The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1911-10-06
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE EXHIBIT
Grown in the Upper Wenatchee Valley to be
Placed in 6. N. Exhibit Car

The Leavenworth State Bank to-
gether with a number of merchants Of
fered substantial prizes for fruits and
vegetables to be placed in the Great
Northern railway exhibit car which will
make tour of the eastern states the
coming winter and spring. This is a
matter that has been neglected hereto
fore, which may account for our sec
ton Of Chelan county not receiving the
attention to which it is entitled in the
past. Unfortunately the movement
was not begun in time but so astonish-
ing and encouraging were the results
that in another year we will not only
have better showing but much
larger and varied one. That the up
per Wenatchee valley is adapted to
fruit and vegetable growing we who
have lived here from time when the
memory of man runneth not to the con-
trary" was even astonished at what can
be done here. One man knew that
the finest potatoes could be grown
here, another knew that the largest and
best cabbages came from the upper
Wenatchee valley, and so on thru the
entire lists but no one man knew that
we could excel along the whole line
from celery to turnips. The prize win
ners will have their name and location
attached to every article and the whole
valley will receive the benift of this
publicity thruout the east this winter.
The State Bank prize for the best
half bushel OF potatoes went to H. B.
Smith of Merritt; second prize, H. S.
McNett, north of town. For the best
half bushel of carrots, prize offered by
bank, H. S. McNett won the first
prize.
r Leavenworth Mercantile Co., offered
prizes for the best half bushel Of onions
and best three head of cabbage. The
first prize on cabbage went to H. B.
Smith of Merritt; and the second to
Charles Freytag of the Chumstick val
ley. H. S. McNett, north OF town,
won the first prize on onions.
E. P. Sharman, the clothier, offered
a prize for ten varieties of apples, five
apples on each plate, this prize was
won by ]. B. Adams whose young
orchard, just coming into bearing; lies
about half mile east of town. He is
the only apple grower who could make
showing of so many varieties, where
fore the second prize was not competed
for Mr., Adams orchard is estimated
to have about fifteen hundred boxes of
apples on the trees.
In addition to. those mentioned
there were number of other articles
on exhibition, such as grain and grass
es and different varieties Of fruits and
vegetables for which no prizes were Of
iered- The collection was placed on
exhibition in the Commercial Club
rooms where also the prizes were
awarded, Messrs. George Ingham,
Nick Kincherf and ]. H. Sharp acting
as judges.
The surprise of the whole affair was
the H. b. Smith, OF Merritt, which ar
rived here Friday evening and was
thus entered as a dark horse. Merritt
is located eighteen miles northwest of
Leavenworth in the Mason creek valley
one of the tributaries of the Wenatchee
river. The elevation at Merritt is over
over six hundred feet higher than
Leavenworth, or about 1900 feet above
sea level. The land in the vicinity of
Merritt is extraordinary rich and pro-
ductive, which is proven by Mr..
Smiths products. In the same vicin-
ity number of fruit trees have been
set out some of which are in bearing
and show the adaptability of that local
ity to fruit growing. At present Mr..
Smith devotes his time to raising tim
othy hay OF which he has this year put
up between sixty and seventy tons.