The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1909-10-12
By ellison Gardner

III previous dTtlCl6S 4 nave tOAt
how 1t is still possible for a mar
with $500 capital to acquire on
government irrigation lands indie
pendence and a home.
This article is for the man with
more capital than that, and has to
do with lands reclaimed by the big
private corporation. There is no
government irrigation in this val
ley of the Bitter Root--a valley
nevertheless, among the most ia
vored in the world. Here are or
chards, and from here come those
re dapples which you
occasionally see and often read
about, and here are those acres
which yield those fabulous sums
a thousand, fifteen hundred, two
thousand from a single acre in q
single season!
Is is true? Oh, yes.
This article is for the man who
wants to know more about that
and who perhaps, has dreamed of
leaving his city life and taking up
the leisure of the man who has an
income from a few hundred thriv-
Ing trees, and who longs for out
door life-its relaxation, health
and the beauties of the mountains
and bright sunny skies.
Is is possible to get in on
proposition of that kind? How?
How much does 1t cost?
At the disk of seeming to pro-
mote the interests of the horde of
land sharks" who abound on ev-
cry side l shall attempt to give
true answers to a few questions of
this sort.
1t is possible. There is every
reason to believe that the orchard
dream" can come true. To the man
who visits the valley of the Bitter
Root it looks very real. the income
may not reach the big figures
quoted freely in the advertising
but the income from ten
acres in proper orchard stock
ought to put the owner beyond all
reach of want. 1t is beyond the
experimental stage. 1t is at the
stage where a few thousand dol
lars invested now can hardly fail
to solve the problem of a ripe old
age. advertising folders please
copy.)
Unless you have $1,000 or can
acquire that sum at the end of five
years. there is little use to read
further. This is not like the gov
eminent irrigation project, where
land sells for S34 an acre. The
minimum price of raw land (suit-
able for orcharding) with water
rights, in the valley of the Bitter
Root, is $3.50 an acre. There is
much raw land held at $50 an acre
and land with bearing trees sells
for 1000 an acre up. I saw one
orchard of IA acres which had just
sold for $4,000.
Why such tremendous prices +?
Why not? II your trees are of the
right sort, there is every reason
why they should Yield a minimum
OF $500 to the acre. A few years
of that kind of yield convinces the
owner that his orchard is valua-
BILE. Many orchards cannot be
bought. They are absolutely not
on the market. From such the
owners have taken as much as 81
600 to $4,000 an acre in apples,
cherries and other fruit.
Every year? A record of rs
years has shown absolute immun-
ity from the killing frosts OF
frosts of spring-an immunity due
apparently to the fact that the
valley is hemmed in by very high
mountains. To the same cause is
credited the absence of bugs and
similar pests. Market conditions
are steady. There is always a de.
mand for the perfect fruit grown
under these ideal conditions.
Sounds like the boom talk of q
land agent? Yes, but it seems tC
be all quite true.
Until Lake Como was tapped BY
the big ditch company, whose WORK
was finished this summer, the
bench lands at the base of the Bit
ter Root mountains were not avail
able. The big ditch" as it called
has brought 10000 acres under
water, and those acres are now be
ing set out to fruit.
One or two large patches have
been sold, but most of it is bein,
marketed in lots of 10 and II
acres. Actual residence is not re
CURED, but in most instances tn,
owners are fastening to develop. Ii
some instances several purchaser.
have combined, and one lives OF
the land while the others sent
money for trees and other ex
penses.
The most practical plan which
has been worked out is a develop
ment company with offices in st
Paul, and managers on the land
This company sells the land FOL
$500 an acre $4,000 for a 10-acr,
tract), doing all the planting ant
cultivating for the five-year periot
required for the trees to come in
Ito bearing. Then the purchaser
receives a bearing archard, and
may come and build a house and
live on 1t. or let the company man
age It for a percentage of tht
profits.
From a 1 n anra orobo-a xo-oI1..