The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1909-05-01

given through Green's Fruit Grower.
VanDeman said that iron was an es-
sential element in fruitgrowing, but
that our soil chemists had shown that
all our soils had all the iron that Is
needed. Then he stated that the best
colored apples he had ever seen were
grown on the Pacific Slope, in Colo
RADIO, Idaho, Oregon and Washington,
and that this high coloring resulted
from what was overhead and not from
the soil-that nc kind of doctoring of
the soil would ever make up for con-
tinuous sunshine with it's accompany
ing heat and the adequate supply OF
water at the right time.
There is no doubt but Eastern
grown apples can be improved and
the methods of sorting and packing
can be bettered. Mr.. Green is right
about irrigation in improving the color
and quality Of fruit, but irrigation by
hauling water will never be generally
practiced. The people who will let
the deer ate up their young trees, as
they do in Vermont, rather than put a
good wire fence around their trees,
will never show enough enterprise
to haul water with which to irrigate
their orchards. No, Bro. Green, we
are not lying awake at nights on &C
count of fear that our fancy apple
trade will be taken from us. We are
not fighting the Eastern growers, we
"be brethren" and in many things
have a. common interest, but in push
ing our apples into the markets OF
Eastern states We resort to no trick
cry, but rely solely on the merits of
our fruit.
| confess that I am amazed at one
thing in the statement above quoted
from Mr.. Green. Personally | do not
know Chas. A. Green but have dealt
to some extent with him as a nursery
man and believe him to be an hon
orable and truthful man. Such a
worthy man certainly never would
have made the statement that WEST
ern fruit growers get more for a small
box of apples containing about a half
bushel, etc." unless there was a lap
sus pennae or a lapsus mentis We
are having a fight over the box ques-
ton, and our contention is that the
Eastern growers and shippers do not
understand us and many things have
been said by the Eastern men that are
not true; such for instance, as that
each state on the Pacific Coast has a
different sized box and other errone-
III statements. But here m the
climax, when Chas. A. Green. whom
| have always regarded as the soul OF
honor, puts it into black and white
that our box contains "about a half
bushel!" Why, bless you, Bro. Green,
the three bushel barrel agreed upon
in a conference of the Eastern apple
growers and shippers, in Washington,
D. c., Jan. 9th last, contains 1925
cubic inches. One-third of this is
2,342 cubic inches but our apple box
contains 2,173.5 cubic inches. Now
to say that 2,173.5 is about one-half
of 2,342 misses the truth by more
than 1000. Surely Apollos nodded
when he wrote that. Once a nan was
arrested for stealing a mattock when
he put up the plea that he took it
as a joke. The magistrate asked him
how far he carried the mattock when
he replied about three miles," to
which the justice replied that was
carrying the joke to far" So we
say that when Mr.. Green misses the
contents of our box more than 1000
inches, it is no joke or it is carrying
the joke too far. We would not seri-
ously object to the box that the East
ern people want us to accept if they
would allow us anything for the un-
avoidable bulge in our box after it Is
packed and nailed up with a press.
The bulge in the barrel is figured in
it's contents but our box must con-
tain one-third Of their barrel without
dlstention of parts" as the LaFean bill
now before Congress reads.
A bill Is before the legislature of
Tho Cfota of NJaw Uorl1 yao,;rjnr f,,;4c