The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-08-13
Horticulture a Factor IN
Western Development

| -. i
ticulture in the State College. at full
man, saya:
ga man uho has made study o.
tbe davelonment of the Northwest FOL
the past twenty-five years recentiS
said to me:
" sIn another quarter OF a century
the large wheat farms of Washington
will be a thing of the past. and In lts
place we will have many smaller
farms. and fruit growers.
sThere are many industries that
will yield larger annual incomes than
fruit growing. but there are few II
any that can compare with it in the
real, substantial steps of empire
building. laundering and mining
have frequently yielded larger and
more spontaneous incomes than frult
growing. but theirs is an industry OF
destruction. The forests must be
completely DESTROYED before they can
be converted into money values. while
the orchard as it grows increases the
value of the country, enchances Its
beauty, an ] thus makes 1t more hao-
liable for man.
"One of the most charming things
about horticulture is that with its
economy of space and intensive meth
DDS of tlllage, it is possible for six
teen to thirty two times as many fam
lilies to live on tract the size of an
average wheat farm when in fruit.
as could live on the tract when uti-
lized for extensivew or other grain
production. The best of it is. they
can be more comfortable, make bet
ter living. and be happier with this
type of rural life. horticulture has
been called the city mans agricul
ture. and right it should. since it
combines all the attractions of the
rural home with those of the city,
making it posi- BILE to have near neigh
bors, electric car lines connecting the
orchard farms with the cities, good
schools. fine churches. and best of
all neighborly fellowship impossible
iu the crowded cities.
"Ninety nine young business men
out of every hundred. in our larger
cities are looking forward to the
time when they can own and enjoy
the pleasures of the farm. with none
of the constraints of city life. The
tendency is natural and commend
able since it will increase the agri-
cultural and agricultural industrial
wealth of the country.
"No state in the world Cffers more
that is attractive for this class of men
than Washington. The state is rap
idly becoming the home of the retired
farmer and business man. the small
investor. and the man who has seen
the fully of indoor life. Last year
twenty five hundred people moved
from the little town of A Aberdeen,
North Dakota. to Washington alone.
They came because they find condi-
tions in the Northwest that offer op-
portuni:ies for home building not
found in the central states.
"No state in the world offers more
ideal or varied conditions for prndu
eng fruit of the highest type than
does the state of Washington. No
variety of apple is too tender, too
highly colored, or too JUICY to grow.
HOrticultuTists of the state can grow
long keepers. high coIorers and pro
duce quality under a green or rus
set skin comparable with the apples
of any other section of earth. They
can grow grapes for juice, for table
use: and can also grow European
grapes, using them for table use wine
and ralsins. They can grow cherries
the best that grow anywhere, such as
are known in the East only as we
ship them to eastern markets.
GU do not have to search long &c
| find the causes of these favorable con
ditions for horticulture. Washington
has attitudes from sea level to 5000
feet above sea level; rainfall from
"a inches to 126 inches annually
temperatures from blood heat in sum.
mer to slight freezes in winter: or
from 120 in the shade in summer tc
26 degrees below in winter: soil so
rich that it has produced forests the
pride of the nation, and deserts sc
poor and arid that even a rattlesnake
would starve upon it, and the pro
verbal 'grasshopper with his knap
sack would shy at the prospect. And
yet these very soils. when under ir
rigation, and thousands of acres
soon will be. produce crops that car
scarcely be equalled on earth that i,
elsewhere. The state is one of con
trast and advantage. Decide wba,
you want to grow. and you can finf
place where it will grow.n
| Frank Wilson has returpod $.