The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1916-08-24
APPLE NOTES

The first sale of Yakima Jonathans
this season was reported last week by
Pat Mullins, who sold the crop of 1900
boxes from his Selah ranch for 80
cents a box. The sale includes extra
fancy and fancy. The price received
by Mullins is below offers for first cars
of Jonathans, which are in some cases
81. so for extra fancy. Shippers there
had expected the Jonathan market
to start generally at $l.25. Mullins
refused to give the name of the pur-
chaser.
This community has in the past
shipped as high as $50 cars of apples in
season. Gradually. however, the
trees have been taken out because of
neglect and disease, says a dispatch
from Garfield, Wash. There are re-
naming but about 200 acres of bearing
apple orchards in addition to about the
same acreage of young trees four to
six years old that are not yet in bear
ing. This district grows apples with
out irrigation and when trees were
young the apples were of good size and
quality, but gradually they have seen
less cultivation and less care with the
additional diseases that have found
their way here until today the old or
chards are almost worthless. Even
the young trees in this district have
been hurt by the planting every year
of some cereal crop between the trees
until there seems to be no fertility left
to give the trees the vigor they require
to crop and set properly.
The probable tonnage from this dis
trict this season will not exceed 40
cars apples. including what will be
shipped to the vinegar plant at Mos
COW, Ida. The tonnage last year was
IL cars. Last season the crop was So
scabby and apples so cheap that very
few orchards were picked at all. The
outlook this spring was for 100 cars,
but late frosts cut the tonnage as
given above. The Rome Beauty is the
leading apple here and comprises 80
per cent Of the tonnage; Jonathans
next with about rs per cent. The bal
ance in the order given are: Ben
Davis. Gano. Wealthy, Wolf River,
Wsgeners and Greetings, with very
few Baldwins.
The coming apple crop of the
United States will not be as heavy as
last year, when the final estimate of
the Department of Agriculture at
Washington was 76. $40. 600 barrels, one
which is generally regarded as fairly
accurate. Despite increased produc.
tion in the Northwest and in western
New York, the country as a whole will
produce considerably less fruit, so that
an output of $1,000. 600 barrels is re.
garded as fairly accurate. This may
be reduced owing to unfavorable
weather conditions during July and
August, which have caused heavy
dropping and the development of fun
gus and other diseases.
This condition leads to the belief
that the market this fall will be bLr-
dened With lot of poor fruit if grow
ers do not exert extra precautions in
eliminating low grade barreled and
boxed apples. II was the storing last
season of such large quantity of fall
fruit which was marketing during the
winter months in competition with win
ter fruit that resulted in such a disas-
trous apple deal. As soon as the
early fruit was out of the way and
winter fruit dominated the situation
improved and the end of the year
wound up more satisfactory than ex-
pected. With the likelihood of large
amount of poor fruit from all sections
growers should early recognize the
necessity of using culls. small and
poor apples in the cider mills, evap-
orators and other outlets of this kind.
reserving only the better grades for
barreling purposes.
According to the reports of trade
publications, which last week stimuli
taneous with the New York meeting of
the International Apple Shippers con-
vention published specialapple editions.
the yield of apples for 1916 will practi-
cally be the same as forl9l5. The crop.
however, will be somewhat differently
distributed. The east will have heav.
ier crop, the central states decrease
and far western states a decrease.
Despite the fact that transportation
charges are at a record high mark, the
outlook for expectations of apples il
said to be more promising than last
| year.