The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1909-01-19
WRITES To OLD
INDIANA FRIENDS
A. III. BARKER, OF THE ENTIAT,
A FORMER RESIDENT OF INDI-
ANA, RITES EASTERN
COUNTRY.

spring from Hamilton county, Indi-
ana, and located in the Entiat val
ley. The following letter was writ
ten by Mr.. Barker for the benefit of
his eastern friends, and printed in
the Enterprise, Noblesville, Indiana,
and as it is such a faithful account
of the valley and conditions here it
is reprinted:
''Fntiat. Wash, Dec. IL, 1908.
II believe when / left Indiana last
August for Washington, the home of
the big red apple, l promised to
write you. / had a fine trip through
the waving wheat fields of the Da-
kotas, and by the beautiful lakes of
Minnesota, and over the majestic
Rockies, and arrived here on sched-
ule time. I have found this valley
fully up to my expectations I have
found that dollars grow on trees,
sure thing, for the apple trees were
bending to the ground, with many
limbs breaking with their load of
fruit, and the finest 1 ever saw-not
wormy apple have 1 seen in our
valley yet.
Il picked nearly 1000 boxes the
past fall Git is claimed a box holds
busheD. In one orchard / picked
"a boxes in one hour 21a minutes
to the box) How is that for pick
ing? I would like to see the place
in Indiana you could do it. The say
ing that tree will be as many years
before bearing as the moon is days
old when the tree is planted won't
apply here at all, and no other super
stitious notions We cannot use
them here in this salubrious climate.
They have no place here If they
have any place it must be east of the
Rockies. Peach trees bear from two
to three years after setting, and ap-
gardless of the time of the moon
when they were set. / picked six to
eight boxes of apples from five-year-
old trees from setting, and eight to
twelve from siX-year-old trees. Is
not that better than waiting ten to
fifteen years and getting a few BUSH
els of wormy apples hardly fit to eat
and will rot in a short time after you
put them away? Old Winesap, Deli
cious and Spitzenberg brought $3.50
to 50 at picking time and 50 to $3.50
now, and others S5c to $1.25. One
man at Wenatchee last year sold
Spitzenberg apples off of one acre
for $4,000, clear of cost, and another
man this year picked off of one Bald
win tree, Is years old, II boxes that
packed out 81 boxes whihc sold for
Isl per box, and this orchard was
planted 20 feet each way, as many
are here These are facts, and facts
are stubborn things, you know, and
seeing then that these are facts, who
would then say that dollars do not
grow on trees (apple trees, you
know?
Let me tell you something, this
| is not spasmotic crop of fruit but
| is the kind Of crop we have every
year. A failure has never been
known. The snow on the surround
| ing mountains hold the bloom back
| till all chances of frost is over, that
is in the Columbia river valley and
the tributary valley coming into it
from little below Wenatchee on the
north. / am located in most
beautiful valley, one-half to three
fourths mile wide and two miles long.
on the Columbia river just above the
mouth of the Entiat river, with bluffs
about 1000 feet on either side and
the famout Big Bend wheat country
on the east side of the river on the
plateau. Our valley is about 100
feet above the river and about 700
above sea level. Our steamboat land
ing is about 20 miles north of We
natchee, but it is said we will have
a railroad soon from Wenatchee
north along the Columbia river. They
are now setting the stakes along the
survey getting ready for work, and
then land will jump up in value. 1t
is now worth from $500 to $500 per
acre, with water right, before the
trees are set. One man at Wenat-
chez a few days ago sold an orchard
of seven acres of 10 year old trees
for $4,000; another orchard of 20
acres. with year old trees, sold for
$4,000. We never feel drouth.
When we need water we turn 1t on,
and we have plenty of it. All kinds
of fruit do well here. A company is
putting in a 100000 electric light
on5 ,ouar p1out a few miles IN the