Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1897-07-21

aOle lot very warm WedJueT, oeCOlu'
ing cooler by tonight; Thursday aud
Friday promise 20 I've cOul with clouds.
MARION COUNTY CROPS.
A drive through the country az This
season is Il most pl'asa experience
The roads are superb aud the farms
everywhere present an attractive ap
pearance. The hay crop is about all
cared for. and the harvesting of grain
is beginning, all hands being ve,y
busy.
There is a good prune crop, al
though the orchards vary consider
ably. The Petites and Silvers are
scarce nearly everywhere, while the
Italians run from half crop to all
the trees will bear up. Apples and
pears seem to be plentiful everywhere,
and while many growers thinks
wormy fruit is scarcer than usual, few
il any orchards are free from them.
Many of the old-time grain farmers
hesitate about taking up fruit cult
ure as a business, thinking the mar
ket too unsatisfactory, yet it must be
admitted that fruit raising is bound
to.be great thing for our state. Most
growers are making fair profit on
the business, and those operating un-
der the most favorable conditions are
doing well indeed. In the meantime
the communities in which much fruit
is raised are bound to prosper, as large
sums of money must necessarily he
spent caring for and harvesting the
crop. This circulates freely, to the
great advantage of all.
Six weeks ago the outlook for the
grain was very discouraging, but the
Willamette valley has been true to
traditions, and comes out of the most
untoward conditions with good crop.
1t Will not be large yield by any
means, but fair judges think the
average yield of wheat will be from 20
to 25 bushels per acre. Thirty bush
els is considered a good crop, and
while many pieces will reach that or
more, it is above the average for this
season, yet all are more than pleased
with the fine yield considering the
dreary outlook early in the summer
All other small graf ms run about the
same as wheat.
1t is gratifying to note that the
number of corn fields and clover plats
are increasing from year to year. 1t
was thought for many years that Or
egon was not fitted for these two valu-
able crops, but it is now being demon
strated that in favored localities they
can be produced with good results.
The increased production of these
crops means increased wealth for the
state, and the Willamette valley has
many places most favorably adapted TO
their culture. Greater diversity Of
crops must be the ultimate salvation
OF the Oregon farmer. Fruit alone
clnnot solve the problem, but il will
take, stock, hogs, hops, grass and dali
rying as well.
The hop crop is giving operators
considerable encouragement although
| in some localities the lice are attack
ling them terribly, while in other
yards there are scarcely any. The
yards on the hills are said to be quite
free from the pest, while those on the
bottom lands, those that were idle
last year, especially about Eola, are
badly infested. Some of those yards
are now having the overhead vines
cut down, and spraying will be COM
menced forthwith. 1t will take several
sprayings of quassia chips and whale
oil soap to free the yards from the
aphis, when it is thought a good crop
will develop.