Sketch of Fruit-Gro'.ving in Pacific Northwest. 170 



hops has been so low and uncertain of late that many hop-growers are going out 

 of the business Hop-growers have taken 7 cents a pound for their hops some 

 years, and refused $1.00 other years. Berries are a surer crop under present con- 

 ditions. The red varieties chiefly grown are Red Antwerp and Marllwro. The 

 latter variety often bears 1,'JOO pounds per acre, and has a picking season of 

 about 34 days. The most profitable blackberries are Kittitinny, Snyder and Law- 

 ton. 



One of the interesting points in Coast Region berry-growing is the remark- 

 able growth of canes. Cane 10 to 12 feet long are the rule, not the exception. 

 Pinching back the growing shoots when knee-high does not make a stocky branch- 

 ing cane, as in some sections. The canes are commonly trained between two rows 

 of split rails, and are bent over to facilitate picking. The size and quality of 

 Coast Region berries is proverbial in eastern markets. The Ever-bearing, or 

 Evergreen Blackberry, which has found little favor in the East, is one of the 

 remarkable sights of the Coast Region. There it is trained to a trellis like a grape 

 vine, with four or six canes often 30 to 40 feet long. From two to four crates of 

 berries are often picked from a single plant. These berries are of good quality, 

 they carry well and sell well. The Logan-berry is also quite profitable. 



Another noted small fruit section of the Northwest is the Hood Kiver Valley 

 of Oregon. Here the strawberry growers are organized into a very successful 

 TTnion for co-operative shipping. Ninety thousand crates of strawberries were 

 shipped from the Hood River Valley in 1903. Many of these go to far eastern 

 markets in refrigerator cars. The principal variety grown is called the Hood 

 River, a local seedling. The Hood River Valley is also a famous apple section. 



These are a few illustrations of what the Northwest is doing in small fruit 

 culture. Other sections are equall.y successful. English gooseberries grow to an 

 immense size here, and are equally free from mildew. The iWillamette Valley of 

 ■<">regon is noted for its strawberries as well as for its tree fruits. Many of the 

 islands which dot the wide expanse of Ruget Sound are becoming extensive 

 berry shippers. Mr. R. Heiberg of Vashon Island picked 1.200 crates of straw- 

 berries in 1903 from two and three-fourths acres. Most all of the small fruits 

 raised in the Northwest are marketed in Montana and British (^olumbia mining 

 camps, but a yearly increasing amount finds its way to eastern cities. 



Considerable attention is now being directed to the canning, preserving and 

 -evaporating of small fruits for Alaskan and Oriental trades. The Puyallup and 

 Sumnej" Berry Growers' Association puts up many thousand jars of raspberry and 

 blackberry jam yearly. J. O. B. Scoby of Olympia put up about 100,000 quarts of 

 strawberry jam in 1900. Jams, preserves and evaporated fruit find a waiting 

 market in Alaska, China and the Philippines. I believe that the canning, pre- 

 serving and evaporating of fruits and vegetables for this trade will soon become 

 one of the most important industries of the Northwest. Soft fruits cannot be 

 shipped fresh to China and the I'hilippines, but all sorts of preserves can be sent 

 •safely, and there is an almost unlimited market for tbem there. 



4. Seed-Grotcinfj. There is a bright outlook for seed-growing in the Coast 

 Region, especially for the growing of cauliflower, cabbage, celery, pea and other 

 seeds which love a cool and moist climate. Most of the cauliflower seed used in 

 the United States comes from Denmark, which appears to have very favorable 

 conditions for this industry. It will be remembered that the Coast Region cli- 

 mate is much like the Danish climate. Cauliflower seed from I>enmark is very 

 apt to be of low vitality, and of an inferior strain. Cauliflower seed grown in the 

 I'uget Sound Country has been found superior to the general run of Danish seed 

 for commercial planting. I have grown plants from Danish and from Washing- 

 ton seed side by side and have always found a difference in favor of the latter. 

 Pea seed from the Coast Region is superior to eastern grown seed. Two of the 

 largest seed growers in the Northwest are A. G. Tillinghast of aL Conner, Wash- 

 largest seed growers in the Northwest are A. G. Tillinghast of La Conner, Wash- 

 yet an infant industry, but it does not want for prophets to predict for it a bright 

 firture. 



