The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1901-11-26
The YAKIMA HERALD.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2e, 1901.
CONDITION OF ORCHARDS.
c. R. Offner Of Walla Walla Gives Important
Information for Orchardists.

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Information for Orehardists.
"The Yakima valley is the best fruit
district in the Northwest, and the time
is coming when it will surpass in this
respect any other part of the United
States"
This is the assertion of c. r. Offner,
son of w. s. Offner, the big fruit raiser
and shipper Of Walla Walla county,
who has been in North Yakima and
the surrounding country for the last
three months buying the best of the
product of the orchards for shipment to
eastern points. Messrs. Offner are prac-
tical fruit men. They are familiar with
every department of the industry, from
the preparation OF the ground for the
young tree to the gathering and market
ing of the product. They have 800 acres
in fruit in Walla Walla county and have
taken special pains in studying the
conditions Of the different fruit districts
of the Northwest. They look upon the
raising OF fruit from scientific stand
point and think that no one should
enter into the business without first
familiarizing himself with at least the
first principles OF the industry.
"Too many people," said Mr.. c. r.
Offner, in an interview with the HERALD
man, "come into fruit district like
this and plunge into fruit raising with
out the least idea Of what is required to
make the business success. They see
man with large acreage OF fine bear
ing trees reaping goodly return from
his investment, and jump to the conclu-
sion that all that is necessary is to pur-
chase "ranch" and wait for nature to
do the rest. These are the people who
make failure OF fruit raising, and then
invariably condemn the country as being
unfit to live in. 1t has been demon
strated time and time again that nature
in the temperate zone will not re-
spond without the magic touch of the
tiller of the soil. Fruit trees, like vast
majority of people, must be under the
fostering care OF a practical man; that is
if satisfactory results are to be obtained.
No one can plant an orchard, no differ
ence with what variety of fruit, without
giving it special and scientific attention
if he expects to gain anything from his
labors. You must pillow the ground,
select the trees, plant them according to
the conditions governing the locality,
cultivate the soil prune them, spray
them, nurse them, harvest the crop and
send it to the best and most available
market. Now, to do all this requires
work. And this work is imperative If
commensurate returns are to beexpected.
"When we planted our 800 acre apple
ranch seven years ago we went at the
work like the builder of house on a
solid foundation. The ground was set
to Gravestines, the hardest apple that
grows in the Northwest, and when these
became three years old the varieties we
had selected to raise were grated to the
branches. This method gives tree that
resists freezing. To get the best keeper
and the most profitable apple we select
ed the Spitzenburg, Jonathan, Grimes
Golden and Winesap. While the trees
were growing the ground was cultivated
and kept entirely free from weeds.
Spraying was literally INDUCED in to
keep down pests, and pruning was not
overlooked. As result it was not long
till we had the best bearing and most
profitable orchard in Walla Walla val
ley. Conditions favored us for awhile
and the future prospects were bright.
But there came time when this roseate
outlook became overcast and now the
future is not very reassuring for apple
raising in the Walla Walla country, and
all on account of careless inspection of
fruit trees.
"The pest got beyond control in the
Walla Walla valley, and the only rem
edy seems to be to destroy all the orch
ards and plant new ones under more
watchful system. Our worst enemy is
the codling moth. The scale is easy to
handle. 1t can be killed readily with
the proper solution for spraying; so can
the codling moth, providing your neigh
Dor also sprays. But here is where the
difficulty comes in with us. While We
do not by any means expect to quit the
business in that district we do expect
harder work in the future to protect our
trees unless the inspectors render better
service. There are many old orchards in
Walla Walla county and for years very
/ little care was taken of them. The