The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1921-04-09

ttiiu tiiS NllIeI Ill SOulntIn Sdllloi-
MA with headquarters at San Diego,
has been permitting the balmy eli
mate of the south to interfere with
his letter writing to the Examiner,
which for IS years carried many
articles Of historical and news value
from his versatile pen. However, in
writing to the editor of the Examiner
from San Diego, and incidentally
promising that he may some day get
about it to write something of his
doingS, Mr.. Slater covers several
topics which will interest his Ste
vens county friends, and excerpts
from his letter are here quoted:
Fruit in Plenty
1T is really very easy to live
here, not particularly expensive, and
the provender thrown into the hopper
OF subsistence is not SO expensive
If one cannot get it at the store he
can go out in the country and gather
it by the roadside. In verification of
this may | say to you that we fire.
qnently drive out half dozen. miles
and gather gunnysack full of mus
tard green's along the fences. Go
over to the packing house and get a
bushe of oranges-culls they are, of
course, but good, good as the regu-
lars. Gull oranges come not so much
from unftness for food values, as
from odd sizes. A perfect orange as
small as an egg would be Gull, or
one as large as teacup if it would
not fit the alignment of the box for
shipment. These are examples of
cesil oranges. Some are too ripe for
Shipment, yet perfectly good for local
caills. But few in a rotting condition
fiI1d their way to the market We
get oranges at the packing house for
aI3put so cents a bushel. This is about
12c a dozen. The same oranges are
So by the local dealers at the stands
f0# 10 cents dozen, and from the
wagons on the streets 8 dozen for 25
ce&ts, We always have oranges in
th# house. They take the place of
water for drinking purposes. When
touched by. thirst we simply eat an
"a sge or two and that ends it.
Lemons are scarcely marketable.
They can be had for sc a dozen in
the markets, and we have been to
places where the orchardist would
give them to you if you would haul
them out of the orchard. We were
up in Orange county few weeks
ago, talking with store keeper in
the midst of many hundreds of acres
of orange and lemon orchards, and
he told us that he doubted if the
oranges would be gathered excepting
to get them off the ground. In many
places they cut the lemon trees back
and graft them with orange cuttings.
But the saving grace of these or
chardists is coming from water ship
ments. A new line of steamers has
been put through the Panama canal
from New York to San Francisco,
touching San Diego and Los Angeles,
and it is claimed by these steamers
the rate will be cut on oranges and
lemons from $1.86 a box to 76 cents
box, and the trip will be made IN
about 4 weeks or almost as quickly
as by rail. The rise of $1.lO box,
it is said, beats the tariff. The lemon
dealers and raisers once before the
war) clamored for and obtained
tariff raise of so cents box on these
fruits. 1t was a glorious republican
Legislation, but the railways imne-
dately raised the freight rate 5O
cents a box and took it all away
from them. The people showed their
appreciation by electing democratic
congressman and continuing him for
8 years.
"This country is one of real enjoy
ment. We enjoy the climate. In
winter it is rainier than we remem-
bered 18 years ago when we were
here, but it seldom frosts. Geran-
iums grow and bloom the winter
through here. Tomato plants will last
a dozen years and can be trained
along the fences. Roses-that is, the
tree roses-bloom all winter. The
past winter we have been interested
in the changes of season; and we do
have a season when all nature seems
to hibernate, but it is only for few
weeks from about Thanksgiving to
the first two weeks of January. Then
gardens are planted. Trees begin to
bloom about February /, and by
March 10th all nature seems to be
gloriously in blossom. The finest
sight / have ever seen was the acasia
trees, covering the hills all in bloom.
The yellow varieties are the most
profuse in their bloom and present a
solid color. The white varieties are
Y,raffv but do not ohscure the leaf of