Report of State Board of Horticulture. 45 



should all make special efforts to produce fruit of the most 

 superior quality, to show our numerous visitors. This they 

 can accomplish by careful cultivation, thinning and spraying 

 of their trees. This, more than any other mode of advertis- 

 ing will be the means of bringing to our fertile valleys for 

 permanent settlement a great many of the visitors that will 

 surely be attracted to our State this year by the big fair in 

 Portland. 



The Dalles, Oregon, December 31, 1905. 



To the Honorable State Board of Horticulture: 



I take pleasure in handing you herewith my annual report 

 as Commissioner of the Fourth Horticultural District, and it is 

 very gratifying to me to be able to report conditions miost 

 favorable. 



Nineteen hundred and five was what is known among fruit 

 growers generally as an off year. This condition was caused 

 primarily by the very heavy crop of fruit for the year preced- 

 ing, and somewhat adverse climatic conditions. 



During the early part of the season unusually cold, damp 

 weather prevailed, this was followed by the driest summer 

 during my sixteen years residence in Oregon, which had the 

 effect of reducing the quantity of first-grade, marketable fruit 

 considerable. Despite all drawbacks, however, general re- 

 sults, from a financial point of view, are very gratifying, 

 brought about by the prevailing high prices, and the net cash 

 returns were almost equal to that of the preceding year, 

 though the per cent of crop was not much in excess of 60 

 per cent, with the possible exception of strawberries, which 

 yielded a full crop. Most of the fruit in this district is pro- 

 duced in Wasco County, which, for convenience, I will divide 

 into three sections : The Dalles, Hood River, and Hosier. At- 

 tached are tables showing quantity produced and prices 

 realized. 



