The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1905-06-15
HORTICULTURE
r. WALDEN

of visitors There is much to be seen
and it is an educator. 1t is not my
purpose to write of the fair in gen.
eral way. My department is devoted
to horticulture and of that l shall
write. No man can know all things,
and it is far better to know some
things we'll than to have a mere smat-
tering of a great many things. SO
will remember the old adage: shoe
maker, stick to your last. There are
some good lessons to be learned IN
horticulture right here on the fan
grounds. 1t is true that horticulture
can be studied in the orchard and this
[ have been doing for years past. III L
have any particular fitness for the
work I am doing on The Ranch 1t is
owing to the fact that I deal to
large extent with my own experience
in running a commercial orchard. But
there are some lessons | am learning
here now that ought to be of practical
value to the fruit grower. The display
of fruit here is very creditable. Many
people express great surprise at the
MAGNIFICENT display of apples. But for
cold storage we could not make THIS
display. Yakima county, Washington
is able to make one of the finest dis
PLAYS to be found and it is the ad-
miration of thousands. The people OF
Yakima county owe debt OF graft
tude to three NEW. l.. Wright, NJ
N. Richards and L. B. Kenyon-1or
the foresight they displayed in this
matter. Before the matter was set
tied that Yakima county would make
an exhibit at the Lewis and Clark falr
these men saw that some apples must
be put into cold storage in order TO
succeed. So at picking time they Sc
lected 100 boxes of choice apples ana
put them into storage. They reasoned
in this wise: If Yakima county makes
an exhibit these apples will be needed;
if it does not, we can sell the apples
at least without loss and perhaps at
profit. When the matter was finally
settled that an exhibit should be made,
the county bought these apples, ana
they are here in Portland in cold stor-
age. There arc sixteen varieties ana
a finer lot of apples / never saw. we
took out q few boxes and put them on
exhibition and when they begin to de-
cav a few more boxes will be ordered
I'm. and in this way we hope to hold
I'D the display till the new crop comes
in. In fact. we expect to lap the one
crop onto the other. 1t is our aim TO
hold some of these last years apples
to the close of the fair. One OF the
lessons we can teach by this is the
benefits of cold storage. Hundreds,
even thousands, of people ask: How
doiyou manage to keep your apples IN
such fine condition." This shows that
many intelligent people do not under
stand the possibilities of cold storage.
The remark is often made: "These ap-
pies look as fresh as if they were
lust picked" What may seem strange
is the fact that we are frequently
asked if these apples have grown this
year. Others want to know IL we 40
not put something on them to make
them keep In a few cases people
have asked if they are real apples,
seeming to think that they are made
of wax!
One of the lessons we have learned
is the difference there is in apples
kept in cold storage. Some varletles
show a remarkable fitness for cold
storage and others show that they can
not be successfully kept in that way.
Among the apples that keep very well
are the Rome Beauty, Winesap, Stay
man Winesap, Hoover, Yellow New
Mil