Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-07
|DAHO'S APPLE CROP.
Extreme Care Used in Guilt
waiting Orchards.
1T Is NOT AN EASY TASK
But Much Easier Than General
Farming.
IRRIGATION TURNS THE TRICK
TURNS THE TRICK
Government is Aiding by Big
Project, But Private Systems
Are in Use.
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.

| BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
| Chicago Record Herald.
| PAYTTTE, Idaho, August o. 1909.
The town Of Payette, Canyon county,
| lies on the Idaho side of the Snake river
which Is the boundary between that state
and Oregon and the extreme western
| end of what is known as the Boise
Payette project of the United States
reclamation service which is bringing a
large tract of arid land under irrigation
and providing homes and farms for sew
eral thousand people. There are several pri-
vate irrigation systems which have been
built by the farmers themselves and have
been producing profitable crops for many
years down in this corner of Idaho.
| The Payette valley, which runs at right
| angles eastward from the Oregon boun-
| dairy, is one of the most beautiful land
| scapes you can imagine. comprising about
5000 acres of the richest sort of vol
canic soil, at an altitude of 200 feet.
| irrigated by two cooperative companies
| The valley is thickly settled, with popu-
lation of about 1000 and between 700
and 500 farms, averaging fifty acres IN
| size. Some years ago H. e. Dunn built
/ TdllIOdu IIOm IdyclLe ulHcIccu IIiiiCS
south and east to connect with the Ore
gon Short Line and furnish an outlet
for the products of the valley.
It Is Familiarity known as the Pumpkin
Vine road because Of its crooked shape.
for 1t winds around so as to reach all
| the big FARMS and because of the initials
of its official title which is the Payette
Valley railroad. Last year Mr.. Dunn
shipped 73s cars of sugar beets over this
little road to a factory at Nampa. The
| farmers got $3.50 a ton for them. He
shipped PSI cars OF Jonathan. Rome
Beauty and Winesap apples to Chicago
and New York. thirty-eight cars of
| prunes to Chicago. twelve cars of canta-
loupes and several cars Of peaches and
| berries to Chicago. Kansas City and
Butte and many cars Of hay to Portland,
Seattle and Alaska.
All Under Cultivation.
Nearly every acre Of the valley is under
close cultivation. The farmers Of the
| eastern states would be very much sur
prised If they could see the amount of
care and labor that are expended upon a
crop, and particularly upon an orchard,
but 1t pays.
An apple orchard out here Is cultivated
| as closely as radish or onion bed of a
truck garden in the east, and 1t usually
very little unimproved land, and what
there is is held at 500 an acre. Ten
years ago similar land sold for $50 and
$35 an acre. It costs about $50 to clear
the land and set out an orchard OF apple
| trees and 1t takes five years for the
young trees to bear. The apples sell for
$1.5O and 81 box. containing from 80
to 125 apples. and a little more for the
extra labor II they are wrapped In tissue
paper as some dealers prefer them. This
does not improve the apple. although it
improves the price In the retail market.
A mature orchard sold this year for $3.50
an acre. 1t was quite near the town, and
1t was the first sale for several years.
There Is q good deal Of money also In
Strawberries, raspberries. currants and
| cherries, but there is less trouble in rails
ing apples. the demand for them is
| steadier and the prices are more regular
| than for any other fruit
Trouble to Raise Apples.
| 1t is considerable trouble, however, to
raise apples. It is not child's play. At
the same time there is not so much hard
| work about it as in ordinary farming.
Tho orchard is plowed every spring and
| narrowed twice during the season to keep
down the weeds. The trees are trimmed
in the fall and again in the spring, as
carefully as a tailor cuts out a suit Of
clothes. The soil is irrigated three times
during the summer. and great care must
be taken not to give the trees too much
water because It spells the flavor Of the
fruit. and, II the roots are In the water
too long it browns the tree as they
say.
It Is necessary to spray every tree
thoroughly at least three times during
the season with a solution Of sulphur and
| arsinate of lead to kill the moths and the
San Jose scale. Both have been almost
entirely exterminated In this section, and
last year 95 per cent Of the apples were
perfect; but q step in time saves nine,
and once every month during the sum-
orchard with a platform wagon, drawn
by two horses and bearing tank filled
with the solution and connected with
gasoline engine which runs a pump from
which two lines of hose are attached, with
man handling each hose. AS the wagon
drives slowly between the rows the men
spray the trees on either side. This
treatment Is more effective in this part of
the country than elsewhere, because there
is no rain to wash off the spray.
The San Jose scale is an insect. almost
| invisible, which seems to come out OF
| space, attaches itself to young apple
and ruins it. It may come at any time
or 1t may stay away all summer, but the
| fruit grower must always be prepared
| for 1t II he wishes a crop, and the only
remedy and protection thus far found is
by spraying the trees with the solution
have described. The moth deposits an
| egg near the stem OF the apple which
matches a worm. which bores into the
| core and ruins the fruit. But it can also be
prevented by the use OF the Same solu-
ton.
| Trimmed Out in August.
| The apples are thinned out in August,
month before they are ripe. A careful
husbandman takes at least one-half of
the green fruit from the tree and feeds
| 1t to his hogs-a mixture of pork and ap-
| pie sauce Some people who do not re-
alize the Importance of this feature of
| cultivation hate to waste SO many ap-
pies, but the rule Is inexorable, and
| small crop OF good apples Is worth much
more than large crop OF poor ones. A
| tree Is able to bring only just so many
| apples to maturity, because it has only so
| much strength, and II all the apples that
| form are left to ripen this strength will
be distributed evenly among them and
/ as they should be. A careful husbandman
never allows two apples to touch on his
/ boughs. That Is said to be very important
/ The fruit ripens about the middle OF
| September. Sometimes the buyers who
| come out here from the east purchase it
on the tree-so much for the entire
| orchard, or SO much per box and pick and
pack 1t themselves: but most of the fruit
is picked and packed by the grower, who
calls in help from the town. and from
| every part of the country for that matter.
Skillful hands command high wages
| The picker stands on a stepladder and
plucks the apples one by one very care
| fully, placing them in sack which
| hangs around his neck. AS soon as the
| sack is filled or becomes too heavy to
carry he puts it in a cart and gets an
| empty one. The fruit is sent to a pack
| ing house. where the apples are sorted
n a ND coll nd