownea by the Burrell Investment Co. and managed by th? elBoient orohardist, JaoobjHuger A few questions on tbe part of the traveler soon reveal thjt Eden Valley is a region of perhaps 1000 acres lying south of Medford and west of Phoe nix, bounded on the west by Orlffln oieek, on the east by Coleman oreek and on tbe north by the Jacksonville road, while to the soutn it stretohes away until lost in tbe wilds of the Siskiyou mountains. To the east across Bear oreek may be seen Roxy Ann and Grizzly Peak, on the south tonerB tbejj kingly head of Wugner Bucte'and othe' lofty peaks of the S:a kiyuuB, while to the westward in the hazy distanoe may (be seen tbe Coast range and aoross the valley of the Rogue rises tbe plotureeque Table Rook, lamous in tbe history of the early Indian wars. . Tbe soil is of several varieties, rang ing from rioh blaok loam and deep fertile clay or "stioky"in the lowlands to the lighter soil ot the foot hills, all of wbioh is very productive, growing excellent crops of alfalfa without irri gation, producing good orops of coin and wheat andr especially adapted to the various kinds of v fruit growing. The depth of soil ranges from ten to wenty feet in the lowlands and from two to six on the bills, but as this ia new soli it is constantly growing deep- ir- The average rainfall is from fifteen tn twuntv innh.H. uumetimea more and I estimable value to Eden Valley, as it of farm land in Eden Valley, is the sometimes less. In 1004-5 the rainfall i furnishes to the smaller growers exam-1 Joel Hartley ranch, oonsleting of 282 was the lightest known for years, only pies of the best methods and affords about nine inohea falling during the i a sure source of employment to those entire rainy season During the two ! who desire to eeek employment out preceding winters ' the rain fall was side of their own holdings. What the much In excess of the average. Tbe blizzards that are tbe terror of the eastern states are here ' unknown and now ia so rare as to be considered al most a luxury,espeoially by the young folks who have grown up here. . The amount of land in Eden Valley future holds in store for the Eden Valley orohards we are not pi epared to say, but this muoh is certain : that where now its output is reckoned in boxes, it will soon be reckoned by car loads and wbeie now they employ ten men the future will see fifty kept was estimated in the neighborhood of . steadily employed. The wonservatlve vative ones estimate that possibly ten per cent la waste land' that would not pay to cultivate while the1 mot enthu siastic ones refuse to admit that even dom when be staited Eden Valley orohard, now look at the splendid suo oess it as aohieved and glanoing at their own aoree devoid of treea whis- one per cent will not yield profitable i per disconsolately, "It might have returns If properly cultivated. In a. been." . .1 -B -l a . utll the soil Is of a semi granite compost-1 Md fl wltB d to tue earl tion, never muddy in winter, yet not . ,..,,.. ,, Pjtluo f th. -.t-. In B.-tn-na. .nn t may walk almost dry-shod In winter, tbe alfalfa grows all summer without irrigation and pears mature Into the finest irult the' maikets of the world have seen. Suob ta tbe soil of the foot hill distriot. The first ranohers who located here tilled a little soli, raised a few cattle and bogs and bunt up homes. The first orohard was planted by Charley Hayt many years ago and although it never attained muoh fame it was the pioneer of the thousand aores of oroh ard that now do honor to Eden Val ley. Of the many orohardB which graoe the little valley the largest is the Eden Valley orohard, owned by the Burrell Investment Company.' This orohard was formerly owned by Hon. J. H. Stewart, who planted the fltat 160 aorea to fruit. Mr. Stewart began planting tbe orohard aome eighteen years ago. He was the first to enter the hortioultural business extensively in Eden Valley and bow well be has succeeded la ebown by the orohard that stands there today. From thirty acres of bearing apple orohard were shipped one year 9000 boxes of first class apples, but tbe av erage orop is from 5000 to 6000 boxes, aores, 22U aoros of whloo are under cultivation. On this ranoh la a largo field of alfalfa which last year, in spite of the dry season, yielded three oropa or nearly five tons of hay per aore. This altolfa 1b not irrigated. Mr. Hartley's wheat fields yield forty bushelB per aoie and his oorn orops range from .twenly to thirty bjshela per aore. He has eighty-three aorea of orohard, mostly young treea, that have not yet ocme into bearing. Among the young trees them is grown very good oorn orops. From a thirteen aore prune orchard Mr. J. D. Anderson raises yearly about 30,000 pounds of evaporated prunes at an annual oost tor labor and other expenses of about $575. His prunes biing from la cent to 5 cents per pound, aooording to grade, the average prioe being from 2i to 3 Kt , .... ..ft -1 Gatheilug Apples in tho L9wis Orohard neer Medford. locality, of which we are only able to ' cents, which leaves bim a net profit of give a brief avnopsiB. j about 8425 annually. Of tbe Clay-Meader orohard be says: Another orchard of paying import By far the most profitable crop is 1 snoe is that owned by W. M. Smith, known as "Tennessee" which net the grower from 81.50 to . thi. , ,iKiad n 'hnnrtrBd no,., 1 Smith. Altbouch consisting of only 82.00 per box f. o. b., Medford. hi h M t , r.nin !flve acres ot aDDles. it baa for several From tbe forty acres of bearing (rom ?1 to gg 75 per boj) a oar-oad of ! yettrB been the best paying part of his pear trees, consisting of the Bartlett, Winter Nollia, D'Anjon, Howell and Bner Clalrgean varieties, were ship ped last year 10,000 boxes, whioh brought an average piioe of $2.00 per box. ' Some of tbe finer varieties bring higher prloes, One oarload from tbia orohard sold for 84. 40 per box. The location of thiB ranoh ia of in- Oomioe pears having brought the ranoh of 113 aores, bringing this year higher price last season. Mr. Meader about 8500, on wbat waa considered a estimates the oost of producing and i light orop. paoklng pears at 50 oents per box and ! From an aore of pears O. A. Hover Bays that when the orohard reaches 'pioked 750 boxss and sold them at an its prime toe pears will yield 300 ' average price of $1.50 per box. ' These boxes per acre. Another ranch that has paid good returns and is today the largest tract were the Bartlett, Winter Nellie and (Continued on page 11, oolumn 6). THE MEDFORD BANK v - WILL SOON BE MERGED INTO THE MEDFORD NATIONAL BANK "" i ! Incorporators: H. E. Ankeny, 0. 0. Beek man, W. H. Bradshaw. Horace Pelton and J, E. Enyart. AS APPLICATION FOE, CHARTER HAS BEEN MADE. Capital, $50,000. Surplus, $10,000. The Medford National Bank shows its future policy of assisting in the work of building up the city of Medford by joining the march of progress in erecting im posing Bank Quarters on the corner of Seventh and C Streets. With confidence in the future of the Rogue River Valley, THE MEDFORD NATIONAL BANK is not afraid to take the initiativo in Internal Improvements. The credit of the United States is back of The Medford National Bank, and a con . sorvative business course will be pursued,with ever possible accommodation to legiti mate enterprises. The. Stockholders have every confidence in the future of the Rogue River Valley, and will do their utmost' in ' furthering its ! best' interests. " Officers : H. E. An keny, President; J. E. Enyart, Vice Presi dent; G. L. Davis, Cashier; W. B. Jack son, Asst. Cashier. SAFETY DEPOSIT TO RENT.
