The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1899-10-13
In The Annie ReIt.

WIZ III improvements anu NfciN EtNtIul VI
chards in this fruitful section that are
well worthy of special mention. We
passed over the new grade that starts at
Reynolds place and winds around the
bluffs and intersects the old road at VIM.
Foss place. This piece Of new road is a
great saving of time and horse flesh to
the settlers on the East Side, and its
promoters and those who so freely sub
scribed the money for its construction
deserve the lasting thanks of the traveller
A few more turnouts and railing or
fence along the river side are needed TO
make this work complete; but we have
the road and the safeguards win be sure
to come later. At the top of the hill q
grand view is obtained of the canyon OF
Hood river with Mt. Hood in the dis
tance. We passed the neat buildings
and good orchards of VIM. Foss, S. II
| Cox, NJ. V. Rand, w. V. Johnson, John
Sweeney and VIM. Kennedy and came
to the place Of d. II. Sears, where we
were invited to tarry for the day. Mr.
Sears has ranch of 100 acres, 2ts miles
from town, 40 acres lying ON the west
side Of the road and 60 on the east. Mr.
Sears located ON this place Just seven
years ago. The place then had very
little or no improvements. With very
little means to 90 ahead and make inn
provements himself and son-ip-law, j.
G. Porter, went to work and in few
years cleared the land and transformed
the wilderness into blooming and pro-
ductive home. Mr.. Sears now has a
commodious and comfortable dwelling,
good barns and other buildings, and
about 1900 apple trees, besides other
fruit. His land lies mostly on ridge
sloping gently TO gulches on either side,
affording good drainage His apple
trees are well worth days travel TO
see. The trees are healthy looking and
have made a good growth this season I;
in fact we never saw finer looking
body of trees, and in this off year his
three and four-year-old Ben Davis, Yel-
low Newtown, Red Cheek Pippin and
other varieties are well loaded with
large well-shaped apples, free from cod
lin moth. Mr.. Sears has kept the spray
pump going and sprayed eight times
during the present season. He believes
in using plenty of arsenic and lime, and
by using the spray when it is about the
consistency Of thin whitewash, keeps his
apples at all times covered with coat
ing OF the spray. In our walk through
1 his orchards, where we estimated his
crop at at least 1000 boxes, we found
but two wormy apples, and evidently
they were upon trees that did not get
SPRAYED every time because the apples
on them were not seen till they got to be
a good size. He has four-year-old Ben
Davis trees that will yield three and
four boxes OF first class apples. Even
on trees that are heavily loaded with
fruit growth Of three feet was noted
on some Of the branches. If one of
these Ben Davis trees, with its load Of
well developed fruit, could be taken up
bodily and exhibited at the Portland ex-
position it would create a sensation and
advertise our section more satisfactorily
than it could be done in any other way
Mr. Sears is Justly proud OF his orchards.
He knew nothing about the cultivation
Of fruit when he came TO Hood River,
but has made it study, and now We
! consider that he can give pointers to
some of us who had been in the business
for years before he left his old home in
Ohio to come West He is miller by
trade, and followed that occupation for
years in his old home in Marion county,
Ohio. Mr.. Sears is q veteron OF the
civil war, having served within few
days of four years in the 9th Ohio caval-
ry. He spent seven mouths in Libby
! prison. lie went out as aprivate before
he had reached the age Of ii and came
home with shoulder straps He served
in the army of the Potomac and was
under Phil Sheridan and other noted
cavalry leaders. Mrs. Sears is lady of
refinement and is attached to her new
home. The good dinner she served will
not soon be forgotten and the remem-
brance Of it will be apt to bring us back
again. While in the neighborhood we
visited the Thos Lacey place, now man
aged by Warren Wells, Mr.. Wells has
also taken good care OF his trees, and
the fine apples he will gather in this
year of partial failure will well repay
him for the trouble and expense he has
been put to in spraying.
VIM. Kennedy, another near neighbor
of Mr.. Sears, has a fine orchard, and as
he has been successful with the spray
pump, will also have lot Of choice APP
i Piles to market. After seeing these or
chards the writer will have to reconsider
his estimate made two or three weeks
ago, that Hood River would not have
more than 1000 boxes of marketable
apples. One-third of this estimate will
be gathered in these three young or
chards alone.
What D. II. Sears has accomplished
in the seven years be has been in Hood
River others can accomplish in the
same length Of time There is
plenty Of the same kind of land
on the East Side offered for
sale at from $50 to $40 an acre. Mr.
Sears will clear this year more than $3.50
an acre on some parts Of his bearing or
chards. At this rate the land ON which
his four-year-old trees are growing ought
to be cheap at $3.50 an acre. But no one
should think Of setting out an apple or.
chard unless they are prepared to attend
to it properly. 1t takes time to spray
and the spraying always comes at time
when other work is pressing