Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-10-29

attention to a ten acre orchard as the
western fruit grower he would produce
as much fruit, except oranges, as the
westerner and 1t would be or inner
flavor. Orange trees would winter XIII
In Iowa, but the largest profit In or
anoes comes from selling the orchards
and not the oranges. so / was told
'confldentially' by a former Iowanf
This particular Iowan went to Gait
fornia to raise oranges. TO make sure
OF his ground he hired out for two
years as an orchard tender. AZ the emo
OF the two. years he declared ne had
no money to invest In oranges. as ne
learned that many times the orange
crops do not bring in enough money TO
pay the freight.
This doesn't mean that all orange
growers are starving to death. Some
are very successful. and one OF these
is John Bennison. formerly OF Musca-
tine But, on the whole, it is the or.
ange land and not the oranges that se.l
for fabulous profits.
"The average Iowan is surprised at
the work that Is necessary to grow
fruits successfully. He pictures
Quiet little ten acre tract with FRUIT
trees growing rapidly where ne can
sit in the shade and watch the canta
loupes and potatoes make 9 nvlns IN,
til the trees get to bearing six or eight
years after they are planted. Then ne
imagines the fortune that is coming.
But in Real Life
However; the life Of a successful
fruit grower is not a continual round
OF pleasure. In most sections or the
west he must irrigate. When his trees
them more carefully than the Iowa
farmer plows his corn. He must ferti-
lie the ground and fertilizer costs
money. Then the trees must be spray
ed some varieties as often as twice
a month, Again. the trees must be
pruned and the fruit thinned out. II
he doesn't smudge, the chances are
crop. Lastly, he must find a market
If the iowa farmer would cultivate.
irrigate, prune. spray fertilize and
smudge his apple orchards he could
duplicat the westerner. His fruit might
lack some Of the color that comes
with almost constant sunshine, but
this would be made up in superior
flavor.
A greenhorn has no business in
western orchard. To make success
of it the orchard grower must be will
Ing to become scientific orchardist.
And he must be willing to work and
work hard from morning until night
all night when frost Is feared.
Water Necessity.
The value Of water to farmer is
firmly impressed upon the Iowan in
the west In Iowa, where a crop fall
ure is unknown and the rains are all
agine how dry and parched the land
and vegetation become without water.
The contrast between Iowa and the
far west at this season OF the year is
striking.
eff this land is worth from 5000 to
$500 an acre In the raw and one five
acre orchard tract in Oregon sold for
s2.250 per acre in the raw, how does
It come that 30 much OF 1t remains un-
tenanted and idle?' j asked live wire
in southern California. !.
Well, I'll tell you, he replied. This
land isn't worth a whoop unless you
can get water on IT.
And / agree with him. One OF the
most striking bits of Iowa's superiority
( is that IN Iowa there is no. land hut
that IL good, while in the west there
are millions of acres that never will
be disable because 1t Is impossible to
get water on It, This Is largely CONF
pensated In some districts by mining
or oil boring. But was told that II Is
well for the tenderfoot to have expert
advice before he purchases gold min
ing stock or oil well stock even In the
face OF stories of how this man or that
has invested $500 In mining stock and
pulled ont 100000 fortnight later.
Alfalfa Great Crop.
Look at that fine field OF alfalfa
says the western booster. That shows
what this land will do when you get
the water on IT, And he points at a
five acre patch Of alfalfa that reminds
the spectator Of Iowa. But the patch
Icertainly does look small to the man
from Iowa, who is used to seeing a
family garden bigger than the whole
alfalfa field.
However, alfalfa is conner and I
am convinced that the Iowa farmer
who does not grow this remarkable
hay is not making the most OF his OF, :
portunities. The west has no corner on
alfalfa
1T is with trepidation that ap-
proach the question OF climate. When
the westerner fails by every argument
to convince the Iowan that the Hawk
eye state Is back number, he attains
| the climax by referring to Towa's
| horrible climate.
"Of course. 1t is Impossible to judge
the climate Of either the west or Of
Iowa in a feeting visit of a month.
But one can talk with those who know
and thus get the facts.
The hostility between Portland and
Seattle allowed me to get from resi-
dents OF each city about what one can
e..
In this way. was informed that the
rainy season Is expected to start most
anytime now. For the next six or
seven months, the people in those two
cities will be treated to daily exhibit
ton Of rain, mist and fog. 1--WE soon
get used to it though and really. we
never get wet says the Portland
booster.
Down In Los Angeles was inform
ed that 1t never grows cold in the win
ter nor hot in summer and that while
the Iowa man Is shoveling the snow
off his front walk, the Los Angeles
resident Is out in the back yard
smelling his roses.
Il Somstimes Gets Cold.
"But heard different stories there.
too. One man who formerly lived at
Newton, iowa, told me 'confldentially'
that he suffered as much from the cold
in Los Angeles last winter as he ever
did in Newton In his life A woman
from Butte. Montana. told me on the
train that Los Angeles is colder than
Butte A former New Yorker declared
that he feels the cold more in Los
Angeles than he ever did in Brooklyn,
N. Y.
1.-The wind blowing off the snowy
40 y,c To- cts - 4.