The Sunday Oregonian., June 08, 1913, SECTION FIVE, Page 8, Image 64

THE SUNDAY OKKG-OMAN, PORTLAND, JUNE 8, 1913.
APPLE ORCHARDS GRADUALLY DRAW
NEARER SNOW LINE OF MOUNT HOOD
Upper Hood River Valley Proves Place of Peace and Plenty, Dreams and
of Army of Formar Oity Dwellers.
111 ill lin II I JtBHW- s3 - i H - I
BY JOK I. TUOMISO.N.
HOOll RIVER, Or., Juno 14. (Spe
cial.) During the past three years
the apple orchards of the Hood
Hrver Valley have been approaching
closer and closer to the snow line of
Mount Hood, until today the visitor to
the Upper Valley of this mid-Columbia
orchard district Is surprised to find the
forests and brush land giving way to
the tilled groves of young trees and the
homes of new residents at the foot of
the towering white peak of the "Witch
Mountain," as Hood has been termed
by Indians.
For three years In no part of the en
tire valley has so much land been
cleared and so many new homes built as
in this district, immediately south of
the village of Parkdale. the terminus
of the Mount Hood Railroad, and a set
tlement not yet five years old. the trav
eler may easily believe he is touring a
neat, new suburban addition of a city,
such Is the architecture of the recently
built homes and their proximity to each
other.
Six years ago on quarter section of
land a single smm.ll dwelling stood, iso-
lated, shut in by the giant fir trees
that rear themselves for a hundred feet
toward th ,ki,s. Twin.
modernly equipped bungalows, most ot
them having been built in the past two
years, and two just being completed,
farm a picture of rural development.
And from an eminence in this district
one can see more than a thousand aeries
of young apple trees, some of them S
years old and others Just planted.
OrehardlKta Have Kalth.
While the past year has been one of
temporary discouragement, the Upper
Valley residents have faith In the in
dustry, and progress is noted on every
hand. The smoke from the slashing fire
of the land clearings ascends to the
neavens aany ana tne trees on more
man ivv acres, wnere tney have just
root, intre
are but few bearing- orchards in the
L'pper Valley, but those that have pro
duced fruit have demonstrated that the
district produces a long-keeping- apple
of excellent quality. It is not as large
as the fruit of the Lower Valley, but
many of the Upper Valley residents de
clare that the time will come when
their product will be placed on the mar
ket under a special brand, because of
its extraordinary keeping qualities.
The coolness -f the nights here seems
to give an extra firmness to the fruit,
and even the Gravensteln, which is weil
known in lower altitudes as an early
Fall variety, becomes here in reality a
Winter apple, and may be taken from
the cellars as late as the first Sum
mer months, retaining all of Us firm
ness and flavor. The Golden Ortley.
ordinarily a poor keeper, also bids fair
to become a popular variety with Up
per Valley growers because of Its long
lasting qualities acquired by growth
there.
Mount Hood Casta Sell.
The settlers of this new orchard dis
trict came from Portland, from the Mid
dle West, from the South. New Eng
land and New York City. For the most
I Dart those who now rfRiHt thare it-o
former city residents, who sought the
quiet of country life In the West and
wno weie lured to the district by the
nTi1.dfrful natural scenery; for here. In
idduIo:tothe inspiring spectacle of
Mount Hood towering above them, the
people may look across the broad ex
panse cf the Lower Valley to the peaks
of Mount Adams and Mount St. Helena
in Washington.
But the "Witch Mountain" is the
enchantress that lures the newcomers
to linger and be caught by the spell
that she casts on all who look upon
her ever changing face, whether it be
from the distance or at her base, and
all who have ever lived any length of
time In the Upper Valley declare that
whenever they are long absent from
spots where they can behold her snow
white pinnacle they feel the irresistible
call to return.
One never tires of the mountain, for
t never presents the same picture any
two moments of a day. It might be
nucenea to a mammoth painting on
Demonstrations and Becoming Home
? ' "
Which some unseen Titan with an In
; visible brush expends his inspirations
the colors of Nature, he reel f. Now
the sun may sparkle with an indescrib
able brilliancy on the crow particles
of the vast fields and the exposed
points of deep blue glacial ice, the peak
rising in a sky as limpid as a sylvan
lake, where nymphs come to peer and
mirror themselves in the preparation
of their toilet. In a twinkling a tiny
cloud may blow from the south an-j
cast its shadow, changing all. The
haze may change to lowering storm
clo'uds and the mountain may seem to
be trying to retire in the black veil
in an effort to hide from the expected
fury of the elements.
