The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1915-04-29

ARE VERY EARLY
MARKETING WILL BEGIN IN 10 DAYS
White Salmon Valley and HOud River Will
Have LIS Carloads Permanent
Harvest Hands Rewarded

The present season is one of the
earliest seen in recent years in Hood
River. Orchardists declare that they
never saw the orchards in full bloom in
the month of April before. The bloom
pink petals have carpeted the orchard
fields of the Lower Valley.
And with the early spring weather
prevailing Strawberries have been bios
soming a week in all parts of the Low
er Valley. In protected places the
fruit is ripening.
my berries have been blossoming a
week. says Jos. Frazier, Jr., of the
West Side, 'and from all indications
we are going to have long productive
season.
II. F. Davidson, who will have
charge of the marketing Of the fruit of
the members of the Apple Growers As
sociation ana the White Salmon Valley
! Fruitgrowers Union, says that from
reports he has had the crop will equal
that of last year, when the local asso.
citation harvested "a, 600 crates, or l20
carloads.
81 expect" he says, THAT we will
ship from the two districts about l75
carloads of berries. The recent frosts
have damaged the berry crop slightly. J"
The Association will be making
small express shipments in less than
two weeks. BY May 20 carload lots
will be routed to the different markets.
Growers are already preparing for
the harvest of the crop. Ii is esti-
mated that enough resident labor may
be secured to harvest between third
and half of the fruit. However, Mr..
Davidson thinks as many as 500 transit
ent white laborers will be needed. A
number of Indians from the Warm
Springs reservation and from the Cell
10 country will be here. For the past
several years the Indian pickers have
been decreasing. Formerly as many
as 500 or more Red Skins spent the
berry harvest season in the valley.
Mr.. Davidson declares that il would
be better for the marketing of the
fruit if the season were normal. The
early berries will come in competition
with late shipments of fruit from Louis.
lana, California and the Sarcoxie dis
trict of Missouri.
1.-THE weather in these districts has
been normal this year." says MIR. Dav-
ldson, land their berries will come
in competition with our fruit. We will
also meet competition with berries
from Tennessee and southern Illinois
to certain extent. while most all OF
the markets i,ili' vest have q
limited qual,sss or ai~.. protnced II
their immediate vicinity. In recent
years we have found keen competition
from the berries of the Puget SounC
districts, and this season we will fine
this fruit going to market at the samt
time ours does.
"Our season, however, is drawn Out
much longer than that of any Other
/ district, and we usually always fine
troublesome conditions at one end oil
the other. We find the month of June
to be the best for selling our straw
berries. The earlier competition ii
over, while by the time July weather
has come the palates of consumers have
grown tired of strawberries and they
turn TO other such fruits as cherries
raspberries and peaches.
1.-The frost damage up the Columbit
has been pretty heavy. According tC
reports the early Hermiston crop hal
II
age was done at Kennewick.
II Correspondence with the trade lndi
Gates that markets will be good ant
that fair business conditions prevail il
|, the districts in which We sell our fruit
II California berries are now entering tn
Portland, Seattle and other principa
markets in carload lots. These ar
coming mostly from Los Angeles an
Fresno, while the Florin fruit is com
ing on. The heavy shipments, how
Il ever, should be over in two weeks.
II Monday afternoon committee. com
/ posed of o. B. Nye and G. W. Hooker
of the Apple Growers Association, an
Homer G. Day and F. s. Baker, of tn
|! White Salmon Valley Fruit Grower
Union, met with MIR. Davidson and A
Il lW. Stone and agreed on a standard Sc
II of packing rules, which will be identl
II cal with those in use with the Assocla
| tion last year. They also adopted tn
II following schedule of prices to be pai
/ pckers and packers:
II Picking-Pickers to be paid at tn
II rate of Ga cents per carrier, all OF th0s
4 who stay with the grower through tn
II picking season, price is to be raised {
II y cents and settlement made on thi
ii basis.
II Packing The price of packing
II fixed at l2t cents per crate. with tn
II provision that all packers who renal
with the grower during the entire sea
II son shall be raised to Is cents per crat
II and settlement made on this basis.
II These prices are suggested as a prop
II er recompense to those who do prope
III work and comply with the rules an
III regulations governing the strawberr