Appendix. 201 



It is now up to the fruitgrower. Siiall we rise to the situation and 

 learn the lesson thus taught? We certainly have the goods and may we 

 not hope that the very first step we take across the threshold of the 

 twentieth century may introduce us to executive horticultural generals? 



THE APPLE IN THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY 



PAPER READ BEFORE THE OREGON FARMERS' CONGRESS, 

 SAEEM, JANUARY !), Iii02. 



By Prof. E. L. Smith. 



The apple when considered in respect to its beauty of coloring of blos- 

 som and fruit; its delicious flavor and hygienic qualities; its wide dis- 

 tribution and length of season, is easily the sovereign fruit of the 

 temperate zones. It is found in portions of China, India and other parts 

 of Asia, flourishes at the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, and in the 

 great islands of Australia and New Zealand; is extensively grown in Great 

 Britain and in continental Europe and is quite at home in the temperate 

 latitudes of both Americas. 



Its origin ante-dates the written records of man; it has a place in 

 Grecian and Scandinavian mythology; is mentioned in ancient lustory, 

 both sacred and profane, and is celebrated in the songs of our greatest 

 poets. But I recognize that I am not addressing an historical society but 

 instead a congress of practical tillers of the soil in search of facts and 

 not generalization. 



Permit me, therefore to speak to you for a few moments relative to 

 apple growing in the Willamette valley. 



THE OREGON RED APPLE OF OLD. 



Thirty-flve years ago, attracted by the reputation that the "Oregon red 

 apples" had acquired, I came up from California and visited many of the 

 orchards of Marion and Polk counties. Ever a lover of fine fruits, I 

 had become somewhat familiar with the orchards of New England, of 

 the Middle West and of California, but that October visit was a revela- 

 tion to me, for never before had I beheld such a harvest. Everywhere I 

 wandered I found healthy, vigorous trees, overburdened with perfect 

 golden and crimson fruit. I seemed to have come into a new Eden — 

 an improved Eden, for contrary to the general belief there is no reference 

 to apples having grown in old Eden, and certainly the Good Lord would 

 never have prohibited his creatures from partaking of such delicious 

 healthful fruit. Baldwins and Winesaps seemed to predominate, but I 

 remember seeing in a large orchard near Jefferson in this (Marion) 

 county, great, golden Belleflowers, falling to the ground to the evident 

 satisfaction of the pigs beneath the trees. At a farm but a short dis- 

 tance from this hall, I purchased several hundred boxes of the largest 

 Winesaps that I had ever seen. I could have bought almost unlimited 



