The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1909-08-13
H0RTICUL TURE A FACTOR IN the
DEvEL 0PMENT OF The
NORTHWEST
By W. 8. Thornber, Professor of Horticulture
State COlllge, Pullman, Washington


A man who has made a study of
the development of the Northwest
for the past twenty-five years recent
ly said to me:
In another qnarter of a century
the large wheat farms of Washing
ton will be thing of the past, and
in its place we will have many
smaller farms, and fruit-growers. -
There are many industries that
will yield larger annual incomes
than fruit.growing, but there are
few if any that can compare with it
in the real, substantial steps of en-
pire building. laundering and
mining have frequently added larg-
er and more spontaneous incomes
than fruit-growing, but theirs is an
industry of destruction. The for.
ests must be completely destroyed
before they can be converted into
money values, while the orchard as
it grows increases the value of the
country, enhances it's beauty, and
thus makes it more habitable for
man.
One of the most charming things
about horticulture is with it's econ
omy of space and intensive methods
of tillage, it is possible for sixteen to
thirty-two times as many families
to live on a tract the size of an aver
aga wheat farm when in fruit, a:
could live on the tract when utiliz-
ed for extensiue wheat or other
grain production. The best of it is
they can be more comfortable, make
a better living, aid be happier with
this type Of rural life. Horticulture
has been called the city mans
agriculture" and right it should,
since it combines all the attractions
of the rural home with those in the
city, making it possible to have near
neighbors, electric car lines connect
ing th. orchard farms with the
cities, good schools, fine churches,
and best Of all, a neighborly fellow
ship impossible in 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-indus-
triaP' wealth of our country.
No state in the world offers more
that is attractive for this class of
men than Washington. The state
is rapidly becoming the home of the
retired farmer and business man
the small investor, and the man
who has seen the folly of indoor
life. Last year twenty-fi five hun
dred people moved from the little
town Of Aberdeen, North Dakota.
to Washington alone. They came
because they find conditions in the
Northwest that offer opportunities
for home building not found in the
central states.
No state in the world offers more
ideal conditions for producing 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. Horti-
tculturists of the state can grow long
keepers, high colorers, and produce
quality" under a green or russet
skin comparable with the apples OF
no other section on russell skin COM
parable with the apples of no Other
section on earth. They can grow
grapes for juice, for table use; and
can also grow European grapes, u.s.
ing them for table use, wine anG
raisins. They can grow cherries,
the best that grow any anywhere
such as are known in the East only
as we ship them ship them to east
ern markets.
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