EIGHT MTDFORD (OREGON)
Pear Industry Maintains
Agricultural Economy Lead
County Pear Production
In Millions of Boxes
r
F 3.5
2.5
1.5
.5
1920 1930
Constitutional Change
Gets Recommendation
Salem (U.R) A proposed
constitutional amendment to in
crease the term of state repre
sentatives from two years to
four has received the favorable
recommendation of the Senate
Elections committee and will be
before the Senate for final ac
tion this week.
The Senate Judiciary commit
tee gave its approval to legisla
tion to raise from $20,000 to
$25,000 the ceiling for damages
in wrongful death. This would
change a House-passed bill to
remove the limit altogether.
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MFDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE
MAIL TRIBUNE
1
1940 1950 1960
Most of Nation
Can Expect Spring
By UNITED PRESS
The weather took a season
able turn today with mild,
spring-like readings expected
most of the nation.
A warming trend that began
Sunday continued during the
night in the Mississippi valley,
the Ohio valley and the lower
Great Lakes region.
Clearing skies sent tempera
tures tumbling in the Northern
Lakes area, but weathermen
said the mercury will climb to
day under bright sunshine. The
coldest spot in the nation over
night was Mount Washington,
N.H., where the temperatures
registered 1 above zero at mid
night. A
A storm center in the Pacific
Northwest brought showers
from the Pacific coast to the
Rockies. The storm brought an
inch or' more of rain Sunday
over coastal sections of northern
California.
Forecasters said warming will
continue today from the Great
Plains states to the Atlantic
with mostly fair skies east of
the Mississippi river. . Mostly
cloudy weather was seen for
the Plains with scattered show
ers in the southern and north
ern sections.
Dam in Ecuador Bursts;
Homes Swept Away
Jipijapa, Ecuador U.R) The
new Jipijapa 'Damburst Sunday,
drowning at least four persons
and sweeping away scores of
homes in this provincial town.
Damage was estimated at $180,
000. The failure of the dam, com
pleted only a few months ago,
was blamed on "defective construction."
Monday, April 15, 1957
(Editor's note: How is agriculture doing in Jackson county?
What is its future? How does it stack up as compared to the past?
What are the major items of income?
(The following is one of a series of six articles, prepared by the
Mail Tribune in cooperation with the county agricultural exten
sion office and others, in an attempt to answer these questions).
In 1890 there were about 2,000
boxes of pears produced in Jack
son county. In 1956, there were
nearly 3V million boxes of pears
produced here.
During the last half of that 66-
year' period, local fruit growers
(along with nearly everyone else
in the nation) felt effects of the
economic depression of tne
1930's. Then a widespread
blight infestation destroyed
more than 1.000 acres of pear
trees. Next, World War II halt
ed exports to valuable- foreign
markets, and force of compe
tition from other areas strength
ened. Hail, Frost
In 1948, a severe hail storm
resulted in serious crop losses,
and on May 1, 1954, came the
hardest blow of all an untime
ly frost, which claimed over haif
of the anticipated pear crop in
the county.
In spite of these and other
"calamities," the pear industry
has for many years maintained
its position as No. 1 in agricult
ural importance to the county.
During 1956, estimated gross
income from agricultural enter
prises in the county was $28,
688,361. Of this total, about $19,
000,000 came from horticultur
al products, mostly pears. An
nually, pears represent about
50 per cent of the county's total
agricultural income.
Survives Hardships
C. B. Cordy, county horticul
ture agent, says the local fruit
industry has survived its hard
ships and forged ahead largely
because members of the in
dustry have used a positive ap
proach to problems, profited
from mistakes and kept abreast
of scientific and mechanical im
provements. For instance, after the depres
sion, pear growers banded to
gether in an attack against
blight. Their clean-up campaign
brought the disease under con
trol. According to Cordy, they
have met competition by ex
panding local production and
emphasizing high quality. Simul
taneously, they have spent stag
gering sums of money promo
ting their product. Growers tax
themselves eight cents a box
and the money goes toward pro
moting consumer use of pears.
