Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1909-09-16

The following from the pen OF
Hon. siIas Wilson will be OF special
interest to parties looking this way
for homes:
Southern Idaho. especially this
part of Idaho. is one of the most fav-
ored fruit sections of the United
States, by comparison. ! am person
ally familiar with the great fruit
sections of the country, beginning
with the great lakes from Lake
Ontario. Lake Erie.and Lake Michi-
gan on the west also the Allegheny
and Blue Ridge ranges of mountains
which are more or less favored fruit
sections. where lands command high
prices. Coming west from the Great
Lakes region we find the land of big
ved apples so called the Ozark Noun
tains of Southwestern Missouri and
Northwestern Arkansas. tine land
seems to me to be very much over
rated for growing choice winter APP
/ pies The next favored fruit section
coming west, is the Grand and Gun
nison River Valleys. at Palisade, Col
orado, in the Grand River Valley,
where peach orchards are selling as
high as S2500.O0 to 100000 per
acre; also at Paonia and Hotchkiss
in the Gunnison River valley, where
lands are very high in price as well
as in elevation, being $500 feet a.
bove sea level After we make a
careful investigation of the Grand
and Gunnison River valleys, our next
interesting fruit section Is Watson
vile. California. where good sized
and good looking apples are grown
in considerable quantities, but lack
ing quality and frmness as compared
with apples grown on higher eleva-
tions. In going north from Watson
vile. the next apple section we fnd
is Rogue River valley, Southern
Oregon Here are grown apples of
good size. color and quality, iona
thans, Newtons' and Spitzenburg's
attain a high degree OF perfection,
and their methods. care and culture
are well up to date. Apples are
grown here to such an extent as to
attract buyers from foreign coun-
tries. Also at Hood River, Oregon
fruit growing has been made quite
successful, especially the growing Of
apples. This industry at Hood River
seems to have been developed and
managed largely by professionals.
and their methods of cultivating,
pruning. spraying and the thinning
of the fruit seems most commendabi
also their method of high grading
and successful packing cannot be too
highly commended.
In North Yakima Valley, Wash
ington. apples are grown in large
quantities. and have attained quite
reputation for especially large APP
pies of fine color. but It has always
seemed to me they got their large
size apples at the expense of quality. 1
The same trouble is encountered in
all low elevations for the best apples
OF highest quality. Here in Southern I
Idaho we have the happy medium the
elevation being from 1900 to $500
feet above sea level having without
doubt. more days of sunshine than
any part of the United States, with
short mild winters. Apples grown in
the great Snake River Valley certain
ly attain the highest degree of per-
lection in color. size and quality. All /
commercial varieties of apples are
grown here, including Jonathans,
Stayman Wine Sap. Rome Beauty.
Grimes Golden, Pippin, Wagner.
Delicious, Spitzenberg, White
Winter Pearmain, Arkansas Black,
Northern Spy and others. In this
inter-mountain country almost per-
petual sunshine and the ideal eli
mate combine in clothing these fruits
with the finest polish ever seen on
fruit
1T may be interesting to know
that the best apple exhibited at the
late Worlds Fair at Paris, France,
and given the highest awards, were
reported by Col c. d. Bracket, U
s. Pomologist at Washington. d. C.
to have been grown in Southern Ida
no. Also. ldaho's exhibit of high
class fruit at the late Worlds fair at
st. Louis Mo, has brought more
to idaho than any other
line of exhibit. After all my exper-
fence. observation and comparison,
l am pleased to say that / believe
that this valley will soon become one
of the best apple sections in the
United States for growing fancy APP
pies and also all kinds Of fruits
grown in the temperate zone, such as
pears, peaches, apricots. nectarines,