The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1914-08-13
SUNSET TELLS OF
APPLE BUSINESS

In its query department for the
month Of August, Sunset. answering
questions of q correspondent as 10 the
fruit business in the Rogue River and
Hood River valleys, says:
There is no doubt that the fruit in
dustry Of the Pacific Northwest is as
permanent and on as sound basis as
the citrus industry of California. We
do not believe that the planting Of
orchards in the Northwest has been
overdone. There is tremendous mar
ket in every part Of the world for per-
feet fruit, of the kind which only the
Pacific Northwest can produce in large
quantities. The trouble with the fruit
industry in the Northwest is not at the
producing but at the distributing end,
and this trouble is rapidly passing
away. The fruit growers were sur
prised, quite without proportion, by an
exceptionally heavy crop from the
newly planted area coming into bear
ing. They were unprepared to handle
this crop. They had no organization,
they lacked the facilities and methods
to bring about thorough and wide dis
tributinn and furthermore they encoun-
tered that rare phenomenon-a full crop
of fruit in the East and Middle West.
The result was year of low prices and
loss, but they learned their lesson.
They now have an organization, CEN
tral selling agency, which in a year
and a half has succeeded in enlistinR
larger percentage of the Northwestern
fruit growers than there is comprised
in the organization of the orange grow
ers. The crop of 1918 was disposed of
at excellent prices on continually ris-
ing market and thanks TO their organ.
iZation and to the new avenues of dis
tribution which will be opened through
the Panama canal, the prospects of the
Northwestern fruit industry are bright
er, the industry is on a sounder basis
than it has been for the past eight
years.
Both the Hood River and the Rogue
River districts have made for them
selves a splendid reputation, based
upon excellent performance. They de-
liver the goods. Both the Hood River
and the Rogue RIVER produce the high
est grade class of apples. We doubt
whether there is a fruit growing dis
lIlGI any WuCIG III llC WOllh NlilNh
dies this problem as intelligently as
Hood River. We doubt whether there
is fruit district anywhere. not ex-
cepting France, which produces dears
as perfect as those grown in the Rogue
River valley and in both of them the
body of the growers is made up of men
standing high above the average level
of intelligence.
AS to the drawbacks, the fruit indus
try of the Northwest is subject to the
same vicisstudes that visit the orange
grower or any other horticulturist at
intervals.
The two districts we have mentioned,
together with the Wenatchee and the
Yakima districts in Washington, are the
best known apple regions of the North
west. We would recommend that you
pay a personal visit to these districts
and that on the way up you also stop
off at Corvallis, in the Willamette val
ley, and call on President Kerr, of the
Oregon Agricultural College. The col
lege faculty will be able to give you a
good deal of sound and conservative in
formation on the fruit industry of Ore
gon that will be invaluable in your in
Vestigaton.