The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1916-05-25
BUSHNELL TELLS OF
DIVERSIFIED FARMING

H. H. Bushnell, editor of the Oregon
Farmer, who was recently here visiting
East Side ranchers and who was enter.
tanned and shown the valley by A. W.
Peters. devotes much o. his space in
last weeks Farmer TO the diversified
farming of Hood River. The cover
page Of the Farmer shows pictures of
Mr.. Peters place and his herd of hand
some Jerseys.
Portions Of Mr.. Busbnell's article
follow:
Hoed River has been known for 10,
these many years a. fruit section,
where the big red apples. and juicy
yellow ones, too, grow on the trees in
all their beauty. The Hood River
wberry Is q synonym for excellence
in eveness and peeping quality and the
Hood River pears and cherries are ad-
vertised in the markets-for the name
of the little town at the mouth of the
river Hood Is one TO eonjure by.
Apple blossom time in Hood River is
fully ne beautiful. We imagine. as apple
blossom time in Normandy, or any
where else. Nothing can be more in.
spring than to ride along the excellent
roads of the narrow valley in May,
fianked by the everlasting hills and
over them towers Mount Hood. wrapped
in eternal SHOWS, while the trees flaunt
their blossoms and under them lie the
fallen petals like snowfiakes.
1t seems new Eden and not a snake
in sight.
A visit to the farm of A. W. Peters.
shows a thrifty, we'll kept orchard, in
keeping with the fame Of the valley.
The trees are well placed. well grown
and have proved their right to place
there because Of their goodly yields.
Mr.. Peters has been living on the east
side of the valley for eight years.
Most of the land is in apple trees, with
vetch and rye in rows between some
of them. and elsewhere alfalfa in the
orchard.
But the Iosd to the place leads into a
barnyard, and..therefis lie roomy silo,
In the COW barn 10 all the apparatus Of
the dairyman, with neat milk room,
clean as new pin. Outside. fine
young bull swings. his switch and NUT.
ters under. his breath. 4 In. the pasture
lot eight or ten cows. .munch their cuds.
Hogs..root il. the rich earth and build
frame on..succulent. alfalfa.
81 bought some dairy cows" said
Mr.. Peters, because, l needed manure
for my trees. Il had grown green fer
tilizer and turned thunder. but it pro.
duces too much wood. | needed barn
yard fertilizer. bought some grades.
Before long some Of US met and de-
cided that if we were going to keep
dairy cows We mightras we'll keep
purebreds. The best is not too good
for Hood River
Hogs, dairy cattle and fruit work
we'll together, but Mr.. tPeters sounds
one note of warning. "a man should
have one main interest,"" he said.
Mine is the raising Of fruit. Our
coil and climate favor fruit production,
and so fruit production Fisl the chief
consideration. But admit my Jerseys
interest me more and more. 1--we had
purebreds for two years.
Hood River people have name for
sticking together, and it is noticeable
that the purebred herds are nearly all
Jerseys. They realize the value of
keeping to one breed. They selected
Jerseys because OF the limited room on
their farms and also because they could
buy from splendid herds close at hand.
W. B. Dickerson, who has 40 acre
orchard across the road from the Pc
ters place, is q Jersey breeder, too.
He has two splendid bulls and his cows
are extremely typy, originating from
the West herd at Scappoose. He 'evi-
IDENTIFY prefers the Island type, while
MIR. Peters appears to prefer the Amer.
ican. Mr.. Dickerson has some very
promising young stuff.
There are other purebred Jerseys in
the Hood River district, among them
the Collins herd and the Smith herd.
the latter on the West Side. The silos
on these places testify that Hood River
soil will produce other things besides
fruit. Excellent corn is grown, tall,
big stalks. we'll adapted for transform.
alton into silage. The corn natures,
too. and several Of the growers are
planting their own seed this .spring.
With good corn, and alfalfa beyond
criticism, there is no reason why dairy
cows and swine should not prosper
there, and return a round profit to
their owners.
And 80 Hood River, while sustaining
her reputation for the production Of
fine fruit, is gaining reputation for
other things as well. The dairy COW,
the hog and the crops which support
these animals have foothold and are
establishing themselves. Prosperous
homes dot this delightful little valley,
through which Hood river brawls its
way to the Columbia. "An inch wide
and a mile long," somebody has said
Of it, and every inch is fruitful.