The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1905-10-26
OREGON HAS CONTROL
OF PEAR SITUATION

For the next five years half dozen
pear growers in jackson county, Ore.
gon, will practically control the pear
market of the world, says the Port.
land journal. 1t is said they are in q
position to dictate the prices of fancy
grades and that they will realize for.
tunes from their lucky ventures in
horticulture.
This interesting situation has been
brought to light by jackson county's
capture this year of the worlds record
for high prices for pears in the New
York City fruit auctions. The record
was, prior to this season, held by q
small but wonderfully prolific pear
growing community in the state Of
Idaho. jackson county-in the heart
of the great Rogue river valley-now
the recognized pear center of the
world, probably will hold ON to the
honor it so signally gained this sea-
son, so great is the territory adapted
to fine pear culture and so large is
the acreage now being rooted. In ad-
dIiton to 300 or 400 acres of old estab-
lished pear orc hards, there we're LOCO
acres of new trees painted last winter,
and 1900 acres more will be put in
this season.
For some years the few men who
have been promoting pear culture in
southern Oregon have been aware of
the changing conditions that were
soon to make jackson county the
peargrowing center. The sensational
prices obtained by them this year
we're precipitated by shortage of the
California crop, long g-looked-for eli
max resulting from the gradual decay
of the California pear orchards under
the assaults of scale and blight. In
former years California pear orchards
yielded annually surplus of :, 500 cars
for supplying the cannerles. This
year their surplus has dwindled to
500 cars-and the / the southern Ore
gon lrowers struck their bonanza.
j. W. Perkins, who has in his great
orchards east of Medford more than
100 acres OF Comice, Bartlett and
Beurre Bocs pears, captured the
world g record with a car of Comice
pears that sold at auction in the New
York market at 40 to $6. 10 per box,
averaging for the Car Sc. 80 per box,
gross receipts from the car being
50, 429. A New York dispatch says it
was the highest sale ever made in New
York city.
The Bartletts and other varieties
from jackson county made a record
sale this season. A car of Bartletts
from Captain Vorhes' orchard sold in
Montreal for S4 30 gross, per box, net
ting him about 50. 30 per box. This
transaction made a worlds record,
being the largest sale Of Bartlett pears
ever made. Captain Vorhies has for
several years cultivated pear orchari
Of 40 acres that annually netted him
profit of from $l0,0 to $12, 200.
Recently he has increased the size of
the orchard to more than 20 acres.
The extraordinary feature Of the
pear situation is the fact that there
is no scale known in jackson county.
Some years ago the county was visited
by San Jose scale, but rigoroug meas
ures we're taken against it and the dis
ease was completely stamped out.
Mount Hood Can Grow Fine Apples.
q. &. Ruff, Portland groceryman
who owns large farm in the Mount
Hood settlement, firmly believes the
upper valley will soon surpass any
other section of Hood River in the
production of fine fruit.
"Apples grown at Mount Hood will
keep at least month longer than
those grown in the lower valley, I"
says he 81 have some specimens of
Yellow Newtown in NY store in Port
land which were grown N 1904. They
are still firm. 1t was considered for q
while that the altitude would pre-
clude the production of SpitZenbergs
and Newtowns in the Mount Hood
valley but it has been thoroughly
demonstrated in the last few years
that just as fine apples of these va
rieties may be grown there as else
where in Hood River. "
Mr.. Ruff has about 700 bearing ap-
pie trees. He is preparing the ground
to plant 10 or Is acres this next
spring, and hopes some day to have
at least 80 acres in orchard. His Spit
zenbergs are large and highly colored
this year. Last spring, Mr. Ruff kept
his Ben Davis apples until all other
apples we're off the market when he
sold them to Portland commission
men for 81. 65 box.