The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-11-13

space, there are not the exhibitors in
sufficient numbers and there is no,
, the centralized motive.
No more convincing argument in be-
, half of the excellence of the products
of apple orchards in the northwest
has yet been presented than that. put
forth by the handlers of fruit in the
United States and Europe during and
since the first apple show. They
were quick to see the possibilities of
high grade apples in eastern and for
eign markets. and they snapped up
every offering OF fruit at top prices.
1t is not out of place to say there
was a ready market for 5000 cars OF
northwestern apples over the output
OF the orchards this season. The
crop is short In the northwest this
season. but the growers will receive
more money for their apples than
ever before in the history of the in
dustry. The total crop I'm the United
States this year Is not more than a.
900. 900 barrels. Of which about 10 per
cent is for foreign trade. as against
81. 100000 barrels I'm 1896.
There were periods In the history of
apple growing in America when the
fruit was actually drug on the mar
ket That was before orcharding be-
came an established industry in the
northwest. Eastern farmers then did
not have to grow apples; in fact, all
they did was to pick them from the
trees and dump them into barrels
Time worked changes. and the apples
of Washington and Oregon gradually
found their way eastward. They
created market for themselves.
limited as II was. and the growers be-
gan To extend their orchards and
make business OF. apple. culture.
Conditions developed the fact that
much better apple could be grown
by intelligent cultivation than by the
haphazard method of letting the trees
care for themselves. The products of
the orchards OF the northwest were
received with favor not only at home,
but also abroad, and when the people
found the better apple they We're no
longer satisfied with the inferior fruit.
They demanded the best, and. i'm
many instances. the growers We're not
prepared to supply the new standard.
They were not equal to the task of
improving their orchards: they per-
mitted their trees to run down, and,
as a result the fruit became so unat-
tractiye that IL could not be sold, and
thus the position OF supremacy grad
ually slipped away.
Apples Were so plentiful and cheap
in the New England and other east
ar tat -, s,,
1899 and 1900 that farmers with or
chards would not invest money in
what appeared to them 10 be an I'M
profitable crop. and they gave little
or no attention to the gradually
changing conditions. Those were the
days when apples brought from 40
cents to 81 a barrel. The higher rig
ure was paid for fruit then graded as
fancy. Then there was Improvement
I'm the appearance and texture of the
fruit and the demand became stronger
and soon there were no cheap apples.
The crons of eastern orchards were
not sufficient to supply the demand
and growers in the western states
found ii profitable To ship their ap-
pies thousands OF miles To the mar
kets once controlled almost exclusive
~ by growers in the New England
states.
There has been an awakening in the
east, more especially throughout New
England. but neither this nor the
coming generation will see the day
when the eastern growers can
again hold the markets of the world.
IL the growers in the west continue to
improve their apples. The western
growers have outstripped their east
ern brethren by the adoption of mod
ern methods in cultivation, and have
sent to the markets cleaner and more
attractive fruit honestly packed and
guaranteed as to condition and quail
ity. and with these Important advan-
tages their products will always be in
demand n snnl n-rn1S