The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1907-05-01

answer his inquiries in a satisfactory
manner. I may not get that number of
| the magazine.
y
Now, 1 do not want to make fun of
this mans honest intentions, but in
formation gathered in that way is prac-
tically worthless. I do not know that
| 1 should mention this incident, but
such lists of questions come to me
almost ad infnitum and certainly ad
nauseam. 1t is certainly commendable
in any one who purposes to write on
given subject to gather all the in
| formation possible but such a list of
| questions to be answered in such a
manner is a poor way to gather infor-
nation. This accounts for the amusing
plumbers we often find in reputable
! journals when men undertake to write
about something they do not under
stand. A very prominent man once
passed through the Yakima valley and
wrote 1t up for an eastern paper. He
was kind enough to mention my fruit
growing in a very fattering manner
He must have received his information
| from someone who knows as little
about fruit growing as goose does
about astronomy, for he reported that
I spray my trees in the early summer
with water and lime, irrigate them in
the fore part of the season and then
quit irrigation so that the apples will
not be soft and spongy and will color
up properly! I did not swear when I
read this mans article but I think I
must have thought out loud, mirabile
! dictu!
4
I presume 1 must have hit some of
the land boomers pretty hard. That is
| what I tried to do. Some of these men
may be honest and do not mean to mis-
represent things, but some are dis
honest and will not tell the truth. One
Of the latter class was in Seattle the
other may and meeting man who
| owns some land in the Yakima valley
| tried to convince him that that valley
| is no account for fruit growing. The
man who owns the Yakima land re-
ferred this speculator to me as an evil
dence that fruit growing Is profitable
there But the land boomer was ready
for such an appeal and stated That
had published in The Ranch over my
| own name the statement that had not
made anything raising apples In the
Yakima valley. The man called me up
such a statement. I characterized the
statement as a-well, I used word
with just three letters in 1t. The read
ers Of The Ranch who care to read what
I write, as think most of them who
are in the fruit business do, know that
I never wrote anything Of the kind.
have said in the interest Of fairness,
that exaggerated statements have been
published about my profits in fruit rails
ing. have also stated some varieties
of apples are not very prohtable;
have also stated that some years with
short crops we have not made much,
If any money, over our living for three
families and our expenses. But nave
been equally explicit in stating that we
have upon the whole made some money,
that we are not discouraged, ana that
our 120-acre fruit farm is not Tor sale'
Now If any man expects to run down
the Yakima valley and build up some
other part of the country by such an
UNQUALIFIED falsehood, he will fail. Be
ware of a man who resorts to such
course. A man who will lie in one
thing can not be trusted in aother.
Il
man is in poor business who tries
to build up one section of the country
bv running down some other section.
No honorable man will ever do anything
of the kind and the men who resort to
such tricks may very safely be treated
as deceivers and liars. My interests
are in the Yakima valley and very
naturally, in giving my experience,
refer to smy orchards in that part or
the state but I call to record the fact
that I have never said an unfr1endly
| thing of any other part of our great
| state On the contrary, l have spoken