UPLAND ORCHARD PRACTICE IN EASTERN 



OREGON 



By Hon. Judd Geer, Commissioner of the Orego7i State Board of Horticulture 



for the Fifth District. 



In submitting this article for the Tenth Biennial Eeport of the State 

 Beard of Horticulture. 1 will begin on the subject 



VARIETIES TO PLANT. 



The planting of an orchard seems to me a serious matter. [ hesitate tc; 

 offer any advice; however, there are some suggestions I am glad to make. 



Other crops on the farm come and go with the seasons. If we make a 

 mistake in one year we can try again next and perhaps correct our 

 error. Not so with an orchard. Mistakes made in the beginning are diffi 

 cult to overcome; in fact almost impossible to entirely correct. The rearing 

 of a good orchard becomes in reality an important part of our life work, 

 and one over which a world of sentiment hovers around, as we call to mind 

 many poems and bits of verse that refer to it. 



The varieties to plant is rather a hard subject to handle, for, owing to 

 our great diversity of soil and climate in the Northwest, it is not safe to 

 give more than general advice on the subject. Among the hundreds of 

 well-known varieties of apples, there are few sections in which many good 

 kinds do not succeed. It is usually safe to examine the growing orchards 

 of the neighborhood, if there be any, to aid in determining those which 

 best succeed. One variety may succeed in widely separated regions, while 

 the sections between may be suited to an entirely different sort. This is 

 well known in the case of the Yellow Newtown, which grows to perfection 

 in some locations on this coast and in Virginia, while we are told that in no 

 other known places does it attain the same perfection. 



In selecting varieties of fruits for commercial purposes I would choose 

 quality as the first and most important attribute. 



Probably the highest authority obtainable is the revised catalogue of 

 fruits prepared under the auspices of the American Pomological Society 

 and the United States Department of Agriculture. In it you will find nearly 

 every known variety described and graded. As the apple is our leading 

 commercial fruit we will use that to illustrate. 



The Spitzenburgh, for instance, is rated at 10, which is the limit as to ex- 

 cellence in quality; the Jonathan, 8-9; Yellow Newtown, 9-10; Yellow Bell- 

 flower, 8-9; Tomkins County King, 8-9; York and Eome Beauty, 7-8 each. 



Never under any circumstances would I set out an apple that rates lower 

 than the last two named. 



Second in importance, is to select a well-known variety, one for which 

 there is always a good demand in the best markets of the world. However 

 excellent a new variety may be. it is almost impossible to obtain as good a 

 price for it as might be gotten for standard varieties. 



Third in importance is the number of varieties grown. Don't have too 

 many varieties. More than one is well, as seasons vary, and by having 

 three varieties one will usually have a good income every year; but, so far 

 as the market is concerned, one could probably command a better price if 

 every apple in his orchard was the same kind, providing it was some stand- 

 ard variety. 



