'204 Pteport of State Board of Horticulture. 



We need a revival of the apple industry in this great valley, but it 

 must be along scientific lines and the most approved field experience or 

 the result will be unfortunate. 



The consumption of and demand for apples is increasing wonderfully. 

 Enlarged facilties for transportation have given us the world for a market 

 and it is the foreign and not the local market we must strive for. Last 

 year Hood River strawberries went up the coast to Skagway, thence over 

 the mountains and down the Yukon to Dawson, and more wonderful still, 

 they were carried by steamship to China and reached there in fair order 

 after twenty-six days transit. If we can convey fresh strawberries to 

 Dawson and Hong Kong, we ought to convey Oregon apples to the planet 

 Mars, if they ever get that much talked of railroad built there. 



THE DEMAND FOB THE BEST. 



A gentleman from France visiting the Pan-American exposition, saw a 

 collection of apples, from my own orchard, which he admired very much, 

 and early last month he came to Oregon and to my orchard at Hood 

 River. He wanted ten carloads of yellow apples for shipment to France. 

 Red apples, he said, were seldom seen on the tables of the rich there, 

 and were called pie apples. He wanted especially Newtown pippins; every 

 one must be perfect and carefully paper wrapped, and for such fruit he 

 was willing to pay $2.00 per box f. o. b. But, alas, the largest lots 

 of Newtown pippins had already been disposed of and we realized the 

 truth of the old adage that "he is the farthest from market who has noth- 

 ing to sell." I instance this case simply to illustrate the demand for 

 high-grade apples. Let us plant more orchards, for more orchards mean 

 more cottages and more school children. Let us plant in the proper 

 localities and soil; plant the right varieties in the proper manner; watch 

 over them almost as we would were they members of our families; pro- 

 tect them against every enemy that assails them; see that they have 

 proper food and air and sunshine; put the spray pump to work early 

 and late; gather the fruit at the right time and handle it as you would 

 a basket of eggs; use an attractive, clean box, and give an honest pack 

 from top to bottom. Practice these methods and the fruit will be right 

 and the market right. The reputation that Hood River has acquired for 

 both apples and berries is worth not less than twenty-five cents per box 

 or crate. 



Shall we not make an effort to win back the good name for our Wil- 

 lamette apples? The State Board of Horticulture is more than willing 

 to contribute everything in their power to aid you, and the professors 

 of the experiment station at Corvallis will render most valuable assistance. 

 Profit by the errors of the past, and more especially by the knowledge 

 of the present. Do your work thoroughly; the careless cultivator will 

 have nothing to compete with and the very conditions you have to con- 

 tend with, after all, in a measure regulate the markets. 



Every fruit center should have its club or fruit union both for educa- 

 tional and business purposes. It is invaluable for comparison of field 



