100 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



ever, is exhausted at ten years, as explained above, and new 

 feeding ground must be provided by breaking up the underly- 

 ing hard pan. 



Mr. Richardson has an apple orchard of thirty-five acres 

 near La Grande, now four years old, which yielded six hun- 

 dred boxes of most excellent fruit this year, which is consid- 

 ered an off year on all kinds of fruit. 



IRRIGATION. 



The entire Snake River district, both Oregon and Idaho 

 sides, is susceptible to irrigation by the waters from Snake 

 River itself, but more easily obtained from Malheur, Owyhee, 

 Boise, Payette, and Weiser rivers, several large canals being 

 now in use for the orchards and alfalfa fields planted under 

 their lines. Irrigation, however, does not seem to be thor- 

 oughly understood, for we found nearly all the feeding roots 

 to be close to the surface, which would indicate too much irri- 

 gation on the one hand and not cultivation enough on the 

 other, and we reached the conclusion that if the hardpan were 

 thoroughly dynamited to allow the water to percolate through, 

 much less irrigation would be necessary, and by thorough and 

 frequent cultivation the roots would be forced down, making 

 healthier, stronger, longer-lived trees, and less susceptible to 

 disease. 



FRUITS TO GROW. 



Owing to the entire absence of apple scab and pear blight, 

 which is, no doubt, due to the lighter, drier atmosphere, we 

 are of the opinion that the growing of winter apples, and 

 especially winter pears, would be most profitable, as the 

 latter can be grown only with difficulty west of the Cascade 

 Mountains. The demand for winter fruits is very large and 

 increasing, aiid the soils of the Eastern Oregon valleys and 

 Snake River region seem specially adapted for apples and 

 pear culture. It is essential, however, to select such varieties 

 as mature late, say the last of October or early in November, 

 for fruits which mature during the hot weather will not keep, 

 as the fruit juices are warm when the fruit is picked, and 

 will ferment and soon decay ; but such fruits as ripen when 

 the cool season has set in will keep well, and have excellent 

 shipping qualities. We would particularly recommend the 

 planting of such varieties as will stand ocean transportation, 

 to supply the ever-increasing demand for our fine apples and 



