the or."Go:i r7ATzrMAi;, ealem, op.ego:;
A:3 ; Pioneers in tlie Aiitcmobile Business
' " ' " v-: - '-1 ' " i J - - j- :- ' - -
Vick Brothers, Distributors of QualityiCars Home of Overland, -Wil-ly3
ICnighfand Oakland Cars Moreland and -Federal Knighft Trucks
More replacements of present
automobiles- and fewer Introduc
tions ..of. new cars Is predicted by
Charles II. Vick, eldest of the four
Vick" ftrothers,-pioneer automobile
firm la Salem., Mr.' Vick bas.sais
prediction' upon "his years of ex
perience In the business. " ; Im
provetnents along various lines,
particularly r toward ' permanen t
tops; ! glass i&closures . and perma
nent finishes will also be features
of automobile designers and producers-'
la the next-lew years. The
present ' day trend is toward the
closed- type of vehicle, whether
this -be sedan, limousine, coach, or
coupe are the special class-Inclosed
type, he declares. The other
three members of the firm are
George E. Vick, B. W. YIck and
Alfred J. Vick. n f " ; . ' , f
Vick Brothers are located In
commodious quarters at the corner
of High, and Trade, a building they
built a few years ago and design
ed far efficiency and display pur
poss. The buildinr has three
floors, the first, or basement,
housing the machine shops, wash
racks, battery and lire 'repair de
partments and the heating plant.
The second floor is devoted, to
large, decorated and spacious dis
play rooms, where the latest type
of models are on exhibition. The
main offices, a private office for
the', president and rest rooms are
also j located on this floor. The
third floor, or storage room pro
vides ample space for stock cars
and the paint department.. Ighe
building, occupies a ground space
of 83 feet by ISO feet, la fireproof
and of re-Info reed t concrete con
struction. . j
tVwas in 19 11 that Vick Brothers-
located in Salem, at the Capi
tal' Garage on Liberty street, be
tween State and Ferry, having the
agerijey for the Ford automobile.
In -1913 the firm was located on
High between Court and Chemek
eta; In the present bnlldlng oc
cupied by the Valley Motor com
parfy, which purchased the agency
nndbulldlng from Vick Brothers
a f:-v years later. Vick Brothers
r .fried the state distribution for
t j i Fordson tractor for a : few
y e ars and later took the agency
for the. Sampson- tractor.
Relieving in the future of the
automobile Industry. careful
survey of the field was made, with
the result that they obtained' the
Salem agency for ; the Willys
Knight, Oakland and Overland
automobiles and later added the
Federal-Knight and Moreland
track line. Business has steadily
Increased until today there are 25
employes on, the payroll.' I j
Open and closed models df all
the automobiles handled by "the
firm are on display, at all I times.
with a reserve stock of 15 ma
chines on the average. This num
ber is sometimes depleted by a
few rush sales ' and again the re
serve stock. Immediately follow
ing a shipment of new cars, is
somewhat increased. - f
One of the'1 greatest improve
ments made by the firm Is the ad
dition of an - up-to-date and mod
ern equipped j paint department,
where paint I jobs of all kinds are
turned out. j A' feature of this de
partment is the Duco finish,1, a
permanent surface that defies the
weather, grease and polishes that
easily mSr and dim the luster of
other kinds of finish. The paint
Is applied " -by means : of an air
brush and from, four to five coats
are given before the vehicle is re
turned to the .owner. . Whenj a
' . 1 ; ' I .1 f ' ' .
machine. Is placed. in the depart
ment -for painting all, paint and
rust . . Is carefully removed and
when . the machine is claimed by
the- owner. It Is almost Impossible
to tell the car from a new one
unless the model is carefully look
ed over. - The finished product
can hardly be told from-the fac
tory finish. .
j In addition to high priced paint
jobs, Vick Brothers-are prepared
Interior View of Vick Bros. Automobile Sales
for cheaper and less durable paint
work which is offered- at a lower
cost. Paint; jobs are turned out
from $20 to $150, depending up
on the type : of -finish desired and
the size of the automobile. Nat
nrally, -: a large sedan , requires
more', work and care because of
the .upholstery than does a small
and ancient roadster; whose owner
is desirous only of having a coat
of paint applied in order to pre
vent further : rusting j of exposed
metal parts. ' The owner, of the
vehicle may claim it (after a few
days in the paint shop. A large
drying room enables the paint tq
dry rapidly and smoothly, and the
vehicle' is available for use after
two or three -days, though if takes
a little longer for a machine that
has received five coats of paint.
as each coat must dry. before the
next is applied! ;
Many improvements in the 1925
models are announced by Vick
Brothers, chief of which U the ar
rival of a ic-cylinder Willys
Knight automobile, a. departure
from the i-cy tinder type that has
proved popular in the Salem dis
trict, f This model will be more
luxurious than the present type
and Is designed particularly for
the man whose financial condition
enables him to spend more money
for his automobile. This model
will fill the present gap between
the Wyllis-Knlght and automo
biles, several j thousands of dollars
more expensive. The 4-cylinder
model will not be discontinued and
several minor f -improvements are
to be made this season.
