Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-03-27
IOWA VS.. OREGON FRUIT.

Don't sell your land for 500 or
5000 an acre and then come out here
and pay anywhere from $500 to 81 900,
and sometimes more, for fruit land
You've got just as good, probably bet
ter, apple ground right there This
is the advice given by Mrs. Elizabeth
Palmer. Godding, a former Bloomfield
woman who is now in Oregon. Mrs.
Godding disclaims any intention OF
speaking slightingly of the northwest
She praises Oregon and fruit and
saws the growers there are entitled to
the reputation they have won. But she
insists that Iowa can reap a IKE
harvest il she will take advantage OF
her possibilities. Mrs. Godding gives
her views on the apple growing pros
poets in Iowa in the following letter
to her home paper, the Bloomfield
Republican: y
some three years ago, l have had IN
mind to write letter to Davis county
people concerning the commercial
possibilities of their apples, and In
the last week a copy of the Republl-
can came into my hands containing
letter of the same purport from D. H.
Payne. which freshly reminded me OF
my long delayed purposes.
''My friend, 1 will tell you pro.
found secret, where the superior OF
the Paradisical fruit of these favored
Oregon valleys may be grown; 1t is
in Davis and other counties OF south
ern Iowa. I have often said to the
companion Of my hearthstone, None
of these apples equal some OF those
that grew in the old orchard at home.
If Iowa farmers would spray their
trees and give them the care that Ore
eon fruit growers give to their Or
chards, they would beat the north
west on apples s-,5,. -
ri am not a knocker; the oregon
frlit is wondrous fine and fair, and
the growers of the state are entitled
to the reputation, and the rewards OF
their industry, for which they nave
arduously labored. l am only saying
that Iowa might just as well be reap
ing a like harvest if she would realize
her possibilities in that line.
Don't sell your land for sllo or
5000 an acre, and then come out mere
and nav anywhere from $500 to u ,OoO
and sometimes more, for fruit land.
You've got just as good, probably bet
ter apple ground right there. In some
localities in the west the soil Is very
shallow and underlaid with rock, out
inst think what Iowa soil is. There you
are near the market centers. Make
your own land worth good prices by
putting the work on it that we have
to give to the land here. There isn't
anv land. anywhere, that will continu-
ously produce bountifully without re-
ceiving back what it gives. Person
ally We believe that fancy prices Tor
both land and fruit will soon be
thing OF the past; but good paying
prices for fruit, sensibly handled, we
believe will always be given as people
are coming more and more to recog-
nize the fact that apples particularly
are staple food" - - ..
Mrs. Godding's advice to Iowa farm
ers and orchardists, based on her
knowledge of conditions in the apple
growing country of Oregon, bears out
the statements of others who have de-
clared that Iowa is not living up to Its
possibilities in this line Iowa raises
luscious fruits without any special
pains. If Oregon methods of fruit cul-
ture and fruit packing were adopted
Iowans could reap the same big profits
as the western growers, and, as this
correspondent points out, would find
q market for their produce nearer at