The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1903-11-15
w. L. Davis, of Ophir, Okanogan

side of the Okanogan river, twelve
miles north of the point where the
OKanogan empties it's waters into The
Columbia. Mr.. Davis was running the
stage ten years, but, having faith in
the productive capacity of the Okan-
ogan valley land and it's climatic adj
vantages, he took land and began to
improve it; he owns $50 acres, 200 of
this being under cul ivation. One
hundred and fifty acres of alfalfa, fiji
teen acres of orchard, the balance
grain and vege tables. Water is piped
from a spring to irrigate the orchard
and garden; the balance is not irri-
gated. The lower bench, twenty feet
above the river yields annually about
four and a half to five tons of hay,
being three GU tings; the next bench,
twenty feet higher, yields about three
tons per acre annually, at two cut
tings. Mr.. Davis thinks this yield
could be nearly doubled by irrigation
but there is no water available except
by pumping.
The orchard is mostly apple and
peach, with some pear, plum, prune
and 100 Royal Ann cherry; these pro-
duced 300 boxes of cherries this year,
which sold for sixty cents per box.
He sold $500 boxes of peaches at
sixty cents. The varieties are Alex
ander for early, then he has a fine red
checked peach that comes just after
the Alexander, but the name has been
lost; it is a good bearer, healthy tree
and fruit Ii tie better flavor than
Alexander. Early and late Crawford
both good, and the Elberta. He has
a small vineyard of Muscat, Muscatel,
Rose of Peru and Concord; all sold
for the same price-siXty cents for
twenty-pOund boxes.
Five varieties of walnuts; a Japan
csc variety seems the best, as the tree
is a good grower, harder and more
hrifty than the English varieties.
Two young trees produced flour sack
full of walnuts this year.
In the apple orchard the leading va
rieties are Twenty-Ounce Pippin,
Wagner, Blue Pearmain, Ben Davis
and Newtown Pippin; among other va
rieties a few trees of the Grimes
Golden, grows WELL bears abundantly
and is of excellent flavor, the apples
are uniform in size and large enough
for good fourier apples. The trees
do not break as easy as some others
and bear a good crop every year. The
Spitzenberg is a shy bearer and not
profitable; but the Newtown Pippins
do fairly well-siX boxes to the tree;
Ben Davis, the same age, producing
fourteen to twenty
Tomatoes are good crop; plants
started in the hotbed may be safely
planted out in the field May LIST and
produce ripe tomatoes by July 18th.
From a small plantation Mr.. Davis
this year sold 300 boxes for sixty cents
per box. There is seldom any frost
after the snow goes off in the spring.
The snow fall is quite heavy in win
ter, but the weather is never very
cold, although it has fallen to de-
grees below zero once in fifteen years.
The first killing frost in the fall u.s.
ually comes from the middle of Octo-
Der to the LIST of November. Mr.. Da-
Wis is raising horses and cattle, and
has a good herd of grade cattle, but
wants better and will put full blood
Hereford bull at the head of his herd
this spring, as he thinks it does not
pay to fool with grade bulls as he has
been doing. Good corn can be grown
or, Tho bAnoJ, 1onIc without i,r;ootio,,