The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1914-07-03
FIRST ORCHARD IN
CANYON COUNTY

Near the Boise River, Just six miles
north of Nampa, are located the FIRST
old pioneer homesteads of CANYON
County. Some of these homesteads
are still owned by their first settlers.
who came here for the purpose OF
making settlement in the west
which was at that time a land of
wilderness. The only people that in
habited the west were the red men
who kept the few white settlers of the
earlier times very carefully under
their watch.
One of our very early settlers to
take up land as homestead was
Charles Madden Mr.. Madden with
his sturdy wife and two small child
rem came over from the mining camps
of Florence, in the year of 1854. with
the intention of making a permanent
home in the unsettled country.
Mr.. Madden said that the first
orchard set out in the Boise valley
was planted by Thomas Davis Of
Boise, in the spring of 1865, and that
his was the second in the valley. but
the first orchard in what is CANYON
county at the present time. The
Davis. or Boise Valley Orchard. was
planted from nursery in Boise.
Early in the spring of 1886 Mr..
Madden decided that he would make
his family feel more at home bv
planting large orchard near the
small house.
He ordered the trees from Philip
Ritz, who was the owner of a large
nursery at WalIa Walla, Washington
The trees were brought all the way
from Walla Walla by wagon, a dis
lance of three hundred miles. These
were the first outside trees brouehi
into the Boise Valley, and were those
bought from Mr.. Ritz, and grown at
Walla Walla, Washington.
This first orchard consisted of 600
trees at cost of fifty cents per tree
or three hundred dollars for all. The
six hundred trees largely consisted of
apples, such as Ben Davis, Wine
Saps, Jonathan, Pewakee and a few
Damson plums. After Mr.. Madden
received the trees great care was
taken of them for they had cost
considerable amount.
Mr.. Madden planted the trees very
carefully on a good river bottom soil
where they put out their leaves and
began to make very good headway
IN the new soil and climate. They
made very good development dur
ing the few months of spring, but
when summer came the grasshoppers
appeared in great abundance.
Grasshoppers used to come in great
numbers in the early days, although
they haven't been seen so abundantly
since 1907, and it is trusted will never
come again.
The trees being too small and
young, and not having had time to
grow much, the grasshoppers took
advantage of this, and just pounced
down upon the poor little trees till
every small leaf that was sent out
was devoured. After all the leaves
were gone, then the grasshoppers be-
gan to eat the bark as it was very
soft and tender The result of the
trees losing their bark caused all but
three trees out of the six hundred to
die. The three trees that remained
were black Damson plums, which
grew upon the ditch band. AS the
grasshoppers made an attempt to
reach the trees they fell into the
water and were washed down stream
and drowned,
After Mr.. Madden found that these
three trees were saved on account of
being planted on the ditch bank in
which the water flowed all during the
irrigating seasan, he said if he had
known that the ditch would have
saved his orchard he would have
flooded the orchard during the time
the grasshoppers were most numer-
Gus and would have saved his orchard
of six hundred trees instead of only
three. These trees are still alive on