Room
The 1925 Bluebird, a model fea
tured by the Overland, company,
will be equipped with a permanent
top and glass inclosure at no in
crease in price. - The gas. tank has
been moved j to the rear . and. a
vacuum tank installed beneath
the hood. - The sedan will come
equipped with; an all-steel body
and a baked enamel finish, which
will stand up 'under, the most se
vere weather conditions, "a good
polish' removing all traces of rain
and exposure!. Mother types will be
continued.' The Oakland, which
has proven its! dependability with
Salem owners', will be equipped
with permanent tops and glass in-
closures in addition to other mi
nor improvements. ;
! Both the Federal-Knight
and
! the Moreland trucks are making a
reputation for themselves. , When
' f
.; . ' - rV
!
Sallm is the Center of a Growir4 Number of Basic Industriea That Chal
lenge Universal Attention, an3 Brins Money from Markets of World.
- K ... . .' . ... ...... r
trees in California have sold for
$3000. ;
From the above, the readers
may get an idea of the intrinsic
value of a, large' walnut orchard;
or even of a few trees, la the con
ing years. It. will commence beam
ing the sixth year here.' and in
crease rapidly thereafter, .' .
It has been stated that if all the
shade trees in Salem were bearing
English walnut trees of the right
varieties the sale of ; the nuts
would pay all the taxes of the
owners of city property.
Walnuts can be produced here
cheaper than in California (a good
deal cheaper); and they are worth
more aell -at rt cents ' a pound
higher for the best grades In the
discriminating" markets. ( And land
prices are a good deal lower here
The Strawberry Industry
This -is a great strawberry dis
trict.. For some growers, straw
berries have been a bonanza crop.
There have been yields here reach
ing as high, as 24.000 pounde to
the acre, but the average - under
the old methods has perhaps been
a ton and a half to the acre. It
la expected, with new methods and
varieties, and perhaps some Irriga
tion, to bring" this -up to "two to
four tons to the acre. ( , ,
; The Marion county j canneries
packed 117,939 cases of, strawber
ries in 1923;a big increase over
1922, ; when the Salem 1 canneries
packed 60,000 cases. ; Besides
great quantities were sold fresh,
cold . packed and "disposed of in
other ways, j The totals' for last
year have not been made up.
i The, Salem district is going fast
towardu a 10.000,000 pounds an
nual crop' of strawberries, and our
manufacturing and marketing in
terests must prepare to j take care
of such a crop. Oregon' produced
hef.Southern Pacific, "which owns
the Salem street railway system,
decided to replace the North Sum
mer and , Seventeenth j streetcar
lines with motor busses, they se
lected the Moreland truck for the
chassis as the. truck best "adapted
to their needs. The busses, three
in number, were designed, for. the
traffic in Salem, and . are 16
passengec each. ; i .
....
(CoQtlnaM rr pt 1 "
5 . per cent of the strawberries
grown in the United States In
1919. Marion county is the lead
ing strawberry county in Oregon,
and Polk.; adjoining, is a close
second. Salem surely has the true
strawberry mark;, and her pre
miership as the strawberry center
of the world will depend only' up
on the facilities for properly hand
ling them keeping up with the
growing, of them in this district.
The Salem district also produces
annually great quantities' of straw
berry plants for sale at home and
for shipment to outside market.
We ship them in carloads.
The Apple Indastry
Apple growing has been succes-
fully carried on in the Salem dis
trict since thei .settlement of. the
country. There have been many
apple booms. There is an apple
tree on the Egan farm below. Sa
lem, of the Delicious variety, that
la 7S years old; center stem 60
feet high; SO feet limb eptead:
bears 50 bushels of apples a year.
Nearly all varieties of apples do
well in the family orchards here.
But, for commercial purposes,
nothing should be grown in which
we do not excel. We can excel in
the Ortley, the Rome Beauty, the
Winter1 Banana, the Grimes, the
Delicious and others, and we raise
as fine Gravensteins a the world
can show. j f-- -m
Speaking from the commercial
standpoint. It would - be well, for
the Salem district If nearly every
apple tree in all this section were
of one of the above varieties. We
can top the market with these and
that Is where the big money is in
any. Industry.; ;-- r':"';iV--Al " j
The Raspberry Industry .:
The ' Salenv districts is a good
raspberry country. : It produces as
good red raspberries as any grown.
