Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1908)
THE MORXIN'G OREG0NIAX, WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 1, 1908. M D Tfiis State to All Markets, and Its Prunes Are Staple the World Over ft - w 'sV 6 By WUber R- Newell, President State Board of Horticulture. ' THE splendid condition of the fruft industry in Oregon is conclusively nhotvn by a comparison of the yipld and value of this year's crop with that of former years. v The following- figures, compiled by the State Board of Horticulture, are very coneervative, but were gathered with a great deal of care and are believed to show very closely the amount of fruit actually sold by the grower and the value received by him: Apples, boxen l.OSS.ino f1.4:n.no rried prunes, lbs 25,4ui.ooo 1,J08,S73 Prunes and g plums 2 shipped green or fresh to cannrrs and others, tons.. 4.1SS an.n-.O Pears, boxes 24T.70O 2R..)n Peaches, boxes . m . . . 44.T,.S7o 2s.26 Cherries, boxes."... S,4i.000 liau.SOO Apricots, boxes H.500 , 7..VJU Strawberries, boxes.. .Pfir.oort 4it".50O Blackberries, boxes. . 3.1A4.UO0 7S.500 Raspberries, boxes... I.ne.noo 74..Vn loganberries, boxes. 1,140.000 Sli.riOU Currants, boxes 370,000 31.000 Gooseberries, boxes.. 37S.O0O la.iOO Orapes, boxes 3.943.000 J-'4.SOO Other fruit 26,000 Value. 4;27S,185 This Is an Increase of 53 per cent over th crop of 1906, and in view of the fact that the supple crop over most of the state was very light, Is a moet encouragf lng showing. Thousands of acres of fruit trees have been planted each year for several years past, and this year the planting will be heavier than ever. As a general rule care and good judgment are being shown in the selection of soil and location and of proper stock for planting, so that our output will Increase by leaps and bounds each year and In a very few years should reach a value of f5O.O0.O0O. The apple will, of course, always be king of fruits, and the acreage will per haps equal that of all other tree fruits combined. The most Important centers of apple-growing at the present time are Hood River Valley, Mosier Valley, Rogue River Valley around Medford and Central Point, the Grand Ronde Valley, near La Grande: the little Walla Walla Valley, near Milton and Frcewater, and numer ous pofnts) in the Willamette Valley.' But there are hundreds of other localities equally good and only needing the enter prising fruitgrower to develop them. So generous lias Nature been to Ore gon in hrr gifts of soil and climate that nil the fruits of t'u-. temperate zone ran l grown successfully almost everywhere. The success depend upon the man far more than tne locality. Every citizen of Oregon knows that the Hood River Spitz nberg is the highest-priced appl? in the New York markets, and that the Rogue l:Iver Yellow Newtown brings the most money in Ixndnn and Berlin, outselling t::- California Newtown almpst two to one. A market for Oregon apples is being developed across the Pacific, peveral thousand boxes being sent annually to Vladivostok. As the Asiatic people grad ually acquire the ability to buy there Will be nn unlimited market for our fruits over there. The prune ranks next the apple in value of output. It Is not so widely grown as the apple, but Is confined practically to the Willamette anl t'mpqua Valleys, in western Oregon, and to a limited area around The liallee. near Cove and Union, In the Grand Ronde Valley, and near Nyssa and Ontario, In the Malheur Valley. The French prune is largely grown in the Umpqua Volley, but all the other sections grow the Italian a'ir.ost ex- 0m Wm Hp &2ir Mm? 8 mm m li mm home in' uouthern Tr western Orosron. Menaced by the dreaded pear bliglrt in nearly all other fruitgrowing: dis tricts, it flourishes almost undisturbed in these favored districts. Although the bligrht has been found In some few instances, it does not thrive and spread, and there is no doubt that rea sonable care will keep it entirely in subjection. A bountiful yielder and a good seller, the pear is very profitable. Almost beyond belief are the prices received for the Cornice pears shipped to New York from the orchards near Medford. and from the Wallace orcharJ, near Salem. Half boxes, containing only 40 to 45 pears selling for 14.20, or 10 cents a pear wholesale, and this for whole carloads, not just sample boxes. The Bartlett, the finest