The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1912-04-11
BLOSSOM WEEK
DATE is SET
VISITORS WILL CONE MAY ?, 3,4,5
Portland Commercial and Press Clubs will
be Entertained Committees Appoint
ed Buffers Talk Interesting.

Hurrah for the Blossom Festival
Plans for the event have been boom
ing. IL was the main topic of discus
SION at the Monday night meeting 0f
the Commercial club, when committees
were appOinted-tU take charge of the
different features of the occasion.
Older orchardists predictsthat it will be
safe to set the festival for the first
week In May and the club has declared
! that the event will be held 0n the DAYS
Of May ?, 3, 4 and s.
The citizens are enthusiastic over
the possibilities of the festival and
declare that they will Quito the fruit
growers of Yakima, who have held
bloom festivals during past years and
who are planning a big event this year.
The O.-W. r. q N. Co. will cooperate
IN making the event successful and
will sell tickets for a fare and a third
for the round trip from all points. II
is probable that several excursion
trains will be run from Portland. The
boat companies will also make rates.
The Portland Commercial club, which
will leave the Rose City on Friday
going TO The Dalles on a iunketing
trip, will return here Saturday. They
will be the guests of the members Of
the local club and will be taken on an
excursion over the Mount Hood Rail-
road, returning here in the afternoon.
On Saturday night a banquet will be
given them at which il is planned to
have s. Benson, who donated the
$4,000 toward the construction OF the
Columbia river road, as the guest Of
| honor.
On Sunday, May 9. the members of
the Portland Press club and their wives
and sweethearts will be entertained at
picnic at one of the valleys country
homes in the heart of the valley. The
automobile club will take the news
paper people for a spin around the
valley and transport them TO and from
| the train.
Secretary Ray E. Scott hopes to
accomplish a great deal of effective
work by having all cooperate with him
~ sending a pig lot of postcards to
nearby people. The date set by Mr.
Scott for mailing the postcards of local
views is April 20. He has suggested
that all secure five postals immedi-
ately, address them to friends within a
radius of 200 miles and mail them ON
that date.
The following are the committees
tnat have been appointed:
General. IL. Heilbroner, chairman
DR.. }. f. Watt, N. W. one, c. ID
] Thompson, p. S. Davidson, Truman
Butler and &. r. Castuer. Decorating
D F. A. Cram, e. a. Franz and A. }
< Graham. Automobile C. +. Gilber
and Capt. G. z. MeCau. Portlan,
Press Club Joe d. Thomson, j. +
= Montgomery, r. B. Bennett, Capt {
e T. McCan aud Chas. Hall. Lunch 70
S the Portland Commercial club DR.
J. f. Watt, F. 5. DAVIDSON and c. d
Thompson.
1t was suggested at the meeting tina
the streets be repaired as well as pos
sible for the occasion.
The address of Leslie Butler to the
members of the club present relative
to his recent trip to the Hawaiian
Islands was of especial interest to the
orchardists, because of the fact that ht
took up a discussion of the Medter.
ranean fly, which has practically de
stfoyed the fruit industry, with the
| thEtDliOll VI huilhlluo anu lJiAlNd ijiNHi
o. the Islands. Although the fruit
growers of California are caused sleep
less nights because of a dread Of an
introduction of the pest, MIR, Butler
stated that it is thought by men who
are we'll acquainted with the fly that il
would not be able to stand the climate
here.
"rhe pest, an ordinary sized, slug
gish fly, which seems to have barely
enough energy to travel from one
street to another, with the exception
of peaches, will not attack the. fruit
until it is fairly well rpened. They
destroy peaches in the green stage.
Pine apples and bananas are picked
very green and the pest has not af-
fected to any great extent the raising
of these fruits. 1t stings the fruit in
a fashion similar to the insect of this
region and lays an egg, which quickly
hatches into the destructive maggot.
Every precaution is used to prevent
the spread of the fly to other parts OF
the world. Close inspections are main
tanned at the time the fruit is shipped
aud at the time it is received in for
eign ports. Especially do the Califor-
mans exert every effort To keep out
the pest.
Strawberries are very scarce in
the Hawaiian Islands. Because of the
nroads Of a small mouse, the fruit has
to be raised under wire netting and
even then the little rodents burrow
under the ground and destroy a great
percentage Of the berries.
zone of the peculiar things about
the Islands is the lack of birds. Be
cause Of the prevalence of many rats
the little mongoose an animal similar
to the weasel was imported The
animal soon killed off all the rats and
the birds as we'll 1t has become as
great a nuisance now almost as the
rats were.
In his closing talk Mr.. Butler, who
last year made at our Of the east and
southeastern part Of the United States
said that of all the places he had evel
seen, Hood River appealed to him most
/ ug a boma