THE STONE FRUITS IN OREGON 



By R. H. Weber, Commissioner for Fourth District. 



The stone f ruits have for many years occupied a prominent position 

 in the horticultural industry of the State; in fact, it can be said that the 

 Position of stone fruits is in the lead when considered from a financial 

 point of view as reference to the files of the biennial reports of the State 

 Board of Horticulture will readilv show. Nor is there much danger that 

 this Position will be surrendered to any other class of fruit in the very 

 near future, as manv trees are being olanted everv vear of all kinds of 

 stone fruits which flourish in all sections of the State of Oregon and 

 greatly add to its fame as one of the greatest fruit-growing states in the 

 Union, and which in a few vears hence will doubtless rank first in point 

 of acreage and quantity of fruit produced. 



The Italian prune at this time is unquestionably in the lead as to 

 number of trees in bearing and quantitv of fruit produced. This variety 

 in the evaporated State now finds readv sale in the markets of the United 

 States and Europe, with an ever-increasing demand on account of its large 

 size and fine qualitv. Nowhere in the wide world does the Italian prune 

 grow to greater perfection, both as to size and flavor, than in this State, 

 many thousands of acres of rieh soll both in eastern and western Oregon 

 are devoted to its growth. 



Perhaps in no other place in the known world are there so many large 

 Italian prune orchards as in the Willamette Valley, yielding annually 

 many millions of pounds of the dried product and bringing to the State 

 sums of money which run above a million dollars every year. While the 

 product of the prune orchards in western Oreeon is put upon the market 

 in the evaporated State for the most part, those grown on the easterr\ 

 slope of the Cascade mountains are invariably shipped in the fresh state 

 to the eastern and even European markets, to which places they are 

 shipped under refrigei-ation and where they find a ready market at profit- 

 able prices to the growers. Demand for prunes, both dried and fresh, 

 has been so streng the last few vears and prices have ruled so high that 

 many growers are making extensive additions to their orchards. 



The prune, bemg a staple product, and being marketable both fresh as 

 well as evaporated, there is little danger of an over-production, especially 

 since its^ production is practically confined to the Pacific Northwest, and 

 principally to the State of Oregon, which is in the proud position of being 

 looked to by the entire world for its supply of Italian prunes. 



Flums do well in all parts of Oregon, but as they cannot be profitably 

 evaporated and must be marketed fresh, there is not so large a field for 

 them as for prunes, unless our friends, the canners, should come to the 

 rescue and put them into cans to be put upon the market. There is, how- 

 ever, a great demand for the large, juicv plums which grow in Oregon in 

 our eastern cities, and many carloads find their way to these markets 

 every year. If varieties and locations were studied, there is no question 

 but what much money could be made raising plums, for they surely grow 

 to perfection as regards size and qualitv and are wonderfully productive. 

 Many of the newer varieties recentlv introduced are immense in size and 

 beautiful in color with most delicious flavor and bring enormous prices. 



PEACHES. 



Next to prunes in order of acreage come peaches, of which Oregon 

 has many large orchards and thousands of trees yielding immense revenue 

 to their lucky owners. If there is a place in the State where peaches will 



