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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1881)
2l8 THE WEST SHORE. August, 1 88 TIIK J-ktlTS OF ORKc;ON. Taking into consideration our tern citc tiimuie ami regular seasons, with no few vicissitudes of heat and cold, it might lie supposed (hot Oregon offered great advantage for the culti vation of fruit of all kind, and the upposilion i Ixirne out fully a to the productiveness and richness of what fruit each part of '.he great Mate can cultivate, hut all parti of the state can not grow the same fruits with equal certainty and success. This fact de pends upon the difference in climate that dist inguishc the various geograph ical division of Oregon and apply to Washington Territory, alsotbough not entirely, because Oregon to the south ha many of the characteristics of Cali fornia whilst Washington is entirely to he northward of (hi state. The sulxlivisiou of the Pacific Northwest arc naturally us follows: Tho coast region from California to Vancouver Island on the north, is tempered by he seiiwind and ocean current and though warmer towards the Miulh hns similar climate and pro ducts. All this stretch of coast is lie tween the coast mountains and the sea ml comparatively shut off from the in terior. They claim that this region will produce apples, oar, cherries, plums and pi lines, in the grea!ct perfection ami is the natmal home of all the small fruit y trawbcriics,curranls, goose lierrle, raspterrie and blackberries, but the same may le said of all the country included in Oregon and Wash Ington. The valley lictwccn the Coast ml Cascade range Mrs the same qualities as the coast countie and to the outh In I'mpqua and Rogue River Valley can grow peaches and grape, the latter in perfection, a is evidenced by the profusion of each that is found in Rogue River Valley this season. They claim to he able to make wine to com pete with the best vintage of California, ml ccitai.ily they can grow pcachc to absolute perfection, quality that will stand them in good tead within a year or two when this early fruit can I mar. kctcd to the northward to advantage, which will I when the mi! toad system i complete fu.m Itritish Columbia to California. The difference in climate Southern Oiegon king warmer and sunnier the year round give this beautiful valley jworuicne in grvwing fruiu and all other things that need sun by day and the breath of summer by night, while the Willamette Valley is so swept by ocean breathings that its summer nights are positively delicious to the tired mor tal who courts slumber. Nights that require blankets in midsummer do not encourage peaches or grapes to mature to ail vantage, and so the northern por tion of the whole region west of the great Sierras pays, for its delicious summer nights, by having to import peaches, grapes and some early vege tables, but no one is found to complain of the season which brings the harvest hand such perfect and refreshing slum bers nml relief from the toils of the day; "tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep," has priceless value. The balmy nights are peculiar to all Oregon, north, south, east and west, hut the degree of cold does not effect the growth of fruit cast of the Cascade R Bilge so directly as in the Willamette Valley. Soon as you cross the Sierras you perceive a different climate and see a change of products. At The Dalles, and even at White Salmon and Hood River which arc mid way in the mountains, but subject to the climatic influences from the east the peach orchards com mence to bear well, and through the eastern country grapes succeed in favor able location location has much to do with success in fruit culture every where. It must not be supposed that neither peaches or grapes can grow in the Willamette Valley, for both are found in every locality and can be grown with some success by every one who has a home plot, but wc speak commer cially when wc say those fruits are not grown here to a profit, though perhaps wc are mistaken with regard to grapes in some instances, Peaches thrive and car well along tide any house, on any side of it, while they do little when planted out in open orchard and are apt to have curl leaf and ripen little or no fruit. So of gra,Hs, they ripen so late in the season that the frost often catche them in October, U-fore they re fit to gather. So we conclude that Western Oregon and Washington are ,m, wmi exceptions before noted the natural home of these ft nils. ' W e lead lately that California capital "e '"vesting enormously in fruit culture, and putting up establishments for canning and drying ail , r,..:. theyh.ve. They My U Enrpf nffert a market they cannot hope to over-stock for all time, and the extent of the fruit trade now existing there, and predicted for the near future, is so enormous that we are led to consider the capacity of our section in that connection and wonder how it comes that so few new orchards have been set out and so little progress made in putting up fruit for export. The resources of the future in eludes fruit growing on an increased scale no doubt, and it is well enough, for the benefit of the present Oregonian and the tens of thousands who are com ing here, to look this important matter in the face and see what value it must possess. All the hill regions of this country and especially the mountains spans and foot hills, offer great inducements for fruit growing, because nearly all staple fruits do best on such locations; but the orchardist should carefully scan each lo cality so us not to plant an orchard where late spring frosts will spoil crop pros pects. We can grow in this valley as fine apples and pears as the world has ever seen, and probably our pears can beat the world, or at least cannot be beaten in the world. We can produce currants, gooseberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, with any other coun try. Cherries wi'h us are simply superb in right localities, and thrive well in the yards of many citizens of Portland. Plums and prunes grow here in richest profusion and perfection and fco far no curculio has ever been known on this coast. Southern and eastern Oregon can grow peaches to commercial advan tagc also, and can supply the world ai well with all the fruits we have named as attaining excellence in this valley. Here thcn,youcan perceive what a great future awaits fruit production. When the roads projected are constructed to the eastward and we can send direct to eastern cities as they now do in Cali fornia, our fruits will supplement theirs, because grown three to five hundred miles north. The world will be our customers and millions of dollars wil' be paid annually, within the next de cade, for Oregon fruits. Another feature we have not touched N that owing to climatic influences the fruits we can grow to advantage posses unequalled flavor. It is true of both fruits and vegetables grown here that they have a finer texture and far more delicious flavor than California products