The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-09-24
The Apple Crop !,
For the Year 1909

Cuo harvesting OF the apple crop mas
arrived it will no doubt be of inter-
est to many of our readers to learn
something of the conditions over the
United States. as taken from the crop
reports coming in from various Sec
tions of the country. In San Juan
county. except as regards a few var.
ieties. the crop is considerably below
the average in quantity but mp to the
usual standard in quality. In south
western Washington the conditions
are much the same as exist mere and
this is also true of the Walla Walla
country. From Pullman comes the
report that the apple crop is much
below the average. but the pear crop,
as rule. is good. There will be
good yield of several varieties of ap-
Piles. but some of the standard varie-
ties have almost no apples on the
trees.
The crop In the Palouse country
will be light. but good prices are ex-
pected. AS a rule the fruit is of ex-
ceIlent quality. the apples being large,
we'll colored and free from worms and
other insect pests.
A dispatch from Wenatchee says:
The harvest of the big apple crop in
this section has begun and boxes are
being brought in by the Carloads to
carry away the apples to all parts of
the world. Buyers from many large
cities in the east are here and are Of
fering the biggest prices ever offered
at this time of the year. Many
ranchers are holding. off, waiting for
the price to raise higher, or making
preparations to store in warehouses
for winter.
It is estimated that the crop this
year will be- worth 100000 The
yield in some varieties does not come
up to normal yield. but the Wine
sap and other leading varieties which
bring the big prices. are yielding
heavier than ever.
As to apple crop conditions gener-
ally recent issue of the Ranch says:
''Thls month The ruit-Grower's
crop reports are given over almost en-
tirely to.discussing the apple crop,
for this is the one crop in which
everyone is now interested.
t'Since our last report the crop.
taking the country as whole. has
deteriorated. Throughout the Middle
West apple scab and other forms of
fungi have injured the growing apples,
and in parts of the southern limits of
the apple belt an outbreak of bitter
rot is reorted just as this issue of The
uitGrower goes to press. In New
York and and New England the crop
has certainly lost ground. All our
reports this month indicate this.
That part of the country mas had
severe drouth and at the came time a
severe outbreak of green aphis has
Helped to injure prospects for apples.
"Kansas seems tu be practically out
of business. with the exception of a
'ew counties in the northeastern corn
sr of the state. The great orchards
IN the Arkansas Valley. according to
our reports. have so little fruit that
it is not worth considering. Iowa
has better report than year ago.
md Missouri's yield will perhaps be
larger. Illinois seems not to have
anything like the quantity of fruit
harvested last season.
Washington, Oregon and Idaho
I'll have much shorter crops than last
year, although the fruit from those
states promises to be of fine quality.
Colorado occupies the center of the
stage, with the northwestern part Of
New Mexico, for those districts have
;he best crops reported from any
part of the United States. Fruit pro-
nises to be of fine quality.
''From the trade papers Of commits
zion merchants and apple handlers it
would appear that the crop is being
over estimated by many persons. Ger
;ainly the reports which some of these
papers publish do not agree with The
Fruit-Grower' reports and as our re-
ports are from the growers direct. we
incline to the belief that our reporsts
are in every way reliable. Certainly
The Fruit Growers reports for the
past FIVE years have been found. at the
and of the season. to have been about
IS nearly correct as advance reports
can be.
"Our reports this month certainly
indicate that the 1909 apple crop is
no larger than the crop Of
19OS-and we believe the crop will
be even less than that of year ago.
Gas to prices. few correspondents
report any prices having been offered
at all. All through the country. how-
ever. there is feeling that high pricea