The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1913-09-25
II. RVEST SEASON
NOW AT HEIGHT
THE VALLEY APPEALS TO VISITORS
Apples Hang in Millions from the Trees
Many Corn Fields Seen-Par Reach
ing Demand for Apples

1t is Indian Summer time, the har-
vest time. and the Hood River valley
is assuming the dress of the harvest
days, when millions OF apples in red,
green, yellow and russett hang upon
the trees of the vast orchards. But
never before has the Hood River valley
had such harvest as that of this year.
1t is truly one that would please the
eye of man from any land. Never
has such corn crop greeted the eyes
of local husbandman and him who comes
to visit the orchard district. James
Whitcomb Riley would revel in noun
tain guarded corn fields, could he pay
visit now to some of his former Hoosier
neighbors; for the corn is in the shock
and the frost will soon touch the pump
kin in fields amid the orchards. Potato
| fields are on every hand, the vines
shriveling and the hills bursting with
large. smooth commercial tubers. And
hayfields galore are spread out well
coming the sunshine. Especially has
the Upper Valley produced more hay
this year than ever before, and new
barns have been built to house the pro-
ductsalready haled and that curing in
the windrows and ricks.
| There is an erroneous idea prevailing
| in the valley that no corn has ever been
matured here. As early as ten
years ago, c. r. Bone, on one of
his tracts in the Central Vale country,
planted large corn crop, which ma
tured and yielded more than 60 bushels
to the acre. Mr.. Bone secured his seed
from the dry farming regions of Idaho.
Corn tracts are seen on every hand
this year. Scarcely rancher but that
secured an allotment of corn seed from
the 0.-W. r. 4 N. Co., and many Sc
cured greater amounts of seed from the
dry farming communities of the Rocky
mountain district.
The largest corn acreage in the val
ley this year is that on the ranch of
Rev. Billy Sunday. l.. G. Heizer, Mr..
Sundays half-brother, who has charge
of the ranch, is proud of his corn crop.
The cereal has been brought to matur-
ity ana has been put in the shock.
| J.F. Lean owner of the NJ Can place
has succeeded in raising some fine corn.
Mr.. Mclean has had a garden that
would be prize winner in any country.
He has grown potatos, carrots, peas
and watermelons.
So many are the apples and such is
their beauty as they hang amid the
. leaves of the trees that in all probabil.
' ity visitor to the region would never
see anything else. The harvest is be
! ginning in earnest now, and pickerl
, and packers are taking the fruit from
: the trees. placing them in their line'
: boxes. ready for their consumers.
e. he
J crop. consisting of about 60 carloads
J has been sold, said Wilmer Sieg, sale
manager OF the North Pacific Frui
: Distributors, whose headquarters ar
here, last week, land a good part O.
the fruit has been started rolling to it
destination. So great is the deman,
, for northwestern fruit that all over tn
, district we have to withdraw prices an,
have summing up. that we ma.
find just where we are. The differen
/ districts will compare notes and under
. go a readjustment of prices befor
Z more sales are made. Saturday morn
d ing's batch of night letters | had call
| for as many as 100 carloads of frui
that Icouldn't fill and all from reputabl
t fruit firms.
MIR. Sieg confirms the statement tina
the local association has sold througI
& the distributors l40 carloads of apple
: to an English firm. The buyer has bee
Y spending the past week here. eth
!. transaction is cash one and at tn
most satisfactory prices, declares Mr
+ Sieg. "Never was the market outloo
n BETTER" he says, land the northwest
j. ern grower is in position to profit b
v cooperation and the use of good judg
e ment in the disposal of his fruit. +"
/. While no Spitzenburgs and Newtswn
{ have as yet been picked and these will
not be touched to any great extent un
i til the latter part of the month and i
+ October, the Jonathans are bein
cleaned up and Winter Bananas ar
J. being harvested.
The most of the apples will b
o. acked in the orchards. However
g many growers are forming association
n for central packing establishments
The packing school, which has been at
tended by so or more of the valley
ranchers and many of the wives an
daughters of orchardists, closed Satur
daV