St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1909-12-15
Apple Raising in West.
Luman A. Ladd Tells of the Exhibit
ton in Spokane, WASH, and
Oh Apple Culture.

IuTlldll "A. Lduu was IcCClNSu LOU ldtC u
be put in type for last weeks issue bu
it is SO iull OF information that space !
given 10 it at this time. The lette
follows:
To the Editor of the CALEDoNIAN:
knowing there were not many Yer
mont people at the Spokane, Wash.
apple show thought might give you
readers an idea OF the display of apple
held there Nov 10Th to the Goth. Sine
leaving st. ohnsbury have had very
pleasant journey especially by the St
Lawrence and Lake Ontario, over thu
Grand Trunk railway. 1t was very
much like a Vermont winter through
North Dakota and Montana. 1t was {
very clear sunny afternoon when W.
crossed the Rockies via the Grea
Northern railway. The grades were a.
sharp as any in Vermont and the business
was immense ior single track.
As we neared Spokane the apple show
Was the topic OF conversation on the
cars several saying we had to see it tt
realize its Importance.
The ground for the display was where
citv's leading auditorium with which II
was easily connected. The walls were
ut barrels with a canvas tent covering
the whole being piped for gas lights and
small radiators. The minute you passed
the turnstle it was apples OF all kinds
and colors and OF such immense quaint
ties that one could hardly realize what
it meant. There were some 10 car load
entries competing for the grand prize and
individual entries of booths, baskets and
plates that covered four or five times the
carload entries. One apple weighed 80
ounces and any number nearly a pound.
All apples are shipped in boxes about
one foot square by two feet in length and
the contents numbered according to
size and graded from extra fancy to
choice. The car load exhibits were
shown by placing the boxes upon an
inclined plane about IA feet in height
with all OF them open. Some over 600
boxes make a carload. understood
that several cars were already sold to be
shipped as soon as the exhibition was
over to New York and London, Eng.
1t was very fine appearing body Of
people who were there with their apples.
The vaudeville attractions in the auditori-
um were similar to those at our county
airs. Visitors could listen to the music
and return to the apples.
Several young ladies assisted by two
aides of color showed visitors the vir-
tues of apples for cooking purposes aud
sold their cooking to the hungry people.
)ne phase of the show appealed to me
and that was no awards were announc-
ID until the close of the exhibition.
land companies without number were
represented selling irrigated and non
rrigated land. All the stores of Spokane
welcomed the exhibitors by making their
how windows blossom with apples and
he Board of Trade gave them banquet.
Spokane seemed more like an Eastern
'ity than some have seen. We arrived
1t two o'clock in the morning and there
vas no one on the streets except the
lackmen.
The Calmut hotel where we stopped
vas managed by a former Nashua, N. H.
nan and the cafe in connection was first
lass with reasonable prices. | am
Itraid the railway connection would
hardly please the travelling public in Yer
mont. | waited in the station from
even a. m. to one p. M. for a train to
seattle, there not being any local train
or that city. There was a counter at
he station for the sale of apples and
hey had brisk trade with the waiting
people. The smaller ones sold two for
llckel and the large ones ten cents each.
met James T. Ahern who wanted to
DC remembered to all of his school-bov
riends and Railroad street acquain-
ances. Mr.. Ahern left st. Johnsbury
over 20 years ago and is nicely situated
n his adopted city.
About halfway between Spokane and
Seattle is the apple town of Wenatchee.
leaving the train late in the evening |
went to one of the local hotels where the
work was all done by laps. Starting
he next morning | found the weather
very much like Northern Vermont the
asst OF November. Seeing man who
ooked as if he might have driven in from
any good neighborhood in the East. |
poke to him about the snow and found
lie was the owner OF a 80 acre orchard
lie had commenced with the new land
and hal seen it developed into its pre-
sent value | found that the most of
he successful orchard owners came to
heir land in Strengthened circumstances,
commenced IN a small way and grew
nto their present prosperous condition.
In the summer most of the valleys
ar ha
warm but with plenty water forces it to
I very fine condition, some localities
advertising they did need to irrigate to
produce fine fruit.
The Columbia river valley at this
,Ont makes one think Of the Connect
ut at Barnet and Waterford only the
water is deep enough for steamboats,
md the hills are farther apart. If all
he boulders at Miles Pond were at
1ower Waterford and vicinity it would
epresent the land south of Wenatchee
cry well. Everything was boomi ~,
lew blocks being built, streets graded
md macadamized, with new sidewalks
,ut among the boulders and sage brush
here was plenty of capital for this all
erved from the sale of the produce of
he orchards
The Great Northern railway has built
highway bridge across the Columbia
t this point which with approaches is
early half a mile long This bridge also
aries each side OF the driveway via
ucts three feet in diameter hoped with
ne.half inch round iron hoops about
NO inchesa part. The water is to be
led on land across the Columbia from
Eenatchee This land until within a
ear or two was used for pasturing and |
now valued at from 5000 to $500 per
ere with all the sage brush, rocks, etc,
nrown in. While we were driving
cross the bridge a steamboat came