The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1906-01-25
A fine TRIBUTE
FOR HOOD RIVER
PROF. VAN DEMAN WRITES OF Us
"NOwhere Else in the World" Says lie,
"Are Such Perfect Apples Grown"

of the conditions here, and he gives
the growers many compliments for
their treatment of the fruit industry.
In part the article is as follows;
'In travelling over the country,
looking at the various phases Of fruit
growing, there are many things that |
have seen that have taught me lessons
well worth needing, One that was
more deeply impressed on my mind
than ever, was the profit from doing
things well, from what | saw on the
Pacific coast the past season. 1t was
my privilege to be able to visit nearly
all of the leading fruit sections in
Oregon and Washington during the
summer and fall of the year Just past
and an account of what saw and
learned may be of use to other fruit
growers and packers
1.-TWO visits we're made, several
weeks apart, to the famous Hood
River section; one before the main
gathering time and the other Just af
ter the fruit crop had been nearly all
gathered. 1t may be well to say that
t Hood River valley is not a valley,
such as many might suppose, level
and treeless, or covered with sage
brush, as are many of the Far West
ern valleys, but series of elevated
plateaus, some 300 to 1000 or more
feet above the Columbia river, which
flows along its northern end. There
are some small hills and numerous un-
dulations with many stretches of al
most level land; making ideal loca,
tions for fruit farms. 1t is hemmed
in the east and west by ranges Of very
high hills that are almost mountains,
and to the north some 80 miles across
the border line Of Washington, stands
Mount Adams, while to the southward
Is Mount Hood, like two giant snow
clad sentinels, watching over the
sleeping valleys which they overlook,
Hood River and its upper tributaries
flow rapidly northward from the
snow banks and glaciers of Mount
Hood, through the center Of the val
ley, until the crystal waters are lost
in those of the Columbia There is
no more beautiful as we'll as prolita.
hle section for fruit growing. Some
of the land is heavily timbered, but
much of it is partially covered with
trees and brush. While the apple is
the main crop of that region, there
are other fruits that succeed there
very we'll and are grown TO some eX-
tent. The strawberry is, next to the
apple, the one that is grown more
generally than any other; and while
there is no serious difficulty in grow
ing nearly all the ordinary varieties,
the Clarke is the one that far exceeds
all others in popularity. 1t seems to
suit the conditions there perfectly and
the fruit growers want no other. In
the markets as far east as Chicago the
Hood River strawberries meet with
ready sale at prices that pay the
growers well. They are well organized
and the grading, packing and mar
keting are all done under the direc-
tion of those skilled in the respective
parts of the business to which each is
especially suited. This close atten
tion TO the details and united effort
in the handling Ut tno straw berry
crop is fully rs important as the fav-
orable nRtur conditions for growing
1t, and has as much or more to do in
securing the fancy prices that it
brings.
"The apples of Hood River are not
excelle0, if equalled by any that are
sold In the markets Ct the world, in
point of fancy stock and the prices
obtained. Ii The first place the eli
| mate and soil are such that the apple
, seems as neal perfectly at home there
as anywhere in all the world There
; is sufficient rainfall to cause the trees
and fruit to fully develop and not toe
much rain or cloudy weather. No
] where that | have seen do apple trees
bear at an eallier age nor appear to
be more healthy. The all Is COO
enough, and not too COOL during the
, growing and ripening season. The
most difficult to grow of all varieties
of the apple, such as the NeWtOwr
. and Esopus Spitzenberg are produced
there almost with the same ease al
Ben Davis; and as they bring the
highest price in market of all apples
they are grown at Hood River more
. than any others. Indeed, they arr
coming to be the specialties Of thai
{ section. The entire crop of these tive
varieties was sold this year at thu
highest figure ever paid for so largr
an amount, so far as | have heard
ranging from 81. 80 to 81 90 per 81
: pound box, o.. b., at Hood Rive
: station. Think Of it, fruit growers o
9 the East. they got as much pc
bushel box as you are glad to get pc
!, barrel for your best apples. Ii is sal,
by some that the Western fruit grow
ers are far from market How ia
f., VII .,,4tl
= go there and pay these fancy price
Q at their doors? 1t costs 80 cents pc
! box to cultivate, spray, gather, pacI
: and deliver the apples at the station
' so several of the growers told me
and it is easy to figure out the ne
profits per box. IN addition to thi
+ 1t may be said that 500 boxes per acr
, is not unusual in orchards two year
set.
"But these profitable returns are nc
obtained by the let alone method O
even by the grass mulch method
The orchards are titled to finish, tn
trees are sprayed repeatedly, late a
= we'll as early, for the codling moth
} bad there and during longer seaso
than the Eastern states. The fruit
wiped after gathering and sorted an
packed by experts. No one is allow
ed to grade or pack his own apples
for he might not be strict enoug
about it. Would not this work have
60 in some of the apple barrels Of I'll
Eastern packers? Where is the on
e; who would risk Hood River packC
h ID to go through his stock? No, the
would rather run the risk of being d.
- tected in poor grading and frauduler
g packing than to permit any sue
oe thing. And, they generally get IL
st Gull price and richly deserve it. Tn
is the lesson that Hood River fru
ahonld teach ns. Good culture. tho