The Oregon- Washington- Calif
ornia Pear Bureau, considered
one of the leading industry pro
motion and market production
agencies in existence, originated
right here in Medford about
25 years ago. It has been given
much credit for keeping the
pear industry "on its feet" dur
ing periods of tight economy.
Seek Answers
Jackson county fruit growers
lost no time after 1948 in seek
ing an answer to the-hail prob
lem. In 1949, the Rogue River
Valley Traffic association (since
renamed the Medford Pear
Shippers association) initiated a
cloud seeding program. Air
planes scattered chemical solu
tions through the clouds at
tempting to dissolve hail before
it could, reach the pear crop.
In 1954, the association pio
neered a different hail suppres
sion program here using ground
generators and silver iodide.
This program is carried out by
the Water Resources , Develop
ment corporation of Denver,
thr'ough its local headquarters
at the Medford airport.
It is still in experimental
stages and results are being
closely observed by government
al agencies and other fruit dis
tricts. It's too early to deter
mine the relative success of the
program, but large annual ex
penditures made by fruit grow
ers toward its support indicate
they believe it has real prom
ise. Orchard Heating
Orchard heating for preven
tion of frost damage started here
in 1905, and acceptance of this
program gradually increased
among orchardists. Then, un
derstandably enough, use of or
chard heating reached an all
time high after the 1954 frost.
There are few orchardists in the
valley now who do not care
fully listen for frost warnings
and keep heating equipment
ready to use until well past the
acknowledged frost danger per
iod. Among significant improve
ments introduced in the last
decade by Medford and Hood
River fruit packers have
START NOW
Jjp Save
HIIok
been polyethelene bags for stor
ing pears. These transparent
bags are capable of preserving
pears for extended lengths of
time. Storage ability depends on
the balance of oxygen and car
bon dioxide within the bags.
This varies according to storage
temperatures and other factors,
and can be controlled by punch
ing holes in the bags. Poly
ethelyne bags have aroused a
considerable amount of outside
interest and research is still
under way.
Figures Compared "
An interesting phenomenon
can be observed by comparing
pear production and tree acre
age figures of 1931-35 and 1955.
In 1931-35, estimated pear pro
duction was 1 23 million boxes
as compared with 3V4 million
boxes in 1955. Yet, in 1930, esti
mated total acres of pear trees
was 11,620 as compared with
10,000 in 1955.
Cordy cites better care of
trees and use of modern meth
ods in accounting for increased
production, despite decreased
acreage. Adoption of improved
pruning techniques, use of new
chemicals for disease and insect
control, development of effec
tive spray schedules and fertil
izer programs are a few of the
production methods used.
Varieties, Acreages
FVlowing is a breakdown of
varieties and acreages in 1930
as compared with 1955:
Variety 1930 1955
Bartlett & Hed BarUett.. 3.860 4.300
D'Anjou 2.600 2.800
Bosc 3.000 1.800
Cornice . 740 900
Winter Nelis 950 . 50
Howell 260 5
Miscellaneous
TOTAL
210
150
..11,620 10,000
Cordy pointed out that the
increase in Bartlett, D'Anjou
and Cornice acreage and de
creases in Bosc, Winter Nelis
and Howell has largely been due
to grafting of the latter three
varieties over to the other three.
Reasons for grafting included
diseases and low prices, which
made Bosc, Winter Nelis and
Howell less desirable than the
other varieties.
Loss of Acreage
A considerable amount of
worry has been expressed re
cently over loss of fruit acreage
for residential and industrial
purposes as the county ex
pands. Cordy estimates about
100 acres of orchard land have
been taken out of production in
meeting residential and indust
rial needs in the last 10 years.
It has been predicted that a
great deal more orchard land
will be similarly used in years
to come.
