The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1904-12-22
BIGGEST FRUIT
SHOW ON EARTH
Hood River Display at st. Louis
Never Before Equalled In the World.

Professor Fl. II. Van Deman, whoI
Il will be remembered wrote to e. j
Smith a short time ago, complimentin
Hood River very highly on her une1
celled fruit display at the st. Loui
Worlds fair, gives the following repor
in Green's Fruit Grower for Decembe
OF his visit to the horticultural exhibi
at the fair:
saw at St. Louis the largest displa
OF apples that has ever been made
There were apples from almost ever.
section OF our own country and ais
from other parts OF the world. Tw'
acres OF floor space we're occupied b!
this display Of apples besides that devot
ed to other departments of horticul
ture. There were cranberries from Can
ada and other Of the colder sections o.
our country, representing the fruits o.
the arctic regions, for they grow as fal
north as any edible fruit. also saw
pineapples and bananas from Florida
and Mexico, and other fruits that thrive
in the tropics. The eastern and western
states, in fact ell those between the two
oceans exhibited here the products Of
their orchards, vineyards and berry
fields for examination and comparison
Such friendly contests bring out points
OF interest exceedingly valuable.
The apple exhibit was the crowninl
feature In the entire fruit show. II was
however, commercial exhibit, largely,
and less an exhibit Of large numbers o.
varieties. There were some rare varie
ties shown, but the bulk Of the apples
were those most commonly seen in the
markets of the world The exhibit may
be called contest between the far east
the far west and the central part oI
North America.
That our country excels all other parts
OF the world In apple production both In
quality and quantity is generally con
ceded.
Texas did far better than might be ex.
pected and the best OF oil the gulf states
which are scarcely within the apple
growing region OF America. In the
northern part OF texas are sections fair
ly well adapted TO apple culture. Theil
apples do not keep long nor are they o
the highest quality nor as handsome al
those from the north. A part OF Canada
exhibit represented the extreme north
ern section. Ontario is identical in sol
and climate with New York and Michi
gan, which are two OF the best apple
growing states. Northern Canadi
should not be expected to grow many
apples, yet in Nova Scotia and Prince
Edward island there are many fine or
chards, and in Winnepeg some littl'
progress has been made. New York ap
Piles were extensively displayed, th'
varieties being largely Baldwin, ,Northerr
Spy, r. l. Greening, Roxbury Russet
ETC., and many OF these were OF the 100;
crop held In cold storage. Ben Dawn
was small and lacked high color. Wine
sap was not shown. Connecticut made Q
credible apple show Of the same general
character as those from New York bu
in smaller quantities. Michigan also
made an exhibit similar TO that OF New
York but not 30 large. Minnesota made
q fine display OF apples. Wealthy,a child
OF that state, was the leading variety
1t Is good TO cat no matter where grown
They were not so large as those from
other states but were highly colored and
Of good quality. Many Russian and
other hardy apples we're shown from
Minnesota. Wisconsin In its attractive
apple exhibit showed Wolf River, which
exceeded all other varieties In size and
beauty. Next came Mcmahon, which il
as handsome creamy white % VOL
River Ia In itsgay red stripes. N. w
Greening showed we'll, being Of large
eize and symmetrical, roundish shape
and pale green color. ALI these are ma.
tive seedlings Of Wisconsin. lows
showed larger range Of varieties. Iu
Iowa are some OF the best apple
lands in America as the exhibit showed
AL claABes of Varieties succeed there,
Iowa had the largest number Of varieties
and the most nearly correctly named o
all competitors, Jonathan and Grimel
we're not large but highly Colored. Ne
braska made fine exhibit, similar Il
that OF Iowa, which is not strange, sine,
the climate and soil Of the two state
are almost identical. Kansas made
fair display, but inBize, color and qualit,
was below the standard for that state
Jonathan, Grimes, Ben Davis and other
OF their types were similar to those o
neighb0riHg states. Indian Territory
and Oklahoma had small but goot
exhibits. The display was chiefly o
Ben Davis, Winesap and York Imperial
These apples were lacking In long keep
Ing quality and in the highest flavor
Jonathan and Grimes were fully rip,
there In October. Arkansas made {
fine show of apples, the varieties bein,
about the same as from adjoining states
Arkansas, Mammoth Black Twig), Jon
athan, Winesap, Ben Davis, Gano and
Black Ben Davis .were there. Missouri
had O large apple display. Il was wei
managed and covered large list OF var.
rieties. The character Of the fruit wal
similar to that from Arkansas. Ber
Davis and Gano reach their highest size
and best quality in that region. A large
table OF York Imperial from Missouri
was the finest I have ever seen; | can
almost say the same OF their Jonathan
The quality OF both was excellent. Ill.
lnois made one OF the best apple exhib-
its. 1t was extensive and of good char
aeter. Jonathan and Grimes led. Ben
Davis, GahO, ,Willow and York Imperial
largely were shown. Indiana was we'll
represented but not 80 largely as Illinois,
but the fruit was of similar character.
Jonathan and Grimes were the two best
apples from that state for family use
aud fancy marketand York Imperial and
Ben Davis for the general market. Vir-
ginia, West Virginia and Tennessee all
displayed good apples. Their general
character was similar and averaged we'll
up to that of the central states and
about the same varieties were shown,
There are good apple lands there, espec.
tally in the mountain sections. Montana
made small exhibit Of varieties adapt.
cd to cold climate, such as Wolf River
Wealthy, Mcintosh, which were of the
largest but of good quality and flavor
ldaho's apples were among the best OF
exhibition but small in quantity. The
same was true of New Mexico. Colo
rado had more apples in amount and O
the same general character. | saw
nothing in the building that surpassed
them in beauty, in fact, hatequaled tn,
apples from the Gunnison county il
Western Colorado and from the Sar
Juan region which is on the southern
border OF that state. Such Jonathanl
one never sees in central or eastern
Rtataa The chlorinO waa uoroeoaa yai