The Ward County independent., 1922-11-09

Mr.. and Mrs. S. J. La Due returned
last week from very delightful west
crn trip. Mr. La Due was asked by
the Independent to write an account
Of his journey and from the follow
ing excellent report, he did not over
look anything:
While our trip was primarily a
sight seeing tour, we had planned 1T
so that we could see the agricultural
activities on the west coast. At Med
ford, Ore, the Rogue river valley fair
was being held. Stock that would do
credit to the older dairy sections was
shown, and diversified farming in
which the dairy COW will figure large
ly, will soon be the salvation Of the
Rogue river farmer. Pears, peaches,
apples, grapes, melons, were shown in
great profusion. This district claims
superiority in pears and apples oycr
any other western section, and SO far
as pears are concerned, appears to
have undisputed claim to first place.
Many Of the orchards are now COM
ing into commercial bearing and are
paying their owners handsome dlVl-
dends on the money invested. Cam
neries for pears and some vegetables
are operating in the valley and there
is room for more of them. This is
one of the most beautiful valleys on
the coast and when the people there
wake up to their possibilities and in
crease their irrigation area, they will
have one of the garden spots of the
earth.
Going on down to Los Angeles, we
had d fine opportunity to see what
the back country could produce, as the
Southern California fair was being
held at Riverside. Each of the coun-
ties had exhibits. The great variety
of fruit displayed was a revelation.
Oranges, lemons, grape fruit. pears,
peaches, apples, figs, dates from the
Imperia! valley, persimmons, avocado
pears, pomegranates, guavas, and
grapes Of many varieties were among
some of the fruits we can recall, while
melons and vegetables of every de-
scription and Of tremendous size were
Everywhere. The sweepstakes for
grapes was awarded grower who
had 1S varieties on exhibit. The stock
show was very fine and dairying is
carried on extensively. The same IS
true of poultry. Orange county
claimed SIT 100000 as the value of
her agricultural products for 1921,
and this is one Of dozen counties
tributary to Los Angeles where large
areas are under irrigation and lnten-
sive cultivation | forgot to mention
walnuts, pecans, and almonds, all OF
which are raised in large quantities.
Olives, too, are grown extensively,
but have been almost unsaleable for
the past few years owing to the scare
over poisoning resulting from eating
ripe olives Five and six crops of
alfalfa are cut annually, and a large
acreage is devoted to raising this
highly profitable crop, which is net
ting 52l$2S per ton on the field when
baled. We drove several hundreds
Of miles through these valleys tribu-
tary to Los Angeles, and got a very
good idea of what each valley pro-
duced
In the orange section commercial
orchards sell all the way from $500
to $4,000 per acre, and it is a risky
game. Fertilizer and smoke pots to
keep away frosts are very expensive.
Last winter killing frosts destroyed
the larger part Of the navel orange
crop, and in some instances killed or
seriously injured the trees. Every
two years each tree must be covered
by tent and then smudged with
chemicals to kill scale and other tree
pests, at q heavy cost. Pruning and
cuitivating, as we'll as irrigation all
add largely To the cost Of an orange
r;nrh. Bat when things break right
the biz money falls into voIr lap. We
talk I'd with orc grower who had just
picked and delivered 1000 boxes of
Valencia oranges which ne received
$3.50 q box for at the packing house.
He has an orchard Of 80 acres. The
lemon growers have about the same
troubles as the orange growers, with
the added difficulty Of giving more
protection t. the more delicate lemon
orchard. Wa.nuts are the lazy mans
crop. Wh>n first set, almost any crop
is planted between the trees which
are so feet apart. Frequently peach
or apricot trees are placed between
the rows Of walnut trees, and as
these bear freely at four Of five years
they yield good paying crop until
the walnut trees begin to bear COM
metcially which they do at about ten
or twelve years, when the other trees
are pulled out by the roots. Walnut
orchards 1912 years old may be
bought for $12OO-Sl50O per acre, while
20 year old trees bring about $4,000
per acre. Walnuts require compara-
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