REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 81 



peaches of fine quality. It is difficult of access, and what 

 fruit is grown is hauled in wagons, and distributed over the 

 surrounding country. 



Harney County, I have not visited, but I understand there 

 is very little fruit grown there. It is principally a stock 

 country. 



Grande Ronde Valley being my home in the district, I, per- 

 haps, see fewer of its faults and appreciate its advantages 

 more fully than do some, hence I will not write at great 

 len<Tth. About the foothills there is an almost unlimited 

 supply of desirable fruit land. Apples, pears, plums, and 

 prunes, of all varieties do well. It surprises some to know 

 that we can produce sweet cherries that in size, color, flavor, 

 and firmness, cannot be surpassed. They ripen in August 

 and enter the eastern markets after the California fruit is gone. 



There are some beautiful young orchards situated near the 

 river, a few miles from La Grande, also about Summerville, 

 Cove, and Union. Indeed, there are good commercial orchards 

 at all of these points, and there is liardly a home about the 

 foothills of the valley but is supplied with more than its 

 inmates can consume from a family orchard of mixed fruits. 

 - Eastern Oregon possesses many substantial advantages to 

 the commercial fruitgrower. P'irst, the trees come into bear- 

 ing at an early age. A difference of even one year (and in 

 many instances it is a difference of three or four) , is of no 

 small consideration when one is waiting for returns on an in- 

 vestment. Second, the land is cheap, not to be compared in 

 price to laud in places that have become famous for their 

 fruits, and yet oui- fruits often surpass theirs in many 

 points. Third, our fruits stand up well for shipment. The 

 cool nights which we have give to our fruits a firmness un- 

 known to those grown where the nights are hot. And last, 

 and by no means least, our fruits reach the market after it 

 has ceased to be overstocked, and while they may never reach 

 the fancy prices brought by the first fruits of the season, they 

 will come as a refreshing surprise on the heels of the last run 

 of soft fruits from the warmer districts. 



There are about four hundred and fifty-six thousand acres of 

 land under cultivation in the fifth district, twenty per cent, of 

 which would prove profitable if devoted to fruitgrowing. Only 

 about three per cent, is now in orchards. The fruit crop for 

 1899 was as nearly a failure as has ever been known. We 

 had a home supply and shipped about fifty carloads from the 

 district. They were mostly apples. 



