The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1910-08-25
UNION SHIPPING
PEARS, APPLES
A FINE CROP OF GRAVENSTElNS
Scarcity of Experienced Packers Already
Felt - Manager SprOat Urges
Good Apple Houses.

The Apple Growers Union is now
in the midst of the beginning of the
fall rush of fruit shipping, pears and
early apples being shipped daily, and
the present busy scenes about the
warehouse indicate only in a small
way the great business which will be
done there later on.
Nearly all the pears and Gravenstein
apples which are now being shipped,
are being packed at the warehouse
of the Union. The force engaged
in packing and hauling the fruit
now numbers about fifty and will have
to be increased as the fruit begins to
come in faster.
The pears this year are of excel
lent quality and six carloads have
been shipped during the past ten
days. Most of the pears are Bartletts
and it is hard to predict just how many
more will be shipped since very few of
the growers listed thier pears in the
crop report. Most of the pears, so
far, have been shipped into Iowa and
Illinois where the poor crops have
created an ususnal demand at good
prices. The pears are coming to the
Union in small lots but very credit
able showing is going to be made by
the end of the season which will last
for over a week yet.
Up to and including last night four
cars of fancy Gravenstein apples had
been shipped to Steinhardt & Kelley,
who are paying $3.50 per box f. o. b.
Hood River for this variety. This is
the highest price which Hood River
growers have ever received for their
Gravensteins. The crop this year is
of unusally fine quality and the apples
are very smooth. The apples, however,
do not show as much color as they
generally do. This is not a great
fault with the GraVenstein as it would
be with some of the red varieties.
There will be several more cars of the
fancy four-tier Gravenste ms sent to
New York and the packers will also
make up a car or two of choice
which will be shipped to less distant
market.
When asked about the prospect for
the sale and price of the fancy Spitzen-
berg and Newtown crop, Manager c.
H. Sproat, of the Union said there
was nothing doing as yet. The direc-
tors have been entertaining a number
of propositions and it is expected that
something definite may be known con
cerning the sale of the Hood River
crop in the course of ten days or two
weeks. Joseph H. Steinhardt, of the
firm of Steinhardt & Kelly, who have
| bought the Hood River fancy apples
during the past two years is expected
to be in Hood River next week and it
| = knL fhaf Ntyifb htc tricit fbnra
may develope something concerning
the sale.
Whenever he is asked what is doing,
Manager Sproat emphasizes the fact
that there will be a great task to
handle the apple crop this year and
says that all the growers should make
full preparations early for handling
the record crop. With scarcity of
experienced packers even to handle
the Gravenstens the problem may
become serious two months from now.
Jack Robinson is teaching force of
16 men packers, who are handling the
Gravenstines and is watching them
carefully. They are doing we'll and
putting up a nice pack. Manager
Sproat says that $50 packers will be
needed to handle the Union output
alone.
The problem of packers recurs here
everv year as other districts come in
and offer high wages to the exper-
fenced Hood River packers who Will
20 to other sections and teach the
Hood River methods of high class
pack. In order to meet the demand
and have plenty of packers in the
valley, the Union will have packing
school which will open either on Labor
Day the first Monday in September
or one week later. The Union will
urge every grower to attend the school
in order that he may learn the exact
methods of turning out the very best
pack.
Another very important point in con-
nection with handling properly the
enormous crop was made by Manager
Sproat when he spoke of the posslbil-
ity of losing a large portion OF the
crop after it is safely grown and
picked merely because Of the lack of
proper facilities in the orchards for
storing the apples.
1.-THE orchard men," he says, ARE
not making the proper preparations IN
| Jne way OF DuIlullRs W care III 'hSiA
apples. Every orchard should have a
we'll arranged closed apple house or
building to be used as such which Will
stand certain degree of cold. 1t will
be impossible to get the crop packed
out and shipped early in the season
even if everything goes well with
plenty of packers and plenty Of cars.
have known a freeze to come IN Hood
River as early as the tenth of Noyem-
ber, which would ruin all fruit which
was not proprely protected. The
growers should get ready for an emer-
gency and have a place to store
apples if an arely freeze should come.
1t is possible to put up building
which will answer the purpose at a
comparatively low cost, A plain box
building with one layer of lumber in
the walls lined with paper and having
good doors will offer sufficient protec-
tion through the early part of the
winter and if an unusal cold snap
should come a small oil stove should
prevent the fruit from freezing. The
Hood River valley will produce some
wonderful apples this year and the one
great problem is to get them safely IN
to the hands of the consumer. "