can- - Xje'f'' -jvjc 4Z St 5 ST-" M m -4. -Sx j. ft m ' As. Ht JtTX " ToT -. wJtav, w v ' Ill rl CmifeMllt T ' ffl.i vt ' a . , k,.,v fgirin IwiSSS&iv ? s V; ''I 1 v Jsi yovne. wearer 2;S4IS v - : 5- 4. "f 4- 4 cluslvely. The western Oregon product Is nearly all shipped to the Bastern markets In the fresh or green state. These shipments usally bring good prices and the orchards are very profit able to the owners. The crop on a 60-acre orchar-1 near Nyssa was sold thla year for $4500 on the tree, the buyer paying all expensea and taking all the risk. Drle.1 prui;s usually sell at from 24 to 5 cents, ac cording to size, and pay from $50 to flSO per acre. Planted on suitable land, well drained end free from froit, they are steady and reliable bearers, and planting Is sine to keep pace with the inn'kej. Jem ni. Ttta D-.ir it'.iiu to find l. BJtiural x ning pear grown, grows to perfection and will be a sburce of great wealth in the future. Selling to the cannery at $20 to f40 per ton and yielding 3 to 10 tons per acre. It is easy to see a good profit. The cherry, like the pear, seems pe culiarly at home In Oregon. They have a size and flavor here, unequaled by any other region. Many of our best varieties have originated in Oregon, such as the Bing. Lambert and Black Republican. These - are all splendid shipping cherries, .nd in refriger.itor cars can be sent all over the United States. A very large acreage is being planted around The Dalles, and this noiot will probably lta.il la shipment! of fresh cherries. The Royal Anne, the great canning cherry, is grown everywhere li Western and Southern Oregon, and in many parts of Eastern Oregon, succeeding remarkably well at Cove and the Grand Eonde Valleys. So popular is the cherry as a canning fruit, that lts production Is bound to increase very rapidly. It Is -only in recent years that the peach has become a prominent crop in Oregon. For many years Ashland has been famous for her beautiful peaches. but few were grown anywhere else. been very heavy around Medford, Merlin, Roseburg, The Dalles, and in many places in the Willamette Valley. The home markets were generally sup plied, this year, many were exported, and large quantities sold to the can neries. Canned peaches, always re garded as a luxury, will soon be one of the staple products of Oregon. The free use of the lime-sulphur spray has been found a perfect remedy for all the diseases of the peach, and its culture is now a safe proposition. For a great many years the idea was prevalent that the grape could not be grown successfully in Oregon, but a few such men as Peter, Britt, of Jack sonville, and A. H. Carson, of Grants. Pass; A. R. Shipley, of Oswego, and John F. Broetje, of Mllwaukie, quietly went- ahead and demonstrated the error of this opinion until now the grape is one of our standards, and at the rate planting is being done, will soon be in the front rank as a money producer. Jackson and Josephine Counties are re markably well adapted to the culture of some of the best European varieties, Recently haeY&r, cUoIloxa bava ljj-o4mUig a, iDiiajf.iiuecatajid .Mala? that are unequaled by the best districts of California. The market demand for these grapes seems unlimited, and will soon be covering the hills of southern Oregon. , These grapes also, succeed splendidly along the Columbia River, from The Dalles eastward. The Willamette Val ley produces the Amertdan varieties in abundance and of the finest quality. The home markets were abundantly supplied this year and several carloads of Concords were, shipped to Seattle. A grape juice factory will pay well, and one is very much needed. Space will not permit of a detailed description of each of the kind of small fruits, but suffice it to say they are all staple crops and as sure as the seasons themselves. The production la only limited by the help available and the market demand. With the recent rapid increase In the number" of can neries in the state, the market -is pro vided. But there is room for many more canneries; we) need one in every Important town; for then the large farms can be divided; five to ten acres at Xruit will make a family a living; all the fruits can be saved and glutted markets avoided. . The loganberry, as the newest of the small fruits, deserves mention. Of de licious flavor when stewed or pre served. It has a great future as a