162 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



even, and anythinij- less than seventy-five cents or $1 a box in the eastern 

 markets does not make us any money. Now, as I said, people have been 

 eating- cherries until they are tired of them, and when they can get peaches 

 for twenty-five cents a basket they are not going- to buy many cherries at $1 

 a box. This condition of affairs is what seems to be the trouble with our 

 cherries in the eastern market, and I would advise planting something be- 

 sides cherries for anything more than your local trade. As to apricots, I 

 believe there is a fortime awaiting the man who gets a good location on the 

 Snake or Columbia rivers and puts out a good, large, More-Park apricot 

 orchard, and makes calculation to dry every one of them, as they are not a 

 success shipped green. And I am told that they are a success, and they do 

 grow to perfection on the Snake and Columbia rivers, even better than Cal- 

 ifornia's noted product. The pear I have had great hopes of as a money 

 maker until the past two years. But the fire blight is blighting our hopes 

 unless something can be done to stop it. This is especially so in the Walla 

 Walla Valley. I have pulled out more than five hundred trees from four to 

 eight years old this past year, and many of my neighbors have taken out as 

 many more. I presume Dr. Blalock has taken out many more than this. It 

 now looks as if a remedy is not found we will lose our entire ochard ; , and we 

 are looking daily for some of those scientific gentlemen to discover something 

 that will check it. I do not know to what extent it has damaged orchards in 

 other sections, but it is a serious matter to the orchardists in Walla Walla 

 Valley, and we have plans already to erect a monument to the memory of 

 the num who finds a remedy. To those in districts free from this blight I 

 Avould recommend the following varieties : The Bartlett has a world-wide 

 reputation and cannot be side-tracked, but I think for eastern shipment there 

 are others that will make more money, and that is what we are raising fruit 

 for. The Bartlett comes in when it is very hot. and will not stand up long. 

 If it has to be held for any time it goes down and, as many of us know, we 

 often suffer a hard loss on them. 



The Beure d'Anjou is a fine pear for local trade, but does not sell well in 

 the east because it is not known. The same may be said of the Fall Butter. 

 I have found the Glout Morceau is a better pear for eastern shijiment than 

 any other, as they are a late keeper and stand shipping well; and so far 

 have proven a good seller. The Wintern Nellis does fairly well in Chicago 

 and the western market, but does not sell well in the eastern market. There 

 is a new pear, the "Cornice," that is now selling for more money than any 

 other pear. It is said to be superior in quality to the Bartlett, and a better 

 shipper. I have some of the trees, but have never seen any of the fruit. 

 Perhaps some of those gentlemen from the east may know something of it, 

 arid tell us if it has the good qualities that are claimed for it. If you have 

 a good local market other varieties might suit your trade better, but for the 

 eastern trade I would advise Bartlett, Comice, Beurre Easter, and Glout 

 Morceau. Now, I suppose out of every thousand prune trees planted in the 

 Northwest that nine hundred are Italian, as they seem to grow better and 

 sell better than other varieties, and while we ship many of them east in a 

 green state, the prune grower should depend on drying them, as it is treach- 

 erous shipping them green, us many of us can testify from our experience la 



