522 



CONSERVATION 



near Spokane, are the great apple ter- 

 ritories o.f the world. Fruit raising 

 here is very highly developed and, in 

 fact, the orchards are a wonderful 

 sight. The orchardist has fruit raising 

 down to a science. The fruit trees are 

 held back from bearing until about the 

 fifth year, and the trees themselves look 

 far different from the scrawny and 

 rank-looking apple trees that are found 

 in the eastern states. The orchards 

 are second only in beauty to the great 

 mountains which surround them. While 



of the country come to these districts 

 trying to contract for the fall fruit. The 

 fruit raisers claim that $3.50 per box 

 for the apples they raise is a low price, 

 for all land which will grow this won- 

 derful fruit commands a price of from 

 $25 to $150 per acre before de- 

 velopment, according to the location. 

 With water this land is worth $300 

 to $400 per acre. This same land 

 with fruit trees two years old will 

 bring from $500 to $600 per acre, 

 and bearing orchards, which are about 



IRRIGATED LAND 

 Scene in Grand Valley, Colo., Showing Irrigated Crops 



there are other tracts which yield great 

 crops of apple fruit, the above-named 

 districts have the reputation, and at the 

 present time the growers here command 

 the highest prices. All apples are 

 packed in boxes which contain about a 

 bushel. Before shipment is made, they 

 are inspected by the Fruit Growers' As- 

 sociation, and it is a proud boast that 

 there never has been a poor or wormy 

 apple shipped from these best districts. 

 The growers receive from $1.75 to $3.50 

 per boXj and in the early spring com- 

 mission men and buyers from all parts 



impossible to buy at the present time, 

 are held from $1,200 to $2,500 per 

 acre. The first question any person 

 will ask is "are not the values of the 

 land too high, and is there not danger 

 of an over-production?" From the 

 closest study, there will never be an 

 over-production of first-class apples, 

 but where "seconds" are often raised 

 and shipped, there may at some future 

 time be a little over-production in this 

 grade. However, at the present time 

 there is no over-production in any grade 

 of western apples. In the best or- 