But it has a franchise on the
black' raspberry; or what amounts
to a franchise; for the black rasp
berry persist here.-" We have
bearing Tines over- 20 years old.
This is hot true of any other dis
trict in this part of the world. - It
is not true of western Washing
ton, the great ftd raspberry coun
try. , The jam and jelly trade de
mands a lot ot black raspberries;
and there Is no bush fruit line
that la more certain of continued
success here in the Salem district
than is the raising of black rasp
berries; the blackcaps of com
merce. Our cannery pack of black
raspberries climbed from 1200
cases, each of reds and blacks in
1922 to 25.133 cases of red and
14.431 cases of blacks In 1923.
The pack of last year will show an
other increase.
The Booming Mint Industry
The mint Industry Is on a. boom
and Salem is going to be head
quarters tot growing andmarket'
ing the crop of peppermint oil
Dan J. Fry. the Salem druggist.
the largest buyer of crude drugs
In the state, U in touch with one
firm that Vlll want 50,000 pounds
annually-r-fand the Salem district,
from present indications, will soon
be ready to furnish that much;
and a great deal more;
The Oregon Mint Growers Co
operative association is active, and
it proposes to build a refinery; to
secure a larger benefit and a bet
ter standardization of the Oregon
product, which now stands very
high, and which eells to what
amounts to a premium of $1 or
more a pouna over me eio
product, lowing to Its superior
quality. " ' -
So Salem is bound to be the
center of the leading peppermint
oil district of the world--because
the finest
and richest mint oil In
is produced here; an oil
the world
with 51 per cent' ofv menthol con
tent, against 36 per cent oil pro
duced in : Michigan, Indiana, and
New-York; and an oil that ranks
at the top In flavor. . Besides, our
growers get more pounds of oil to
the acre. It has gone to 85 pounds
to the acre, and 50- pounds to the
acfe is common. The present price
is around $8.50 a.; pound. The
price -at vhich most of our crop
was sold last fall wa $4.10 and
that was very remunerative. V
Mint is as good as clover for
the soil some say better; and the
mint .bay (makes good feed, 'and;
it is a safe crop.
. . The White Mechem variety does
well here; and no where else ex
cepting in England, Saxony and
Syria.
aid la dra's. - '
Industry fcrward. ..Tl.
trlct la headed toward . a i
dollar a year peppermint c!I t ;
and It will not be Ion- fa try ing;
and it will go UU as :
farther as there la a Czz::. f
the oil at remunerative f.:l: -v:
because we have the ipe-pemlra
oil soil and climate and know low,
and organization. The acrrnra
will be largely lncrease4 Ja triLa
district this year.
TBe Country of Grcst Cc
The noses of Dionysius ar 3
chus are out of Joint; e-tf
bovine goddess, wet nurs? t
human racA. and in this tie
-i l -
, era
the Salem district will fcave -.'the
premier place of all the 'earth.
Near' Salem, at MaTlca. i.'arloa
county, Ore., was produced Vive
La France, the greatest cairy caw
of ur aee . anr breed. Uvln or
dead. The Salem district tea t ro
duced two-thirds of the world rec
ord Jersey cows, and all bat ens
in recent years, .
Western Oregon Is the test cow
country on earth; because we have
the feed and the climate and t
natural conditions that conserv ?
the highest qualities, and i 3
for the highest production in f a
domain of dairyingand wa ta?e
the dairy brains and t-9 C-'.ry
will to excel. 1
The 1200 (annual butterfat pro
duction) Jersey cow is on the
way; and.ehe will be produced in
the Salem district, and future
competition" for world's records
111 be between Salem district Jer
sey cows. The 160 to 200 pound
common brlndle cow is going; the
1000 to 1200 pound purebred cow
I eomiha: and the Ealera district
is leading and will lead the way.
The Evergreea Blackberry
. ' Industry
Salem Is the center cf the"
great and evergrowing Evergreen
blackberry industry. Marion coa3-v
ty has over half the acreage of
the state, with Polk, YanhUI asd
Linn, second, third and fourth
so the Salem district has nearly
all the Evergreen blackberries In
Oregon, and nearly all the market
for these great pie, berries of
commerce.
The Importance of the Industry'
lies in the great American appe
tite for. pie -and the Evergreen
blackberry is the commercial pie
berry par excellence; also In the'
great production to the . acre.
There have been yields of 2 2, COO
pounds to the acre -and tow;.
(Coatlau b pa: 4)