Small Streams umrrouN.
Nor are men and women as happy in
a region stamped by the monotony of
sameness as in u corner of the earth
wvhere they may not only be able to
look upon the wildest grandeur of
nature but also repair to simpler nooks
ana hide themselves in narrower con
fines of beauty. The Upper Valley Is
threaded with small streams, their
sources in the springs at the glaciers
ends. Sport for the Nimrod abounds
and disciples of Sir Isaac Wai.on from
the Lower Valley make annual tours
to these wild, dashing trout streams
The Upper Valley man need never be
come dull for lack of out of Ivor n'av
and sport.
In the Fall he may hunt to his
heart's content, for bear and deer
abound in virgin forests at his back
door. In the more remote sections of
the district ranchers complain that in
the late Fall the deer take too great
a toll from their meadows, and the
tracks of the nimble, wild creatures
may be found on almost any Summer
day in the tilled surface of the fiieds or
orchards.
In a region of such wonderful na
tural scenery one mieht exnert the
people to be prone to become poetic.
especially the recently transplanted
city dwellers, and lacklng'ln the prac
tical Ideas of .which farmers are sup
posed to be the masters. Indeed, one
may carry away the faint suspicion
that he has been among dreamers af
ter a sojourn in the Upper Valley, but
the evidences of the deeds that he be
holds on every hand shows that men
may dream and work at the same time.
In no community is the diversity of
farming taking so deep a hold as in
the Upper Valley. The residents there
will make orcharding their principal
work, but they do not want to put all
of their eggs in one basket, and the
raising of pigs and cows and chickens
has become, too, one of the tasks.
Store Are Convenient.
ine district supports two general
merchandise stores and many of the
ranchers, when the month's statement
of business Is received, smile when they
behold a balance on the credit side; for
the sum total of the products that th
have sold to the merchant Is larger 1
than that which they have expended fori
the necessaries of life that they cannot i
produce on their ranches.
In no part of the state are irrigation
projects more cheaply constructed than
in this district. Three systems supply
water to the Upper Valley residents. On
the West Side of the southern part of
the district the supply ie had for the
exceedingly small sum of $2.50 per inch
from the Middle Fork of the Hood
River. The East Side of the district is
watered by the Glacier Irrigating Com
pany, a co-operative concern that has
Impounded the flow of the Tillle Jane,
a glacial creek. The farmers of the
Mount Hood district, that part of the
country lying next to the range of
hills that divides the Upper Valley from
the Lower, have water practically free.
j In the pioneer days the ranchers handed
themselves together here and dug a
i ditch, and now, to flood the orchards
ani hay fields, no greater effort is re
i quired than the Infinitely small task
of opening the gates of the system. In
thip particular district there Is a grow
ing sentiment that more profit can bo
derived from the growth of hay and
, grain and the production of milk and
! butter than in raising apples, ar.d
I creamery has been proposed.
borne of the earlies-t homesteads of
1 the app'.e community are in the Mount
Hood district, where formerly all busl- i
; ness interests of the Upper Valley cen
i tered, but the construction of the rail
road to Parkdale hag set about a shift
ing process. The Mount Hood store has
closed its doors. Although a postofflce
Is maintained there, the postmaster has
but little work. Most of the mall Is
distributed at Parkdale, the starting
point of a rural free delivery route, the
carrier of which delivers daily the lat
est metropolitan papers.
Parkdale Showa Growth.
In le3 than five years from the mere
end of a railroad in the forest, Park
dale hrs grown to a substantial village
with a church, schoolhouse, mercantile
establishment. commodious railroad
station, hotel and numerous residences.
Aa in all other thinga, the Upper Val
ley residents practice co-operation in
their religious worship. The commu
nity has organized a union church with
two buildings, one at Mount Hood and
the other at Parkdale. Members of all
denominations are free to affiliate with
tho congregation. Rev. W. L. VanNuys,
formerly the pastor of a Presbyterian
church at Pendleton, is pastor of the
Lpper Valley Union Church, and
preaches on alternate Sundays at the
two churches.
One of the most interesting of the
Upper Valley residents is J. F. Thorrfp
son, a grizzled pioneer, who has built
a home beside the 116-acre orchard
tract which he and his partner. A.
