The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1904-09-01
THE APPLE
IN OREGON

the department OF nOTtlcultuIe; OTeRou
Agricultural Experiment station at Cor
wallis is an intensely interesting one to
the apple growers OF Oregon. 1t is pre-
pared BY Professor E. r. Lake, horti-
culturist and botanist OF the station. MIR.
Lakes work shows careful research and
thorough mastery of his subject, and
his language is couched in the simplest
terms, easily understood by all.
The bulletin is nicely illustrated with
hali-tones, on a fine grade Of book paper
and the press work is faultless. 1t opens
with history Of the introduction Of
the apple in Oregon, telling how Hen
derson Luel ing Of Iowa, in l847 brought
across the plains with an OK team what
is supposed to have been the first graft
ed apple trees planted in Oregon. These
trees were grown in boxes by Mr.. Luel
ling in Iowa, loaded into the wagon
cared for and watered and kept alive
the long, hot, weary months OF
summer travel across the plains. We
now can never be able to realize what
a stupendous task this must have been,
and can only family imagine some OF
his difficulties when we recall stories of
suffering from scarcity Of water at times
and at other times where two or three
teams coupled together were necessary
to drag the heavy loads through the
marshy places or up the steep, stony in
clines OF the mountain passes. Added
to these natural difficulties were those
more hard to meet, the unieeling ieers
and more strenuous objections OF his
short sighted companions. At times
Mr.. Luelling was obliged To show dis
position to fight to prevent his COM
rades from throwing out his treas
ures in order to tighten the load. But
he was typical pioneer, possessed OF
the necessary ability and determination
to carry him through, and in the fall
he planted his trees in some freshly
cleared land near Milwaukee, Or, and
from this beginning Oregon achieved
her fame for growing the Big Red Apple.
Mr.. Lueling lived to see the wisdom OF
his course thoroughly demonstrated for
his trees returned--"a dollar drop for
for the sweat lost in getting the neces-
sary water to keep them alive while we
crossed the desert; and their luscious
fruit repaid me many times over for the
jeers, ridicule and contentious Of my
comrades"
Mr.. Lake quotes DIR. j. r, Cardwell
in First Oregon Report as follows:
"It is related that the first big red APP
pie produced by Oregon soil was borne
upon one -year-old root-graft in this
(Luelling & Meek's) early nursery in
the fall Of 1913, ca and 50 great was the
fame OF it, and such the curiosity, that
men, women and children came from
miles to see it, and made hard, beaten
track through the nursery to this Joyous
reminder OF the old homestead 80 far
away.
"fhe first orchards Of notable size
were planted in the Waldo hills, ON
French prairie near Salem. The follow
ing varieties were common ones OF those
early days: Red June, Summer Sweet,
Red Astrachan, Gravenstein, Talman
Sweet, Blue Pearmaiu, White Winter
Pearmain, Gloria Mundi, Genet, Bald
win, Rambo, Winesap, Jennetting,
Seek-no-further, Tulpahocken, Ameri.
can Pippin, Red Cheek Pippin, Rhode
Island Greening, Virginia Greening,
Little Romantic, spitzenburg, Swaar,
Waxen, and spurious Yellow Newtown
Pippin, since called the Green Newtown
Pippin and generally considered worth
less. Some few other varieties were
probably introduced at the same time
but Of these there ia no certain record.
Tn 1850 Mr.. Luelling returned to the
East and selected at the nursery OF Al.
Downing, among other trees some Yel-
low Newtown Pippins which, were dug
under the personal supervision OF Mr..
Downing. These trees were brought
across he Isthmus. On fruiting these
brovrd to be nothing more than the So
called Green Newtown Pippin Of the first
introduction, and the real Yellow New
town Pippin az we have it now was not
introduced until some years later.
"The first box OF apples off red for
sale in Portland by Mr. Luelling was
eagerly purchased at one dollar apiece,
netting him $75. Following this, prices
ranged from one dollar pound TO $25
a box and and retailed as high as $3.50
per pound, and in one instance $3.50
was paid for one apple.
"In 1853 the surplus, a few boxes Sc
curely bound with strap iron, were
shipped to San Francisco and sold at 81
per pound.
"In 1854 the surplus amounted to 800
bushels and was sold at Il net price OF
81 so to 81 per pound.
"In 1855, 5000 bushels were shipped
returning net price Of $40 to $50 per
bushel.
"In 1856 shipments amounted to 20,-
600 boxes. This year one box of Esopus
Spitzenbergs sold in San Francisco for
$50 net, and three boxes of Winesaps
sold in Portland for $l02.
"From this time till 1869 the ship
ments during the falland winter months
varied from 5000 TO 10000 boxes per
month. From 1870 the shipments to Cal
ifornia declined, as the young orchards
OF that state came into bearing at such
rate as to not only supply their own
demand but to furnish some for export
alton. In consequence OF this loss OF
market, prices fell 30 low that thousands
of bushels annually rotted beneath the
trees and other thousands of bushels
were consumed by stock. The enor-
nous prices obtained during the Sos
resulted in the planting Of great acre
age of orchards. With the loss of the
California market came total collapse
in the industry, since there were no adj
equate means of transportating the
great yield of fruit from these young
orchards to suitable markets"
Mr.. Lake also quotes the following
from T., l.. Smiths address at the Far
mer's Congress, Salem, 1892:
cat a farm near Salem | purchased
several hundred boxes OF the largest
Winesaps had ever seen, l could
have bought almost unlimited quantities
of this fine fruit at from II! to l5 cents
per bushel. In an orchard near Jeffer-
son this fruit was still cheaper for there
remember seeing great Golden Belle
flowers falling to the ground to the evi
dent satisfaction of the pigs beneath
! the trees.
The bulletin also contains the follow.
ing interesting letter from John Mimic
Salem, Oregon, February IA, 1902:
81 should judge from my knowledge
of the French Canadian settlers, that
Joseph Gervais, who settled at Chemay,
way, was the first planter of apple trees
in the Willamette valley, He was the
leader of his class, and in 1915 his OF