The Apple in Oregon : Part I. 109 



Montcith brothers. Walter and Thomas, got water sprouts from Gervais' orcliard. 

 which were the first planted at Albany, Linn County. Mr. Gervais used to seem 

 proud to bring apples to Salem for sale at !p.3.00 per bushel in 1849. I never saw 

 nor heard of another French Canadian who had apple trees as old as his appeared, 

 nor tliat ever had apples to sell. Gervais came to Oregon with Mr. Hunt, Astor's 

 partner, in 181 L " JOHN MINTO. 



In reply to a request for an item from the "old orchard" for this bviUetin, 

 the following was received from .1. H. Lambert, a pioneer in Oregon orcharding : 



Portland. January 22. 1002. 

 The first trees were planted in the fall of 1847, and the varieties planted for 

 the next few years were many ; but. as the apple became an important item of 

 commerce, the leading varieties for many years were the Yellow Newtown. Wine- 

 sap, and Baldwin. The Newtown was the highest priced, but the Winesap was 

 the most profitable, being a most vigorous tree and a prolific bearer, and at that 

 time, of good size, good quality and a fine, showy, red apple. The Baldwin was 

 an early winter ai)ple. but the other two were good keepers, and would ship well 

 as late as May. I think there never has been any finer or more perfect apples 

 raised than were grown in the Willamette Valley from 1854 until early in the 

 seventies, at which time the diseases and pests began to make their appearance 

 and got in their destructive work. Young blood and new aiviiliances may bring 

 back the day of "Oregon's big red apples." 



Neglect of the crop and trees naturally followed this pei-iod of depressed 

 prices. Soon the lichens began to give the trees the appearance of old age : lack 

 of pruning was followed by close-matted and bushy tops (See Fig. 1) ; fences de- 

 cayed, and stock took free use of the deserted orchard : in time, weeds, brush, and 

 trees of the native species sprang up and contended for tlie possession of the soil 

 (See Fig. 4), and now one only too often sees seared, defenseless trees valiantly 

 trying to maintain their broken files against the onrush of the aggressive fir. 

 (See Fig. 5.) 



I.ATEK TLANTIXG. 



The ebli of the apple crop in Western Oregon was during the eighties and 

 early nineties. Q^he decline had been rapid during the decade preceding 1890. 

 With the loss of the California market, which was being supplied largely with the 

 local product : the introduction of the codlin moth ; the appearance of scale and 

 other fungous troubles ; the premature breaking down of many of the old orchards, 

 due to lack of care in tillage and pruning, and to unsuitable sites, and the con- 

 sequent decline in quality and appearance of fruit, the apple industry of Western 

 Oregon, which only a few years previously had been the boasted pride of the Pa- 

 cific Coast, winked out, leaving a marvelous display of decrepit, moss-covered, 

 fungus-ridden, worm-infested, prematurely-old apple trees that should rightly have 

 been in their prime. (See Fig. 6.) But, though most of the pioneer orchards were 

 things of the past, it was not so with the impressions wrought by the luscious red 

 and yellow apples — their fruitage. The oft-repeated story of the "old-time-fruit" in 

 the days when the "Oregon big red apple" was famous had its influence. 



In the meantime men from the middle west with a knowledge of the commer- 

 cial importance of this fruit, were investigating the possibilities of apple culture 

 on the coast. The sight of the orchard ruins of Western Oregon filled them with 

 awe and forebodings. Almost to a man they were convinced of the evident unfit- 

 ness of this great section for successful orcharding. Stunted, ill shaped, scrawny 

 trees appealed to them from -every outlook; or, perchance, on some sightly knoll 

 an hoary, lichen-splotched giant (Fig 2). the very embodiment of ideals for future 

 generations, might chance to meet their eyes, but its merits were of only passing 

 moment, for all around were ruins, ruins, orchard ruins everywhere. And while 

 these searchers after apple lands settled in Eastern and Southern Oregon, and 

 have done much to bring these sections into high repute as fruit-growing regions, 

 the fame and profit of Western Oregon apple orchards steadily waned. During 

 this period of Indifference and neglect many of the first orchards became so pest- 

 ridden and premature old that they were wholly abandoned. Some were entirel.v 

 removed, wliile others were left to their own handicapped efforts in a fight against 



