The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1907-08-22
FAMOUS HOOD
RIVER FRUIT
PACKER MAN VISITS ORCHARDS
Finds the Orchards Practically Perfect
and Fruit is Of High Quality
Interviews L. IL. Shepard.

(Staf Correspondent of the Kansas City PaekerO
Hood River, Ore, Aug. S.-The ap-
pie grower in the east or middle west
who reads of the phenomenal prices
received for apples at Hood River no
doubt wonders now 1t could be posi-
BILE for one little community of grow
ers like Hood River, to sIar above all
others in quality aud prices tor her
fruit. 10 the student of nature who
has been here and Investigated condi
tions he rapidly sees the reason for IL
stands out as boldly as her great
Mount Hood. 1t seems that nature,
when she placed those terrible awe in
spring wrinkles here in the crust Of
Mother Earth which you see all
around you here left the little Hood
River valley especially designed tn
tower as tar above the rest ot the
world in the quality of her apples as
her great Mount Hood at whose feet
she lies towers above all her sister
peaks. You would expect to see a
rocky soil in the valley. Not SO; it
is a deep ashen colored soil, devoid
of rocks or hard pan. A, The Packer
man drove down this beautiful little
valley investigating one fine orchard
after another, with loveliness and
granduer all around, he felt so en-.
thu sed that he did net wonder at
these people being so contented in
their wcrk.
The Spitzen bergs and Newtown Pip
pins are in the pink OF condition.
There appears to be a much fuller
crop of these two varieties than any
other. The crop of Ben Davis this
year is conspicuous by its absence.
As one grower expressed it, "Unole
Ben is taking a years vacation. "
In no section where the Packer man
has ever travelled has he seen such
we'll kept orchards. No garden could
be in cleaner or more perfect con-
dition. The spraying has been fre.
1uent. Not n worm or bug could be
found in any OF these orchards. These
growers run down these insects just
like an officer runs down thief. The
grower here does everything but sleep
in his orchard.
The result: Last yesr Il. Ii. Shep.
eId, the man who has contributed
largely to making Hood River famous
the world over, cleared S2042 on l6U
trees, an average Of Sl2. 70 per tree.
Mr.. Shepard is to g-owing and PACK.
ing what Luther Burbank is In prop1.
eating new varieties of fruits. In
tact they are warm personal friends
The Packer man Tried to pump Mr..
Shepard dry on various subjects OF
vital interest to growers all over the
country but he found it an impossi-
bility. Like all men who succeed his
heart and soul are in his work. The
Packer man never spenG two days
more profitably tor the Packer
thousands of readers than he did al
Hood River. Read and digest Mr..
Shepard's ideas on this subject and
then put them into force and they
will be worth much to you.
per cent OF last years crop of apples
in this district. Many think the
quality will be little better than last
season. A good many orders for cars
have already been booked.
The association will be open for
bids to handle the entire crop until
the middle of September. The bids
are then opened and the longest pole
knocks the persimmon. The assocla-
tion retains the privilege of rejecting
any and all bids.
Manager Huxley informed the Pack
or man that it was going to be very
hard job to get enough apples to g
around. He says he hopes that II any
of the dealers are disappointed they
won't get offended; that next yeal
they will have a vast number OF new
orchards coming in and just as soor
as he can he wants to reach them all
4 Mr.. Huxley says he is daily Eombard
ed with letters from all over the Unit
ed States with inquiries.
| The Packer man can assure The
trade OF one thing and that is that
Mr.. Huxley will give square deal
1t Is as much the pride of the HOOD
River grower to give the dealer {
square deal as 1t is to grow the best
apples and pack the best.
The independent csrtot growers viii
have something outside the sssocia
tion to offer the public what will
doubtless help to appease the com
mission mems hungry appetites
Many of them are very large growers
The pear crop here is very light
Mr.. Shepard thinks there will only b'
four cars. There were three cars O
cherries shipped and 100 cars c
straw berries.
Mr.. Shepard's Suggestions.
e. Ii. Shepard, who Is one OF th,
best informed fruit men in the coun
try, in discussing methods, said:
ave believe in thorough cultiva
tion. Most people in the spring disl
thAif orchai DIS and follow with clot
masher where the soil has some clay
and afterwards follow with sprlnl
tooth and the clOd masher
"Ihe people have the soil in per
feet state of tilth. The number O
times the orchard would have to b
cultivated in the spling in this wa
would depend, OF course, upon ho'
much clay there was in the soil.
"My own sell is heavy rich sol
and in the first two weeks, to brin
about the required conditi ion of th
soil that / consider necessary, | frs
cultivate with a disk, then with
clod masher, then with a spring toot
and then with the clod maeher, goin
four different ways with each, the
twice with the Acme, making Is cult
vations in the early part of the set
son. After this | follow about ever
two weeks with the Acme, which put
light dust mulch, or blanket, as "
: sometimes cell it. on the top whic
conserves all the moisture beneath.
it rains we immediately cultivate wit
the Acme to break the crust, wbic
prevents the moisture escaping "
1 use very little water in Hood Rive
E because We believe that too much vi
ter affects both the taste aud keep I
D the apple, therefore We use as little {
. nnssihla. some rigatinp only ono