The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-19
idaho Produces a Melon Which
Will Rank in Luscious Qualities
with the Famous Product of the
Colorado District.
PAYETTE VALLEY BOASTS
OF IT'S NOTED GEMS
This Is Only One of the Fruits for
Which It Is Famous, However,
It's Apples, Pears and Prunes
Leading All Others.
BY HERBERT VANDERHooF.

BY HERBERT VANDERHooF.
When the farmer from the middle West
or the East visits the Payette valley OF
Idaho. he is apt to take with d grain of
salt the stories he hears of the wonderful
yields that are obtained from irrigated
lands For this is exclusively an irrigated
country, and if it were not for the water
that Is supplied from the irrigating bitches
1t would be a desert whose only crop
would be the sagebrush.
AS 1t is. the Payette valley has been
fittingly called 1.-The flower of irrigated
Idaho 1t is veritable garden for al
most its entire length. and except IN
those portions where the water has not
yet been turned on there Is no more
delta of the Nile has always been &C
counted one Of the richest agricultural
sections of the earth. yet here In Idaho
we have a district that Is not afraid to
invite comparison with that historic spot.
While anything that can be grown In
the states Of the middle West can be
grown In this section Of Idaho, and with
4 yield per acre that almost staggers
belief. there are two things for which 1t
is especially famous. These are fruit and
alfalfa In fruit the Payette valley is
not only famous the country over for the
luscious quality and magnificent appear
ance of it's fruit but it Is also famed for
its enormous yields.
be 80, or rather number OF good rea-
sons why this Is the favored fruit belt
Of the country. First Of all Is the sun
shine. Any country where the sun will
shine on an average Of 300 days a year
cannot fail to be good fruit country,
provided there is a sufficient water sup
I ply. There Is never any doubt about the
latter here. Although the rainfall Is so
slight as not to be worthy Of mention,
the Payetts river Which rs is the The, largest
subservient to the good of man. Its
source is far back in the mountains,
where the snow in winter falls to depth
OF forty feet or more. This snow packs
and under the influence Of the summer
sun gradually melts and affords a con-
slant supply of water. All that the
farmer or fruit grower has to do is to
turn it on his land at the time when It
rest.
No Place for Parasites.
Another thing that contributes to the
supremacy Of Payette valley fruits Is the
absence Of parasites that In moist ell
mates frequently will unfit the most. prom
Using crop for market: Here parasites
and parasites do not thrive at such
heights; neither do they thrive in arid
climates, such as this
3 Rocky Ford, Colo, Is famed for the
delicious quality of the melons that it pro-
duces, and justly so. For many years
they have been the standard Of excellence
in cantaloupes, and they have brought
the highest prices in the market. The
Payette valley, however, is now growing
a cantaloupe that is the equal in every
respect of the Rocky Ford and for which
Il the demand has grown to such proper
tions that it has never yet been able to
meet it. This cantalOupe has not in
vaded the Eastern markets to any extent,
% hoo no oil Of no Jyt,
everything that is offered. and even send
their agents here to contract for the crop
Z In advance. It Is called the Melted Gem
cantaloupe, and SO great are the profits
from its cultivation that man with only
ten or twenty acres can make an excel
lent living.
The experience Of one farmer who lives
about five miles from this. town Is worth
relating. This year he had twenty acres
in Melted Gems. Early in the spring he
contracted his entire crop to a buyer
for a Spokane firm and from his twenty
acres he made a net profit Of $102 an
acre, the goods being delivered to the
railway at this town. The work Of rails
ing them and gathering the crop is light,
and tho prices are spot cash on delivery.
! If this man had had 100 acres he could
: have disposed Of. them just as readily. AS
the new lands are taken up, however, and
the cultivation Of cantaloupes increases,
this valley Is going to obtain as wide a
reputation for cantaloupes as Rocky Ford
has.
But cantaloupes are only one of the
varieties Of fruit for which the, Payette
valley has acquired reputation that Is
prunes are known in every market of the
country, not only for their size and mag
nifcent color. but also for their luscious
flavor. These are factors that enable
them to command the highest prices paid
in the market. Its prunes are considered
far superior to those Of Oregon because
: of their higher saccharine qualities. Nee
I tarines aprfcots, plums and all small Der
/ ries produce enormously in the Sunshine
state.
Big Yields Of Alfalfa.
Alfalfa Is one of the favorite crops in
the valley. 1t is crop that requires
little labor, and that once planted will
reproduce for years with abundant yields.
There are plenty Of farmers around here
who average eight tons to the acre from
t t,,1 ,o cuttings during the season. and it
. always a market for it In the winter
months, when the cattle and sheep men
bring their herds down from the upper
grazing lands to winter in the valleys
tnere nave been years when it has
+. brought as high as $40 a. ton, but that
I was when 1t was much scarcer than
it Is now. -
The coming crop Of the valley, how
ever, IS without doubt destined to be the
conducted by private interests and also
by the United States government show
that the soil of the valley Is, especially
adapted to beet raising, and also that
the beets raised here contain a much
larger percentage Of saccharine matter
than those grown in any other section
OF the Union. AS result plans have
been formed for the erection Of a large.
beet sugar factory in Payette next year.
and to supply this at last 5000 acres of
heets will be required This is a cron
that Is productive Of large profits to the
farmer, and one on which he can calcu-
late his profits to certainty, as sugar
beets are always contracted for before
they are planted and therefore the farmer
knows exactly what he will receive for
his crop. d 80
Rapid Growth Of City. 49,.
The coming of this factory will add an
important industry to the resources Of
Payette and will give employment to a
i large number Of hands. The city is grow
= ing rapidly, it's population having doubled
& IN the past two years. 1t now comprises
i upward Of 5000 souls and confidently ex-
: poets z to number 5000 within +wn
e years There are quite num-.
j Der OF manufacturing industries To-
3 Gated IN the s city, which is a substantial,
( appearance, Its residence and business
sections reflect the wealth that exist, Il,
i the town. It Is the commercial center
q for large secion Of country. and is
h also the receiving and shipping point for
the same territory Ultimately it is des-
t ln 70 pc great lumber center, as
there are hundreds of thousands of acres
of the finest timber lands In the Union,
q along the upper. bra y hes Of the Payettt.
river, and plans are already under way
8 for the erection Of big lumber mill
mere, to which the logs can be foated