Millard, an Omaha banker, have de
veloped a home that might cause any
cne to disobey the injunction of Holy
Scripture and covet. He has been a
farmer in many states, having raised
corn in Ohio, wheat in Indian Terri
tory, and stock in tho Rocky Moun
tain country. Broken In health, he
sought a more festering clime eight
years ago, going first to Southern Ore
gon. "But I was still restless with
the fever warming my blood," he says.
"and my wife, children and I, placing
our belongings in a wagon, secured a
team and began a tour across the
Cascades of Southern Oregon over to
the headwaters of the Deschutes. We
took our time and traveled In leisurely
stages down that stream and thence
into Eastern Oregon. But we re
turned down the Columbia to The
Dalles, where we embarked on a boat
for Portland. From that .city our
journeys led up into the district of
the Willamette. It was here that we
decided to make a visit to the Hood
River Valley, and we shipped our
wagon and goods by boat to Hood
River.
Hitmefttraderi Finally Win.
"Many times In our travels I was
on the point of settling down, but I
was glad that we had continued the
journey when I beheld the little pro
tected cove In the Upper Valley, where
I now have my home. All this region
was a wilderness then, but I saw the
possibilities. Orchard planting was in
its heyday in the Lower Valley, but as
yet no commercial tracts had been set
in the Upper region. The homesteaders
disappeared every year in the early
Summer and left for the grain fields
of Central Oregon, where they earned
enough money to purchase the neces
saries of life that they were not able
to produc on their small clearings. All
of them are growing apple trees now
and selling their surplus labor at a
greater return than that of the grain
fields at their doors."
However, the Upper Valley land, as
has been proved, can produce as great
yield of wheat as any part of ..ie
state, although but few fields are
sown with grain. On the Boneboro
orchard tract, about a mile and a half
north of Parkdale, where more than
a hundred acres have just been cleared
by a huge donkey engine and crews
of Japanese, a field was sown to wheat
last year. The grain was harvested,
before it matured, for hay. Experts
said that if it had been allowed to
ripen it would have yielded more than
60 bushels per acre. The unusual rain
of the present year Is causing another
large tract of wheat to grow with such
vigor In the deep, mellow soil, tnat it
Is believed that the estimate of last
year will be surpassed.
AmuNfinent 1 - Provided.
Existence does not grow tedious in
the Upper Valley because of lack of
social festivities. In addition to the
usual functions of the community, the
Progressive Association presents each
Winter an excellent lyceum course for
the entertainment and education of the
residents. But none of these affairs Is
more keenly interesting than the num
ber prepared and presented by the
members of the club themselves. An
annual event that draws large crowds
from the Lower Valley is the produc
tion of the variety and vaudeville
show of the Upper Valley people at
the Parkdale Hall.
A significant feature of the new ap
ple community is the large number of
young bachelors and the small number
of unmarried girls. Within a radius of
but little more than two miles in the
Upper Valley 27 young bachelors, more
than a score of them graduates of
Eastern colleges, have built homes
among their new orchards. It has
been suggested that families with
marriageable girls that are planning
on seeking new homes on the Pacific
Coast, might lay the foundation for
much pleasant work for Cupid by
choosing homes in the Upper Valley.
The little Love God has already been
busy in the community, for every
schoolmistress that has ventured to
teach there has won the admiration
of one of the bachelor men and caused
him to turn benedict.
Antipathy for Reptiles.
London Chronicle.
Possibly the only undignified retreat
ever made by Lord Wolseley, Britain's
great soldier, occurred in India in
1858. After a long and dusty march
in the very hot season he sought
the waters of one of the tanks sur
rounded with a fine grove of trees
which are the gifts of the pious and
charitable. While he was rolling about
in luxurious enjoyment a yellow snake
shook its tongue close to his face, and,
almost paralyzed with terror, he struck
out for the stepped side of the bank as
fast as if. to use his own words, he
"were pursued by a whole zoological
garden full of hostile and man-devouring
beasts and reptiles." Lord Wol
seley confessed to having, more than
moat men, "a loathing horror and in
describable repugnance to all sorts of
reptiles," which he was never able to
overcome, and late in life would still
"flv avai from tha harmlwia tnad."
YAMHILL PUPILS ARE INDUSTRIOUSLY
LABORING FOR COMING SCHOOL FAIR
Many New Features and Prises Being Arranged to Encourage Industrialism Among Children in Connection
With Other Studies Handsome Rewards Will Be Given.
r H
H 1 7 . Mill! ill it SHI M 9 9 II
McMlNNVILLE, Or.. June 7. (Spe
cial.) Interest in the coming
school fair, m which school chil
dren will be exhibitors of their own
labor and products, has received a new
start by the new features of the con
tests in which eggs, tomatoes and corn
figure, and the Industrial exhibit of
McMinnville schools held here recently.
