The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1914-03-26
MODERATION. RULE
OF VALLEY TODAY
lBY Leroy Armstrong;

(By Leroy Armstrong;
Chicago man along here the other
day, telling Of old times in that town.
IL was in the days of organized eat
I ing houses. when kinsley's was the
one place TO get a good dinner, but was
avoided by men Of moderate means,
I because of the prices. The high price
Of living had not yet accustomed people
Z TO a dollar for the MONDAY repsst.
4 This Chicago man was earning good
pay, and eating at inexpensive places
+ though uncleanness, bad service and
! indifferent viands lacked much Of being
satisfactory. He used TO pass the one
new Kchlsaat restaurant in Clark
street, near Monroe; used to see well
dressed men going in and coming out,
and wished he dared squander the price
of such luncheon as reason told him
could be found there. One day when
he had plenty of money, he made the
venture. And he found he could get
/ better food, get it quicker, cleaner,
more pleasantly, than in any Of the
rocky places he had been patronizing.
And after that he went there every
day.
A good many people feel that way
about Hood River land. They know 1t
is'good land, with beauty and fertility
as inducements, with world-favorite
apples and Strawberries that are fit for
king. But they heard, about three
years ago, that Hood River orchard
land was held at 81, 900 an acre. Well
some people did pay that for orchard
land here in 1909 and 1910. Some few
paid even more. They had the money.
liked the place, had been caught with
the glamour of Hood Rivers prestige,
and wanted to be part of the cele-
brated community.
If they understood orcharding, and
devoted themselves TO their tasks, they
have had no reason to regret their pur-
chase, even at the price. But those
times went by. You can get good
bearing orchards, as desirble in every
way as those of the boom purchases, at
thousand dollars an acre today. You
can do the same thing tomorrow, If you
can't make the journey before morning.
In fact, the water has been squeezed
out of the Hood River orcharding prop
osition, and land here is now down to
business basis.
There are plenty of orchards in the
valley for sale at 1900 an acre, which
will earn twenty percent interest at
that valuation - with good business
methods on the part of the buyer. They
are doing that for present owners.
There are young orchards, many of
them bringing revenue from strawber-
les, that are on the market for good
deal less than thousand dollars an
acre. Many of them will vie with the
best in the valley in two, three and
four years. Some, still with younger
trees, can be had at lesser prices.
Men who look over Hood Rivers
equipment, remember what they have
heard of prices in 1910, and shy away.
They don't imagine they can afford it.
If they made investigation, they would
find, as the Chicago man found in the
matter of lunches, that the price was
as attractive as the other features.
lhe excellent quality of the soil is
admitted on all hands. The climate,
the contour of the hills, the picture in
general, charm the observer. The pc
culiar adaptabillty to apples and straw
berries is admitted everywhere. The
perfected system of irrigation insures
all needed water on every acre where
desired. The location of packing hous-
es, with all facilities for cooling and
preparing for shipment, and the per-
fection of transportation, testify to
establishment. The plant is all here.
There is an element of chance, a sug-
Of na n
even where the soil is admittedly
good. Here all the pioneer work has
been done. The lessons have been
learned. From the grating and bum
ding to the collection of money for
fruit sold, the experience of past years
has prepared the way and made
straight all paths.
And the deterrent of high prices for
Hood River land is a bugaboo-no
more. 1t isn't a place which laughs
with fortune with the tickling of
new purchasers hoe. 1t is still place
where good farming, good orcharding,
industry and business principles are
necessary for financial success. But
with these-and they are necessary in
ever business hundreds of Hood River
farmers have made good. Hundreds
more are going to make good. And
there is land - some developed and
ready with the harvest in harvest time.
some in stages all the way from the
raw to the verge of productiveness,
ready and waiting for men and women
of the sort who want the best, but
have been a little frightened by what
they heard three or four years ago
abont prices.
Goldheld isn't dead. There are pay
ing mines and productive mills there.
But the boom has passed, and fancy
prices are a thing of the past. The
values are here, far more substantially
than they ever were. But reason has
been reasserted. Moderation is the Or
der of the day. Propositions for sell
ing are based on actual earning capac-
ity, not impulse, or sentiment. And
on that basis, Hood River is more de-
sirable now than it ever has been in
4 !