"Considering this, 'as well as
age of existing orchards, the
pear and apple sub-committee
of (the Jackson County Agricul
tural council recently stressed
the need for additional plantings
in the area. Cordy said there is
"good reason" to believe more
new plantings will be in evi
dence in the coming year than
has occurred in the last 25 years.
He noted 50 per cent of present
orchards in the county are 40
years old or older. This means
their production levels will soon
decline a'nd new plantings will
be necessary to stabilize produc
tion. Additional Plantings
The committee also recom
mended additional plantings be
confined to the present four
main varieties Bartlett, D'Anjou,
Bosc and Cornice, with the ad
dition of Red Bartletts. The lat
ter variety was introduced
about 10 years ago in Yakima,
Wash., and has been especially
adaptable to this area, Cordy
said. Skin of Red Bartletts has
a red tinge, but the fruit is
otherwise about the same as reg
ular Bartletts. Requirements for
the Red Bartlett variety 'to de
velop red color include low
humidityj cold nights and hot,
bright days.
Cordy said another new var
iety, Packham's Triumph, also
shows promise for this area.
Pears of this variety are large,
sturdy and can be stored until
spring.
Irrigation facilities rank
among the greatest needs for
the fruit industry here. Cordy
says it doesn't matter whether
these facilities are provided by
federal, state, county or indi-
Daily's U-Drive
Medford Airport"
Nixon Report Said
Los Angeles (U.R) Mrs. Elea
nor Roosevelt says that Vice
President Richard M. Nixon ne
glected to mention "an impend
ing famine in Morocco" in re
porting his recent trip to Africa.
"I read the vice president's re
port," the widow of the late
President said. "I was surprised
to find he did not mention what
I feel is a most serious problem
Ten Commandments
Would Be Reduced
Washington (U.R) The House
budget cutters are in full cry.
Sen. Norris Cotton (R-N.H.), a
former member of the House
Appropriations Committee, re
ported thus to his constituents:
"As one member put it, 'The
boys are in such a mood that if
someone introduced the Ten
Commandments they would cut
them down to eight'."
A", colleague commented: "If
they did, the Democrats would
call dn President Eisenhower to
name the two to be eliminated."
vidual funds.. "We need more
irrigation badiy and should take
immediate steps to get it some
how," he states.
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To Neglect Famine
in Africa, the impending' famine
in Morocco."
Mrs. Roosevelt returned to
New York Sunday night follow
ing a speech before the south
west regional conference of the
American Association for the
United Nations.
"There is an immediate dan
ger of a famine in Morocco like
the one in 1947 when two mil
lion persons died," she said. "We
have large surpluses of wheat
and powdered milk and the
United States will be asked to
help."
Husband Watches as
Bride Dies in Plane
Marathon, Fla. U.R) A Mi
ami man watched helplessly
Sunday night as a light plane
crashed and burned, killing his
bride of two weeks and the pilot.
Buddy Young and his wife, La
vergne, 27, had arranged for
pilot Thurman Riley, 44, of Mi
ami, to "buzz" low over the
lodge where the Youngs work
as a signal for him to meet them
at the airport.
The plane hit a high-voltage
cable, slammed to the ground
and burned. Mrs. Young and
Riley were killed instantly.
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Magic Chicken Feed
Produces Egg . Machines
Milan, Italy U.R) Italian
poultrymen said today they have
found a magic chicken feed that
will turn normal hens into mass
production egg-laying machines.
They said their formula for
increased production consists of
feeding the chickens a balanced
diet of proteins and vitamins
and keeping each hen in a one-cubic-foot
cage, where she has
nothing else to do but lay eggs.
The hens get a vacation every
two months, they added.
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center of gravity.
So don't let the miles bump by in ordinary transportation.
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FLAT POISONING
Dickinson. N.D. (L'-PV- West-
em North Dakota stockmen have
rerjorted cattle losses through
flax poisoning. Immature green
uax eaten oy u -n.ic
tain enough prussic acid to kill
the animals.
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MEDFORD, OREGON
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE