THE ; OREGON SUNDAY , JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING,' NOVEMBER 22,; 190
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For These Fruits
of the Tree We
May Add to Our
Thanksgiving
MERICA, landof the wonderful,
I ' can rejoice in having accomplish
rd miracles of which all-powerful
Rome, at the height of its grandeur
and in. the depths of its decadence de
spaired. For the sated Romans groaned amid
their surfeits, "JF here is he who can give
us a new pleasure?"
Within the last few years the United
States has created, merely in the ordinary
course of its miraculous agriculture, many
new delights for the appetite. Could one of
these have been given Lucullus as an addi
tion to his diet of nightingales' tongues, the
heart of the great epicure, no doubt, would
have warmed with joy.
Heirs of the ages, the sybaritic Ro
mans rejoiced to call themselves. Poor, in
deed, was their richest fare in comparison
with the dainties that fall to the lot of
moderns palate joys that help give Uncle
Sam a real Thanksgiving.
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MIE Department of Agriculture, at Wash
ington, has shown a Bhrewd comprehen
sion of the varying requirements of the
nation's domestic . and foreign markets.
So the government itself, the agency which
alone is qualified to obtain a comprehensive view
of the discoveries in fruits that are being con
stantly made throughout he land, has brought
to the attention of practical orchardists the
more prominent fruits of victory continually
attained by the American farmer in changing
the harvests of the earth.
There are romances 'pi'; nature among those
"victories; for the 'Burbaiks "are 'few, even '
among the" millions; of agriculturists who know
their trees r as college prof essors know their
tjoks, and nature, every little while, takes a
hand in the.etenal transformation, flingingup ;
rare and delicious exceptions to her rules and
leaving it to man to make the best of them.
She did just that in an apple orchard of
a farmer at PeruMadison county, Iowa. From
the stock of a: yellow Bellflower appletree, the
top of which had been destroyed, a sprout about
six yearc. old was noticed.
The farmer was astonished at the beauty
and tho fine 'quality of-the fruit it bore. The
flesh was yellowish, juicy, mildly sub-acid in
flavor, and the 'general quality was extremely
good. In size, the fruit ran from medium to
large, with a smooth, glossy surface, which when,
only slightly rubbed took on a high, polish.
Most of the 6kin seemed washed over with
mixed red, striped and splashed with dark crim
son in brief, an apple to make a picture in a
dessert, beautiful to the eye, delicious to the
palate.
u KNEW A GOOD THING
"j One of those who knew a good thing was
the farmer, even when it came to him for noth
ing. He guarded that sprout, and watched it;"
for It was, in' very truth, the apple of 'his eye.
It proved to be hardy, vigorous, upright
grpwer, with very heavy dark -green foliage, and
a regular, annual bearer. At fifteen years cf
age! the" original- sprout measured thirteen
inches in diameter at the ground. When eight
"years of drought ; and cold had' ruined three
fifths pf his orchard the farmer found that this
miracle of nature had not been harmed in the"
least.-- . " ' ; '
... Its, only 'handicap, la that, grown in cool
and humid climates, it needs sprayinr for annle
......
young trees in most of the apple districts west
of the Mississippi river, and it is now especial
ly promising in the Rocky mountain and Pacific
coast states.
Chance had played its part, a short time be
fore, in producing another wonderful apple
from a stray seedling near a spot where, in
earlier years, cider had been made on a farm in
"V'indsor township, Lawrence county, Ohio. But
man's discernment here was not so keen as it
was in Iowa.
Year after year the Idst orphan of some
mighty stock went on, bearing its splendid bur
den, fit for the table of royalty, yellow in color,
but washed with red and crimson, great, sub
acid, richly flavored fruit that came in season in
the late autumn and early winter, and keeping
perfectly in cold storage.
OF GREAT PROMISE
- After a time the owners of the tree divined
that there should be something more than mere
eating in the crop of that splendid, lonely tree.
Yet today it still awaits its true exploitation in
the districts to which it is peculiarly adapted,
the middle states and the irrigated valleys of
the West.
Wherever sweet cherries thrive a welcome
should await that exquisite fruit that had its
origin in Oregon and who, when the cherry of
which he makes one rejoicing bite proves worthy,
regrets the earjy taste he formed as the agile boy,
juice stained and reveling, high in the fork of
the trees nearest home?
In the Williamette and Columbia river val
lcys. in Oregon, the great size and beautiful color
of the sweet cherries have been a source of mar
veling delight to all who saw and tasted them.
Chance, there, "leaned heavily on man's intelli
gence, for the earliest introduction of cherries
in 1848, at Milwaukee, Ore. included some of
the choicest varieties known to the United States
of , that generation.
As the years passed, some of the seedlings,
Jinder the influence of the land and the climate,
displayed Vemarkable merits. One of them de
veloped under a Napoleon, or royal Ann tree, in
an orchard at Milwaukee, Ore., an orchard plant- .
ed sixty years ago.
The seedling tree, supposed to be a cross of
Black Heart on Napoleon, was grafted to a May
Duke tree before it reached bearing age, and was
transplanted to a location at one end of .the old
orchard. Some years ago the May Duke top
broke off,' or died; but a sprout from the seed
ling stock was permitted toi form a new top.
When tnat new top bora its fruit the owner
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nprcftivpd limmediatelv that he hurl f rpainrn
eabj to whieh it shows some susceptibility; Dur- trove. X JI sent small shipments of theherrieswosinriniana.
ck mo iasi ww jtr u ween iruitea on to Boston and otner eastern markets. Ineprjces
received were a revelation.
. It is not yet extensively planted east of the
Rockies, but is regarded bySAgricultural Depart
ment experts as worthy of the 'test at any place
where sweet cherries grow.
" Heart-shaped, large of ten very large it is
light red in color, beautifully marbled with a " ","r. ' ., ! '- V rv .
darker , red. The flesh is purplish red, with J- Packed: in eight-pound grape baskets, sells m
lighter marbling, sweet, rich andjuicy. The - Kansas 'City and other good markets at prices'
fruit isborne in large clusters, one twig three ' ' ranging' fro.m 50 to 75 cents a- basket.' A 'iii.
and one-half inches long ; having twentv-three '":"':' This 'is 'one of the foremost s neniimmoM
well-developed cherries. -: , known in -the United States today. We cannot ,L 47 . fl.A, .W-.lf.
vpr. nnllfll tlw M AnanASA rtoraimmnTi in otm oni 1 . i e i t. ' i
iy . ana rerresntng. v- it. is a genuine wonaer in
mangoes, believed to .be, unique among its kind,
. The Missouri persimmon is. extremely large
for its class, with a translucent reddish color and
, a flavor sweet ana rich. Un the thin, dry land
of Jackson county, llo., it ripens, in September,
but the government experts deem it worthy of
testing in ; all pcrsfrnmon-growing sections,
where, if the land bo rich and under cultivation,
it should ripen and be marketable for a period of
several weeks during autumn and early winter
without ' the need of cord storage.1
The Department of Agriculture, in the lus-.
cious domain of the orange, has at last decided
that a stock, imported from China, previously
classed with mandarins and tangerines is too
splendid a variety to endure longer without a
distinct horticultural dignity all its own. It majr
even reach the importance of being rated a sub
species of orange. . '
The parent stock was secured by a woman
of Riverside, Cal., through non. John S. Bing
ham, then United States minister to Japan, who
obtained it' from the Chinese Imperial Gardens
at Pekin. The juice is abundant and peculiarly
sweet and rich,, with, a distinctive and agreeable
aroma. It is considered a distinct addition to the
orange family, and, is alretdy grown in Florida.
A variety of mangoi' imported by' the Gov
ernment Section .of Seed and Plant Introduction
in 1901 -into Florida from -Bangalore, India, has .
turned out to be a truly giant mango which at
tains weight of twenty - ounces as ,'a ; regular
thing, and of ten reaches two pounds. .;
. This ihormous" fruit has rich reddish yel
low, flesh,, very juicy and tender, and almost en-
ln an abandoned field ; in. Jackson county, yet equal, tire Japanese persimmons in size and1
Mo.va fruit grower of, Harlem, Mo., discovered a-, .brilliant ;color,;but:ours are farmbre hardy f ar;
remarKanie, persimmon iree oi ine. variety jjios .richer, in flavor and far better ju general que
lle Becurcd .aeions, and has .ltTlhn, anything tho Japanese-have succeeded'1
'now an orchard of K) trees, the fmit.qf which, i;in,producing.i..
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And any. one who; hay ever eaten a 'fresh, aro
matic mango willcomprehend what a gift of tha
-gods this .must be.- . ,. - , ' . ; .' y.,
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