REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 71 



There has been a great deal of progress made in my district 

 iu the last two years in spraying. You will find that about 

 eighty per cent, of the growers have spray-pumps, and espe- 

 cially in the Hood River District they liave made great prog- 

 ress in spraying for the codling moth. There are some of the 

 fruitgrowers tliat save as much as ninety-five per cent, of their 

 apples ; others have not done quite so well. I think the cause 

 of it is that they have not given the matter as close attention 

 as they should have done. I noticed where the trees had 

 been sprayed with a heavy coat of lime they had better results 

 than those who had used less lime. 1 believe that the lime 

 is a preventive for the codling moth. The fruitgrowers have 

 also got a better price for their fruit in the last two years than 

 they have before. 



There is very little fruit sliipped from here on consignment. 

 Most of this fruit is sold for casli f. o. b. There were eastern 

 buyers in the market this summer who bought our prunes, 

 and they were ready to pay for it as the fruit was delivered 

 to them. 



There are three things that are most important to any one 

 starting into the fruitgrowing business : 



First — Planting an orchard. In planting an orchard ninety- 

 five per cent, of the beginners make a mistake by planting 

 their trees too close together. A great many plant their trees 

 from fifteen to twenty-five feet apart, and this is one of the 

 most serious mistakes they can make. I have seen orchards 

 that were from twelve to fifteen years old, and they were al- 

 ready at their best and the trees were dying. The limbs had 

 interlocked one another, so that you could not get through it, 

 and the fruit was of a very small, inferior variety. 



Any one who contemplates planting an orchard should study 

 the rainfall in the locality. In the largest portion of my dis- 

 trict the rainfall is only fourteen inches, and you will readily 

 see that that is hardly enough for a tree to mature its fruit, if 

 they are planted so close together. Apple trees should not 

 be planted any closer than thirty or thirty-five feet, and forty 

 feet would be better. Downing says fift}^ feet. Pear trees 

 should be from twenty-five to thirt}^ feet apart, and other 

 kinds of trees should be no closer than twenty-five feet. About 

 ninety per cent, of the fruitgrowers whom I visit say to me, 

 "I made a mistake and can see it now; I planted my trees 

 too close together.'' 



Second — Variety of fruit. One should be very careful and 



