130 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



section. You know the pear blight and are acquainted with the fact 

 that it is the limiting factor in many places in pear production. In 

 that valley the blight is under almost absolute control. The whole 

 community has entered into the fight to control it and success has 

 been the result and the Rogue River Valley is going to continue in 

 the business of pear production. Hood River again, as a whole — every 

 one being in hearty co-operation wtih the movement, went out to 

 eliminate the San Jose Scale from that section. And here the pest was 

 about completely eradicated. This is just a sample of the way in which 

 community interest and co-operation has acted to the advantage of 

 whole sections. 



But consider co-operation still further. A great many of the 

 smaller towns even of Oregon and Washington have their associations. 

 These associations are for the purpose of handling the products of the 

 place and as a result better returns have been made to the parties pro- 

 ducing the fruit, vegetables or whatever they may be. All persons do 

 not produce in car load lots and it is recognized that assignments of 

 that size are likely to bring better returns than would smaller con- 

 signments. Thus the like products of the whole community go in 

 together. 



During the past year a still greater organization was completed — - 

 the Central Selling Agency of the N. W. with headquarters at Spokane. 

 This means still greater co-operation there, and that the growers of 

 tiiat whole section are to act as a unit in the marketing end of the 

 game. The Hood River associations and others instead of bucking 0:10 

 another as they did in the fall of 1912, will now be acting together and 

 the fruit from the entire Northwest, will merely enter into competition 

 with that of other parts of this country and other countries. 



Advertising, as has been demonstrated by the west is a big factor 

 in increasing the consumption of fruit and so increasing the demands. 

 The Hood River Association alone has done much to advertise and 

 create a demand for Hood River Grown Fruit. And during the past 

 two years, apple days have been observed upon which a specialty has 

 been made of apples and a special effort made by all handlers of fruit. 

 The past year in Portland alone, the number of boxes sold by retailers 

 amounted to 20,000 — almost thirty-five cars of fruit. 



Great consternation was caused both among grocers and nursery- 

 men in parts of Oregon this past season. At Eugene the fruit inspector 

 caused the arrest of a number of grocers for selling diseased fruit — 

 fruit which was badly scabbed or otherwise infected with disease and 

 insect injuries. In several instances, large assignments of nursery 

 Slock — amounting to several thousand trees have been seized and 

 destroyed by the inspectors because of crown gall or some other orchard 

 disease or pest. And again whole orchards have been ordered cut 

 down because the owner had not sprayed and cared for his trees. An 

 uncared for orchard is a menace to other orchards and appearances 

 now point to the fact that if a man is to try to grow fruit in Oregon. 



