The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1908-01-30

4
the battlefield. Many of the fruit
lgrowers said it was no use and we
were only wasting our ammunition
and that they would bet four to one
on the bugs, but when the professor
disappeared and came out with his ia
/ tigue uniform, which consisted of a
pair of overalls and jumper, and l took
hold of the spray nozzle, the betting
changed 20 about two to one on the
professor. 1 never saw such buggy
orchard in my life. AS a poet said
There were bug to the right of US,
Bugs to the left of us,
Bugs in front of US,
Blocking our way
But the professor kept right on load
ing up John Smiths big gun with
Iarsenate of lead, then to Trumbe,
gently said:
"Give them hi and lots of lead
| Until the last big bug is dead
! Or on the rum"
We selected one hundred trees as
Professor Melander will tell you, in
his address, or about an acre Of
ground. These were sprayed four times
at the cost of $50 and the fruit on
these trees brought about $1,000 and
produced 80 per cent of fruit free from
the Goblin moth.
| That demonstration was the great
lest lesson that this valley has ever had
land done more to stimulate apple
|growing, and we converted every
doubling Thomas and showed every
Missourian, as the saying is. Our peo-
pie are greatly interested in fruit
growing, and 1 have the hearty CO.
operation of all our business men. our
wheat farmers and our merchants. We
are determined to keep right on in the
good work until the last bug is van
ished, for it matters not whether we
have a few trees or a large orchard.
We want to grow apples free from scale
On the outside and free from worms on
the inside.
You may not be the mighty Column
| bia the father of western waters; the
Oregon of song, but you may be a little
stream in the Blue Mountains to Stake
the thirst of some weary fruit ped
der. You know this world is divided
| in two great classes, the Optimist and
the pessimist. The pessimist looks on
the gloomy side. while the optimist
looks on the bright side. We orchard
men are all optimists.
We can taste the honey in the hum
ming of the bee:
We can see the big red apple in the
blossoms of the tree,
And when we get dollar box, we
are as happy as can be.
We have a great many abandoned
orchards in the Walla Walla valley
where the farmer has grown rich on
raising wheat, and has left the or
chard to the tender mercy of the bugs.
Their farms are leased out, and they
have come to town to take life easy.
If those old trees could talk they
would tell you in their language,
"Once l was well cared for and 1
bore apples that 1 was not ashamed of,
but for many years l have never been
pruned. sprayed or cultivated. 1 was
Ilimby and you pruned me not. /
groaned under my load of big red APP
Piles and you thinned me not, but after
all your other work was done you did
come and pick me, rather, you dubbed
me.
Then it was that the good Lord did
take pity on me and sent the Goblin
moth which shot me full of holes un-
It'll one-half ripe and rotten my apples
fell to the ground and you said. Let
the apple rot, This is not much Of
a fruit country anyhow. praying is all
humbug; dig the trees up"
My fellow fruit growers. we have
a great future before us-our fruit men
are awakening. We love our beautiful
valley and are all stuck on our town.
the Garden City. We always write the
name down twice-Walla Walla. Our
beautiful mountain streams murmur
it's name; our blossoming orchards are
signing it's name, and our feathered
songsters are singing it's name We all
welcome you and your meeting here
will do us much good