The fair will be held from September
23 to 26, inclusive.
In an interview, S. S. Duncan, County
Superintendent, gave out a partial list
of the valuable prizes already secured
of which the leading is $100 in cash to
the grower of the best corn, the money
to be expend od for a trip to the San
Francisco Fair. Other prizes in the
corn contest are a jersey calf, Jersey
hog and a thoroughbred sheep. The
object besides to encourage the boys
In farming. Is to show that corn suc
cessfully can be grown in Yamhill
County. Thirteen boys have entered
the corn contest and are now organized
as a "corn club."
Another new feature of the school
fair programme, from which Superin
tendent Duncan expects great results,
is the egg contest in which the four
boys or girls obtaining the best re
sults from one dozen hens in any 30
days, between April 1, and September
1, will receive valuable prizes. There
are now more than 100 contestants in
this department from all sections of the
county.
To the boy or girl who produces
the most tomatoes on 100 square feet
of ground will be awarded $20 in cash,
second prize, $10. This is mostly for
girls and 35 pupils have taken up this
work.
Many of the exhibits will be taken to
the State Fair and placed as an exhibit
of "All Yamhill Exhibits."
Manual training has become an im
portant feature of the schools and
sewing for the girls has been intro-
TECHNICAL TRAINING GAINS
Irish Teachers Replacing Imported
Instructors on Isle.
DUBLIN", June 7. (Special.) The
remarkable strides which Ireland has
made in the matter of technical edu
cation within the last year or two
have surprised even those who are ac
quainted with the intelligence, quick
ness and adaptability of the Irish char
acter. When Sir Horace Plunkefc and his
friends conceived the notion of a Board
of Agriculture for Ireland, the country
itself could not supply a single teacher
with tho capacity for giving instruc
tion, with the result that England and
Scotland had to ' be drawn upon to
fill the ranks of instructors.
In connection with ordinary handi
crafts, the same experience obtained.
The products of the English and Scot
tish. thnicfll colleges had to be sought
duced in rural districts the past year,
and in domestic science and art, girls
are making splendid advancement, an
nounced Miss Ida Mae Smith, supervis
or and assistant to the county superin
tendent, whose work among the rural
districts shows marked success.
The annual county school fair, first
launched under the administration of
L. R. Alderman, the new head of Port
land schools, has been improved from
year to year and the coming fair will
eclipse all others in number and value
of prizes.
"The trend largely is toward indus-
and remunerative posts In Ireland fol
lowed. Now, after a few years, the Irish
have advanced so rapidly in acquiring
the necessary knowledge that there no
Icrnger is any necessity for importing
instructors. In fact, the majority of
those alien teachers who originally
were installed in the Irish schools have
taken their departure and their places
are now filled by natives.
The whole situation throws an excel
lent sidelight on the disabilities under
which the Irish peasant has suffered
for want of the ordinary facilities for
useful citizenship.
Logging Road to Extend.
KLAMATH FALLS. Or., June 7.
(Special.) The Algom'a Mill Company
Is preparing to extend its logging rail
way between the timber and the com
pany's mill at Algoma. Rails have
been leased from the Southern Pacific
Company and will be placed as soon as
the grading on the new portion of the
track is completed.
trlalism without detracting from tho
present curriculum of public schools,
said Superintendent Duncan, in discus
sing the many features of practical in
structions which are part of the daily
study and which rapidly has developed
under the system of holding an annual
fair.
There are many other prizes which
will be made known later. The Holmes
Business College, of Portland, has of
fered a three months' free scholar
ship, which will be given to the pupil
having the best Individual agricultural
exhibit.
LANE AIDS WATERUSERS
Klamath Man Returns From Confer,
once at Washington.
KLAMATH FALLS. Or.. June 7.
(Special.) One th'ng in which the
reclamation service officials and the
waterusers can agree has been found.
Abel Ady. representative of the water
users, who attended the conference held
before Franklin Lane. Secretary of the
Interior, has returned from Washing
ton, . C. His report of Mr. Lane's
courtesy, his general grasp of matters
In the reclamation field, his termin
ation to gel at the exact facts, agrees
with that made by W. W. Patch, proj
ect engineer of Lfce service, on his re
turn from that conference.
Mr. Ady has arranged for a copy of
the stenographic notes taken at the
conference, covering the hearing on the
Klamath project for the benefit of the
waterusers.