Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1911-02-10
PRAISES The PRUNE
SALEM AUTHORITY EMPHASIZES
IT'S VALUE TO FRUIT MEN.
Area of Orchards Could Be Quadru'
pied without Danger of Over
Production.

II am more firmly convinced thah
ever that the best opening for the aV
erage man of average intelligence with
average means at his command is not
in the line of high-grade apple ana
pear growing, but are fully convinced
on the other hand that the average
man described above may find it great
ly to his advantage to consider care
fully prune culture" Such is the
opinion of Fl. S. Gile, of Salem, one OF
the leading authorities in Oregon on
the subject of prunes. Writing to the
Oregonian, he says:
1.-THE Oregon prune is now quite as
widely and as well known as the ore
gon apple, and unblushingly takes It's
place side by side with it on the tables
in the homes of the very best people
on two sides of the world
1.-THE Oregon prune has won lts
fight for trade recognition entirely up
on it's merits. 1t is large and meaty'
and the value of any prune is calculat-
ed according to it's size, the larger aV-
erage size the more value pound;
ana IL lIlS CIGbOi Pi NAA~ 49,
guilty of being tough, that difficulty
has been entirely remedied by the i'm
proved process of cleaning and sterll-
ization used by all modern packers,
Demand Widespread.
thousands of acres of land well
located for the production of Oregon
prunes can yet be secured in the
| Northwest at reasonable prices, and II
does not require the vision of seer TO
forecast certain success for the man
who makes such an investment. 1t Is
only necessary that he should carefully
choose his location, using the expert
ence of other orchardists as guide as
| to soil and elevation, and then with
ordinary diligence in the matter OF
care and cultivation his success is as
sured Furthermore, 1T will not be
necessary that he be schooled in al
the fine knowledge of horticulture
necessary to successful production OF
most other varieties of fruit; and then
too, the expense of an acre properly tt
care for his prune orchard Will only
be a trifie by comparison.
'"The consumptive demand for ore
gon prunes is now distinctive ant
widespread. This is not only true il
nearly all the markets of the Unite
States and Canada, but this fruit ha
i gained a strong foothold across TN
water and the quantity which is annu
ally used in Europe may be measured
by the quantity which the Northwes
is able to prepare and dispatch in TIM
to meet the requirements of thei
} trade conditions.
! No Over Production.
! "This fact alone has safely remove
: any fear which may have been presen
I in the minds of prune growers con
cerning production for very man
, years to come, if ever; and we mus
remember that Oregon prunes of tn
t best average type are successtull
raised only in a limited area of tn
l Northwest, while apples, pears, peach
1 es. etc, are grown to some extent eN
4 erywhere.
. THE acreage planted to prunes /
. the Northwest might easily be dout
led twice with reasonable hope of cor
tinued good returns
Y '"The prune crop of the Northwe
for 1910 was estimated early in I'll
:, season to be little more than a III
crop, and these early estimates prove
to be correct The harvest was ear
and shipments began moving out
, the country fully ten days before II
usual time. The quality of the fru
produced the past season was goo
4 and probably never In the history
= the business was the entire crop move
so early 1t is a well known ia
l. among dealers that there does not r
main in the Northwest enough prun
today to supply the ordinary home d
.. mand until the next crop can be pr
a duced. The position OF the Oreg'
prune grower, therefore, is most con
i Portable; he has finally come into h