The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1906-10-16
Corvallis Times
CORVALLIS, OREGON,
gTUESDAY EVENING, OCT. 16, 1906.
THREE DOLLARS A BUSHEL.

And Better for Oregon Apples es-Grow-
ers are Getting Rich From
Their Sale.
Hood River and its apples are in
the public eye. Many Oregonians
iourneyed Hood Riverward last
week to see the apple fair. The
display of fruit is said to have been
beautiful. 1t was the talk in Port
land that the exhibition was as fine
as the world can make in the ap-
pie line. Great, indeed, is Hood
River and her apple industry.
There is, however, something re-
markable in this story of apples
and the beautiful valley UP the
Columbia. 1t is valley known in
the markets and busy streets of New
York City. 1t is known in the
wealthy homes of that great town.
tits known in London and to London
apple buyers. Hood River Ap-
ples'' emblazoned on box of fruit
sells the apples without question on
the part of the buyer. Three dol
lars and fifteen cents a box for
Spitzenbergs and $2.eo for New
towns, is the price Hood River
growers got for their apples this
season. The crop is all sold.
Three dollars and fifteen cents
a bushel is a beautifully profitable
recompense for the trouble of grow
ing apples. The snug sum of
$A,5oo is what a 2o-acre orchard
netted one man and there are doz
ems and scores of similar instances
in the Hood River valley. The
growers are all getting rich, just as
hop growers have made fortunes in
the Independence district the past
years. Yet, it is a truth, solemn
sacred truth, that great as is Hood
River, famed and tabled as are her
apples, it is possible to grow and
sell apples just as well in the Viii
lamette valley. Equally good ap-
pies can be produced, and equally
fancy fgrres can be secured for
them. A box of apples displayed
for sale in the Corvallis market
last week and grown on Benton soil
were just as fine apples at the best
exhibited at the Hood River fair.
That is the statement Of man
who saw the box at Corvallis and
saw the apples at the fair. He is
an apple expert. He knows where
of he speaks. He has no motive
that would cause him to misrepre-
sent. What he says is not in de-
rogation of Hood River, but in
glorifcation of Benton and other
Willamette valley counties.
But why has Hood River all
this fame and why are her apples
clamored for all over the world at
fancy prices? The answer is easy
according to this apple expert. 1t
is case where one far seeing
mind and one indomitab1e worker
led his community up and on in
progress. This man saw that the
world wanted perfect apples, and
would pay literally for them. There
is no fruit so standard, so stable, so
Invaluable in a home as an apple
and he knew it. But 1t must be an
unblemished apple. It must look
right. 1t must taste ri ght. Il
must be clean and attractively
packed.
All this the Hood River leader
understood and he began to preach
it to his neighbors. In season and
out he talked, explained, demon
strated. He proved it by what he
grew. By degrees he Convinced
his neighbors. He induced them
to spray, to cultivate and to adopt
every method suggested by seien-
tifc inquiry. The trees now are
gone over when the apples are bab-
les, an inch or two through. If
too thick the apples are thinned by
picking. They are not allowed to
grow nearer than FIVE inches apart.
That makes an apple Of perfect size
and shape. 1t lays the foundation
for fame and fancy figure. A skil1'
ed association packs and ships ali
the fruit. The private orchardist
doesn't do it. Enlightenment di.
rects every department Of the in
dustry. Experience shows that it
is easier to 90 It that way than by
the old fashioned, slip-shod meth
Cd. The consequence is that ev-
cry grower IS getting rich,
It could be the Same In the Viii
lamette valley. The soil is here.
So is the climate. In all the up
lands Of the foothills Is the place.
That is what an apple expert who
knows says. The industry. thohgt
lies dormant, dead, unawakened.
There Is no master mind to arouse
p il. There is no firm hand to lead