East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-05-29

Eagle Point, jackson county, Ore,
May 2S.-(To the East Oregonian)-
Cloudy. cold wind, occasional show
ers. has been so for some days.
Thursday morning there was ice near
ly as thick as window glass. People
are cutting their first crop of alfalfa.
1t is hardly as mature as it should be
and not very heavy, but the cool
weather has encouraged the squirrel
grass and weeds to grow at the eX-
pense of the alfalfa, and they are
cutting thus early to get a clean sec
ond crop. They get two and some
times three fairly good crops per
year, without irrigation. Corn is up
high enough for first plowing, but
shows the effect of the long continued
cool weather. Every one raises corn
here, and it generally does well.
In crossing the so-called desert be-
tween here and Medford yesterday, l
found water flowing through three
iitehes, where few days ago there
was not a drop. There are thousands
Of acres of this desert land which Will
make fine homes If they get plenty
of water. 1 received letter from a
friend in Umatilla county a few days
since. running about thus: 1--WE would
like to buy a small place where we
can raise fruit and chickens; do not
want to pay more than about $4,000"
promised several of my friends to
tell them about this country, and If
YOU will kindly publish this, / can
answer them all at once.
Combination Hard to Find.
/ came in here looking for about
such a place, at about the same price,
as nv friends have asked about. 1
wanted a place where 1 could raise
all kinds of fruit, lots of garden stuff,
chickens and turkeys, and plenty of
green grass for my cows; but l failed
to find such a combination, and do
not believe it is here.
1 will try to describe the country
so one can get general idea of con-
ditions. From a few miles north of
Tolo to a few miles south of Ashland,
east to Jacksonville and west to and
beyond Eagle Point is a locality
known as the "Rogue River valley"
though nearly all the towns, and S. P.
railroad are on Bear creek.
To the casual observer, in the
spring of the year, the whole country
looks like one productive field, but
the facts are a very large part of 1t
is partially or wholly unproductive,
except for a few months in the spring.
The weather is nearly or quite as
hot in summer as in Pendleton, but
not nearly so cold in winter. 1t gets
quite dusty, but no dust storms, and
no alkali.
The soil gets very dry, but being
entirely surrounded by mountains, at
no great distance, there are many
streams affording abundance of wa
ter for irrigating purposes, and the
land being generally not much broken
can all be irrigated.
In fruit for the market. winter APP
pies take the lead-Spitz and Newton
varieties being the only kinds con-
sidered profitable. To be remunera-
tive they must be four or at least
four and a half-tier apples, and To-
calities that will develop such are not
plentiful; and no man knows, not
even those who have been here long
est, lust what the soil in a given
place will do, until 1t is tried.
Must Spray Profusely.
After finding your location eternal
vigilance is the price of fruit"-one
must spray, spray and then some
more, and then thin very severely.
They estimate in average orchards 1t
costs As cents per box to raise frist-
class apples, but If they are really
first-class the profit is about $I0O
per box, and the yield from mature
trees, from two to eight boxes per
tree I judge it takes apple trees
here about seven years before they
yield much profit. Winter pears
come next; they will grow and do well
any place an apple will, and many
places where an apple will not. They
come into bearing much younger, are
not subject to so many pests, and re-
quire less care.
Then come peaches. The peach belt
is confined, apparently, to the vicinity
Of Ashland. 1t is quite precarious, as
they may be killed by frost any time
up to the middle of May. They are
very perlshable, must be marketed
within few days, without regard to
prices, and is quite risky.
large part of the crop is killed
this year, still some men have made
money out Of them.
In prunes they raise nothing bu,
Petites, no Italians, and for some
time now prices have been low, about
two and a half or three cents, which
leaves no money for the grower.
Strawberries Must Have Water
In small fruit there is nothing
raised except strawberries and Lo-
gans, and to be successful they must
have water. With water they can
be grown anywhere, without it, no
where. I consider a genuine water
right worth as much as the land.
Now for locations. For health
good water. morality and society,
consider Ashland without a peer. II
is quite hilly. and the soil is mostly a
white granite, not suitable for apples
or pears, but good for small fruit, oil
peaches-
Anywhere in the corporate limit,
they have city water for all purposes
and very cheap. On Bear creek bot.
tom is a limited amount of black loan
very rich and suitable to truck gar.
dening: this sells for from 5000 t.
s4OO per acre without buildings Tai
ent and Phoenix are little towns
about like Pilot Rock and Adams