Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1911-02-28


afternoon. Sessions were held in tn
> forenoon, afternoon, and evening
; Thursday, and in the morning AM
afternoon of the following day. TIL
attendance was at no time large, OF
account of the rush of spring work OIL
the farm, but the small band of earn
est men who did attend was com
posed of energetic, progressive, intelli
gent, and practical growers, who wer'
anxious to learn and willing to co
operate with their fellows in stimulat
ing interest in horticultural matters
Initial steps in the formation of {
fruit growers society were taken, ant
that action, though brief, was sufii
cient to lay the corner stone for an in.
stitution that must come sooner OIL
later, and which will be of great flu.
ture Importance in developing the vast
fruit resources of Polk County and OF
every business allied thereto, either
directly or indirectly
Noted Speakers.
Six of the most notable fruit men
| in the Northwest were present during
the two days, and gave freely of their
practical and theoretical knowledge
! in a series of addresses that were ELI
tertaining as well as instructive The
! principal branches of the subject of
given new interest.
At the close of the session, a COM
mittee consisting of II. S. Butz, r. M.
Ewing and N. M. Grant was instruct
ed to prepare a constitution and by
laws, and formulate plans for the or
ganization of a county horticultural
society The committee will make its
report at a meeting to be held in the
circuit court room of the court house,
in this city, next Saturday, March 4,
at 1880 p. m. Every wide-awake fruit
man in Polk County should be present.
Vegetable Forcing.
The report of the proceedings
Thursday forenoon were published in
the Observer issued Friday morning.
Thursday afternoons session closed
with an address by Professor A. G..
Bouquet, on the subject of Forcing
Vegetables; Use of Hot Beds, Cold
Frames, ETC." He called attention to
the short time it took to produce a
crop of vegetables under glass. Some
of them required only a month or six
weeks to reach marketable stage
The business is one which brings the
quickest financial returns of any
branch of horticulture. The tendency
in oil rfI of ic
ward intensive culture, and in no line
is intensive culture more necessary
than in market gardening, and espe-
cally in forcing. The kind of land
required is costly, it requires more
equipment and harder work, but the
returns are correspondingly greater.
1t is no job for lazy man.
Supplies Imported.
Oregon falls far short of supplying
her own markets with vegetables, said
he. They are now shipped here in
large quantities from Washington,
Idaho, Colorado, California, and other
states. Climatic and soil conditions
were especially adapted to raising
many varieties, especially cabbage,
cauliflower, broccoli, and particularly
celery, which attained a finer quality
than any that was shipped in. Pota-
toes and onions were practically the
only truck crops that were produced
here in sufficient quantities to export.
Last year $50 carloads of onions were
sent out of the state.
In the evening Professor Bouquet
gave an illustrated talk on forcing and
inter-cropDing. The slides were made
direct from photographs, and illus
trated various phases of the industry,
both indoors and out. The proper
size and shape of young plants were
shown, and pictures explained clearly
how an expert gardener can grow
three or even four crops on the soil
at one time.
Demand For Products.
There is no locality where there are
greater inducements for forcing veg
etables under glass than in the Will
lamette Valley, owing to the big de- |
mand for fresh products. put into
market in proper condition. The de-
mand existed not only in Portland. |
but IN almost every small town.
One OF the principal essentials Of |
good gardening was first-class seeds. 1
Cheap seeds should never be used un- |
der any circumstances Buy and plant
the best. even IL they do cost more.
Every home garden should make
use OF the hotbed and cold frame. |
Their use gave a big advantage in I
raising young plants for setting out 4
They were earlier and they came to !
earlier. giving a longer bear I
ing season and a greater yield. The I
hotbed was simple and easily man
aged. About a foot OF well handled" /
which should be kept well I
turned for about two weeks. was suf-
fcient 10 furnish all the heat required I
in this climate. A layer OF about six
inches OF soil is spread over H. No
seed should be planted until after %
hours. 80 as 10 allow the first violence
of the heat 20 subside. The cost Of
sash IL not much. and they are good .
Tor many years use.
Enforcing the laws.
p. e. Armstrong. fruit Inspector Of
Marion County. gave a short talk on
he Inspection of fruit and the en-
forcement OF the laws now on the
statute books for the benefit of the
such laws were nee
sssary in order 20 advance the Indus
Try. and IL was the duty Of every man
who owned q fruit three % do an in
bic power to assist IN carrying out the
requirements of the Law. and % aid in
the orchard diseases and
pests.
Professor Wilson spoke on the na-
.ure and habits o. the principal pests.
md save the most successful methods
Tor their eradicauon- Re gave a hit
q information that vas new o. some
y those On attendance when he stated
hat the common hop louss leaves the
'ines In the sumner % 60 90 the plum
rees uhere ID spends ne winter. IN
he spring % returns % fhs vines The.