I'ti^e 6 



BETTER FRUIT 



August 



tage, but where this is done ships 

 should be left close to the trees and 

 given good tillage. 



Where hogs are kept on the place 

 large quantities of turnips, such as 

 Cowhorn and Aberdeen and vetch may 

 be planted. Vetch seed should lie 

 drilled in the latter part of July to 

 make good Feed for the fall and early 

 winter. 



In orchards from six to eight years 

 of age which have not yet reached 

 heavy bearing, grain and hay crops are 

 preferred to horticultural crops unless 

 the trees are undersized and do not 

 show sufficient visor. Main orchards 

 at this age show too much vigor and 



have a tendency to produce too much 

 wood, and then the handling of a srain 

 crop will lend to harden the trees and 

 cause them to produce fruit buds. Bar- 

 ley and oats are two of the best grains 

 to consider. Narrow strips may he left 

 (lose to the trees and tilled, but if the 

 trees are unusually vigorous no tillage 

 of these strips is desired. Oat hay 

 would he a very desirable crop to pro- 

 duce. As a summer crop drill in large 

 quantities of turnips, rape and vetch to 

 be used as hog feed. If desired the 

 barley can be easily harvested by 

 hogs. — C. I. Lewis, Chief of Division of 

 Horticulture, Oregon Agricultural Col- 

 lege, Corvallis, Oregon. 



Washington Fruit Crop Report, July, 1917 



Department of Agriculture, Division of Horticulture, Olympia, Washington 



IX collecting the data for this report, 

 the District Inspectors and their 

 deputies in their various districts, have 

 very carefully studied the conditions 

 before making their estimates. They 

 have consulted with growers, shippers 

 and representatives of various organi- 

 zations, who have given them much 

 valuable assistance which has aided us 

 in getting as accurate an estimate of the 

 crop prospects as possible. In October, 

 1910, the entire Northwest was visited 

 by a freeze which in some places did 

 a considerable damage to unpicked 

 fruit. Trees in many places show the 

 results of the freeze by being badly 

 killed back. Based upon the excessive 

 bloom of this season reports were given 

 out predicting a very heavy crop of all 

 tree fruits, but due to cold, unseason- 

 able weather at blossoming time, indi- 

 cations show a poor pollenization 

 which was followed by an extra heavy 

 "June drop." The season has been cold 

 and backward, the blooming period 

 being about thirty days late. Thorough 

 spraying for the control of the codling 

 moth and apple scab in infected sec- 

 tions is being done. 



Yakima Valley District 



The Yakima Valley district, including 

 the Counties of Yakima, Kittitas and 

 Benton, promises about the same yield 

 as in 1916. The blight is active in some 

 parts of the valley and it may shrink 

 the present estimates somewhat. The 

 estimate from this district, in carloads, 

 is as follows: 



Yakima County — 

 North Yakima . . . 

 Selah and Naches 



Zillah 



Grandview 



Sunnysidc 



Benton County 



Kittitas County 



Totals 8,802 



Wenatchee District 

 The Wenatchee district comprises 

 Chelan, Okanogan, Douglas and Grant 

 Counties. In 1916 in this district there 

 were 1,962,870 trees five years of age or 

 older. The number reaching five years 

 of age in 1917 is 340,769, making a total 

 of 2,203,639 trees five years old or older. 

 About 4,000 acres, or 320,000 trees, have 

 been abandoned or taken out, leaving 

 a total of 1,883,630 trees of bearing age 



in 1917. The average yield per tree for 

 the past four years has been: 



Boxes 

 Year Per Tree 



1913 3.05 



1914 3.00 



1915 2.65 



1916 2.41 



Making a four-year average of 2.71 boxes 

 per tree. 



Present indications give an estimated 

 crop of about the same vield as 1916, 

 hence figuring 1,883,630 trees at 2.41 

 boxes per tree and 650 boxes per car- 

 load, it gives a total of 6,983 carloads 

 for 1917. 



