BOARD QF HORTICULTURE 99 



There are large caiineries located in Portland, Salem an«! Eugene, with smaller 

 oanneries In a nnmber of other towns of the State. In all of these the cherry 

 pack is one of tlieir priucipal produets, and many carloads of this delic-ious 

 canned fruit is shipped from the State each year. The Royal Anne is also bar- 

 reled in larjie quantities for Maraschino purposes. These cherries are packetl in 

 barreis while fresh, covered with a lirine and shipped to factories, where thej' are 

 manufactured into various confections. 



COMMERCIAL ORCHARDS LARGE 



While the acreage in cherry trees does not compare with that in prunes or 

 apples. yet there are a number of large commercial orchards and numerous 

 smaller plantations. When the season is favorable the owners of dooryard trees 

 also reap quite a harvest, and many city houseowners may be seen harvesting 

 their cherry crop from two or three trees and taking it to the cannery, and a few 

 large cherry trees on a city lot have sometimes almost paid the rent for the place 

 for the year. 



The crop for 1919 was light, yet there was produced and marketed 3,000 tons. 

 Of this amount 1,000 tons were either canned or barreled in the plants at Salem, 

 the Salem Fruit Union, The Hunt Brothers' Cannery and the Oregon Packing 

 Company each packing about 250 tons of the fresh cherries. 



During the past few years a large number of trees have been planted and the 

 crop will normally continue to increase in quantity for several years. After 

 reaching ten years of age the trees increase in their Itearing capacity very rapidly, 

 and the possible cherry crop of the State five years from now should be multiplied 

 many times over the present bearing capacity of the trees. 



Though more difficult to grow than some other varieties of fruit trees during 

 the earlier years, after reaching ten years of age the cherry is not more subject 

 to disease than other fruit trees. Owners having cherry orchards in suitable 

 locations have usually found them very profitable, and the grower with a small 

 orchard finds an added advantage in that the harvest comes much earlier in the 

 season than his other fruits, bringing in an early cash return, as well as extend- 

 ing his period of harvest. 



The canning price for Royal Annes for many years remained at about 5 cents 

 per pound. but during the past few seasons the grower has received from S to 

 10l^ Cents per pound, and if yields were good, the crop has proved very profitable. 

 Soll and location have much to do with the success of a cherry plantation and the 

 intending planter should consult with practical growers before starting a young 

 cherry orchard. ' 



The cherry crop for the season of 1920 was somewhat unusual, since in some 

 districts the crop was very light, while in other districts füll crops were harvested. 



The total crop of the State probably did not tliffer greatly from the production 

 of the year 1919. or lietween 2.500 and 3.000 tons. A large portion of the crop 

 was, as usual. used by the canneries, while smaller quantities were barreled, 

 evaporated or shipped in the fresh State. The price to the grower was unusually 

 good, the bulk of the crop having been sold at about 13 cents per pound. 



This price, together with good yields, resulted in splendid returns to many of 

 the growers. I quote the returns reported received by a few individuals in 

 Order to illustrate the possible income from a small cherry orchard. From one 

 small plot of fifteen trees the producer received from the cannery a check for 

 more than $.300. Another, owner of six acres in cherries, received for the crop 

 $5.750, while the owner of a ten acre cherry orchard sold therefrom last season 

 a crop amounting to $S.000. These are only a few illustrations of the returns 

 received by some of our cherry growers. 



Pickers also received excellent pay for their labor, industrious pickei's earning 

 as much as $6 to $10 per day. 