canned fruit. Evaporating readily, it will fill a long felt want as a good pie fruit. The evaporated berry, when soaked and made Into pie, has all the delicious flavor of the freshly stewed berry. Hard, indeed, to please is the man who cannot find some line of fruit growing, or some locality in Oregon, that will suit him. But whether he choose the mountain valleys under the shadow of Mount Hood, or the broad reaches of the Harney Valley; the sandy, irrigated lands along the Columbia, or the deep alluvial soils of Western Oregon; the sunny hillsides of Southern Oregon, or prefers" to nestle under the shelter of the Rlmrock Mountains on the west ern shore of Sumner Lake, it matters not. If only that man -does his part intelligently and well, his reward Is certain. FRUIT BRINGS ONE DISTRICT $500,000 Freewatcr-Milf on Section Prosper lTnder Irrigation Many Varieties of Berries, Peaches, Apples and Cherries. By lieorxe P. 8iuidersoii. HE fruit season of 1.W, just closed, has been the longest in the history or the Freewater-Mllton district and the fruit product In this district alrfiie amounted to fully $500,000. In consequence the ranchers are all well provided for, despite the scarcity of ready cash In the banks of the whole country, and nearly all are making great improvements on their ranches. t Beginning with the strawberry crop there were 15,000 crates of strawberries and 10.000 crates of dewberries, 7000- crates of cherries, raspberries and blackberries; 20 cars of pears. 50 cars of peaches, 100 cars of prunes, 150 cars of Winter apples, 80 cars of mixed fruit, and local freight and express shipments of fruit equal to 50 cars more. In addition to this the Freewater cannery paid out over 125,000 to ranchers for second-rate fruit for canning purposes. The cannery did not start operation until after the peach crop was nearly exhausted. . Combining the canned fruit with the other makes over 600 carloads of fruit for the season of 1907. The fruit crop was out of the grower's hands before the financial stringency occurred, thus giving them excellent prices for their produce. This fruit was shipped to all parts of the United States, Canada and England, more than 25 carloads of our prunes having been shipped to London, England. A large Walla Walla company 'which have a big packing-house here under the management of N. W. Mumford, did a trifle over $90,000 of business, employing over 200 persons, pickers and , packers. Another similar concern did over $60,000 worth of business. Another fruit com pany did nearly $8,0W worth and the Milton Fruitgrowers' Union about $70,000 worth. A Boise firm and Kansas City fruit packer also bought prunes and apples amounting to nearly $ls0,000 and large numbers of local shippers shipped In small lots to commission-houses In Spokane, Boise and other Northern points. The crop of 1907 has never been equalled on this valley either for productiveness or for prices paid for our fruit. This is due In the first place to our fine climate the fruit season opening in April and lasting until the second week In Novem ber. John Kellar picked a box of second crop strawberries and sold them on the 9th day of last November. In the second place the ranchers have realized that they can only get good results from their ranches by careful at tention to the trees, bushes and plants and plenty of hard work. Last year the San Jose scale and the Codlin moth were especially conspicuous by their absence, the ranchers having carefully followed the Instructions given them by Fruit In spector Howard Evans, in regard to spraying. The result has been good, sound, clean fruit, which resulted in good prices. A larger acreage Is being given up to Winter apples and prunes and trees which have been unprofitable are -being culled out and good growers and sellers being planted In their place. Nowhere in the West is the soil better suited for fruitgrowing than here and our Irrigation system cannot be excelled, the whole valley being well supplied with water. The Freewater booth at the recent fair held by the Walla Walla County exhibitors in Walla Walla was awarded first prize for the best fruit exhibit, capturing the prize of $250 cash. Freewater's fruit Is now known all over the world ,and this district is able to compete with any section of country in growins good fruit and securing -good prices for iL