The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1920-05-27
CLARK Seeding
VERSUS THE FIELD
By Gordon a. Brown

By Gordon a. Brown
The economic importance of the
strawberry industry in the Hood River
valley is generally conceded. 1t is a
source of large revenue ard the net
returns per acre are generally high
The strawberry in the valley has a fu-
ture, but in what volume is still a mat
ter of conjecture. As a rule the straw
berry is merely a side line or incidental
to the growing of tree fruits. 1t occu-
pies the ground until the trees come
into bearing. after which time 1t is
discarded. AS a result most of the
larger acreages are confined to the Up
per Valley, where logged OF lands have
recently been cleared and new orchards
are being developed The strawberry
has been superseded by tree fruits, not
necessarily because the latter give
higher returns on the labor or invest
ment, but because the tree automat-
ieally forces the strawberry out.
For many years past the only straw
berry of note grown in the valley has
been the Clark Seeding. That it is a
wonderful berry in many respects is
conceded. In spite of the fact that
there are literally hundreds of other
varieties grown commercially in differ
ent parts of the United States, it has
held it's own and as yet apparently has
no rival under local conditions. The
reason for this is that it is a berry of
unusually high quality both for dessert
and canning purposes and is we'll known +
as splendid shipper when grown
properly and picked at the right time.
The Clark Seeding, however, has /
one very serious drawback. 1t is
very light bearer. There are instances
where the crop will average as much I
as 800 to 400 crates per acre, bat these
records are an exception to the general
rule. During the season of 1916 some
| plants fertiliZed and cared for by the 1
| Hood River experiment station gave l
467 crates to the 10. 600 palts. This II
was on plants bearing their first crop 4
that wear. However, on a three year
average PIT crates was the best rec
ord. Plants receiving a great deal of
nitrate of soda gave highest returns
but when excessive amounts were used
tended to be soft. 1t is doubtful If the
average yield of Clark Seedlings for
the valley year in and year out is more
than $50 crates to the acre, or possibly
less.
On some of the lighter soils in the
Lower Valley this is particularly So
not so much because the soils are light
but because they have been cropped
long and in many cases not sufficiently
feItilized
The failure of the Clark Seeding to
give larger yields is a decided handi- i
cap. Were it not for the fact that the
strawberry acreage in the western Il
United States has been greatly re-
duced in recent years, which has had a 4
fnI fg yigtsa. = i. 4
consequently the price, il is doubtful Il
If the strawberry industry in this val !,
ley would have continued to exist in h
any great volume. Many other dis ]
tricts growing other varieties, princi.
pally for canning and local markets.
have had yields at least double that of h
Hood River. The despised Magoon of Il
the willamette valley, is grown in &
large quantity in British Columbia, 4
where the yields are not only very n
large. but the quality is reported as
goo AS a canning proposition it is
doul al if the Clark Seeding will 81
ever reach much volume locally. That a
which goes to the cannerv will be that i
which cannot be shipped fresh. or that Z
WhIsh for other reasons is inadvisable u
10 ship fresh.
The evolution Of the strawberry in q
lustry in the valley has the following II
> )1ssibilities Growing other varieties II
which may have approximately as good 4
quality and shipping capacity as the Il
Clark Seeding. but with larger yields; "A
growing other varieties for canning 81
purposes alone; or possibly by selec. M
ion bringing the Clark Seeding up to II
| higher capacity for yields. This last a
ield offers little promise, however. A
1t will possibly be of interest to the j
grower to know that the cx- q
leriment station is at present not only =
Tying to increase the yields of Clark In
seedlings by extensive tests with fer. III
ilizers, bat is also testing out 43 diff III
erent varieties gathered from differ III
mt parts of the United States with / III
he idea of finding out if any of them III
ompare favoTably with the Clark HI
eedliug along the lines mentioned. HI
he whole proposition is Just one big III
amble with the odds greatly against III
he eXperimenter. but with the possi- Ill
ility of reward sufficiently great TO HI
'arrant the study. If the strawberry III
'dustry in the valley is to make for HI
her progress it must be along the Ill
ines suggested. Ill