Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1907-03-22
SOME POINTERS FOR
COMMISSIONER CARSON
A Reply to His Unmanly Screed
and His Inefficiency
Shown Up.

A. II. Carson, member of the State
Board of Horticulture for this, the
Third district, and who has had the
position and the salary for the past
six years during which period his in
activity and neglect of duty has been
in inverse ratio to that of the orchard
pests which have so increased as to
all but destroy the fruit industry in
Josephine county, has blast in the
Observer of this week accusing me
OF several short. comings. He states
that have ignored the law and have
failed to take orders from him and
to report to him as l should. As to
obeying and enforcing the law
thought l was doing my duty and
making very good headway in having
the pest law enforced as is proven
by the very large amount Of pruning
and spraying and the digging up of
old, diseased trees that is being done
all over the county. in marked con.
trast to the very little that was done
to check the spread OF the pests last
year and for the previous years that
Commissioner Carson had charge of
this work.
In enforcing the law to COM
pei all to eradicate the pests from
! their fruit trees, vineyards and shrub
beiy have been as lsnient as pos
sible and been first trying the
efficiency Of campaign of education.
10 this line l have secured 1873 sub.
scriptions to Better Fruit, the famous
fruit paper published at Hood River,
that the orcbsrdists of this county
may learn of the methods that have
practically freed Hood River Valley
of pests and enabled that district 10
get the highest price paid in the
world last year for apples. l have
distributed all the bulletins / could
secure and have had published in the
Courier a large amount Of horticul-
tursl news, OF the 10 fruit growers
meetings that have been held in
Josephine county during the past
two years l have arranged for them
all and Mr.. Carson only attended
four OF them But after the first of
April | shall change the campaign of
education to one Of action and all
who have not made vigorous effort
to eradicate the pests from their or
chards and vineyards will get call
from the sheriff with he sequence OF q
big cost bill Ito pay that will be
lien upon their property. And this
rule will be applied to Commissioner
Carson as we'll as to the humble
owner of half dozen diseased trees
and he will have to make more of an
effort than he has in the past to
put his vineyard and fruit trees in a
healthy condition.
There are two reasons why have
not reported to Commissioner Carson
as yet One is that he takes so little
interest In having the pest law en-.
forced that | took it that he did not
care for report. and the other and
chief reason is that | had no report
to make until the county court meets
in April when as is required by law |
will make report TO the county
court aud to the commissioner for
this district.
AS TO Commissioner Carson going
before the county court and demand.
ing that | be put out of Office there
is no likelihood at all Of his doing
that, he will only talk about it as
he has in the past talked about having
the pest law enforced. His fling at
my business capacity is IN keeping
with the methods that he practiced in
selling fruit trees to the farmers Of
Jospehine county. And his scornful
allusion to the Grants Pass Fruit
Groves Union but shows his opposi.
tion TO that organization. Had it
not been oganized he could have en-.
gagged in fruit buying, as he once
planned TO do. 1t is only Jealousy
that prompts him to make the false
statement that the Union made a
failure in marketing fruit. The truth
is that the fruit shipped through the
Union brought the groves from % to
so per cent more than they had ever
received before and this profitable price
was had in a market that was flooded
with the biggest fruit crop ever grown
in the United States. And further
more the members Of the Union got
the returns for their fruit promptly
and did not lose on their sales as did
some of the farmers who sold to deal.
ers.
Commissioner Carson has unwit.