Report of President and Commissioner at Large. 11 



tendency of CommLssiouer Carson, exceeds in amount the entire 

 cost of the Board of Horticulture for the current biennial period. 

 Your Commissioner at Large cannot leave this subject without 

 acknowledging his great indebtedness and that of the fruitgrowers 

 of Oregon to Prof. A. B. Cordley, of our Experiment Station at 

 Corvallis, for giving us the life history of this destructive fungus, 

 and consequently its vulnerable points of attack. This valuable 

 bulletin was reprinted in the Sixth Biennial Report of this Board. 



Fourth District, B. H. Weber,, Commissioner. 



Mr. Weber reports conditions as highly satisfactory in his dis- 

 trict, and large planting of fruit trees during the current biennial 

 period— chiefly apples in the Hood River and Mosier sections, 

 Avhile cherries and peaches predominated in the vicinity of The 

 Dalles. He estimates the value of the fruit harvest in the Hood 

 River Valley for the season of 1904 to be $275,000. The Mosier 

 section is rapidly increasing its fruit production, and the past sea- 

 son shipped 12,000 boxes of apples, 1,000 crates of strawberries, 

 3,000 crates of cherries, and 280 tons of plums and pnines. 



The Dalles section produced 1,000 tons of fresh prunes, 150 tons 

 of plums, 50 tons of cherries, 40,000 boxes of apples, and 35,000 

 boxes of peaches. Quinces, grapes and melons are also largely 

 grown. Not 5 per cent of fruit lands in this district are now in 

 use for that purpose. The approximate value of all fruits grown 

 in the Fourth District in the season of 1904 is $500,000. 



Fifth District, Jucld Gecr, Commissioner. 



This district is situated in the eastern part of the State, and 

 consequently is in the arid and semi-arid belt. It is natural, there- 

 fore, that I\rr. Geer should emphasize the great value of irrigation. 

 Lie writes : " It is fo me one of the most astonishing things in na- 

 ture to witness the white, arid, sag-ebrush land, and adjoining it to 

 see fields green with alfalfa, acres of melons and tomatoes, and 

 orchards laden with fruit. ' ' We are glad to know that the General 

 Government proposes to reclaim vast areas of these sagebrush lands 

 in Malheur and Umatilla Counties at no distant date. Mr. Geer 

 estimates that not 1 per cent of lands adapted to fruitgrowing in 

 the Fifth District are in use for that purpose. 



Cherries do exceedingly well in many portions of the district, 