Walla Walla District 



The Walla Walla Valley promises a 

 normal crop. The "June drop" did not 

 seem to be as heavy in this section, and 

 District Inspector C. W. Gilbreath re- 

 ports a probable shipment from that 

 section of the following numbers of 

 carloads: 



A 



Asotin County 



Columbia County 



Garfield County 



Walla Walla County 



Snake River section of Whitman County. . 



Totals 



cherries, 6 of peaches, 8 of pears, 45 of 

 prunes, and 2 of quince. 



About the first of August another re- 

 port will be issued in which we hope to 

 give further detailed data regarding the 

 estimated fruit crop, and also some in- 

 formation as to the planted acreage of 

 potatoes, beans, peas and corn. Many 

 of the leading commercial vegetables 

 will be included. In some sections some 

 fruits still continue to drop, but by 

 August 1st this condition will have 

 ended, and when the crop is normal 

 growers will have the crop thinned, so 

 that we hope to get a close estimate of 

 the crop. In comparison with the 1916 

 crop the estimates are as follows: 



1916 1917 



Curlnufls Carloads 



Apples 1 6,955 1 6,925 



Pears 1,639 1,217 



Peaches 1,265 1,946 



Grapes 25 30 



Prunes 511 650 



Apricots 87 165 



Cherries 213 .177 



Strawberries 394 300 



Other berries 417 110 



Estimates for Other Northwestern 

 States 



Hood River 1,200 cars 



Western and Southern Oregon 1,000 cars 



Eastern Oregon 300 cars 



Idaho 2,000 cars 



Montana 500 cars 



[Editor's Note: It must be taken into con- 

 sideration the data for the State of Washington 

 was furnished the inspectors during the month 

 of June. This early in the year it is very ditli- 

 cult to estimate very accurately, as every fruit- 

 grower knows from experience. While the 

 total tonnage from these figures amounts to 

 21,955 cars, the editor rather inclines to the 

 opinion that the total crop of commercial 

 apples of the Northwest will be nearer around 

 IX, 000 cars. This figure may be increased or 

 decreased later in the season, in accordance 

 with the development of fruit, that may or 

 may not suffer seriously by loss from disease 

 or pest. At the present time it is too early to 

 estimate how serious the damage may be later, 

 either from fungus or codling moth.] 



pples Cherries Peaches Pears Prunes 



15 80 60 10 25 



175 2 15 3 5 



15 6 45 5 10 



325 30 10 10 250 



10 50 75 15 15 



540 168 205 38 305 



Spokane District 



The weather conditions are respon- 

 sible for the heavy shrinkage of the 

 fruit crop in the eastern part of the 

 state, yet we occasionally find an 

 orchard in that section which has a 

 full crop. The reports from District 

 Inspector H. W. Samson of Spokane 

 indicate that Ferry, Lincoln, Pend 

 Oreille, Spokane, Stevens and Whitman 



1,595 



971 



187 



116 



Counties will not ship to exceed 600 

 carloads of all fruits in 1917. The 

 quality promises to be good. 



In Klickitat County it is estimated 

 that there will be 150 cars of apples, 

 15 of peaches, 100 of prunes, and 5 of 

 pears. 



In Skamania County there will prob- 

 ably be 30 carloads of apples. 



In King County there will probably 

 be about 100 carloads of apples, 30 of 



Seeks Far East Markets 



To help American fruit shippers 

 obtain Pacific outlets for their pro- 

 ducts during the coining season, the 

 Office of Markets and Bural Organiza- 

 tion is sending a representative to 

 China, Japan, Australia, the Philippines 

 and Eastern Siberia to investigate the 

 marketing of American fruit in these 

 countries. 



The need of expanding the Pacific 

 outlet is made evident by the closing, 

 practically, of the English and Scan- 

 dinavian markets to which the United 

 States has previously forwarded large 

 quantities of fruit, particularly apples 

 and pears. The representative, Anson 

 Penfield Bateham, special investigator 

 in foreign fruit markets, sailed from 

 Vancouver June 7. The Bureau of 

 Foreign and Domestic Commerce, of 

 the Department of Commerce, and the 

 Consular Service, of the Department of 

 State, will co-operate with the Office 

 of Markets and Rural Organization in 

 the investigation through the commer- 

 cial attaches and the various consular 

 officers in the countries to be visited. 



