REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 101 



pears in the markets of England, German}^ and France, and 

 from now on the rapidly developing Oriental trade. In the 

 foothills, however, especially about Cove, in the Grande 

 Ronde Valley, we find the seasons very short, hence such 

 varieties should be selected which come to maturity rapidly, 

 in order to make it profitable. 



Another fruit adapted for that region is the Italian prune. 

 The trees now in bearing seem strong and healthy, and the 

 fact of their ripening late in the season, in fact, after all 

 prunes of Western Oregon and California have long been 

 consumed, give them a special market value as a fresh fruit. 

 The Italian prunes which were sent to us at the Trans- 

 Mississippi Exposition, at Omaha, last year in October, from 

 Ontario and Payette, were the finest on exhibtion. Owing 

 to their lateness they will always command high prices. 

 French Prunes do not do well there. Owing to the cheapness 

 with which ice can be procured along the Snake River for 

 cold storage, they possess a great advantage over other sec- 

 tions, and fresh fruits can be kept to humor the market, and 

 fruitgrowers of that section would do well to consider this 

 point. Ver}^ few prunes are being evaporated in this section. 

 The facilities for it are limited, but will develop, no doubt, 

 as occasion demands. In the Grande Ronde Valley prunes, 

 and especially cherries, mature even later than in the Snake 

 River country, and at a time when such fruits are sought 

 after, and would, therefore, make a most profitable crop to 



grow 



VARIETIES. 



The choice for apples so far planted is : Ben Davis, Wolf 

 River, Jonathan, Golden Reinette, Gano, Rome Beauty, York 

 Imperial, and Shakelford. In pears we would suggest : Win- 

 ter Nellis, Beurre Easter, Fall Butter, Beurre d'Anjou, and 

 Doyenne du Comice — all excellent fruits, good keepers, and 

 commanding the highest market prices. 



In the K. S.& D. two-hundred-acre orchard, near Ontario, 

 we were shown a number of apple trees, all of one variety, the 

 j'oung growth of which was severely injured by last February's 

 freeze, which checked its growth completely, though not all 

 in one place, and not touching other varieties alongside, and 

 as this is the second time it occurred, it would be well to 

 watch them closely, and possibly remove them for others, as 

 they would not be profitable to grow. 



