The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1898-05-17

uphill lands. The spring OF 1872 saw
the first trees planted on top of hill
by Mr.. Roberts. I5 afterwards proved
the orchard most secure against
frosts. Bearing peaches one year
when the entire peach crop grown
elsewh ere in the region was destroyed
by frost. AS is the case when men try
something before considered lmprac-
ticable, these men were the butt of
many jest and sarcasm. 81. j. Wal
dron, prominent citizen of The
Dalles, said: Roberts. will have a
large bust cast OF you for your grand
children, if you succeed in making a
living on that dry land" Not only
were trees planted on top of the hill,
but corn, potatoes and watermelons,
also This was going farther than
any one had dared to think; for "water-
melons must be irrigated"
These were the fore-runners of the
carloads that have since been shipped
from this locality. Side by side with
the market wagons from the creeks
came the wagons from the dry upland
farms. Soon people found that the
corn was as sweet, the squashes and
pun pkins as yellow, the potatoes
mealier and the watermelons sweeter
and finer grained than those that had
to say ''If you succeed, we will try it,
too; but we would rather not be count
ed fools yet, if you fail" But failure
was never one of the ingredients of
the soil they titled, nor was 1t woven
into the tissue of Oheir braw2 and
brain. When the fruit came, all their
expectations were realized. Now
they were not alone in their venture,
for others seeing these results began
similar farms, and Wasco county was
ready for homes in the valleys or on
the hills. In the following ten years
most of the rolling Gillable land be-
tween The Dalles and Fifteen-Mile
creek was entered.
To raise fruit for the home market
was all that any farmer attempted.
The Columbia river steamers, with
their high freight, and the pack ami
mails to the mines, were the only
means of transportation. When the
O. r. & N. line of road was COM
pleted, an impetus was given to the
fruit industry. and the population OF
The Dalles increased for home con-
sumption, and market opened to
Portland and the East. To the Seufert
Bros. belongs the honor of making
fruit shipping possibility to the
farmers. Here begins new chapter
in the history of fruit raising. The
few orchards that had been previously
planted gave such evidences of good
results that many were induced to set
more largely. Red winter apples and
strawberries were especially planted
in the Hood River valley. When the
Indian owned the country and hunted,
fished and gathered ''olallies, the Hood
River valley was his finest strawberry
patch, and when the white man came.
uOs tOO, SdUuSTcu Ou0u III Wllu
luxuriance. At first only sufficient
quantity was planted for the household
and local market. Before 1889 berries
had been shipped to The Dalles and
Portland markets. but in that year
shipments were made to Montana
points as an experiment. The returns
were so flattering that larger patches
were planted, and in 1890 few hun
dred crates, of twenty-four pounds
each, were shipped. When the ship.
ments reached 1000 crates, growers be-
gan to fear the market would be over
stocked, and hesitated about enlarging
their patches. They could not under
stand where all the berries went, nor
that their berries would stand ship
ment to such markets as now take
them. This accounts for the compare
lively SLOW rate of increase in ship
ments, but in 1894, when 10000 crates
were shipped, and as much as two car
loads were being sent every day, and
kilograms from Omaha. Kansas City,
St. Paul and Chicago were demanding
them in car load lots, the possibilities